#Is he not the Monkey King? Is he just like Wukong? NOBODY KNOWS. LEAST OF ALL MK

[imminent-danger-came]

Demon Bull King: "*laughs* You might have that old fool's staff, but you are not the Monkey King." MK: "You're right! I'm the Monkie Kid!"

(1x00 A Hero is Born)

-

MK: "Well, I'm not the Monkey King! Okay!" Mirror MK: "You're right, you're the Monkie Kid! You've got to find your own way to win—so do it."

(2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen)

-

Lady Bone Demon: "Oh sweet child. Can't you see? Sun Wukong couldn't best me—what can you hope to accomplish when he has failed? Cast aside your stubbornness and face your demise with honor." MK: "If you really believe destiny can't be changed, you wouldn't be using every ounce of power you have to keep him contained! The Monkey King I know will never stop fighting you—and neither will I."

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

Curse MK: "We’re just like Wukong. A fraud! A trickster! Destructive! Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no no- the chaos and destruction we’ll bring upon the world will make Wukong’s past look like nothing."

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

MK and his debatable likeness to the Monkey King.

[newkatzkafe2023]

@lara-legomonkiekid

What if Y/N And monkey king are parents and the kids are just as clingy to Y/N as he is.

(Lmk Wukong) He is an extra kid to you. What a sense you too became parents that twins. You guys had needed just as much attention as he does. It's like he was competing for your attention with his offspring. Every time he wants to get some alone time for snuggles and a war , one of the babies start crying in another room and then you take off to go take care of them And it's annoying because he was to spend time with you now But to fix this, all you have to do was remind they where he got it from.

(NR Wukong) That's big baby you are so done with him. When you play it hard to get he played he hard to get rid of. Would led you up to this marriage and parenthood. Now he's slightly regretting getting you pregnant. Because these kids don't know when to you were two alone now. I mean you ask for Children so he couldn't necessarily say no to you. But who knew if they would outclass him on this level of clingyness And these are children. But if you ever comes up to you whining again , all you have to do was remind him where they got it from.

(HIB Wukong) Man he's over this. He is so over this. You don't know what the kids can do whatever they want. They can cling on to you whatever they want. Because it's not like he needs your attention 24/7. It's not like he Also once you're hugs and kisses and affection. It's not like he also wants to have a good night's sleep with you. It's not like he wants to spend some quality alone. Time with your well getting bombarded by the kids. It's not like he wants any of that stuff.

It's also not like all of that is a bold face lie You freaking drama king.

(MK Reborn Wukong) My god possessiveness has to run in this family. All day every day I have to deal with a hissing husband and hissing cubs. You are the censor of attention when it comes to your husband and your sons Nobody like sharing you not even with each other. Tensions are high all the time and everybody wants To spend quality time with you I mean it was a door boy at first Now Ridiculous. And it doesn't help that your husband Way as well.

(Netflix Wukong) Man he also an extra kid. He's gonna be all like I had your friends so I also deserve your attention. But you're gonna have to explain to him that the Cubs You guys have needed a lot of attention from you as well Especially when they are not old enough to do things themselves. He gets tired but he still misses you you know. At least Cuddle him once today then he'll be good. And you would do him better you would Cuddle and kiss him

FEEL FREE TO REBLOG

[pompomqt]

Journey to the West Chapter 37

Tripitaka using his scary dog privilege at every opportunity:

This chapter of Journey to the West with @journeythroughjourneytothewest we get to find out what the threat of the week is going to be, so let's get into it shall we?

We begin this chapter with Tripitaka falling asleep at his reading desk while reviewing scriptures. And before to long, a spooky ghost decides to take this opportunity to visit the local ghost buster! Tripitaka however isn't to pleased to be visited by the freak of the week and threatens him that he has very valiant and powerful disciples who will reduce him to dust if they see him, so they should take Tripitaka's mercy and bail before they see him. Pity he can never compliment them like this when he's awake.

The ghost however manages to convince them that they aren't a monster here to eat him or anything, turns out the ghost is actually a king. A ghost king. Or rather just a king that's a ghost I guess. Anyways Tripitaka is horrified at his own rudeness in the face or royalty and is much more willing to hear out the king's story now. Said story goes a little something like this: Five years ago his kingdom faced a severe drought and nothing they did could fix it. However one day a Daoist came to their kingdom, and he had the ability to summon wind and rain and even transform rock into gold. When he was able to summon three feet of rain and even added an extra two inches for them, the king was so impressed he became bond brothers with him. However two years later said daoist pushed the king into a well and buried it, even planting a tree over it, which is how the king died and became a ghost.

Tripitaka asks how nobody could notice that their king was missing and the king explains that the daoist copied his form and took over his kingdom. Tripitaka then asks why he doesn't just file a wrongful death lawsuit with the ten kings, and the king explains that the Daoist isn't just powerful he is also a rather important person. A relative of the Dragon Kings and bond brothers with the kings of hell. And honestly this sort of thing is starting to sound familiar, someone so important and powerful that normal people can't do anything against them... in fact if Sun Wukong didn't have an alibi of protecting Tripitaka and being trapped under a mountain for the last five years, I'd be worried that they might be talking about him.

Luckily they aren't talking about Sun Wukong, and are actually here to ask for his help. I guess they'd rather deal with Tripitaka's diplomacy rather then taking it straight to Monkey though. And what better way to deal with a powerful, well connected usurper, then getting help from the original? Anyways, Tripitaka is more then happy to loan out Wukong's fiend seizing abilities, but worries that he might have trouble with this particular task. In a straight fight Sun Wukong would win of course, but Tripitaka is more worried about the legal battle that would follow since the Daoist is currently pretending to be the king after all.

Luckily the king has a plan for this, or at the very least an ally that will be able to help them. The prince of kingdom is still living in the palace but has been kept away from his mother to stop the two of them from talking and potentially figuring things out. Anyways the prince will be out of the city on a hunting trip tomorrow giving Tripitaka a chance to meet with him. The king also give Tripitaka proof to show the prince in the form of a jade token. When the Daoist took the kings form he didn't take the token and instead just accused the Daoist of stealing it. So Tripitaka having it could prove his words true- or you know, completely backfire and make the prince think that Tripitaka is the evil Daoist. Either one.

Anyways now that the Ghost King has fulfilled his NPC role and has given Tripitaka his side quest for the week, he takes his leave and Tripitaka awakens from his dream. So Tripitaka immediately starts yelling for his disciples which of course immediately leads to Pigsy bitching that they can't get even a moments peace on this journey! Tripitaka just ignores him and tells his disciples about the crazy dream he had. Luckily Monkey is more then happy to take commissions for his ass kicking abilities and is more then happy to beat that guy to a pulp.

Tripitaka then remembers that the King left him something and looks around for it, when they find the Jade Token from the dream outside the door that serves as proof that the dream was real. With that settled the group enters into planning mode. Monkey already has a plan in mind and asks if Tripitaka will be willing to face three unlucky things, those three things being 'Take the blame, take abuse and catch the plague. Tripitaka tries to ask for more details about those alarming three things but Monkey just tells him 'don't worry about it' and proceeds to change one of his hairs into a fancy box and putting the token into it.

Monkey then proceeds to tell him the plan. Tripitaka will wait here in his fancy cassock and recite some sutra's while Monkey scopes out the city. If he see's the fiend he'll just kill him and save them all the trouble, but if not he'll instead just lead the prince to Tripitaka. Once the prince show's up, Monkey will announce him before shrinking himself to fit inside the box. After that Tripitaka is to ignore him until the prince gets pissy and tries to arrest him, which is where the whole 'take the blame, beating and catch the plague' part of his plan comes into play.

Tripitaka is quite understandably nervous about this plan, but Monkey assure him that he will never let anything ever actually hurt him. When the prince interrogates him Tripitaka is to tell him about his journey from the east. And when the prince asks him about his treasures, Tripitaka is to say that he has the cassock which is a third class treasure but that he also has a first and second class treasure. When the prince asks for more info, Tripitaka is to tell him that he has a treasure that knows about the past 500 years, the present 500 years and the future 500 years- said treasure being Monkey who will take the opportunity to tell the prince about Tripitaka's dream. If the prince still doesn't believe them they can then show him the jade token as proof. Tripitaka thinks this is a wonderful plan and asks what he should call the third 'monkey treasure'. Monkey suggests calling him 'King-Making thing.'

With the plan set, all that's left to do is wait till morning when they can put the plan into motion. When morning comes Sun Wukong leaves to scout the city as promised and see's that it is surrounded in layers of eerie mists and battered by constant gusts of wind, and generally just has bad vibes, a sure sign of a fiendish ruler. Once Monkey takes a good look at the city, the gates open letting out the prince's hunting party. Monkey uses this opportunity to lure the prince away by transforming into a rabbit and pretending to let the prince shoot him with an arrow and scampering away. When the prince see's that the arrow hit it's mark, he chases after his pray on horse back and Monkey is able to successfully lure him all the way to the Monastery where Tripitaka is waiting.

Now that the prince is here, they enter into phase two of their plan. As promised Monkey alerts Tripitaka to the prince's presence before shrinking in size and diving into the box. Speaking of the prince he arrives and is startled to see his arrow but not the rabbit he shot. He assumes that it must have been a spirit and leaves it at that, and decides that he might as check out the monastery while he's here. Meanwhile the rest of the prince's entourage arrive and take a self guided tour of the temple, all the monks of the temple kowtow to the prince, but when they reach the room Tripitaka is in, he doesn't acknowledge the prince in anyway. Incensed by this rudeness the Prince orders for Tripitaka to be seized. As promised however, Monkey isn't going to let any harm come to Tripitaka, and he accomplishes this by threatening all the gods that are Tripitaka guard duty. Monkey is sure to inform all the guardian deities that if they allow Tripitaka to be bound, he will find them all guilty. So of course the gods step in and make it so the guards can't even touch Tripitaka.

Seeing that Tripitaka can't be touched the prince immediately starts interrogating Tripitaka, and Tripitaka follows the script he and Monkey had worked out earlier. Tripitaka also takes this opportunity to introduce Monkey as the treasure called the King-Making Thing. So Monkey exits the box in his tiny form, but grows immediately back to his normal size as soon as the prince calls him a midget. So Monkey tells the prince all about the drought and the doaist as proof of his knowledge of the past. Then Monkey has the prince dismiss his entourage before telling him that the king on the throne is not actually his father but instead the doaist.

The Prince of course isn't to keen to hear that his father is an imposter so Monkey decides it's time to use their trump card. He has Tripitaka hand him the box, and takes back his hair which leaves only the Jade Token. Of course as should be expected the Prince immediately starts accusing *them* of being the Daoist as soon as he see's that they have the Jade Token and once again tries to order them to be arrested. While Tripitaka is freaking out that their plan has gone completely sideways, Monkey simply introduces himself and tells the Prince the whole true story about what happened. After hearing Monkey's explanation about his ghost father, he believes them, but still isn't sure what he can do about the whole situation. Monkey however encourages the Prince to speak to his mother the queen, in secret.

And so we end this chapter of Journey to the West with the prince heading out to have a conversation with his mother.

