#like under the mountain and by the LBD?

[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

[imminent-danger-came]

This scene drives me up the wall.

The framing, MK being in between Wukong and Macaque, both of them looking at MK like what he said is unbelievable yet remarkable, looking at this kid who represents the both of them in different ways.

And then there's the transition to Macaque's face right on "we're heroes! It's what we do!". Mei screams, and Macaque gives into his fear and leaves right afterwards, he "runs-off", he's cowardly. MK, in quite the contrast, then turns around in motivation (vs 2x05 and 2x10 when he turns around in fear), then unabashedly running towards Mei to save her.

Like, this scene is truly the turning point for Macaque, and he's finally able to see the situation outside of himself and Wukong. So then in 4x14 when they find themselves in similar circumstance (someone exploding with uncontrollable power and threatening the world), the fact that he chooses to stay is so significant.

Look at Mei and Tang's faces. No one thought Macaque would make the final stand this time, but he did. He chooses to stay and help until the end (unlike Peng lol), and he's practicing what he preaches to MK in 4x10—he's "doing something else!". The choices aren't stay and die or run and live, there is a third option here, even if that third option is both the scariest and the one that requires the most effort.

MK: "Remind me how this, 'game', is supposed to convince me I'm not destined to turn into an evil demon monkey thing again, cause, every option I pick takes me to this! Same! Screen! Macaque: "Hey, you're finally getting it! No matter what options it's giving you, you're always going to end up in the same spot."

(4x10 The Jade Emperor)

-

Macaque is a character who is very experienced with inevitability. I think he viewed Wukong's "abandonment" as inevitable after the fact (also believing that MK, like Wukong, was going to eventually, and inevitably, "abandon" his friends"). Throughout s3, his part in fulfilling "destiny", or rather being a piece in the Lady Bone Demon's game, was also inevitable.

Macaque: "Alright misery kid, you were supposed to realize by now that the choices the game's giving you, aren't the only choices you've got. Life isn't some pre-written thing like a video game where you have to do what the tutorial says."

The choices the game's giving you aren't the only choices you've got.

In s3, Macaque's only choices weren't the false dichotomy he made up in his own mind. It wasn't "Help SWK and die" or "Use the samadhi fire to escape and live". There were other options, like there always are—however, because he only saw those choices, Macaque inevitably ended up "in the same spot". Danger, death, loneliness—the options he kept picking took him to the same final screen.

AND, because of MK, he saw those other choices.

I've mentioned this before in my Hero & Warrior meta (which I think I might rewrite/add to sometime), but Macaque is essentially repeating back to MK what MK taught him in s3, both in 3x10 and 3x13:

MK: "Ugh, STOP! You keep playing at being this bad guy, acting like you're just in it for you! But I know, deep deep down, you're not that guy. Help us, make it right." Macaque: "I'm not a hero bud-" MK: "-then be a warrior."

(3x13 Time to Be Warriors)

-

Like, again, I'm on the FLOOR.

The options aren't "hero" or "villain", there's a third choice: to be a warrior. Instead of "helping SWK and dying", Macaque can "aid MK and live", if that makes sense. The game's rigged and the options are limited, so you have to "do something else", something destiny, or anyone, doesn't expect. You have to make you're own options, you're own choices, you're own fate. And MK as the "plan man", is in the perfect position to do just that.

But he's also in the perfect position to make and be caught in his own game.

But, that's beside the point.

The point is that Macaque see's MK as someone who manages to win unwinnable fights, who manages to do the impossible and avoid the inevitable. And maybe, MK is the person he viewed Wukong as a long time ago.

anyone else up thinking about how macaque was soso wrong abt who mk is as a person in shadow play and went through all of s3 assuming mk was just Wukong Part 2 RIGHT UP UNTIL he refuses to abandon mei in 3x10. and then he just looks at mk like

^ this is the face of someone who just had his whole worldview rearranged in the time it took mk to say “i’d never abandon her when she needs me!” suddenly, mk isn’t just wukong 2: electric boogaloo anymore, he’s something Else to macaque. the Hero… isn’t abandoning his friend when it benefits him? even with all this power, even when no one could blame him, he still turns around and fights for his friend? who is this guy?

macaque’s spent this whole season wanting to get the hell out of dodge without getting LBD mad at him. he wants to free himself and then he wants to fuck off until this mess blows itself over. that was his plan, and he’s free now. he finally has the chance to do that, to make a clean getaway- but for the first time, he sticks around. he’s curious. who is this kid? and that’s why he goes Back towards the lady bone demon, and why he’s there to bail mk out when wukong gets possessed.

like, mac only starts being helpful After the samadhi fire. he saves mk, delivers the mayor to the gang, lets himself get tied up, and gives the gang valuable intel on LBD. he easily could’ve freed himself at any point, gotten the drop on them, and gotten away again. but that’s not what he wants anymore. why does he stick around to let mk convince him to fight? because he’s curious. he wants to see where this is going.

and then macaque, the guy who has never entered a fight that he can’t win (or at least escape from easily, which is still a win in his book since he survives the fight), the guy who fights dirty and stacks the deck in his favor, agrees to a completely unwinnable fight. there was no world where macaque beat wukong on top of that mech. mac knew this, and agreed to do it anyways, because mk asked him to. because mk’s smth macaque hasn’t seen before, and he wants to see where this goes. and i’m really really normal about it

[lululocomo]

Well... screw you (affectionate), now I'm thinking about 2 angst sinareos, and I had to share.

