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yletylyf · 3 months

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Mysterious Lotus Casebook timeline

I put this together for my own use while writing my fic, but haven't seen anyone else share one, so here goes!

This is live-drama canon, not novel canon. I don't speak much Chinese; I followed iqiyi's subtitles which are rather awful. Additions/suggestions/comments/corrections more than welcome!

As should be expected for a comprehensive timeline of all pre-canon events, this is not spoiler free. Below the cut, as it's long:

Timeline

130 years ago:

Princess Longxuan is born, in the year of Ren Yin, Wu Shen month, Geng Jia day, at the hour of Geng Chen. [It could be any year of Ren Yin, but since it has to be more than a hundred years ago, this one is the only one that makes sense.]

100 years ago:

The night before Nanyin was overturned, Princess Longxuan marries Crown Prince Fangji, the eldest son of Emperor Xicheng, granduncle of the current emperor. Princess Longxuan becomes Consort Xuan. Consort Xuan secretly initiates the revival of Nanyin and plots to use the Rama Vessel.

Prince Fangji conspires against Emperor Xicheng and fails. He is ordered to commit suicide. Consort Xuan is sentenced to be buried with Prince Fangji.

Princess Longxuan writes a letter to magician Feng A-Lu asking him to save her son at the bamboo forest. She tells him to contact Jin Yu Huang Quan and revive Nanyin.

Nanyin craftsmen build their tomb and Nanyin sorcery hides it for 100 years.

The throne passes to Emperor Guanqing.

Feng A-Lu does not meet Princess Longxuan's son. He goes to kill the imperial family and falls in love with Consort Ying instead. They have a son who Consort Ying passes off as the emperor's son. Feng A-Lu is buried in the collapse of the Pagoda of Bliss.

Jin Yu Huang Quan did not revive Nanyin. They used the amassed wealth for themselves and passed the Rama ices onto the next generations.

Unknown time:

Li Xiangyi's parents save Qi Mushan.

Bandits attack the Li family; Li Xiangyi and his older brother are the only survivors.

25 years ago:

Teenage Shan Gudao finds four-year old Li Xiangyi and his older brother on the streets. Older brother dies.

Qi Mushan rescues Shan Gudao and Li Xiangyi and brings them to Yunyin mountain.

20 years ago:

The Feng clan, having searched for Princess Longxuan's descendant for over a hundred years, learns that her grandson had a ten-year-old son who is presently studying under Qi Mushan.

[Note Shan Gudao is over twenty and Li Xiangyi is nine or ten at this time, but anyway:]

The Feng clan takes Shan Gudao as the long-lost descendant of Princess Longxuan.

Ostensibly 18 years ago, but probably more like 21 or 20:

[Note there is some debate about how old Fang Duobing is supposed to be. Di Feisheng claims he has a letter showing that Fang Duobing's parents broke up 18 years ago while He Xialan was pregnant, but other sources state he is 20 at the time of the show]

He Xialan was in a relationship with Shan Gudao. They break up while she is pregnant. Fang Duobing is born a few months later, and Tianji Hall announces Xialan has died of illness. Fang Duobing is raised by Xialan's older sister and her husband as their own.

15 years ago:

The Demon of the Blood Realm challenges Li Xiangyi and Qiao Wanmian begs him to give Li Xiangyi one more year.

14 years ago:

Li Xiangyi passes Qi Mushan's test. He receives the Shaoshi sword. He departs the mountain for the first time.

Shan Gudao and Li Xiangyi go to rescue the He family of the Changma Blade sect, who was massacred by Dongling Three Gang for the cloud iron. They find one survivor, a child, and take him to Louyang. Shan Gudao ditches Li Xiangyi and kills the kid.

Li Xiangyi defeats the Demon of the Blood Realm.

At an unknown time between 15 and 10 years ago:

Di Feisheng, Wuyan, King Bai of Fire, Four-faced Qingzun, and King Zunming of Yama found the Jinyuan alliance. Di Feisheng makes his first famous kill: the Monk of the Blood Realm, Kuang Jiezi. He removes the Golden Jade hoops from his staff and hangs them on his dao as a trophy.

Li Xiangyi fights with Wuyou and nicks the Shaoshi sword to avoid killing him.

The 12 Guardians join the Jinyuan alliance just before Jiao Liqiao does.

Jiao Liqiao was following Li Xiangyi around. A girl from Fengling Sword Sect provoked Jiao Liqiao and she massacres the Fengling Sword sect. Li Xiangyi stops her and attempts to kill her, but Di Feisheng saves Jiao Liqiao.

13 years ago:

Li Xiangyi establishes the Sigu Sect. Sigu sect makes an agreement with the court dividing the affairs of the people and the affairs of the jianghu. Everyone agrees to follow the legal code of Da Xi.

Scholar Sushou robs the imperial mausoleum in the south of the capital.

Di Feisheng rescues Jiao Liqiao from a gang led by Guishou Fenglie, whose martial arts techniques she tried to steal. Di Feisheng was just there to challenge the gang leader for his spot on the martial arts rankings.

12 or 11 years ago:

Just before Li Xiangyi turns 18, Shan Gudao gives him the Wenjing sword as a birthday present.

At the age of 18, Li Xiangyi acquires Yangzhouman.

11 years ago:

Sigu sect destroys the cult in Mobei and the sect's vitality is damaged. The Jinyuan alliance becomes more powerful. Di Feisheng and Li Xiangyi make a peace treaty: they won't interfere with each other or draw a war in five years.

The royal court agrees to ally with Shan Gudao.

Ten years ago:

[Depending on how old you think Fang Duobing is; he says this happened when he was ten] Madam He introduces Shan Gudao to Fang Duobing as her long-lost brother. Shan Gudao teaches Fang Duobing martial arts in secret before he can walk. Fang Duobing briefly meets Li Xiangyi, who gives him a wooden sword.

Li Xiangyi trespasses into the Royal Palace grounds on Mid-Autumn night to watch the Epiphyllum festival.

Lian Quan, Lord Of The Netherworld, is last seen in Shishou Village.

Shan Gudao tries to break into the Yipin tomb but cannot get past the Bagua (eight trigrams) Formation. The 14 Thieves of the Netherworld break into the tomb and die inside.

Li Xiangyi receives a message that the three kings of the Jinyuan alliance have besieged Shan Gudao in the Yangsha valley, the Jinyuan alliance's secret hideout. Meanwhile, the three kings receive a challenge from Shan Gudao but the letter was not his handwriting. The three kings arrive at the valley to find Shan Gudao already dead. Other members of the Sigu sect claim: they followed Shan Gudao to run some errands but were suddenly attacked by the three kings; Shan Gudao sent someone to go for help; Shan Gudao lured the three kings away to protect his subordinates.

Li Xiangyi cradles his shixiong's body and vows revenge. Shan Gudao's body is stolen in an ambush by the Jinyuan alliance. Li Xiangyi declares war on the Jinyuan alliance.

Li Xiangyi gathers Shan Gudao's belongings into a box in his room at the Sigu sect headquarters.

Yun Biqiu, at Jiao Liqiao's direction, administers Bicha poison to Li Xiangyi.

Jiao Liqiao and Fang Qing are working together. Someone from Nanyin purchases gunpowder from Thunder Hall in Jiangnan with funds from the Wansheng clan. Ding Yun, Wind and Thunder Emissary and Wan Renshan, Star and Moon Emissary used thundering fire bombs to trap the Sigu Sect and blow up the Jinyuan alliance headquarters. The 12 guardians of the Jinyuan alliance die. 58 heroes of the Sigu sect die.

27th day of the 12th lunar month, year of Xin Chou: Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng battle at the East Sea.

Someone alters a corpse to look like Shan Gudao. He survives, under the influence of wuxin huai. Shan Gudao kills Qi Mushan and takes his inner power.

Li Xiangyi fakes his death and disappears. The Sigu sect disbands. Its surviving arm, Baichuan Court, rounds up the remnants of the Jinyuan alliance. Di Feisheng goes into seclusion for ten years.

Ten or nine years ago:

Xin Lie, Thunder Chaser of Jinyuan alliance, Five Poison Palm, escapes from prison.

28th day of the 5th month, year of Ren Yin: Shi Hun writes a letter to the Sigu sect to thank them for releasing him.

Unknown, between ten years ago and present day:

The Jinyuan Alliance surrounds Lian Quan's mansion for the Rama Heavenly Ice, he escapes with Li Xiao and Li Xiong to Xiaoyuan City to live in hiding.

Li Lianhua finds Scholar Sushou, helps him and lets him stay with him. Scholar Sushou passes away.

Li Lianhua saves Tiexiao, who jumped off a cliff and was buried; Li Lianhua heard him shouting.

Four-faced Qingzun dies in prison and gives the Rama ice shard to his wife, Liangyi Xianzi.

Fang Duobing takes bitter medicine; bathes in cold springs; pierces his 12 major acupoints every day and faints many times but refuses to cry. He can stand up, walk, and learn martial arts.

Five years ago:

The Hall of Wind and Flame took the Shi family's secret book as their own. This includes Qi Mushan's recipes.

Three years ago:

Fang Duobing takes the Baichuan Court entrance examination, but they refuse to accept him.

One year ago:

"Last March": Li Lianhua saved Shi Wenjue, third son of the Shi family (he faked his suicide because he wanted a career in public service and his family didn't approve, Li Lianhua saw it). The Shi family in Weapons Valley were the ones who forged Cloud Iron armor and the wind sword.

Present day:

The show begins sometime after the sixth day of the fourth month of Ren Zi year. [We know this because in episode 2, Wangfu is sixteen and we are given his birthday as April 6th of Bing Shen Year]

Red Mountains (Girls' Mansion episode arc) takes place on month 9 day 9 of Ren Zi Year.

Episode 37/38 is the ten-year anniversary of the dong hai duel, so it takes place on the 27th day of 12th month of Ren Zi Year.

#mysterious lotus casebook #reference guide #timeline

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quitealotofsodapop · 4 months

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I like to think while wukong has met Nezha’s family, they’ve never been in the same vicinity while he meets them and when they were it was just Nezha and Li Jing and Nezha didn’t look anything like him at the time

And it’s now ~6000 years later and wukong has no idea about his family and Nezha is perfectly happy with that.

