#Luzhen

[icekingofhope]

"Oh Great Sage, where have you scattered all your children. Tell me so I say. Oh dear father where have you scattered all your children tell us so we say."

(So there was this trend where people drew the harpy hare illustration thing and I wanted to do that although I realized it was fucking hard but I was so proud of the drawings I gotten so far so I decided to share them I hope you like them)

[shadowdipped-peaches]

@quitealotofsodapop 4th on the list! Sorry for the late art, I took a small break then started working on another piece that I recently posted(the details on wukong’s and Mac’s wedding clothes were killing me) But Luzhen is finally here!!

Next on the list will be Ziqi then onto HIB ship kids :)

[loyaltykask]

I made a fanfic about the non-canon kids for Supplement JTTW, JTTS, and PJTTW!

I do wanna say that I started the chapters with Wukong being mostly inspired by 1996 Xiyouji dynamics and who Wukong is mostly based on. The first chapters are about Paramita and the four unnamed kids in Supplement! All named after paramitas in buddism.

I try to base each kid off one of Wukong's inspirations in media! I hope y'all enjoy!

I'm not the best artist but I did have fun trying to draw them

Pink - Jnana, fifth born

Red - Paramita, first born

Yellow - Bala, fourth born

Green - Pranidhana, thrid born

Blue - Upaya - second born

[crazysaru99]

LMK fic au idea

Welp im not good writing fic and my ideas are riots

@quitealotofsodapop and I made an au about the Monkey King's children: Paramita, Sun Luzhen, Yuebei Xing, Jidu and Luohou.

This happens once Wukong finishes his journey and returns home, helping with the reconstruction of the island, mainly because he starts to feel lonely especially for what happened with his partner Macaque. And one of the things he always wanted once the war was over is to be able to have a family with his beloved but this couldn't happen so he will do it with his own hands in the style of Nuwa, he would create clay eggs and even find a hidden one and from there his children would be born.

Paramita is the firstborn and heir to the throne of the kingdom of the mountain of fruits and flowers and Alolai being the serious of all his brothers and the most elegant of them, he has an elegance that his father lacks but that will not make him less lethal on the battlefield; he is the general of the kingdom's army and has on his shoulders the expectations of the kingdom as crown prince.

Sun Luzhen in his canon is Wukong's twin brother who had taken so long to hatch, and the second to be born when he was found, the king had adopted him as his own son, He has an energetic personality like a showman, He is now a version of Porty light, he is a professional musician and has worked in various musical genres, even in large industries making soundtracks for various movies or video games under an alias.

Yuebei Xing, the only daughter of the monkey king, is daddy's little princess, with a tough character and a very bad temper, with an enormous and muscular build that makes her completely intimidating, but under the dark shell she is a monkey who loves her family and her brothers, she was born with a cleft lip of which she only has a scar, she is a renowned paleontologist in her field who loves her job, she has always loved digging up bones since she was little.

Jidu and Luohou they are mischievous twins who like to cause trouble like their older brother Luzhen, who love theater like Macaque and dedicate their life to that art. Jidu is a comedian in various stand-up comedy shows while Luohou is an actor in musicals and has participated in many.

Jidu

Grande Caeza de pichi

Luohou

King Paramita, Jidu and Luohou desing based in @wuzhiqi-enj0yer

Wukong wanted to experience the possibility of having children by modeling in clay that he created 4 eggs, by the time he found the stone egg of Luzhen he found that the Paramita egg had already hatched and in time only the eggs of the others would hatch turning Wukong into a tired father of 5 energetic children.

Rumors of his existence abounded, especially the fact that Paramita was the son of Princess Iron Fan, which was never lacking (Paramita could never find the author of that aberration in the book and if he had, he would have pulverized it). This rumor was born because he and Red Son WERE childhood friends and a possible marriage union between them was expected (Like Odette and Derek in The Swan Princess). Now their parents wanted them to marry for love like they did, but then the thing at the mountain happened and they lost contact.

Paramita as a cub: "This is my best friend Red. When we grow up, we'll get married and have an island to ourselves!" :3

But that is if the day they meet again they shout with joy and hug each other like little kids who haven't seen each other all summer.