1. You said that Mk would not sleep in the same bed as his parents for the first bit cause he's an adult (he's not) and he's still human in behavior (he's not), so it got me thinking: what other behaviors he'd be avoiding? After all, his monkey form, even if this is kind of different, means choas and danger. Maybe he wouldn't partake in group grooming and try (and fail) to handle his fur himself with simply a hair brush. If he ignored it too much, he could end up over-grooming himself and still end up matting, pacing, and going through teenager mood swings more often until Wukong and Macaque staged an intervention.

2. Mk is chilling with the pilgrims and oop, nice old lady- NOPE! LBD! Wukong is all aggressive while Tripitaka is being particular about peace when MK starts having war flashbacks and starts growling, and Mk NEVER growls at ANYONE, so they're all taken aback while he starts warning LBD, while every part of his is shaking, to leave and never bother his family again or he'd make her suffer the same fate he gave her last time.

So eventally, Wukong and Macaque get Mk alone who has to traumadump that yeah, this girl tricked him into almost ending the world, possessed Wukong, amd had Macaque working for her (what debt Macaque had to settle he doesnt know) and kept attacking him, Wukong, and his friends- and ya know, just for funzies, we have some breakdown cracks thrown in there. :)

ANYWAY - I was pledged with these thoughts, so now you do too. Love your au; The fluff and angst potential is through the roof, perfect for my gremlin hands to shake my phone while reading. <3

AAAAAH thank you so much!! /gen MK do try to take care of his fur by himself at first. He do let Macaque groom him, but not often enough for his fur to be in great condition. He prefer to bath in the river and brush it, which is just the bare minimum. He's annoyed how everyone treat him like a little kid, especially Macaque, he's very overprotective. MK find it so embarassing to sleep with Macaque(sad Wukong is under da mountain), but he accept it, because if he don't he know he will not sleep well at all and will have terrible nightmare. But daily grooming? nah ah- he can take care of his fur alone. What he don't know is that when he sleep in the nest, Macaque use this opportunity to groom his fur :)

And for LBD, I might do a comic when he see her during the journey :) (it will take me some time to do, so be patient for it)

[swkbiggestdefender]

honestly in the end of day I can only fully blame wukong for one thing and it's keeping the samadhi fire in mei a secret witch he showed big regret for and immediately tried to fix it by putting himself in danger (a very sane thing to do) by fighting lbd alone he seems like he actively tried to fix his mistake and he did unlike alot of other characters in the show wukong isn't above admitting he's wrong when he's completely wrong and it looks like mei forgave him

But now let's talk about his other "mistakes" hurting his old friends you can completely justify all of them if you think about how complex the reasons were like macaque and wukong fight there isn't enough revealed but you can tell from what we have that wukong didn't even want to fight/hurt him it was macaque who wanted that the whole "macaque stop don't make me do this" and macaque just laughing make It seems as if macaque forced wukong hand somehow now I'm not saying wukong is innocent but macaque obviously isn't ether

Now I don't get why the whole brotherhood thing would make you think wukong was in the wrong like yeah sure they were friends (really awful ones) but they were also using the life out of the land and it's animals to keep their kingdom intact with it energy there were actual animal skeleton in that scene so you can't really argue that wukong and the pilgrims didn't do the right thing also you can't trust azure pov that was the entire point he twist stuff to convince himself that he was the hero that was his whole character

This might be a bit controversial of a take but like wukong wasn't wrong to imprison dbk under that mountain yeah sure dbk have a family but he was literally attacking the city and putting innocent people in danger at this point honestly what did he expect like in a moral stand you can't argue that wukong in the wrong dbk have a family yet he decided to do something beyond stupid and it back fired on him I don't really have much sympathy for him I do think wukong did kinda use imprisoning dbk as a way out that's way he left his staff behind in disappeared for centuries

Now I'm not saying wukong is innocent he definitely did alot of mistakes I know jttw i know he fuck up alot but I hate when people act as if his so called old friends weren't villains because they were in all these stations he was in the hero the only time he was fully in the wrong is to mei the others not so much

[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👏👏

[monkie-brainriot]

THIS FUCKING EXPRESSIONNNNN

[quitealotofsodapop]

The tineline of Wukong Macaque's mate bond is simple yet so very tangled. When they were in the Brotherhood, they had a very strong soul bond, one that had a deeper connection to each other than the other members of the Brotherhood. In fact, they did have proximity telepathy, something they did not share with anyone else in the Brotherhood. Many of the times they'd spent goofing off with the Brotherhood had them have a lot of secret conversations.

Macaque: *expressing worry about their plans*

Wukong: You worry too much!