Current Sun Wukong Stats: Names/Titles: Monkey, The Stone Monkey, The Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong (Monkey awakened to the void), Bimawen (Banhorseplague), The Great Sage Equal To Heaven and Pilgrim Sun. Immortality: 5 + 94,000 years. Weapon: The Compliant Golden Hooped Rod Abilities: 72 Transformations, Cloud-Somersault, Ability to transform his individual hairs, super strength, Ability to Summon Wind, Water restriction charm, and the ability to change into a huge war form, ability to duplicate his staff, ability to immobilize others, the ability to put others to sleep, and the Fiery eyes and Diamond Pupils, intimidating horses, churning large bodies of water, sleeplessness, seizing the wind, enhanced smell, discerning good and evil within a thousand miles, Spirit Summoning, lock picking, object transformation, distance reduction and vanishing in a flash of light. Demon Kill Count: 9+ Unknown Number of Minions Human Kill Count: 1006 God's Defeated: 22 + Unknown number Defeats: 4 Crime List: Robbery, Murder, Mass Murder, Arson, Theft, Coercion, Threatening a Government Official, Resisting Arrest, Assault, Forgery, Employee Theft, False Imprisonment, Impersonating a Government Official, Treason, attempted murder, failure to control or report a dangerous fire, desecrating a corpse, breaking and entering, trespassing, violating Tree Law, looting corpses, trading counterfeit goods and Criminal Threat Cry Count: 6 + 2 fake cries Mountains Trapped Under: 4

Current Tang Sanzang stats: Names/Titles: River Float, Xuanzang, Tang Sanzang, Tripitaka Abilities: Curing Blindness, making branches point a certain direction (allegedly), reciting sutras, pretty privilege, memorization and Heart Sutra. Cry Count: 18 Tight Fillet Spell Uses: 27 Paralyzed by fear: 5 Bandit Problems: 2 Kidnapped by demons: 4 Falling Off Horses: 6

Current Bai Long Ma Stats: Names/Titles: Bai Long Ma (White Dragon Horse), Prince of the Western Ocean, and third prince jade dragon of the dragon king Aorun Abilities: Transforming into a human, a water snake, and a horse, eating a horse in one bite, flight, Magic of Water Restriction, Singing, and Sword Dancing. Cry Count: 1 Crime List: Arson, and Grave Disobedience. Contributions to the plot: 2

Current Zhu Wuneng Stats: Names/Titles: The Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds, Zhu Wuneng (Pig who is aware of ability), Zhu Ganglie, Pigsy, Idiot and Eight Rules. Weapon: Rake Abilities: 36 Transformations, parting water, fighting underwater, cloud soaring and size enhancement Demon Kill Count/Kill steals: 2 Kidnapped by Demons: 1 Human Kill Count: 1 Failed Flirtation/romances Attempts: 3 Cry Count: 1 Crime List: Sexual Harassment, Murder, Kidnapping and arson.

Current Sha Wujing Stats: Names/Titles: The Curtain-Raising General, Sha Wujing (Sand Aware of Purity), Sandy and Sha Monk Weapon: Monster Taming Staff Abilities: Fighting underwater and Cloud soaring. Demon Kill Count: Unknown number of minions. Kidnapped by Demons: 2 Human Kill Count: 1 Crime List: Breaking a Crystal Cup, murder, and desecration of a human corpse.

[howlingday]

Hey I need your help. Why does Sun leave his team so much? I think it's played off as quirky in the show but it just bugs me so much. Like to me even as nice as he is he's still not their as he should be. Like if I'm supposed to relie on someone but they just do what they want how am supposed to trust them period? Am I reading too much into it?

They actually covered this "Before the Dawn".

Sun just kinda goes where he wants and barely lets his team know anything. He's been doing it since day one, too. He arrived at Beacon ahead of his team, then left them again to chase after Blake, and then it's all brought up in "Before the Dawn" for about 500 pages, because that's Sun's only character trait.

Honestly, I prefer it as the quirky show version than the book version that endlessly harps on it as a bad character trait and you should hate Sun for leaving his team all the team and he's a bad character because he's bad. Instead of, "Oh, there goes Sun again. Least he could do is tell us in person."

Honestly, now that I think about it, the main inspiration for this is his allusion of the legendary Sun Wu Kong from epic story of Journey to the West. The Monkey King would always run off to do, well, whatever. Honestly, the only thing keeping him in check is the crown on his head that tightens whenever Tripitaka utters a prayer.

As for why? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Like I said, I'd prefer to think of it as a character quirk instead of a thousand word essay on why Sun Wukong is a bad character in a book that made NOBODY look good.

[fluffypotatey]

If wukong told (lied) to macaque that he never cared about him, do you think that would make macaque even more aggresive or like shut down/be the final straw that finally makes macaque let go of wukong

so, just like my answer for whether macky would willingly erase swk from his life, I think this answer also depends on when in the show swk told macky this, and what better way to explain this than by going through each outcome per season :)

UNO

looking at s1, we meet a Macaroni who is very hellbent on killing (or at the very least, heavily damaging) SWK because he feels like the guy never truly gave a shit about him (<- my interpretation). thus, it is safe to assume that if Wukong were to laugh off Marnolo's hurt and anger and tell the guy that he never cared, Mac&cheese will only feel that his current assumptions of SWK are correct and that the guy only cares about himself and his image.

would he feel hurt about it? oh absolutely. maybe punch a wall, destroy the "dojo" he allegedly lives in in an outburst of power and anger. maybe scream and cry but be mad at his own tears (begin to wipe them away but is too hash so he scars himself and then can't stop bc he's very self-destructive)

DOS

technically, Wukong is MIA so this would never happen. BUT! have you considered!!! Wukong telling MK that Macdonalds was just some guy from his past, nobody super important, basically a nobody he wronged in his long list of enemies. which MK might possibly parrot back to Macadoo in 2x07

heavens above Marconi would be pissed.

forget trying to be a dick to MK and "teaching" him that his path of emulating Wukong has already made him forget his friends (untrue, but this is what i assume was Macky's interpretation of MK's actions since the guy didn't actively search for his missing friends, who MK thought left him on purpose).

nah, Macky is hunting SWK down. he is out for blood because "did i serious mean so little to you? were our nights under that tree sharing secrets, dreams, peaches fucking nothing to you?" (and idk....maybe after the air clears out, possibly, macky would realize SWK's true reason for being MIA and....help out???? mayhaps???....yeah, yeah, i know only in my dreams T^T)

TRES

ok, so we could technically say this sort of happened in ep1 when Sun Wukong said, "i thought it was someone important," and, "so what, you're her puppet now? i mean, makes sense. you always did have a sidekick kind of vibe."

and that is basically Wukong implying that he viewed his relationship with Macaque as one where he didn't consider Macky to be important to him, or someone he saw as a close friend. however, this is also a tactic Wukong uses against nearly every villain he interacts with, simply to get a rise out of them. so, pin that down as Wukong being observant enough to know which words to use to hurt.

AND Macky's reaction to it is him jumping out of his cool-ass looking jet and body-slamming the monkey king to the floor. so, uh, it is safe to assume that Macky was pissed off at Wukong's comment.

THUS! with that in mind, we can say that in this context, Macackle will be upset enough to fight him; however, if we were to consider the end of s3 (like Samadhi Fire ritual to the end) i would go with the option of Mackarell shutting down and feeling like that comment is the nail in the coffin for their relationship.

CUATRO

in s4? absolutely not. he would be dragging Wukong by the ear, demanding that he repeat what he said, ordering Wukong to try and convince himself that their past meant nothing while Macky still lives and breathes. and especially after the s4 special.

you could argue that Macky could shut down in the beginning of s4, but i think he'd probably laugh it off because he knows now that Wukong is lying. he's being his old deflective self and probably doesn't know where to place Macanoli in his head now that they're technically on better terms with LBD done with.

but after all the drama of going through SWK's memories? nuh uh, Wukong can't get out of this, nope. you handed iMac a chocolate peach popsicle. it is too late for you turn back and lie about your feelings. you can dig your grave and lie about it, but he's just gonna hit you right back with your own medicine and make you understand that if y'all truly want to reconcile, you cannot continue lying to yourself that you don't care.

not anymore.

so, anyway, i hope this answers your question, anon! i had a lot of fun running this question around in me braincage :3

[mrhyde-mrseek]

Some random Journey to the West headcanons because the hyperfixation is strong tonight:

Sanzang is aroace (so even if he wasn’t a monk and celibate, he still wouldn’t be interested in any of the people or demons who wanna do the do with him)

He didn’t have many friends growing up in the monastery, so his first year or so of the journey was kind of awkward for him, since he didn’t really know how to interact with people

Wukong is autistic (it’s canon guys Wu Cheng’en told me himself) and stims by jumping around, wagging his tail, and doing the hand flappy thing. Sanzang is ALSO autistic and stims by rubbing the hem of his kasaya between his fingers and whispering certain sutras to himself (echolalia)

Bajie hates sour foods with a passion. He’ll eat literally anything else, though

Wukong and Wujing have been trying to figure out how to test if he’ll even eat things that are not food, such as leaves or loose strings they rip off their clothes. So far they have been unsuccessful

Wujing has the best singing voice (it’s super deep and absolutely lovely to listen to). Sanzang’s pretty good, but he doesn’t like to do it in front of other people. Long Ma’s not bad if he tries, but he just doesn’t really care to practice anymore. Bajie’s not good in any sense of the word, but at least he’s not tone-deaf. Nobody wants to hear Wukong’s singing voice ever again

Long Ma is super clumsy—not, like, “oh no I’m such a klutz I tripped over air and fell right into your strong masculine arms” clumsy, more like “I can’t take two steps without smashing into a wall or knocking over a lamp and I have bruises all over my body from it” kind of clumsy

One of the main things that Wukong and Sanzang bonded over (once they learned how to get along) was never really having a family before the journey. Sanzang hadn’t known anything about his parents until he was 18 (I think), and only had his mom for a little bit before she committed su*c*de. Wukong had never even HAD parents in the first place, he has no clue what a blood family is really like. Wukong’s one of the first people Sanzang really feels comfortable enough around to open up to about his past, since he knows the Monkey King will understand

The first time Long Ma turned into his humanoid form in front of the whole group, Bajie and Wujing freaked out because they forgot he could do that

They also screamed when he spoke in horse form for the first time

Sanzang is a history nerd, but only really for Buddhism-related history and that of his own town, since that was all that interested him before going on the journey west and it’s kind of hard to study when you’re constantly on the road (this one’s based on how he knew about the Spread Gold Monastery in the wedding ball arc)

The smell of molten iron causes Wukong to have PTSD flashbacks

[silvergolddraco28]

Done For- Roleplay with @sanityisinthemusic

Chapter 2 God of Life

There was a loud knocking early the next morning. "Hey, wake up. I brought breakfast, and I'm supposed to take the cub back with me," a bossy woman's voice called through the door.

Wukong scowled as he got up from the floor having woken up late in the night unable to sleep and decided to simply meditate. He carefully picked up the cub sleeping on the bed and wrapped him up in the Scarlet red scarf once more as a makeshift swaddle. Wukong opened the door partly glad the seal he had used still allowed for those outside to make themselves known after knocking.

A bird demoness was holding a tray of bruised, misshapen, wrinkly fruits and a glass of water. "Open the door already."

“I did,” Wukong replied, taking the tray with ease by his tail while the demoness huffed, taking the cub from his arms with force and carrying the little cub like he was disease-infested.

“Needs a bath before Our Lord sees it.” she huffed. “You are a stable hand today so eat then find the horses you can't miss their stench you smell just like it.”

Wukong scowled. "Don't put him in any kind of deep water. If anything happens to him, you're first." He shut the door, tail wrapping around his leg anxiously. He sighed, picking through to find the least bad fruit and sniffing the water before tentatively sipping it. 'At least this is clean enough. Guess they don't keep bad water around.'

Finishing what little he could, he begrudgingly puts on the stable clothes and walks out to try to find the stables. And take his time doing so.

Eventually, he found his way to the stables taking note of how there was just one stable hand waiting with a pile of tools and a bin. The stable boy grinned. “Well well well if it isn't the Race Traitor finally getting Karma for killing his kind. These are your tools ‘top quality’ for you. You’ll have a full run of the place as the rest of the hands have the day off and our Lord was gracious enough to attach a watching shadow to keep an eye on you.” the stable boy grinned as he explained things.

"I have to do it all myself?" Wukong looked around the stables, frowning. It wasn't small. And with the collar on, he couldn't afford to make clones to help him. "Who decided nobody else was working?"

“Need to know and you are not the one that needs to know. Have a good day cleaning Dirty Monkey.” the demon waved his hand walking past the insulted and slurred at Wukong.

He grits his teeth but ignores the urge to punch the jerk and grab a shovel. Today was going to be a long, long day.

‘White, black, brown, mixed repeat.’ Wukong thought as he moved each horse methodically out of their stalls to a small pasture to wait while he cleaned out the old straw and any manure. He was able to get through about twenty horses until a shadow clone of the Shadow Lord popped up from the closet shadow with a fussy and hungry Cub.

"How is your first day on the job, Stable Boy?" The Shadow Lord approached, doing his best to hold the squirming little cub in his arms without squeezing too hard. "Afraid you're going to need to take a break so you can do your second job."

“Peachy. Twenty-five horses down.” Wukong replied heading over to a buck of clean water and washing off his hands before returning to collect the fussy cup opening part of his uniform up to allow Mk access to his breast.

"Fo think you were capable of labor. Wonder how you'll handle the rest of the jobs that were lined up for you?" The Lord mused, smirking.

“I’ll see what is in store if today is going to be on repeat for the remainder of my stay.” Wukong flatly stated. “Whose idea was it to send all the stable hands away and leave just me alone?”

