#macaque's route

[artistheworld]

I'm sorry..

you idiot..

@centuryberry

Based off of this ^^^

Happy Valentine’s Day! I absolutely had to draw them when I saw this post because they are just so sad and ANGST

I set this when Macaque finally found wukong trapped under the mountain after searching for him for many years

I’m not good at dialogue so you can ignore the words surrounding the picture and change it fit the story if you want

[lovelylittlelevity]

Sneak Peek!

A little sneaky peak at the Lovely Little Levity game! Screenshots of the actual game. So yes this is a little spoiler but we just wanna show y'all what we got so far!

-Puppit

[dr-chalk]

This shot always felt very intentional to me. Angle, facial expression, composition, all that

[imminent-danger-came]

What the Legos Want

MK: "I just- I don't want to let my friends down, you know? It's like, I want to help out in the store, do arts and crafts with Sandy, and party with M-m-m-Mei! Mei! But it's to hard, I'm just one guy!"

(1x02 Duplicatnation)

-

MK: "Okay! I did bad, I just- I really wanted that peach, and I guess I got carried away."

(1x06 The Great Wall Race)

-

Sun Wukong: "Take in everything! Choose what you want to do, and then do it! That is focus."

(1x07 Impossible Delivery)

-

MK: "I just wanted to be good enough—like you."

(1x09 Macaque)

-

MK: "It's like- I want to be strong, and I'm trying to be! But it- it's like Monkey King isn't giving me a chance! *sigh* What if- what if he knows he made a mistake—chose wrong, chose the wrong successor?"

(2x07 Shadow Play)

-

Sandy: "Hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength—took me a really long time to realize that. As long as I'm doing something to help out a friend, I don't mind what it is! I just want to be there for 'em when they need me."

(2x08 To Catch a Leaf)

-

Sun Wukong: "You want me to leave it, and I want me to take it! Eh, it's toughy." Ne Zha: "What!? Don't do this! Sun Wukong: "I'm sorry—it's the only way!"

(3x01 On The Run)

-

MK: “Why are you helping her—Lady Bone Demon—like, look, I get that you’re a bad guy, but you know that she wants to destroy everything, right?”

-

Sandy: "I don't want to fight, but I can't let you hurt my friends!"

(3x04 The Winning Side)

-

Sun Wukong: "What? You got what you wanted didn't you? Not gonna gloat? Monologue a little before scurrying off to your master? Go on! The Lady Bone Demon is waiting." Macaque: "I couldn't care less about what the Lady Bone Demon wants!"

(3x09 The King, the Prince, and the Shadow)

-

Mei: "I can't! I don't want to hurt you—any of you! I'm sorry."

-

Mei: "No! Stay back! I- I don't want to hurt you!"

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

The Mayor: "All my lady ever desired was a world no longer plagued by pain—until the Monkey King and his companions got in the way. Fate however has gifted her a second chance!"

(3x13 Time to be Warriors) (Desired, wanted, same thing.)

-

Lady Bone Demon: "Save your hero speech child—I've existed long enough to know when it's over. MK: "You still think that the universe really wants anything, from any of us?" Lady Bone Demon: "Don't you?"

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

Macaque: "Still the same Wukong, doing whatever he wants with no regard for others!"

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

Sun Wukong: "It's actually amazing how quickly you're mastering your powers—when I was your age-"

MK: "-You were fighting the celestial armies and generally swinging your big ol' tail around to get what you wanted?" Sun Wukong: "Well I was going to say making regrettable life choices but yeah, thanks for laying out. I'm embarrassed to admit it but—you might have actually already done more for this world that I ever have!"

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

-

Mei: “What’s the point of having power if you won’t use it? Don’t you have people you want to protect?”

(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robed Demon)

-

Sandy: “But you were too WEAK to be who you truly are! I am a monster! That’s what the world wants me to be, so that’s what I’m gonna give ‘em!”

(4x06 Show Me the Monster)

-

Curse MK: "Hey no no no- I get it man. You want to get back to our monster of the week adventures, get back to our simple missions with Mei, mastering all of Monkey King's powers and delivering noodles for pigsy. Right?" MK: "Yeah...yeah actually that's exactly what I wanna-" Curse MK: "But we can't! Not after all we've seen! All we know and all we don't? *sigh* Right friend?"

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

Azure Lion: "No no—this isn't what I wanted! All you had to do was wait, after this was all over I was going to release Sun Wukong, help him see reason! That is now impossible—not after what you've done!"

-

MK: “No matter what I do, it’s going to lead to pain. It’s like the Lady Bone Demon said—it doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!”

(4x08 The Brotherhood)

-

Macaque: "Point is, it’s time to start making your own choices—something I wish I would have learned a lot sooner than I did. You don’t want to fight Azure because people might get hurt, you don’t want to not fight him because people might get hurt–so do something else! Only you get to decide who you are kiddo.”

(4x10 The Jade Emperor)

-

Sun Wukong: "Ah, don't be like that! Eat some fruit, soak up the sun—that's why I've been training so hard!" Macaque: "What, so you can be the strongest?" Sun Wukong: "Nooo! Well, maybe a little bit—but that's not the point! It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"

-

Sun Wukong: "I just wanted to protect the people I cared about—to be strong enough. I lost sight of why I was doing any of it."

