#It gives us a SWK & Macaque flashback

[imminent-danger-came]

Me thinks I am one of the few who really likes lmk's pacing

[byfulcrums]

I wanted to talk about this because it's been on my mind since I finished season 4

The way peaches represent Sun Wukong and Macaque's relationship. When they're happy in Flower Fruit Mountain, just the two of them — no brotherhood, no Jade Emperor (along with the entirety of Heaven), no journey to the West —, Sun Wukong gives Macaque a peach.

It doesn't look like much. SWK eats peaches all the time and his mountain is filled with them (seriously, is that all he eats? He really, really really loves peaches, man. How does he not get tired of them? I'd get grossed out after the first few months), of course he'd give one to his best friend! His most loyal subject!

In this scene, they're comfortable with each other. SWK talks about how what he wants is to live a lazy life with him and his monkeys, just chilling and eating peaches and basking in the sun? I can't remember exactly what he said but the point is, that he wants things to stay like that forever. Just the two of them (along with a thousand monkeys), living happily in a mountain with SWK being strong enough to protect all of them

SWK gives Macaque a peach. Macaque accepts it; the peach is fine. They're good.

The next time we see one of them give the other a peach is during another flashback, the one where SWK and Macaque are talking while Sun Wukong is sealed under the mountain (the position he was in looked so uncomfortable? He wasn't laying on his belly with the mountain on his back, he looked like he was trying to run away before he got caught with the mountain on his back), and they are definitely not good then

Macaque offers Sun Wukong a peach (read; Macaque offers Sun Wukong a peach, when Wukong was the one to offer one to Macaque before. The sun gives the moon its light, but the moon can't offer anything to it in return) and Sun Wukong acts passive aggressive with him, leaving it clear that no, Mac, he doesn't want that fucking peach (well, maybe he does, but we'll get to that later)

They're both in the right here, but they're also both in the wrong. Macaque is right for being angry at Sun Wukong. If he hadn't followed Azure's plan (he [Azure] was so fucking grooming that monkey, what the fuck. Not sexual btw), the brotherhood would've been fine, and Sun Wukong wouldn't be trapped under the mountain. However, Sun Wukong is also allowed to be angry at Macaque; from his POV, Macaque ran away from the fight when he realized they were losing. Macaque pretty much abandoned him first. I'd be angry too, honestly

Macaque is wrong for telling Sun Wukong that he's the one that got himself in that mess when really, that was partly Azure's fault. Weren't it for him Sun Wukong apparently wouldn't have cared about Heaven, since unlike what happens in JTTW (haven't read it yet, pls tell me if I'm wrong!), all he wanted was to live a comfortable life and train his troops (Azure was the one who saw him first; he found this... child? And thought that yeah, he can use this. He put him in a pedestal and showered him in compliments he didn't deserve nor want. He manipulated him to get what he wanted; not a king, but a weapon)

Sun Wukong is in the wrong for treating Macaque like shit here too, since he literally warned him and again, he wasn't at fault. Neither of them were!

Back to the point — in this scene, when Sun Wukong rejects the peach, Macaque crushes it with his hand. Later, after Macaque leaves, Sun Wukong expresses how he actually really wanted that peach. Or, in other words, Macaque tries to offer Sun Wukong his support, his friendship, and when Sun Wukong rejects it, he gives up and destroys any way of getting back together; later, it is revealed that Sun Wukong didn't genuinely want to be left alone, and that he did still wish to be friends, in a way

This, we can say is the point where their relationship was broken. The peach is left on the floor, abandoned, and Sun Wukong with it. As far as we know, Macaque didn't come back after, and even if he did it's pretty obvious that wouldn't have gone very well

(Also, just to add, and you can skip this part if you want! When Macaque is looking at the memory, he looks kinda confused? Like he doesn't remember it happening that way. Maybe that's one of the LBD messed with when she brought him back, if she even was touching them. I'm not sure if that's canon, I forgot. Please tell me if you know?)

The next and last time one of them offers the other a peach it's, again, Sun Wukong to Macaque (it's almost like that's the way it's meant to be. Huh. Sun and moon indeed haha!)

