What Terrible Thing That Happen To The Monk? Are There Adaptions That Do Address These Themes At All?

What terrible thing that happen to the monk? Are there adaptions that do address these themes at all?

Descriptions of sexual assault & violence & suicide under the read more:

I'm assuming you're talking about Tang Sanzang anon and well a better question would be what DIDN'T happen to this poor guy. I'm going to make this post more of an abbreviation (though I might make a longer one if people would be interested a summary of the monk's traumatizing life events from the entirety of Xiyouji), but the tragedies and brutalities of Tang Sanzang's life basically start from the moment he was born.

His father had been killed by a bandit chief who then pretended to be him (making him another one of Xiyouji's imposter characters), and to save a fresh-out-of-the-womb Xuanzang from being killed by this bandit chief his mom sent him down a river after scribbling a hasty note explaining who this baby is & biting off one of his toes in the hopes that he would survive & that she could recognize him later on. He's saved by an elderly Buddhist abbot who then tells Xuanzang about the letter some 18 years later. Xuanzang goes through all kinds of hell to save his mom and restore his dad to life, but not long after the family is reunited at last his mom commits suicide and Xuanzang goes back to the monastery before soon afterwards being selected to be the monk who will retrieve the sutras and through them save countless souls.

Of course the journey is an extremely rocky one from the very beginning, as very soon into it Tang Sanzang and his two human companions get captured by yaoguai, and the two companions are devoured alive while Tang Sanzang watches on in horror. He only escapes through divine intervention. He's then menaced by a number of tigers, and his first encounter and act of freeing Sun Wukong soon results in the monkey trying to kill him. Here Tang Sanzang is only saved through the use of the headband-tightening sutra.

During the main journey itself a whole multitude of yaoguai capture and plan to eat Tang Sanzang in a variety of ways, sometimes described humorously and other times the fucked-up ness of this whole situation is really delved into. The first time that Tang Sanzang is captured for example is particularly grisly because of the detail provided into how the yaoguai divide up his two companions, and how they plan to eat him tomorrow. Besides the constant threat of being eaten a whole bunch of lady yaoguai also attempt to "marry" him so that they can become immortal through essentially raping Tang Sanzang and getting his "primal sperm." None of them succeed in this, but based on the description in the Anthony C. Yu translation I think you could characterize a number of these scenes as pretty obviously sexual assault. In the yaojing scorpion arc, for example, Tang Sanzang is coerced into her bedchamber because "he was afraid that she might decided to take his life [if he didn't]. He had no alternative but to follow her into the fragrant room, trembling all the while. Completely in a stupor, he raised neither his eyes nor his head." And even while the emphasis is on how Tang Sanzang is a "marvelous monk" because he "showed no sign whatever that he had been aroused," it's also written that "though the female fiend tugged and pulled at him and refused to let go, our master doggedly rejected her advances." Which, you know, this whole spending an entire night groping someone who couldn't make it more clear that he hates this and wants nothing to do with her is pretty fucked up from start to finish on the scorpion yaojing's part! And that's in addition to her kidnapping Tang Sanzang and holding him hogtied in her cave because she got mad that he managed to not get an erection (side note that one of the assumptions that further ostracizes and stigmatizes men who've suffered sexual assault is the assumption that erection=sexual arousal and therefore consent). If memory serves correctly this is the worst of such scenes, but there are a few others that bear similarities to it.

To my knowledge there's no retelling of Xiyouji that addresses Tang Sanzang's traumatic events in detail. Which does on a number of levels make sense, as many retellings want to keep themselves at least somewhat family friendly. This means for example no showing Sun Wukong beating people into "meat patties" and no portrayal of the monk being molested. But as it is stories that deal with sexual assault in a mature and compassionate manner & without being exploitative are few and far between (hell even Xiyouji doesn't do this), and those that do this when the victim is male seem to be all but nonexistent. As is rape/sexual assault in fiction seems to have long been used as one of the go-tos in order to give women tragic backstories, whereas with men it's frequently portrayed as a source of comedy. Honestly I think it could potentially make for an amazing retelling if Tang Sanzang's trauma was given appropriate weight and where he was written partially as an "imperfect victim" who lashes out at Sun Wukong through the headband tightening spell because this monkey is A) a yaoguai who literally did try to kill him and B) the only yaoguai that the monk has some level of clear power through violence over. But again that kind of retelling would have to be handled with a level of care and nuance that I've yet to see in any Xiyouji adaptation.

The Owl House was cancelled

That is something you guys need to remember. This show was cancelled. There was so much content that we were supposed to get but didn't because a few Disney execs decided that their best show since Gravity Falls wasn’t good enough to keep on their platform.

You have to understand, Dana didn't want this. We were supposed to have more. We were supposed to see how Hooty and Eda met, Caleb when he was alive, Darius's mentor, the Hagside kids, Manny, more Gus centered episodes, the Bat Queen's holder, more of Raine and Eda's relationship, etc.

But because only a few Disney execs decided that this show was too gay… oh, sorry “wasn't their brand'' they cancelled it.

You absolutely have the right to be mad. But do not direct that hatred to Dana or The Owl House. Disney is your enemy.