-

Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become this like, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone, he just does whatever he wants!"

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

MK: "That's what you were pretending to be right? To be my friend? To care about me? When really you were just using me to get what you wanted! To turn me against my own mentor! Put your hand in the monkey cage, and expect to get bit son!"

(4x13 Rip and Tear)

-

Sun Wukong: "Azure just stop, okay? You've won—you're going to destroy us just like you wanted! Us an the entire universe." Azure Lion: "Huh? No. This is not what I wanted! I can still fix this, it's- it's the whole reason I'm here at all!" Sun Wukong: "Wait, how are you here!?" Azure Lion: "What? What kind of a question is that you know exactly how I'm-" Sun Wukong: "-No! Here and now! I put you in the underworld myself. How'd you get out, how'd you get the scroll? I know for sure you didn't steal it—you couldn't have! Azure, who gave you that scroll? Because whoever it was they must have known this would happen, wanted this to happen! And they used you to do it."

Azure Lion: "I just wanted to make the world a better place!" MK: "You still can—you're the only one who can."

(4x14 Better Than We Found It)

-

Welcome viewers, to a shadow play the likes of which have never been seen! It follows the tragic tale of a legendary warrior, and how those who bring light into this world inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear whether they want to or not.

[centuryberry]

WAITWAITWAIT

WOULD THE "TRUTH" ROUTE BE THE CURRENT SCENARIO RIGHT NOW WHERE THE PLAYER IS PLAYING AS YUE AND TRYING TO GET THE DUM PINING MONKIES TOGETHER?

IS YUE JUST PLAYING OUT A ROUTE IN HER NEW REAL LIFE WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT?

-🌺

Not really? Yue is trailblazing her own route and changing everything around her. Of course, takes elements from many of the other routes, but it’s uniquely her own.

(Spoilers for Macaque’s Route below)

The “Truth” Route is similar to the Pre-JTTW canon that we know except with blatantly pining monkeys, oblivious Wukong, and a romance that is doomed by the narrative. The sad thing about Macaque’s route is that his story doesn’t have a fairy tale-esque ending - even in his “good”ending.

Instead, we’re shown the realities of the toxic undertones of the Brotherhood and the concerning consequences that can come out of a Heavenly war, Shanzha being a symbolic representation of someone helpless to the whims of Heaven, Wukong’s past regrets with RinRin and his fear of death being addressed, and so much more.

The true ending is Wukong being trapped under the mountain and Macaque devotedly keeping him company. It’s bittersweet but there’s a hopeful undertone.

(Yue’s friend purposefully left Macaque’s ending open so he can make room for a sequel, which he’s a little more passionate about…)

[fluffypotatey]

Why is mini figure Mac half shirtless when he was so flustered over Swk helping him with his clothes. What happened to turn him into that loud creature we see now.

death changes people, i guess

[ultrastarseeker]

RANDOM FANFIC IDEA(that anyone can use if they want, just credit me.)

AU: MK dies from over using his power but Wukong manages to trap his soul into a jar. Now the crew has to figure out how to get MK back, since they want to keep him in their lives. With the help of Nezha, they figured out there’s a potion to rebirth MK but they need a host to get pregnant for it.

Now I’ve created four routes for this AU, I might make more if I want to, but anyways the routes are:

Lotus baby: Nezha takes the potion and pours it into a Lotus seed, he explains that no one needs to actually get pregnant, they just need a host. So Nezha takes care of the Lotus seed until it blooms and reveals a baby monkey MK with faded pink hair. Nezha becomes official brothers with baby MK who now has Flower powers and Monkey king powers.

(TW: Mention of miscarriage)

Dragon egg: Mei takes the potion and explained that her mother recently had an (unfortunate) unfertilized dragon egg that they could put the potion in. So they take the potion to Mei’s parents and at first they refuse but then Mei’s mother still wanted another baby, so she agreed and put the potion into the egg which fertilized it. Mei’s family takes care of the egg for the next year and nine months and then BOOM, Mixed dragon-monkey toddler MK was born and then raised by Mei’s parents.(btw MK is a toddler because he grew in the egg since dragon hatch from eggs and live a really long time.)

(This is the part where Mpreg is mentioned, so if you’re uncomfortable with that then skip these two routes, Please.)

The freenoodles piglet: Tang decided to be the host since He and Pigsy raised MK, and drank the potion. Pigsy (with the help of the others), help Tang with troubles and joys of pregnancy. When Tang gives birth to Our pride and joy, MK, he now only has a monkey tail and claws while the rest of his body is human. Tang and Pigsy raise MK again but now with the powers edition. :)

The Shadowpeach infant: Wukong begs Pigsy and Tang to let him give birth to MK, since he felt that MK and he developed a Father and child bond and the fact that he feels guilty that MK died from his mistakes. Pigsy and Tang reluctantly agreed(Pigsy: Damn those baby monkey eyes.), and Wukong drinks the potion. Now after everyone talked about it, Wukong was going to stay in Flower Fruit Mountain for the pregnancy since it’s safer but there was a problem, who would help Wukong during his second and third trimester? Suddenly A emo monkey appears! Macaque volunteered since he knows how demon monkeys work since he is one, he can easily tell the others when MK is being born with shadow clones, he has a father-son relationship with MK too, and he already lived on the mountain anyways. (Wukong raised an eyebrow at that but anyways) Wukong agreed and the two of them went to FFM. During this pregnancy, They worked out more of their communication issues and got back together(DBK: for the fifth time in a row!), The Demon Bull Family visited(even though we never got to see how Wukong and the demon family worked it out!), Pigsy and Tang fuss over Wukong like a lot. And then MK is born like a regular monkey demon with Wukong’s powers.