They're in a beach again! Yay! Sun Wukong's (and possibly Macaque's later, if he gets a proper redemption arc) friends and family (MK and the gang, and also the DBK fam) are there too. Sun Wukong is watching them in the sun (lol) when Macaque goes and joins him. He doesn't even go there to annoy him and as far as we know he didn't even get an invite, so he really just went to the event to chill with SWK. During this whole scene, we can see that Macaque isn't interested in starting a fight (fucking finally, man), even if Sun Wukong does act kinda aggressive at first. Which, y'know. Fair

They're in a beach again. Presumably not the same one, but still a beach. They're back to the beginning, but not really, because they're both different people. They've changed, and their relationship(s) with them

This time, it's not an actual peach being offered. It's a peach popsicle. I don't know how to spell that. Sun Wukong offers it to Macaque, and Macaque looks surprised but eventually accepts it. He appears to be happy with this

This I believe represents how they're both willing to begin a new relationship (platonic, romantic or something else, see it as you want). A new relationship; a changed one

Sun Wukong doesn't give Macaque an actual peach, he gives him a peach popsicle. He's offering his friendship, an offering Macaque accepts, but it's not the same it was before, and it never will be. They know they'll never be the way they were in the past, and they accept it. Sun Wukong offers Macaque his friendship, telling him that it won't be the same, but that if they want to heal then they've got to accept that — and Macaque takes it. It's not the same, there are mistakes that can never be fixed and actions that can't be undone, but they're willing to start anew

It'll be different, but it could be even better if they try (if they fucking COMMUNICATE for once)

And the popsicle will eventually melt. They'll eventually fight again; they'll fall apart, and maybe get so angry at each other they'll refuse to talk to each other for a while (y'know how stubborn they can be), but (usually depending on where you live) popsicles can be surprisingly cheap!

If the popsicle melts, if they struggle, they'll just buy another one, they'll just keep trying

Now all we need is a scene where Sun Wukong (or Macaque, to show them as equals if not in power then in... y'know, their relationship? I'm not sure what the word would be) gives Macaque an actual peach to show how they're them again. Not the same, never the same, but still them

[quitealotofsodapop]

Hmm...if Mac absorbs the egg - does that mean he would have a rock in his gut? How would that even work? Would the egg be draining Mac's magic as a form of sustenance to replace the umbilical cord? Imagine the panic those monkeys would have - "Didn't your rock blow up when you were born?!" "Calm down, I doubt it's gonna go all chestburster on you! I hope." "Chest-what?!" "Oh, right, you haven't seen the movies..." "WUKONG!" - or does the *baby* go to Mac and leaves an empty rock for SWK to use?

OK Im calling a Long Post warning; cus its a long answer, and gives a pretty good idea Why the plot happens.

Basically the stone "Egg" MK comes from was a comet containing Something. The Jade Emperor and a bunch of other Celestials noticed it coming right for earth and started panicing. To anyone not in the know, it just looked like an unseasonable meteor shower over Megapolis.

SWK is summoned cus the Jade Emperor had Visions of what was in the "Egg"; an infant Stone Monkey that could transform into an Eldritch Abomination. Jade Emperor gives the order of scrambled stone egg.

SWK and a bunch of other characters are Not Down For It; so they teleport to SWK's Shame Temple (seen in "Imposssible Delivery") to hopefully catch the Egg before it lands.

Coincidentally; The Shame Temple happens to be where Macaque was put to rest hundreds of years ago, and he's just Woken Up (more details on Why later) to his ex-best-friend/possible soulmate standing there.

Moskha and Nezha have to keep the monkeys apart long enough to form a plan.

The comet that contains the Egg finally crashes down, and begins leaking a horrific chaotic energy thats ripping apart the reality around it. It takes the power of SWK, Nezha, Mohska, and Guanyin herself to perform a ritual to contain the energy within a confined space.

Problem was that when The Egg hit the earth, it had cracked open. But unlike SWK and Mac, it had not developed a body for its soul to survive in just yet.

Wukong has a rare lightbulb moment.

Wukong: "Hey, if *our* eggs held us - then could we use our old shells to patch it up and let it finish cooking?"

Macaque: "Thats the stupidiest idea you've ever had. Lets do it."

Guanyin gives the thumbs up, and Macaque takes SWK's place in the ritual, summoning all his shadow powers to keep the Soul within the temple. SWK causes some chaos zipping around to Flower Fruit Mountain and the Moon for the remains of his and Mac's stone eggs.

SWK patches the broken Cosmic Egg with the remaining shells, successfully trapping the energy.

Then Macaque's control on the shadows faulter, causing the Cosmic Egg to zoom towards him (Samadhi Fire flashbacks anyone?) and hit just before Wukong can jump in for a save; the Soul contained within the Egg absorbing into Macaque's body and leaving behind a seemingly normal egg-shaped rock in Wukong's hands.

Everyone starts panicking.

Guanyin explains: since the Soul existed outside of the natural order, it couldnt just simply jump into the nearest body like a reincarnation. It needed similarly un-natural progenitors.

