Well, let's get into it, shall we?

When Chapter 26 concluded, the good readers of Things Fall Apart™ decided how they wanted the next chapter to begin.

And so, off we began on a journey starting with none other than Darren Drake the Second. Join me under the cut to breakdown 27:

Hello to everyone, and thank you for a good showing on this first official “meeting” for the Journey to the West reading group. Many thanks to everyone who participated! You comments, memes, art, and meta was all wonderful. To end the day, I will provide a quick chapter recap for anyone who may want or need it. I  hope you all find it useful. Here’s looking forward to next week’s session.

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Chapter 1 covers a LOT, beginning with the primordial figure Pan Gu’s construction of the Universe, the creation of Heaven, Earth, and Man, before we then zoom into Flower-Fruit Mountain. The focus is here put on an immortal stone which, “nourished for a long period by the seed of Heaven and Earth and by the essences of the sun and the moon,” becomes “pregnant with a divine embryo” (i.e. a stone egg), which later on, being “exposed to the wind,” is “transformed into a stone monkey.” Thus is the hero of Xiyouji created!

We then follow the stone monkey as he lives a life of feasting on the fruits of the Earth that Flower-Fruit Mountain provides and becoming friends with everything from tigers to deer to gibbons. And then one fateful day, while playing with a group of monkeys, all these simians decide to follow a mountain stream to its source. Encountering a great waterfall, the monkeys declare that “‘If any of us had the ability to penetrate the curtain and find out where the water comes from without hurting himself, we would honor him as king.’” The stone monkey is the only one to take on the challenge, and, jumping through the waterfall, he discovers a sizeable cave all ready and furnished. The stone monkey, delighted with his discovery, soon convinces the rest of the simians to jump through the waterfall and join him in the cave so that they might “spare ourselves from being subject to the whims of heaven,” i.e. the weather. And so the stone monkey “ascended the throne of kingship” and “assumed the title, Handsome Monkey King.”

The Handsome Monkey King and his subjects, “a flock of gibbons and baboons,” enjoy “their independence in perfect happiness” for “three or four hundred years.” Yet one day during a feast, the king “suddenly grew sad,” soon after explaining to his alarmed subjects that his sorrow comes from fact that though “‘we are not subject to the laws of man today, nor need we be threatened by the rule of any bird or beast, old age and physical decay in the future” will bring an end to their happiness. The monkeys are left weeping, “each one troubled by his own impermanence.” Yet from “among the ranks a bareback monkey suddenly leaped forth” and informs the Monkey King that the Buddhas, the immortals, and the holy sages “can avoid the Wheel of Transmigration as well as the process of birth and destruction, and live as long as Heaven and Earth, the mountains and the streams.” The Monkey King immediately resolves to “find these three kinds of people” so that he can learn how to escape death and be young forever. The monkeys are delighted at this idea, and declare that they will “send the Great King off with a great banquet.”

After an entire day spent drinking and feasting, the Monkey King has his subjects make him a raft, and he sets off in search of the immortals. When he arrives on a distant shore, he soon afterward catches and strips a man of his clothes so that he can wear them himself, “aping the way humans wore them.” The Monkey King then made his way “though counties and prefectures, imitating human speech and human manners,” always “bent on finding the way of the Buddhas, immortals, and holy sages, on discovering the formula for eternal youth.” Yet his search seems fruitless, as “the people of the world were all seekers after profit and fame; there was not one who showed concern for his appointed end.”

The Monkey King is unsuccessful in finding the immortals on one continent, though he spent eight or nine years searching. So he builds himself another raft and drifts across another ocean to another continent. Here he comes across a magnificent mountain, and here encounters a woodcutter that he mistakes for an immortal. Yet this man is neighbors with an actual immortal, and is thus able to tell the Monkey King how he can find “‘the Cave of Slanting Moon and Three Stars. Inside the cave is an immortal by the name of the Patriarch Subodhi, who has already sent out innumerable disciples.”

Finding the cave exactly as the woodcutter told him he could, the Handsome Monkey King nevertheless doesn’t dare to knock. And, being a monkey, he instead “jumped onto the branch of a pine tree, picked a few pine seeds and ate them, and began to play.” Yet doing so works out in his favor; an immortal youth, coming out both because his shifu told him to and to see who was making a disturbance, soon afterwards brings the Monkey King inside to meet Patriarch Subodhi.

