#But that lmk s4 special really rocked my shit.

[imminent-danger-came]

Hello friend. At first, I thought it was a joke that there's a Lego show that people love. I've seen you post about it a lot so I figure it's just one of those things that maybe a couple people really really love otherwise, whatever. But I just sat that clip of that characters death and it made me realize I know nothing about anything ever lol. What is the Lego show about? What do you love about it? I'm just super curious

Well. Okay. My embarrassment aside, I totally get it—it is a lego show, but it's my lego show and I'll gladly tell you about it!

(my apologies this got a little long)

*inhales cigarette* I remember starting to watch lmk (Lego Monkie Kid) and not expecting anything except some very pretty animation—it's just legos, right? And then it completely blindsided me. Then I did some digging and realized it's a modern retelling of Journey to the West (jttw—one of the great classic chinese novels), and that half of the whole reason this show exists is to retell a familiar tale to the modern age. That's how the show opens, and that's how s3 ends.

And, at the risk of sounding a little deranged, I'm going to say that the show being legos is thematically relevant. It legitimately adds to part of the story they're trying to tell—and the story Lego Monkie Kid is trying to tell is legitimately very solid. It's super good. They completely blew me out of the water with season 4.

So. The first special and s1 isn't anything too unique on a first watch through. The characters are charming and the show is very pretty, but it's nothing I'd write home about (though, 1x09 is very good—in my opinion—and 1x10, the season finale, builds plenty of intrigue).

But here's the thing: legitimately so much is set up in s1 and you don't even realize it, and it's STILL being re-contextualized well into s4.

So, then the s2 special happens right after s1, and it's like, alright! The plot seems to be going somewhere! We get introduced to a few more antagonists and the status quo from s1 is already somewhat disrupted. But then the last half of s2 comes around. And they're all bangers. 2x05 Minor Scale is GREAT. 2x06 is pure game motif. 2x07 gives us backstory and continues the main protags negative character arc. 2x08 is one of my favorites in the whole show. By this point you realize how consistent the character writing is if you've been paying attention. 2x09 is the beginning of the end. 2x10 ends the season on quite the cliff hanger, and it's like. HOLY SHIT. WHAT IS THIS ABSOLUTE GEM OF A SHOW.

s3 is lovely, and the end of the s3 special has one of my favorite scenes in anything. s4 is so ridiculously good. Lmk honestly has what I would consider to be god tier pacing. They have 10 minutes to achieve their goal, and by GOD are they going to do exactly that.

But like, what do I love about the show specifically?

The animation. The characters. The themes. I kid you not a major theme in s4 of the show is the fact that every single thing you do leads to pain. Being the hero or the villain, it doesn't matter—you cause suffering and destruction with every step you take. You hurt the people you care about. No, seriously. I'm not kidding. THAT'S one of the main focuses of s4, and oh boy is it a wild ride. You get used to legos crying. I am unironically expecting s5 of this show to be a tragedy.

I can not recommend it enough!

(If it's your thing that is! I TOTALLY get not being able to look past the legos, and the fast pacing isn't for everyone.)

Anyways, here's a bonus gif of Mei to end off!

[fluffypotatey]

Hello again! I hope your month is good to you. Let's talk about Ao Lie! I often wonder why Amnesic Wukong didn't mention him, other than a spoiler, but then I start to think that maybe Ao Lie's unnoticeability was deliberately cultivated. From what I've gleaned, this guy was punished because he wrecked his house and his father's treasury, especially a pearl gifted from the Jade Emperor himself, though the last one is debatable.

Maybe Ao Lie's home life was like Mei's, surrounded by the legacy of the dragon family name with the pressure to uphold it and its dignity, only, Mei's parents truly love and support her even if they don't understand her, but Ao Lie didn't have that. So the pressure got to him, and he had a mental breakdown and started wrecking shit because he had been avoiding the feeling of suffocating under stress until it exploded. This idea is from a fic but I think the trigger for that started with the pearl from JE.

So when the breakdown died down, this guy was standing amongst the wreckage, and goes "oh I gotta GO" and booked it before anyone important could catch him, and had been in hiding ever since, avoiding his family and their associates. In the s4 special flashback, we see Ao Lie approach the SWK and Trip in dragon form first before shifting back to human form. Maybe at first he thought they were looking for him in behalf of his family?

