Status Updates From The Journey to the West, Re...

Princess Iron Fan. One of the most popular stories in the Journey. Wukong resuses the same strategy he used early in the book with the Black Bear Demon. And we get another previously unmentioned detail about his invulnerability - he is not impervious to fire but needs to consciously use fire-repellant magic. Again this reminds of how later superhero comics depowered or introduced limits on the hero to allow tension.

Another early example of the old "oh no, they're fighting but which one is the Real one?" An evil imposter Monkey is discovered but how can everyone tell who is who? To solve it, we revisit notable people and places from the start of the book, and even go again to the destination (to remind us Wukong can get there anytime he wants, it's just that Tripitaka has to walk it).

A funny observation you can make about Pigsy is that he's always looking for a chance give up the journey and go home. Several times now something happens and his first response is 'That's it then, we may as well go our separate ways.' You sense he really does want to go back to his 'wife' and live in Gao Village.

Another variant of an earlier story, Wukong kills some bandits who confront Tripitaka. Unhappy at Wukong's excessive violence and murder (he beheads one who we are pointedly told is the son of a kindly farmer who helps the travellers), Tripitaka is unusually harsh in this story. Wukong is back to being Superman after his recent defeats. Him laughing off the various blows dealt him remind me of early Superman comics.

I realise now it's easy to picture these stories as performances. The formulaic repetition from story to story is only obvious when they are collected in book form. Any one of them performed on its own would just be a familiar Journey story. Only when you read them consecutively do you notice many are just variants of the one.

三藏和住八戒怀孕了?????????????????????????? hello ?????

The real antagonist in this story is the unexpected consequences of their actions. Who could possibly have predicted that.

“When Pilgrim heard this, he was filled with anger. ‘These brazen fiends are so audacious! I am protecting the Tang Monk so he may attain the right fruit. How could they plan to devour my man?’”

So, there’s not quite enough to justify shipping Monkey and Tripitaka. But occasionally you can see how the writer of ‘Inuyasha’ looked at this and went: “But what if romance?”

Oh, I really liked this adventure with the spider women and their other arthropod associates!
There's some great 'ick' moments, between them frying up brains to look like bean curd, the way they make silk cords come out of their belly buttons, the swarms of insects that are their adopted sons...
And then the big boss Monkey can't handle gets beaten by a nun with an embroidery needle who's really a hen.

This red-purple kingdom adventure feels particularly random and chaotic.

We've got Monkey playing doctor to the king, then it turns out his illness was caused by anxiety about his queen who's been kidnapped by a demon, and then a bunch of convenient thing happen, but then Monkey can't help having a look at the magic bells, and then panicking and dropping them when they ring and all the fiends come out...

Monkey: Sure, I can cure the king!
Tripitaka: WTF are you doing?! You don’t have a medical degree - are you trying to get us all executed?
Monkey: “I know a few herbal prescriptions which can cure even grave illnesses…But even if I kill him, all I’ll be guilty of is merely manslaughter because of medical incompetence…Relax! Take a seat and see if I’m any good at taking the pulse.”
Tripitaka: 🤦

Monkey: Hey gonggong. Why are you being so generous with the vegetarian goodies?
Old man: Well, we’ve got a monster…
Monkey (bowing): “Thanks for giving me business!”
Pigsy: “Look how he causes trouble! When someone asks him to catch fiends, that person is dearer to him than his maternal grandpa!”
Monkey: Look, I’m bored. No one has tried to eat you guys in like a week!

Monkey: "May I ask from what region did that fiend originate? What sort of treasure is that wrap of his?" (The cloth that keeps scooping up and imprisoning all his allies)
Matireya: "He happens to be a yellow-browed youth in charge of striking the sonorous stone...That wrap is my fertility bag, its common name being 'The bag of human seed'"

Ewww....

Tripitaka: “Oh, Wukong! (Breaking into poetry) I loathe myself for not giving you heed/Thus landing us all in such dire need!…”
Monkey: Aww. “Though that master refused to believe my words…he nonetheless does think of old Monkey when he is in such straits!” (Immediately slips out of ropes and proceeds to rescue everyone)

LOL, did Tripitaka get kidnapped by tree spirits who just want to have a tea and poetry party?