"Oh come now, you're the Great Monkey King! Great Sage, Loyal Pet of Heaven." The Lord spread his arms wide, a mocking tone in his voice. "You shouldn't need the help of demons for a few basic chores."

Wukong scowled but didn't comment on the slander of his titles. “Fine if that's how it will be then surely the Lord of Shadows can manage to feed the young Cub on his own. You have your milk.”

"Oh dear, I didn't think the Great Monkey King would even abandon his cub." The Lord sighed dramatically before stepping forward, hands reaching for the cub. "Well give him here then, I'll just raise him myself."

Wukong turned his body away with a small growl. “Over my corpse.”

"That can be arranged." Shadows shot out from under Wukong, wrapping around his legs and dragging him to his knees. Macaqur grabbed his hair and pulled it back as he knelt behind him. "Don't say things you don't mean, you're not in any position to be uncooperative."

Wukong grits his teeth as the cub finishes, getting taken by the Shadow Lord and disappearing into the shadows with Wukong being released. “Shit…” Wukong cursed to himself while golden tears pooled in his eyes and dropped to the ground.

()()()()()

Wukong hissed as he stretched himself out from the grueling week of labor and acted as the Lord’s personal messenger bird when he had accidentally shifted into a hawk after breathing in too much dust and sneezing one of the minor and annoying side effects of his powers.

Today was the day he would be ‘training’ with the guards and he already knew they had something rather bold planned from their smirks whenever he passed a guard over the past week.

‘Something worse than just labor will happen today… I just know it.’ Wukong thought as he dressed in the training garb.

"Hey, let's get going already. Can't train without the punching bag." Someone laughed outside of the room after banging on the door. "Or what, the Great Sage just scared to fight without his powers?"

Wukong scowled at the insult as he opened the door getting grabbed by the shoulders and held in a rather tight headlock that was making him see spots as air was denied to his lungs.

"Wow, you're as weak as everyone's been saying, huh traitor?" The wolf demon growled out in amusement as he started dragging the Sage toward the training yard like that. "Training's gonna be fun."

“We got to put him in armor first! It should be coming right out of the forge any second piping hot and ready to be molded right into the Traitor’s skin.” Another pipped up grinning.

"Let's not bother with the training weapons today. We need more practice with the real thing, right?" Another piped up.

“Get the good ones that can even cut through Dragon scales.”

"Enough, all of you!" The bear demon whom Wukong had met on his first day roared. The field went silent, and the knights all straightened. "I understand you're all looking forward to today, but keep in mind this is still training. Focus!"

Wukong managed to break from the grasp around his neck rubbing at the dark and ugly bruise rapidly forming under the thin fur from the last week of pure stress and labor.

"Heads up." Was the only warning the big bear gave before tossing a wooden staff at Wukong. "I expect you to put your all in today. Your combat skills are well known and I want my troops to be ready for if real threat like you get in traitor." He pointed a finger toward a pile of armor. "That should be about as much armor as you normally wear. You don't stop today until I tell you to stop, got it?"

“Yes Sir,” Wukong replied neutrally heading over to the pile of old and weak armor. None of it would give him any protection at all so he sighed and turned away from the armor testing the training staff in his hands. ‘This will break if I try to hit anyone with it with my full strength.’ Wukong grimaced at how all the odds were stacked against him.

"Alright everyone, warmups are over. We're starting with one on one spare and then groups can try their hand. Everyone line up, I'll be choosing who's going when." The large bear called from in front of a ring of packed dirt, flattened out from hundreds, maybe thousands of sparring matches. He looked at Wukong and pointed to the circle. "Get ready traitor. My soldiers don't hold back."

“I don't expect them to,” Wukong replied as he entered the center of the circle and took a relaxed stance with the wooden staff angled against his side and back.

One after another, the bear sends in warriors for Wukong to fight. The moment one is knocked down, another fight starts. The bear just keeps calling out names.

This keeps going until one soldier gets a lucky hit… a sword right into Wukong’s gut spilling bright golden blood onto the dirt and making it shake and crack as thick greenery sprang to life sucking up the blood as Nature reacted to one of its being harmed.

You dare harm a Sage of Nature’s Chosen Vessel! The earth seemed to rumble with waves of angry energy rippling up from deep underground.

"HALT!" The bear demon roared as the demon who'd successfully stabbed Sun Wukong staggered backward, leaving his sword behind. Several others had been rushing forward when the command froze them in place. The bear lifted his great head. "My Lord! Your presence is needed at the training grounds!"

A neat instant later the shadow of the bear darkened, seeming to open. The bear stayed perfectly still as the Shadow Lord Macaque stepped out of his portal.

He only took a moment to take in the scene before he strode forward and ripped the sword from the King's stomach, using his shadows to block the wound. "Call for the medics, we'll need to treat him." At his calm order, the knights rushed to action. Macaque knelt on one knee in front of the wounded king, ignoring the blood soaking into his robes. "You'll be treated. Now calm the Earth's magic."

“Careful there… don't get that on your skin or risk being immortal,” Wukong warned with a weak smirk as he placed his hand on the gold blood-soaked ground causing his skin and fur to shift into magma-like stone with golden veins and bright gold-tinted bronze fur up towards his elbow while his eyes turned a solid green-tinted gold.

:I’m fine, Old One. Just paying back old dues for my reckless youth and being judged by a Vessel of Shades.: Wukong ‘spoke’ to the earth ignoring the pain coming from the shackle on his other wrist while the wound on his stomach knit closed with not a trace behind.

Macaque hummed. "I'll keep that in mind." He stood, his robes still tinted gold. "Once the medical team has checked you over and you've had some time, we need to talk."

“I'm fine. I don't need a healer and I can come with you now to talk without making you wait.” Wukong stated.

"More worried about what a healer might find, or what I might say to others?" Macaque raised an eyebrow.

“Bad experiences with healers in the past,” Wukong stated with a voice devoid of emotion.

"Very well then, your loss." Macaque looked at his warriors. "Clean this place up and get back to training." He ordered. The Bear demon nodded shapely and started shouting orders.

Macaque dropped them through a portal into his living quarters, where a shadow clone was rocking a sleeping cub. "Sit down wherever you'd like." Macaque walked over to the clone, gently taking the cub from it as it disappeared.

Wukong simply took a seat in a comfy-looking chair curling up in his soft fabric and plush feeling material that soothed some of his aches and pains. “What is it you wish to speak to me about unless it's just because of that minor accident in the training field,” Wukong questioned.

"I wouldn't call that minor, personally." Macaque takes a seat on the couch opposite Wukong, leaning back to let the child rest more comfortably on his chest. "What exactly are you, Sun Wukong?"

“What everyone thinks I am. A fool of a monkey that takes any and every blame without question and fulfills the tasks of righting the blame.” Wukong shrugged. “That is my life. If you want the real answer I suggest you use a nine-ring privacy seal. Not many know beyond Life and Nature.”

Macaque frowned slightly before sighing. "That will take a moment, though within my domain it feels excessive. I would know if anyone was listening." Still, the Shadow rises to his feet and approaches the King. "Are you in any shape to hold the cub, or will another of my shadow clones be required? He only tolerates them for so long."

“I can hold him,” Wukong assured taking the cub with a soft and happy rumble from his chest while his tail wagged in joy.

Macaque nodded, leaving the King with his cub as he began the arduous process of creating such an intensive seal. He used his magic to cover everything throughout the room, taking great care in the process. When he'd finally finished the setup, he called upon his shadow magic that was within the runes. They flared a bright purple. "Done." He went back to his seat. "Are you satisfied with this? Will you answer the question now?"

“Tell me what you know and I will fill in the rest.”

He hummed. "You have a strong connection to the earth. It seemed to react to your blood. It almost felt as though the earth wanted to swallow the training grounds. Your blood also has the power to turn someone immortal purely by being absorbed into the skin, which I've never heard of. And that sort of golden blood I believe to be associated with the highest levels of divinity, which is odd when you were a demon last I checked."

“I might be called a demon because of my eyes but I fall neither under the realm of demon nor celestial. I'm the Primordial Monkey of Stone one of four beings that fall outside of the natural order of the world.” Wukong stated.

"So you are the Stone Monkey." Macaque tilted his head studying him for a moment. Then he placed his hand on his chest. "I am also one of the primordial beings, the Six-Eared Macaque who can hear past, present, and future. But my blood does not flow gold or have such power as yours does, so that does not answer my question."

“The title of Sage comes with the connections to the natural elements especially when one like myself has spent a long time alone in on an island cut off from human interference. As for why my blood is as good as my fur? The result of eating an orchard’s worth of immortal peaches several barrels of immortal wine and a few bottles of immortal pills that were then cooked inside of me over nearly fifty celestial days. My blood didn't fully change until several years after I finished my task from Bubhha. Numa then claimed me as a Vessel of Life and her blood child.”

"So your connection to the earth is similar to my connection with the wind. I can understand that much at least. I'm impressed you kept much of this quiet enough that even the winds didn't pick up on it to share with me." He leaned back further onto the couch, crossing his legs. "I can see why you'd worry about this getting out. If the wrong people managed to capture you the way I have, they'd do far worse than what's happened to you during your stay here."

“That’s just the tip of the ice. While my blood can turn someone immortal it has to be pure blood otherwise it's a very powerful healing ‘potion’ when mixed with anything else and consumed. My blood also creates fruit-bearing trees of immortality when intentionally spilled on the soil. My blood can also be used as a substitute for runic ink.” Wukong listed off.

"You're comfortable telling your captor all of this?" Macaque asked, raising an eyebrow at the stone monkey.

“The Wind has been listening since the start. They control information the best and if you are their interpreter then it would only be a matter of time before you had found out on your own.” Wukong replied as he habitually brought his wrist up to his mouth and bit down drinking his blood to supplement the missed lunch and breakfast and to wake himself up from falling into a healing slumber.

Macaque raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

“Eating. Most of my food has been rotten or already eaten by the time it gets to me so I need to get creative. Even an immortal has natural limits they can't ignore for long.” Wukong replied.

Macaque hummed, glancing from Wukong to the cub in his arms. "And you're still able to produce enough milk off of little more than blood?"

“More or less.” Wukong shrugged.

Macaque sighed. "I'll have a word with the kitchen staff about at least keeping you well enough fed that the cub isn't at risk. I doubt it will do anything for the rumors they try so hard to hide from me, but there's little that can be done about that."

“What like the Dirty Monkey and the Mud Monkey insults or the whore and prostitute slurs? I nearly punched someone for slapping my ass while cleaning the palace and nearly castrated another for trying to order me into their bed.” Wukong vented looking a bit flush in the face.

"You're close with the second one," He admitted, but I doubt you'd hear this one with how quietly they whisper it. They're convinced your cub in mind and that you came to demand what I did in protecting you and 'our' cub from your many enemies." He paused. "Though that is where a lot of the rumors are of you being an easy lay."

Wukong snorted at that. “I’d castrate anyone before they dared to have me in bed and even then I've punted many that tried to take my hand by force,” Wukong stated as he nuzzled Mk his tail curling around him while his eyes grew rather heavy. He didn't last much longer as he finally crashed curled up in the soft chair and deep sleep while holding Mk close in a protective yet gentle hold while a gentle yet heavy lavender-smelling breeze played with his mane.

Macaque studied the god sleeping in his sitting room. "By the 10 Kings, I've captured a god." He couldn't say if this was worth the trouble, but they'd need to be a bit more careful with him from now on. He couldn't afford for anyone else to realize the truth.

Macaque stood from his seat and dismissed the barrier. He silently opened the large window in his sitting area, letting the wind rush in and take th secret so the day back out with it, snippets of the conversation he'd just had rushing past his ears, lightening the heavy atmosphere. "My friend, you've been keeping secrets from me again. So send my secrets high, higher than any bird could ever hope to fly, and never bring it back down." The wind fluttered his hair, pushed past his ears, and then it passed.

He turned back around, leaning against the window frame as he studied his captive and the cub tucked in his arms that seemed to share their attributes somehow. "Now, what to do with the two of you."

The wind flowed back into the room with soft giggling echoing in the wind as it whispered of things yet to come.

”Baba! Put me down!” a child’s voice laughed.

“Moon you're going to make Mk too hyper to put to bed on time.” the amused voice of Wukong chuckled. “Why don't you put on a shadow play about how you became a God of Souls to balance my status as a God of Life?”