Cue Pigsy almost asking Nezha why he’s the Third lotus prince while wukong is in the same room. Also cue Tang suddenly remembering Nezha’s original myth and having Questions. Wukong leaves and he’s all like ‘sorry I’ve got a streak/multiple bets going on and I’m not letting him question anything’

Wukong took one look at Nezha next to the Pagoda King Li Jing all the way back in his Celestial days and decided "Nah, they aint father and son." And his opinion never changed.

It also took Wukong a long time to realise that Guanyin's diciple Moksa was Muzha, aka Nezha's older brother. He honestly didn't make the connection for years.

Wukong has no idea that Nezha is legally the Jade Emperor's grandson.

And in the TMKATI au, Wukong decides to become the little banished god's guardian.

After the reveal that the weird pimply teenager hanging around is an actual stray god; lots of questions are brought up.

Tang looks at all this lore Wukong has zero clue about, and asks Nezha why he doesn't just tell him these things.

Nezha: "Honestly, I've been keeping him in the dark about my family for thousands of years now. I'm just waiting for him to realise the Pagoda King is my bio-dad." Pigsy, confused: "So is the lotus prince title elected or inherited?" Nezha: "No, I'm the Lotus Prince because uh..." *vaguelly guestures at lotus features* Tang, knowing the lore: "yUP." Nezha: "Yeah." Pigsy: "So where's the other two?" Nezha: "Huh?" Pigsy: "You're the third Lotus Prince right? Then there should be two more." Nezha: "No, third is my birth order. I have two older brothers." Pigsy: "But they aren't Lotus Princes?" Nezha: "No, that title is mine alone. Muzha goes by Moska ever since he moved in with Guanyin. And while Jinzha used to be known as the First Golden Prince, he now works as the Buddha's bodyguard." Pigsy: "...celestial names make no damn sense."

Bonus: Wukong has yet to make the connection that Iron Fan and Nezha are related (aunt and nephew). He forgets to ask these things - also they dont' smell like eachother so his monkey brain dont make the connection.

#lmk nezha #the monkey king and the infant au #the monkey king and the infant #sun wukong #dad sun wukong #lmk pigsy #lmk dadsy #lmk tang #dad tang

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journeytothewestresearch · 1 month

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The Crow's Nest Chan Master of JTTW

I am reading back through Journey to the West (Xiyouji, 西遊記) and was reminded of a strange, seemingly throwaway character who appears at the end of chapter 19, the "Crow's Nest Chan Master" (Wuchao chanshi, 烏巢禪師). He is described as an accomplished cultivator who lives in a juniper tree nest on Pagoda Mountain (Futu shan, 浮屠山), just beyond the border of Tibet (Wusicang, 烏斯藏). Zhu Bajie claims the master once asked him to jointly practice austerities, but the pig-spirit passed on the opportunity. Flash back to the present, and the pilgrims pass into his domain. After a brief chat, the Crow's Nest Chan master orally passes on the Heart Sutra (Xin jing, 心經) to Tripitaka.

There are two things that interest me about the Chan Master. The first is his magical abilities. Sun Wukong is offended by the monk but fails to hit him with his staff:

Enraged, Pilgrim lifted his iron rod and thrust it upward violently, but garlands of blooming lotus flowers were seen together with a thousand-layered shield of auspicious clouds. Though Pilgrim might have the strength to overturn rivers and seas, he could not catch hold of even one strand of the crow's nest (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 391).

This reminds me of an event from Acts of the Buddha (Sk: Buddhacarita; Ch: Fo suoxing za, 佛所行讚, 2nd-century), an ancient biography of the Buddha:

The host of Mara hastening, as arranged, each one exerting his utmost force, taking each other’s place in turns, threatening every moment to destroy [the Buddha, but] … Their flying spears, lances, and javelins, stuck fast in space, refusing to descend; the angry thunderdrops and mighty hail, with these, were changed into five-colour’d lotus flowers…” (Beal, 1883, pp. 152 and 153).

This points to the Crow's Nest Chan Master having great holy powers.

The second thing that interests me is that he is based on a historical monk, Niaoke Daolin (鳥窠道林, lit: "Bird's Nest" Daolin; 741–824). Here is his full biography from the Records of the Transmission of the Lamp (Jingde chuandenglu, 景德傳燈錄, 1004 to 1007):

Chan master Niaoke Daolin ... was from Fuyang in Hangzhou and his family name was Pan. His mother, whose maiden name was Zhu, once dreamt of the rays of the sun entering her mouth, after which she conceived. When the baby was born a strange fragrance pervaded the room, so the name ‘Fragrant Light’ was given to the boy. He left the home life at the age of nine and received the full precepts at the Guoyuan Temple in Jing (Jingling, Hubei) when he was twenty-one years old. Later he went to the Ximing Monastery in Chang’an to study the Huayan Jing (Avatasaka Sūtra) and the Śāstra on the Arising of Faith (Śraddhotpada Śāstra, Aśvagosa) under the Dharma Teacher Fuli, who also introduced him to the Song of the Real and Unreal, and had him practise meditation. Once Niaoke asked Fuli, ‘Could you say how one meditates and how to exercise the heart?’ Teacher Fuli was silent for a long time, so then the master bowed three times and withdrew. It happened that at this time Tang Emperor Taizong had called the First Teacher in the Empire [Daoqin] of Jing Mountain to the Imperial Palace and Daolin went to pay him a formal visit, obtaining the True Dharma from him. Returning south the master first came to the Yongfu Temple on Mount Gu (Zhejiang), where there was a stūpa dedicated to the Pratyekabuddhas. At this time both monks and laymen were gathering there for a Dharma-talk. The master also entered the hall, carrying his walking stick, which emitted a clicking sound. There was a Dharma-teacher present from a temple called Lingying, whose name was Taoguang, and who asked the master, ‘Why make such a sound in this Dharma-meeting?’ ‘Without making a sound who would know that it was a Dharmameeting?’ replied the master. Later, on Qinwang Mountain, the master saw an old pine tree with lush foliage, its branches shaped like a lid, so he settled himself there, in the tree, which is why the people of that time called him Chan Master Niaoke (Bird’s Nest). Then magpies made their nest by the master’s side and became quite tame through the intimacy with a human – so he was also referred to as the Magpie Nest Monk. One day the master’s attendant Huitong suddenly wished to take his leave. ‘Where are you off to then?’ asked the master. ‘Huitong left the home life for the sake of the Dharma, but the venerable monk has not let fall one word of instruction, so now it’s a question of going here and there to study the Buddha-dharma,’ replied Huitong. ‘If it could be said that there is Buddha-dharma,’ said the master, ‘I also have a little here,’ whereupon he plucked a hair from the robe he was wearing and blew it away. Suddenly Huitong understood the deep meaning. During the Yuan reign period (806-820 CE) Bai Juyi was appointed governor of this commandery and so went to the mountain to pay the master a courtesy call. He asked the master, ‘Is not the Chan Master’s residing here very dangerous?’ ‘Is not your Excellency’s position even more so?’ countered the master. ‘Your humble student’s place is to keep the peace along the waterways and in the mountains. What danger is there in that?’ asked Bai Juyi. ‘When wood and fire meet there is ignition – the nature of thinking is endless,’ replied the master, ‘so how can there not be danger?’ ‘What is the essence of the Buddha-dharma?’ asked Bai. ‘To refrain from all evil and do all that is good,’ answered the master. ‘A three-year-old child already knows these words,’ said Bai. ‘Although a three-year-old can say them, an old man of eighty can’t put them into practice!’ countered the master. Bai then made obeisance. In the fourth year, during the tenth day of the second month of the reign period Changqing (824 CE), the master said to his attendant, ‘Now my time is up.’ And having spoken he sat on his cushion and passed away. He was eighty-four years old and had been a monk for sixty-three years. (Textual note: Some say the master’s name was Yuanxiu, but this is probably his posthumous name.) (Whitfiled, n.d., pp. 56-58).

Sources:

Beal, S. (Trans.). (1883). The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king: A Life of Buddha by Asvaghosha Bodhisattva. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/foshohingtsankin00asva/mode/2up.

Whitfiled, R. S. (Trans.). (n.d.). Records of the Transmission of the Lamp: Volume 2 - The Early Masters. Hokun Trust. Retrieved from https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Lamp2.pdf

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

#Journey to the West #JTTW #Sun Wukong #Monkey King #Tripitaka #Tang Monk #Tang Sanzang #Xuanzang #Zhu Bajie #Pigsy #Crow's Nest Chan Master #JTTW characters

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inverswayart · 1 year

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On Orlais fashion

So, while i was trying to design an outfit for Julie, I stumbled upon a problem - what the hell was considered fashionable in Orlais during Awakening? I scanned through wiki and concept art and then got an idea for a big cool post about it, but my da high is closing in to an end so I'll just ramble for a bit instead.

It's evolving (and too fast)

So yeah, if we look at the concept art and what have appeared in Inquisition, Orlais fashion seems to change at break-neck speed - on par with modern fast fashion. Why is it a problem? Because modern fashion operates in a world of mass-production, which whole kinda alluded to in Thedas, is allegedly haven't been achieved yet. But still, in DAI we see at least 3 pretty distinct silhouettes of women's clothes that feel like different stages of one evolutionary line. I'm talking those beauties:

So, as we can see, one more-or-less consistent thing about all of them is waistline - fairly high one, like something out of 16th century Italy or first two decades of 19th century. But everything else is varied - the neckline from completely closed to pretty plunging, sleeve length and form, construction of skirt...

But looking at them in this order they do resemble a solid development line - tho for me it feels like there should be at least one more phase between first and second stages - no way such high and tight wheel ruffles would collapse without a trace of their existence... Otherwise, there's a couple of noticeable trends here - first, slight widening of skirts; second, slow rising of sleeves; descending neckline.

At third image it feels like someone suddenly invented the crinoline straight out of 1850's, completely foregoing farthingale and panniers (here's all of them for comparison, in the same order):

To be clear, neither panniers or farthingale are prerequisite for crinoline to appear - but considering the alleged time period Dragon Age was inspired by and the fairly 1770's like hairdo's Leliana alludes to in DAO (the "I like your hair" dialogue where she mentions a noblewoman incorporating entire birdcage with living birds into her hair) one would expect them rather then mid-19th century invention.