The rumors of the monkey king's children grew to be illustrated in the non-canonical sequels of the journey to the west and at that time they were just children, but due to the isolation of the monkey king the rumors of them became a myth until their existence was doubted, making the shadow of his father grow…

MK would meet the children of the monkey king in ''A hero is born'' is when he lands on the beach of Huaguoshan Island and they were the monkeys in disguise (Headcanon the common monkeys are glamours of yao monkeys)

Making them lose their glamour and scare MK even more until Paramita has to take control of the situation by lining everyone up.

After the initial scare MK asks them to take him to the monkey king and leave them alone; Now you might be wondering why the monkey king would need a successor? Simple, because Wukong has empty nest syndrome.

For the events of season two Paramita and his brothers will be in charge of MK's training so he wouldn't be so far behind and if they would be aware of LBD.

When MKang finds out about their existence it will be at the end of this same season especially when Pigsy is yelling at Wukong and oh boy, if there is something that Paramita does NOT tolerate at all is that HIS FATHER IS INSULTED (He's a daddy's boy)

Pigsy: You're supposed to be his mentor! Paramita: "Excusr me!? He raised five children as a single parent!" HE IS ANYTHING BUT A LAZY MAN WHO DOES NOTHING, DAMN SERVANT!!!

Paramita was millimeters away from beating Pigsy up, he will defend his father's honor knowing how introverted he is and will let that insult pass (He will fight even in mud to prove his point), his brothers would be pulling him to avoid the chef's announced death, even Yuebei has a hard time doing it being the strongest of all her brothers.

And that would be all c:

EDIT: And now the au called ''Wuxing au''

[quitealotofsodapop]

Refering to Twin Sun AU:

Wait, so where's Macaque when the pilgrims meet Wukong's brother? Where's his hot goth boyfriend to show off to the pig?!(He can so get bitches, he just has an acquired taste unlike the greedy piglet!)

Like, if Mac kept going back to the mountain while he was imprisoned, even if they argued a lot, wouldn't Macaque be on FFM helping take care of their home? Wouldn't he be there for introductions after they come to apologize? Was he hiding in wukong's room with him when they first showed up and comforting his crying boyfriend? Are they official at that point or just besties dancing around each other still? Is he visiting DBK's family? Will he show up during Redson's arc? I don't think he would miss out on the chance to show up and spook Wukong's new friends if given an actually valid chance to do so, he's kinda petty like that, the sassy bitch. Where's my favorite emo monkey?!

I feel like Macaque still takes a break from FFM for a bit after a few decades to find himself artistically - in a lot of aus I have him train under the Nine-Tailed Vixen. And since Luzhen is at home governing everything (albeit with a lot of help from the Stalwarts) Macaque wouldn't feel much guilt in going on the road.

As long as he's able to return to Five Point Mountain at least once a year.

I love the imagery of Wukong running home after the White Bone Arc, believing that he's lost the closest companions he's had in centuries - only to see Macaque standing there in their bedroom, pretending as though he hadn't rushed home at the sounds of his mate's release upon the wind.

Wukong collaspes into his mate's arms, sobbing from a mixture of frustration and loss of his party, and of relief and joy of seeing Macaque in their home again.

Macaque is ready to murder that monk if he ever dares step on to their island.

Luzhen almost beats his brother-in-law to the punch with that one. Luckily the Stalwarts, Sha Wujing & Ao Lie, and Wukong himself stop that from happening.

As they're all hashing out their demands, a deep enchanting voice comes from the Palace doors.

It's Macaque, deliberately unglamoured and dressed in silk bedclothes befitting a King's spouse. His hair toussled as if he'd just rolled out of bed.

Wukong is confused by Macaque's choice in fashion until he sees Zhu Bajie's expression.

The very same pig who had goaded their master out of spite of Wukong "ruining his chance" with the White Bone Demon, was now staring jaw-dropped at who Wukong had waiting at home for him.

Wukong's face goes red from blushing, and he socks Bajie in the face for oogling his goth bf.

Macaque still doesn't trust Tripitaka. His own sense of premonition tells him that the monk will betray their trust in the future. He wants Wukong's circlet off Yesterday.

But Tripitaka cannot remove the Circlet. Only the Buddha himself can.