Macaque sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening as he continued to stare at the two others in the room. "What?" He walked over to the two, kneeling in front of them. "But that's not possible..."

It's not as though he couldn't admit the Monkey King was handsome, but he had few friends, particularly within his territory. He frowned, eyeing the cub. Slowly, he reached out and ran his fingers over the little one's ears. 'If what Wukong said I'd true, that future is likely to change if they leave the island.' Having Wukong as his partner would bring too much danger to his kingdom. It would be a huge risk.

The wind swirled around him again bringing another set of whispers.

”Put him down, Azure! This is between you and me leave my Cub out of this! You got what you wanted now let Mihou out of that Soul Lantern!” Wukong’s voice seemed to ring with protective rage. While a cub’s cries rung in the background.

“You know I can't do that Brother. Not if I intend to make you my Empress and keep the competition away. Pitty how you found a monkey just like yourself in power to join you on the mountain yet so uninformed of your proper potential.”

A low growl rumbled in his throat. 'Azure... Azure Lion? I've heard the name, did he crawl out of the Diyu after Wukong killed him? They were in that brotherhood together.' He took his hand back and began to pace. He'd never allow someone to lay a hand on his lantern. He'd sooner kill Azure on sight. 'But why would I leave my home for Flower Fruit Mountain?' He froze, going back to the window. "I won't allow them to destroy my island. Come for me if you dare Azure Lion, or whoever else might be coming. I'll rip you to shreds." He vowed to the wind.

This place of too small for you. Your growth has stunted. You’ll grow far more and far stronger out beyond this barrier with the Vessel of Life. The wind soothingly ‘spoke’ to the black monkey. This Kingdom has stilted. It's arrogance has been shown. They call the Vessel of Life a traitor when the Vessel was tortured to turn against those who would not understand his bleeding heart nor hear his grief and suffering. The Gods judged him, the demons damn him and the mortals respect him… but none love him.

Macaque hummed, tail flicking uncertainty. The wind has always advised him toward what was best for him. But this was asking a lot of him. "You ask Mr to give up everything I've built for myself, for the sake of the one being in the three realms with no allies, only admirers, and a long list of bitter enemies." He sighed. "We shall see how things go. I trust your council, but if I take a mate it will be because I respect them, not for power." He smiled at nothing. "You have been good to me already in that department."

He closed the window, ending the conversation for now before turning back to the pair. His eyes softened as they landed on the little monkey. He sighed, approaching Wukong to take the cub from his sleeping form. A blanket fell through a portal, resting over the Sage's sleeping form as the dark monkey cradled the cub that shouldn't look so much like him. "Rest, God King, your cub is safe with me." He went to sit, and as an afterthought, he sent a shadow to collect him some sort of lunch. Enough for two.

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 3 Thoughts

Third chapter for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

What truly became clear to me this chapter, though was already foreshadowed in Chapter One with him stealing clothes from a man quite nonchalantly, Sun Wukong has sticky fingers! He clearly knows the concept of buying things, but if he can use his abilities instead he’ll do it.

My theory is that it is very much a monkey habit, instinctive or learned. Now being the Handsome Monkey King he likely never needed to fight much over anything, freely being given most things. However it has been shown twice now that monkeys generally do fight over things! First instance being when they moved into Shuilian Cave and fought over spaces and objects, the second being the weapons. So it would not be farfetched to say Sun Wukong internalized this behaviour as well in combination with the expectation of getting the things he wants.

Moving on to the underwater section of the chapter, the mental image of shrimp soldiers had me cackling. I really can’t take any of the seafolk serious. Though I’m sure at least a good few of them have more humanoid transformations and use them most of the time for practicality, how else would in particular the fishes carry weapons after all, all I imagine are the actual sea creatures wearing little outfits.

Now they are underwater, correct? So given the water has a higher density than air, all the weapons the seafolk carry should be even more difficult to lift on land. And since Sun Wukong is technically not in the water but in what I imagine to be an air bubble of sorts, he is lifting those weapons with their full land weight!

After getting Ruyi Jingu Bang when asking for some armour to go with it, he does get a bit unruly. Still he didn’t really ask for the best of the best, the finest armour of them all or something like that. He just wanted a set of armour that is regular quality, at least for a Dragon King, and looks the part. No need for any special magic or anything, just something fashionable. He’s already powerful, he just wants to be a fashion icon as well! He’s called the Handsome Monkey King for a reason, no? King of Fashion he shall be!

All in all he is becoming a bit of a troublemaker sure, but to be fair nobody tried just sitting him down and explaining in earnest that what he’s doing isn’t just harmless fun scaring the people a little, but genuinely upsets them. Not even in the ‘oh you’ve offended the higher ups’ kind of way, but just the regular people. He’s not a mean or malicious being, so long as it was explained in an honest and calm fashion I’m certain he’d understand. Even if he might not openly admit to his actions being out of line, he’d probably dial it down at least a little bit for the little guys.

Moving on to a little trivial on Jingu Bang, that he puts it into his ear actually has symbolic meaning as well! The German translation explains in a footnote that the Rod is metaphoric for the Yáng line in the Trigram Kăn, which is related to Water and the Kidney. It fits into the ear, because the ear is connected to the kidney in traditional Chinese medicine. So basically Sun Wukong can take out his life energy and put it away again at his leisure.

Anyway Sun Wukong making friends while travelling! We love to see it.

Another thing that shows he’s a nice person is him giving Yama the benefit of the doubt at first. He only gets angry when he isn’t treated well.

When he is treated nicely, as seen at the end of the chapter with the Gold Star, he is really kind in return.

Also love that Sun Wukong doesn’t let the Kings put the blame on the summoners, though he did turn those two into mush. He correctly looks for the error at the source aka the higher ups and the official documents. Very wise indeed.

Ox-head and Horse-face, yes singular there is actually only one of each in the Underworld, I recognized quite easily, this time thanks to an anime that featured them. Hōzuki no Reitetsu, if anyone else knows that one.

Lastly for today, I have a favourite new word that I learned from the Anthony C. Yu translation! Stratagem. A combination of the terms strategy and gem, which describes its meaning perfectly!

[talesofsonicasura]

Sun Wukong and Macaque with MK's Guardian: Boyfriend and Girlfriend

The moment any bit of Madness Combat is involved, these two are definitely going to pop up. Something a little light hearted for you folks especially the last four episodes are gonna hit HARD. Can be read gender neutral or preferred gender.

Let this be known, help rebuilding a city, identifying the specter responsible for said destruction, and two monkeys trying to get in your good graces(mainly to see your son) is stressful. Can't forget explaining yourself to said son's friends either.

Honestly a well deserved break is what you need. And it happen to be the day to enjoy a little pastime. No one but your son knows that you indulge in rap battles. Yep, the hellfire Auditor likes rapping.

Specifically against two oddball friends who happen to be a couple: a blue haired little person named Boyfriend and his redhead date Girlfriend. Yes, that's their names. The three of you usually rapping near an abandoned warehouse.

A place that Macaque and Sun Wukong earned the knowledge of for helping with the LBD Bull Clone fiasco. (Malevolent spirits are a pain in the ass to handle, especially the slippery bone bitch.) So neither monkey were expecting to see you in a rap battle as the Auditor.

They didn't get see to much since the song ended as GF declare you the winner this time. 'You've gotten a lot better, Audi! Too bad MK couldn't join us since he's still grounded.' Your nickname is Audi?

Boyfriend was quick to point out, well beep at the two watching yaoguai. Unless the bluenette is used to you, he'll only speak in beeps n boops hence the confused looks on Macaque and Sun Wukong. "He's shy so I'm usually the translator."

An 'innocent' idea popped up into your head. "Why don't you two join our session?" Both monkeys thought you were joking but nope. They've been behaving so far thus a little freebie shouldn't be that bad. It's just singing after all.

Apparently 'The Great Sage Equal To Heaven' has stage fright. The signs: nervous sweaty smile, eyeing his surroundings and nervous scratches on the back of his head. Guess even godly entities can have minor fears.

You reassured the Monkey King that not only was there nobody here but he can go last. Macaque would be first while you took second. Enough time for him to compose himself. The Shadow Monkey definitely a bit smug about his turn placement.

Not for long though as Boyfriend and the Six Eared Macaque start their battle with 'Uproar'. The yaoguai didn't expect for his opponent's beeping to mix perfectly to the beat of the song.

Macaque's actually a good singer but never fought a battle like this. Thus the monkey did what he usually would do, cheat. Macaque tried to whack the rapper with his tail.

You knew Macaque would play dirty but he never rap battle against BF. Why? Because the bluenette easily dodge his tail slap. Practically cackled from how shook the monkey was before he try again. Miss!

He use both the shadow clones and his staff but the rapper kept up his beat whilst dodging his opponent's attacks. In the end, Macaque lost although he looked less sour about it. Guess Boyfriend got his respect.

You were next, the song being Gunpowder. The difference between your skills and your acquaintances immediately showed. Sun Wukong who wasn't fully paying attention earlier, probably deep in thought, did upon how fast you spat out your words.

Each word coming out like bullets as Boyfriend speedily kept up. Macaque and Sun Wukong were completely flabbergasted when you rapidly fire ammunition at the blue rapper. (A personal request from BF which you obliged with rubber bullets)

To the two older yaoguai, the rap battle felt more like an actual battle from how you two were going. It ended with a very close win for Boyfriend. Now it was the Monkey King's turn.

The stone monkey still looked nervous, guess he needs a bit more reassurance. "Dāsheng, it's just us. No one is going to criticize *gives Macaque a pointed look* or bother you. At least try."

Guess it lit a fire under him as the Monkey King took the microphone from you. His song? Of course it had to be the opening theme for one of his shows. At least it'll keep him mentally grounded.

Throughout the song, Sun Wukong slowly began to enjoy himself. Each of his lyrics coming out more confidently and with vigor. At the end, he lost to Boyfriend but did a pretty good job.

Surprisingly the Monkey King wanted another go! You figure it's probably cause he never found a private spot to enjoy something like this with others. Macaque's competitive nature following in seconds.

In the end, you all rapped together until Boyfriend and Girlfriend had to go home. A really fun day for both parties, especially when it came to two certain monkey yaoguai.

Trying something like this ended up more enjoyable than they thought. Sun Wukong would go home to search for various songs while Macaque brush up some old records. They need a lot of practice to not only catch up to Boyfriend, but also you. A mutually welcomed challenge.

This is my second time writing a FNF rap battle with Boyfriend. Looking at all the various mods that had attack prompts, some resulting insta-death, those dodging skills are valid. Blue text is for Boyfriend when he isn't using beeps while pink is Girlfriend. I ain't typing beeps.

It took me awhile to find a song for Macaque's turn. Was about to use 'Slaughter Speedway' but 'Uproar' felt more suited in my opinion. Also Sun Wukong would definitely sing his own opening theme.

Just imagine that theme being in the FNF format cause no one has done an official JTTW related mod yet. Anyway, that's it for now! Until next time folks, I'll see you back at Megapolis.

[sunsage]

It's not that he's avoiding anything. Because he's not. Just because he would move the other way whenever he heard voices he could recognize, either as those of an old enemy or (worse) an old friend, didn't mean he was scared of approaching them. It's just that... he already got beat up by his memories once and didn't really want it to happen again.

Yeah, that's a reasonable excuse.

And yet, hearing the familiar booming laughter makes him pause. Logically, he knows that he should walk away, same as he did with the other memories. Yet for some reason his legs start moving towards the sound before he fully realizes it.

The scene that unravels in front of him is one he remembers only vaguely - there was a lot of drinking involved that night, okay, not to mention it happened forever ago - yet it looks as clear as day now. Him, young and stupid (but still as handsome as always), standing in the middle of the table and declaring war on Heaven and his brothers, nervous but hopeful about what tomorrow would bring, as long as The Great Sage Equal to Heaven is on their side.

Yeah, we all know how that turned out for us.

Sun Wukong walks around the table, taking in the faces of his former friends with a level of detachment that should probably be a little worrying. It's been a while since he saw them hasn't it? Other than Demon Bull King and Macaque, the rest of them he last saw when-

Hm. He'd rather not think of that.

The younger him finishes his story and they decide the plan of action. The dulcet tone of Azure Lion's voice easily cuts through the Bull King's roar and Peng's screeching, proposing that the Monkey King himself take the place of Jade Emperor once they achieve their goal.

In hindsight it was a really stupid idea. Good thing it didn't work out.