As soon as he sees Patriarch Subodhi, the Handsome Monkey King “prostrated himself and kowtowed times without number, saying ‘Master! Master! I, your pupil, pay you my sincere homage.’” And indeed, after being questioned on where he came from, how he got to the immortal’s cave, and even on how he looks and moves, the Patriarch gives the Monkey King the religious name “Sun Wukong,” or “monkey awakened to the void,” accepting the simian as his pupil.

Next time on Gray Matter!

|| This journal will act as a recap for everything that has happened during Chapter 4. This means there will be information that Airi would not realistically know. This is only for the sake of the recap. If you’re confused on who’s who, here’s a link to the roster page. ||

@despot-despair​

It’s been a while. I’m still struggling to pick up this pencil to write about what’s happened in this hell hole. I have to persevere though. If I die, this will be what I leave behind, after all.

ok, so, first of all.

1. the beginning had me a lil shook, tbh, when mc didn't make a scene for the notes. i was so surprised that i actually had a tiny ounce of sympathy for pb.

2. but guess what. ZIG USED MC'S LOTION AND SHE SUDDENLY TURNED INTO MOTHER EFFING REDFIELD. BETCH, IT'S LOTION. GET OVER IT.

3. i was so over this fight and at that point i actually kinda regretted that they didn't fight over the notes, because the lotion thing was even more stupid. and that says a lot.

4. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE FREAKING LOTION? FLOWERS OF LA HUERTA. FLOWERS OF LA HUERTA. MY HEART BROKE AGAIN AND THAT'S THAT.

5. i bought a rug that i don't even like.

6. WE FINALLY GOT SOME ONE ON ONE TIME WITH OUR LI. F-I-N-A-L-L-Y. this is the biggest accomplishment of this chapter, i stg.

7. ABBIE GAVE ME RELATIONSHIP ADVICE AND COMPARED HER AND TYLER TO ME AND ZIG? LIKE, EXCUSE YOU?? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?? now if she thinks she and tyler will EVER come close to mc & zig, she's higher than raj has ever been.

8. the house tour was actually pretty nice? like, the lil stories about vasquez were cute.

9. i LOVED the fact that there was no fratority bullshit in this chapter 💛

10. i have this feeling that mc and zig's relationship kinda became a lil more... static now that they moved in together? when i actually expected it to be the exact opposite? i hope, REALLY HOPE that pb won't mess with them, cause if they do, this app is over for me.

11. mc is dumb and doesn't deserve zig period

all in all, the chapter was still kinda boring, but it was way better than ch. 2. the only things i liked were hooking up with zig against a wall and the fact that, even though he and mc fought over a stupid thing, pb didn't drag it for too long.

We got some good stuff in Chapter 226! This chapter set up a buttload of problems for our sins to overcome.

We’ve got Meliodas trapped in one of Melascula’s dark cocoons. We have a force field around Camelot. The sins are fighting skeleton zombies that have the strength of Meliodas’s wrath. Plus with Melascula in the picture so early, we know that Ban is going to have to make a big choice pretty soon.

In addition to all of these exciting things that have been set up, we had some funny and cute moments with Escanor and Hawk. And who doesn’t love a good Hawk moment?

Not to mention, Melascula looked pretty damn creepy, but like in a cool way.

I liked this chapter a lot. It set up things and got our hearts racing and our mind craving for more. Overall, it was a pretty good chapter.

I was inspired to write this by the pre-stream recap that was first seen in Episode 36. Hope you like it, as I’ve decided to write it in a similar fashion. And I might do this for the other chapters as well, if you guys want it.

Chapter 1 covers Episodes 1-16.

Across the realm of Exandria, there exists a legendary band of adventurers who time and time again risked life and death to ensure the survival of the realm. That band was called Vox Machina. Many know of their humble beginnings, but there is still more to tell.

Upon arriving at the dwarven city of Kraghammer in search of the missing paladin of Bahamut, Lady Kima of Vord, the party samples the culture of the city and its inhabitants, managing to annoy several of its guards in the process. Nevertheless, they set off to inquire with the owner of the mithral quarry, Lord Nostoc Greyspine. After dealing with a hideous abomination of a naga, he reveals that Kima had descended deep into the mines months ago and has not been seen since. He says that he will pay the party handsomely for ridding Kraghammer of the strange creatures that hinder his work. The party agrees to the contract and the next day they enter the mines.

During their investigation, they find their way into a tunnel not shown on the map they were handed, and after traversing it and finding themselves inside the Underdark, they are ambushed by two umberhulks in addition to duergar and a brain-like creature they never encountered before. During the battle, Grog is attacked by the creature and is rendered unconscious. An interrogation of the only surviving duergar reveals to the party Kima's whereabouts in addition to a mysterious entity named K'Varn. After finishing her off and managing to restore Grog, the party finds their way through a goblinoid village, all of its inhabitants dead with puncture wounds on their heads and their brains absent.