Still, to line up those dresses is to insert at the very least 5 or so years between them, maybe even 10 or 15 (once again, those high ruffled collars would have not dissapered so smoothly... Imagine orlesians with those huge-ass Elizabethan lacey standing collars, wouldn't that be sick?) But to be honest, at least i can see how Origins noble dress could've evolved into the first one.

All the prerequisites are there - standing collar ready to get taller and rufflier, kinda puffed up sleeves, little cape-like decoration at shoulders, waist accentuated by fairly wide belt ready to turn even wider and more decorative, fairly narrow skirt to expand... And it would've ecen work with the timeline we have - there's roughly 11 years between DAO and DAI, and the silhouette would've had time to change - but then the Inquisition dress would be the latest fashion, not the fairly outdated one we see.

There are also two distinct outliers - Florianne de Chalons and empress Celine with their dresses more or less out of common trends we saw before:

And while Celene's dress I can still place in the general climate we got - like yeah, she's the Empress, she can be the most fashion-forward one and outclass everyone around, and her dress does look like evolution of what we saw, it would be at least 5 more tears before crinoline would start to change it's shape (ironically getting closer to panniers) and while I can read her overdress as on of the exposed underdresses in a "I'm above your backroom dealings and behind the stage machinations and so I have nothing to hide" kinda gesture, it feels like a stretch.

Florianne, on the other hand, while being more in tune with others silhouette-wise... Why does she has those pagoda sleeves? Why the train when even the Empress does not have one? Mystery for ages.

A bit unrelated but one cool canon thing about Orlesian fashion is that codex in DAI that says that it's all about hiding the actuall contour of body behind augmented forms - shoulder pads, structured garments and so on. That actually is pretty close to Elizabethan conception of man as something completely separate from nature that found it's reflection in geometrical fashions of the era.

So yeah, in the end, while very pretty, Orlesian fashion is kind of a mess (as is every other fashion in Thedas we have seen. Can't wait for Dreadwolf to throw even more aestetics wrenches in here).

#tag for words #dragon age #dragon age origins #dao #dragon age inquisition #dai #orlais #fashion #fashion history #dragon age meta #i probably put way more thought into it that devs intended #but what are they gonna do about it?

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journalsouppe · 17 days

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UNWOUND FUTURE RAAHHHHHHHH!!! What an AMAZING trilogy conclusion with such a perfect setup for future sequels. I cannot recommend playing Professor Layton enough.

All of the Professor Layton stickers are from @jordydrawsmerch which can be found here and here. Every other sticker is from Daiso!

All the writing is typed below!

Rating: 9.3 Played: Fa 2023 Port: HD mobile (iPad) Favorite? Y Replayable? Y Recommend? Y

Comments:

the way the PM walked T^T

LMFAO STACHENSCARFEN

Layton’s about to be beat up bc of his top hat (skull emoji)

Getting major DGS 2-3 vibes

FAMILY GOON

An arc arcade? You’re speaking my language

I LOVE THE BLOCK HAT PUZZLE PIECES SPELLING LAYTON IN JAPANESE!!!

FLORA STICKER

BABY LAYTON BLUSHING IM SCREAMING

I really love the picture book and its music

THE DEVIL IN THE TOP HAT NOO

Luke always takes the opportunity to roast the Laytonmobile (skull emoji)

THEYRE JUST SHOOTING AT EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING

THE ORIGINS OF LAYTONS HAT IM GONNA CRY T^T

I love that bi Luke has his own puzzle solving sequence

Where the fuck did you take us future Luke

The battle of wits was so fun omg

I cant get over evil Layton

BIG LUKE AND LITTLE LUKE

Omg Hershel in the background

Based p. Layton newspaper conversation

LMFAO Hershel trespassing and Luke stressed

The bee???? T^T

FLORA PUZZLE SOLVED SEQUENCE T^T!!!!

GO OFF FLORA!!!!

Ooo pretty Chinese arc

Hershel i swear

Hmmm young sir… who is big Luke?

NOT AVOGADRO

Did all the scientists piss their pants?

I have a lot of questions

Love the design and music of the pagoda

Where tf did Hershel go (skull emoji)

Omg Luke’s a Sherlock fan

I feel like Layton was replaced with evil Layton

I swear Dimitri had a mustache??

THE BARS

WHERE IS FLORA

DON PAOLO LMAO

THE LUKE MOBING SCENE MAKES ME WANT TO CRY

How many secret hideouts are there T_T

NOOO FLORA

The barkeep is v sketch

Chad laytonmobile

I can see how this game inspired dgs

THE KAZUMA AND CLIVE PARALLELS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY

BEASLY AND PUZZLETTE HOLY SHIT

“That’s funny” :[

Ive been side eyeing some of these designs the past 2 games but yeah bostro’s design is def racist

DON PAOLO TURNIGN EVIL BC OF CLAIRE LOVING HERSHEL LMAO T-T and the running into the river omfg

Working with don paolo has been fun

I DIDNT THINK LAYTON WOULD ACTUALLY CUT THE ROPE

Where did Layton learn all this about Clive??

Summary:

WHAT A PHENOMENAL GAME!!! Truly what a great “conclusion” to the main trilogy. You learn so much about Layton, Luke, flora, and many other characters like don paolo. The ending reveal of Clive was CRAZY. It really reminded me of movies like howls moving castle/the iron giant. I also just love how complex Clive is. He was driven to violence because of how the government treated him and his family, but he never truly wanted to hurt people. He was without any hope and thought mass destruction would finally bring some change to the government, but he also made sure to include Layton in his plans because he so desperately wanted someone to stop him. It’s tragic and terrorism definitely wasn’t the way to go but at least this is a fictional story and that death machine looked kinda sick Ngl. The story of Layton and Claire was also so tragic yet so healing. Layton could finally take off his hat without feeling grief, you never would’ve known he was hurting that much. I loved Claire, she seemed like such an amazing person and I’m glad Layton wasn’t swayed to try to bring her back, although he did falter when he had to say goodbye again. Although I highly enjoyed the game, I am slightly disappointed there was no actual evil Layton. How fun would a game with evil Layton be omg. The whole game constantly caught me by surprise, even by small scenes like Beasly and PUZZLETTE. I’m still a littel confused about the lab experiments with Gumbo and subject 3, I’m not quire sure why they added that plot (and have no resolution) but I liked Gumbo fine. My favorite coin animal will always be hot dog though. I cannot recommend this series enough, I am having the time of my life. I can also see how DGS was heavily inspired by these games and im so glad about it bc dgs was game changing. I can’t believe there was a 26 year wait in between UF and NWOS but im glad to be a Layton fan :’) so fucking glad!!!!

#journalsouppe #bullet journal #journal #video game journal #professor layton #unwound future #professor layton and the unwound future #unwound future spoilers #professor layton spoilers

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jedineedlove · 8 months

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Princess Iron Fan LMK and More.....

Princess Iron fan does not have a lot of information about her in the LMK universe SOOOOoooo I went digging and wanted to share what I found.

LMK:

Princess Iron Fan is a former celestial, after fighting the brotherhood and their rebellion against heaven she fell in love and became the wife of the Demon Bull King, and the mother of Red Son. She wields a giant fan that is able to create tornadoes.

Other Legend's:

Some legends depicted her as a Taoist goddess and the ancestor of the wind gods who was entrusted by the heavenly court, and all the wind gods were under her jurisdiction.

She is said to be the mentor of Meng Po, the goddess of forgetfulness.

In Yuan zaju tradition, she is the sister of Lishan Laomu and was originally a friend of the Queen Mother of the West, Pilanpo and belonged to Taoism. She once had a dispute with the Queen Mother of the West because the Queen Mother of the West brought her own wine. As a result, she rose up against the scene and turned against the heaven.

In Journey of the West:

She is demoness married to Demon Bull King and when we meet her she is mad at Bull King for cheating on her with Princess Jade Face.

She possesses the magical Banana Leaf Fan. The fan, made from banana leaves 1 of 5 sacred treasures of Laozi. It can create giant whirlwinds that are capable of extinguishing the fire on the Flaming Mountains. Princess Iron Fan used this ability by fanning only once each time, the fire would only be extinguished for a year before starting again.

When Wukong and the pilgrims need to pass the mountain they go to Iron Fan and she turns them away. After a few tries and tricks and only getting fake fans, making the fire worse. The Jade Emperor sent his heavenly troops to help Sun Wukong defeat Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan for good, and she was forced to give them the real fan. After using the fan to extinguish the fire on the Flaming Mountain, Sun Wukong forgave the princess and returned the fan to her. The princess continued her spiritual practice and eventually achieved success.

In Journey of the South :

Princess Iron Fan is depicted as a goddess, the daughter of Yuhuan Shengmu and has a younger brother named Shan Cheng.

When Huaguang Dadi the protagonist of the novel stole the Golden Pagoda from Iron Fan's mother she disguised herself to seek revenge. In their first battle, she defeated him. Later, Huaguang after getting a Wind-Calming Pill he captures Princess Iron Fan and marries her. Due to the story of their marriage, Princess Iron Fan is worshipped alongside Huaguang Dadi in the Huaguang Great Emperor Temple [zh] in Fu'ao Village.

Fun Facts:

In the Dragon Ball series, Goku's Wife Chi Chi is based off of Iron Fan. Chi Chi's first appearance, her mission alongside Goku was to find the Bansho fan to put out the fire in her father's castle. Her father being the Ox King so in Dragon Ball Fan is the daughter to the Bull.

I find it funny that Iron Fan's adaptation is married to Wukong's adaptation.

#jttw #lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk princess iron fan #princess iron fan #dragon ball #son goku #chi chi #journey to the south #fan thoughts #demon bull king

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hatredcurse · 3 months

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⛓ [ArrangedMarriage] — Hashirama and Mito || @senjufound

During such a turbulent period of militant struggles and noble establishment, marriage into a high clan was often a princess' dream. Oh, how girls would scuttle about within the hidden chambers hiding about the pagoda of their fathers' estate, whispering and giggling to each other about which high lord they would take. It's a behavior encouraged by their affluent mothers and equally smitten elder sisters who experience such luxury all the same.