Anyway, he went with them because he feels that his hiding place might be compromised, and during the whole journey he let himself be overlooked to not draw attention to himself. And this continues after afterwards with him not using the family name and just taking the generic Chinese word for "dragon" instead.

Tldr; Ao Lie chose to be overlooked and almost forgotten because he'd rather have that than being used to prop and show off a name that was suffocating him, and has mad a habit of going under the radar.

This is all speculation and headcanon, of course, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Also some people refer to Mei as "hyperactive voice of reason with a taste for violence" and I give you Ao Lie "chill voice of reason with a taste for arson".

Have a great month! Eat your fruits.

Ayo! I am very tired rn ✌️ physicallay bc had ppl over and washing the dishes post-party sucks

ANYWAY

“chill voice of reason with a taste for arson” <- see, this was why Sun Wukong and Ao Lie were such good friends 💅

ok, I have to admit that my knowledge of the dragon in JTTW is lackluster BUT I will do my best to analyze his lmk version 🫡 tbh when it comes to the jttw companions i base a lot of their characterizations on what their representation is. for example: while I don’t really study lmk!Sun Wukong on his allegorical self, I do take that aspect of him into consideration when examining his character.

so, when it comes to Ao Lie, he was the personification of the Human Will, aka will power! with him being Tripitaka’s horse, he is physically leading the monk to his destination similar to how it is a human’s will power that allows them to carry on and go through the day (or week or year or hour or something). additionally, the horse/dragon only acts when there is no other way. Monkey King is gone bc plot reasons, Pigsy/Zhu Baije was captured, Sandy/Sha Wujing is either also captured or left to find the preoccupied monkey. Tripitaka’s mind has left him, his heart/desires are futile in helping free him from his demons— basically, the monk is at rock bottom with none of his previously helpful companions to aid him….he is alone and left with nothing BUT his will power (dragon horse, aka Ao Lie) to keep going and get out of the rut.

what I’m trying to say is, Ao Lie with the JTTW companions likely only acts when no one else can. it was fun to see Mei and her ancestor clash like that because Mei is so used to acting first and always being there to protect, meanwhile we have Ao Lie who also wants to protect but is more cautious about it. he has definitely been in enough situations to be more conservative on when to use his dragon form and powers.

and yeah, idk i don’t see his aversion for using his powers has anything to do with being caught by his family that he left. I could be remembering wrong, but didn’t his family banish him in the book? idk, I skimmed that part 😅 but uh…..

WHICH LEADS US TO HIS SPECULATIVE BACKSTORY 👀 so yeah, based on the JTTW books, Ao Lie’s character caused a huge scene enough to get him banished and sent to some river, meeting Guanyin who assigned him the role of being one of Tripitaka’s companions. while lmk does hold true to the core and thematic feels of JTTW, it also takes its own spin on certain story events or plots to their own liking (see Red Son’s whole Samadhi Fire backstory that is very different from the book). so I can definitely see lmk having Ao Lie’s home life to reflect Mei’s with distinct contrast (when Mei’s home got trashed in s1 despite it being her responsibility to look after it, her parents sympathized with her and were more focused on their daughter; Ao Lie setting fire to some very important items that his family was responsible for and was banished by HIS parents for being irresponsible)

one thing I am noticing lmk doing with the “reincarnations” of the JTTW companions is that even if they have a strong connection to their “past life” there is still a distinct difference that makes the lmk characters separate from that past. Pigsy and Zhu Baije both love cooking, but Pigsy is more compassionate and selfless, disliking people who are self-centered and a slob. Tang and Tripitaka are both scholars and cowards and damsels in distress (yes they are no one is allowed to fight me), but Tang is no afraid to give into his desires and even criticizes his past self’s ideology.

[i won’t mention Sandy bc I don’t believe he is a reincarnation]

But yeah, it is fascinating to see how the past and future clash in their ideologies. Especially Mei and Ao Lie because their idea of power and protection is similar yet different! Mei would go through any length to save her friends. Ao Lie is aware if his limits and what greater harm he could cause for his friends if he acted like Mei. (I am too tired to get the quotes from the episode but you know the one. How Ao Lie criticizes Mei for getting caught in her recklessness and how rushing in DIDNT help her or her friends.)

basically, I doubt Ao Lie’s in-show reason for being conservative about his powers has to do with him trying to hide from his family that he fled to avoid punishment. I do believe he saved his dragon abilities because of family drama tho. Also, need more parallels between him and Mei because they make me happy :)