In essense; the undercooked MK soul was like: "Where am I?! What am I!? Why am i so cold!? Where's my parents!?" *sees SWK and Macaque fixing his egg* "Oh, there they are, my bad."

Which means that Shadowpeach just metaphorically and *literally* concieved a future mystic Monkey.

Macaque is NOT HAPPY and immediately jumps to beat the crap out of SWK.

Moksha has to stop herself from laughing cus; "Bro you just magically knocked up your ex.", while Nezha looks horrified cus he thinks he just saw what Stone Monkey baby-making looks like.

Guanyin advises the two monkeys that if they keep things civil, the Soul will likely incarnate into a physical body and get born as an infant Monkey demon do. But there's a catch:

On a gross physical scale; its not an issue. Mystic Monkeys exist outside the natural category of creatures, and are shapeshifters to boot, meaning that Macaque already had built-in "equipment" to carry a kid. Its just him and SWK never "tried" making more of themselves - a war and a bad break-up put a damper on any family planning they had.

On a magical + spirtual scale though? : Its Dangerous.

The mystical pregnancy takes so much energy from Macaque that he needs to in-turn "steal" energy from other life sources in order to keep both of them healthy/alive. SWK thankfully cannot die and can replenish his energy on his own via food and rest, but the HP donation in turn drains his powers.

Basically by deciding to spare the Egg, Sun Wukong and Macaque have become functionally Mortal until MK is able to provide for himself.

As for the leftover shell; SWK presents it to the Jade Emperor as evidence that he "scrambled" whatever was inside. The celestials present can tell that whatever was in there, isnt anymore, so they accept that SWK did as he was told.

Except for Erlang Shen who's like; "SWK would never do what he's told! This is sus. Imma keep my eye on you if anything new enters the celestial realm."

SWK: "Fine by me, imma go back to being retired and having my main antagonists sealed away."

Once its confirmed that the Celestial Realm considers the Egg destroyed; SWK and Macaque agree to hide in plain sight among the mortal world for the time being. There's a *few* hiccups along the way ofc, but by the time MK is born, they're settled into the apartment above Pigsy's, and faking being a "Completely Normal (Demon) Couple With Baby", and are getting forcibly adopted by the reincarnations of the old JTTW gang.

Cue the rest of the story, and Shadowpeach forgetting where the Fake Relationship ends and where the "Whoops, you're still my soulmate!" begins.

And the three Realms collectively crapping themselves when MK picks up the staff.

And yes; Wukong would worry about the possibly of MK being born chestburter-style. Macaque would then yell at him and banish him to his cloud for the night.

I'm close to finishing the first chapter, so please continue sending asks for more details you'd like to know, and I'll answer without giving away too many spoilers.

Tldr: No rock in Macaque's gut, just baby. Leftover cosmic eggshell used to juke the god. MK is the result of a Covalent Bond. Guanyin is an amazing Fairy Godmother

[fluffypotatey]

Uhh Fluffy. Alright firstly, I was just sitting here going bonkers over the insanity of S5 yet AGAIN bc half the time I seriously think there's two fake monkeys going around pretending to be SWK and Mac, and they each fought a fake before finishing the fight with each other, and Ik I said this but the perspective is too weird! Wukong pleading for Mac to not make him do this was either outside that vision OR part of the vision and that is NOT something you say while flying down with a punch and a yell(?) hard to tell voices apart in the Chinese version for me. I'm not used to them, but I'm guessing the yell his. Mac did impersonate him but in HIS flashback he was on the receiving side, while in this one, Wukong seems to be 😭 It's so confusing omgg. Sorry okay secondly, and this one will REALLY make you crazy, is that someone pointed out that in that S3 EP 4 scene with the zodiac compass scene to free LBD, apparently Mac is SHIRTLESS and you can see scratches and scratches on him. So uh, if this is post-revival and post fully clothed Mac tied up in his own shadows, WHO UNDRESSED MY BOY BC WHEN I GET YOU- I cannot BELIEVE that theory that Wukong stole his old scarf so Mac had to get a new one might actually be true!! Wukong you are NOT a grave robber so what GIVES. I can't buy it. Did the bugs eat it. Do I need to dedicate a good portion of fic to writing decomposing Mac and give him trauma for that. Bruh, sure I imagine fabric decays quickly but also, that would mean he'd sincerely been there for awhile before LBD had to revive-heal him or just make a totally new body, this guy isn't really the real Macaque and he never will be!! No wonder he'd be all naked afterwards if the flesh had to literally regrow over old bones. Fluffy this is HORRIFYING. And looking at it, even in the scene with Mac's arms spread out and LBD descending like some angel, he is shirtless! You can see by the lack of color bro wears bright YELLOW he sure isn't there and there's torn scruffs by his pant waistline. Perhaps I am actually subscribing to LBD possessed him during this fight, and then the blue chains and shadows tried to bury him underground, and then you see him clawing his way out and there's HEAPS of blood splashing all around, and THEN you see LBD cast it all away. When Wukong fought LBD, instead of her pretending to be a bunch of villagers, she could've very well been inside of Mac the whole time. Remember the whole, our old friend the Lady Bone Demon- bit? What if they were actually on okay terms on the journey, Wukong killed LBD two times, and then on the third try she crawled into Mac and Wukong couldn't figure out why he swapped personalities so quickly. Maybe there was another LBD (like what she did to the Mayor, so she still has HER form but also him.) And hosting a piece of herself inside Mac was insurance for failing yet another fight with Wukong. Why ELSE would she do this to ensure "Mac would free her when the time came" unless if she was expecting to get sealed/lose to Wukong again? Mac has always had that motif of blue chains clinging to him. This is why. They've been there for centuries.