Now here are some extras you can put into the story routes!

Redson having a crisis since she had a crush on MK but getting over it as they realized that his MK won’t be coming back and he should embrace this new MK. (This is for Spicynoodles fans if you want angst for Redson. Also if you want Redson could develop a crush on Mei instead if you’re also a Dragonfruit fan.)

Wukong, Pigsy, Tang and or Macaque fussing over MK’s host like the dads they are. This will annoy the caretakers and they’ll tell them that they need to realize that MK is being taken care and that they(the caretakers) need a break from their fussiness! The MK dads (reluctantly) agree and take a step back. (Wukong and Macaque ignores this and use bug transformations to spy on MK’s host without the Caretakers noticing, expect for Nezha. Don’t worry Nezha scolds them for being clingy.)

Crazy baby MK shenanigans(I gave y’all a lot of potential for this. >:3 )

This is a goofy idea that I randomly made, so just have fun with it. I might make it myself once I’m done with my other fanfics.

[bl00dw1tch]

Man. Sorry im monkey posting again im just having thoughts.

Cuz originally this jttw stint was STARTED by lmk right. Ive had experiences with movies for it before (Monkey King: hero is back most notably) but my delve into the ACTUAL book was influenced by lmk Bigtime. First time i heard of the six eared macaque was in lmk ad they altered him Quite a bit for it.

Anyway what im getting at here is im kinda frustrated with myself. Bc obvs i was like "OOOO SHADOWPEACH 👀" and i was even MORESO invested in it when i saw the antis Abound over the half assed "theyre brothers!!!1!+111!111!!!!!" Claims (theyre not--theyre more accurately just. the same person. split in Two. in the MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL WAY bc theyre a METAPHOR. Not in a mitosis way--we knew swk his whole life in the story and he has literally never met six eared before, i think hed know and that itd be MENTIONED if he had a full on brother like that) made me want to Defend shadowpeach even harder because i cannot STAND it when people claim "theyre LIKE siblings!" Just to shut down and moralize any perfectly fine/actually interesting ship they dont like for Personal reasons

But its been killing me as im getting into this au of mine where Liu'er doesnt get killed and SWK is forced to kinda sorta mentor him on the rest of the journey west because i think itd be fun--man. The sibling vibes do kind of have a fuckin UMPH dont they. It isnt OBVIOUS immediately but the more i get into it, the specific characterization i have it mind for Liu'er is like. PEAK shitty little sibling energies.

Sigh.

And a disclaimer; I should stress i mean this in a found family way its Nebulous its Fluctuates its Ever Changing bc ultimately at the end of the day the Core of their relationship is supposed to be that SWK sees himself In Liu'er and needs to learn how to deal with that AND try to help Liu'er learn how to deal with it Too and its just like a whole thing. Its still primarily just a Metaphor and way for me to explore thoughts ive been having recently--do not get it fuckin twisted

[semisolidmind]

i know it's all about the lion's den AU rn and as usual I am FEASTING on the content (excuse the crumbs) but there's an idea that won't leave me alone-

what if Peaches was not human, but an immortal from the beginning? How much would change? I know the whole appeal of these AUs - I mean, that's why I love them and I absolutely love this lil corner of the fandom. but I've been kinda diving into the whole immortality biz in Chinese myths for my oc, so now I'm curious.

Peaches could be someone cultivating and practicing Xian (i hope I'm using that right) for years, or consumed pills/elixir of immortality somehow, or a demon who is oddly very kind and empathetic - would the bois still love her just as much? How different is the dynamic now even if Peaches retains her core personality traits?

love your work! and hydrate before ya diedrate

ive been thinking about this, and i kinda like the idea of immortal reader being an attendant of the heavenly peach orchard.

not super high up the ladder, but not at the bottom either. her powers are limited to helping plants grow just a little bit, creating temporary barriers, and being able to float the way all celestials can. the higher-ups figure that since no one is bold or stupid enough to steal from heaven, they don’t need any extra security in the immortal peach groves.

you can take a guess as to how reader meets the monkeys.

they show up to the orchards, ready to fight their way to the peaches, but instead of some overpowered celestial soldiers guarding the orchard, it's....one immortal maiden. just the one. but she doesn't seem all that powerful, soooooo...

...maybe she'd agree to let them take a few without too much trouble?

the monkey bros go the "oh don't mind us we're just a couple of cute lil monkeys, here to cause adorable and harmless mischief" route in their approach to getting reader to let her gaurd down.

they approach her while she takes a break from pruning some dead branches. she's understandably surprised and suspicious about these two seemingly normal monkeys who've snuck in, but... they are pretty cute. and tame; they let her pet them and give them scritches. perhaps they're one of the heavenly official's pets. reader supposes that they can stay for a while.

wukong and macaque play their parts, get reader's guard down, and steal a couple dozen peaches each. reader notices, but there's not much she can do beyond shooing the monkeys out with a broom (and her soft heart barely allows her to do that). she knows that if she reports it, those cute lil monkeys will be hunted down and killed.

she supposes she could put in a request for higher walls around the grove, or more barriers (she still wonders how the boys managed to get through the first ones), but with how slowly things get done in the bureaucracy...it'd be a very, very long time until it was even brought up in court.

besides, even then....they're monkeys. animals. she won't place blame on them for being what they are. those little cuties probably had no idea that the immortal peaches were any different from the ones on earth.

she could never stay mad at their adorable lil faces anyways.