Wukong: *mentally* Don't worry, Mihou. I'll make sure you're okay mo matter what!

Macaque: *mentally* It's you I'm worried for, idiot!!

However, during the fight under the mountain, the bond shattered with Wukong's heart being broken the moment Macaque uttered the words "obsessive demon" towards him. Macaque had already been in so much turmoil from everything he hadn't noticed it, but for Wukong it felt very much like a molten knife had stabbed into his heart and torn it out of his chest, leaving nothing but jagged pieces behind. He never realized that he had broken Wukong's bond until many, many centuries later.

During the Journey Arc, Wukong was hesitant to let anyone close, still feeling the sting from losing his mate bond. He may very well have never opened up to the Pilgrims, and it would have been mutual had a very persistent dragon not kept dragging Wukong into the fold! Macaque, who had spied on Wukong after his first visit to FFM, saw this and became very jealous. For Macaque he believed Wukong was choosing these STRANGERS who held him on a leash over him, especially the stupid monk who's hurt and broken Wukong's heart on multiple occasions only for his bond mate to keep crawling back to him each and every time!! The fight that broke out and consecutive death ended up solidifying this, shattering the bond in its entirety.

Over thousands of years and more losses later, Wukong had all but sealed himself away and refused to let anyone close enough to form a bond, still feeling the pain from loaing so much in sich a traumatic way. It becomes debilitating over time since a shattered bond doesn't just heal itself. Then comes MK. Despite himself, Wukong finds himself almost immediately forming a bond with his excitable apprentice, and any attempts to backpedal only end up amking them closer. Meanwhile, Macaque gets revived, unable to even feel the remnant of his bond with Wukong anymore. He's absolutely pissed and wants to ANSWERS for their missing bond on top of getting revenge for his death. When he sees Wukong had 'replaced' him with a young apprentice, he is further incentivized to go after MK.

Their first clash. For Wukong, it's an opening of all his wounds fresh and lashing out because Macaque was the one to break his heart the very first time. For Macaque it's further proof that his bond with Wukong was well and truly gone as he had reached out towards him throughout that entire fight only to be unable to feel even the slightest sliver of Wukong's emotions form how tightly Wukong had his mental and emotional shields up. Macaque comes to the conclusion that their bond had been forgotten, that HE had been forgotten. This continues into Shadow Play and then the fight on the airship, although he does very conflicted about how Wukong looked during that second fight and the fact he STILL couldn't feel Wukong's emotions then.

Then, the Samhadi Fire happens. This whole situation was MESSY it best snd even moreso in the bond au becasue Wukong was juggling the strained bond with Nezha he swore had been severed but somehow isn't and also everything going on with the Noodle Gang, Mei, and Macaque. The bond actually breaks between him and the Noodle Gang for a brief moment, shattered by his own hand out of fear when he leaves to confront LBD on his own.

However, during this time that the bond was resparked between Macaque and Wukong.

It was in this exact moment when MK was explaining how he'd never abandoning best friend and the two locked eyes that it sparked their connection again, and the first time since being revived that Macaque had felt Wukong, truly felt Wukong beyond the shattered remnants of the and that echoed through, and all hia pain and regret and fear. He was completely speechless in that moment from the sheer strength of the emotions he felt. So naturally, he did what he always did when he got overwhelmed.

He left.

Wukong took that as yet another rejection from his former mate. The pain of rejection and losing his bond with the rest, however temporarily, only fueled him in his fight with LBD, thus whe he was SO MUCH more brutal in this fight than any other... but Wukong ended up being distracted and then possessed. Possession is a terrifying concept in this au as it sort of FORCES a bond of sorts between Wukong and the LBD. LBD uses it to subjugate Wukong and maintain her control over him. However, MK had drawn upon his bond with Wukong the first time to reach him and that, paired the newly rekindled bond with Macaque, allowed Wukong to break free. During this moment he was an open book and Shadowpeach were almost at the same level of telepathic communication they used to be at before the Havoc.

Immediately after the LBD's defeat, Wukong is backpedaling hard, though. He is still terrified of opening his heart to Macaque again and in deep denial about the bond. He keeps his emotions as tightly shielded as possible afterward, but unfortunately for him, pretending it isn't there won't help this time. Pretending only makes Macaque want to mess with Wukong more. That's why he's hanging around FFM in S4.

In the memories is when Macaque feels the full scale of Wukong's emotions. Being that he's in Wukong's memories, he can feel all of memory Wukong's emotions. This leads to some revelations about his former mate. The heart to heart is where Wukong opened his mental shield to Macaque for the first time of his own volition.

Wukong being resistant to let someone inter his heart again, including his own mate, is so perfect and sad I love it <3

And MK accidentally wriggling into his heart and solidifying himself as Wukong's student/son-figure. :3

And Macaque!! Convinced that Wukong has fully rejected/abandoned him, only for Wukong to let his soul-guard down and Mac feels the longing and grief of over a thousand years hit him!!1

As you can imagine, everything post-S3 is a huge marriage counselling session for the Shadowpeach couple. Literally feeling your mate's joys and pains through their memories does that.

