#Of course MK hurts the people he cares about to save the people he cares about. That's all anyone does in lmk

[imminent-danger-came]

Realizing that plot/world building is a distant second to characters and themeing for me

[itsabouttimex2]

Monkie Kid Villain Fates

A more in-depth look (especially for Macaque) down below!

(I know I’ve been posting a lot of content that’s outside my usual, and I hope no one minds too much! I’m cleansing my palate to prep for Season Five, which I am very excited to write for. ((Especially for Li Jing and Nuwa!!!)) So here’s a slew of my thoughts on the villains, and which one is my least favorite!)

(Spoilers: his name is written in purple above.)

Disclaimer 1: I am not counting instances of “throwing your lot in with the heroes when the world is at stake” as redeeming moments. If you only do something because it personally benefits you at the moment, it’s not exactly selfless.

Disclaimer 2: Redemption means three things-

1. The character acknowledges their wrongdoings.

2. The character works to become a better person.

3. The character makes amends/reparations for the harm they’ve done, without the threat of death hanging overhead. Good must be done of one’s own will and volition.

Disclaimer 3: A character not being redeemed doesn’t make them a bad character. In fact, some characters work better without redemption. (Like the Lady Bone Demon.) I just wanted to make a villain tier list and talk on some of the people it contained.

Red Son: Decently humanizing interactions with Mei, but ultimately uncaring of all the damage and harm that he’s caused, especially in regards to potential deaths during his attacks on the city. Unfortunately, the first example of “pretty much unrepentant but universally-forgiven”. (Fix: Have him interact with people harmed by his villainy, and resolve to help them- even if only by repairing their destroyed vehicles. Something small enough to be reasonably in line with his pride and arrogance, but enough to show that he’s become a better person.)

——————

Macaque: The worst villain here. Utterly unrepentant and shameless, outwardly cruel and violent… but still got a “you’re not a bad guy” speech before actually showing that he wasn’t a bad guy. Despite being able to skip fights with his shadow portals, he intentionally stuck around to raze the Dragon Palace of the East Sea to the ground. (AO GUANG AND HIS PEOPLE’S STATUS ARE STILL UNKNOWN) This still hasn’t been addressed in canon, not even by Mei, who was related to those who lived there. Instead, she has a team-up with him, never addressing the still unknown fate of her uncle. Never apologizes, never makes amends, never tries to repair the damage he’s done… but allowed to stick around all the same. Where characters like Azure or LBD do what they do because they truly believe in their causes, Macaque is just having fun hurting people. Again, given his ability to shadow-portal, he doesn’t even have the “I’m trying to save my own life” excuse. He could’ve just skipped the torment and violence, but explicitly chose not to, and is always happy to inflict harm- even bragging about what he did to the Dragon Palace.

Also, I don’t give a single shit that Peng “bullied” him. It doesn’t make Macaque more sympathetic, it makes him less. He knows what it’s like to be insulted and berated for your nature, then (unhesitatingly and gleefully) does the same to MK, who may well be a child?

Yeah, no. Then, his “awesome” team-up with Mei only serves to rip agency and nuance from her character, turning this caring and energetic warrior into an amnesiac that doesn’t care about her family for the sake of “Boo-hoo, Peng hit me once to protect someone they care about!” So, Mei holds grudges, right? That would make her a more interesting character! But no! No, no, no! That’s just for Peng! Her grudge isn’t against the man who essentially attempted genocide on her people and razed an ancestral palace full of innocent people to the ground, no!

OF COURSE NOT, SILLY!!

Because then Macaque’s actions would have something called “consequences”, and the writers just won’t allow it! Because he’s just a murderous, violent, manipulative, cruel, spiteful, villain! How dare we expect any actual comeuppance for his crimes? No, we can’t have that!

Oh, and how does he help MK in the fourth season? How about he outright tells (great storytelling, btw) MK about how delusional Azure Lion is- a character with which he has no tie with beyond a tenuous past oath and no actual interactions. This moment could have easily been given to, you know, Wukong! Or Yellowtusk, if they were going the full redemption arc route for him, but no!

We have to pretend that Macaque’s input on a character he has no interactions with is important! Oh, and they let him play mentor to MK, who he has: manipulated, betrayed, violently assaulted, stole the powers of, berated, and attempted to kill.

