#like under the mountain and by the LBD?

[everyfandomsprincess]

Day 8 of the Monkie Destiny Challenge: Mountain/Chains

[alternautxyz]

guys guyg uys the monkie kid soundtrack would have such a stranglehold of me if they actually released it i need the soundtrack out now

like the score is an essential part of so many of the most iconic parts of the show it adds so much emotion and gravity to the scenes

and i would honestly listen to it on its own on repeat is so good sounding with the melding of different genres of music

i know nothing about how music works but i’d really like to analyze all the the leitmotifs and sounds associated with all the characters and it would be a whole lot easier if they officially released it

anyways look at this please

tldr muisc goob pls giv eitt o us aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[mayday-jd]

literally upsetting how this is one of the few times we see wukong use his transformations like that

I just love their designs they're so cool man USE THEM MORE GODDAMMIT!!

my poor guy did not win this special he kept catching L's after L's bro

I still love him very much you're just a loser sometimes

literally exploding.

whenever there's a parallel between mk and swk I cannot take it HE LITERALLY CAME OUT OF A ROCK EGG TOO LIKE???

mk was just so silly during the boss fight with dbk I love this dude sm he's such a silly guy I hope nothing bad ever happens to him. 🙂

he was so wrong for trying to pull the mountain trick on dbk tho that man was STRESSING. he triggered him so bad with that I felt so bad for him like genuinely

the most normal he's looked in this entire special I HATE the outline on the eyes tho TAKE IT OFF I BEG OF YOU

"In order to have full control of your powers, you need self-confidence."

"I got self-confidence!"

"No, you're just loud."

I wonder if that could be a dig at anybody who else... not pointing fingers just putting it out here..

the fighting scene at the weather station is like such a good scene the animation pops the fuck off during it I could watch it over and over again

also again my girl has a great smile maybe he's a little crazy but you can forgive him

"Now, that is power..."

and that totally won't affect literally the THREE. next seasons of the show nope not at all

[complete-clownery]

Hahaha okay rant about this amazing fanfic (you probably heard of this one already but still)

So whenever it comes to explaining and writing under my posts I just get lazy but I need to push through this cuz I need to talk

So the fanarts were made for the lmk fanfiction sunbreak, that a lot of you (probably mostly shadowpeach shippers) had read, and it is amazing, I read trough it as fast as my brain let me and as you can see it has pleasantly scratched my brain so much so that I even (attempted) to make fanart for it

Ngl if I wasn't a major pussy I would try to illustrate the whole thing or make covers for each chapter but Im unable to work on something more than 2 hours and I would want those to look good, but good looking art (if I don't mess up) takes 6 hours ughh--- annoying much---

Anyways I'm not good with literature but man is this fix a masterpiece *chefs kiss* its everything its amazing, I was unable to put it down once I started it

Okay i dont think I have the brain capacity to explain how much I worship the writer of this masterpiece @ladygreenfrisbee , so i'm just going to talk about the drawings a tad

So first picture with Red Son and MK its sort of like an au in the fic where the whole lbd plot is somehow nonexistent and after Macaque gets to his sisters domain they settle down and raise the kids together without much of an issue aside from assassinations keep happening and trying not to get in trouble with the heavens

Id like to think that Gongzhu still wouldn't let the court tailors to put any form of red or gold on MKs outfits and only allowed the yellow after when MK was old enough to declare that yellow was his favorite color, but even now she would insist on some form of purple and shadow motives to let others know who the mother is

We also got baby MK and toddler Red Son and sassy LIF and Mac

Third pic with the lion: I don't know what it was or why but I just love general Song so much--- he's a major dickhead but sgvshshsevkdididhr (actually I kinda love all the original characters in this one, from the generals to the old lady in the beginning of the book, (gosh I also wanna draw some scenes from those chapters I loved how Mac and she interacted hshsjsj))

so chapter 34 was probably my favorite so far I re read it about two more times cuz it was amazing to see Macaque being the schemer he is and try to piss of Song lol

Last picture: its a sketch/a wip or whatever (probably not going to finish it but im still putting it there cuz its somewhat decent looking)

Its the part where Wukong remembered of Macaque finally finding him and asking for him to come back to flower fruit mountain.

I tried to make Macaque look more unhinged on this one but since I didn't finish it I dont think its that noticable so fuck that but I also gave him a halo like the saints to symbolise his suffering and what not (thought it looked cool and fitting think whatever you want about it lol)

And that all ((((hollly mother))))

If you read this trough, thank you and congrats👏👏

[strelitzia-mystery1097]

What killed Macaque?

Well I was going to link my first post about this but I... can't find it. Like I checked over and over and tumblr keeps telling me I made no post about lmk which... is weird. I don't know if it was deleted or it's buried in the internet but that's... fine. Just kind of annoying that I can't find my own post.

Anyways I guess I should recap.

I have never liked the theories of 'Wukong didn't actually kill Macaque' or 'LBD changed Macaque's memories' or anything like that.

But also don't like when everything is blamed on Wukong and those Wukong haters and/or Macaque 'did nothing wrong' fans paint the whole situation as solely Wukong's fault.

Did Wukong make bad choices and mistakes. Yes.

But so did Macaque.

Their fallout is both their faults.

Macaque from season 4 is able to understand that the Brotherhood were on a path of destruction and were doomed but the Monk was able to lead Wukong down a different path.

But remember we saw in the scroll that the Brotherhood during the jttw believed that Wuking was a traitor and it was only Macaque not fully 100% believing it.

We know in the og jttw Macaque was less of his own character and more of a dark reflection of Wukong. But even then we shouldn't dismiss entirely what jttw Macaque did (except for cooking a Flower Fruit Mountain monkey because I think lmk would not make Macaque be so friendly with the FFM monkeys if that was canon in lmk).

Jttw Macaque impersonated Wukong, beat up the Monk, stole the group's supplies, took over Flower Fruit Mountain, declared that he was going to do the journey with the scriptures himself, and then got into a really long fight with the real Wukong and literally like only 2 people were able to tell who's the real one (Budda and like this lie detecting bull from the underworld?), and when Budda reveals Macaque's true form Wukong kills him.

So clearly some things will be different.

But I do believe that lmk Macaque would pretend to be Wukong and would try to befriend the Monk like in the jttw. Because Macaque at this point would try and figure out what's going on.

The last time he talked to the Monkey King they had a fight. So that's probably why he just doesn't ask Wukong directly.

Also we should probably account for how emotional and potentially unstable Macaque probably is at this point if his best friend is back and working for the enemy for some reason.

So he tries to figure out that reason. But the thing is that when Macaque pretends to Wukong, it's after a major fight between Wukong and the Monk so the kind Tang Sanzang is just not wanting to deal with Wukong even after he's being nice.

