Monkey and Tripitaka

Please, take care of my baby. She is quiet and never cries.

Tripitaka, noticing it’s Monkey:

Tripitaka’s story is about a woman learning how to resist being marginalized by the stories of men. 

Tripitaka starts with the belief that Monkey’s story is the important one and that hers only has worth so far as it drives his forward. All her actions in the first episode are about freeing him. Once he’s free, she assumes that her only real power is influencing him to act, either via the crown or by directly convincing him. 

Basically, she sees herself as the Herald, delivering the call to adventure to the real hero of the story. (Note that she sacrifices her female identity to do even this much). 

This belief is reinforced by Monkey, who suffers the conceit that everything is all about him. He openly dismisses her at first, scoffing at the quest and mocking her authority. He constantly doubts her ability to save him and when she does manage it (twice), he won’t thank her to her face, instead telling her condescendingly “I won’t always be there to save you”, subtly re-positioning himself as the hero of the story and her as the plucky sidekick. 

It’s the same way women or non-traditional forms of masculinity are often sidelined in male narratives, their achievements and contributions minimized or glossed over. Monkey isn’t malicious nor does he dislike Tripitaka (quite the opposite), but the harm he does is real. Arguably, her lack of self-worth is what led to her leaving and putting herself in a vulnerable position that Davari was more than happy to take advantage of. 

Unfortunately, while Monkey is thoughtless, Davari is a sprawling weed of toxic masculinity trying to squeeze the story into submission. Right from the start, his goal is to turn Tripitaka into that most powerless of narrative devices: the Damsel In Distress. A woman without agency or story beyond the role she serves in the journeys of men (a means to immortality for one, and an objective to be rescued by the other). He even puts her in a pretty dress and locks her in a tower, just to be a cliche. 

It’s utterly devastating for Tripitaka, who’s well primed to see herself as powerless already. However, it’s also a valuable learning curve, because it’s when she truly starts learning (via cruel necessity) how to defy men who would shape her story to serve them. She looks past Davari’s lies and figures out that he’s dying. She calls his bluff and discovers he can’t harm her. In the end, the only power he has over her is by threatening harm against others, which just positions her as a protector (a role with its own inherent sense of power). 

So when Monkey comes to rescue her, instead of a final transition to Damsel in Distress for Tripitaka, we instead get a thoughtful display of how both characters have grown for the better. 

Whereas Monkey when they first met would rescue Tripitaka without bothering to check that she actually needed rescuing (and nearly killing Sandy in the process), post-character development Monkey now sits down and talks to her. He fills her in on what’s going on, offers her a way out, and respects her decision when she refuses it.

Tripitaka in turn is no longer thinking just of what Monkey can do, but what they both can achieve individually. She refuses the rescue, not because she thinks she’s not worth it, but because she believes a two-pronged attacked will be more effective, with her figuring out what she can do “from the inside”. And while she apologizes for lying to him, she doesn’t apologize for being a girl (a subtle distinction that I appreciated). 

From this point on, she starts taking a direct hand in events. She stumbles and fails along the way, losing the last page of the scroll, but she doesn’t give up. Note that she and Monkey rescue each other at least once during the finale, when he jumps off a balcony to save her and she shows up with Davari’s stolen foot-soldiers to save him. Only together could they wrestle control of the narrative away from Davari. 

So I have a new show obsession, called The New Legends of Monkey.

It sounds cheesy and weird. And it is. But it’s also funny and sweet and really interesting.

Based off the 1970s Japanese show called Monkey, which is based on the Chinese classic Journey to the West,  the Australian New Legends of Monkey is on Netflix. The girl-disguised-as-a-boy-monk Tripitaka frees the legendary Monkey King and travels with him, along with two other gods, to retrieve sacred scrolls that will free their world from demons. I’ve seen people compare it to Avatar: Last Airbender, Mulan, and Inuyasha, which I’d say is fairly accurate; I’d say it’s also very similar to Moana.

The episodes are only 30min long, and so far there’s only one season. I really want another one! I have seen some really good fanfics exploring different theories and I need to know if they’re correct. And honestly I just want more team bonding, handsome-yet-creepy demon lords + Shaman; comedic commentary; Monica; and the godly trio rescuing Tripitaka whenever she invariably gets captured, which is true to the original text (though she’s learned some skills in the last episode so maybe she’ll do better in the second season).