That’s a cute change from demons wanting to eat him, though I’m sure Monkey et al are freaking out.

Monkey: “Your Majesty, the two words Golden Light are not the best, for neither of these is a thing of permanence. Gold, after all, is an unstable substance, and light is air that flickers. Since this humble priest has already exerted such efforts for you, he would suggest that you change the monastery’s name to Dragon-Subduing Monastery.”

Badass rebrand.

Tripitaka: (puts on work clothes to sweep pagoda)
Monkey: The one that got all messed up by a mysterious rain of blood? In the middle of the night? “You may run into something unexpected. How about letting old Monkey be your companion?”
Tripitaka: You know what? Fair.

One of the rare moments I remember I'm reading a religious allegory:

Pigsy: "Let's go back, find another way, and scat!"
Local Spirit: "When you mention finding another way, you are bound to fall into heterodoxy, and you are no longer someone concerned with the proper method of cultivation. As the ancient said, where can one walk but on the main road?"

Scripture pilgrimage crew: “Why the F is there a mountain in the middle of the road that’s ON FIRE?
Local spirit: It’s kinda Monkey’s fault.
Monkey: HOW is this MY fault?!?
Spirit: Remember when you stole immortality pills, and Laozi tried to melt you in his brazier, and you kicked it over? “A few bricks still on fire dropped down to this spot.”
Monkey: Oh. Well, if I steal that magic fan, I can fix this, right?

Buddha: "The knowledge of emptiness is not emptiness/The knowledge of form is not form/When name and action mutually illuminate/Then one has reached the wondrous sound..."
Monkey 1 and monkey 2 (flying past window while fighting): Die, impostor!
Buddha: Um. So you know how I was talking about calm unity of mind? That's how NOT to do it.

('Cause, like Monkey IS the mind. And is fighting himself.)

"A Pilgrim went to his knees to bow to the Bodhisattva, he could no longer restrain the tears from gushing forth and he wailed loudly"
Guanyin: Whoa, what's wrong?
Monkey: (sniffle) Tripitaka kicked me out again!
Guanyin (scanning fortune): Hmm. Hang tight here, he's about to be in trouble again in about 20 min. I'm sure you can make up then.

Tripitaka (praying): Oh, dead bandits, please remember my disciple murdered you, not me.
Monkey: I wouldn't even have BEEN here to kill them if I wasn't assigned to protect you! (knocking on grave) Hey in there! "The Jade emperor knows me...The ten kings of Hell once served as my attendants...You may go anywhere you like to lodge your complaint!"

So passive-aggressive, these two, OMG.

Tripitaka gets kidnapped by a lady scorpion demon who tries to seduce him.

Monkey (finding him tied up): Looks like YOU had an interesting night!
Tripitaka: Shut up. I’d rather die. Just get me out of here already…

OK, so the fact that the empress keeps calling Tripitaka “royal brother” just makes Hua Cheng’ gege and dianxia in ‘Heaven Official’s Blessing more obvious as pet names (in their cultural context). And the fact that Xie Lian is immediately fine with that while Tripitaka is slowly dying inside just makes both funnier.

Empress of the kingdom of women wants to marry Tripitaka and let others continue on.
Monkey: Sure, sounds good. Make sure to have a good wedding banquet!
Tripitaka (immediately freaking out, because monk): "Your tricks are killing me!"
M: "Relax, Master. Old Monkey's not ignorant of how you feel." All part of the plan, boss. Unless you WANT me to have to murder a bunch of human ladies to rescue you?
T: (Sigh) No...

Tripitaka and Pigsy drink from a stream that magically gets them pregnant. They are panicking while Sandy tries to calm them (while also laughing).
Monkey: This is hilarious. But we need to fix it.
Old lady: You need water from the Abortion Stream in the Child Destruction Cave of the Male-Undoing Mountain. But there's an old priest squatting there and charging everyone exorbitant rates to access it...

(Deep sigh)

Dangerous Adventures 🐒🗺️

Shout to the NCE! (So will there be a 2nd NCE since there's 1 more volume? New funder?)

Yeah, that's right, I'm reading both at the same time. (I couldn't find book 2 during my 'laundry reading break' so I grabbed this one, but it's okay because the adventure is episodic so it's pretty easy to just pick up the story without losing the plot).

I spoke too soon