So all Macaque sees is this rude and mean Monk that bosses Wukong around. So yeah he beats the $hit out of this ungrateful Monk.

Plus he would extra angry if he knows about how the Monk uses the Circlet on Sukong and hurts his best friend to discipline him.

Then cut to Wukong finally fighting Macaque.

Wukong has learned to be better and is probably seeing how the Brotherhood and his past deeds were not great, and Macaque was a part of that past.

Macaque is probably extremely upset that Wukong is taking the Monk's side and is just abandoning and leaving him again. No it's worst, he's turning on Macaque to stop him.

So this fight is probably extremely emotionally harrowing, with both of them not communicating and just having breakdowns and/or shoving down their true wants.

I mean in season 5 from the glimpse we see of the fight, Wukong is begging Macaque to not do this while Macaque is just laughing. So yeah he's probably have a complete breakdown and is hiding it under his dramatic b%tch persona he perfects after his revival to not be vulnerable.

One way this could end is Wukong accidently killing Macaque in a fit of rage or to protect his new family. Instead of killing his dark reflection he's killing his past.

But I also saw this interesting theory by @Cherllyio where Macaque's weird probably chaos related powers + him losing control of himself and his emotions while having a breakdown = Macaque self destructing literally.

I definitely hope that whatever the answer ends up being, that it's a situation where there's blame on both sides. That it was a messy situation and there's regret and pain (sudden LBD flash) but now if they wanted to, the two can finally... talk.

[monochromatic-ahhhh]

i don't think i'm understanding this correctly but here are some shower thoughts on that Nine-Headed guy and Macaque's powers (lmk S5 spoilers)

"Wukong, come on! We are old enemies! We're old friends, too. You just don't remember."

This line is bugging me. Is he saying this because he knows Wukong forgot or does it have something to do with a past life?

Becauseee how did he get to see "chaos beyond"?

His explanation of being able to "get out" no matter which choice MK makes leads me to think that chaos is reachable through an "end of the world that needs the pillars" thing.

I don't know how many times the world did a "cycle", but I wonder if he was once a sacrifice like MK (and he knows Wukong in that world ????), and he was able to see chaos because of it?

IT IS A STRETCH but if not as a sacrifice, then something related to that? Maybe that's why he knows how to "end the world", feels so strongly about letting MK have a life and make his own choice, and why he seems mad at Nüwa.

Maybe this is where that deal with his powers comes in?

Something that gives him back his life (memories?) at some point in the sacrifice so he can return to the people and convince them to jOIn the DaRk side?

"That power. Who gave that to you? Who'd you make a deal with?"

Though, he seems to be referring to deals that give power instead of life here so maybe he was not a sacrifice perse. However, HIS QUESTION.

The only deal I could think of related to Macaque is with LBD, and that had something to do with "return[ing him] to the mortal plane."

Plus, I think we've seen Macaque with his powers before the deal? Like, breakup scene

did he not?? always have that???

Then again, we haven't really seen much of past Macaque using his powers (i think this scene was the only?? instance??), so did he get this after the Brotherhood? To be able to teleport to Wukong who's trapped under the mountain?

Or maybe for that overthrowing attempt? Maybe he felt the need to be stronger too, so Macaque made a deal to get shadow powers.

And because it wasn't originally his power, he couldn't control it during the time of his fight with Wukong so the shadows swallowed??? him up??

Anw I don't know about green guy's chaos thing (or his charac in the book srry), I'm just curious as to why Wukong doesn't remember. What does he not remember?

Either: (a) it's not that important, (b) guy's referring to a past cycle he remembers (????), or (c) guy is so irrelevant that Wukong forgot about him fr

[lunar-wandering]

Welcome to the most insane monkie kid Macaque AU idea

im gonna Furina him

aka what if he was a shade/shadow of like. a different Macaque. a more powerful one. with white fur (representing Yang) and he was made and given the task to stay by Wukong's side in order to bring about a better future. cause Yang!Macaque remembers the previous cycle and wants to create a better future.

Yin!Macaque was not meant to deviate from his task of staying by Wukong's side. the under the mountain argument and Yin!Macaque's death came as a genuine surprise to Yang!Macaque because Yin!Macaque wasn't MEANT to be able to rebel. so Yang!Macaque pulled a few strings and gave LBD another vision or something so that she'd revive Yin!Macaque-

Yang!Macaque at some point needs to sacrifice himself to restore balance via recombining Yin and Yang,,, Yin!Macaque is the one who gets to stay (with some bonus extra powers now aka his hearing has increased and he's not loving it). what makes this part extra insane is that i think Yin!Macaque would die before this sacrifice, and after it he'd be brought back to life again.

ALSO the idea of Wukong getting to have a whole meeting with Yang!Macaque before the sacrifice and asking something along the lines of "which one of you was the one who became my friend?"

which would make Yang!Macaque respond with "neither, he was just performing the task i set for him. at least, he was at first. you'd have to ask him what his opinion of your relationship with him is now."

and hey, that's a weird sentence, because Yin!Macaque is *dead*, and Wukong's *about* to get mad about it, but then the realization, the thought that that sentence means Yin!Macaque is actually alive, truly hits, and he practically almost collapses out of the sheer relief-

[quitealotofsodapop]

This idea would probably be for soft Boiled and slow boiled, basically any au where Wukong is MK's teacher and not his sibling or parent. Kaiju forms.

I personally headcanon the kaiju forms and projections in the show (Mei's dragoon and Macaque's giant war form) are more... projections of one's soul/true self. So... for those who are not aware, Wukong does canonically have one on the book. It's a giant limbed monkey and with multiple heads and arms. It so is canonically so terrifying that it had frightened both his enemies and his own people so badly he had been utterly heartbroken by the event.

Sometime between s4 and s5, Wukong is working with MK to help him get used to his new monkey form and trying to help him control it. The kaiju form MK took dueint the battle with Azure comes up and MK asks about it. When Wukong explains what it was, MK gets super excited to learn and wants Wukong to teach him except...

Wukong: Sorry kid, I can't teach you how to control your kaiju. You'd actually be better off asking either Mei or, ugh, Macaque!

MK: WHAT!? Why not!?

Yesss

Wukong canonically does not like his War/Kaiju Form.

The clearest idea I could gt of how it might have looked was from a toy site, I imagine in LMK verse its lot more solid-coloured and vaguely shaped;

In Jttw he loses all interest in his victory against Heaven when his Kaiju Form scares his own people - and if we add in the Brotherhood, Macaque as well.

We discussed in dms how Wukong's anger under the mountain was likely a mixture of despair (they lost and couldn't save their bros from punishment), pain (fresh from the Furmace yo), and self-hatred.

