#honestly I could’ve kept on going but Tumblr only allows for 30 pictures

[the-monkey-ruler]

how hardworking is bajie in the novel? fanart gives off the impression that he’d rather do anything but work

And he WOULD! HE DOES NOT LIKE TO WORK! Rather nap and kick back.

But honestly, next to Wukong, he does do the second most amount of work when it comes to fighting demons and getting food.

Don’t get me wrong man will complain the whole time while doing it but he is a competent fighter in many regards. Man was the Marshall in Heaven that only answered to the Jade Emperor himself, a navel officer so he knows a thing or two about fighting and tactics he just doesn't apply himself often. Not since being pig shaped.

There are many times he was the one to fight demons alongside Wukong, sometimes they even coordinate attacks with one another to get the drop on their enemy.

He was able to kill Princess Jade Face, Great King Fox Number Seven, the Wansheng Princess, all six of the tree spirits, White-Faced Vixen Spirit, King of the Southern Hill, King of Heat Protection, and King of Dust Protection. That isn't even included in the assistant kills that helped with Wukong and in enemies such as the Pythron Demon.

Funny enough he gets pretty protective of Sanzang when it comes to him being sexually harassed as well. I like to think that is his own personal turning point when it comes to respecting other people's boundaries.

But also he 'sacrifices' himself for Sanzang's place XD

I've always read it as it's more of a threat than a promise. Because he also knows that women won't go for him being a pig. Which is a little sad but also him using his appearance to his advantage to scare women in the Women's Kingdom. Says he won't be turned into a fragrant bag cause no one would even want him.

The main reason he is so antagonistic is that he IS THE CLOWN. There is a scene Bajie is being cooked by a GAINT streamer and he complaining he is going to come out wrong if the fire tenders (that Wukong is stopping) don't cook him RIGHT. Also that Bajie knows Wukong in diguse by seeing his cheeks and thinking "I KNOW THOSE CHEEKS ANYWHERE!"

Literally, his role in the book is to make laughs and to be the verbal and literal punching bag. Wukong himself is funny, absolutely, but he needs someone to play off him as well. It is very like that one group of Abbott and Costello vibes in some scenes where they just verbally poke on one other, and often there are cases were they pull pranks. Mostly Wukong at Bajie but still.

Like Wukong letting Bajie get captured by an enemy just so he can save him later. HE DOES THIS TWICE. He was mad Bajie thought he died (legit thought he died) in the first one and he took money from Bajie the second time he saved him XD told him it was the 'groups' money and they should share.

And I know people give Bajie hell for being a shit to Wukong but also… Wukong is ALSO a shit back to him. Wukong isn't one to be walked over and he definitely has his fair share of making Bajie feel that revenge for being a shit in the first place. They are shits to each other. Which makes them ever more enjoyable. Wukong is even the one to put a paper saying "I can heal the king" in Bajie’s back pocket when he falls asleep FACING THE WALL NOT TO SCARE ANYONE WITH HIS FACE. Man was legit trying NOT to get into trouble and Wukong knew this was going to be hilarious.

HE WAS PRANKED.

Also Bajie carrying Wukong thinking he could 'trip' and send Wukong flying. But Wukong anticipated this and made a clone of himself to be on Bajie so when he trip the clone drifted away as Bajie and Wujing just looked on in horror as their brother MELTED before their eyes. And Wukong turning into a woodpecker to peck at Bajie to wake him up.

That one was elaborate.

He does have some good ideas even from time to time despite his laziness. He knew how to get Bailong to walk across ice safely and for once USED THE RAKE AS A RAKE to clear a forest. Also that he knows a bit about farming because he was a farmer for a least three years with the Gao family.

So again he is capable and knows a bit despite his ignorance in other matters he just hates to admit he is wrong and hates to admit even more when he can’t do something. Which is hard to do when you are working with someone with MUCH more knowledge and power like Wukong.

I really think that Bajie looks up to Wukong while also being incredibly jealous of Wukong as well. That he relies on him as a companion but lets his own insecurities and jealousy get in the way of working with him, rather purposefully trying to make things harder for Wukong as if to get back at him. But I really think Bajie knows they need Wukong. Even when Wukong is knocked out and unconscious from the Red Boy fight Bajie doesn't believe for a second he is really dead, rather just going straight into reviving him. He also tells others they should treat him with high respect, make it sound like Wukong is danger but also that he is just so powerful in general and that he deserves to be regarded as such.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Bajie is the one after Wukong's first banishment that he has to go get him to save the rest of the group. Because he is the one that messed up by convincing Saznag Wukong was lying. But he also knows they can't do this journey without Wukong. He might be big talk but I think he's going to get Wukong was a humbling moment for him too cause he knows they are going to lose. Another way he shows that is when he thinks Wukong really dies he gets MAD. Because he knows now there is no chance, they are really going to DIE and he is upset.