Princess Mito, hailing from a family rather exclusive to the coast. Their rapturous weather and strict shrine-like culture didn't participate in high society quite like their sister clans did. Often would the matriarchs and mistresses within the lord's chamber travel to allied lands under the Daimyo control and host these tea ceremonies, serving a location for unrestricted gossip. Mito's mother was one of many that did such things. Mito herself, not so much.

At young age, while the eldest of many Uzumaki daughters, was born under an important star. A divine appointment granted by the heavens to imbue her with immense strength, resolve, and most importantly, duty to manage the affairs of the preternatural; the unknown, the living, the dead, and the beastial.

As her sisters would dress in elegant, restricting kimonos. White powder on their faces, their eyebrows plucked thin, and their long, burgundy hair wrapped painfully into a crown, Mito only participated in such formalities on the occasional important holiday or pinnacle event. Immensely blessed and full of heart to see her sisters enjoy their eloquent lives, Mito, herself, was equally happy attending her many duties as High Priestess.

Everything was written in the cards for her: hone her technique, build an immense spiritual foundation, creating the Grand Barrier, and seal all the demonic forces ravaging the land to ruin in the world. It was a perfect plan set into motion the moment she had turned 17.

However, those incredible, awe-inspiring talents were the same abilities that would land her in the spotlight where even her sisters did not shine— right into the watchful, calculating gaze of the Senju High Lord.

Thinking that she could easily decline such advances and pass along the duty to one of her many sisters ( those of which were more than happy to marry into one of the strongest, military shinobi clans at the time ), her father declined her refusal. The Senju Lord was strict on the conditions and would not allow substitute: it was Mito Uzumaki, or nothing at all.

Enraged by the contractual agreement, Mito spat in the face of her father, denouncing him and his merits as Lord Patriarch of Uzushio. Refuting any and all goodwill he may host for their land and its preservation. Unfortunately, all these criticisms fell on deaf ears.

Within the fortnight, Mito was packaged up in the same ornamental gowns that ought to be dressed on her sisters, her hair twisted in beautiful sacred braids with all the golden pins and talismans that as Shrine Maiden should never be without. Her eyelids shine with a deep, jade green with her lips painted a dark cherry rouge. With any luck, she was granted one female attendant for her travels and comforts; a meek young girl who could no more than squeeze her mistress' hand and affirm that this was only a meeting visit and that if his lord does not see fit, then she'll sooner be returning back to the Land of Whirlpools than she could blink.

Not exactly the words that she wanted to hear, but she won't dispirit the girl for trying.

At the Senju gates, their white-golden Palanquin lowered before the brooding iron doors, yawning open upon their arrival. The attendant was out first, opening the door for her highness, along with ensuring her outfit slipped out beautifully with not a detail out of place.

Once out, Mito did not bow, instead waited to for whoever to come towards her and lead her inside.

#Mito ic #.closed starter #.ask #v. DESCENT INTO THE COILS OF LEVIATHAN (Warring States Period)#senjufound #q

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fem-blade-adept · 1 year

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Ok, so Lyria’s is a very long story. Very lore heavy because all of this is intertwined with her origin. It’s chunky, but I’m very proud of it and I hope you like it. @ebevkisk

Sylvan Bravery

Cor Varias carried a wide spectrum of creatures and societies. This was just as much a gift as it was a curse. Greed, thirst for power, and ego was an even more brutal mistress than most people knew. Thankfully, the Carnelian Senate, a group of the leaders composed of the main cities of Cor Varias, helped make decisions as well as allow the voices of the general population.

That, however, did not stop the higher classes from attempting to run the world.

In the royal city of Pelevair, the world’s richest and most decisively lucky people mingled in a city crafted out of ivory and marble. Pelevair once was the seat of the Druids and those that spoke for the natural world, but they traveled east once they discovered that the people were descending into a state of greed, but there were still consecrated locations that lingered in the Pearlescent City, namely the Senate Pagoda and the Tree of Veloria. Both were named neutral ground and effectively not part of the city. Several Druids and rangers stayed to keep the peace, but corruption ran rampant.

And the Peregrine family was no different.

Ambassador of the city to the Senate, Orryn Peregrine, and her husband, Geltir, both elves of the highest order loved nothing more than perfect order in their household. Stoic and iron faced, they were richer than most people knew. They also had a daughter.

Lyria was a faunus. Cor Varias, in its thousands of years of growth and development, had not only become diverse, but even humanoid species had become intermingled with a certain genetic mutation. Veloria, Goddess of Nature, the deep forests, and spiders, presented a gift among the Druids back when the Druids had helped curb the Disparity. This mutation allowed for a distinct animalistic advantage among its people as those with the gift had one or two traits of one of Veloria’s beloved menagerie of creatures. Though they were revered in the past, it definitely did not stay that way.

Lyria, through complicated family dynamics, was born a snow fox faunus. As she popped out, her white ears immediately earned a distaste from her parents, especially her father. Their status would dwindle if the world knew that their own child was a bastard, so she spent her life in her own house, learning to be a housewife and a model citizen.

She did her best to be perfect, but every day was worse than the last. The only walls she’d ever known were those of her house and, every day, she stared out at the trees that sat off in the horizon, wishing she could feel the grass between her toes and the wind on her skin, but every day, her house became more of a prison and she became more and more miserable with each moment.

When she turned 18, her parents arranged her marriage to an heir to the Port of Desriel on the southern side of the island. In order to finalize the proceedings, Lyria had to be taken to meet her future husband. It would be a several day trip and she’d have to be present to meet her future spouse.

“Now, darling, no speaking unless you’re spoken to. This is very important for you and your parents, so do as you're told and this will all go swimmingly.”

As they began the long trek through the snow and ice in the town cars they owned, the Peregrines remained blissfully unaware of what the celestial bodies had in store for their voyage.

Now, the planet of Cor Varias has two suns. Velor and Multaea were a yellow and a black sun that rotated just as much as Cor Varias did around them though much faster. Velor, the yellow sun burned with severe intensity, but it was tempered by the lack of heat that Multaea emanated. This is what created the seasons. Winter came whenever Multaea became the closest sun to Cor Varias.

Cor Varias also has two moons. Deias was a gorgeous navy to luminescent cerulean moon that changed depending on the day and season and Felgor was a deep yet ominous shade of orange, and though the black sun was just that, it still created an foreboding and deep orangish tint to the world during a Feltaean Eclipse.

Many theories were argued and debated by world philosophers since the world had lived with these celestial bodies since they had been around for thousands and thousands of years. Way past the survival of any original records. However, Cor Varias also intrinsically carried magic. No one was prepared for what the seasons brought.

As the town car entered the Forest of Somnulis as they headed on their way, Lyria was entranced by the glow of the orange glow. Lyria only ever saw her castle grounds and it really wasn’t much to look at once you’d seen it a million times. It was the coldest night of the year, and an Eclipse at that which made it all the more difficult to see, but the forest still had an eerie grace to it.

As they trundled on, a noise came out of the forest. Almost like the monsters she imagined when reading the stories at home.

“Just the elk in the forest. Push on.” Her father said. The chauffeur nodded and continued onwards.

Out of nowhere, massive snapping sounds echoed. A massive deer crashed through the underbrush. Glowing green eyes, muscular, angry as all hell, and with razor sharp teeth. Lyria gasped. Everything she’d ever read about deer told her that deer were harmless. Right?

Its antlers were massive and sharp as swords as its head thrashed about in terrible agony and hatred as it turned and rushed the vehicle. Her parents screamed as the deer rammed the car, the antlers piercing the car’s steel and glass with ease. Lyria, for a second, didn’t feel anything until she looked down to see the antler piercing her gut. Falling into shock, she felt her body go limp as the deer yanked its antlers out of the car, pulling her with it and rushing deeper into the forest. She could hear her parents yelling after her but there was nothing she could do. Just sit and wait for death. As she fell unconscious, she could feel her fingers freezing as the frostbite set in slowly as she waited, limp and lost.

Lyria woke up to the sound of the roaring fire. Her limbs felt warm, but her body felt incredibly sore. Stiff and weak, she tried to sit up.

“No, no no, hun. You need to lay down. You’re gonna open your wounds again. I tried to sew and heal you the best I could, but I can only do so much.” A voice said somewhere to her left. Feminine in nature, but with a much deeper timbre and gentler than anyone she’d ever known.

As Lyria laid back down, she realized the sun was coming up. Light was hitting the sky which meant she’d been out all night. She felt around and felt a very deep gash in her stomach. Checking her face, she found a deep cut on her eyebrow and her lip had been split open.

“How am I alive?” Lyria said, still attempting to sit up.

The voice walked over with a steaming cup. “Here, drink this. It won’t get rid of the pain, but it will help you feel a bit better. It’s chocolate.”

Lyria took a sip. It was delicious. Better than any drink the kitchen ever gave her.

As she drained the cup, her vision started to clear to find a very muscular woman. Green glowing eyes that she found eerily familiar, but with a worried yet calming expression on her face. As the woman stood up, she looked about 6’4” and was built like a statue. Clothes tattered and worn, but she looked like she couldn’t care less that her boobs were out.

Lyria finally sat up and took a look at herself. Nice clothes? Replaced with dry clothes made out of fur. Gash still very much there, but the pain was thudding at a bearable pace now rather than causing her to white out in agony.

“I hope you don’t mind. You would have died of hypothermia if I didn’t replace your clothes. They were soaked and you were already nearly frozen solid.”

Lyria nodded and scooted closer to the fire. She had on fur lined leggings, a skirt, and a shirt that smelled like wild animals. Tanned a long time ago, but very comfy.

“Did you see the deer that did this to me?” Lyria asked, already kind of knowing the answer.

The woman sighed. “That deer was me. My name is Peloya. People aren’t supposed to be in Veloria’s Balefire during the Eclipse. People around here know that, but as of recently, lots of out of town travelers have been ignoring the warnings.”

Lyria was confused. “I thought this forest was called Somnulis.”

The woman gave a small chuckle. “That’s what the rich people call it. Lack of faith in the higher beings, I’m guessing.”

Lyria looked around. “So what happened to you? Are all deer like that?”