Pressing on, Scanlan scouts ahead of the party and finds himself in a warcamp filled with duergar. He then finds several dwarven miners held captive... and a strange humanoid creature with writhing tentacles surrounding its mouth. After witnessing a horrific execution of one of the miners at the hands of the creature, Scanlan escapes and informs the party of his findings. A plan is set into motion to get as many enemies out of the warcamp as possible and have them plummet into the nearby chasm. The plan is put into action and all goes well until Vax finds himself stunned by the tentacled creature, now known as an "illithid" or "mindflayer". Tiberius reacts quickly and manages to save him and the magic carpet. In the midst of their debate as to where to go next, Vex and Keyleth steal the carpet and descend into the chasm, and during their search they come across another illithid. They inquire with him, saying that they can help him achieve revenge for being outcast from his home. The creature agrees to the offer, and introduces himself as Clarota.

Returning to the group, Clarota tells his story of his exile from his colony, located deeper within the Underdark. He had been "cursed" with the ability to use arcane magic, which went against the ways of his people. Some time after he was cast out, he had discovered that his people and the "elder brain" of the colony were enslaved by K'Varn and now have an alliance with the duergar. After some deliberation, Vox Machina agrees to aid him in destroying K'Varn and freeing his people. During this time, Pike manages to reunite with the group and they manage to come up with a daring plan to infiltrate the barracks, find the illithid and the duergar general, and cut off the source of the army's morale. A tense battle follows, which is made even more dire with the surprise appearance of a bulette. Despite this setback, the party is victorious as the general is interrogated. He informs the group of the Emberhold fortress and that Kima is being held hostage inside, after which he is executed by Clarota.

A daring escape follows which almost ends up killing some of the group. Nevertheless, despite dealing with more surprises, the party finds their way to the Emberhold and manages to locate Lady Kima. After a tense confrontation, Kima and Clarota form a temporary truce and, with the party's assistance, they storm the throne room to do battle with King Murghol. In the midst of the fray as the king is slain by Scanlan, Grog is dominated and abducted by Queen Ulara. The party is forced to flee as the fortress becomes flooded with magma. Managing to find shelter, after a tense confrontation with Keyleth, Kima reveals why she came to Kraghammer: to find an evil artifact known as the horn of Orcus and to either destroy it or retrieve it so that the Tal'Dorei Council can decide what to do with it.

After traversing through a sea of glass and bone, which had fit the description of such a sea in one of Pike's visions, the party finds Ulara's campsite and they manage to free Grog. Ulara is beaten and suddenly possessed by K'Varn, who taunts the group and invites them to the colony of Yug'Voril. A scrying ritual by Keyleth soon reveals the true identity of K'Varn: that he is a powerful creature known as a beholder and that the horn is attached to him, thus amplifying his already fearsome power. The party makes their way to the top of the illithid temple which houses the elder brain and they begin their assault. Despite Grog's life being lost temporarily, K'Varn is slain but he rises once more due to the power of the horn. But even that is not enough as he is slain once again and the horn is removed. The party is given no chance to rest, however, as the illithid colony enters the temple and the elder brain is now free. Clarota is accepted back into the colony, but then he turns on the party now that their usefulness is no more. After a fierce struggle, the party manages to escape thanks to Tiberius's teleportation circle and they emerge in Emon, finally out of the Underdark and back to the surface.

The following day, the party brings Kima to Allura Vysoren, the two women happily reunited, and then they inquire with their fellow council members about what to do regarding the horn. It is eventually decided that the horn be sent to the city of Vasselheim where it will be sealed for all eternity. After gathering the supplies needed, and being reunited by one of their long-lasting friends, the glorious Shaun Gilmore, the party boards the skyship Deera, helmed by Captain Damon. Despite an ambush by wyvern-riding pirates, the party arrives after several days and are immediately taken aback by how different the culture in Vasselheim is. Making their way to the Platinum Sanctuary, they inquire with High Bearer Vord about the method that will be used to seal away the horn of Orcus. The party then traverses underground towards their destination, dealing with traps and phase spiders along the way, and ultimately succeed in making sure the horn is secured and subsequently locked away. After the deed is done, the party says their farewells to Lady Kima and subsequently to one of their own as outside of Vasselheim, an ancient temple of Sarenrae was said to have been recently discovered. Pike takes it upon herself to remain in the temple and assist in the restoration, and says her goodbyes to Vox Machina for the time being.