I still think that Bajie just wanted to get back at Wukong for making fun of him in when GuanYin strung him up to a tree after the Ginseng Fruit arc. But he really didn't know what the fillet implies as he has never seen it used until then. It doesn't make it right but I do think it explains himself a bit more.

And even when Bajie went back to get Wukong, Wukong gave him a tour of his mountain AND STILL pulled a fast on him by having him think he wasn't coming when he was right behind Bajie the whole time. He just wanted Bajie to sweat a little longer. But there was something about Wukong having Bajie see how whole home and what he is leaving but also that Bajie really enjoyed seeing where he lived�� even if the Little Suns threw Bajie around like a sake of flour weighing nothing… BUT HE STILL HAD A NICE TIME.

Bajie seems to have a lot of faith in his brothers, even if he rather run away and avoid a fight altogether because he is a bit of a coward he is more often overconfident on taking on demons with his group.

But when he thinks Wukong might actually die after they think they lost Sanzang to a demon he tells him he can't else they will have too much to grieve. And how he only feels confident in battle when he knows Wukong is behind him. I do love it when Bajie and Wujing look on in awe at Wukong and his power he thinks they might be gossiping about him and gets suspicious, leading to another prank.

And I feel like he gets that kind of confidence only later throughout the series, where he actually stops trying to divide the luggage when things go bad and tries to see to the end of the journey to get the scriptures. He is still a lazy guy that rather sleep and eat all day but he gets a bit better along the way, participating with his party in the journey and starting to see the goal to attain the scriptures as something he also wants to and actually trying harder to prove that to himself. It takes him a lot longer than Wukong and even Wujing but I think he really comes around to being a team player.

This kinda turned into a Bajie apologist post but I just really love this pig. He is a lazy asshole that starts shit he needs a good slice of humble pie because he cares a lot

[side-eyeing-you]

Okay, so here’s a recollection of the best day of my fandom life? #ECCC

I’m usually just here to make short, dumb, spazzy comments, so bear with me, because this will probably be long. However, I’ll try not to be too repetitive and remember the interesting parts. ;) Apologies if the pics are effing huge. I don’t do this posting thing - ever. hahah

So, first of all, shout out to @oohdembuns​ for peer pressuring me to go to this thing, hahaha. Cons are not usually my jam, but since it was at home, AND CAIT WAS COMING TOO, I was like, “I’d be kinda dumb not to go, right?” Anyway, so I originally just got a Friday pass and a picture with Cait. And was perfectly content with that. Then there was an announcement that they would be offering more VIP passes for sale, and Buns was like, “omg you have to go!!!!” so I thought about it, and thought about it… and tried to calculate out how many dinners out and shopping trips I had to cut out of my life, and decided, “Okay, you’ve convinced me… I’ll buy it, if it becomes available again.” So I was basically at the gym when the link went live for VIP sales, and Buns linked me to it immediately (so dependable!) and I got to buy one, then less than 30 seconds later it was sold out again. Guess I got lucky!

 Onto the day of the con!

 Wasn’t sure how it would be, since I didn’t really talk to anyone via DM or text or anything super regularly that was going. But I’d gotten talking to @supertam87​ and @chrismosstree​ and @myguiltyolpleasure​ a few days before, so it was nice that they were cool enough to welcome me, so I didn’t feel like such a loner hahah. Met up with @valkyrie1969​ and @sileas84​ too. Met @queencaitriona​ and @zengeisha​ and a few others while waiting in line. I gotta say, one of my favorite parts of this weekend was meeting everyone and just hanging out. I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, but you guys guessed it, everyone is as cool IRL as they are online!

 The rest is much of the same. Waiting in line after line after line. Me wanting to off myself, because it was so crowded and hot and stuffy. But hey, that’s con life, lol.

 Panel was surreal to be at. It was fun, and exciting and the MC was funny and made everyone take selfless with their neighbor to ensure that you’d turned off your flash. 