At least the young Sun Wukong looks happy. That's nice to see, in a weird out-of-body-experience kinda way (man, he really does look older these days doesn't he).

And maybe he can't deny the way his heart clenches at young Macaque softly smiling as his Wukong promises that once they've won, they will spend forever together. But there is nobody here who would ever know that.

Sorry, Liu'er. I don't think this version of me could have given you a forever even if we won.

Through it all, the drinks and the laughs and the impossible plans that are doomed to fail, something is nagging at him, an odd feeling in the back of his head that takes him a moment to decipher and that leaves him a little surprised when he does.

He doesn't miss this.

He feels like he should, even if a little: those were his friends- his brothers, this was him at his last moment of complete freedom. Shouldn't he feel some nostalgic connection to this period in his life, however small?

And yet...

He doesn't miss having friends that would laugh and drink with him and hide behind his strength only to abandon him the moment he lost.

He doesn't miss the freedom that came at a cost of not caring about anyone else.

He doesn't miss this Sun Wukong, the one he once used to be.

(Though he does, knowing what is about to happen, feel sorry for him).

He still feels the guilt about the way things ended up between him and his brothers, of course. He wishes that it all turned out differently, that the relationships they had could have been salvaged. Who knows, maybe one day they can be? Though some of them are still trapped, they are all alive and Monkey King himself is not planning to die any time soon. Him and Macaque already moved from the 'kill on sight' stage to 'annoy each other to no end' one, so maybe there is hope-

The fur on the back of his neck stands up, an uncomfortably familiar feeling of being watched creeping up his spine.

Azure Lion is looking right at him.

"You..." can see me? he doesn't get to ask.

His old friend sighs, a mixture of pity and determination drawn across his face, and lifts his hand.

"Me." He snaps his fingers.

A bright light fills the space between them. When it fades, the memory is gone.

[starsfic]

Prompt for LMK

Mei looses control of her dragon form and fully transforms when MK was hurt.

Nobody can get close to her without the threat of mortality coming to get them

…Except for Monkey King.

(Dad-Wukong calming down his overprotective daughter)

Anon: Mei turning into a full on dragon for the first time

When she had first met Qi Xiaotian, Long Xiaojiao’s first thought was, “I need to protect you.”

They had met at a business party where the staff showed all the kids to their private party room. While the adults chatted about business, the kids got all the good snacks and danced. At least, that was what was supposed to happen. Xiaojiao, the second eldest out of everyone, had been bored out of her skull and chilling in a corner, counting down the seconds until she could go home.

Then there had been a small body next to hers and a quiet “I saved you a slice of cake.”

When Xiaojiao looked up, there had been the smallest child she had ever seen, looking almost like the fancy life-sized Tang dynasty child doll she had given once, holding out a slice of cake. The thought had popped into her head. Before she could say anything, the kid had plopped down next to her. Then they started talking.

Their name was super long, but they went by Qi Xiaotian.

That had been the day Long Xiaojiao met her best friend.

And Xiaojiao kept to that first thought.

She was the first one Xiaotian came out to. She was the one who picked him up when he called her in tears about his parents kicking him out. She was the one to give him a place to stay until he left, not wanting to be a burden. She was the one to scope out Pigsy and Tang to make sure Xiaotian was safe. She was the one who went after Xiaotian’s bad exes and stalkers.

And then Xiaotian had gotten the staff and then could protect himself.

And Xiaojiao didn’t feel bad about that. She didn’t! She was more… awestruck over his ability than anything else. Then she got the sword and…they were on the same level! Right?

Right.

But now…

Xiaotian was bleeding. The staff was gone. His powers were gone. He was bleeding. “Xiaojiao?” he gasped out.

Protect him.

The Samadhi fire roared around her body. If she were more herself at the moment, Xiaojiao would’ve been amazed at her new dragon form. Right now, she glared at the flames coming too close to comfort.

Don’t you touch him.

The flames retreated enough that Xiaotian would be safe.

Just like he should be. Who cared if they had seen each other in weeks if the flames around them were the reason why Xiaojiao left? It was her greatest desire to see him safe.

“Xiaojiao,” Xiaotian managed, sitting up. “I’m okay.” He wasn’t. “You’re okay.” She was. “Okay? How about you-”

“No.” she rumbled out, her tail pushing him closer. “Not safe. Hurt.” Xiaojiao could smell the blood on him. “Need to keep you close.”

“Yeah, I know. I feel the same.” Did he? That was sweet. “But, Xiaojiao, I don’t know if you notice-” The tail came close and gently pushed him down.

“Hush,” she ordered, wrapping her tail around and bringing Xiaotian closer. “Safe. Not hurt.” Not with her. Never with her. Xiaojiao was determined.

“But-”

She silenced him again, not caring about the flames drawing close again. As long as Xiaojiao had Xiaotian and nobody else-

“XIAOJIAO!”

Like him.

Sun Wukong stood at the edge of the flames, staring up at her. “Xiaojiao,” he said, taking a step forward. “I need you to-”

“NO!” Xiaojiao screeched, her voice echoing and flames rising even higher. Xiaotian shrieked and Wukong gasped, scrambling a few steps back. She ignored it to instead let out her own shriek. “NO! GO AWAY!” He wasn’t safe, never been safe!

“Xiaojiao, listen to me!” Wukong continued, at least not stepping forward. “You aren’t thinking clearly right now. The dragon and the Samadhi fire should have never been combined like this! You need to-”

“YOU DON’T TELL ME WHAT I NEED!” Stupid monkey, stupid king, stupid successor business! “YOU LEFT XIAOTIAN BEHIND! YOU PUT HIM IN DANGER!” Fury was bubbling her blood. “YOU HURT HIM!”

“I NEVER MEANT TO!”

She paused at the yell. Wukong had never raised his voice like this before. The flames died down a bit, allowing Xiaojiao a good look at his face. He looked determined…and oddly open. “What do you mean?” Her voice wasn’t coming out as a roar anymore.

Wukong took a deep breath and sat down. “I thought I would have forever to train Xiaotian,” he admitted. Xiaojiao could barely hear him but her voice was steady. “Xiaotian isn’t perfect and that’s okay. It took me years to learn all my powers. I expected him to take years too.” The flames died down even further. “I didn’t expect…her.” Her head ached with the memory of blue. “She’s not his responsibility. Xiaotian was powerful but he’s not ready for her. I should’ve told him that.”

Silence.

“Why didn’t you?” Xiaojiao and Wukong both looked down. Xiaotian, still gripped tight by her tail, stared at him.

The silence dragged on, only broken by the snap and crackle of the embers. Wukong stared at Xiaotian. Finally, he opened his mouth. “I need therapy, kid. I know that. I’ve known that for years. But instead of getting help, I thought it would be better to bottle everything up so it couldn’t hurt anyone. So it couldn’t hurt you.”

He looked up, right into Xiaojiao’s eyes.

“Or you.”

The flames had completely died out.

A odd noise broke the silence.

Oh. She was crying.

Wukong stood. He took a careful step forward. Then another. Then another. “Kid,” he said, “I am so proud of both of you.” He held out his hands. “And I know Ao Lie would be proud of you too, Xiaojiao. But, right now, I need you to come back down.”

Her head hurt.

Wukong’s arms were warm around her.

[strange-lace]

Macaque

I was in the mood to make more content for Inverted AU, so here’s a short-ish fic of how episode 9 would go in this AU with Macaque, Wukong, and MK! Enjoy the shadowpeach!

Another demon defeated but still no sign of Sun Wukong. Macaque let out a sigh before rolling his shoulders to bring relief to tense muscles. Oh well, he'll just have to keep looking, not like he hasn't been at it for years now. At least this city he wandered to was quite nice with pleasant people, nothing too out there aside from demon attacks.

"Hey! Hey you! Shadow monkey man!" Macaque wouldn't deny that the sudden voice made him jump, considering he was on top of a pretty tall building. Apparently not tall enough to stop the young man from climbing up the side, somewhat out of breath yet that didn't deter from the determined look on his face. He simply brushed his messy hair out of his eyes and adjusted his teal backpack, which looked surprisingly heavy. Macaque couldn’t help but be somewhat curious as to what was in that thing.

Wait was that the Monkey King's staff in his hands?

Indeed it was, he'd recognize that weapon anywhere.

“Ah, you must be the Monkie Kid I’ve been hearing so much about, am I right?” That got him a look of suspicion before the young man also seemed to remember the staff in his hands, causing him to let out an amused huff at his own paranoia.

“Yeah, the staff kind of gives it away, don’t it? Name’s MK though. Now whomst is you? Most of the time, demons who ask me who I am are five seconds away from trying to kill me.” Macaque couldn’t help but chuckle at that, already finding that he was starting to like this little guy and his attitude. Perhaps if a person like MK was chosen to wield Wukong’s staff, then perhaps that meant his love had finally started turning things around for the better. Maybe it meant he finally stopped being someone he wasn’t all for the sake of keeping a memory alive.

“The name’s Macaque, though, the Six-Eared Macaque is actually my full name. But what brings you up here exactly bud? I doubt you’d climb up this high just for anybody.” MK’s face showed that he wanted to argue that point out of principle before remembering his purpose for coming up here.

“Simple, teach me.”

Wait what?

“What what?” MK scoffed at the question.

“I want you to teach me to fight, like how you fought that demon back there. I don’t intend on leaving you alone until you do and that is a threat!” Macaque didn’t doubt that he meant it that way and could very easily follow through on that. Sensing he wasn’t going to get out of this, he let out a sigh before giving MK a smile.

“You sure your mentor won’t have a problem with me teaching you?”

“Bold of you to assume Wukong’s disapproval will stop me.”

“Well alright then, I think we’re gonna get along just fine, bud.”

---

“I see what you’re trying to do, you’re afraid of holding back and giving your enemy the opportunity to win. But the first strike isn’t the most important one. Every strike counts. Other people may tell you that patience and focus don’t matter but a fool allows himself to rush without restraint. While you have power inside you, you have to use it carefully. Take the power to defend others, not just destroy those who stand in your way. You’re not a weapon kid, you wield the weapon above all else.”

---

It started with a fairly innocent question from MK after one of their training sessions, him slowly going through a water bottle given to him by Macaque while the monkey made them something to eat. He needed a distraction to stop himself from taking over the cooking, years of feeding others making him feel guilt the moment someone else took over.

“So Mac, how exactly do you know the Monkey King?” To his credit, Macaque only fumbled the slightest bit at that sudden question and was able to save the plate before it crashed to the floor.

“Oh um well… funny thing about that is, well… we used to be together actually. Like y’know… together-together,” he explained while he plated their food, wincing internally at how awkward he sounded. With his back towards MK, Macaque didn’t notice him go tense and grip the couch arm so tightly that the wood underneath cracked at the pressure.

“Used to be together, huh? What happened?” Macaque couldn’t help but shiver at the chill which traveled down his spine. MK’s voice was perfectly even and calm yet he was filled with an overwhelming fear that warned him to not turn around and remain perfectly still until the danger passed.

His ears twitched at the sound of sparks behind him, magic power permeating through the air.

“I… I messed up honestly. We had an argument about something, I don’t even remember what it was so long ago. But I had to leave to just get some space and air before I said something I’d regret, something I couldn’t take back. It was only meant to be a couple hours but some stuff out of my control happened and by the time I got back… Wukong was gone. I had been looking for him for centuries after that and then… well then you found me.”

“What, you hoped getting on my good side would mean that you’d win the Monkey King back?” His tone promised nothing good if Macaque kept digging himself a deeper hole.

“No! No, nothing like that at all. I don’t expect Pe-...Wukong to take me back or anything like that. I just… wanted the chance to apologize to him is all. If he wants anything to do with me afterwards, then I want that to be his choice. Nothing more, I swear.”

MK remained silent behind him before the sudden tension in the air dissipated as quickly as it appeared. Macaque let out a sigh of relief, slowly turning around to see MK still sitting on his couch, placing the staff back in his ear nonchalantly.

“Fair enough, sounds like you both were just idiots who don’t know how to communicate. If you actually intended on using me to get to the Monkey King, you’d have actually mentioned him during our training and yet you haven’t. And you can’t lie to save your life anyway. Just don’t be an idiot again alright? Monkey King… Wukong, he’s a mess and I don’t think he could handle thinking he’s been abandoned again.”

Macaque could feel his heart break at the idea that his Peaches, his love, thought that he had left permanently. He wanted nothing more than to run to him now and make things right. But that was Wukong’s decision to make, nobody else’s.