This newly unlocked form of his - this manifestation of his inner self, was so terrifying that his own people, his allies, his own mate fled at the sight of it.

Macaque did "run off" that day, hence part of Wukong's anger. But afterwards, after the fight, Macaque had to admit to himself that while Wukong's kaiju-form was terrifying it had also been beautiful. Beautiful and sublime like a star going supernova.

Macaque's own Kaiju can be separated from him as a shadow of himself, but he's secretly ashamed of his reaction to Wukong's all those centuries ago. When he does let his Kaiju form take over his real body, it becomes primal, impulsive and brutally honest. Something that honestly helps with how quick he is to dodge confrontation.

Mei's (and by extension Ao Guang's) "dragons" are literal manifestations of what their true forms may be. Mei could have her own American-Dragon-style dragon form she could flaunt if she worked at it. That or the energy is literally Ao Lie's spirit coming in clutch as a power-up.

Ao Guang's dragon-energy meanwhile looks like his lego set colouration, suggesting homebody just a big lazy to waste his true massive form on them.

So when Wukong and the gang sees MK's own Kaiju/War-form for the first time during his fight with Azure....

Wukong is like "NOPE! Not my expertise!" cus he literally only used his War Form twice in the entirety of the book - the Battle of Flower Fruit Mountain, and when him and DBK had a Kaiju vs Kaiju battle together later in the Journey.

When MK prods him about it, Wukong becomes... kinda cold and closed off, telling MK that he's better off talking to Macaque about it.

Macaque is still barely in the "anti-hero" category, so MK is a little hesistant to ask him for help (especially since one of Macaque's teaching methods included a rom hack).

MK even tries going to DBK on the matter first, but the retired-demon king has a similar negative reaction. Seems that even he didn't like the Bull he became when him and Wukong truly fought. It's why he even refused to transform when he was under true duress from LBD or the Brotherhood.

DBK does give MK advice on what a "Kaiju/War form" is though. DBK's mind had been clouded with anger when he was a younger man, so his became a pure-white charging bull that destroyed all in it's path. Sun Wukong does not care for his War Form since it truly scares him to use.

MK thinks that impossible! Why would the Monkey King be afraid of his own super-cool power?

Until DBK asks him something important; "Aren't you afraid of yours?"

MK's complex over learning that he's a "Harbinger of Chaos" hits immediately, and he runs off to seek Macaque's guidance.

Macaque is amused, if not a little surprised that MK ultiamtely went to him for help with his Kaiju form.

MK: "Trust me bro, you're like my third choice. I can't ask Mei cus not even she knows how her's works." Macaque: "Eh. I'll take it. I am curious why yours is so much more taller than mine though."

Hint: it's a self worth thing Macaque developed whilst under the Brotherhood that he needed to "limit the space he took up", he's still working on that.

Some fun mentor-and-son-figure kaiju training occurs, and MK eventually asks a bombshell question;

MK: "Hey when Monkey King said you ran off, what did he mean?" Macaque, stiffens: "I didn't run from the celestial army if thats what you're wondering." MK, remembering what DBK said: "Were you afraid of Him?" Macaque, pauses and sighs: "At the time yes." MK: "At the time?" Macaque: "MK, in that moment, I hadn't known Wukong even had a War Form or even knew what they truly meant. All I saw was this... demon where my best friend once stood." MK: "OH... I mean... that sorta explains why you guys were fighting under the mountain." Macaque: "Yeah. You can see why I called him-" MK: "I mean, I wouldn't know how bad I'd feel if Mei ran away from me cus of my power up..." Macaque: "...what?" MK: "You ran away from your best friend. That's not cool. Scared or not, that was your buddy in there. And if he saw you running or I dunno shadow portal-ing away, I'd get why he was so salty when you popped up later with a peach like nothing had happened. From his view, he was going through something new and terrifying for him too and you abandoned him. Twice if you never came back to check in on him." Macaque: "... you're a smart kid MK. Way too smart for me." (*Macaque portals away to make a long overdue apology*)

Macaque himself seemed to be having a similar revelation when he saw the fight in 3rd person in the Memory Scroll. That his own reaction was more of a build-up of frustration from his treatment in the Brotherhood rather at Wukong specifically.

In Short; these bitches needed a relationship referee to call a yellow car when they tossed their unrelated anger at each other.

Bonus: I love the idea of Wukong's kaiju form being HUGE, and MK's being the medium between him and Macaque. Also, cuddly giant monkeys made of light and shadow.

[starsfic]

after possession, wukong is much more exhausted than he lets on to anyone or even realized himself before he got home

cue him flopping down into his bed/hammock/pillow fort idk and just laying there and everything that happened hitting him all at once

mainly though, the feeling of her crawling around under his skin.

anyways, the prompt is that Wukong keeps having nightmares about the possession while he’s trying to recover from it, leading to more stress and overwhelm. MK and co have to get involved

Anon: In light of the special, Wukong having an anxiety attack over still feeling LBD under his skin after the possession? Anon: If you want and no pressure on when, I give you the prompt of Wukong having a sort of PTSD bad day all culminating at night when he’s trying to sleep The only thing that calms him down was a monkey who sensed something was off and went to ask for cuddles

Sun Wukong had felt awful all day.

He wasn't sure why. He hadn't done anything- today was not a training day, so all he had to do were his regular chores. The monkeys had been fine, the island had been fine, and everything was fine.

But something just haunted him.

It felt like it was underneath his skin, pressing against his nerves. He kept shivering. Instead of the usual warm weather clothes he wore when not expecting company, he kept on his kingly garments. He didn't want his skin exposed, for some reason.

At night, it got worse.

Flower Fruit Mountain didn't have seasons, just a vague uptick in summer heat and a vague winter coolness. It was summer now, so none of the monkeys were cuddling with him, instead choosing to snuggle outside. Wukong couldn't bring himself to join them. Instead, he stared at the ceiling, wearing some branded pajamas he got sent. Sweat was beading up under the collar.

Still, he didn't take it off.

He hated this. He hated it so much. He couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to move somewhere, anywhere, to just stop being paralyzed.

The door creaked open.

Before Wukong could turn his head, he grunted as something collapsed on his stomach. The something turned out to be a Monkie Kid, peering at him with warm amber eyes. His hair was windswept, but he was dressed in his pajamas. "I had a bad dream," he whispered. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Wukong let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"I'm sure I will be," He reached out, cupping his student's face, feeling his heart squeeze. How did he get so lucky to meet such a wonderful boy like this. "I got you, don't I?"

Qi Xiaotian smiled. "Mind if I sleep over?" he said.

"Kid, you're always welcome. Actually," Now he could move, sitting up and gathering a pillow and blanket. "I was thinking of moving outside and sleeping with the monkeys. Wanna join me?"