The woman’s face fell again. “Veloria’s Balefire is a home for many creatures society deems a danger to the population. Every couple years, this forest becomes a safe haven for many creatures torn between society and the deep dangers the natural world can inflict on others. Therianthropes live our lives as normally as we can, but when the moons are full, our form is shifted into that of one of Veloria’s creations. When Deias is out, it’s pretty tame. Usually just a creature you could see anywhere, a wolf, a bear, I even know a few fish and sharks. But when that demonic orange moon is out when paired with Multaea, our transformations are distorted, corrupted. Most of us become violent, we lose our sense of self for the night. I promise you I did not mean to…oh no…”

As Lyria looked at the woman, a fear crossed the woman’s face as she turned back to grab something. The woman pulled out a mirror and, sure enough, staring back at Lyria, were two glowing green eyes.

“I am so sorry. The reason we all stay in this forest is because we don’t want to endanger others, but it looks like you’re one of us now.”

Lyria felt her body start to shake. As if her head was on fire, her skull started to shift and change. Fur started to grow from her body and she doubled over as her hands slowly became two hooves. Her clothes disappeared into the fur and in seconds, she found herself in the body of an elk. A female elk with antlers. As she looked around, still very self aware, she tried to speak, but all that came out was a screech.

The woman looked at the clearly confused deer with a truly stressed face. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Lyria screeched again.

“I know you’re upset. It’s your first transformation. It usually happens within the first few hours of infection.”

Lyria screeched indignantly.

“Of course, you’re a girl deer. Look at your antlers. And only female deer make that noise.”

Lyria huffed and stamped her hoof.

“Yes, I can understand you. I’m a druid. I speak sylvan, though you should be able to speak it too now because…well…”

Lyria screeched again.

“Yes, I’ll teach you everything I know. I guess I kind of owe it to you at this point. Veloria will also want to meet you. You’d make a great Druid.”

Lyria huffed again and nudged her with her nose.

“My butt does NOT look fat. I know this is deserved, but just because your parents decided to drive through here on the worst night of the year doesn’t mean you can be rude.”

Lyria snorted as she knelt down to sleep. Still very confused, but strangely, this was a mild improvement from the hell she was set to live in at the hands of her parents. Maybe this could be a good thing.

Several years later, a group of hunters stalked the dark forest of Veloria’s Balefire. Legends had grown of a dangerous breed of creatures that lived deep within the woods and adventurers were paid handsomely for each hide they brought back.

As they walked, they heard shuffling in the branches. They stopped and looked around and nothing jumped out at them. The two elves slowly moved a couple steps to the left while the Tabaxi held still waiting for any sign of movement.

In a split second, shards of ice rained from the sky in the middle of summer, pinning them to the ground.

A figure walked out of the shadows as if she was purely invisible. Hair, a ratty blonde tied into a ponytail with a bow crafted from ancient wood, and a quiver full of arrows.

“I am Lyria, the champion of Veloria, and you will tell me why you are in these woods.”

She could feel their fear as the shadows dropped off of Lyria like a fog. Just as she was about to put an arrow in all three of them, a divine roar echoed across the glade. Only a few miles away due south.

With a few quick arrows, all three hunters met their end and Lyria sprinted towards the yell. As she reached a gully she knew well, she found a bear squaring off with a girl with dark brown skin about her age. This girl carried a hammer that probably weighed about as much as Lyria did. And this girl was MAD. The gods could not reach this level of anger.

As Lyria surveyed the scene, she saw a sigil on the girl’s arm that ran chills up her spine. This girl was under an enchantment. And if Lyria didn’t break that, that bear was gonna get hurt. Summoning the power of her damn dark passenger, Lyria shifted her form willingly into her weredeer form and rushed in to help.

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the-monkey-ruler · 5 months

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so according to the rules and from what I understand, if you are the child of two powerful demons or a powerful being, it doesn't matter, you have to achieve everything yourself because the skills and magic will not be inherited to you, maybe only the strength, but beyond that, you inherit nothing and must achieve it for yourself.

I understand that Chenxiang, being a demigod, only inherited strength but had to train anyway. Are there exceptions, or is this the case for everyone? What about Redboy? Or the son of the white snake?

Well in a sense. I have said before that it does affect on what pieces you are that also affects what kind of power you are inclined to have. Like the Scorpion Demon having poison and the Yellow-Tusk Elephant King being able to use his trunk. The same could be said with demon offspring if they have any genetic effects of their partners. Red Boy most likely got his fire performance from his mother Princess Iron Fan having her cave located on Flame Mountain and being able to control them with her wind powers. But when it comes to things like gaining power then YES they would have to train for that on their own. It's like that they are born with the POSSIBILY with being as great as their partners but they are not born automatically with that power, they must train, which could be easier for them in all honestly.

Chenxiang had more natural strength but he didn't know how to use it and thus, in his earlier versions, accidentally killed another boy. He had to be trained by the Thunder God (or Sun Wukong now) in order to master his strength and have the skills and techniques to save his mother. A bow and arrow are a strong weapon to someone with perfect eyesight, but useless if they don't know how to draw the string.

Red Boy is said in the text that he trained with his powers as well, took him 300 years to master his Sahamdi fire, he wasn't just born knowing how to use it. He had strong parents and thus had an advantage but he still practiced long and hard.

Xu Shilin is a later addition to the Legend of the White Snake as the story usually ends in tragedy with White Snake and Green Snake being caught by Fahai who trapped them in a pagoda. It is in the later version does White Snake gives birth to Xu Shilin and he grows up to become strong enough to save his mother from the pagoda. I cannot find anything that really gives a clear story on how or if he was ever trained but from what I gathered that "His filial piety moved heaven, and What Snake was able to get out of the tower and see the sun again." Hard to say if he had anything magical powers to really aid his saving mother or just that his spirit was enough to do so.

From this we can gather that Red Boy, who received formal training in the span of 300 years, is so strong not because of his heritage solely. His parents being power demons does gives him that greater potential but he was only able to live up to that potential because of his hundreds of years of training, making him a threat to even Sun Wukong. Chenxiang was given far less time (I've seen him training from 1 to 3 years) BUT IN THAT TIME he was able to go head to head with Erlang Shen, one of the greatest fighters in heaven. I would like to note that Chenxiang did have both his Axe of Pangu and the Lotus Lantern on his side and perhaps those heavenly treasures were able to help his fight as well. Xu Shilin has such little information and no formal training despite being half-demon half-human. Most likely he would have great potential but I cannot find any stories of him fighting Fahai head-on or not and thus cannot say how powerful his true strength can be. What I can say is that without a teacher he was given no feats of strength or anything of physical or magical powers. To be this suggests that without proper training he could not live up to that potential.

From this, we can gather that having cultivated parents can give you a potential boost, but without former training then it cannot be utilized. Erlang and Chengxiang are prime example of how having a cultivated parent can increase your potential, Erlang Shen being one (if not the) strongest gods in heaven, and Chenxiang being able to learn and cultivate in accelerated speeds. Both being quite young in their training to save their mothers. Red Boy having two powerful demons was able to utilize his potential though it took far longer, centuries at that (we don't see a lot of natural-born demons and I personally believe that it is harder for demons to conceive a child with other demons compared to having a child with a human, hence why they are target more often for spouses (that is just a theory)). And sadly I have no examples of what power Xu Shilin could have had as he had no formal training and thus what potential he could have can only be speculated.

#legend of the white snake #white snake #green snake #lotus lantern #liu chenxiang #erlang shen #yang jian #red boy #honghaier #hong hai er #hong hai'er #Xu Shilin #anon ask #anonymous #anon #ask #jttw #journey to the west #xiyouji

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singular-yike · 1 year

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i kindly demand any and all info that you have on our favourite chacha priest tsurubami senri thank yooooou

Ah, the mysterious ex-head priest of the Senri Shrine and ex-dictator of Mugenri, of course~!

The Inexplicable Hakama — Tsurubami Senri

Name: Tsurubami Senri

The given name Tsurubami (鶴喰) is an actual name in Japanese, where the first character refers to "cranes" (鶴 tsuru) while the second means "to eat" (喰 bami). The origin of the name is, however, unknown.

In the surname Senri (闡裡), the characters mean "clarify" (闡 sen) and "reverse/inside" (裡 ri) respectively. This is a reference to Len'en's theme of "front and back" and is specifically referenced in EE, EMS, RMI and BPoHC's playable Suzumi unlock message:

裡を闡らかに・・・ The reverse shall be clarified…

Historical Inspiration: Tokuwaga Ieyasu

Tsurubami is likely based on the historical shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川家康), one of the three "great unifiers" of Japan.

Depicted below: A portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Tokugawa conquered Japan by force and ruled it with an iron fist, much like Tsurubami's own conquest across Mugenri and subsequent dictatorship over it.

Additionally, Ieyasu's right-hand man was the Buddhist monk Tenkai, on who Tsurubami's co-dictator and best friend Tenkai Zuifeng is based.

Bird's Name: Crane

While it's clear that Tsurubami is a holder of a bird's name, that of a crane, I was unable to find any real concrete connection or thematic thread related to this. So here are a few possible reasons:

From a symbolic perspective, cranes are often said to be signs of longevity, along with the tortoise. Additionally, the crane's tall stature compared to other smaller birds make it commonly used as a metaphor for superior people who stand out amongst the rabble.

It's most likely this second reason is why the crane was chosen for Tsurubami, to show just how incredibly powerful Tsurubami is compared to everyone else. This crane symbolism is referenced in two of their spell cards as well:

Crane's Cry "Lamentations of the Crane's Cry": A phrase that refers to the laments of talented people not made use of, typically in the context of service to the royal court.

The Crane's Verdict: An expression that refers to the words from someone in power that decides a course of action, regardless of any other opinion or ongoing discussion.

Additionally, while it's not that solid of a link at all, during my research I did find that the Tokugawa family is sometimes associated with cranes. While I couldn't find the exact reasons, here are a few examples I could find:

The Tokugawa family has several daughters and wives named Tsuruhime (鶴姫 Crane Princess/Lady), most notably, it is the nickname of Ieyasu's chief wife, Tsukiyama-dono (築山殿).