And I wouldn’t mind seeing more of anyone’s backstory, whether it be Tripitaka, Sandy, or Pigsy

Pigsy and Sandy: How could you lose her!?

Imagine New Legends of Monkey if Daxin “Tripitaka” had lived. 

Imagine our spunky lil orphan (Gonna just called her Trip for the sake of clarity) still feeling like she doesn’t have a place after the Scholar is killed, but staying with Daxin-taka because she believes in the mission. Imagine Monkey getting free (either from her or the other guy, I have thoughts both way) and Trip trying to fade into the background, but Monkey notices her (She probably snaps at him while Daxin apologizes for her)

Imagine Daxin trying so hard to live up to the Scholar’s vision, but never quite managing. Imagine Trip pouring her effort into being suppportive and not proactive. Imagine Monkey being intrigued by her, imagine her still being the one to hold the group together, imagine her still being the catalyst for Sandy to leave the shadows and Pigsy to get out of a toxic relationship.

What if Tripitaka was always meant to be Tripitaka? As in, the Scholar knew exactly who and what she would become.

While it’s not an idea I’d like to see on the show (it would undermine the themes about choice and self-determination) it is interesting enough that I wanted to put it out there, just in light of the first episode. I think it changes the significance of the characters’ actions in interesting ways.

Rewind a bit. 

Lets say that the Scholar is… I don’t know… a god with gift of foresight. We know very little about the Scholar, so this contradicts nothing. Maybe he’s the guy who wrote the prophecy in the first place, throwing in some misleading details about Tripitaka being a monk just to muddy the waters. 

Say that he doesn’t know the exact details either, just that Tripitaka needs to be in a specific time and place to free Monkey. So he arranges for some Resistance fighters to accompany her, just in case shit goes down (which it does, just earlier than he expected). He also arranges for Gaxin, a man he trusts absolutely, to act as her decoy/bodyguard, whose sole purpose in life is to make sure she stays alive. 

The other two Resistance members are kept in the dark. All they know is that the Scholar is insisting that his teenage daughter accompany them, which seems highly irresponsible. Tripitaka has no idea either, because you can’t betray a secret you don’t know, and the plan is that either the Scholar or Gaxin will enlighten her at the appropriate time. 

Then the demon rocks up and the aforementioned shit goes down.

The two nameless Resistance fighters go down first, so Gaxin steps up to the plate, and he knows right from the get go, there’s no walking away from this. All he can do is buy time for the Scholar to hide Tripitaka. This is the whole reason he’s here anyway; this is his job. He throws Monkey’s weapon to her (making it look like he missed the demon, but he got exactly what he was aiming for) and when the demon has him by the throat, he gives the mother of all performances. 

Oh, me? Totally Tripitaka. No need to go looking round for anyone else. You got me. (Hehe, sucker). 

His face is precious, he’s so confused.

Because HE can turn into a girl, but MORTALS aren’t supposed to, and he is just so confused. Because his male mortal friend changed sex and it was bashed into his head that that was not a normal thing for anyone else. Not that he really cares which Tripitaka is, but fantasizing about a flat chest and a nice cock then being blindsided by boobs was a bit of a shock. They were nice boobs though. 

But he’s supposed to be betrayed? Davari’s the only one that betrayed him. Davari lied about everything, most of all being his friend. Tripitaka hasn’t changed himself- HERself- just…. the outside bits. That apparently hadn’t changed, they were just covered. For weeks. As they traveled. Truly, he was just really really confused. 

HOW had they missed this? Sure, he- SHE- had been pretty shy, not bathing with them and ducking behind trees to relieve herself, awkward shoulder pats in lieu of hugs for the others, and always sleeping a little too far away from the others.

Didn’t matter. Tripitaka was still Tripitaka, still the one that had released him, believed in him, helped him. Bringing himself back to the present, he resolved to get her out. Offering her the rest of the potion just cemented the fact that she was still herself. Stubborn to a fault. 

He was pretty sure she couldn’t see him when had to take another look. The white robe- gown- sleep thing she had on left little to his imagination. It really was pretty on her. 

The New Legends of Monkey on Netflix.