Xiaotian chuckled. "Always."

The cold something under his skin disappeared with that smile.

[violett-orwhatever]

I'm going insane. (LMK season 5 spoilers at the end)

Trying to put together a timeline for JTTW in LMK is fucking hard.

Like it starts with Sanzang getting the pilgrims together, that's the same as in the book. But after that it gets wacky.

LBD should be the first demon the group encounters so I'm gonna say that is what happens in LMK too. After that nothing major happens that involves LMK.

Not long after that they should encounter Kui Mulang (in JTTW without Wukong because he got banished for killing LBD but that didn't happen in LMK so...i guess he's still here. Probably. Maybe. Or he got banished for some other shit, but for the sake of my sanity we're gonna pretend like he's at Flower Fruit Mountain like he should be**) who captures Sanzang, prompting Bajie to bring Wukong back.

In season 4 we see Kui Mulang together with a captured Ao Lie. So maybe in LMK it was Ao Lie who got captured...which in my opinion would probably be a better reason for Wukong to come back, because LMK seems to imply that the two of them were friends and Wukong probably didn't really care for Sanzang at that moment. (Granted this was in the Memory Scroll so who know if that even actually happened)

But then again these two kidnappings could also have happened seperatly because in JTTW Kui Mulang is married to the maiden he lost in LMK...but we'll ignore that.

(** also i just noticed, if Wukong got banished in LMK too and went back to Flower Fruit Mountain...that would mean he still found it burnt down and was livid but I can't help but wonder if he questioned where Macaque was? Because LMK makes it seem like Macaque joined the Brotherhood at Camel Ridge after their argument under the Mountain so...you think Wukong thought about that? Because now I'm thinking about it)

Then we come to Red Son's arc...things start getting tricky here. In JTTW Red Boy uses the Samadhi Fire to hurt Wukong prompting him to get help from Guanyin.

Guanyin then brings an ocean's worth of water with her, which does happen in LMK.

Tang recalls this event during the episode "Dumpling Destruction" if i remembrer correctly. He also mentions that he doesn't remember which demon Wukong fought during that time, meaning in LMK's version it most likely wasn't because of Red Son.

(Also this could just be because Tang is telling the story, but in the first image you can see Wukong in his usual attire, not the one he wears during the journey. He also doesn't have the circlet on, which, even if this is Tang's interpretation, Wukong should still have that but we'll come back to that later.)

So let's say this event occured because of a different demon, that than begs the question: when was the sealing of the Samadhi Fire?

If it was, let's say, shortly after the Guanyin thing that would mean Wukong meets DBK (and consequently PIF) before he and the pilgrims reach the Burning Mountain which technically should put him in the Bull Family's good graces, I'd argue. But in JTTW neither PIF nor DBK trust him during that time so i don't know if that would make sense.

But the whole Burning Mountain arc itself sort of wouldn't make sense in LMK because PIF and DBK's relationship is actually functional here so...

And Wukong is - yet again - not wearing the circlet during the sealing of the fire.

"Amnesia Rules" also doesn't make this any easier because during his amnesiac state Wukong doesn't question why there's no torture crown on his head...but he also confuses a stick with his staff so he was probably just out of it in general.

Then there's the matter of Macaque's death and the impriosonment of the Brotherhood.

I'm gonna say that after Macaque split from the Brotherhood he died around the same time as in JTTW (so after the Kingdom of Women arc).

After that should be the Burning Mountains thing but...again wouldn't make a lot of sense if that was after the Samadhi Fire thing so...eh.

Some time after Macaque died the Brotherhood should have gotten sealed away.

Which - and this might be a long shot - but maybe that's why Wukong looks so...stoic when he had to fight the Brotherhood. Because his best friend just died and now he has to deal with his other former friends who are working on taking him out...

(I know this isn't technically a flashback but it is how Azure remembers Wukong being like during their fight. Stoic, kinda emotionless in general...just not exactly giving off cheeky-mischievious-Monkey-King Vibes like in...almost every other fight except LBD (looks a lot like posessed Wukong tho))

Just an emotional rollercoaster all around, I suppose.

But then again, when fighting the Brotherhood he wears the circlet, so that obviously happened during the journey.

Which can't be said about the other stuff because he isn't wearing the circlet this is driving me nuts!

But the Samadhi Fire can't have happened after the journey because during "Amnesia Rules" Wukong already knows about the four rings while thinking they're still going to the western heaven so obviously that must have happened during the journey.

BUT THEN WHY ISN'T HE WEARING THE CIRCLET THEN BUT HE'S WEARING IT DURING AN EVENT THAT HAPPENS YEARS LATER??

Don't even get me started on the Xiangliu thing. In season 5 he says that him and Wukong are old enemies and according to JTTW that's true because Wukong fights the Nine Headed Beast because Xiangliu and his father in law are conspiring or something so yeah. Wukong should know the guy.

That...doesn't explain why Xiangliu called him an old friend as well or why Wukong doesn't remember him. But honestly not important right now because all that does is fuck up the timeline even more.

That should have happened after the Brotherhood got sealed away. I'd theorize, because I have some far fetched theories, but this is exhausting to think about.

I just want answers...please

[fawnfictions]

yipee a request open!!

So, I've read about the night comforts you made. So,, I'mma ask the opposite one (the reader comforts them back)

Also a gn!reader and seperately!

night comforts, 2

— wukong & macaque, gn!reader

original: night comforts

this was sent back in september, im so sorry omg ;;

i've been excited to write this since it came in, though LOL they deserve to be comforted, god knows they need it.

;; fluff, comfort & slight angst ?? cuddles make it better, though <3

MACAQUE

- has nightmares a lot more often than Wukong, this man has had like no closure for anything in his life <//3

- he'd be having flashbacks to the fight with Wukong that ended in his death, working under LBD, arguing with Wukong, Wukong in general...... etc etc

- as much as he somewhat does need sleep, he avoids it like the plague.

- 'too much to do, not enough time' mindset, and not wanting to face his past through his dreams.

- it's going to be a WHILE before you catch him sleeping around you, his 'can't be vulnerable around others' mindset is worse than Wukong's, and that's saying something.

- he'd have to be SUPER comfortable and extra tired to doze off with you around.

- it'd probably be after a long day, possibly where he's been in a fight, or got annoyed with someone, and he's found himself laying down in your arms while you quietly talk to/at him about your day.

- at first, you think it's sweet that he's fallen asleep with you, knowing that he was tired.

- his glamour is gone, with all six ears on display, along with his scarring.

- you're almost too busy admiring him to notice it, but quiet whimpers catch your attention to his face, a deep frown with scrunched eyebrows.