---

reader, despite what you might think, has a pretty laid back job. once all her chores for the day have been completed (those magic trees don't really need much beyond the essentials to do their thing), she has a good amount of free time to sit and, you guessed it—read.

macaque (because of course, he has to be the first one to fall in every au) decides, on a bored whim, to go visit that nice attendant they stole from not too long ago. perhaps he'll collect some intel while he's up there.

he finds her after a bit of searching. reader sits in a secluded corner of the grove, leisurely turning pages and enjoying the shade. macaque, still disguised, sidles up to her. reader notices, seeming surprised to see him before her face morphs into... a rather adorable pout. perhaps she thinks she's being intimidating.

'damn, no wonder the bureaucracy didn't think they needed any more security,' macaque thinks sarcastically. such a fearsome maiden they've chosen to guard the immortal peaches.

while reader takes a minute to admonish him about stealing, it isn't long before she sighs and gives up on her lecture in favor of scratching him gently behind his ears. he churrs low in his chest. her whole demeanor is as soft and sweet as the peaches she guards (her hands as well, he notes, pressing into them).

macaque laughs internally. a fearsome maiden, indeed.

macaque manages to wiggle his way into reader's lap, pulling her attention from her book. she knows she should be trying to scare him off, but...just—just look at him! he's so cute, and she's too pulled in by how cute he is to notice the oddly powerful aura he seems to exude (far too powerful to be a normal monkey). he enjoys her touch for a while longer before he hears the far-off call of his annoying brother, wondering where he is. he bumps his head into reader's hand by way of goodbye before running off to shadow away more secretively.

reader watches him go, sighing. she really should shoo him away next time.

---

macaque keeps coming back. and reader continues to be unable to kick him out.

with very few visitors and no one else to talk to, reader begins to tell him everything that she overhears during the day; the officials don't think anyone is listening when they air out their gossip as they walk by the orchard. she doesn’t know it, but she’s saving macaque the energy of using his powers to gather this intel on his own.

the six-eared demon makes a habit of showing up to the grove to laze around with his favorite maiden and listen to her read, using “spying” as the excuse he gives his brother for why he's been running off so often. reader seems to have accepted that he won't be leaving her alone any time soon, and he takes full advantage. macaque comes to think of reader and the secluded corner of the grove as his own little peice of heaven.

of course, sooner or later, wukong joins in. he's a bit angry that macaque didn't just say he was visiting the peach orchard and it's attendant; he wouldn't have minded, he would've come with! macaque doesn't bother trying to explain that he didn't want to share.

but share he does, seeing as wukong greedily takes all the attention from reader he can get. the monkey king finds himself enamored with the maiden who's hands and heart are as soft as the fruits she tends to. he won't admit it (it may hurt his carefully crafted "ruthless demon king" image if he did), but wukong is a cuddle bug when it comes to reader. everything about her is just so soft, and she's so kind, and she always smells like peaches—he could spend hours laying on her chest as she reads.

he just feels so...peaceful, with her.

the boys are entangled in reader's life, visiting whenever they can and butting into whatever she happens to be doing. they see her day to day happiness (brief conversations with the lower maids she's friends with), and her struggles (the two monkeys bore witness to the officials taking their anger out on reader over something trivial, their rage towards heaven growing stronger). the two grow more and more attached to her as time goes on.

and so they begin to work a small abduction into the grander scheme of their plan.

---

sooner or later, the monkey warlords properly raid heaven. they and their demon army storm the jade palace, murdering servants, footsoldiers, and as many officials as they can. the monkey king and the six-eared macaque lead a massacre so bloody it stains the palace walls red. wukong especially holds back none of his rage, getting caught up in his hatred for heaven and zealously continuing to shed as much celestial blood as he can.

during a lull in the chaos, macaque, covered in vicera, makes his way to the immortal peach grove. with the battle coming to a close and the demon forces being driven back, now is as good a time as ever to snatch up a special “peach” for himself and his brother.

he finds said peach preoccupied with a gallant attempt at protecting herself and a few lower maids from a demon soldier, using a series of barriers. the soldier breaks the barriers almost as fast as reader can make them, rapidly pushing her and her companions into a corner. reader puts up a brave fight, but she's a celestial attendant, not a celestial warrior.

macaque calls out to the soldier, halting their attack and telling them to regroup with the others and prepare to move out. the soldier complies, crassly assuring the women that they’re about to be nothing more than bloody pulp on the garden wall. no one has ever gone against the shadow general of the demon army and lived.

macaque waits until the soldier is out of sight before leisurely approaching the still quivering group of maids and their determined, but exhausted looking guard. reader tenses as he steps closer. she feels a horrible sense of dread crawl down her spine when she gets a good look at him.

the dark fur, the shape of the mask marking on his face...reader feels tears start to bead at the corners of her eyes.

this entire time, she'd been petting and coddling the six-eared macaque. the second in command of the dreaded demon army has been sitting right in front of her and she had no idea. reader can barely keep her breathing steady.

and if this is her dark-furred companion, then the lighter-furred one must be…oh stars.