The two ate their food in silence after that.

---

Sun Wukong may have supposedly “lost his edge”  but he was by no means dense or oblivious.

And while he was certainly happy about his successor’s vast improvement over the past couple weeks, a part of him sensed something was off. Like his successor was hiding something from him. And those moves he watched MK use to absolutely demolish the old mural, the Monkey King swore he had seen them before.

But it couldn’t possibly be. He hadn’t seen him in centuries. Not since he… left, like everyone else.

“I’m impressed, my boy! Tell me, how did you do that? Have you been seeing another mentor perhaps?” Wukong asked, his typically serene smile straining the slightest bit at the idea of his son student learning from someone who wasn’t him. The sensible part of his brain was gently poking at him, reminding him that it seemed silly to get upset about such a thing as, if anything, MK had appeared significantly calmer during their training compared to when they started. This could be a good thing, it told him.

Yet it was silenced by the majority of his brain which ran on fatherly protectiveness and had immediately been plagued by images of the worst case scenario. A demon had approached MK, promising him to make him stronger while also poisoning his student as a bid to turn him against the Monkey King before stealing his powers or, Heavens forbid, harming him.

No, Wukong refused to even allow a chance of that happening, logic and reasoning be damned.

“Hey, you’re the one always going on about ‘patience and focus’, I’m just finally putting what you said into practice,” MK answered, the picture of being casual which only set off further alarm bells within Wukong’s head. But before he could question him further, MK’s phone dinged to tell him of a new text message which he quickly read over, his eyes widening slightly at the message.

“Welp, looks like I gotta cut things short for now Wukong, something came up and I gotta head out. See ya later! Don’t forget to eat something tonight and sleep, I will know if you don’t.” And with that, MK was off through the hole he had created in the wall where the mural was before the Monkey King could get a word in edgewise. 

Wukong waited long enough to allow MK to get a reasonable distance away before transforming into a bird, flying after his successor.

Something fishy was going on and the Monkey King was determined to find out what it was.

---

“Why exactly are we climbing up to this giant mountain again Mac?” MK wheezed, hating to admit it but this hike had genuinely winded him despite all his training. He had immediately gone to Macaque’s place the moment he got his text only to be told to follow the six-eared demon, leading them to where they were now.

“Well, consider this your ‘final exam’ bud! I want you to use everything I’ve taught you to fight against me, no holding back. Think you can do that?” MK couldn’t help the twitch at the corners of his mouth at the sight of Macaque’s genuine excitement as he explained, all six ears twitching while his tail was wagging like a dog. A demon who was centuries old and had fought countless powerful demons had no right looking that endearing, but here MK was looking with his own two eyes.

MK gave a chuckle before straightening himself out, wordlessly pulling the staff out his ear.

“You sure you’re comfortable getting your ass kicked by me, Mac?” With a smirk, Macaque summoned his own weapon in a flash of purple with the beginning of two shadow clones pooling at his feet. They shyly peeked from the ground from behind their master.

“Oho, a couple training sessions with me for a month and you think you have what it takes to defeat me, bud? Well then, bring it Monkie Kid!” MK didn’t hesitate to charge forward with Macaque mirroring him, weapons at the ready and adrenaline already running through their veins.

“Enough!”

A sudden force landed in between them with enough force to send them both flying backwards.

MK and Macaque recovered in time to see who decided to interrupt their duel.

Both of their hearts nearly stopped at the sight of the enraged Monkey King but for vastly different reasons.

“You have 5 seconds to explain yourself for trying to harm my-” Wukong’s rage quickly deflated as the dust cleared enough for him to truly see who it was he had thought was attacking MK. “Mango Flower?”

“Um… hello again, Peach Blossom. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Macaque joked, voice weak as he restrained himself from acting out of bounds even if he wanted nothing more than to gather the other into his arms. It had been so long, far too long. 

He nearly broke at the sight of tears beginning to form in Wukong’s eyes.

His resolve finally shattered as the Monkey King ran towards him, arms outstretched, and before Macaque knew it his legs were moving on their own. The wind was knocked out of him at how tight Wukong squeezed him yet he returned the embrace back with gusto, ignoring the groaning of his ribs. He simply buried his face into the other’s fur, the smell of peaches still there even after all these years. Faintly, Macaque realized he was also crying once he felt a wetness on his cheeks.

Macaque let out a squeak in surprise as Wukong picked him up in the hug and spun him around, the sound of his laughter echoing throughout the mountain. The sight of such unabashed joy on his face was enough to make the six-eared demon to start laughing too, joy contagious in the best of ways. 

MK would deny it unless under the threat of death but he couldn’t help but smile as he watched the two monkeys get lost in their own little world. It made the guilt which nagged at his chest at having to manipulate the two to make this meeting happen ease up, seeing how happy the two were.

“It’s been so long…” Wukong whispered as he placed Macaque back on his feet, gently cradling his face as if afraid that if he stopped touching the other, that he’d disappear again. “But, why are you here? I had thought that you hated me, isn’t that why you…” Macaque went stiff in shock before taking the Monkey King’s hands into his own.

“What? No! If anything, I thought you hated me for leaving instead of talking things out and that’s why you were gone when I came back. I always intended on coming back to you Peaches, I swear on it.” Wukong’s eyes went wide at that, extremely close to crying again a second time that day. “I had been looking for you for centuries now to apologize.”

And now the warm feeling was gone, leaving MK to bite down on his staff to stop himself from screaming at how much those two had failed at the simple of communication.

“We’ve both been absolutely foolish, haven’t we?” Wukong couldn’t help but laugh at it all, which only worsened as he noticed all six of Macaque’s ears turn red in embarrassment.

“Yeah, I guess we have been-” His words were cut off as the Monkey King grabbed his scarf, pulling him into a sudden kiss that made Macaque jolt in surprise before he practically melted into the other’s arms. A purr rumbled in his chest and neither noticed their tails wind around each other.

The sound of MK clearing his throat, loudly, was enough to get them to break apart in embarrassment.

“If you two are done being romantic idiots, I have to beat the shit out of Macaque to prove that I’m better than him. I mean ace my ‘final exam’.” The grin on his face showed that he was lying through his teeth.

“Don’t think I forgot about all your trash talking, young man. How about it Peach Blossom? You willing to go all out with me and the kid?” 

Wukong’s face was the epitome of ‘Every part of my body wants to say yes but I shouldn’t.’ He was already terrible at saying no to MK and now with Macaque’s endearingly earnest face, he knew he was done for, at least with these two working together now.

“...Oh alright.”

The two mutual cheers at his agreement made Wukong feel slightly less guilty in letting his lessons go for a brief moment. But not completely.

But that was okay, Wukong was used to living with constant guilt.

[lunar-wandering]

If you're still doing prompts 8. “You’re not as subtle as you think.” and 9. “This is the third time this has happened to me today.” With MK meeting the JttW crew thanks to Time Travel shenanigans?

time is a really powerful force.....traveling through it probably has side effects, right?

i changed the second piece of dialogue a little when I wrote it.....it’s funnier this way, i promise

8. “You’re not as subtle as you think.” / 9. “This is the third time this has happened to me today.”

MK nervously glanced at the people around him.

He could tell that, at the very least, Wukong and Bajie weren’t very trusting of him. That much was obvious, from how Wukong had insisted on tying a rope around MK’s waist, as a “precaution”.

MK had truly, upon meeting them, tried his best to pretend that he was just a normal kid, who happened to be lost.

The believability of that was entirely lost when he’d leaned on a rock and accidentally crushed it.

Apparently, time travel had a tendency to mess around with people’s abilities, from making them more powerful or weaker, to straight up giving them new abilities or curses they’d never had.

MK could only thank his lucky stars that he’d only gotten hit with an increase in his super strength.

As it was now though, MK felt... a little lost. Sure, he knew he’d traveled back in time, but his memory as to how exactly that had happened was... admittedly, a little fuzzy. He could’ve sworn there was at least two other people with him when he was transported though.....

But that might’ve just been the trip back through time messing with him, since there hadn’t been anyone with him when he’d woken up.

Well, anyone other than the JTTW crew, that is.

Speaking of them, MK had...honestly no clue how to interact with them. Well, he knew how to interact with the Monkey King of the present, at least, but he had no idea how to interact with the Monkey King of the past. Not to mention the others, like, that was Tripitaka on that horse! MK was basically surrounded by legends!

Legends who, apparently, weren’t very talkative, since it’d been over an hour, and nobody had said anything yet. MK, quite honestly, was starting to get bored.

“...So, uh, how’s your day going?” MK nervously asked, breaking the silence.

“It was going fine until we picked you up.” Wukong said, “Seriously, don’t think that I fully believe that everyone from the future has super strength. I’ve got my eye on you, kid.”

And then that conversation was done, the silence returning.

....Until Wukong stopped, the whole rest of the group freezing as he did so. MK, who hadn’t been paying attention, walked into the monkey’s back, nearly knocking him over.

“Sorry!” MK said, as Wukong glared at him.

“Shut up.” He said, summoning his staff, “We’re being followed.”

Everyone glanced around nervously, as though they expected someone to jump out at any moment.

Wukong threw his staff at a tree.

There was a yelp, as the tree fell over, two figures jumping to the side to avoid getting hit.

MK recognized them immediately.

“Ah.” He said, waving a hand nervously. “..Hey Macaque, Monkey King. Didn’t expect to see you two here.”

Monkey King sighed, ignoring how his past self, along with the rest of the JTTW crew, stared at him in shock.

“That’s Wukong’s future self?” Bajie asked, “He seems... I don’t know, more fancy than our Monkey.”

“Hey, I can look like that too!” Wukong insisted, but was ignored. “Besides I think you’re ignoring something important- what is he doing with you?”

Monkey King looked over at Macaque, who was purposefully standing just slightly behind him, for protection.

“He’s.... okay, now.” Monkey King said, struggling to think of a way to explain exactly how things had changed. “Just...don’t attack him, okay?”

Wukong huffed angrily, but still did not attack.

“You know.....” Macaque said, stepping forwards and leaning on Monkey King’s shoulder, “Wukong, I honestly didn’t remember that your past self was so short.”

Both the past and present Wukongs fur bristled.

“Go throw yourself in the river.” Monkey King hissed, and Macaque blinked once, before straightening, and turning around.

“This is the third time you’ve made me do this today!” He shouted in irritation. MK watched him go in confusion.

“...What’s with him?” He asked.

“Ah... it’s a side effect of the time travel.” Monkey King said, “He has to do what other people say.”

A wicked smirk appeared on both Bajie and Wukong’s faces, making MK glance at them nervously. He didn’t need to worry though, as a disapproving glance in Wukong’s direction from Tripitaka, and smack on the head from Wujing, seemed to be enough to convince them to not follow through on whatever they were planning on doing.

......Probably, at least.

“Will you be traveling along with us as well?” Tripitaka asked. Monkey King looked shocked for a moment at being addressed, but then looked away nervously.

“...Not... really? I mean, our main plan was for me to come get my successor and then we’d find a way home.” He said, “But I guess that we could probably travel along with you in the meantime-”

“Hold up, successor?” Wukong said, looking over at MK. “This kid is our successor??”

“Monkey King, I was trying to keep that a secret.” MK protested. For his part, Monkey King did look a bit apologetic.

“Sorry kid...” He said, “But they would’ve figured it out anyways. You’re not as subtle as you think.”

“Neither are you right now, for that matter.” Macaque said, returning from his impromptu dip in the river, wringing the water out of his scarf with his hands.

“....What does he mean by that?” MK asked. Monkey King sighed, but didn’t answer. Macaque rolled his eyes.

“His side effect is that he can only tell the truth.” He said, “He’s not very happy about it.”

“At least I didn’t go into an unhappy rant after I realized what my side effect was.” Monkey King retorted, “Seriously, we almost lost track of you because of how long he took.”

“So.... whatever you say, will be the truth?” Wujing asked, getting a nod in response. “Then can you answer why-”

“He doesn’t need to answer anything.” Wukong hurriedly interjected, “Come on, we’re losing daylight. I don’t want to be stuck exposed in the middle of nowhere before we make camp.”

“Question. Can I come out of the ropes now?” MK asked.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Wukong said, and MK sighed in relief.

“Good. I uh. I accidentally broke them about 30 minutes ago.”