- it doesn't take you long to wake him up, to which he almost immediately flinches away from you (if he falls off the couch/bed and onto the floor, just pretend he didn't).

- he's obviously upset after the nightmare, so you coax him into calming down enough to talk about it.

- you just lay there, listening to him and occasionally nodding along to make a relevant comment/insult to Wukong while giving him a little space, holding his hand.

- his tail unconsciously brushes against your leg every minute or so, he finds it grounding.

- all that emotional garbage gets him tired again, so after cuddling up to him again, and moving onto a lighter conversation (after making him promise to talk more about it, to find better solutions to his nightmares, in the morning) you both find your way back to sleep in each others arms.

- he definitely feels like a bit of weight is off his chest, and trusts you a lot more afterwards.

- suddenly, you're his lucky charm!! he jokes that he only gets a good nights sleep if you're with him (lowkey believes it too).

- next morning though, talk it through with him to at least TRY to talk to Wukong, and figure things out between them some more >:(

- he'll be reluctant, but pinkie promise him you'll be there to back him up and he might just consider it (but he wouldn't mind going back to old times with his best friend).

WUKONG

- like i'd stated in the previous headcanons (link above for those that haven't read it ^^) he doesn't have constant nightmares, but he's been THROUGH IT; so it's safe to say that he still gets his fair share of them.

- his nightmares would probably include memories of fighting Macaque, being in the mountain or the furnace, being unable to protect Tripitaka, the Brotherhood, etc etc.

- being immortal and all, he doesn't actually need to sleep as often as most people, much less AROUND others (the great sage can't be so vulnerable around just anyone!).

- this doesn't mean he avoids constant cuddles from you, however.

- unfortunately, one of the first times he found himself accidentally falling asleep around you, had him as prey to a nightmare.

- you had found yourself drifting off to sleep on the couch while watching some corny Monkey King movie with the mentioned demon himself.

- however, you were pulled from unconsciousness by a strong grip on your shirt, and a limb thumping against your leg..?

- the monkey man that'd fallen asleep beside you was barring his teeth in his sleep, his tail moving erratically.

- waking him up, depending on his dream, he may lash out on you; but he comes to his senses before he actually does any damage.

- he's very apologetic about that, but will immediately try to brush everything off and get you back to sleep.

- nuh-uh, you aren't taking ANY of that.

- he doesn't like talking about his feelings, much less ones that come from bad memories.

- whether you pester him until he spills or not, is up to you; but he should probably talk to someone about his nightmares at some point !

- he'd be stubborn about falling back asleep, afraid that he'd just have another nightmare and disrupt your sleep again.

- honestly, just cuddle up to him and give him head scratches, it'll knock him out in minutes.

- he's a sucker for being held in moments like this, wrapping his tail around you to pull you closer despite there being no space between you two anyways, your arms wrapped around his neck and your fingers carding through his hair ...

- next morning though, he's happily laying there, waiting for you to wake up – only to immediately be forced into a therapy session the minute you open your eyes.

- okay, okay; maybe you aren't THAT confrontational about it.

- he's pretty quick to break and let it all out under your caring stare and gentle touches, though.

- just ground him through it, rubbing your fingers over his hands, and listen to his awkward rambles – he'll appreciate it :)

- afterwards though, he finds himself wanting to fall asleep around you more, feeling safe and comfortable to an extent that his nightmares aren't as often, and; if he does have one, he knows you'll be right there to ground him <3

[deliveryboysomewhatequaltoheaven]

The Macaque Problem

I would definitely say Macaque's character is an issue for the show. His redemption arc is not good, and it brings down the other characters and takes up their time and arcs.

When we first see him in S1 and 2, he is an old frenemy of Wukong's bitter over an unspecified falling out. He is angry and lashing out at MK and his friends, projecting this feud onto them. He claims MK didn't notice his friends were gone, but we see him trying to call Mei, and that the others were resentful, but we see tang looking upset being forced to attack MK. Seems like a clear enough villain concept with some room forward right? But S3 and 4 derail that.

Chronologically, we can talk about the Brotherhood, (which he was not a part of in JTTW, and he complained abt being left behind in S2 but here he was?? Eh) He claims that Wukong pushed ahead without thinking or listening and that's what got him trapped in the mountain. But what do we see before Wukong surrenders to the Jade Emperor?

The rest of the Brotherhood trapped by the Celestial Army. We don't see Wukong fight the Jade Emperor. He was an immortal shapeshifter, I have no doubt Wukong could have escaped. But he turned himself in to save his friends. Was he in a bad mood in the mountain? I mean, yeah, but Macaque doesn't seem to consider that he's free because Wukong is not.

We still don't know about the final falling out and Macaque's seeming death, though S5 implies that Macaque pushed the situation. Still, it's not good, because if they can't properly resolve it, than it's just going to remain between them and Macaque's grudge against Wukong can't be properly moved past, which hampers his arc.

But then S3 happens, and honestly I think Macaque's motives are dumb. Why is he trying to get in the way of them stopping LBD if he also wants to be free of her? It's a positive for you! But they also start trying to portray him as someone who 'calls Wukong out' because S3 and 4 really try to make Wukong out to be a jerk. He made mistakes but it was a desperate situation against the Lady Bone Demon. I love Mei and Pigsy but they also call him out when they said nothing about the Fourth Ring/visions.

'You will make things worse for MK when I personally attack and threaten him and his loved ones for my own gain' OK Macaque!

But the S3 special is the real kicker. Macaque apparently changes his mind and we don't know why. They show some mistrust at first until MK says he knows Macaque is not a bad guy deep down... but doing one or two helpful things after three seasons of stalking, threatening, and attacking the gang doesn't exactly convince me.

And then this bit from the S3 special finale:

Uh, how??? Wukong is right, Macaque was until very recently willing throw everyone under the bus so he could get away from LBD. It's pretty rich that he would call Wukong self centered. Whatever Wukong did was trying to stop her and protect MK from having to deal with it.

In the S4 special, they also have Macaque talk about Azure Lion, and again I'm not sure why we are listening to him on characters' morality

Says the guy who wrote a play about how 'Sun Wukong is a big old meany who hurt my precious little fee-fees' if I never see or hear the hero and warrior monologue again it will be too soon but I will say he at least seems to consider he might have been wrong, though they don't really dwell on it...

Even in S5, we get this bit.

Once again, Wukong is right!! After 3 seasons of attacking and harassing MK I don't think he really gets to give advice. Plus WUKONG WAS TRYING TO TALK TO MK ABOUT IT RIGHT BEFORE THIS! But MK was not doing well emotionally and Wukong was trying to be mindful and not push!