while i do like the idea of Macky being stripped bare in death and revived physically vulnerable, i do think he was wearing clothes

let’s just examine these two:

here’s our lovely boy pre-death (i think) but post his battle with swk

so, dully noted here is he is very much clothed here but in considerable pain/anguish (why? well it’s either because Wukong did what had to be done struck him down OR someone pulled a little spell and did the deed instead of Wukong)

anyway, here is our lively boy post-revival

from my eyes, it does look like he is wearing pants and a torn shirt (notice the two marks on the arms are almost symmetrical to indicate the end of the sleeves). like it’s less clothes than before, but there’s still something.

it’s a cool theory but i do doubt that it’ll hold. lmk does leave a lot to speculate about the specifics on Macky’s death and revival (though since s5 it has been pointing closer to Wukong pulling the trigger 👀) but lmk also likes to play with characters’ memories and leave a lot of the past unreliable

we heard the Samadhi Fire story about three to four times and yet every one has its own variations about what it was, how the rings were split, and stuff. and then you even have MK skewing Wukong’s point about the group being mortal compared to the Monkey King’s own immortality in 3x02. Azure’s story he told MK also wasn’t 100% true

however, what we are shown in the memories are supposed to be the characters’ deepest and darkest memories. ones they do not like to share or think about often. the Hundred Eye Demon never skewed or manipulated the memories; rather, it was him scouring through them for his own self gain

so like, there’s a very high chance that what we heard in 5x07 is something Wukong said to Macackle during their battle in jttw. there’s also laughing in that memory, so idk what Wukong would be laughing about which makes the “don’t make me do this” line be Wukong’s rather than Macracker’s

[sketching-shark]

While I'm somewhat knowledgeable about JTTW, I don't dislike Monkie Kid doing it's own thing and telling it's own story. It allows for a lot of creative liberties when the show isn't shackled to the OG classic. However, I would say the change that is starting to become annoying, and that some fans are starting to take notice on, is SWK's portrayal. Again, I dont mind him being this flawed hero character that makes mistakes. But his flaws are starting to become...overwhelming. Like can anyone recall the last time he did something good or right in this series? Everywhere I turn, the show just points out the pain he causes people. The label of "hero" kinda doesn't fit anymore. And I feel like the writers keep digging a deeper hole with him. He's made so many bad decisions that I hesitate to call him a good person anymore. I think this is also because they use villains from the book instead of creating new villains for MK. So everything ends up being Wukong's fault because those OG villains are tied to him. And I question if this will continue to be the case until the show ends. Anyway, I'm just glad other fans are noticing this particular writing decision and criticizing it.

Monkie Kid spoilers & me being perhaps too mean & ungenerous to a cartoon monkey below so you know keep reading at your own risk aegesfaewf:

Well anon given that one of my favorite JTTW retellings is Monkey King: Hero Is Back on one hand I really have no right to criticize massive changes to the og classic in stories heavily based on Xiyouji sdfrae. ON THE OTHER HAND, when a good portion of those changes pretty consistently have the consequence of the great sage himself being characterized more and more as a stupid failure at best and a selfish asshole at worst (especially in the context of this characterization happening in a goofy lego show about going on fun adventures) it's like...what is sparking these writing decisions. Said this before, but yea for the past few seasons Monkie Kid's story lines has been in this loop of "some villain makes an appearance-->SWK ends up making the whole situation 1000 times worse even if inadvertedly-->Qi Xiaotian gets a lot more trauma-->villain gets exploded at the end which apparently means everything's okay now." And the entire time every character from Long Xiaojiao to the Six Eared Macaque to Li Nezha has some extended scene that's all about them stating with great conviction what a horrible person the Monkey King is. And then the show does very little to refute that. Everything he does, even if he's trying his best to do what he thinks is the right thing, just ends with giving the villain d'jour a massive power-up right up until it's time for the big explodey climax. Qi Xiaotian now seems to have gotten nothing out of being tudi to the Monkey King except having his friends put in mortal danger & routinely getting the tar beaten out of him from yaoguai who have a grudge against Sun Wukong & having his abandonment issues made worse. There is at this point literally not a single character whose life was made better from the monkey king being in it and many whose lives were objectively made much worse as a direct result of interacting with Sun Wukong. And so far, as others have pointed out, the ONLY TIME we got a flashback from SWK about what happened from his perspective was about him screwing up with the samadhi fire ritual and being responsible for the 4th ring getting created. So at this point, especially since only the audience has gotten the barest glimpse of the torture headband & some hint of what turned the Great Sage Equal to Heaven into what's essentially a perpetual screw-up...like why do any of the other characters, especially the members of SWK's former sworn brotherhood, give a single fig as to whether he lives or dies? Heck it wouldn't surprise me if at least a few of them celebrated SWK getting trapped in ink hell world because A) he's seen as responsible for trapping them in there for thousands of years in the first place B) they've finally dealt with the immortal evil betrayer who was responsible for ruining their lives and being an uncaring heaven's lapdog, and C) now he can't blunder around screwing everything up so badly that all of reality gets put in danger. So you know, SWK in ink hell world is a good thing either way!

IDK, I'm probably being too mean about this. Given the actions of other characters Sun Wukong can't be blamed for everything. Maybe things will later on be explained for why he acts the way he acts in a satisfying manner. But at this point the lego show really does seem to be going out of its way to paint Sun Wukong as someone everyone very justifiably despises, and personally I think if a writer for Monkie Kid felt compelled to go on twitter to try to make the Monkey King hate die down a bit then Flying Bark really needs to have a sit and a think as to why a not insignificant portion of their audience was primed to believe the absolute worst about Sun Wukong!

[kirahana21]

Decided to give my LMK oc Jia more development so here are some fun facts/bit of backstory snippets!

Jia Wéi Facts

-18

-DOB: 7/16 (national cherry day)

-Student of Sun Wukong

-Sister figure to MK (same age) and Bai He

-Has a knack for Cooking/Baking

-Curious and intelligent

-Booksmart

-Usually fights with Fans and staff

-Not the best with sarcasm

-Enjoys listening to SWK tell her stories about JTTW

-Very clumsy when distracted/worried

Backstory and Present Day Facts (Takes place a few hundred years after JTTW)

-When she first met SWK, she had a habit of trying to follow him everywhere in her house. He enjoyed looking around at the familiar scenery and Toddler Jia would be walking and running trying to look at his tail or clothes. He introduced himself as his usual proclaimed title ‘Great Sage Equal To Heaven’ but ofc a toddler can’t say that so he explained all of his stories like the way Maui does in Moana in ‘You’re Welcome’ (minus the singing)

-the next time they meet Jia actually saves him. She (age 5) finds SWK almost passed out after a bad fight outside the barrier of the bourse and uses the petals she in her emergency bag to heal him

-the time after that he actually saves her from a demon trying to eat her after she snuck out of the house. She (age 9-10) went out to go see what the world outside her house was like after hearing all the cool stories SWK told her and got herself kidnapped. Luckily after spending almost the whole entire trip of JTTW saving Tripitaka and his buddies he finds her easily and brings her back home.

-Around age 11 she starts learning basic moves and techniques on wielding a staff from SWK and she learns pretty quickly. By the time she’s 16 she can almost corner him at 1/4th of his strength (which in mortal terms is pretty impressive)

-Jia has gotten pretty attached to SWK after he’s been with her for a good chunk of her life and see’s him as a mentor and soon a father figure after the events of s3/4

-Jia: I don’t have a dad, he passed away when I was young. MK: oh don’t worry! I’ve got 4 dads (Pigsy, Tang, SWK, Macaque) so we can share! Your part of the family now! Jia: I get to have 4 dads!?