Afterwards, Wukong and Macaque have weaponized "couple's telepathy" that they use to dunk on future foes/annoyances.

[amazingdeadfish]

Why... Why does Megapolis have so many demons?

Plot convenience probably, but this is something I've been thinking about :')))) has anyone actually asked this question before? I have no idea! But here's my take on it:

The thing is, when you really think about it, there are a lot of notable demons in the city of LMK. Like of course, you have Demon Bull King, who was trapped inside the mountain Megapolis is built on and around for 500 years.

But then you have Lady Bone Demon, who was trapped in a tomb, buried under the same mountain DBK was trapped in. And when you realise that the Demon Bull Family's lair was built in the very place the staff used to be, Wukong's staff is pretty close to where LBD had been laid to rest.

Which, is already strange enough as it is. Because Wukong should have known (or maybe he forgot) that LBD was within the vicinity before popping out a nearby mountain and squishing DBK with it. It's actually weird to think, somewhere during that battle between Wukong and DBK, LBD was just... There, chilling in her tomb. She probably didn't appreciate the noise and her new neighbour.

Actually, I have an idea now: Somebody needs to make a (crack) fic where LBD and DBK are like cranky roommates while trapped inside the mountain. Has anyone done this yet? Any takers? No? Do I have to do it myself?

Anyways, the Spider Queen is here too. And so is her ruined kingdom (which is proof that she actually has a connection to the land Megapolis is built on, and so she's not just some wayward demon like a certain pair of gold and silver demons). Again, within the vicinity, very close to the mountain. But I'm willing to bet that Wukong defeated her and destroyed her underground kingdom before he imprisoned DBK. He probably thought the Spider Queen would have moved away after being defeated. Or maybe she actually did move away, but then came back? Either way, her kingdom remained in ruins.

And then you have Jin and Yin. Who are, themselves. And even though we've seen them in other places like the Lantern City, and the place that festive town in season 5 (so cool that the show actually brought in Jin and Yin's roles and designs as DJs from the 5th Anniversary Lego set), but it's clear that their base of operations is Megapolis (maybe because they just want to fight MK?).

And I can't believe I almost forgot, but Macaque is here too. Honestly I'm willing to assume he only came to Megapolis because of MK and, probably taking great interest in how the kid uses Wukong's golden staff. But the dude has a dojo. He- he owns a property. Or maybe I'm jumping to conclusions! Maybe the guy just broke into an abandoned dojo (or one that was actually technically still owned by someone) and claimed it as his own.

And then you have these guys. Whoever they are:

And then ALL OF THESE GUYS (Jin and Yin are there but we aren't talking about them):

I might have missed some demons that live in Megapolis, since this is all that I remember. But you guys get the point, right?

So sure. Plot convenience. All of them can be explained by plot convenience. MK can't be running around outside the city until Season 3, because his adventures needed to be focused within Megapolis. Sure, Spider Queen needs demons to power up her mech and so therefore there needs to be some random demons that get caught in her webs. Sure.

But I really do wonder if there could be at least some sort of logical explanation for it. Because there is no way all the other cities in China have this many demons and this many problems (unless, all of the trouble making demons just ended up in Megapolis and, the rest of the world's demons are just really chill and, don't try to take over populations).

So, well. I think about Wukong's staff. The one that trapped DBK.

Maybe... Within the 500 years the staff had stayed there, it had practically become some sort of power beacon that herded in demons? It's a powerful staff, and maybe normal mortals might not be able to feel it, but demons probably could. It's not like any of the demons know why they decided to come (or return) to Megapolis (or the quaint village it once was), but they were drawn to it anyway. Obviously this isn't the best explanation, but it would be cool if, the golden staff caused the series of events within LMK to unfold in more ways than one.

Idk guys, what do you think :DDD???

[aromacaque]

I've seen you say it before, but can you explain more or less what you mean when you say that Macaque idolizes/idolized Wukong?

I've talked about it a little in these posts too 1 , 2

I'm gonna break this down by chronological order for my own sanity lol

Before Attacking Heaven

We don't have a ton of info on this part of their lives, but I do think this scene, which if not entirely before the brotherhood, is at least before their plans to go against heaven.

I talked about this more in detail here, but this scene just kinda establishes what their relationship was before everything else happened, which is important.

Macaque getting hurt is a really small detail, but they wouldn't take the time to put that in for absolutely no reason.

He's willing to throw himself in fire for their home and/or for Wukong. Wukong checks on him to make sure he's okay and gives him some peaches. He realizes Macaque is a little annoyed at him, then tries to comfort him. This is also one of the few times we see Macaque genuinely happy. They're best friends! Cool!! Not much to say here about him idolizing Wukong, but this is where it starts.

I couldn't tell you if it was already happening during this moment under the tree or not, but at some point Macaque starts to kind of stop seeing Wukong as a person and more of an idea. Something above him. The first time we see this is during the brotherhood.