The Mito branch of the Tokyugawa family has a childhood name passed down through several men of the line: Tsuruchiyo (鶴千代 crane thousand generations).

The inner temple grounds of Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine is the pagoda under which Ieyasu sleeps, the altar in front of it features bronze statues of three animals, among them a crane.

Depicted below: The altar in front of the inner temple's pagoda, featuring bronze status of a lion, turtle and crane.

Tsurubami and Mugenri

At this point, the overall analysis of Tsurubami is really done. However, I think it's also important to see the impact Tsurubami has left on Len'en, despite having not appeared since EE.

While there are certainly a lot of mysteries surrounding Tsurubami as a character, at the current point of the story, the shadow they left behind is much more the focal point than the character themself.

Tsurubami is not a Mugenri native, but entered Mugenri from the Outside World at an unknown point in the past. They became the priest of the Senri Shrine and conquered Mugenri alongside Tenkai Zuifeng, ruling it with an iron fist.

During their time in Mugenri, they oppressed the people of Mugenri with such force that their name itself is said to hold power and conjure fear in its people. Of course, their rule was not unanimously accepted by Mugenri's residents.

Hibaru Kokutenshi is said to have attempted an unsuccessful assassination on Tsurubami once, although this went unpunished for some reason. Tsugumi Umatachi is also said to have once "meddled with Tsurubami's affairs", having even fought with them once.

They haven't left Mugenri ever since arriving, but apparently had to depart to look for "something" outside, as well as for "revenge". They assigned Tsubakura and Yabusame to fill in their position and left, perhaps, if Tenkai is to be believed, once and for all.

Tsurubami's departure left a great power gap in Mugenri, and a year later, the balance they once maintained completely collapsed, giving way to the Heaven-Shadow War in BPoHC. Mugenri's future is the shakiest it has been in a long while.

So that concludes all I've got!

There's honestly not too much I could really say about them, we have a lot of tiny little fragments on them, but not really enough to make a clear story out of. It feels a lot like doing actual history at times~

Nevertheless, it's fairly clear that their story is not over, and that whatever they're up to in the Outside World will eventually rear its head and impact the overall Len'en story. Until that day though, we will have to make do with whatever scraps we get.

As always, I hope you enjoyed! :)

#len'en project #len'en #len'en lore #tsurubami senri #there's obviously a lot more but I don't want to end up just regurgitating the wiki #so I just chose some major point that I feel like really matter to our understanding of things #I do have a few other theories(?) related to them though #but those seem neither here nor there #so perhaps some other time

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supernutellastuff · 2 years

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running like water - a Zutara oneshot

AU Post-finale, that time when an assassin crashes Zuko's 18th birthday. Luckily he has a master waterbender by his side. Ft. a badass Katara, Fire Nation political intrigue, and Bloodbending as flirting.

(Realised I'd written this years ago but never posted. Hopefully this gives me some much-needed inspiration while I muddle through my WIPs. Happy reading!)

link on ao3

Or read below!

It’s Zuko’s 18th birthday and he is nowhere to be found. By all accounts, he’d made an appearance at the Royal Ball for a respectable amount of time and then disappeared into thin air. Katara hurries across the halls of the palace, one hand gathering the skirts of her formal gown, her heels clicking on the marble floor. The palace staff haven’t seen him either—he wasn’t in his bedchambers, nor in the library, and she’d even checked under the willow tree next to the turtleduck pond. Katara fumes, her annoyance rising. She’s laboured over his gift for days, the least he could do is not get kidnapped or whatever.

It’s nearing midnight and Katara is about to contemplate hiring the services of Jun and her shirshu when she remembers the one place she hadn’t yet searched: the rooftop. While the rooftop was largely inaccessible, owing to its steep pagoda architecture, there was a flat alcove, hidden to the public, that opened up to the sky. Zuko had shown it to her a while ago when he was making plans for renovation, but it was dirty and in disrepair then, which is why it had slipped her mind.

The entrance to the roof is hidden behind a tapestry, a rather heavy, ugly thing the colour of blood. Katara twitches the tapestry aside and slips behind it. A narrow spiral staircase stands in front of her, illuminated by a hanging dusty lantern. Clutching the wrought iron railings, she begins the dizzying climb. An unexpected sight greets her at the top.

The place has been transformed into a charming rooftop garden. Vines climb the walls and trail down the parapet. Rows of potted herbs are flanked by beds of exotic flowers, the spicy and sweet scents intermingling in interesting ways. Fat beeswax candles stuck on iron stands are placed strategically in recesses, giving the entire garden a low, atmospheric lighting. And lounging on a profusion of cushions, eyes shut, his top knot undone, is Zuko.

“Took you long enough,” he says lazily, cranking one eye open.

“Happy Birthday,” Katara snaps, flinging the wrapped parcel at his stomach with a little too much force.

Zuko straightens immediately. “What is this?”

“Your present, dummy. I’ve been running around everywhere looking for you.”

He frowns. “Didn’t Oromi deliver you the message?”

“What message?” she asks, sinking into a cushion beside him.

“He must have misplaced the note again.” Oromi was the new palace gardener, a country lad, kind-hearted but rather forgetful. He was a magician at his work, though—he could make the stubbornest of saplings sprout and the most exotic flowers bloom under his care, almost like he was bending them. This little rooftop garden seems to be his doing. “I wrote you a message asking you to meet me here. I could not stand all those dreadful festivities.”

“Yes, yes what a bore having people throwing grand parties in your honour.”

A sheepish smile spread across his face. “I appreciate it all, I really do.”

“The royal cooks roasted an entire hippo-ox in your honour.”

“And I savoured every bite of it…but it exhausts me, having to put on this stern, aloof, regal front.” He does look exhausted, there are lines around his eyes that have no business being there. He also looks older; the planes of his face have sharpened and there’s stubble on his face on days he has no official business. “I hate pretending to be someone I’m not, especially on my birthday, when I’d rather spend time with the people I like.” His eyes flicker to her and her stomach flips.

Clearing her throat, Katara gestures to the package lying in his lap. “Open your gift.”

Zuko picks up the gift, examining it from every angle. Katara watches him carefully as his deft fingers unwrap the parcel, untying the strings and peeling off the layers. Nestled in the folds is a stack of small, unassuming-looking, semi-circular cakes.

“It’s a mooncake,” says Katara hurriedly. “A traditional Water Tribe recipe. Probably not a very special gift but my mom used to make them for birthdays-”

Zuko is already digging into the stack. He takes a bite, makes a sound of appreciation, and polishes off the whole cake. “Is there fruit jam inside?!” he asks in delight, mouth full. He offers a cake to her and picks another for himself.

“Yes!” She grins. “Salmonberry jam. I spent days in the palace kitchen, trying to get the thickness of the filling right. It needs to be the right amount of oozy…”

The words die on her tongue. Zuko is licking the jam off his fingers. She puts down her cake, suddenly very flustered.

Zuko looks up as she falls silent. Their eyes meet and the moment holds still. They’ve been dancing around each other for the past two years, longer than that, if she’s honest. Lingering looks, not-so-accidental touches, charged banter…she’s been noticing it more in their interactions lately, whether it’s quiet picnics beside the turtleduck pond or heated fights during state meetings. And now this connection, whatever it may be, is threatening to make itself known in very real ways. Katara has half a mind to brush off the moment with a flippant remark.

It’s Zuko who breaks the silence. “You look beautiful, by the way,” he comments. She’s wearing a traditional Fire Nation gown, richly embroidered in threads of red and gold, but her hair—

“Your hair is braided Water Tribe style. It looks good on you.”

She smiles, fighting off a blush. “Thank you.”

He’s not done. He runs his hand through his hair, seemingly gathering courage for something. “Katara, I-”

There’s a rustle behind her. She spins around. Her body falls into a fighting stance before she can even register what she’s seeing.

A man has climbed over the balcony and dropped to his feet. Clad in black from head to toe, he grins at Zuko. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Who are you? What do you want?” He sounds calm but like her, he too is in a fighting stance, feet planted solidly on the floor, hands balled into fists at his side. Gone is the rumpled, cake-loving boy—in his place stands a deadly warrior.

“I’m no one, and everyone,” the intruder replies coolly, pacing from side to side.

“Catchy,” says Katara, not taking her eyes off him, cursing herself for not having her water canteen on her. “But that tells us nothing. Why are you here?”

He turns to her, appraising her from head to toe. “Good question. I’m here because I was told he’d be alone. Instead, I find him here with a date. Anyway, doesn’t matter. The more the merrier.”

“What do you want?” Zuko repeats, his voice a low growl.

“You, of course.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Zuko punches out a plume of flame so bright it turns night into day. But the assassin is ready. He moves his arm and a smooth disc of metal grows in his hand, blocking the fire and dispersing it on all sides. Katara averts her head from the heat. “He’s a metalbender!” she yells.

The fire had evaporated all the water from the air; Katara draws every drop she can muster from the soil and plants around her, sending Oromi a mental apology, and takes control of the water. There’s not enough room for one of her signature water whips. She flings ice daggers at the same time Zuko attacks with a rapid series of fireballs. Forced to parry their combined charges, the assassin should have been cornered and trapped, and that should have been the end of it.

But with a twist of his hand, the man curves his metal shield, deflecting her daggers and sending them onto the fireballs. There’s a great sizzle and a large cloud of steam mushrooms in the air. Taking advantage of the distraction, he tosses something at Zuko.

“Zuko!” she shouts. She hears a yelp of pain and a thud. The steam is still hanging in the air; she can’t see. She frantically bends the vapour, blowing it away into the night sky, beyond the balcony. Cool air rushes in, stinging her scalded skin. Her sight clears. And there’s Zuko on the ground, squirming, as twisting ropes of metal wrap around his ankles, wrists, torso, and most alarmingly, his neck. Katara moves towards him.

The assassin laughs. “One more step, girl, and I squeeze the life out of him.” The rope around Zuko’s neck tightens and he chokes.

Katara stops. Her mind is working rapidly, one eye on the bindings around Zuko, and one eye on the assassin. She’s out of breath, her hair is burned, her gown is ripped in places, and she’s out of water. She hadn’t worn a water canteen with her water gown. She hadn’t expected trouble inside the palace. She’d grown complacent. And now that was going to cost Zuko his life.