-She and MK have a sibling relationship and will take both the younger and older roles when they feel like it and will both talk out about SWK for hours on end

-Loves Pigsy’s cooking and always leaves a good review or helpful tip on a sticky note

-spends most of her time with Mei and learns about the modern world with her as the best tour guide in town

-IS LITERALLY THE BEST BIG SISTER EVER TO BAI HE, she does everything she can to make her feels safe and comfortable and teaches her fighting tricks and meditation chants to help her whenever she’s in trouble or stressed/dealing with flashbacks from LBD

-considers Tang and Sandy her favorite adults, will listen and talk and give advice and have fun pleasant conversations while drinking tea and mochi together

-if she ever meets Nezha they have decent conversations and Nezha feels like he can actually talk to a mortal who has a few brain cells still left.

[asmoteeth]

I'm not gonna lie I love everyone's headcanons on what exactly happened between SWK and Macaque but I came to feel like i wanted more out of it

I understand that we've only seen Macaque side of the story so far but I can't help but feel like there's more than "SWK abuser Macaque victim"

As someone who's lose at least two close friendships along my life there can be so much more things than black and white dynamic (someone's a mistreater/someone's mistreated)

I would really like to see some more things that I feel could make it more hard to have to choose between the two and make this subplot more interesting

Miscommunication, a lot of people sometimes need their space away from their friends but need to leave this information clear to other people, but sometimes there's not this safe space to talk about it, having two types of needs in a friendship is an important thing to discuss, and I feel like they definitely didn't do that

Having to leave, If I remember right in Macaque's flashback SWK had the spell-thigtening fillet, which probably meant he was already with his other team, in Journey to the West (not to mention Tripitaka spell restrained him from leaving if I remember right, but idk how much of JTW is in Monkie Kid so I'll shut up)

SWK not longer agreeing with Macaques Techniques but leaving instead of confronting him in sake of their friendship, similar thing that we see in season one

I want more things to be thrown into it, repairing a friendship isn't always as easy as one of them apologizing for what they did and the other one accepting. It can also involve both parties apologizing for what they both did wrong to eachother. And discussing what their relationship will be from now on: do we start our friendship again with our new boundaries? Do we just separate in good terms and get closure? Etc.

If you use the dynamics i mentioned at the start of the post to cope with your own life experiences dw I'm not saying it's bad, i love it even, I would just like to see their relationship be more hard and difficult to rip apart.

For the record there could be a lot of info in like, the lego sets that give us more context, but I'm unable to buy nor idk how to check the description of the sets, so if I just said a whole lot of nothing I apologize deeply.

[imminent-danger-came]

My favorite part of 4x07 is the fact that it doesn’t tell us fucking shit. I knew more going into that episode than coming out. Like, what is the curse? What’s it’s relation to MK? Does it even have a relation to MK? Was turning into MK’s likeness just a trick, or are they really the same? How the fuck does Azure lion control the curse and the scroll (especially at the end after the curse is “defeated” and everything is cracking apart)? How does this episode relate to MK’s flashes from previous episodes? Did MK give the curse form? Was anything Azure Lion said about it and the scroll in 4x02 true? How did Azure escape the scroll? How does the underworld play into all of this? What did defeating the curse honestly do? And, now that the curse is supposedly defeated, what in the world is the inside of the scroll like for those trapped inside? How was MK able to defeat the curse? Supposedly the scroll is “a prison designed to contain wicked souls, forcing them to relive their past misdeeds over and over again.” The curse however is something else. So again, WHAT IS THE CURSE.

The more I think about it the less it makes sense.

[quitealotofsodapop]

If all versions of Sun Luzhen love apples and hates peaches, what about the other Wukongverse kids? Any favourites? It'll be funny the peach loving Wukongs have half of their kids not liking peaches. The betrayal of genetics.

At least Heaven's Peach Gardens are safe from them... Or are they...?

Referencing this post about Luzhen loving apples and hating peaches.

LMK Xiaotian/MK has canonically expressed his love for stonefruit, so he probably loves peaches. I've seen hcs that he absolute fave though is apricots ("Not too big, not too mushy, just the right amount of cronch!"). This gets his Au counterpart the nickname Apricot.

Mei would love any fruit thats brightly coloured - kiwis being her fav for flavor alone, but dragonfruit is a close second.

Bai He is in the kid phase of "fruit is gross", but Macaque has managed to get her to enjoy frozen blueberries and strawberries.

The Eclipse Twins devour any fruit offered to them like little piranhas, but especially melons. Give them a red watermelon, and the end result looks like a crime scene.

Yuebei is a peach fiend like her baba. No stonefruit left unturned. Her twin brothers Jidu and Luohuo are a little different since they loudly prefer plums and mangos like Macaque.

Hib!Liuer is a peach-fiend like his adoptive dad/mentor. Fa Ming probably convinced the little monk to eat his fruits by telling him how much the Monkey King loved peaches.