Does MK care about any of this?

OF COURSE NOT!

But MK is absolutely furious and heartbroken at Azure for doing maybe half of those things, and with an honestly noble reason to boot.

Ugh.

I think it’s only made worse by the fact that people get so mad when there’s any criticism of Macaque “redemption arc”. Throwing actual fits and constantly arguing when someone dares to say “everyone allowing Macaque (and many other villains) to get away with the worst of his actions and not holding him accountable for being a genuinely dangerous, unrepentant and violent criminal is bad and makes the “heroic” characters around him look worse.”

And you can’t use the “well, he didn’t get a redemption arc!” The writers didn’t try to redeem him!” defense.

Because, yes. Yes they did.

We are supposed to think this guy is better now. The series wants you to think of him as redeemed.

MK leaves him handmade food and a drawing. His “you’re not a bad guy” speech is supposed to be taken as truth. Wukong is making amends with him (sharing smiles and offering food) and no one has any personal problems on the guy sticking around (which makes them all seem blander, given that at least one of his victims should be upset), which is portrayed in a positive light.

This is portrayed as good.

THE WRITERS CONSIDER MACAQUE AS DESERVING AND WORTHY OF THIS. THEY THINK HE HAS EARNED IT.

So yes- he is supposed to be “redeemed”.

But he isn’t. He really, really, isn’t.

(Fix: God, where do we start? Some remorse? An apology? Have every character not forgive him immediately? Have Mei not forget about the razing of an ancestral palace? Have Pigsy threaten to kill him if he tries to hurt MK again? Have Tang refuse to interact with him? Anything would have been nice.)

——————

Jin and Yin: No redemption arc at all. Essentially forgotten about by the show. They show up with the Scorpion Queen, but don’t have a satisfying send-off. It’s just a little funny scene. (Potential fix: more interactions with them as stagehands, working for the community. Why make them neutral only to shift immediately back to evil? It could’ve been nice to see them integrate into society instead of being turned evil again and written out of the story with little fanfare.)

——————

Demon Bull King: Same as Red Son, but without the humanizing interactions with a heroic character. Bonus points for putting his life in danger to save Wukong and MK, despite gaining nothing for doing so. Unfortunately, aside from that, another “pretty much unrepentant but universally-forgiven” character. (Potential fix: Would’ve been nice to have more positive interactions between him and Wukong. Maybe talk about how hard it is to open up and be soft when they dedicated so much of their lives to being strong? Chat about his struggles adjusting to the modern era? Have him show clear remorse for mistreating his extremely loyal son?)

——————

Princess Iron Fan: Not much to say. Same as her husband, same solution. Really wish she had gotten some more screen time outside of her family. (Fix: Maybe flesh out her bond with Jin and Yin? I know it was supposed to be a funny “noodle incident”, but learning about their past could’ve been nice- maybe we could’ve gotten a scene of her with little Red Son to humanize her a bit?)

——————

As it says on the tin. I’ll do this all in one quick chunk.

Nothing much to say here- but it would’ve been nice to have one of the spiders survive and redeem themselves, especially since that it was teased for Huntsman.

I wish Goliath (not even his real name btw) hadn’t been such a nothing character. Like, we really don’t learn a single thing about him.

I pity the Ink Curse. Created to be a tool of torture, never allowed to love or be loved. Poor thing.

——————

Mayor: One of Season Four’s biggest flaws is that it could really feel disconnected from the previous three, which all felt very tightly interwoven. Example one: Mei “no longer *wielding* the Samadhi Fire”, when it had previously been established that she fused with it. Example two: The mayor’s fate is never addressed, despite being such a prominent enemy. (Fix: Just… tell us what happened to him. Is he in jail? Did he escape justice? Did someone just… murder him? I don’t care if “it’s being saved for Season Five”. It’s weird to just forget about someone so dangerous in universe.)

——————

Kui Mulang: Presumably either dead or returned to the Celestial Realm for punishment. Unlikely that we’ll receive further information on him.

