🎃SPOOKY TIME🎃

The gentle love displayed in Journey to the West actually hits different and I can't explain it without sounding like a crazy person I fear

as someone who was surrounded by toxic masculinity and punished for crying as a child, and in turn had severe fears of vulnerability and displays of emotion, it's genuinely so special to me to find this story about a group of men who cry and express their love for each other so often

to have the Monkey King, a super powerful, respected masculine figure, be motivated by his love for his friends, to cry out of concern for them when they're apart, to so often express his love for them in small and considerate ways, to be happy to hold hands and be affectionate with other men, he's more devoted to his best friend than anything else in the whole world, and he's seen as a safe figure for children and women and generally oppressed peoples??? what the heck /pos

they cry so often, and it's kind of weird and silly to say that affected me, but to have the two main characters (Tripitaka and Wukong,) who are both grown men, cry so often and often over each other, just feels like such a warm hug

And Tripitaka cries all the time, it is because he's The Whump of all time, he's very much supposed to be helpless and a bit pathetic, but also. It means a lot to me. Idk. I like that he cries over literally every little thing, the smallest inconvenience brings him to tears just as much as the life-threatening peril does and I think that's so wonderful

I genuinely did not expect this series to be as much of a comfort as it is but here we are. I'd like to write a more in depth and proper ramble about this and actually sight specific scenes I really enjoyed and everything, but there is quite a lot lmao. one day when I have time to sit down with my metaphorical ink and quill and flip through all the chapters again, I'll draft more synchronized thoughts, because I have THOUGHTS (that no one asked for)

They're so dear to me and become closer friends every volume and that's so special. If you read all this thanks ig lol 🥹