THEN out comes Sam and Cait. I mean, I was like, “Weird. They are right in front of me. This is definitely weird.” But I really enjoyed it and probably missed some bits, so I’ll have to do a re-watch! I honestly could sit and listen to them both ALL FREAKING DAY. They are just so entertaining and fun to watch together, lol.

 Then we tried to go to the 12:30 autograph session. That was full. Which was kind of a good thing, because I was getting hangry at this point. Grabbed some lunch and came back to get lined up for photos. Okay, this was like cattle call and I wanted to just die, hahah. THEN I finally got up to the black curtains where Sam and Cait were standing taking pictures with fans, and it was so weird seeing them there… in motion… in the flesh. They are freakishly tall, yes. And Cait’s legs go on forever. I think her waist is like a whole foot higher than mine, hahah. I walk up to them when it was my turn, and I was like, “Well, this is super weird!” and Cait laughed and they both said, “oh, hi there!” Then snap, done, lol – Get the F outta here, NEXT. Hahah That’s what it felt like, but despite such a time constraint, they were super nice and it was the first real close-up interaction with them, so it was a neat experience.

 Then off to ANOTHER line for the autographs. I got queued in and waited for Sam and Cait to finish their photo ops. I sat on the floor, in the line, and tried to get some rest, but the handlers wanted us to squeeze in tight, so I was literally napping underneath someone’s ass the whole time. I didn’t care though, I was freaking exhausted at this point, hahah. (So I can’t imagine how tired Cait and Sam were?? It was non-stop).

 Then Sam walks in and crowd cheers! Sam-onlies called to the front of the line to begin autographs since Cait was running behind with photos. There weren’t that many Sam-onlies. Then Cait arrived to a crowd full of cheers. And one girl next to me had a Cait only autograph and I fist bumped her, lol. Also, stood next to a super cool shipper who doesn’t know she’s a shipper. She was hilarious. She was like, “goddamnit, I wish I had on google glass so I could just stare at them and record everything on the down low (because they were freaking Nazis about no photography).” This was after we saw Sam walk over to Cait, put his hands on his shoulder, lean down and tease her about hogging all the fans, lol. I died. I was right in front of them when this happened.

 Anyway, got my autograph. Cait was like, “nice to see you again!” Getting autographs after pics worked out, because that’s what I had them sign since I didn’t have anything else to bring. I guess I could’ve had them sign my arm and tattooed it on permanently. JK – I’m not that dedicated. ;) Sam was once again just waiting around for people to sign autographs for. I was like, “Dang, Sam… looks like Cait’s just hogging all the fans. What’s up with that?” And he was like, “I know, right? She’s just being Chatty Cathy over there…” I missed my opportunity to say, “It’s because everyone loves her, don’t you???” Oops. :P

 I wish I had a chance to get some friends something signed by them, but seriously, the handlers were super strict about everything. And I get it, it would take longer to sign more than one thing for everyone, but I get the feeling Sam and Cait would’ve been cool with signing their name to one other item for a BFF or grandma or something. :) (And I found out after that they did, actually! On the down low… very kind of them.)

 Okay, so after all that… I just collapsed by a pillar and waited for the others to finish. Thankful to not be in any more lines. Then we all headed over to the restaurant to meet some other Tumblr peeps. I could only stay for a few minutes, but it was lovely to meet everyone! @ninaf @c2bend @rainmanjdog and others!

 Then off I went to the meet and greet….

Room is set up into probably 10 round tables of 8 people or so. The handlers said to keep two seats open, so naturally, I put my purse on the seat next to mine to save it. ;) Once again, apparently, no freaking pictures were allowed. Who came up with this stupid rule? It’s not like we didn’t pay for the professional pictures and I highly doubt Sam and Cait cared if you took a pic of them from 10 feet away. Not like we were swarming them asking for selfies. Anyway, that was a ranty tangent. Kid you not, though, when Sam or Cait were coming up to our table next, they reminded us, “Now, remember. Phones on the table. Don’t touch them. No pictures allowed.” ANYWAY, we saw Sam and Cait taking selfies with other tables after the fact, so we were like, OH HELL NO. And the handlers noticed that, so one was finally like, “AT THE VERY END, you may ask if Cait wants to take a picture and if she says it’s okay, then you can do so.” We had already seen Sam, so it was like, would’ve been nice if you let us take a pic with Sam too, but we’re happy with Cait! Anyway, I loved the fact that Sam and Cait didn’t give a fuck about the stupid photo rule and just did what they wanted and were gracious to the fans. At the very end, the handlers decided that it would only be fair if Sam and Cait both took pics with each table, so that’s what they did. And a simple gesture made everyone’s day (well, it was icing on the cake). :))