…she let the monkey king in.

she practically threw open the doors for him. she didn’t report them when she should have, she knew there was something strange about them but she was so sure they were just normal animals—oh stars above, if the jade emperor ever discovered this, she’d be executed.

but…but reader steels herself. she can deal with that later. her friends are counting on her.

now, she’s certainly not expecting the blood-covered demon general across from her to be open to bargaining (he could just kill all of them now, but reader gets the feeling he wouldn't be merciful enough to end it quickly). and he knows exactly what leverage he has over her, she can see it in the smug look on his face.

but she tries anyways.

“let them go, please,” she begs breathlessly, arms shaking from the strain of maintaining her magic. the least she can do is buy her friends a moment more. “do whatever you want with me, but they are blameless.”

macaque chuckles, the sound reverberating lowly between the trees. whatever he wants, huh? oh, sweet peach. she should know better than to give him so much leeway.

“that is tempting. if that’s the case, then perhaps you’ll go with me willingly,” he muses, tail swaying slowly. his fangs glint dangerously when he smirks.

“don’t fight, and no harm will come to them. that, and your secret will be safe with me. honest."

reader doesn’t believe him. she can’t, but she and her friends are so low priority that calling for help would be useless. if the demon army has been as effective as the screaming would lead her to believe, the celestial host has much bigger problems than rescuing a gardener and some lowly maidservants. and with the chance that she’ll be seen through and blamed for every gory death that's happened beyond the walls of the peach groves...

she doesn’t have a choice.

reader slowly, cautiously lowers her barriers, despite the worried cries of the maids behind her. they cower closer together as reader takes a slow step closer to macaque.

with a flick of his wrist, reader is struck by a sleeping spell so potent she falls into macaque's waiting arms like a lead weight. the demon gathers his beloved into his hold with a gentleness that doesn't fit his gory visage.

he sinks into a shadow, leaving the maids to clutch each other and cry at the loss of reader and the near loss of their own lives.

---

reader wakes up days later in the royal bedchambers of the stone palace. she startles at seeing the monkey king and the six-eared macaque laying on either side of her, stripped to just a loose pair of pants each. she herself has been changed to a comfortable silk robe, her own clothing nowhere to be seen.

reader feels a cold sludge in her gut. she scrambles out of the pillow pit, kicking a few into the face of one of her captors as she goes. she checks herself over, looking for bite marks, claw marks, anything to indicate the two demons sharing a bed with her had violated her in any way. she looks, and breathes a heavy sigh.

she finds nothing.

"we figured we'd wait until you were awake to start marking territory," the tired, yet still somehow smug voice of the monkey king chimes from behind her. reader turns to see the demon leveling an amorous look her way. his gold and crimson eyes burn like fire in the low light.

reader ignores him in favor of falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands. now that she has a moment to think, her failure has decided to take centerstage; she was the one who let the monkey king into the jade palace, she let him steal the immortal peaches, she's the one who carelessly shared all the gossip that told them when the best time to attack would be, she's to blame for all the lives lost—

"hey. y'know we would've raided heaven even if we hadn't met you, right? it's not your fault," macaque says, propping his head in his hand to look at her. he doesn't have the decency to hide how he's sizing her up, poison purple eyes glowing whilst tracing her curves. reader shrinks into herself a bit more.

"yep. don't feel too bad, peaches. i was never gonna spare any of those bureaucrats in the first place," wukong adds. "and besides, none of those guys cared about you anyway, so why feel bad?"

reader sobs, pressing her hands to her eyes. she knows. she knows how callous the officials could be, but that doesn't mean they deserved to die. it doesn't mean the servants and foot soldiers who were only following orders deserved their fates.

she hears movement, then feels a set of strong, furred arms wrap around her. wukong rests his head on her shoulder. he nuzzles his nose against her neck. she feels his warm breath and the glance of deadly sharp fangs when he speaks.

"they didn't deserve the mercy you seem to think they did."

---

wukong places a seal on reader's powers. what little defense she had against them is gone with the placement of a brand-like marking in between her shoulder blades (and a few more along her shoulders made with his teeth).

reader can't do anything. wukong won't let her leave, and even if she could, the heavenly court will have her executed if she goes back. so, she remains on the monkey king's mountain.

she didn't think she'd share a fate with the precious fruit she'd failed to protect.

[emelinstriker]

You say third brand, I’m not sure if it was mentioned before or if it’s a spoiler (I’m going through the blog and only saw it being mentioned once and only seeing the chest design)…. What exactly is the branding in the Esau? How badly does it hurt them? :(

Answer:

I was waiting for someone to ask about their brands fhfgnhfg-

It's not much of a spoiler, it's more of an identification thing. And no worries, it doesn't hurt anymore. But it did hurt a lot when they got those. They did get marked with eternal branding iron, after all. :D

Basically, the biggest and first brandmark on their backs stands for "Servant". I guess also technically slave for some, but being a servant would be the generally nicer term. Quite a few have this mark within the palace, so it's not uncommon.