——————

Peng: Probable that we’ll receive an update on their status in Season Five. Very interesting character with a few humanizing moments (being close to Yellowtusk and Azure, being upset when Monkey King was trapped in the scroll) that keep them from being irredeemable. Actually a better person than Macaque, given that they never remorselessly razed a palace of innocent people to the ground. Or tried to murder an innocent kid who wasn’t involved with their fight at all. Or held a young lady’s life hostage and threatened to murder her. But they’re sort of mean, so I guess people consider them irredeemable? Super weird.

Like, Peng is an asshole, sure. They clearly aren’t in this fight out of the goodness of their heart. But the awful way they get treated in the fandom is insane, especially with the babying treatment that other villainous characters (like Macaque, the Mayor, and Red Son) get.

——————

Azure Lion: Macaque, but better written! Letting MK be angry at a person who: manipulated, lied to, and betrayed him? Not having his misdeeds be forgotten and glossed over? People actually being upset at what he’s done further than a few minutes after he’s done it? Incredible character! This is what I’ve wanted from Monkie Kid for so long! Ultimately, Azure accepts his failures and sacrifices himself- a punishment for hurting innocent people and wreaking havoc? A villain acknowledging their misdeeds and making up for them? God, I love Azure so much!

Probably my favorite character!

——————

Yellowtusk: I love this grandpa so much, for mostly the same reasons as Azure. His crimes aren’t immediately forgotten! Everyone doesn’t immediately forgive him! And he has to head back to the Celestial Realm for actual consequences?! Damn, this is what I’ve wanted from LMK villains for so long! Real redemption arcs, my beloved.

Also, this proves that the writers do know that people who commit crimes should be held accountable and punished for it? Can you give some of that to the others, please?

——————

Scorpion Queen: Another character I don’t have much to say about. She acknowledges her mistakes, ceases her villainy, and seems to have made genuine friends in Jin and Yin. Given the very little harm she caused, redemption was never going to be outside of her reach- but I’m happy for her anyhow.

——————

Finishing Points

1: I do not “hate” any of these characters. Though I definitely dislike how some are written, each one is lovable and enjoyable in their own way. I enjoy writing for all of them, and will continue to do so. I just wanted to take a break from fanfiction and talk about my perspective on some villains.

2: What do I mean by “punishment”?

Essentially, a consequence delivered to the character on account of their villainy. Someone tripping and eating dirt isn’t a “punishment”, unless they’re being shoved down by an old victim. Losing a fight isn’t “punishment”, it’s a matter of self-defense. Additionally, the punishment has to be actively performed as a consequence of misdoings- tripping and breaking an arm after doing evil things isn’t a punishment, but having a victim of the villain actively choose to break their arm is.

3: This is not an attack on you or your “fave”. This is not me saying that the show is bad. This is not me saying that I could do better. This is not me saying that you shouldn’t like these characters. This is not me trying to change your mind. This is not me saying you should feel the way I do. These are just my personal thoughts on the villains listed, and some of the “flaws” that I personally have with their portrayals and depictions.

[cupids-archives]

Can i ask valentine prompt "Cupid" with Lmk yandere Macaque with a darling that is in the main hero team??

˚ જ⁀➴ (1) cupid, : “everybody knew cupid had a sick sense of humor” . ｡･:*:･ﾟᰔ:

ᝰ.ᐟcontains, yandere and dark content. ೀ

ʚ♡ɞ˚: you’ve always had a strong sense of justice.

maybe getting it from your family, or from the people you surround yourself with. even when things go wrong and make you question yourself and others, you always will do what’s right.

that’s what led you to monkie kid, meeting him on one your adventures and immediately attaching yourself with him. you’ve always had good friends but he was different-brighter, you suppose, and his light attracted you. making you follow him around like a guard dog, though you knew he could protect himself, and throwing yourself in anything he got involved in. he didn’t seem to mind, and you liked having someone to attach too.

you were friends with the other people as well, definitely not attached as you were with mk, but still overwhelmingly friendly. willingly sticking your neck out for anyone who needed it.