Macaque growls with frustration - and threatens that if Tripitaka ever uses the Headache Sutra again, then Macaque will personally take the voice from the Monk's throat before taking his mate home with him.

Macaque occasionally pops up along the Journey - whether working/performing for his Vixen mentor, or just to check that the Pilgrims are keeping their promises. Even just to step out of the shadows and terrify them at quiet moments. And ofc to smooch Wukong as they did whenever they met under the Mountain each year - the Golden-Eyed king watching his mate emerge from the darkness like he's the moon itself.

Misfortune does happen to Macaque though. Something that leaves him minus an eye. Perhaps a version of what happens in the Jttw Stone Egged au between him and the Brotherhood - the shadow far more quick to denounce his former brothers with the confidence a healthy marriage and a supportive brother-in-law has brought him.

Luzhen is very proud of how Macaque makes things up to Wukong, though he'd never say it.

[journeytothewestresearch]

What's Luzhen's name supposed to translate to? I know Wukong's means 'awakened to emptiness,' but when I tried putting the character for Luzhen in Google Translate it said the first character means shoe or something? I'm sure there's some deeper meaning that AI is failing to grasp there.

It translates to "Monkey who Walks Reality."

For readers wondering what they are referring to, see section three of his article:

[toutpetitlaplanete]

Luzhen Qiu - Sail Away, n.d.

[bonnisbon]

MK be upon ye

[the-monkey-ruler]

Do you know all of Sun Wukong's children? I understand that King Paramita is Lady Iron Fan's son with Wukong(?). and that Yuebei Xing and her brothers are maybe children of Taiyin xing (the theory). Obviously I understand that they are not like something canon, however, it is interesting to know about them.

I can’t say that I do know every iteration that Wukong has kids but I can try to make a list of what I got at least! There are the non-canon kids of Sun Wukong that I know of at least right now. I'm sure there is more but these are the ones I know from media at the moment.

A Supplement to the Journey to the West (1640) 西遊補 (this is just a dream) Paramita 4 other unnamed sons

Journey to the South (1570) 南遊記 (unnamed partner) Jidu Luohou Yuebei Xing

Later Journey to the West (17th-century) 後西遊記 Sun Luzhen (adopted)

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000) マーヴル VS. カプコン 2 Sonson

Westward Journey Online II (2002) 大话西游2经典版 Mind Monkey (unintentionally contributed to new Rock Monkey)

High School DxD (2008) ハイスクールD×D Bikou

The Monkey King's Daughter (2009) Meilin Cheng

New Journey to the West: Unexpected Jingxi (2017) 新西游之意外晶喜 Unborn child (with White Bone spirit) (also might not be his)

Adventure in Journey to the West (2018)大闹西游 Sun Wuyuan (disciple, but like it's obvious he adopted)

God of High School (2020) 갓 오브 하이 스쿨 Park Taejin (adopted)

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1 (2021) Sun Marcus (hair clone treated as child)

The Chronicles of the Ranger (2021) 游侠战纪 Hou Mo (stone monkey, hard to say if direct descendant)

Monkey King (2022) 悟·空 Sun Xiaosheng (disciple, might be adopted)

American Born Chinese(2023) Sun Wei-Chen

Honorary mentions:

Monkey King: Hero Is Back (2015) 西遊記之大聖歸來 Jiang Liu'er Anan

My Dad is Monkey King (2021) 我的爸爸是齐天大圣 Li Yiyi (this is more symbolic than real dad)

Lego Monkie Kid (2021) 悟空小侠 Qi Xiaotian / MK (stone monkey, possibly related)

So this is NOT ALL of the children I'm sure but I'm sure as I keep posting media that the list with increase!