The medium and second brandmark is on their chests and stands for their titles as their Master's "Champion"s. The champion title is like the VIP rank of servants, which does include more direct responsibilities, such as being a bodyguard, personal servant and all that. In return, Champions do get so much more attention and recognition though. They also got more perms and can be put in charge of soldiers like generals. Only a handful of the Master's most trusted have this mark.

*And lastly, the third brandmark is a lot smaller and is basically only available to those who are worthy of being in the Master's chambers. It stands for "Toy". I'm not gonna go into details cuz the position of that one is already telling of how NSFW that shit can become. But there's only very few selected ones with the third mark. This mark specifically is usually treated like a sacred symbol however, so the boys don't like showing it to anyone except their beloved Master.

(*Update from 12/3/23: Due to the recent drama that happened, the third mark is now no longer being considered part of the canon as of today. People can still go the NSFW route with characters regardless. Nothing is being affected by this change other than the characters' designs.)

It's not required to always show either of the marks, but they do come with benefits within the palace. Wukong actually tends to prefer showing his champion mark for the respect he gets; Macaque on the other hand doesn't deem it necessary as he doesn't need the crowd's approval if his Master loves him.

Fun fact: There was actually the idea of having the Reader trail their fingers along at least Wukong's brandmark during the Obedience one-shot, but then decided against it cuz I wanted to let that happen another time. So instead he just got headpets like a good boi.

But generally speaking, literally anyone with the champion marks are very much obsessed with their Master and they love it when their Master places attention onto those marks. c:

Another fun fact: Each symbol is actually a letter from my self-made alphabet font/language I use in basically everything for years. Like, especially now with those mysterious members from the group pulling on the strings... Ehe~

[peachburger]

I've read your new post about Macaque in You are my Starlight AU, and I have a few questions.

1- Why is Macaque alone in the first place?

2- Was he hiding from someone?

3- How did he react when Wukong wakes up and the first thing he sees is Macaque. How he reacted?

4- Why didn't Macaque join Wukong rather than stay and wait for him to return?

These are my questions. Furthermore, I LOVE YOU AND YOUR AU IS AMAZING!

He actually grew up in that mountain, there used to be other demon simians like him but unfortunately travelled away, his parents decided to stay and nurture the mountain which led to him being alone(he is an only child) but he always wonders what happened to the rest of his group that left the mountain.

Well, not necessarily, he hides from humans who try taking the route that goes through the mountain he lives in because he finds them hostile all the time the last time he’s encountered one hehe

4. He wanted wukong to experience his promise without him, knowing that macaque would be a distraction and that he promised to keep himself in the mountain to help other animals or demons who live near the mountain

And for 3..

[morallyinept]

So, let's talk about the island...

I've had a few questions about it previously, so I've put this together to share my thoughts with you, in addition to the main Adrift With You story.

Read on if you wanna learn more about the island where Frankie & Jude washed up...

⚠️ This will include spoilers if you haven't read up to chapter 15 yet!

So, we know that Frankie and Jude boarded a flight from JFK New York, to Madagascar.

When I wrote this story originally (I wrote it a few years ago and re-worked it for Frankie), I already knew I didn't want them to be stranded on your typical tropical island.

Considering where they were heading, there isn't a lot of "tropical" islands in and around that part of the world. At least not in the sense of sandy white beaches, coral reefs, and the likes when you think of the word tropical.

You've got the main continent of Africa and then the Indian Ocean, with Madagascar on the southern-east side of Africa.

Here it is on a map:

So, with that in mind, I researched some actual islands around the south tip of Africa, and we have The Prince Edward Islands and the Kerguelen Islands as some of the contenders.

The Prince Edward islands consist of two main islands and the Kerguelen are a group of scattered islands. Then you have the Crozet Archipelago in between. An Orion's Belt of islands, if you will...

If you've read chapter 15 already, you'll know the pilots (Sandy & Mark) were checking their flight path as part of the pre-flight safety checks.

There was a storm cell gathering on the western side of Africa, that was around 140 miles in width. Storms, often between 100+ miles, are pretty intense and dangerous to fly through or close to, and have the ability to bring down planes with the winds alone.

Hence why pilots will re-route to divert around them. Which is exactly what poor ol' Sandy and Mark were doing when they met their fate.

Ordinarily, the flight path from JFK to Madagascar would involve flying over main land Africa, (the blue line, below) however they took to diverting around the storm, leaving them flying over the Atlantic Ocean (the red line).

Here's a little diagram I created of where the flight paths changed, location of the storm and the impact where the flight crashed.

So, what caused the plane to crash? ✈️

Mechanical failure from the storm.

The most dangerous times for a plane to potentially crash is during take-off and landing, and the time periods before and after these events.

Pilot error is thought to account for 53% of aircraft accidents, with mechanical failure being 21%, and weather conditions at 11% following behind. So weather impacting flights is rare, however in the story, this is what caused the doomed flight to crash.

☝🏻You have a much better chance of survival if you sit at the rear of the plane, with just a 28% fatality statistic. 72% of the time you will survive. Impact dependant.

Jude was sitting at the rear. She's a smart woman.

Frankie however was further upfront towards the middle, with a 44% fatality rate.

Both of them survived the impact and the aftermath of the plane body subsequently sinking. Lucky, eh?