“You what-”

[fluffypotatey]

When I started LMK, like. just last month actually, I was ELATED to see Wukong like that was a fluffy silly monkey!! Like ain't no wayyyy they're just gonna introduce him like "yeah so I met THE monkey king and told me I was his successor and then I never saw him again?" shows who thought of doing that always changed their mind, so hooray! reoccuring character! I know nobody sees Wukong as a dad but I think of JTTW where he's the communal grandfather of all monkeys and like. I like me a Monkey King whose a KING and not a Monkey Jester looking out for his family of monkies on the mountain. im soft. he's like alone in his species. give him a monkey family. give me a good leader. he loves them SO MUCH. anyways. he's so squishy too like when MK was all "whaaat? but you're so cute and cheeky!" and Wukong was all "I KNOW" im crying, also when he was gushing over the bunnies on the moon. the line about "dorky mortals" what a goofball. but ooh the GOOD STUFF like when his voice goes all deep and growly when he's actually serious and angry like YES WRECK SOME STUFF UP. protective Swk is so good, and when he crashed onto the ship whumped out to hell and back OOH that was good too, so yum yum, and reminded me a ton of my old fav bc the whole "lying/pretending to be chill and relax kind of guy when you're actually doing Secret Important Business" is 100% his thing, but this time it actually gets revealed to the others lol. but yeah that aspect of Wukong is so fun because I can write so many tactical schemes with him. I love how they dragged him out of retirement to still be cool and active. "You should have stayed buried." had me on the edge of my seat as one of the first Things Are About To Get Real moments. Its also neat how sometimes his dialogue shows slivers of his Great Sage Wisdom Style of Speaking coming out. I went to rewatch that ep and also forgot how much of a stupid cartoon villain Macky was there lmao, I was hoping they wouldn't send him blasting off like team rocket every episode, at least that's started to change as of S4 XD I wonder if the theories about the journey failing hold any merit, stuff like "Wukong is not the loner he pretends to be" and all the other itty bitty behavioral clues are so fun to dig into.

HE IS SUCH A GOOFBALL 😍😍😍 i love this monkey man so much like you don’t even know 🤧

“you should’ve stayed buried” <- RIGHT HERE YOUR HONOR!!!! THIS WAS THE MOMENT!!! THE POINT OF NO RETURN FOR ME 🫠

up until s2 i had been waiting to see swk really fuck shit up bc he is one of the most op characters ever written and he’s such a fun guy in general, so to see him go from teasing DBK to THREATENING LBD WAS SO GOOD!!!!

I BELIEVE IN PROTECTIVE!SWK SUPREMACY 🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐 I BELIEVE IN SWK HOLDING BACK UNTIL HE KNOWS HE CANNOT (and even then he is still holding back like wtf) FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE HE CARES ABOUT 🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐

i am also a firm grandpa swk believer because yeah i’m not a big fan on labeling swk as a father figure (especially to MK) but if i had to place a familial label then i dub thee Grandpappy™️ Monkey King. he’s lived long enough to earn this title (also i think swk even calls himself grandpa to his subjects in jttw but i may have heard that wrong) but i also wouldn’t say no to Distant Uncle™️

but yeah, swk <3 he’s my little guy 🥰 my special murder boy 🥰 my precious “consumed by past regrets that span over centuries” guy 🥰 my “i have lived for a long, long time” immortal

[purble-turble]

Nobody’s seen you in days for the Dad Macaque AU where Mac has kidnapped Wukong with plans to later nab MK to complete his 'happy family' with them?

"Monkey King?!!"

MK waited, listening patiently for a response, but the only one that came was the echo of his own shout reverberating around the empty Water Curtain Cave.

This was unusual. The Monkey King hardly ever left the mountain, and he knew they had a training session every Friday. He even reminded him last week... where could he have gone?

His first instinct was to assume it was some sort of game, like maybe Monkey King was testing him by hiding on purpose. So MK set about on his search, turning the house and cave upside down, checking even the little ants crawling nearby for a monkey tail in case he was pulling that kind of trick. But no, nothing turned up.

Next he moved on to the mountain outside and the jungle path... still nothing. And also so unfair! How was he supposed to find his mentor in all this brush and brambles if he wasn't even going to give him a hint?

At long last, MK gave up. Having reached the beach and finding nothing to show for it except a few annoyed monkeys (none of them a disguised Monkey King, he had checked) he collapsed into the sand and stared up at the blinding bright sky.

Maybe the Monkey King went on an errand and forgot to tell him? To be fair, that totally seemed like something he would do. His mentor pretended to be on top of things and unshakeable, but after the months of really getting to know him and seeing him in action, MK knew that was just an air he put on. He could be lazy and forget things and even make mistakes just as much as... ok, well, not just as much as MK. MK still made a lot of mistakes, but the Monkey King sure wasn't perfect. He had his faults and weaknesses just like anyone.

Still, it was just really frustrating. Seems like everyone was disappointing him lately. He was supposed to train with Macaque earlier in the week, but his other mentor (or dad, actually... Macaque didn't seem to mind when MK called him that) had bailed on him too. At least he had left a note on his dojo door telling MK he'd be gone. Didn't explain anything, but MK hadn't wasted hours looking for him either.

Still laying in the sand, MK reached up and took out the staff from his ear. No sense wasting any more time here if Monkey King wasn't around. He was really hoping for some training; he could practically feel his skill level stagnating every day that went by that he didn't get some instruction... but it was no use. He would just have to come back tomorrow and try then.

Before he could stand and pole vault out of there, a figure came into his vision. He couldn't make out the details with the brightness of the sun shining from behind them, but he recognized that silhouette!

"Monkey King!" MK sat up and whipped his head around to see... someone else.

"Not quite, kid." Macaque was there, standing over him with a wide grin. "Sorry to disappoint."

For a second MK didn't react, just out of sheer surprise. Once it seemed to fully register who he was looking at, he scrambled to his feet, dropping the staff in the sand in favor of leaping at the dark furred monkey and wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug.

"Macaque!!! I haven't seen you in days," he shouted, "I've missed you!"

"Oh, well that's nice to hear," Macaque responded with a chuckle, "sorry I disappeared for a bit there. I had some errands to run... been getting some stuff ready. Y'know. Monkey business."

MK laughed at the pun but then his smile faded as he remembered where they were right now.

"Wait, hold on," he pulled away from the hug, "what are you doing here? I thought you and Monkey King still weren't getting along."

"Yeah, not exactly... I'm working on that, though," Macaque said, placing a hand on MK's shoulder reassuringly, "I actually came here to talk to him about you."

MK paused for a moment before responding, "Uh, I haven't told him, by the way... that you're still training me."

"I know, I know. We talked about some other stuff too... it got a little heated for a minute there, but I think I've got him calmed down now." Macaque's grin widened, "I can take you to him, if you want."

"Yes please!" MK didn't hesitate at all in his excited response.

He'd wanted for so long now to have his two monkey dads to get along. Monkey King said he didn't trust Macaque, but MK had no idea why... sure Macaque could push him a little harder in training than Monkey King would, but that didn't mean he was bad. It just meant he knew MK could do better! And he knew that too. He trusted Macaque. So when the shadow monkey took smiled down at him and gripped both his shoulders, a little tight, and they both started to fade into the shadows together, MK let it happen.

He didn't realize until it was too late that he'd forgotten the staff on the beach

[dancingthesambaa]

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 19

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him.

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 19: Got Your Back (And Maybe Your Heart)

“Okay let me get this straight-”

“No one here is, but go on.”

“Hush, I’m still mad at you,” Tang gave a stink eye to the Kappa before turning back to Macaque. “So let me get this straight, so not only are you the same Six Eared Macaque that has fought the Monkey King and the deity that’s known as the Wandering Healer-”

“Not actually a deity,” he inputted.

“Whatever, but I’ve been coming here for years and just now I find out that there are mythical deities and magical plants within the forest! The Yao grass that is said to be a component to the Immortality Pills, an actual Qilin living here?! And the brown bunny and that little shit stain, who probably wants to laugh his ass off, is actually a Kitsune and spirit!”

“Guilty as charged,” the Shui Gui chortled.

“Pretty much,” the monkey shrugged his shoulders.

“Yup,” Ní nodded in her fox form.

“…I am both very angry and very excited,” he grumbled. “Do you know how many questions I have?! Do you know how many things I could have tested? Do you know how long I have wanted to meet someone like you guys? Do you know how many questions I have?!”

“I think you already said that,” said the water spirit though he froze as he saw an ominous glint in his eyes.

“Oh yes I did, because by the time I leave here,” he mysteriously whipped out his phone, “I will have all my questions answered.”

“Just how many do you have?” Macaque cautiously asked.

Tang said nothing as he instead showed a folder containing many files within them. “Quite a few. Quite. A. Few.”

All three immortals, the ones who have faced many fierce opponents throughout their life, gulped at the looming trials ahead.

“Fuck,” they all unanimously said.

It was cold, damp, and thoroughly disgusting with all of the worthless piles of junk lying around, but she supposed she would have to work with what she had under these…conditions.

Lady Bone Demon quietly walked through the open sewer as she attempted to distinguish where exactly she should strike next while her underling, who has been waiting for all these years, searches for the one item she hasn’t quite found.

It was quite tricky, to say the least, all the rest of the ingredients she needed to procure, albeit a bit rare, would be much easier to obtain even if those incompetent bugs mess it up. It won’t be too hard to find a replacement for those, she just decided on them for the proximity, she does not desire to leave the city before she achieves her prize. The last item though is something that is an ingredient that is not so easily replaceable, so she will need to take her time and look through every crack and back alley down until she does.

It was quite irritating, from the conditions she found herself into the annoying bugs that seem to think they are above her to Sun Wukong.

Sometimes she just wished that she could be over and done with this little game entirely and reach the end, but alas that’s not how life works. But she will admit that it will be fun watching them all struggle to get one step ahead of her, though she can’t decide which one she’ll enjoy more, Sun Wukong look when she finally drains him of every last bit of power and torture what he cherishes in front of his very eyes or Spider Queen expression as she stabs her in the back when she becomes the component to her plans. Both sound absolutely delightful when the time comes, but for that to happen she suppose she will have to achieve this the long way, no shortcuts or cheats allowed.

But she doesn’t mind the wait, after all, she had been imprisoned for over five hundred centuries.

She has nothing but time and she intends to play this little game all the way to the end.

“So your not just some random ass immortal,” Macaque bluntly said when Shen met up with him again.

“Took you that long to figure that out,” the frizzy hair old man laughed.

“Well, how am I supposed to know that you were literally giving me Immortal wine when I have never tasted it before you all but shoved it to me?” He grumbled as he held the bottle of very rare wine once more. “You know I don’t really need this, I am still perfectly immortal without it.”

“Oh I know, Yama sometimes grumbled about it from time to time when we get together. Gods know he wants to strangle Sun Wukong's scrawny neck when he gets the chance,” he said while drinking some of the wine.

“You regularly drink with the King of the Dead?” He deadpanned, “Who the fuck are you? Cause that right there shows that you're not just a regular ass deity.”

“Hmm I’ll tell you if you tell me how you figured out how to make the Immortality pills,” he smirked at the monkey still look.

“What do you mean?”

“I may be old, but I can smell a lot of the ingredients for the pills in this forest alone. Yao grass, Biya berries, Voya roots, Gracidea flowers, just to name a few,” he tapped his nose.

“Can’t really hide the smell,” he clicked his teeth. “Alright fine I’ll talk, but you better keep your end of the deal.”

“Will do.”

And so they talked and talked and when Shen spoke of who he was Macaque all but threw the bottle in his hand.

“What the fuck Ping?!” He hissed out as he had to stop himself from bashing his head against the tree. “How the fuck?!”

“He was an interesting one,” he laughed. He met his old friend by the river where he was doing his laundry, they spoke and then he found himself another drinking buddy.

Macaque’s eyes twitched as he just slumped over and groaned loudly. “What the fuck!”

Shen just laughed wildly next to him.

“Yeah yeah laugh it up,” he hissed before letting out a sigh and sat himself up. “Shit I don’t know if I can ask you this but I might as well fucking try?”

“Hmm?” He curiously questioned.

“I may need something soon that I can’t quite get on normal means and I think-no I know I will need your help to get it,” he asked with an almost pleading voice.

“Hmm, why do you need it?” He noted the tone in his voice but didn’t say a word about it.

“There is a demon that wants to take over the land and almost nobody would be able to stop her,” the simian admitted.

“Eh, there will always be some creature that wants to take over the world, been there, seen that, but that never really happens now does it,” he easily dismissed it as he leaned in closer, “but why do you need it?”