 Rewind:

 Sat at the table closest to entrance/exit. Sam and Cait walked in, got a stealth pic of Sam but missed Cait. They both were holding these cute Jamie and Claire mugs. Sam had brought a bottle of Laphroaig with him. They had to do separate table round robins, for the sake of time, probably. Cait started at the table across from us, and Sam at the opposite end of the room. Anyway, we were just chit chatting amongst ourselves. It was very casual. Once in a lifetime experience, to have Sam and Cait just mingling in the same room as you. Like, wtf. It was weird haha. But anyway, we all kept our respective freak flags under wraps… and everyone was lovely. I did walk over to the bar area with another fan I sat next to, just to get a closer glance of Sam and Cait lol.

 Sam got to our table first. He’s very handsome. Very young-looking. He sat in between these two ladies, so was across from me. I was like, “Y’all can fight over Sam, but dibs on Cait then…” They agreed to the terms of the deal, lol. Sam poured us all a shot of Whisky, which was very nice. It was pretty good. One girl asked me what the name was again, so I guess his sales tactic worked, hahah. (I’m only teasing, okay??). Anyway, Sam was nice and answered everyone’s questions the best he could… he seemed a bit tired, but still friendly and engaged. Someone asked if he took on any of the Jamie qualities or something in real life. And he had to think, and then he said since he had to play Jamie with a “fucked up hand” for a while there, IRL, whenever he got nervous, he would play with his right hand, or move it in weird ways, like Jamie. He also mentioned a bar in Glasgow that he and the guys of Outlander like to go to. I cannot remember the name. And his favorite lift is the dead lift. Gym questions get me snoozin’… lol

 More waiting around until Cait got to our table. Our table was the last to see both Cait and Sam… and she walked over and smiled and said, “ahhh, the best for last.” I sat next to Cait… at a dinner table. That was super surreal, lol. We all said hi and thanks for coming, etc. etc. Then someone asked about Eddie and if she’ll be coming to SA. Sadly, Eddie will not be joining Cait in SA. Cait got to telling us about the whole process then she stopped and was like, “Wait. You guys really want to spend the next 10 minutes talking about my cat’s fucking rabies report??” lmao and we all laughed. We learned that Eddie is 14 years old. Then she was like, “so wait… lemme get everyone’s names! Where are you all from??” She was so friendly and smiley and I cannot…. Then someone mentioned Ryan Gosling and asked if she’s met him before and she told us a funny story about how she lost $20 to Ryan Gosling once, hahaha. And I was like, “Wait. How? Lost a bet?” And then she said that they had the same agent or something, so they all went on this fishing trip together a while back and were playing backgammon hahaha so effing random… and she lost to Ryan Gosling. And she was like, “AND I WAS BROKE. And he was a SUCCESSFUL actor, and I was BROKE… and he STILL took my money.” Ahahhah. Then the lady was like, “Omg, I spoke to someone who knows Ryan Gosling…” and I turned to her and was like, “Nevermind that you spoke with CAIT.” Lol and she just giggled and said, “awww, come on…” lol like all “pffft, I’m nobody” QUEEN. Also, at one point she complimented a lady who said she was in her 50s and told her she was gorgeous, when the topic of aging make-up came up regarding Claire and Jamie, so as to say, they didn’t really need to be EXTRA with their aging process, because people in their 50s still can look great and youthful. She was super sweet and encouraged us to ask her questions and also asked us questions as well, so it was very interactive.

 Then I gave her a little greeting card that said “YASSSS QUEEN” on the front and said, “I was afraid of word vomit if I tried to speak to you in real life, so here’s a card.” Lol and she said, “awww, you don’t have to worry about that. Thanks!” But her handler took it, so I hope she saw it, lol.

 Few other tid-bits:

Since Sam and Cait started on opposite sides of the room, when they both made it to the middle of the room, the first thing they did was turn around to each other, grinned and said, “oh haaii!” to each other. That was cute.

 And at the very end of the night, as they were leaving, Sam took Cait in for a side hug/pose and I was caught off guard and was still afraid of the photo Gestapo so I didn’t catch it! :((

This was all I caught, right before the hug.

Anyway, and that was it… off they went. And then I died. :D