And guess who always sits at the rear of a plane when flying? 🙋🏻‍♀️

So, where did Frankie & Jude end up? 🏝

In my mind, Frankie and Jude washed up on an island somewhere around the vicinity of The Prince Edward Islands, but far enough away from them that they couldn't see the main two islands.

So, the island they were stranded on is entirely fictional.

It's inspired and based on the climate that's found on the Prince Edward and Kerguelen Islands, based on their locations in the southern hemisphere, vegetation and lack of inhabitation from humans and animals alike.

So Jett, where did Egon come from? 🐵

The Prince Edward Islands are uninhabited by humans, and previously used for conservation, this could explain why Egon the monkey was on the island. Some monkeys species can swim, like crab-eating macaques and proboscis monkeys, for example.

I figure that Egon could've either possibly swam between islands - although that's pretty far for a tiddly monkey - or he was able to get there by stowing away on passing boats, which is probably more feasible. That lil' scamp...

But what about the skeleton? 💀

I thought of several theories for the human remains that Jude found in the cave, ending up on the island, but ultimately settled on someone washing ashore and unable to get help.

Being alone would have been to their detriment. The fact that Frankie and Jude survived is due to leaning on one another and due to Frankie's military experience.

Being alone, without any survivalist skills to boot, your odds are significantly reduced.

Ultimately the person perished due to these reasons. The Naval Captain of the SS Pendrinhas alludes to this theory too in chapter 15.

So, why did it take so long for Frankie & Jude to be found? 🛳

I mean, it's a fictional story, for one. Gotta have some angst and drama, right? 😉

Both for those of you who like probability and fact, as the Captain states, the Navy crew on the SS Pendrinhas are based in Port Elizabeth, SA. They will help in search and rescue, and military missions.

When a plane crashes into the ocean, a search is usually conducted based around the immediate point of impact and where the black box last transmitted, or is found. They then work outwards, like a ripple effect.

In the ocean, water carries debris adrift, sometimes for hundreds, even thousands of miles. And depending on the tide, this can happen quite quickly too.

Both Frankie and Jude drifted further away from the crash sight, carried towards the island by the tide over the course of a whole day. Taking into account a number of factors, such as wind, tide etc... you could potentially drift hundreds of miles out.

It's also feasible that the search scoured any islands close by. Remember in chapter 8 when they spotted a boat on the horizon? However, without the means to create an obvious SOS signal, there would be no direct need to search for surviours there. The longer no survivors are found, the sooner the search is called off.

☝🏻Also, Frankie and Jude only had the fire burning on one side of the island; the smoke was obscured by the ridge, and the boat was spotted on the other side where the bay is.

🌊The tsunami is what ultimately saved them. Rescue efforts would have been ramped up across the ocean, especially around land masses, searching for capsizes or people becoming stranded in turbulent waters. Hence why Frankie saw the Naval boat and was able to signal for help.

It's all coming together now, huh? 😏

So, I hope that answers some questions about the island, and gives you a peek into my thought process. 🧠 If you wanna talk more about the island, or the story, (I'd love that!) feel free to send an Ask or leave a comment. 🙌🏻

And don't worry, Frankie and Jude have much more of their story to be told yet...

Once again, thank you so much to everyone who reads, interacts, re-blogs, but most importantly, enjoys this story. It means the absolute world to me. 🥹🖤

Adrift With You Series

[lovelylittlelevity]

Confirmation of General Release Time: Official Exact Date Pending!

Remember: Reblogs > likes!

~Melody

[genderfluid-insomniac]

Hello! I was wondering how it would look if both Wukong and Macaque were fighting for Reader’s love? I know a love triangle is a little cliche, but it’d be hilarious to see what these idiots get up to. Bonus if Reader is totally oblivious (maybe even thinks Wukong and Macaque like each other but are too emotionally constipated to do something other than argue). Bonus-Bonus if MK has to play wingman for all three of these dense morons.

You don’t have to do all of this. My brain just goes a million miles a second XD.

Hi anon! Sorry this took a bit but I hope you like it!!

Love Triangle Bullshit//Sun Wukong x reader x Six-Eared Macaque

Ever since the scroll incident, they’ve been getting along with minor issues, and thanks to the group both monkeys “willingly” promised to not physically fight unless it was training. However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t fight over someone else… i.e. you.

Remember the beach day they all had after the world didn’t get ripped apart, you were so excited that you had gotten a new swimsuit to celebrate and run into the water after letting the sunscreen absorb into your skin. From where you were you can see the two demon monkies sitting underneath an umbrella and exchanging some words, sending a friendly wave at them and going in to say hi.

You jogged in wringing out your hair in the process and laughed when you got to them, unaware of their eyes wandering your body and less-than-clean fantasies of you beneath them or kissing them passionately. “Why aren’t you guys in the water? It’s such a hot day out?” Wukong gave the reason that he doesn’t swim he sinks due to being stone and Macaque simply claimed he was better off in the shade, both of them smirking when they caught your eyes wandering down their bare chests.

Since the scroll incident, MK had been figuring out his identity as a demon monkey (or at least the form) and inviting you along with him, totally not because he knew all three of you were hopeless in love and despite trying to get at least one of you to make a move with no one going to on the account of their feelings not being returned (WHICH WAS BULLSHIT).