Hib!MK/Xiaoyun has a predicament... he does like peaches and other stonefruit - but his fave fruit is pomegranate, a fruit that requires a lot of dexterity to enjoy. Dasheng only found out Xiaoyun had this issue when he caught the one-armed kiddo trying to peel a pomergranate with his feet. Pre-peeled pomegranate fruit/seeds are aa god-send for him.

Shui Lian (the white vixen in the HiB verse) loves most berries and tree fruits, but her favorite is cider apples (like irl foxes) which confuses anyone who eats one and gets a mouthful of super-sour rotten-tasting apple. More for her then :3

In the Reborn verse; Qi Energy/"Fruitie" is a little fruit glutton. As shown in the film; the little nature spirit noms on what appears to be breadfruit, longans, and apples while in the village market. He also eats to replenish his powers. In the reborn au; as Xiao Qi he's even worse. Ever since he's been introduced to stonefruit, he ravages peaches like they're going out of style. The parents still joke that he's a fruit cannibal.

The two wolf siblings (Zhu Yu and Ku Ai) that Reborn!SWK & LEM picks up are used to forest fruits like berries and the rare crabapple. Their favorites are blueberries, which they will literally jump into bushes for. They don't see what the big deal is with peaches.

And ofc you got the 5 Stone-Fruit Monkeys, who are all named for said fruits. More cases of "fruitie cannibalism" the pilgrims joke; as the five babies have declared the fruit they were named for to be "their fruit". Fights will break out if you attempt to feed anyone other than Xiaotao/Little Peach a peach. They all agree that dates are a neutrally-enjoyable fruit however.

Netflix!MK/Xiaoshi loves peaches, but Netflix!SWK actually doesn't care for them that much - bad experience with the poisoned one.

The twin pebbles love cherries, and again, crime scene occurs when left alone with a basket of them. They also love raw tomatoes.

The Heavenly Orchards may breathe a sigh of relief for now... until the different MKs get into the celestial realms and start getting hungry. Xiao Qi and Yuebei probably give a few immortals pstd flashbacks with their snack runs.

[imminent-danger-came]

Sooo wwhat if Mk breaks the staff. I mean think about it, the staff is relationship with wukong and Mk, they met with it, they spent time with it, and they bonded their friendship with if it Braeks Mk might not be forgiven by wukong...

So the staffs interesting because in AHIB Wukong effectively gave it to MK. He's presumably the one who ordered noodles by the staff, and he knocks MK down right into the thick of the plot. I've always interpreted that scene as Wukong pushing MK to lift the staff, mainly to see if MK even could.

Then you have the situations in ROTSQ and EYD where Wukong helps lift the staff, but then immediately gives it back to MK. The only time we've seen him use it beyond flashbacks is during 4x07, where he slides by MK and picks up the staff to attack the curse.

Now, by this point in the show it was effectively MK's weapon. Except, at the end of 4x11 MK gifts Monkey King back the staff. Throughout the rest of the s4 special, we see Wukong and MK wielding the staff together.

All of that along with the fact that MK doesn't use the staff while in Monkey Form, makes me think we'll either have MK break the staff or have SWK wield the staff against MK (committing to the Macaque and MK parallel).

When it comes to MK's own relationship with the staff, he often uses as a crutch, believing his powers came from it (3x03) and that he's incomplete without it (3x13). I've always thought he needed to be separated from the staff eventually, deciding who he is without it (and by extension the label of "Monkie Kid").

I think the staff is less about SWK and MK's relationship with each other (though that's definitely part of it), and more about their relationship with their role as the heroes. Their role in being responsible for the world ("It's time for the hero stuff.").

Wukong left the staff on top of that mountain for hundreds of years and isolated himself, effectively "leaving the world" so to speak. He then gives that role to MK, letting MK take charge in being a hero. In 4x11 when Wukong's unsure about his mistakes and lifetimes, it's MK who reassures Wukong that they need him to "be the Monkey King".

Wukong at this point has borderline unreasonable faith in MK. He has more faith in MK than MK has faith in MK, or even more faith than Wukong has in himself. MK is Wukong's way to "make the world a little better than he found it". Even if MK broke the staff (which it's not the staff breaking itself but more of what that would mean symbolically that I'm worried about), Wukong would forgive him.

But MK breaking the staff? That's basically him rescinding his resolve to leave the world better than he found it. He's foregoing his title as Monkey Kid, and even showing his doubt in the title of "Monkey King".

So, I think a situation where SWK tries to gift MK back the staff, and MK responds by breaking it would be really interesting, imagining a potential way SWK V MK could go down.

But I guess we'll just have to see what happens in s5!