[spoofyleaf]

Kinda wanna see MK become more and more scared about who/ what he is, and Wukong is just “:0 omg you’re like me :D”

[wuzhiqi-enj0yer]

[icekingofhope]

One thing I wish people talk about more is wukongs kids

yuebei xing Luzhen and Jidu and louhou (and others but that’s a story for another day)

cause in a way they are still detites but also I love thinking about dadkong and how much he loves each of his kids no matter what

so I decided to draw them when they were children and make cute shit

(also without text verison of the second image-)

[linggluu]

当初

[witteautism]

we should give more attention to Sun Luzhen. Like

• He is born from a rock like swk

• He takes swk’s last name

• he also causes havoc in heaven

• swk’s spiritual successor

He is interesting me thinks

[spoofyleaf]

personally i think that Sun Wukong found out about MK's existence by something like this (mainly bc its funny to me):

in JTTW, beams of light shot from Wukong's eyes when he was born (hatched?), and i wouldn't be suprised in the slightest if something similar happed with MK. And Wukong saw said lights and went "ah. better go teach this money demon a thing or two ig." (bc his own past, he probably doesn't really want anyone else to have to live that, right? And ya know... all that chaos)

I feel like Wukong followed MK around, waiting for MK to be old enough to be able to control his powers/emotions a little bit, or waiting for them to show (such as lifting his staff. like that was the "yep, kids ready to be taught some stuff" moment).

There is no question about it- Sun Wukong very much knew MK was powerful BEFORE lifting the staff, and has definitely been following him around for a long time. Making sure he doesn't explode or something.

Also, dang... isn't it? very intersting? how the og pilgrims' descendants are all friends? throughout aaalllll those years, they're right there. almost like yea,,, fate does have plans. crazy

that being said, if Wukong found out about his existence, knowing what he is, how powerful he may be... then others must have as well. like idk whoever took Azure out of the scroll

i also like to think Sun Wukong guided/ dropped MK off at Pigsy's noodle shop like a "here is the descendant of an old friend of mine, he'll feed you well and take care of you" kinda thing :)

Sun Wukong Knew About MK the Whole Time: A Theory

I am currently hyped up on leftovers and iced coffee, so let's do this!

I've talked about this before, here and here, but I think it's finally time I wrote an official post. You can go and read those posts if you want to (I definitely hit the nail on the head with some of this stuff), but I will be compiling a lot of what I said on those posts here!

So. Let's get the Mr. Elephant out of the room first: The David Breen Tweets. (thread here).

I see this tweet mentioned a lot whenever I bring up SWK knowing about MK, and honestly, this is a far cry from the "it's been confirmed that SWK didn't know" definite answer everyone's been implying.

So let's break it down!

#1: "Monkey King ain't the father"/"Monkey King isn't his dad." Well of course! Being born from a stone means you don't have any parents. I see it like this: Wukong isn't MK's dad, but he's also not NOT MK's dad, it's a secret third thing (creator and creation). Or, perhaps Wukong didn't help create MK at all, but he at the very least was involved in the circumstances that lead to MK being created/being born from the stone. (Aka eldritch abomination MK theory. My Beloved. Okay sorry.)

#2: "Monkey King was ripping his way through memories looking for MK, but kept coming back to the stone. He doesn't know why." So, while Wukong was ripping through memories, he didn't know why the scroll kept spitting him out by the stone. This is not a confirmation that Wukong didn't know about MK and his origins. It also begs the question: how did Wukong know MK was in the scroll to begin with? There's also some speculation to be had about why Wukong was so desperate to find MK to begin with:

MK: "Monkey King did this?" Macaque: "It looks like he's been tearing his way through his past—trying to find his way to.." MK: "Me."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

What was he so afraid of MK finding? Or, what was he afraid the scroll would force MK to experience? I think these are questions worth asking.

#3: "Wukong's trying real hard to leave the 'not being open with MK' days behind after s3. Problem is he's got lifetimes of info to catch them up on." Well, this one is a DOOZIE. One: we already know MK doesn't know everything about Wukong and his choices because he doesn't know Wukong killed Macaque (thank you 4x11). Two: "trying real hard" and "successfully doing" are very different things. And three: YOU DON'T JUST DROP INFO LIKE "Hey, did you know you're a Monkey Demon?" ON TOP OF SOMEONE RANDOMLY. Especially not MK. You have to prepare them for it.

Wukong is trying to do better and be better for everyone around him, but that still takes work. That still isn't easy. He's still going to make mistakes, which means he's not going to always go about being open with MK in the best way.

Sun Wukong: “Point is, mistakes happen, but so long as you leave the world in better shape than you found it, then it’s all good. Right?”