Even though he could totally tell both his mentors would show off whenever you were there, Wukong’s method was more about demonstrating his own strength with powerful moves against him or just blatantly training with his shirt off. Macaque took a different route, choosing to sneak up behind you to say flirty comments (at least that’s what it looked like with you brightly blushing sometimes) or showing up both him and the Monkey King.

At least they were all testing the waters and MK had given up being a wingman for all of them, knowing you’d get together soon enough.

[imminent-danger-came]

Personaly think that, if Nuwa does care for MK it's out of the kind of love an artist may have for their favored creation, a beautiful, flawless little thing she sculpted to divine perfection, worthy of every admiration

I'm down for most interpretations that aren't "Omg!!!! Nuwa is MK's mom!!!" or any care/love Nuwa has for him being a result of motherly instinct.

For me I'll always go back to "A simple creature, with no past, no family, and no name." (which was said AFTER we had already gotten flashes of an implied creator). Like if nothing else, MK was catalyzed with no family (including any familial connection to his creator). SO. I'm just really interested in where this is going to go tbh

[centuryberry]

Since jealousy is apparently the key to getting wukong to realize his feelings, and you said he didn't even realize at all in rin rin route; imagine that in saving Yue macaque kills her father, becomes the new heir cause he's Helen of Troy there, and (since I don't think Mac or Shanzha would go back to be heartbroken, but also macaque doesnt hate wukong so no reason to completely cut contact) ffm get informed by letter Yue is saved and about prince macaque. Wukong of course will visit cause he misses his "bestie" and see just how popular Mac is.

then he realize his feelings and that he missed his chance and also feel horribly guilty for feeling like this in front of his wife

To answer your question directly concerning the scenario you wrote out: yes. Wukong would be filled with a horrible mixture of jealousy/yearning/guilt. But hey, he’s not alone. RinRin would be feeling the exact same thing. What a pair they make.

But things wouldn’t exactly play out that way post RinRin Route.

(More below)

So, while the death of Yue’s Father is a certain thing after Macaque and Shanzha return to the Land of Eternal Snow, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Their intention was only to grab Yue and lead a quiet together in some corner where no one would bother them. Things happened which I won’t expand on since it’s a major spoiler to Queen of the Mountain. A lot of people died (including Yue’s Father).

After the dust settled, there were only a few members of the clan left and an empty clan head seat. And no, Macaque didn’t take it. Shanzha did. It’s her bloodline right as the oldest surviving member of the main line. Technically, it should be Yue who is next in line as the daughter of the Clan Heir, but she was too young.

Shanzha took the seat of power so she can clean things up for Yue to inherit. When other demon clans started to attack the very vulnerable Zodiac Monkey Clan, Shanzha and Macaque took arms and they led them to victory, accidentally expanding their territory. Shanzha was very, very good at fighting and winning, so she became known as a warlord - even though it was other demons attacking her and not the other way around????

Macaque took a role of an advisor since he knows what ruling is like and can see from a mile away that Shanzha was accidentally making an empire. He just wanted the best for their niece, who he’s terribly fond of and wants to give the world to her.

Since they were already co-parenting and have no interest in starting a romance with, well, anyone after their respective heartbreaks, the two get platonically married. It boosts Shanzha’s image anyways to have such a gorgeous mate who’s “devoted” to her and her alone. They make it work.

Now, Wukong - despite some changes - still somehow manages to get himself into trouble with Heaven (eats their peaches, drinks their wine, and steals all the pills) and gets thrown under the mountain. Maybe it’s a self-sabotaging thing. Or maybe it’s an effort to give RinRin immortality so she wouldn’t have to depend solely on his feelings since he realized that his love for her wasn’t as strong as he thought (lol it’s your guilt that’s keeping her there, silly).

Macaque and Shanzha respond when they hear of FFM’s burning. They give help, supplies, and troops to help defend the island as it recovers. Shanzha went directly there herself, reunited with RinRin for a time, before returning to her territory. Of course, there’s lots of unearthed feelings and pining but they leave it open ended since they have responsibilities.

Wukong, on the other hand, has his reunion with Macaque during his journey to the west. He and his pilgrim brothers come across the Land of Eternal Snow and are treated as important guests. No demon shenanigans. Just Wukong blatantly pining over his best friend. Who’s married to the warlord. And has an adorable child.

Zhu Baije: Brother, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but stop flirting. You’re going to get us kicked out.

Wukong: What do you mean? I’m not flirting. I’m just happy to see my best friend after all this time!

Everyone: …

Tripitaka and the other pilgrims are worried about Wukong offending the Warlord but nope, she’s too busy pouring her heart out on her most recent message to the Queen of FFM - updating her about her husband’s whereabouts, of course.

Macaque is doing well. He’s respected, loved, and lusted after by many. What do you mean he’s still not over Wukong? He’s the warlord’s husband. He’s the heiress’ doting guardian. What more does he want?

(Wukong, apparently.)

By the time Wukong has to move on, nothing is resolved aside from Yue getting the most powerful uncle in the world to support her claim to the clan head seat.

For the rest of the journey, Wukong is insufferable. He’s either waxing poetic about his “best friend in the world” or fuming over how Macaque still has demons throwing themselves at him despite his married status.

Whether these celestial monkey idiots resolve their complicated relationship or not is left open-ended. But there’s certainly a lot of pining. And doting over Yue because she deserves the world.