“Because there are people that I want to protect and I know that they will be the ones that will be fighting against that monster and like hell I am letting them do this alone,” he growled.

“Oh now I have your reason, so here’s another question. How much are you willing to give for my favor?”

“Anything,” he determinedly said.

“Anything you say? Even your life?” His green eyes challenged his violet ones.

“Yes,” he replied with no hesitation as the question didn’t even make him flinch.

There was a long silence as both beings stared the other down until the red haired man broke off his gaze and chuckled lightly.

“…hehehe, always knew Ping was fond of the stubborn ones,” he grinned.

“Ping is an old coot with the perchance of running into the weirdest fucking things,” he huffed as the air around them seem to settle down.

“You're not wrong,” he nodded. “Alright I’ll help ya, but next time I drop by I expect some high quality drinks.”

“Tch, fine you alcoholic bastard. Hope you don’t mind Plum wine, have a few sitting for a couple of centuries.”

“Are you kidding? The longer the age, the better it is! It’s like you don’t know me sapling,” he said with a mock hurt expression.

“I mean I might as well as you just told me who the fuck you are!” He threw his hands in the air.

“But you know my wine tastes!”

“You've only given me one kind of wine bastard!”

“Still!”

“Don’t you fucking pout you overgrown child!”

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” MK cursed as he dashed his way through the volcanic land and ducked from a large fiery boulder aimed straight towards him. “Why does this happen to me!?”

Now you may be wondering how and why MK found himself stuck in the volcano arena, well he was visiting one of the more interesting customers he had delivered to before, as in she was trying to learn more about magic, with Red and Mei. Which is cool and all, especially since she has mastered how to change her hair color on will, but she was showing him her more advanced spells. Now it was very fun with the Bull Prince trying to explain to the young girl how each spell works and how much energy must be put into it. They were even going to try out a new spell together, but the thing about her is that while she does have quite a bit of talent, she is extremely clumsy. As she took a step forward and accidentally pushed him into the symbol on the ground and then ‘poof’ he teleported right in the middle of the fire imp territory.

Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, he can handle a few enemies on his own and he did with such ease that not even a scratch was laid on him. It’s just that the problem was that they all happened to be a bit too loud and woke up a humanoid creature that was three times his size, entirely made up of molten magma and rock crystals, and looked very pissed.

Needless to say all of them booked it as fast as they could, but unfortunately it had their eyes on one creature that looked different from the rest.

“Seriously!” He yelled as he climbed up the mountain and quickly hid and he held his burnt side. He knows that he is quick on his feet, but even he can’t dodge all of those boulders and swipes aimed at him. It doubly hurts as he can feel the burning of the magma touch his skin, he desperately wants an ice bath when he escapes this.

SMASH

But until then he will continue to make his way to the ocean ahead where he hopes that it would be enough to stop the beast in its tracks. He will swim all the way back home if he has to, he can deal with the sickness later after he saves his skin.

He felt the beast let out a devastating roar and a glance back he saw the creature lift the largest boulder that he didn’t even think he could dodge. So, he instead prepared himself as he was about to bring out his staff when-

“Here comes Jade Dragon/ Blazing Bull!” Twin voices shouted as the next second two terrifying forces slammed into the creature and with a pained roar he flew back.

He blinked as he saw Mei and Red Son, one who is surrounded by ethereal viridian energy and the other encaptured in a fiery crimson aura, jump in front of him protectively.

“MK/Noodle boy! Are you okay?!” Both of them have been trudging through not only ashes clogging their lungs and spot marking their skins, but also all different types of books and ruins trying to find the right activation phrase to reopen the portal to where their friend had disappeared to. They were tired, dirty, clothes ripped, and pissed off, but in MK eyes they were the most beautiful people he has ever seen as he couldn’t stop the blush forming on his cheeks as he took in their perfectly disheveled appearance, the muscles peeking from their ripped sleeves, sweat dripping from their face, and the worried look in their gorgeous eyes.

“Y-Yep!” He involuntarily squeaked. ‘I really should not have read some of those romance books with Jin,’ he thought as he cleared his throat. “I mean yeah, yeah you guys are perfect-I mean you got here at perfect timing!” He nervously said as he rubbed the back of his neck and tried to avoid eye contact.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head along the way,” she lightly teased as she kept a firm stance in front of him.

“Would be an improvement,” he smirked, but his eyes didn’t leave the Cherufu dazed form.

“Heyyy,” he whined before he realized what they said before, “Do you guys have names and you didn’t tell me!”

“Umm.”

“We’ll you see-”

“They are so cool!” His eyes sparkled, “they fit you both so perfectly, and the way you guys came in and shouted it made the scene even more awesome!”

Both of them couldn’t stop both smiles and blushes as their smaller friend, and small crush, kept on praising them, but unfortunately, their little bubble popped as the beast roared once more.

“Tch,” Mei irritably clicked her tongue at the beast ride interruption, showing off her fangs (after countless of honing to both tracing and the dragon sword, she was more than ecstatic to see that she matched with both of her boys) “I actually forgot about that.”

“You mean the walking miniature mountain that was just chasing me down,” MK huffed as he shook his head. Hopefully, the two would just blame his fluster on the heat and not drift towards the thought that he may like them more than friends.

“Yeah that.”

“You both need to really get up to speed with your Mythical beings,” Red grunted as he opted to not use his fire against the creature made of lava.

“Says the one who never knew what Advil was,” MK muttered.

“It’s not my fault you mortals inconsistently change their names for no reason!” He hissed as his hair flared up.

“Surrrreee,” both mortals said.

“Let’s just focus on getting out of here.”

“You just don’t want to admit that your wrong~”

“Shut it!

“And where do you think you're going?” Wukong flinched as he heard Macaque's voice behind him.

“Oh you know, just a little road trip,” he smiled wider than normal as he quickly turned around to hide his suitcase, “I thought that it was time I get off of my mountain and see what else I missed.”

“Uh Huh,” he noncommittally said as he casually walked forward, “and you just decided that right this week?”

“Yep!”

“Just out of the blue.”

“You know it!”

“With no thoughts in mind.”

“None whatsoever!”

“Sunny, I know you’re bullshitting me,” he bluntly said.

“Whattt?” He nervously laughed, “I’m serious, I am just going to go sightseeing for a bit and-”

“You still have that same tell when you lie, you know. Smiling too widely,” he pointed out.

“I thought I got that under control,” he muttered to himself and sighed, “alright yeah, you caught me. I was gonna go out and look for a weapon to stop her, but I have to do this, Lady Bone Demon is not someone to trifle with. You know how she can easily command someone under her will and that was when she just got out of centuries of captivity! Imagine what she could accomplish once she regains more and more power! I just can’t sit here and wait for that to happen.”

“I know, that’s why you're not doing it alone,” he pointed out.

“Huh?”

“Did you really think that talk we had the other day was just a one off thing? No no no, there are so many people and demons solely invested in this, because what Spider Queen did really pissed off a lot of people and they want revenge on not only her, but those who helped her,” he said as summoned a map and showed him. “Just see for yourself.”

The monkey took the map and he became confused about what he was looking at. “There’s just a bunch of doodles in certain areas.”

“Those are the areas that have been hit and investigated thoroughly, the ones with X are the no goes of anything suspicious or useful, the ones with question marks are the clues or hints, and the few with checks are the ones where they found positive report and/or confirmation on successful supplies that we need. All of these are for finding the necessary materials to end the Bone Demon life once and for all.”

Wukong's eyes were wide at the end of his statement, “You know how to destroy her?! How long were you planning this? How have you managed to search all of these areas?”

“Well, it helps that I have so many favors stacked up from my former clients. I usually don’t care what they pay me, but usually, it’s in either money, food, or favors and I have a lot of those. I mean just Po and his students alone have them all checking the western areas for it by themselves. He says it’s a good training exercise for them, but I think he just wants a break from those brats. And for your first one, we’ll ever since BK got possessed the family has promised vengeance upon her, and Queen Iron Fan happens to have knowledge of a permanent kill switch to ending that demon life,” he said as he showed him the formula.

Wukong examined it and after a while, he nodded his head and faintly said, “Yeah…yeah that might actually work…there is something to destroy her.” He still couldn’t believe his eyes, but it was right there in front of him, then the first part of his words hit him, “Wait, that long?”

“Yes that long,” he said with exasperation, “Am I the only one who found it fucking weird that the Demon Bull King, one of the strongest beings in the realm, got possessed out of fucking nowhere? That right there was already suspicious by itself and the ominous whispers were sure not helping her case, that just added it on. So we decided to get to the bottom of this and boy is this one deep chasm we got ourselves into.”

“It really is,” he agreed as he looked over the map and saw that some of the places that were marked were the ones he was going to go to, even some that only celestial beings can access, “You already investigated these realms?”

He looked over to see what he was pointing at and nodded, “Yeah, pretty much. As I said, I have clientele all over and I don’t really restrict unless they have really done something so fucked up that I would rather kill them.”

“You have favors with Celestial deities,” he emphasized.

“Just some minor ones,” the doctor tried to brush it off, but judging by his friend's look, it wasn’t going to be easy.

“Celestial. Deities.”

“How about we talk about this later.”

“Oh we are so talking about this later, but I still have to do this. I have to make sure that she doesn’t cause any more harm to people anymore, this is my duty that I have to do-”

“You're not understanding!” He gripped his hair in frustration. “I literally gave you a map and you still don’t understand what I’m trying to say!”

“What!” He threw his hands in the air, “What can you possibly-”

“You aren’t alone dumbass!” He hissed out and froze the Monkey Sage.

“Wha-” he was cut off once more by a furious finger poking his chest at each word Mac hissed out.

“You. Are. Not. Alone. I don’t know how many different ways I have to say this, but if it gets through your thick skull then god damn it, I will.”

“I-”

“I know what you were about to do, you were about to galavant off and try to do everything on your own and not say a single word to nobody like a stupid martyr, cause apparently this is a shared trait between you and MK about being so self sacrificial that you wish to take on the burden yourself! Well fuck that! I’m putting my foot down for both of you, you don’t have to recklessly go out there and hope that one of them will stick!”

“What else am I supposed to do!” He leaped to his feet, “I basically serve no purpose other than this glorified title of hero, which I am really sick of hearing, and that Bone witch could strike at any moment and we won’t be prepared. If I leave the city then that would mean that not only would I be faster on looking for the weapon, but I would be far away from her and her attempt to sap my power.”

“But you would also be away from the city and by the time you come back, there might not be anything left to come back to,” he said with a final tone. “No one would be able to stand against her, not the demons, not the people, not MK, not the Bull Family, not even me. We would all fall by the time the morning sun rises if we tried to face her head on. We would all be corpses below her feet.”

The Monkey King stilled as the morbid images flooded into his head.

City in ruins.

Bodies sprawled everywhere.

Familiar faces all dead eyed.

Bodies collapsed.

Heart stilled

His precious student.

All of his tribe members.

The rambunctious Demon quartet.

His family to the West.

The headstrong Dragon successor.

Demon Bull with his wife and son.

Yanyu surrounded by her siblings.

Macaque

Macaque

Macaque

They're all dead.

Dead

Dead

Dead

Deaddeaddeadeadeadeadeadead

“Wukong!” He snapped out of his thoughts by black furred hands and looked up to see Macaque worried Violet (alive there so alive and bright, so so bright and alive) eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m-” he stopped himself and remend what he was about to say, “I will be fine…I’ll stay.”

The Six Eared monkey let out a sigh of relief, “Good, that’s good. Sorry for putting that image in your head.”

“No, no I needed to hear that. I-I can’t be impulsive, not right now, not when things are becoming dangerous, I need to think things through,” he sighed as he sat down.

“You're not going to be out of the loop, you are the one who knows where a weapon may be hidden, so you can easily tell them which spot to tackle more thoroughly,” he reassured him as he sat by him.

“That would be more efficient than me just searching one at a time, okay I’ll do that,” he let out a small puff of air and managed a small smirk, “I guess that’s why I have you in my life, you somehow manage my little quirks.”

“‘Little quirks’ is an understatement,” he deadpans and leans on him, “but yeah we do fit well for some odd reason.”

“Like peaches and congee,” he grins.

“I think you are the only ones who actually dip it into the food.”

“Oh like I haven’t seen you do the same with mango,” he pointed out.

“There’s a difference okay! It just tastes better that way,” he huffed.

“Surrrre it does,” he drawled out.

“It does.”

“Whatever you say.”