Again, talked about this a little bit in this post, but in this scene with the brotherhood, we see what their relationship has become. Macaque ignores his own worries, fears, and distrust in favor of Wukong. Whatever Wukong says goes.

Wukong doesn't do anything to coerce Macaque into acting like this. Macaque is choosing to place Wukong over his inhibitions. His blind faith and trust in Wukong is not healthy. It is codependent*

But really it's less these scenes and more everything after them that lets us see how bad this actually was.

Wukong becomes Macaque's obsession and this spirals out of control the worse their relationship gets. By the time we are at season 1, Wukong is Macaque's sole motivator until season 3, where Lady Bone Demon puts his life on the line.

JTTW Fight

We know we are missing a lot of information because what happens between their argument under Five Phases Mountain and in the fight that ended Macaque's life makes no sense if that's all there was to their falling out.

Macaque is much more reserved and hesitant in the past than he is in the present. To go from that to "Macaque, stop! Don't make me do this!" ? To a fight implied to be one of Wukong's worst memories? How? Why? Macaque is completely unreachable here. It seems like he refuses to even try talking it out while this time it's Wukong who isn't being listened to.

To go from his past self to how he acts in season 1?

We technically don't know what happened, but do we know enough to make sense of it? I think so. And yes, it has everything to do with how he "idolized" Wukong.

Wukong's Present Attitude Toward Macaque

WALK WITH ME HERE AND KEEP PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT I PUT ASTERISKS ON. I SWEAR ON MY LIFE THERE IS A POINT TO ALL THIS.

First of all, Wukong does not intervene with anything unless he believes it is a serious threat (ex. Lady Bone Demon, Azure, The Pillars) or something that MK can't handle on his own (ex. Spider Queen, LBD, Azure, Pillars).

It is worth noting that the first time Macaque shows up, Wukong doesn't seem surprised at all. He also isn't concerned enough to immediately confront MK about it upon noticing or confront him the second Macaque shows up despite knowing how dangerous he could be and clearly having followed MK to keep an eye on him. It's only once Macaque hurts MK that he intervenes.

Wukong, for whatever reason, possibly because he knows him well, doesn't treat Macaque as a serious threat. If anything, he treats him more as a nuisance,* but ultimately as his responsibility to deal with, not MK's.

MACAQUE: Come on! The old you would've leveled this whole mountain range to stop me! But you're scared of hurting some kid? Pathetic!

He also doesn't use his full power against Macaque. Macaque knows he isn't too. He treats Macaque in a similar manner to how he treats Spider Queen, only with a bit more force and power due to Macaque being stronger. Reiterating that Wukong doesn't see Macaque as a genuine threat LBD style. This is important.

WUKONG: Are you ever going to get sick of living in my shadow?

WUKONG: Oh no...

(The voice delivery here in particular is very um... exasperated.)

SIDENOTE:

MACAQUE: Oh Wukong!

IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT WUKONG WITH THIS GUY!!! HE WANTS HIS ATTENTION SPECIFICALLY EVERY TIME! This guy is literally obsessed with him. Wukong lives rent free in his head.

WUKONG: So what? You're her puppet now? I mean, makes sense, you always did have a sidekick kind of vibe.

WUKONG: So, you got bone demon powers now, huh? Well, it is on brand for you to have worse versions of everyone else's powers... Not gonna gloat? Monologue a little bit before scurrying off to your master?

*I'm gonna be honest, I don't think Wukong is saying any of these things as some admission to Macaque's inferiority as much as he is aggravated by Macaque's behavior.

Look, Wukong doesn't act like this with anybody else. The closest he gets is taunting enemies during fights which is never that serious, intentionally provoking someone to get a needed reaction (ex. DBK while trapped in webs), or adopting a serious demeanor with dangerous situations (LBD, Azure, etc.)

Macaque is an exception to Wukong's behavior. For obvious reasons, nobody else has that kind of relationship with him.

His words to Macaque are condescending, yes, but I don't think it's in the way it sounds. Macaque doesn't acknowledge his own faults, that has to be frustrating. Then he goes and acts like he's an extension of the people around him rather than his own person? And that actively contributed to their falling out? His grievances, as justifiable as some are, actively causes Macaque to continue to seek Wukong out to taunt him and drag other people into their drama?

I'm kind of lacking the words right now to describe this adequately but Macaque's behavior annoys Wukong. Otherwise, all things considered, he's relatively peaceful with Macaque in a way that is not reciprocated. Wukong is objectively behaving the most maturely out of the two of them. He doesn't go out of his way to seek Macaque out to taunt him. He isn't bringing others into their issues like Macaque is.

While Macaque obviously means a lot to Wukong, and there's a lot of history between these two, and it's so much more complicated than this, he's the only one out of the two that made any attempts to move on from what happened. To be clear, I don't think he ever really did. Wukong is very avoidant, it's easy for him to act like he doesn't care it's just that none of that information is relevant to this analysis, but the important thing here is that it is only Macaque who is behaving like this.

He only gets serious the second Macaque might actually cause pain to anyone else. He only attacks him AGGRESSIVELY when he caused Mei to get the Samadhi Fire.