Guys, I saw one tumblr user describe is as “Mulan meets Xena” and honestly? Yes. 

I adore the “Eh, close enough” attitude it gives to realism. It embraces the cheesiness on the basis of “We just want to tell our story, so moving on!”

It’s not afraid to be serious, or irreverent, or poke fun of itself. It has a great cast, fun storyline, and even when you can tell the trope or plot twist it’s gonna use, it’s still interesting to see how it plays out. It’s kid appropriate, clever, and a fast watch (like 8 or 10 episodes, 30 min each.)

pairing: monkey (king) x reader

summary: tired smiles and soft whimpers + soft smiles and soft hair

wc: 650 (idc i like it)

an: idc this is happening

warnings: excessive fluff, mild-ish spoilers, not proofread

gif not mine!!

A small smile flashed across your face, content with seeing the rather reckless and lively Monkey King sleeping peacefully. His features seemed to smooth out, a rather serene look upon his face, a change from his usual smirk. 

He grumbled slightly in his sleep, moving to rest more of his body on you, warmth emitting from his body in a manner that was far more comfortable than you cared to admit. You involuntarily scooched closer into him, letting his head rest upon your lap, your back against the trunk of a rather large tree. 

You scanned the area around you, sensing no immediate danger, a weary smile appearing across your face at seeing Sandy, Pigsy and Tripitaka all sound asleep a few feet away from you. It had been a long couple of days.

You stifled a yawn. You were tired, probably more tired than you were willing to admit, but even with demons being less of an immediate threat, there was still a very real danger that presented itself in the quest. 

Your hands shot up, unsure of what was happening as Monkey squirmed more into your side, his breathing speeding up momentarily, before steadying, a lazy yawn escaping his lips as he burrowed his head back into your lap, never once waking up. 

You suddenly became hyperaware of your hands, unsure of where to place them, not wanting to disturb his sleep. The last few days seemed to have taken a toll on him the most. You slowly rested your hands on either side of you, fighting the temptation to run your fingers through his incredibly soft looking hair, knowing how he was about his hair. 

You smiled softly, yawning slightly, moving your hand to rub the sleep from your eyes. You couldn’t fall asleep, at least not for the next few hours till it was Sandy’s turn to watch. Your hand fell back to the ground beside you with a small thud, his sleeping face contorting suddenly before the lines soothed themselves, seeming to relax back into sleep. 

You took in a deep breath, resting your head back against the tree trunk, careful not to move so as not to disturb the mischievous god. You shakily exhaled through your lips, fighting to keep your eyelids open no matter how heavy they seemed to be. You tried to focus instead on how you could see your breath in the air, suddenly grateful for the body heat he seemed to give off. 

You looked over at the others, glad to see that none of them seemed to be shivering, or cold in any way. Rather, they all seemed to be as content and peaceful as Monkey, another smile appearing on your face. If anyone deserved rest, it was them. 

A small whine alerted you, sitting up a bit straighter, inching your fingers towards your small dagger which was only slightly out of reach. The small whine continued, and you were less alarmed; it seemed closer and rather pained, and you felt Monkey trying to hide his face in your lap, your furrowed eyebrows relaxing slightly, a flash of concern appearing on your face. He wasn’t particularly loud, but you knew by know that everyone tended to be pretty light sleepers, and it also seemed to twist your heart seeing his face contorted in pain. 

It occurred to you then, that he was having a nightmare, and from the look of betrayal on his face you seemed to understand why. Instinctively, your fingers moved to run through his hair, in a soothing repetitive motion, your fingers slowly massaging his scalp. You moved to remove your hands from his hair, noticing the serene smile on his face. A smile matching his appeared on your face, your fingers continuing to run through his hair, leaning down slightly to kiss the top of his head. 

Tripitaka’s a resourceful young woman with a missing mom whose father figure dies tragically in front of her. She dreams of adventure in the great wide somewhere, works as a maid, disguises herself as a boy and runs away, frees an ancient king from his curse, discovers a whole new world, learns to listen with her heart, falls into a coma, is kidnapped as the key to immortality, grabs an immortal idiot by the ear and demands he fix what he broke, defeats a creepy shadowy shaman, and learns to let it go and accept herself.

And seriously, look at those EYES. 

the new legends of monkey - font demon (1.1)