And honestly I think they all let Macaque off easy for the S3 events, he literally choked out Mei and threatened to kill her! (Sidenote: he can call MK and Tang by their names, but Mei was just 'the girl' throughout S3... urgh)

But when Wukong gets mad at him, Macaque says "I didn't do this!" Well you forced the gang to do something that you didn't know what the consequences of would be! But Tang intervenes saying he did it, even though he awkwardly admits Macaque forced him but that he felt he should because of the golden cicada. Macaque later decides to leave the situation he forced. He later does help some, but doesn't really get held accountable for his part in everything.

But I guess it's fine bc at the end of the special MK gives him this drawing. This is actually kind of really upsetting and again makes little sense considering how much he and Mei care about other otherwise. But nah Macaque is cool now it's fine...

And Ao Guang! This is a tougher one, but in S5 they had Macaque let himself get sent to the Pagoda to buy others time... well I just say that's karma!

And Macaque comes back, of course, but we never hear more about Ao Guang. Even when they send the power of the Stones out, we do in fact see the East Sea Palace and the attendant, but not him, so his fate is unclear.

So yeah, overall, I think he was forgiven too fast, the root issue of his fight with Wukong unaddressed, and he takes up time from the others characters.

[lmk-oc-competition]

LMK OC COMPETITION - ROUND 1

click to see full image

Cháolíu belongs to @mysticmonkiee

Purple Child belongs to @marokra

Learn more about them below the cut!

Cháolíu:

Cháoliú is a fifteen year old kid who has absolutely no idea on how to control his powers. He's supposed to be able to wield water at his will—but whenever he tries, it's either a tiny droplet, or a flood. Cháoliú eventually meets Aether, after running away due to a 'coincidentally' water-related incident back at home. Cháoliú tends to not use his ability, but when he does, he always feels something nag at him in the back of his mind...

Purple Child:

Purple Child is Red Son’s twin sister, only a couple minutes older than him. With a quick wit and even quicker eye, you’d never guess that she’s considered the weaker of the two. When they were born, most of the magic funneled into Red Son with the Samadhi Fire, resulting in Purple getting next to nothing. As time went on and their father got trapped under the mountain, Purple began to find herself in the shadow of the oh-so-great Red Son, the mechanic, the powerful one, the most promising heir. He seemed to be everything Princess Iron Fan wanted, while Purple was… thrown aside. All but discarded. (What do you mean her view is skewed? She is 100% looking at all the facts and definitely not noticing that her brother was also neglected, shhhh) Cue the resentment buildup! Purple resorted to one-upping Red Son at any given opportunity, doing just about anything to gain any attention from her mother, but it only served to strain her relationship with Red Son, all but destroying it. So, she made up in other ways. Desperately tried to become in the image of a perfect daughter, so much so that she lost herself along the way.

Once season 2 rolls around, she realizes that what she’s doing will get her absolutely nowhere, especially given how she is under even more pressure with her father being freed. So, she devised a perfect, 100% foolproof plan—to track down the rings of Samadhi and claim the fire for herself. We all know how this ends, she fails miserably, even if she does launch her plans as soon as she realizes that the heroes are attempting to steal the rings themselves. She then decides that her best course of action is to befriend Mei, because the Samadhi fire can’t be that hard to pry from her right? Wrong! She starts genuinely enjoying Mei’s company and likes her as a person and loses sight of her original plans! Oh nooooooo! Anyways, a bit of a skill issue on her part. This throws Purple into situations she absolutely hates (having to fight LBD side by side with the people she’d rather die than associate with), however, this whole ordeal makes her realize her worth isn’t based on how she can serve her parents and she proceeds to ditch all previous plans, get her crap together, and attempt to mend her relationship with her brother. They’re on better terms nowadays. This doesn’t fix all of the problems obviously, but it’s definitely better than what it once was. She even picked up writing again! The Demon Bull family has problems man.

TLDR: Purple is Red Son’s twin sister. She has severe mommy and daddy issues that are pretty much solved by being the front line for an end of the world scenario and also because she realized that she is most definitely traumatized.

[byfulcrums]

No but Sun Wukong is so much... less alone(? now

He's been alone for centuries, with only the company of his monkeys. He hadn't left his mountain in 500 years; the first actual interaction he had with someone outside FFM was MK, and even then, it was just one person. He only met the rest of the gang at the start of season 2 and then he left

In season 3 he was literally stuck with MK, Mei, Pigsy, Tang and Sandy. He didn't have a choice; he was hurt, MK didn't have his powers and if he left then who knew what LBD could do to them? Besides, Macaque was looking for them. He couldn't leave (probably didn't really want to leave either)

Even though he had to interact with MK and the rest during season 3 because, well, they were literally living together, he was still hiding so much. No one knew about the fourth ring nor about what his initial plan was. He hadn't told MK about LBD when she first appeared and everyone was still upset at him for it (which, okay. Deserved. But also- angst)

In the scenes where the gang is having fun with each other, SWK tends to push himself away? He stays at the corner, a little too far away, showing that he doesn't consider himself part of the group. These MK's friends, not his, and even if he cares about them (and even if they're his family's reincarnations + descendant) he still distances himself from them. He keeps secrets, doesn't trust them the way MK does, refuses to tell them all about the Samadhi fire. Hell, they don't find out about his plan until it's already gone wrong!

At some point in pretty much every season, MK is hugged by his friends after some life threatening stuff happens. SWK (if he's present) smiles fondly and stays out of it. After he finds out about LBD and the gang are having a good time together, celebrating (and also being so excited to meet the Monkey King), he gifts them some hair food and leaves

Also, at the start of Revenge of the Spider Queen it's shown that he wants to either celebrate with MK or spend his day alone like he's been doing every year for centuries

In the final episode of season 2, MK's friends rush to his side and no one goes to check on Wukong, even though he looks pretty hurt. Heck, they're (rightfully) angry at him! It's only after they convince him to let them accompany him to the West that we see him patched up, and that's on the first episode of season 3 (also it's already nighttime when that happens)

When the gang hugs Pigsy in Cooking with Chang'e (I think that was the episode?) he smiles, looking happy for them, but he doesn't join them

I'm not saying that they don't care about SWK, because they really do! But he mostly keeps to himself, never tells them what's going on and left when MK needed him the most without explaining why. Besides, he's a legend. No one can know what's happening inside his mind. How can they trust him when they don't even know when he's being truthful?