“If you’re going to kill me, just get on with it,” spits Zuko between gritted teeth. “But let her go.”

“Zuko, shut up. I’m not going anywhere.”

“How about this, I torture the Fire Lord, extract some information out of him, and then kill you both. How does that sound?”

“Why are you doing this?” asks Katara.

“To return things to the way they were, of course.”

She snorts. “Heard that before.”

A furious look splits his face. “You wouldn’t understand, little waterbender. Go back to your primitive backwaters and don’t interfere.”

Katara glances up at the starry sky. Get him angry, keep him talking.

“How come a metalbender is interfering with the Fire Nation’s state of affairs then?”

“I’m not interfering! I have a personal stake in this.”

“What, money? Did some disgruntled Fire Nation lord pay you to topple the throne? Or are you a Azula sympathiser, clinging to some romantic notions of an autocracy? Or god forbid, are you one of those nutjobs who want to bring Ozai back?” She mocks a look of disgust and horror.

The man clenches and unclenches his jaw. She can sense that his anger is rising, he’s bursting to defend himself.

“Okay I have two more guesses.” Katara is talking faster now. The ropes are now cutting into Zuko’s skin. Despite the pain, he’s been keeping quiet. Perhaps he knows what she’s up to. “You’re an ex Dai Li agent who turned to metalbending and is now taking revenge. No? How about-”

The assassin hurls a block of metal at her stomach, knocking the wind out her. “You’re getting on my nerves now. You’re that waterbender girl, aren’t you? The one who was with the Avatar? I expected better from you. All you have is talk. You don’t have water, what are you going to do?”

And it’s at that exact moment, the clouds in the sky disperse and the full moon reveals itself.

Katara rises up and grins, a slow, unnerving grin. She couldn’t have timed it better herself.

“I don’t need water.”

The man doesn’t know what hits him. One moment he’s in full control, the other he’s a puppet in her hands.

“What is happening to me,” he cries out in fear and pain as his body contorts against his will. The ropes binding Zuko fall away and he springs to his feet. “Keep him there!”

“Gladly,” replies Katara with a grim smile. A fury like she’d never felt before rises in her stomach and she flops the assassin around like a grotesque marionette. He hurt Zuko and he is going to pay for this…

Moments that feel like eternities later, Zuko returns with the palace guards. She releases her control and the man crashes to the floor. Looking shocked and horrified, he scrambles away from her and straight into the waiting arms of the guards.

She rests against a vine-covered wall, suddenly exhausted.

As the guards take the would-be assassin away, the Head Guard insists on staying with Zuko or taking him inside to the medical wing. Zuko shoos them away impatiently. He has eyes only for her.

Once they’re alone, he approaches her. “Are you okay?”

“I should be the one asking you that.”

“I’m fine.” He shows her his neck and wrists where he’d tried to burn through the rope, but the hot metal had only burned him in return. “Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

“I’m sorry about your garden,” she says, gesturing at the dead plants, burnt flowers, and wrecked furniture.

“In retrospect the hanging ivy was a security hazard.”

She laughs. Then sighs. “We’ll need to question the man, find out who he is, what he meant by information-”

Zuko places a hand on her shoulder. “Tomorrow. We’ll deal with him tomorrow.”

Katara leans into him, glad for the support. “You didn’t tell me what you thought of the mooncakes.”

“Katara, I would love the mooncakes even if they tasted of ash.”

“Well, you got your wish.” She smiles and points at the trampled cakes that had been unfortunate enough to come into contact with one of Zuko’s fireballs.

“Another crime to add to the man’s tally.” His expression turns serious. “You were amazing out there, Katara. The bloodbending. You saved my life.”

Katara shifts. While the others had never outright spoken about it, she knew they disapproved of her bloodbending—it was too violent, it was too destructive, it wasn’t like her, etc. etc. But Zuko…the quiet awe is Zuko’s voice is devoid of any judgement. She remembers the same non-judgemental support from the time they went looking for her mother’s killer.

“I want to know what it feels like,” he whispers.

“What?”

Zuko steps closer to her. “I want you to bend my blood. I want to experience what it feels like.”

“What—but no—it’ll hurt you!”

“I should know about it from the training point of view. What if I have to face a bloodbender in battle one day?” he says, matter-of-factly. Then his voice drops to something deep and low. “Besides, I’ve always been curious ever since I saw your bloodbend.”

Katara has a strong feeling that they’re about to cross a line of no return. “Are you sure?”

“I trust you,” is his simple reply.

So Katara goes for it. With trembling fingers, she makes figures in the air, just like Hama had taught her, but gentler, much gentler. She can feel his heart pumping, the blood flowing through his veins. There’s something strangely intimate about having access to his body like this. Zuko watches his hand rise up in the air above his head and come back to rest on her shoulder. He lets out a hiss that could either be of pain or of amazement.

This feeling—of having power over someone, making them do whatever she wanted—was always something that had excited her about bloodbending, and made her feel ashamed of it at the same time. But this was something different. Having power over Zuko, moving his body whatever way she wanted, but only because he was letting her…it ignited something very different in her. An excitement like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Longing. Desire.

She releases the bloodbending and looks up at Zuko. His pupils are dilated. And he’s looking at her with the same excitement. Longing. Desire.

“I had this whole speech planned,” he says hoarsely. “With the candles and the flowers and the cushions under the stars.”

“Another crime to add to the man’s tally,” she repeats in a whisper, their faces closer than ever.

“Should I make my speech now? Katara,” he begins dramatically, “I have known how I felt about you ever since-”

“Zuko,” she advises. “Shut up.”

And they spend the rest of the night in the ruined wreckage of the garden, under the starry sky, on cushions slightly sticky with salmonberry jam, doing a whole lot of shutting up.

Leave a comment on ao3 or read more of my work!

#zutara #zutara fanfiction #my fanfiction #my writing #zuko x katara #zutara fic #zutara fanfic #zutara au

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journeythroughjourneytothewest · 5 months

Text

Chapter Nineteen recap: At Cloudy Paths Cave, Wukong takes in Eight Rules; At Pagoda Mountain, Tripitaka receives the Heart Sutra.

This chapter begins with a chase between Zhu Ganglie and Sun Wukong, with the pig yaoguai fleeing in the form of “flaming light” and the monkey “riding the rosy clouds…right behind.” This goes on until the reach a tall mountain, where Zhu Ganglie resumes his original form and takes out “a nine-pronged muckrake to fight.” Yet before they do so, the Monkey King shout-asks this yaoguai to “make a full confession” on his abilities, origin, and how he knows “old Monkey’s names.” Zhu Ganglie is happy to oblige. He proceeds to recount in poetry how a “true immortal” had set him on the path of divinity, allowing him to ascend to a place in the heavens as a “marshal of the Celestial Stream” where he “took command of both sailors and ships.” This was all ruined, however, when during one of the Queen Mother’s Peaches Feasts Zhu Ganglie “got dead drunk” and sexually harassed Chang’e the moon goddess. He even grew so violent that Zhu Ganglie almost toppled “the arch of Heaven’s gate” when Chang’e refused him. The Jade Emperor had first thought to punish this transgression with death, but thanks to the interjection of the Gold Star of Venus this sentence was lightened to “two thousand blows/My flesh was torn; my bones did almost crack.” Afterwards the former marshal was banished from Heaven, and was reborn into his “sinful destination” through the error of his soul getting into the womb of a pig.

Sun Wukong now recognizes this yaoguai as “the Water God of the Heavenly Reeds, who came to earth.” It is, as such “Small wonder you knew old Monkey’s name.” Zhu Ganglie proceeds to call the Monkey King a “Heaven-defying BanHorsePlague” and to berate him because when he “caused such turmoil that year in Heaven, you had no idea how many of us had to suffer because of you.” The two yaoguai than proceed to fight “in the middle of the mountain, in the middle of the night.”

They battle until daybreak, at which point Zhu Ganglie “fled in defeat,” changing “once more into a violent gust of wind” and going straight to his cave, locking the door and “refusing to come out.” As he did with the Black Wind King, Sun Wukong responds to this situation by going back to give his report to Tripitaka. Overhearing the current situation, Mr. Gao beseeches the pilgrims again to “do us the favor of apprehending” Zhu Ganglie, and that there will be “a generous reward” if they do. Yet now Sun Wukong questions the old patriarch’s desire to be rid of his current son-in-law, as “Much of what you were able to accumulate these last few years you owe to his strength.” Pilgrim Sun also makes the (dubious) claim that the pig yaoguai “has not harmed your daughter in any way,” and that as such this sort of son-in-law “would be a good match for your daughter and your family.” Mr. Gao simply states that they want Zhu Ganglie gone because though “this matter may not offend public morals, it does leave us with a bad name.” Sun Wukong then promises to “apprehend the monster for certain,” and flies off.

Without preamble, the Monkey King bounds back up the mountain and with “a few strokes of the iron rod reduced the doors to dust,” demanding that Zhu Ganglie fight with him once again. He finds the pig yaoguai inside still “trying to catch his breath,” yet Zhu Ganglie is ready to battle with Sun Wukong again after some exchanged insults. At the Monkey King’s teasing question Zhu Ganglie further gives a recital on the merits of his rake, which we learn is a powerful weapon that was first given to him as a gift by the Jade Emperor as “a sign of royal grace.” In response to this information on the power of the rake, Sun Wukong puts away his as-you-will cudgel and tells the pig yaoguai that he will give him a free hit. Zhu Ganglie “did indeed raise his rake high and bring it down with all his might; with a loud bang, the rake made sparks as it bounced back up. But the blow did not make so much as a scratch on Pilgrim’s head.” The Monkey King smugly gives a shaken Zhu Ganglie an account of everything that had gone into forging his invulnerability. Zhu Ganglie then asks Sun Wukong why he’s so far away from the Water-Curtain Cave of the Flower-Fruit Mountain, especially since his name “hasn’t been heard of for a long time.” It is only now that the Monkey King lets the pig yaoguai know that he’s “left the Daoist to follow the Buddhist” to accompany Tripitaka “on his way to the Western Heaven to seek scriptures from Buddha,” and that they had passed through Gao Village as part of that journey.