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

-

This scene—to me—feels like Wukong is trying prepare MK for his eventual "Hey did you know you're a Monkey Demon?" conversation he wants (and needs) to have down the line. Yes, SWK is trying to be more open with MK, but he's also just not going to be given that chance before the truth comes out.

MK: "Yeah right, if Monkey King really was my dad don't you think he would have said something by now?" Mei: "Yeah...because he's normally SOOOOO forth coming with information." MK: "Well uh, whatever—when we find Monkey King's stone, then we'll just ask him!"

(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robbed Demon)

-

Notice how they never asked Monkey King that question? From a writing standpoint, why bring this up at all if it wasn't to imply that (even if Monkey King isn't MK's dad) he wasn't involved with MK's creation in some way?

ANYWAYS.

NOW THAT THE BREEN TWEET THAT HAS RUINED MY LIFE IS OUT OF THE WAY, let's get into the evidence given to us throughout the entirety of the show. Starting with this:

This isn't a scene that takes place during the "A Hero is Born" special, as I'm sure plenty of people have noticed before now. Of course, this could have just been Monkey King "scouting out a successor", but with everything we know now doesn't that...feel kinda weird?

We were told at the beginning of the show that Monkey King gave MK his powers, but now we know that's not true. MK has had his own powers this whole time—and that's something Wukong, at the very least, knew:

Sun Wukong: "Listen kid: You fought demons, and you didn't die, and you made it here! Not just anyone can lift my staff, but you did." (1x00 A Hero is Born)

-

MK: "This whole time, I thought my powers came from the staff! Sun Wukong: "The staff's just a big 'ol stick bud! It takes someone special to lift it." (3x03 Smartie Kid)

-

There's also 1x09 Macaque, which I have mentioned before:

Macaque: "Ohohoh no, can't you hold the magic staff anymore? Well, you know what that means—there really isn't anything special about you. You're just a kid with a heavy stick."

This scene is then followed by MK lifting the staff, which only happens because Wukong encourages him.

MK: "Ugh, I can't! I'm not strong enough." Sun Wukong: "Kid! We're definitely going to have words later, but it's time for the Hero Stuff!"

(1x09 Macaque)

-

Ultimately, Wukong knows MK can lift the staff again even after Macaque supposedly stole all of MK's powers. He knows MK can beat DBK (more on that later). He does something similar to all this in 3x14, being the one to let MK face the Lady Bone Demon, powered by the Samadhi fire, alone (even after Pigsy tries to stop MK):

Wukong want's to protect MK. That's why he went to face the Lady Bone Demon alone in the first place—but here, he let's MK stop the end of the world all by himself. Why would he let his beloved student face not only LBD, but a reality ending flame alone?

Because he knows how much power MK has. Because he knows MK is capable of doing it.

This all brings me to my main point: If before now we were supposed to believe that Monkey King gave MK his powers, and he so clearly didn't, how would Wukong not know he didn't give MK powers. And because he clearly knew he didn't give MK any powers, why would he not question where this kid's insane level of power came from? He had to have "chosen" MK to be his successor for a reason right?

ESPECIALLY because Wukong never planned on being a mentor in the first place:

Sun Wukong: "I know I can never make it up to you. Honestly, I- I never thought I'd live as long as I have let alone be someone's mentor—turns out I'm not very good at it. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry MK. For all of it."

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

This was also alluded to in 3x05 Amnesia Rules:

Pigsy: "Of COURSE you don't remember the kid—one day you are going to grow up to be a terrible mentor!" Sun Wukong: "Ha! Zhu Bajie, can you imagine me teaching someone? HA!"

-

So, Wukong clearly didn't ever want to become a mentor, and this directly contradicts what Wukong says to MK in "A Hero is Born":

Sun Wukong: "You're perfect!" MK: "Perfect for what?" Sun Wukong: "To be...my successor!"

Honestly, think about it: has Wukong ever once actually needed a successor? When given the opportunity, he goes off and tries to handle things on his own anyways (Leaving in s2, wanting to go and reforge the Samadhi Fire on his own, going to stop LBD alone). It's the classic "we're being told one thing and shown another" trick.