In all of the scenes where they're all together in one place, SWK either stays closer to MK or leaves. There is no in between. Really shows how MK is pretty much his only friend lol

Also, all of his relationships went wrong. Macaque, Azure Lion, the rest of the brotherhood — all of them, thrown to the ground because of 'his' mistakes and 'his' bad deeds (not all of it was his fault, but there's no way he doesn't blame himself for that. He and MK are very similar). He (assumedly) killed Macaque and Azure Lion, Peng and Yellow Tusk were left in the scroll and he sealed DBK under a mountain. The friendships he did manage to keep are now gone not because of him fucking up, but because they're dead. MK is the first friend he's had in a long time and he is very afraid of messing that up too

When Mei gets the Samadhi fire (“Can't you see you're hurting the people who care about you the most?!” she said people, not person. She wasn't only talking about MK. They care about SWK too!), the first thing he does is leave again. He pushes everyone away, leaving MK and the others to take care of everything himself, and it fails. He fails, and MK is almost killed because of it. In the end, it was only because MK was accompanied by the people he cares about that he won. This makes Wukong see stuff differently

Post-season 3. SWK realizes that he doesn't have to be all alone. He notices how MK is doing so much better than him because he has friends (his support network or whatever that's called) and is like “Ohhhhhh okay. Yeah that makes sense. Alright-”

After the whole LBD fiasco, SWK is willing to trust other people more. He not only cares way too deeply now, but he also tries to share what's on his mind a little more! He's doing his best to show that he trusts them too and I think he's doing a pretty good job!

When Inky separates them, he says that he won't let some dumb curse keep him and his friends trapped. His friends. They're no longer only MK's buddies. They're not strangers he might've known once anymore; they're his friends. And some day they will be his family

The reason why they seem more like friends now is because of Sun Wukong himself. Sure, he might've needed some help, but he finally started to try to just. Stop pushing everyone away. This is why he's so much closer with the rest. It was all him

Also, I love this because it shows how you're the only one who can make the final decision that will change your life (dying or living, staying or leaving). You're more than allowed to ask for help and you can get it from anyone, but in the end, it's all you.

In the season 4 special, Sun Wukong shares his plan. He hadn't told MK about Azure Lion and the brotherhood before, sure, but that's because he thought that was over. In the scroll, when Macaque and MK go to find him, he opens up to MK. Shares his worries. Lets MK (and Macaque too I guess, with that smile. Ugh that SMILE) comfort him. And he, most importantly, fights alongside MK in the final battle. He gives the team the information they need for MK to come up with a plan. They fight together

And when the season 4 special ends, Yellow Tusk says something about true heroes (I can't remember the exact line) and the camera shows all of them, SWK included. The only one who is not there is MK, and even then it's clear that Yellow Tusk was talking about him bc the camera cuts to him sitting all alone at the edge of the cliff

SWK goes to sit with MK, but this time the rest of their friends are there. Sun Wukong, immortal or not, is a little less lonely now

[jkl-fff]

Obsession in a Good Cause

Since I finally watched Season 4 of "Lego Monkie Kid" today (MAGNIFICENT!), I feel the need to extol and ramble a bit about something deeper I noticed. A profound, recurring theme that really elevates the series in yet another way I wasn't expecting from silly lego people having magic, kung fu adventures with monkeys and such (gods damn, this show really has no business being this good).

And it's how characters with noble intentions and even kind hearts repeatedly fall to an obsession to make things *better* in some way. They can never leave well enough alone, they can never settle for good. And then ... in pursuit of making things *better*, they end up succumbing to a mentality of "The Ends Justify The Means" that winds up making things so much worse AND costing them everything they held dear.

Spoilers below.

Season 1 starts off with Demon Bull King, an archetypal bad guy, especially for a cartoon; he's big and strong, he wants to rule the world, he wants revenge for being trapped under a mountain, he's even cruel to his son. But a funny thing happens after his Season 1 finale butt-kicking: He spends some time bonding with his son (who he now sees grew up without him yet still only wants his love and approval) and worrying about his absent wife (while also being pretty sure his kickass wife can kick the ass of anyone who comes after her). Then, after being saved by people he ought to consider his enemies, he just ... goes home and mellows, watches some cooking shows, and spends more time with his family. Just being happy with them.

Everything we learn about DBK after that is practically a flashback to his pre-imprisonment days at minimum more than 500 years ago. And it makes one thing clear: he loved his family with a fierceness that would face down armies. Literally. He fought the Celestial Realm with his sworn brothers ... and I'm pretty sure he tried to conquer the Mortal Realm originally to build what he would consider a fitting kingdom for his wife and son. (Before he became obsessed with conquest itself, thanks in part to Lady Bone Demon's influence--obsessed enough even to lash out at the two people he was doing it for). That last one, I admit, is speculation, but I think it fits with how tenderly he was shown to love his family in the past and how mellow and domestic he becomes after letting go of conquest and just deciding to live in the moment. It was principally for them, like a father who spends too much time at work to provide for his family. Arguably a noble cause, but he became so obsessed with it that he lost 500 years of his life (and nearly the rest of his life) with them.

(Princess Iron Fan and Red Son both demonstrate it to a lesser degree, I reckon. Their relationship was not really loving at the start of the series, probably having suffered as a result of their obsessive drive to free DBK at any cost. Then to please him after his return. At least until he crossed a line--under LBD's influence--and lashed out physically at them, prompting them to leave him ... until he came back to them.)

Next there's Lady Bone Demon ... She's as terrifying and seemingly inevitable as death itself (fittingly, even Sun Wukong is scared of her), and her goal isn't to conquer the universe, but to destroy it.

Why, though? To make a better, perfect world free of the pain that plagues this one. Because she sees this world as fundamentally imperfect, and that imperfection at its very heart is the reason for all the pain in the world. From a certain perspective, she champions a very noble cause ... It's simply unfortunate that the world and everyone in it needs to be mercy-killed for her plan to work. But what's a little pain now to prevent greater pain later, right? It'll be over quickly, and then everything will be better for everyone ... somehow. Never mind the pleasure and happiness and joy people find in their lives despite (or even because of) the world's imperfect nature; she knows better so she will make things better, even if she must make everything worse first.

(Likewise for Spider Queen. She's so obsessed with reclaiming power she once held, that she loses the good thing she has left with her three loyal subjects. Instead of moving on and starting over and living a good if humbler life ... she dies.)

Then we come to Azure Lion and Yellowtusk (not so much Peng, as he seems to have always been more self-serving, but whatever). Two former warriors of the Celestial Realm who rebelled after seeing its corruption and indifference to mortal suffering. Where LBD was cold and nihilistic, they are warm and reformative. Their ideological position is that the flaw isn't with the world itself, but with those in power who care more about their own wealth, position, glory, and appetites than the needs of the common people. Replace the current leaders with ones who actually care about good governance--who have compassion for mortals--and they believe things *must* get better.

And GODS DAMN that's a sympathetic cause. How do you argue against it, given everything that's shown of the Celestial Realm's inactivity and isolationism? How do you argue against it when that's the story of real world politics? How do you not admire their courage and perseverance to try a second time after getting beaten down?