When Wukong realizes Macaque isn't willingly working for LBD, immediately says "Wait, I have a plan!" as if he is willing to extend an olive branch to Macaque to help him, or at least keep him off their asses. When Macaque shows up after the LBD fight, he doesn't reject him being there, Macaque just easily annoys him and puts him on edge.

WHY DOES LITERALLY ANY OF THIS MATTER THOUGH?

Can possibly allude to what happened after their argument under the mountain. But more importantly...

Because it begs the question: Why does Macaque do this?

What Macaque's Relationship with MK Says About Him

Keep walking with me. I swear this has a point.

I can't get into detail about their relationship, it would take too long, so I am just grabbing relevant information only here.

Initially, he instantly equates MK as an extension of Wukong while also contradicting himself by encouraging MK to see himself as his own person in seasons 1-3. In a lot ways, this is self-projection. Macaque has a habit of projecting onto others. This tells us a hell of a lot more about Macaque than it ever has about MK's character.

Literally the entire sequence where he's "mentoring" (cough manipulating) MK, telling him to be the weapon is important. YES, this is him coercing MK to use too much power so he can take it, but we can't ignore that this is literally how Macaque fights. Especially when Wukong is involved*

This lesson has ulterior motives and bad intentions, but it is genuine to a certain degree. Underneath his personal vendetta is a real lesson he is trying to teach MK, as is the pattern between most interactions between these two in the first 3 seasons.

I think it is important to point out that the reason this lesson is bad and not Red Son telling Mei to "be the flame" is because of the attitude and behavior starting it. This lesson is bad for MK because it's inherently self-destructive*, not constructive.

In Shadow Play this is made like, really really really obvious. MK isn't wrong to relate more to the Warrior than the Hero. He feels abandoned by Wukong and way over his head. MK didn't get handed everything. I think the next seasons and especially season 4 and 5 make that abundantly clear, yet Macaque is so much more insistent on placing MK into Wukong's role. Believing that MK must have missed the point. And MK kind of does miss the point. He's too focused on getting stronger to keep his friends safe from a threat, but it's not because MK doesn't care. And wow! Doesn't that sound familiar to another stone monkey who was getting stronger to help protect the people he cared about! Except this time the threat is REAL.

Macaque views things in a very black and white manner. He either can't or is refusing to see the nuance in MK's situation, and by extension, in Wukong as well.

MACAQUE: Maybe it's just me, but these guys don't look too happy about being left in the shadow of the great Monkie Kid.

Yet... he has to orchestrate them fighting MK by taking control over them because they never would have done that willingly, simultaneously proving Macaque's point obsolete! Interesting!

I'm not gonna get into their entire relationship that would take too long, but the point is, he is always self-projecting onto MK. Making assumptions based on his experiences with Wukong, conflating them with MK, and giving him these very one-sided and biased cautionary tales that refuse to acknowledge anything he has done wrong.

But it is important because it reveals a lot about his perception of his self. Again, talked about it a lot in the other post, but Macaque has a very skewed sense of self-worth.

MACAQUE: As the hero's light grew, so too did his shadow.

This all brings up a lot of really important things about Macaque's self-worth, which in turn tells you a lot about how he "idolizes" Wukong.

Even now, in shadow play, he keeps referring to himself as Wukong's shadow. He keeps acting as if he is an extension of Wukong despite his clear disdain for overshadowing his own autonomy by constantly allowing Wukong to trump over him.

Wukong is this bright light for him, as he describes, that made him stronger. A hero who is equally Macaque's greatest memories and ambitions as well as his worst. He had seen Wukong as this symbol, beacon of hope, that it would be them against the world.

There's certainly a level of him believing Wukong believes he is lesser than him, but it's clear that he believes that has always been the case due to how he is treating MK, but also how he is narrating their relationship. But in the past, we get zero indication that Wukong viewed Macaque as lesser.

Macaque is projecting his insecurities.

I'm avoiding talking about this too much because, again, this post goes into that, but this goes hand in hand with his insecurities and how he's always knocking himself down. His skewed perception of Wukong influenced by his insecurities, trauma, and grudge results in Wukong being placed in some unachievable pedestal that he had never been to begin with.

It isn't until after season 3, in season 4, that he seems to be actually assessing this about himself in a slightly more constructive manner than before.

With his video game lesson to MK, it's a bit too convoluted, it's still not quite what MK needs, but it's a much more honest and real attempt to genuinely help him than it is to project his own issues onto MK.

It's also the first time he admits that he was part of the problem, even if it's very indirectly. He acknowledges he never made his own choices, which isn't Wukong's fault.

Then he decides to help Wukong in the scroll, they basically extend an olive branch to each other and y'know that development is happening. But before all of that, the issue was that he refused to see Wukong as anything but an uncaring power-obsessed self-righteous hero who wouldn't hesitate to abandon the people he cares about. Something that arguably has never described Wukong in the first place?

