#Not having actually written out BtF and wanting to avoid spoilers for MT does make things a little tricky

[lucagray813]

Always a painful delight to reread Monkeying Around, but now i have a question of a "if" escenario, how horrible it would be if the G&M existed in the Au where Mac reseted himself, would they think that was Mac reincarnation until they talked with mk and wk, or would they never know since they might be somewhere in the world?👀

Monkey Talk not angsty enough for you? 😂

Alright then let's try and see how it might play out! Forgive me but this is probably going to get long and rambling!

So the first problem is what AU this is set in because MT!Mac and BtF!Mac have wildly different back stories - MT!Mac coming to the island as an adult and BtF!Mac being born there. Then we've got the problem that season 4 isn't canon to BtF and the fact there is a bonkers plot unfolding in the background of MT and that bonkers plot won't allow for a reset like in BtF.

Another problem is that BtF does actually have a fully fleshed out storyline - I've just resisted the urge to write it when I have so many other WIPs on the go - so I know it but no-one else does 😅 so bear with me as I try and explain elements of it 😅

Ok, so in slamming these AUs together this is what I've got:

- MS, MD is canon

- But most pre-LMK fics that involve the Spirits of Wǔxíng, other Celestial Primates or any other non-canon characters or elude to something being up with Mac are not.

- Season 4 hasn't happened and MK doesn't have a monkey form

- After centuries of searching, it is confirmed that Mac is dead when Wukong goes to ask Guānyīn to check the Dìyù for him as per MT. But this time she actually gets an answer. She tells him how he died and eventually Wukong tells the G&Ms the truth. So the G&Ms are no longer searching but they still travel.

Ok, so that's our starting point. Now a bit of info on what Mac Jr is up to after BtF!Mac resets himself.

He's out there trying to live his best life - travelling about and putting on shows using a range of shapeshifted disguises. He also develops a sort of one-sided parent-child relationship with BtF!Mac - viewing this man he's never met as his parent rather than as who he used to be. Someone that "died" to bring him into the world and did all he could to give him the best start. And someone he grapples with being separate from but also wanting to prove himself to.

He does have a little knowledge of who the G&Ms are because BtF!Mac left him his, admittedly selective, memoirs to help him avoid making the same mistakes he did but he doesn't know much or that they're still alive or that they were searching for his old man for so long. (In BtF the G&Ms are actually dead but for this remixed AU obviously they're as close to their MT counterparts as I can get them!)

In BtF, MK and Wukong accidentally find Mac, in disguise, putting on a show in the middle of a town they're checking out for hero reasons and that basically kicks off the plot of Wukong refusing to believe BtF!Mac is really gone for good and MK deciding he's going to teach Mac Jr how to be a good guy. MK's plot is a lot more lighthearted but it follows Mac Jr becoming his own person. Wukong's plot... 😬 Let's just say it doesn't end with reconciliation.

Alright so that's us set up to finally answer your question 😅

So there's a couple ways this could go - the original plot of Wukong and MK finding Mac Jr or one, or all, of the G&Ms finding out in the world first.

OG plot first - Once Wukong believes that this isn't actually some con Mac is running, then he is torn over whether he needs to "fix" Mac or not. He doesn't feel conflicted about it in BtF, he's bringing back OG!Mac, but in this version he's more concerned about the G&Ms and doesn't know what would be better for them - the Mac they knew but bitter and angry and damaged beyond repair or this new Mac who's happier but is fundamentally not the same person. (He doesn't care what would be better for Mac Jr or what he thinks.)

The decision is eventually made for him because the G&Ms come back after finally hearing about MK and it doesn't matter what Wukong tells MK, MK eventually will tell them about Mac Jr.

And now the G&Ms.

They won't think he's a reincarnation because MK & Wukong will have filled them in on the LBD plot but they are going to have a lot of feelings about it. Mac Jr initially feels very awkward and doesn't want to be around them because obviously they're very upset at seeing "him" after such a long time and then that he doesn't remember them and seemingly doesn't want to.

What would eventually happen is that they would come to view Mac Jr as OG!Mac's kid, ergo their nephew, and he would eventually let them see everything that OG!Mac left for him, including everything he wrote, etc. It wouldn't be smooth sailing but eventually they all have a very good relationship.

So the other plot, without the intervention of Wukong and MK, has a similar sort of end game with them accepting Mac Jr as his own person but the initial meeting would probably be a lot more dramatic and stressful. Because it dawns on Mac Jr who these monkeys must be and he decides it's safer to book it. The G&Ms don't know who this guy is but he's the spitting image of their brother and has his powers so he's getting hunted down no matter what.

(Another difference between MT and BtF is that MT!Mac and Wukong start life as infants but in BtF!Mac and Wukong are born adults so it could be a really interesting twist to explore a baby!Mac version of events but let's just stick to the adult Mac canon here!)

Reincarnation does not usually result in someone being born again as the same person but given that Macaque and Wukong aren't normal monkeys - they couldn't rule it out. All sorts of theories were thrown about as they tried to catch Mac Jr - including that he hadn't actually died and Heaven had lied to Wukong, sentient clone, that Mac had somehow created a back up of himself if he ate it, etc.

Eventually they catch him and Mac Jr is very much "I'm not who you think I am" and takes them to the place OG!Mac reset himself to prove it. And from there it follows a similar trajectory to option 1.

To be honest, option 2 is a lot easier for everyone involved because it lacks Wukong, and to a lesser extent, MK's involvement but eventually they get involved when the G&Ms return home but at that point they've already declared themselves aunts and uncles and everyone else just needs to deal with it.

I appreciate the fact they know OG!Mac is dead changes things significantly but there's no reason for them not to be able to figure that out without MT's plot, although I suppose LBD could have made a move a lot sooner and complicated things 🤔 but while it would draw things out a bit, again they'd reach the same ending, albeit with a lot more grieving involved.

It was trickier to combine these AUs than I thought it would be - they're are particular plot points in both that contradict each other and certain elements effect characters and their relationships to each other so there was a bit of cherry picking! But it was a lot of fun to think through it! But hopefully all of that made some sort of sense!

Thank you for the question! Made my train journey today fly by! 😁