Lego Monkie Kid Spotlight AU

What if, when Macaque came back, he didn't want revenge. What if did at first, just a few fights with Wukong that he lost every time, but eventually went "whats the point in this?" and moves on? What if he went to one of the few things that still brought him comfort: Theater.

Welcome to the Macaque-Preforms-In-Musicals AU, aka Spotlight AU

Everything is exactly the same. But one day, MK drags Wukong to a musical Mei got tickets for, Heathers to be exact (cuz i say so). Mei got three, and the third was supposed to be for Tang, but he got hella sick before and couldn't go (he was VERY upset about it. poor guy) so MK convinces Wukong to tag along so the ticket didn't go to waste. Wukong is in his hoodie, all slumped in his chair, thinking this was a waste of time and maybe he could just nap until the end. And that was his plan, really. He tries to block out the noise, tries to just sleep, but then hears-

"September 1st, 1989. Dear Diary-"

And he sits up cuz he KNOWS that voice. He knows it like he knows his own. He sits up and, lo and behold, Macaque was center stage as Veronica Sawyer (also cuz i say so). Wukong is in shock. He hadn't seen Macaque in years, and now he was performing in a musical? He wasn't surprised at that, at least. He knew how much Macaque loved performing.

He just... wasn't expecting it. He also wasn't expecting to get jealous during Dead Girl Walking, or to cry during Seventeen. And when MK saw him crying, borderline sobbing, he just assumed Wukong REALLY liked the musical.

MK and Mei have no idea who the darker monkey is, of course. They just see an actor with an amazing voice and hella good skills. Wukong knows though. He hardly pays attention to the story, eyes zeroed in on Macaque alone, ears only tuned into his voice. It was weird, seeing him so close (cuz of course Mei had to get seats close to the stage) without them trying to tear each others throats out.

And when the musical came to an end, he stood with everyone else, clapping. Macaque is all smiles and sweat, bowing with his fellow cast members. His eyes go over the crowd and eventually fall onto a familiar shade of gold. He didn't flinch, he didn't react, but his smile faltered ever so slightly. And as soon as the curtain fell, he ran to his dressing room to try and breathe.

He did all of this to AVOID Wukong. He knew the king never liked the theater arts, only ever enjoying the ones Macaque were in or held. But now he was here, clapping with tears in his eyes.

When he leaves to go home, Wukong's waiting for him. He tries to talk to him, his words stuttered and awkward, but Macaque shuts it down fast.

"I don't want to hear it, Wukong," he says. "Leave me alone. I've moved on. You should to." And walks past him.

Wukong was hurt, but not surprised. He tries to honor Macaque's wishes, TRIES to leave him alone... but apparently MK thinks Wukong would LOVE to keep going to musicals with them.

He tries to say no, but can't really come up with a good excuse. I mean, he can't rlly say 'sorry kid, but my ex that i kinda sorta killed is starring in a lot of them and he still doesnt like me and asked me to leave him alone. so i cant come with you, sorry.'

So he goes, but with a better disguise. That better disguise being a different colored hoodie and sunglasses. Cuz macaque totally wont recognize him that way.

I literally came up with this last night, so I haven't worked out all the details yet. This is a shadowpeach au tho, and they do eventually make up <3

it's okay, to be upset if your fave show gets cancelled because of the strike. it's okay to feel frustrated, sad, or outright angry, to have something you love get unfairly taken away from you.

but don't blame the writers.

the writers strike, should it work, will lead to more good shows- possibly continuations of your faves, or more shows of amazing quality that you'll love. the writers are doing that for you, to let there be future writers to tell great stories down the line.

so don't get mad at them

get mad at the studios, the people in charge, the ones who refused to meet the writers reasonable demands. the writers didn't go right into strike- they tried to make a deal first- and the studios said no. if the studios hadn't refused, there wouldn't be a strike right now.

so if you're going to vent your understandable tears and frustrations with the situation at anyone- direct it at the studios.

Disney vs. DeSantis is so funny because it's like. Neither side even wanted to get into this. Here's how it's supposed to go: Politician does something stupid. Corporation disavows politician after public pressure. Politician disavows the disavowing. Nothing changes for either party.

But then the Florida governor got stars in his eyes. He saw an opportunity to bolster his standing before the presidential primary. He wanted to be the one who took on The Mouse and won. So in retaliation he decides he's going to tear down the decades-old agreement Disney uses to govern Disney World's district.

And just like that, Disney's batshit insane legal department turns towards Florida like the Eye of Sauron spotting the ring at Mount Doom. They smell lost profit. They smell blood.

Disney will use any and every strategy they've accumulated over the last century of lobbying congress and DeSantis can't back down lest he admit Mickey Mouse beat his ass. He's lost control of Disney World's district even more than he already did. Now he's getting sued.

This all started because Disney was pressured into backtracking their political contributions to Florida and disavowing the Don't Say Gay law. Now they're fighting for something they actually care about: their profit margin. Disney is not an ally to queer people and they're an enemy to progressives, but damn am I rooting for them to keep humiliating the greater evil for the time being. This is high comedy.