Sun Wukong: "No no no- in case you forgot I'M retired, you're the one supposed to be taking care of the bad guys." (1x01 Bad Weather)

Even in 2x01 he's lying:

Sun Wukong: "Aw, come on bud! I promised myself that when I found a successor I'd go see some friends, take a tour of my old stomping grounds, just cut loose you know?" (2x01 Sleep bug)

It's proven in the next episode, and by the fact that all of his friends are dead/gone, that literally nothing he said here is true.

And, it's also note worthy to point out, that by this point Wukong had already disappeared for hundreds of years. Why step in again at all? Why put the effort into getting a successor you definitely were never prepared to have?

MK: "*sigh* You think Monkey King ever felt like this? Maybe that's why he stayed up on this mountain, just having a good time with you guys. You know cause- cause he knew he'd be out of the way where he couldn't hurt anyone he cared about." Macaque: "Or, he was doing his usual Wukong thing and being a lazy peach eating idiot. Ignoring all the worlds problems.

(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

-

So, I don't know about you, but I'm going to trust Macaque's insight on this. I'm not sure Wukong ever planned on coming back. Sealing DBK, he effectively cut off one of his last ties to the world (please go read wlw-wukong's thoughts, they are delightful), and he had already left the world alone for a long time. Why did he feel the need to train a successor now?

The simple answer is this: because he knew he needed to train MK and teach him to control his powers, and DBK's return was the perfect way to do it.

NOW. THE S4 MK VISIONS.

So, the visions MK see's all through out s4 (4x03, 4x04, 4x05, 4x06) are of Wukong ripping through the scroll and going to the stone—David Breen confirmed that himself in the above tweets.

Here's a list of what we see:

(4x03 The Great Tang Man)

-

(4x04 Pig Napped)

-

(4x05 Court of the Yellow Robbed Demon)

-

These are what I would say are the visions of Sun Wukong trying to find MK in the scroll. Yet, they are distinctly different from what Subodhi presses MK to remember ("Tell me of your childhood, your parents." "You do not remember?" "And what else?"):

(4x06 Show Me the Monster)

-

Look at that difference!

Every vision MK has includes the same scenes, except this one. That's why I think it's a memory; that and the way it's framed, with MK closing his eyes in focus. The other visions from 4x03, 4x04, and 4x05 all are unprompted, being forced upon MK. Why make this last "vision" so different from the others? Why show our mystery lady making the stone monkey? That would be because it's a memory—be it MK's, something from the scroll, or a mix of both.

There's also the matter of like, why Wukong going to the stone would trigger any sort of vision in MK to begin with. Overall, it just seems like there something more to those visions.

This would be how I imagine the general timeline playing out:

MK is created (through help of Sun Wukong), a beautiful baby boy pops out of the stone, and Sun Wukong "loses" that beautiful boy (if Wukong knew he was born to begin with) with MK finding his way to Pigsy's.

Then it's later Sun Wukong finds MK again, coming up with a plan to make MK his "successor" (still leaving MK with Pigsy, which I think was the right call lol). As Wukong says in 4x01, "You make ONE mistake, and no one ever let's you live it down! Looks like the ghosts of my past have finally caught up with me." That's what I think this parallel in particular is really trying to show off—in some way, MK is part of his past mistakes, just like Macaque is.

AND SO. I WILL CLOSE OFF THIS THEORY POST WITH EVERYTHING WE LEARNED IN THE SPECIAL.

Sun Wukong: "Heh, nothing gets under his skin more than a monkey. Leave Azure to MK and me."

(4x12 The Plan Man)

-

Sun Wukong: "Kinda embarrassing for the Jade Emperor to have two little cheeky monkeys running circles around him the first day on the job." MK: "Well, one monkey and one unconfirmed, but *laughs* yeah! I'd be embarrassed for sure!"

(4x13 Rip and Tear)

-

Wukong sounds suspiciously confident that MK is a monkey.

Not even MK is sure what he is (which he's probably just in denial, but also "Until I know what I am, what my destiny is?" from 4x08 anyone?), but Sun Wukong is extremely certain about what MK is.

Sun Wukong: "We got this bud. Would have liked to give you some new training with your monkey form, but-" MK: "Oh yeah yeah yeah- uh um- about that— um. I- I was thinking, I've never really needed a scary new monkey form before, so, I just thought maybe I'd use it next time." Sun Wukong: "Next time? Kid, there might not be a next time! This is the time."