A lot of Macaque's issues with Wukong are very understandable. Wukong had been impulsive, reckless, oblivious, childish, and greedy. However, there's a lot of things that simply weren't true. He still projects that old and definitely outdated idea of a person onto Wukong even in the present until he is forced to confront his own faults and ways he has hurt others. Wukong was never uncaring, not about Macaque at least. We are actively shown the opposite. We are also shown it not being reciprocated very well by him, which is where Wukong's obliviousness comes into play.

Macaque lets the bitter feelings from feeling pushed aside as well as his own insecurities spiral when he is no longer with Wukong. He becomes a face to blame all of his problems on. We don't know what happened after their fight under the mountain, but Macaque admits he was on a path of self-destruction, something that is evident before he even verbally admits that.

*Codependency

That's the quick answer here. I just wanted to explain it more lol.

I've run out of steam here but I'm just gonna throw these at you and hopefully after everything I just said it will speak for itself.

"Toxic codependency is a term that refers to an unhealthy... emotional relationship between two people. In a codependent relationship, the needs of one person are placed above the needs of the other. This type of behavior can lead to resentment, emotional stress, and negative mental health outcomes like anxiety and depression."

Most sources on codependent relationships tend to word it like it's some black and white situation, but more often than not they are very nuanced. Macaque is in a giver roll and Wukong is in a taker roll, though neither of them had malicious intentions with this whatsoever.

The point is, Macaque placed Wukong's importance above him, it reinforced viewing himself as inferior, this was something that Wukong awarded (most likely unintentionally) and then it inevitably blew up in their faces and now we're left with Macaque who is struggling with the aftermath of everything it put them through.

Just to make it clear, one of this is to discredit how much Wukong did hurt him. Again, very nuanced situation and relationship and not an easy one to talk about without yapping for way too long about it.

This isn't super related but I made this like a year ago because of brain worms and I do mention this all a couple times, it's kind of what I was pointing out. It's super out of context though because there was a whole infodump accompanying it but I don't have that rn.

also i have a little bit of attitude in it because it was partially a rant at his mischaracterization but this happened in a conversation between my close friends who have heard all of this 1000x times by now BAHAHSDJKFHKAFSD so sorry about the possible tonal whiplash

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere Wukong with LBD descendent hcs who’s trying to escape from LBD and not mayor herself. (Can the reader be female please and I’m fine with platonic or romantic ^^) scenario please 

I'll try my best to write a story for this, sure ^^; Here's Wukong being paranoid after you learn of your heritage.

Fight Destiny

Yandere! Sun Wukong One Shot

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Overprotective/Possessive behavior, Isolation, Implied kidnapping, Paranoia, Slightly oblivious darling, Dubious relationship/companionship.

"I know what she wants you for... but you'll be safe in my hands."

Not even you knew your heritage until a certain whisper called you. Since the release of Lady Bone Demon, you've felt a chill down your spine. You had been living a relatively normal life by this point...

But you've had to go into hiding once your connection to the Lady Bone Demon began to be known.

You're a young woman who was rescued by MK and friends during a certain battle. You had been attacked and was soon brought in to be treated at the noodle shop with MK. At the time it all seemed to be a coincidence... becoming friends with MK has been one of your best decisions...

But part of you couldn't shake the thought that it was... fated to meet them.

You weren't aware of Lady Bone Demon until you had met MK and friends. Let alone did you know you were related to the demon. You barely knew anything about the encroaching danger until you met MK... and by extension, Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong, when he first met you, had been caring. You knew him as MK's mentor and grew to trust the old hero. Wukong had also begun to enjoy your company.

But he always seemed... worried when he looked at you...

Or are you just seeing things?

"I can't hide this from you anymore...."

You had always just assumed he was worried due to the sudden catastrophic events occurring in your life. After all, MK needs training and you had been involved in quite the attack when you met. Unfortunately...

It seemed to be much worse.

"You're her blood... you're her successor... she wants to possess you and take you for herself."

When you hear the news from Wukong's mouth, it's like something clicked. No wonder horrible things kept happening. No wonder you were always on the run since you first experienced that chill.

Lady Bone Demon wanted you to be her vessel...

From then on you were on the run.

Ever since then, Wukong has vowed to protect you. Everyone has been so worried for you once you learned of the news. You had naturally been the most affected by this knowledge...

But Wukong seemed to be affected too.

"I promise she won't ever touch you... I can't lose you."

It has been a while since you've seen the sun. The only 'Sun' you saw was Wukong. You had been spending most of your time hidden away with Wukong watching over you.

The monkey had insisted that you stay with him at Flower Fruit Mountain. He had told you it was important for you to stay here while MK and the others find ways to challenge Lady Bone Demon. For now, you just need to stay under Wukong's protection.

Of course, you listened... After all, he's the Monkey King.

It wasn't long before days passed... maybe longer... It was hard to tell at times. All you ever thought of was being in Isolation. Sun Wukong rarely left your side.

Sometimes you'd ask to leave his home, to just relax a little. Wukong, however, always shot you down.

"You go outside and you'll be a target." Wukong would say before pulling you close. "I'm not going to fail you."