But it isn't enough for Azure Lion to reunite with Yellowtusk and Peng, just like it wasn't enough to form his own utopic kingdom where he could make a real difference (Note: A region they seemingly drained of life to form?). He could've had a good thing and walked away, but it wasn't enough. He was obsessed with casting down the Jade Emperor and replacing him to make *everything* better, so it was worth every dishonorable act he had to commit along the way. Lie to MK and Mei, let the others suffer through the scroll, imprison a sworn brother (and his family) when he chooses not to join yoir fight, slay a celestial army (and it seems a good deal of the palace staff), and risk the cosmos tearing itself apart? Strike preemptively at a potential threat even to the point of levelling mountains and slaying innocent mortals? All justified to keep his power, because he's the only one who will use that power responsibly and honorably. Ironic and tragic.

Finally ... Sun Wukong himself. What I love about Season 4 is how we see him before and druing that pivotal Journey to the West. And we get the perspective of several people who were very close to him before it--his sworn brothers. Azure and Yellowtusk admired how deeply SWK cared for his monkey subjects enough to be inspired to rebellion against the Celestial Realm, and even enough to choose SWK as their original replacement for the Jade Emperor. Macaque arguably loved him as more than a brother (if you interpret their interactions that way) and was prepared to follow along despite believing SWK should just stay on Flower Fruit Mountain and live happily ever after.

But Macaque gives us a fascinating insight into SWK's character before even that--insight into why SWK went to train with Madter Bodhi and raided the peaches and pills of immortality and so on. He feared death, he feared the good times ending, he never felt secure enough. He always needed more immortality, more power, more of a guarantee that things would stay wonderful for himself and those he cared about. Which eventually saw him imprisoned under a mountain, alone; which eventually saw him indentured to Tang Sanzang and forced to combat his sworn brothers; which eventually put him right back on Flower Fruit Mountain without any of his old or new friends. He was obsessed with things being *better* than they were ... and that inevitably cost him in the past, and threatens what happiness he does have in the present.

Thankfully, like DBK, he is capable of learning to move on. Hopefully, he'll be able to do so (and can help MK learn to do the same) before it's too late.

[mysticmonkeybusiness]

Prompt: MK isnt the only one who has nightmares of LBD (featuring: Wukong and or Macaque); given by @visionaryscribe

-

The chill is comforting. The Champion is a reckless wildcard, but his Lady’s magic helps him keep a cool head and on target. The mission objectives have increased from one target to eight, but there’s nothing that will stop him from clearing his Lady’s path.

He Knows in his mind, body, and soul, that he needs to eliminate the threat. For the sake of the one behind him, for the future she will make reality, for the Good that she will bring to the world.

The Champion will crush all that stands in her way.

One of the targets spout nonsense, words slipping like molasses and body flickering with glamoured scars. Emotion bubbles up, searingly hot, but his Lady’s magic cools his own and once more settles the world to a sharp icy crystal. Soon the world will be reborn in frost. No more lies or darkness or pain tainting it.  

As it should be.

The enemy is tricky, but hardly a match for him. With overwhelming power he ruthlessly hurls them into the ground, only for his attention to be caught by another daring to look at his Lady defiantly. He doesn’t give the one on the ground another look. It’s neutralized for now, and the other is of greater priority.

He charges at it’s back, the words it’s speaking sounding more like they’re traveling through water than air.

He doesn’t hesitate.

Blood bursts from a gored back and as the warm liquid of life splatters across his face, he finally sees the target’s eyes as they look over their shoulder. Pain. Betrayal. Despair.

Wide hazel brown eyes stare at him, rapidly clouding over.

His hands are warm.

Wukong gasps as he doubles over, shivering despite the hot, muggy weather of Flower Fruit Mountain. Each breath is harder to grasp than his last so he gives up, forgoing it all together. The burning in his chest is comforting, goosebumps rising up beneath his fur from the lack of air. He grits his teeth, leaps to his feet, and starts pacing.

Immobility just reminds him of all that She took from him. His thoughts, his magic, his memories. So far he’s managed to keep just how deep under Her- her control he was, but the others don’t need to know how close their victory was.

MK doesn’t need to know how close it was. If he hadn’t managed to break free-

Wukong violently shakes his head and his tail lashes behind him, knocking several things to the ground that he really can’t care about right now. It doesn’t matter. They won. LBD was stopped. The world is safe. Everyone is safe.

The kid is safe.  

Sharp ringing makes Wukong shriek and throw himself onto a table, creating an even greater mess. The jingle of his show’s theme song finally registers and Wukong scrambles off the table to answer. There’s only two people who even know the number exists and he’s blocked the other one ages ago. Emails are much easier to ignore anyways.

“Monkey King!” MK’s sheepish voice comes through the moment he picks up, barreling right over his (nonexistent) attempt to say anything. “So like. A demon attacked and the shop’s a mess so I was wondering if we could have training be an hour later than usual. No- Half an hour? Twenty- Ten? Minutes? Please? What was I thinking, of course I’ve gotta-“

Wukong cuts him off before he can spiral, feeling fondly exasperated. “Bud, it’s fine. Take the day off, it sounds like you need it. You’ve been working pretty hard recently.” And it gives Wukong the perfect excuse to be alone for a while.

MK is quiet for a few seconds. “…Monkey King, are you okay? We never cancel training. We even trained in that massive storm three weeks ago.”

Nervous laughter escapes before he can stop it and Wukong coughs to cover it up. Infusing the words with as much confidence as he can muster, he says, “Nothing’s wrong. Just think you deserve to have some time to yourself, bud. Been meaning to tell you about it and this seems like a good time.”

And if it keeps the kid away until he can stop seeing his bloody back behind his eyelids, all the better.

“…If you’re sure…”

“Positive!” The smile feels fake, but he does his best to sound cheerful and fine. He’s fine. “Go have fun with the dragon girl. You’ve said you weren’t able to hang out with her recently.”

Playful exasperation and an audible smile comes through the call. “I know you know her name is-“

“Bye!” Wukong hangs up and shudders. He tosses the phone somewhere off to the side and falls into a meditation pose, pooling his scorching magic in his chest and praying it chases the frigid cold from his bones.

She’s gone and everyone is safe. The kid is safe. The kid is safe.

Wukong repeats the phrase, nearly chanting it as he sinks into light meditation. The chill lingers, but he lets the truth of that one phrase warm his heart. He holds it close, like a lifeline.

The kid is safe. Safe from him.

…Isn’t he?

Wukong shudders, the subzero cold clinging to his bones.

The Champion opens his eyes, determined not to have the vision his Lady shared with him come to pass. His Lady Will Not Die. He refuses to allow it.

He Knows what he must do.