MK: "It's be fine! Mei and I have got this awesome new armor and everything! You know, when we look this good? Ain't nothing gonna beat us." Sun Wukong: "Kid. New armor isn't going to cut it! We have to hit Azure with everything we've got! You can't just ignore this whole part of your power because it scares you!"

(4x12 The Plan Man)

-

If the writers were trying to highlight the fact that Wukong didn't know, this scene would have gone very differently. Instead of "You can't just ignore this whole part of your power because it scares you!" I think it would have been more along the lines of "I know this is new for all of us, but you've got to accept this part of your power!".

Even this exchange at the end of the special raises some alarm bells for me:

Pigsy: "Heh, don't bother. I've been telling him that for years but he LITERALLY never listens." Sun Wukong: "Yep! That's how we roll."

(4x14 Better Than We Found It)

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That's how "we" roll? As in him and MK, as two monkeys? Again, Wukong is surprisingly chill and okay with this new form for someone whose first interaction with it was supposedly this:

MK, writhing on the ground in pain, completely destroying the world around him, and unable to control his powers.

Sun Wukong: "Yeah! Go MK, go! Just try not to totally wreck up my stuff would ya-"

(4x13 Rip and Tear)

-

Overall, it gives me the impression that Wukong already knew what MK was before 4x07. This new form didn't scare him because he always knew that's what MK was. MK, to Wukong, is MK! And MK has always been a Monkey Demon. He has unshakeable faith in his protege, and even while MK is absolutely tearing up the world around flower fruit mountain he can't help but cheer for him.

After all, Wukong knows MK is the only one who could defeat Azure:

MK: "Ne Zha's right—while Azure has the Jade Emperor's power and the scroll, there's NO way we could beat him head on!" Sun Wukong: "I mean, some of us could beat him! *ahem* One of us, specifically-" MK: "Nope! None of us at all."

(4x12 The Plan Man)

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"But Imp!" I hear you say, "Wukong was talking about himself here!". To which I would reply, that's not true! This scene is right after Wukong has already said he only almost beat the Jade Emperor:

Sun Wukong: "But don't worry—I almost beat the Jade Emperor single handed once! Between both of us, Azure doesn't stand a chance." (4x12 The Plan Man)

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Between this and Wukong's pre-fight convo with MK ("We have to hit Azure with everything we've got!"), he's clearly banking on MK using the full extent of his powers to win this fight. Wukong isn't banking on his own—if he were, he would never have left MK to go and collect the scroll pieces during their fight with Azure.

Conclusion

Sun Wukong knew MK was a monkey the whole time, lol—and fate has plans for MK. Great plans, or foul? Time will tell.

And Wukong has done his best to ensure that those plans are great.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Wukong and the cubs, glamor edition

@soniclozdplove;

Ooooo! I love them! Wukong ofc in his Lantern City get up + a maternity skirt (I doubt much else fits XD). He cuts an imposing figure even two trimesters in.

The eclipse twins look delightfully mischievious, and I love their little red bandanas as a mimic of their dear baba Macaque. The headphones as well ofc since Rumble's lotus/six ears otherwise couldn't handle the crowds. They're shoving treats and bao buns into eachothers mouths like its a game. Sadly too much light for them to mess around with the shadows.

Luzhen sitting atop Wukong's head/shoulders is so cute - little man is probably having the time of his life listening to all the new music and seeing all the costumes. I can just imagine him asking Wukong for upsies so he can see the sights better.

And baby princess Yuebei!!! Wearing a little hanfu that she's practically swimming in, while not daring to leave her Mama for a second. I imagine she's a little nervous being in crowded space like the festival, but is easily distracted by the dragon dancers. ("Dinosaur!" she yells excitedly, Wukong smiling encouragingly all the while) Her first meeting with the Noodle Gang goes smothly simply because she's *fascinated* with Mei's dragon features. ("Dinosaur?")

Overall, MK knows he's in for an embarassing encounter the second he recognises his mama and siblings approaching him. XD

I love these designs so much. I can imagine as New Years progresses, the cubs' glamours fall apart when Wukong is captured. The gang (minus MK, and Mei since she was warned) are left *spluttering* at the four sudden baby monkey demons on the airship with them.

Thank you for this food