As the days passed, Wukong became more paranoid. Truth is, you were going against your destiny by being hidden away. Not like Wukong ever cared about that though.

"I have to protect you." He'd preach to you like his life depended on it... "Just... Trust me on this."

So, you did trust him. You trusted him on every little word, every little decision. For all you knew... Being locked in his home was the best decision for you.

Even when Wukong's behavior got strange... You accepted it. You had nowhere else to go. Plus... You needed the comfort.

You allowed Wukong to hug you, to feed you, to keep you safe. He was all you had as you tried to hide from an incoming threat. It... felt comforting whenever he wrapped his tail around you and held you close...

Even if his hold was tight.

"When will I be able to go outside again?" You'd ask, a certain innocence in your eyes. One very different from your ancestor....

"When I say so." Wukong would reply warily, pulling you in for a hug while stroking your back.

Even after Lady Bone Demon was dealt with, you wondered if Wukong was ever going to allow you to leave his side. After all, by then there would be no threat, right...? You won't have to hide anymore....

Yet even with the danger gone... He insists.

"Please let me leave, I miss home." Your questions turn to plees, yet Wukong keeps a cold expression on his face.

"No, I can't... There's still monsters in the world. Don't you know you're better off here? With me?" Wukong would explain to you again like you're a child who didn't know any better.

"Don't you know I'm what you need?"

You had originally come to Flower Fruit Mountain for refuge. While Wukong let you outside his home now, you still felt like a captive. It was nice to be rescued from Lady Bone Demon at the time... but...

"Please let me go home, Wukong." You whisper one night, Wukong having dragged you to his bed to curl around you.

"Home?" Wukong whispers, trying to be comforting as he rubs your back. "You don't need to go home... This is your home, isn't it?"

"No it isn't!" You argue. "I'm not in danger anymore, Wukong!"

"Not in danger? Love, do you seriously believe that?" Wukong glares, claws caressing your face.

You flinch when you feel him tilt your chin up, staring into your eyes with his golden ones.

"If it isn't Lady Bone Demon... It will be some other threat, won't it?" Wukong frowns, looking at your fearful gaze. You struggle in his embrace against the bed, but he holds you tightly.

"If you stay here, with me, you'll be safer than anyone else." Wukong tries to smile, yet your discomfort is hard to ignore. "Accept it... Accept me."

It's then you wonder what was truly your fate or destiny. Were you meant to be Lady Bone Demon's vessel at all? Or... was it just a means to an end.

Maybe instead you were destined to be here, with Wukong, isolated from everyone under the guise of protection...

Maybe you were always destined to be trapped, one way or another.

[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.

[destinedhope]

piggy backing off my last two post i do kinda have a fic idea inspired by penelope and odysses, this is gonna be completely different then the edit ideas i had, again ill try to explain as coherently as i can sorry in advance. anyone is free to use this idea im probably never gonna get around to actually writing it myself

shortly after sealing DBK under a mountain, the celestial heavens(sorry im sleepy and i cant remember if thats the proper name) want to keep wukong on a leash and control him, to do this they come up with the plan to basically force him to marry a celestial and if he refuses there will be consequences for FFM, to avoid this he agrees on the condition that he doesnt have to choose a suitor until he has a fully trained successor, something he doesnt think would ever happen but he needs something to give him more time and freedom(hes still grieving macaque who he had been married to before their fight that killed him).

all the suitors come and go over the years(basically like once a year or so they all stay at FFM for a time and he has to spend time with them) and them he meets mk, who he honestly wants to be his successor, but hes still not ready to choose a suitor, so he does procrastinate as much as hes allowed with training mk, the celestials getting more and more impatient as mks power grows and wukong still hasnt declared him fully trained

and then everything with the LBD happens and macaque is back, but all that happens as canon so there a lot of tension, and wukong hasnt told anyone about the deal that the celestials bound him too.

maybe the crew and macaque dont learn about this deal until season 4 when azure lion finds out about it(or maybe they find out sooner or not until after season five idk lots of options) after killing the jade emperor and tries to uphold the deal be making himself the only suitor(we all know how some of these people get with wukong, hes to pretty for his own good), even after azure and the jade emperor are dead wukong is still bound by this deal, season 4 and 5 happen semi normally other then this being a background problem and maybe the suitors make a nuisance of themselves more during season 5 plot, but they really dont start putting the pressure on wukong until after the world is saved

something something macaque is the only exception to the rule of marrying outside the celestial suitors(since you know they were married before but he has to prove that to the magic or whatever that wukong is bound with), something something wukong makes a challenge for the suitors and they try to pull some stupid shit because they cant do the challenge and then macaque gets to go all odysses on their asses and wukong is falling in love all over again from the sidelines, something something forgiving eachother of past mistakes and they live happily ever after,

basically a lot of angst, and comfort and found family bonding with wukong and crew, shadowpeach reconciliation, cause as much as i love the shadowpeach aspect of this, i love the crew/mk trying to help and comfort and getting mad on his behalf just as much, also yes both mk and the other monkeys are technically in the place of telemachus in this

[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-

[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.