Hearing this, Zhu Ganglie immediately throws his muckrake aside and asks Sun Wukong to introduce him to Tang Sanzang, as the pig yaoguai is “a convert of the Bodhisattva Guanshiyin” and that she had asked him years ago to accompany the scripture pilgrim “so that I might atone for my sins with my merit and regain the fruits of Truth.” After forcing Zhu Ganglie to swear he’s telling the truth to heaven, burn down his Cloudy Paths Cave, and give the monkey his muckrake, Sun Wukong ties up the pig yaoguai and drags him by his ear back to the Gao Family Village.

As the two are immortals who can ride the clouds, in no time at all the monkey and the pig yaoguai are back at the village and Sun Wukong has dragged Zhu Ganglie in front of Tang Sanzang and the immediate members of old Mr. Gao’s family. Zhu Ganglie kowtows to Tripitaka, apologizing for not coming to meet him and telling the monk that if only he had known he was the scripture pilgrim that he would have come at once to pay his respects. After Sun Wukong shouts and strikes him, Zhu Ganglie further gives “a full account of how the Bodhisattva had converted him.” All of this greatly pleases Tripitaka, and the monk borrows some incense from Mr. Gao so that he can thank the Bodhisattva. Zhu Ganglie is then untied, and the pig yaoguai declares his intention to accompany Tang Sanzang to the west. He also bows to Sun Wukong “addressing him as ‘elder brother’ because he was the senior disciple.” Since Tripitaka wants to give him a religious name, Zhu Ganglie lets the monk know he already has one in Zhu Wuneng (Awake to Power). The pig yaoguai then asks if, since he had “maintained a strict vegetarian diet in my father-in-law’s house,” if he could now “be released from my vegetarian vow.” Horrified at the very notion, Tang Sanzang gives his new disciple the name “Eight Rules” to remind him to not eat the five forbidden viands and the three undesirable foods. And so the pig yaoguai gains his moniker Zhu Bajie.

Delighted at the “happy ending of this whole affair,” the old patriarch Mr. Gao orders a spending vegetarian feast to thank the Tang Monk. Sun Wukong also tells Zhu Bajie that since “you have embraced Buddhism and become a monk, please don’t ever mention ‘your humble wife’ again. There may be a married Daoist in this world, but there’s no such monk.” During the meal, Tang Sanzang refuses the wine Mr. Gao offers him as he has “not touched any kind of forbidden food since childhood.” He does let Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong have some if they don’t get drunk.

After the meal is over, old Mr. Gao offers the monk a good sum of money and some fine clothes as travel expenses. Tang Sanzang refuses it all—saying that it’s enough that they take the leftovers from the feast—but Sun Wukong takes a handful of the monkey and gives it to Gao Cai, as “remuneration for being a guide.” Zhu Bajie, however, says that even though his new shifu and elder disciple may not want these goods, he had worked the Gao household for several years and that as such “the payment for my services should be worth more than three stones of rice!” At the pig yaoguai’s request, Mr. Gao gives his former son-in-law a new cassock of blue silk and a new pair of shoes. Swaggering around in his new outfit, Zhu Bajie informs the Gao patriarch that if “we fail in our quest for scriptures, I’ll return to secular life and live with you again as your son-in-law.” After some more yelling, the three Buddhists then set off, with Zhu Bajie carrying the luggage in the back and Sun Wukong leading the way.

This group travel uneventfully for a month until they encounter the Pagoda Mountain. Zhu Bajie lets his companions know that there’s no danger, though a “Crow’s Nest Chan Master lives there, practicing austerities.” Sure enough, they soon come upon a “fragrant juniper tree” surrounded by animals from mountain monkeys to phoenixes and that’s topped with “a nest made of dried wood and grass.” The Chan Master emerges from this nest and jumps down so that he and the pilgrims can exchange greetings. At Tripitaka’s questioning, the Chan Master tells the scripture monk that the Great Thunderclap Temple is still “very far away,” and that the “road is a difficult one, filled with tigers and leopards.” He also gives Tang Sanzang a Heart Sutra that when recited will ensure he does “not suffer any injury or harm.” Tripitaka prostrates himself on the ground “and begged to receive it, whereupon the Chan Master imparted the sutra by reciting it orally.” And because Tripitaka was “spiritually prepared,” he could “remember the Heart Sutra after hearing it only once.” It was because of him, in fact, that the world still has this “comprehensive classic for the cultivation of Perfection, the very gateway to becoming a Buddha.”

Having blessed the Tang monk with the sutra, the Chan Master moves to return to his crow’s nest. Tripitaka, however, “held him back and earnestly questioned him again about the condition of the road to the West.” Laughing, the Chan Master gives an account of the terrors the monk will face, though Sun Wukong laughs with scorn at this information, enraged at the Chan Master’s words that “An old stone ape of many years /Now nurses over there his spite! /Just ask that acquaintance of yours; /Well he knows the way to the West.” After the Chan Master had returned to his crow’s nest by changing into “a beam of golden light,” Sun Wukong tries to hit him with his iron rod, “but garlands of blooming lotus flowers were seen together with a thousand-layered shied of auspicious clouds. Though Pilgrim might have the strength to overturn rivers and seas, he could not catch hold of even one strand of the crow’s nest.” Finally Tripitaka pulls his eldest disciple back, and Zhu Bajie encourages the party to move on, noting as well that the Chan Master said that they are soon to meet a water sprite.

Whether the Chan Master is correct or not is a question that will have to be answered in the next chapter.

#journey to the west #xiyouji #jttw #jttw chapter recap #jttw reading group #jttw book club #sun wukong #monkey king #tang sanzang #tripitaka #zhu bajie #zhu wuneng

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swearingcactus · 2 years

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FC4 Names Chinese Translation and Re-translated back to English

cus y'know. im a sucker for this and i have pleco. I got the names from this Chinese article about the game . As far as I know, Mandarin Chinese translations of names usually just find the closest Chinese word that sounds like the foreign name. (a wild example: the Joestar in Jojo is translated to: 喬斯達 (qiáo sī dá) even though 'star' has its own word: 星 (Xīng). so, the meaning for each word that makes up the name doesn't usually matter to the original name/character). Mainly I'm just listing the translation & words down for my own amusement :)

Ajay Ghale - 阿杰·盖勒 (Ā jié·gài lēi)

The 阿 /'A' sound is usually used as a prefix to a nickname 杰 (jié) = outstanding person, hero, prominent. (very fitting) 盖 (gài) = it can be a surname / a word that means: lid, shell, canopy. 勒 (lēi) = rein in/force/command/to bind

Pagan Min - 蒲甘·明 (Pú gān·míng)

蒲甘 (Pú gān) = translation for Bagan(Pagan) as in the ancient capital of Myanmar (previously Burma). 明 (míng) = it can be a surname / a word that means: sight, bright, brilliant.

there are several Min surnames including this 闵 which can also mean 'to feel sorrow/to mourn' --so I don't know why they changed it to Ming in the Mandarin Chinese translation. Otherwise, Pagan's name is very literal.

Sabal - 沙巴尔 (Shābā ěr)

Sabal's characters doesn't really mean anything. the 沙/Shā can mean sand/grit but that's about it.

Amita - 阿米塔 (Ā mǐ tǎ)

阿 (Ā)= same 'A' as Ajay's. 米 (mǐ)= rice 塔 (tǎ)= buddhist pagoda/tower (ironic)

Bhadra - 巴德拉 (Bā dé lā)

巴 (Bā) = just a compound word 德 (dé)= virtue, morals, heart, kindness, favor :(( 拉 (lā)= pull

Paul "de Pleur" Harmon - 保罗·“德普勒”·哈蒙 (Bǎoluó·“dé pǔ lè”·hā méng) god that's a mouthful.

保罗 (Bǎoluó) = literally 'Paul'. > 保 / Bǎo means protect/guarantee. > 罗/ luó means a net (for catching birds)/trap/sieve 哈 (hā) = breathe out (with mouth open), if you duplicate this character it makes the onomateopia for laughing too 蒙 (méng) = ignorance, illiteracy by coincidence the 'de Pleur' nickname features a lot of shared characters with the other cast. > the 德/de part is the same as Bhadra's. > 普 / pǔ means 'general/universal.' > the 'leur' sound is translated to 勒 (lè) which can also be read as (lēi) that makes up Ajay's 'Ghale'.

Noore Najjar - 诺尔·娜迦 (Nuò'ěr·nà jiā)

诺尔 (Nuò'ěr) = Mongolian word for lake > 诺 (Nuò) = promise/yes

娜 (nà) = elegant/graceful. often used phonetically in feminine names 迦 (jiā) = also used phonetically for foreign names

Yuma Lau - 尤玛·刘 (Yóu mǎ·liú)

*tries not to make a yo ma joke*

尤 (Yóu) = outstanding / particularly 玛 (mǎ) = usually used for foreign names/words.

As opposed to Pagan's surname that got changed, Yuma's is actually consistent. Her surname 'Lau' is Cantonese but is read as Liu in Mandarin Chinese. Liu is a pretty common surname but can also mean a type of battle-axe, to kill/slaughter. very fitting imo :)!! Bonus Round:

Ishwari - 伊什瓦莉 (Yī shén wǎ lì)

伊 (Yī) = doesn't really mean anything, usually used before a word/expression. 什 (shén) = also doesn't really mean anything. it makes up the word for 'what'. (i think it's a missed opportunity to not use 神 which is also read as shén but means god/deity) 瓦 (wǎ) = primordial spindle / tile 莉 (lì) = female name that means sweet and pretty Mohan Ghale - 莫汗·盖勒 (Mò hàn·gài lēi)

莫 (Mò) = no one, nothing, do not 汗 (hàn)= sweat ah yes the founder of the Golden Path : Do Not Sweat also fun fact: the translation for 'Ghale' (盖勒) is also used for the Western surname 'Geller' so technically Ross and Monica Geller from the hit 90's sitcom Friends share the same Chinese translated surname as Ajay. another fun fact, the name 'Jason' is commonly translated to 杰森 (Jié sēn) so Jason also has the same word in his name as Ajay's that means 'hero'. (the (sēn) means forest)

*if this passes any native speaker who found anything wrong, please lemme know and i'll edit!

#far cry #far cry 4 #far cry analysis

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