[byfulcrums]

So I made some kind of weird LMK timeline thingy. Just to guide myself a little

Sun Wukong is born. Uses laser eyes and scares the shit out of everyone. Finds what's behind the waterfall at FFM and becomes the Monkey King

Sun Wukong meets Azure Lion and the rest of the brotherhood. He also meets Macaque. Not sure if that's before Azure or after. Probably before. Yeah definitely before

SWK gets invited to the Celestial Realm. The whole Havoc in Heaven happens. He gains the (self-proclaimed) title of "Great Sage Equal to Heaven"

Sometime after this, the Celestial Realm attacks and the brotherhood attempts to overthrow the Jade Emperor. They lose

Buddha is called and seals SWK under the mountain. Macaque visits him and then leaves. He (as far as we know) doesn't come back

Peng and Yellow Tusk are sealed in the scroll by the Celestial Realm as punishment. No I do not believe SWK did that. No I also can't remember if it was ever mentioned in season 4, if I'm wrong please tell me so I can correct this

Macaque either stays in Flower Fruit Mountain or leaves that too

Guanyin and company travel the path Tripitaka and his disciples will have to go through to make sure it's safe. She finds Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing and Ao Lie and tells them to join Tripitaka on his journey

Tripitaka is tasked with delivering that stuff (I don't know how to spell its name) to Buddha. His disciples get eaten

Guanyin gives him the circlet and tells him to go to the mountain SWK was sealed under

Tripitaka finds the mountain and takes off the seal. Sun Wukong attacks him, so he puts the circlet on his head. He probably used it here because SWK might've not stopped with his murder attempt after the circlet was on

Tripitaka's horse gets eaten. They find Ao Lie, who, after some fighting, joins them as the white horse (I doubt he was the one who ate the horse in LMK)

They find Zhu Bajie. He probably tried to cook Tripitaka

They find Sha Wujing. He fought Zhu Bajie and (maybe) (probably) (wow I say that word a lot) Sun Wukong before he joined

The journey continues. Yay!

Ao Lie gets kidnapped somewhere here. I think this happens in JTTW but I can't remember

LBD appears and gets sealed. This might also have happened after the journey because of what I say later (when I talk about Macaque's death, about her messing with his memories)

Now here is when stuff gets complicated because... when does Macaque die??

Macaque might've attacked the pilgrims during the journey like in JTTW, but I'm not sure if that's when he died

Red Son is born somewhere

The journey ends. Yay!

SWK probably either killed Azure Lion here or during the journey

The sealing of the Samadhi fire happens

It's not clear if Macaque died before the sealing of the Samadhi fire or after. It was mostly likely after, since he knew kind of a lot about it

Macaque dies after the journey ends; Sun Wukong, in the flashback, is wearing the same armor he used while sealing the Samadhi fire + he wasn't using the circlet. It was either taken off early or Macaque died after the journey

We also gotta be aware of the fact that apparently LBD messed with Macaque's memories, so this flashback could be wrong. LBD could've implanted a memory where SWK was wearing that armor because that's how she remembers him

(Also: if she remembers him that way, then she might've been sealed somewhat after the journey. Man, this timeline is confusing)

The pilgrims die (Zhu Bajie was probably first because — and I'm not 100% sure about this because I haven't finished JTTW yet + I can't remember everything about Zhu Bajie in season 4 — he was the only one who hasn't reached enlightenment). Ao Lie might be alive; we don't know yet

DBK attacks the town and SWK seals him under a mountain

SWK goes through a 500 year old depressive episode (he stays in FFM w his monkeys, probably training them and taking care of them and all the stuff he does in JTTW)

During the 500 years, the city is built. Yay! Red Son also grows up without his father

Nuwa creates MK. MK is dropped off at Pigsy's

Now here it gets complicated again. SWK might have been the one who left MK at Pigsy's, but it was also said that in season 4, when he kept appearing where the stone is, he didn't know why, which implies he also didn't know MK was a stone monkey

He could've left MK and disappeared again and just didn't know his successor was that MK (like, he knew there was a stone monkey somewhere but he didn't know it was MK). It's that or he had no fucking idea and someone else left MK there

MK grows up and meets Mei, they become friends

DBK is unsealed. MK lifts the staff

Complicated again! When did Macaque come back? I doubt it was too long ago because there is no way LBD would've let him run off for that long. It was either a while before MK lifts the staff, or a while after. Or maybe I'm wrong and he was revived during the 500 years. Idk

Azure Lion gets brought back by Who The Fuck Knows (could've happened during the 500 years or before MK lifts the staff. Again, if this is mentioned in season 4, please tell me)

All the stuff that happens in canon