“I really think you shouldn’t use so much power,” you worriedly said. noticing how tired he was becoming, the mental strain that he was having, and just knowing how he felt about becoming stronger wasn’t just affecting him, but you. and though that could be counted as selfish, you couldn’t lose your friend.

you noticed that he started to train with a strange figure, you considered asking the monkey about it but mk begged you not too, stating that he needed to get stronger to help everyone. you wanted to tell him that wasn’t his job but you couldn’t get to him in time. you found yourself waiting to talk to him after one of these sessions, and you finally met the guy who was hiding your best friend.

he resembled the monkey king but with darker features, you could taste the tension in the air as you face him. he just smiled at you, and something inside you grew a thousand times bigger. and if it wasn’t anger-it was rage.

you knew that this wasn’t going to go well. something told you that this was wrong.

especially when macaque started to take an interest in you.

you started to follow them around when you could, just to make sure. and of course he noticed even when mk didn’t.

“so, how’s the girl doing?” he would ask mk during training, and for some reason every time he saw him even after the smoke demon fight he would ask about you.

and unfortunately mk kept this from you. and then you started to get followed. you obviously didn’t think it was from macaque. after all you didn’t know his powers and this was way too obvious to be someone with powers like him.

but you were wrong, so very wrong.

like a sick joke, he wanted you to know he was following you. he wanted to be seen. to be acknowledged by you. he liked knowing he made you paranoid that he was around. that’s your nightmares were plagued by the image of him, the person who ruined your friend, someone who went against everything you stood for. that he was corrupting you without you even realizing. the fear of his shadows watching you while you were sleeping kept you at night. and he was happy.

he knew his feelings for you weren’t right, but neither was he so who cared, and after all he liked playing with you. his little hero corrupted by the poison she didn’t even know infected her.

he loved terrorizing the group, being able to see your scared and worried face, knowing that this is because of you, that he was hurting your friends because of you. you were becoming a shell of your former shelf. trying to do anything to save your friends. one of the only last things you can do to win this battle with your morals is give yourself to the sole thing that ruined them.

requests are encouraged !! valentine event.

[relatableblorbopoll]

Round 1 of preliminaries, group 5

The first two places get a place on the bracket

Little reminder: there will be 2 more rounds of preliminaries, the losing blorbos of this poll still have 2 chances of getting in the official bracket

Propaganda under the cut

Melissa Chase (Milo Murphy’s Law)

"Her self worth is entirely based on her grade point average and getting straight As. She can’t remember anything, ever (specific examples include forgetting her maths book regularly, her student pass for the subway, and how many days are in February). However, she CAN remember the blood type of every president. She is terrible at throwing She gets visually upset when she realises that a plan was changed last minute, and that an academic event she expected to do well in was combined with a sporting event, giving no time to prepare for the new event She freaks OUT when she thinks she’s going to disappoint her headteacher- she doesn’t seem to expect to be given any actual punishment, just that the headteacher will be disappointed and think that she’s irresponsible She has a whole conspiracy room in her house dedicated to researching her best friend’s medical condition- Murphy’s Law being an interest that she is clearly very passionate about and interested in. she does all of that and still can’t remember her maths book. relatable queen her ambition in life is to be a “journalist, and queen of the universe” "

Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

"A ball of stress and anxiety. She's always angry because nobody listens to her, cares about her feelings, or believes her about anything, which tbh is like the quintessential teenage girl experience. Secretly just wants her parents to recognise and appreciate her."

V-Flower (Vocaloid)

"they believe that people only care about them when they are in pain"

Ciaphas Cain (Warhammer 40k)

"Don't let the sharp jawline and the mutton-chops fool you: Ciaphas Cain has no idea what he's fucking doing and would very much like to not be here right now. He is a high-ranking Commissar, essentially a walking morale boost for Imperial Guard soldiers and one of the only symbols of hope in the grimdark Warhammer 40k universe. He also has no idea how he got the job or how to get the hell out. Commissar Cain spends all his time accidentally doing magnificent bastard things while trying to run away from danger and dying inside. Over the course of his books, he's named Hero of the Imperium, has a hot mommy inquisitor fall in love with him, and saves hundreds of planets per panic attack he has. His cowardice and impostor syndrome are second only to my own, and that's why he's just like me fr."

Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson series)

"he's got big no thoughts head empty energy! he loves his friends and girlfriends SO much (more most YA characters, i think; he would have no qualms about sacrificing the world to save the people he loves, which goes against the typical hero). he is almost always ready to fight a bitch. he has adhd and accidentally says things he shouldnt all the time (but this has made him good at problem-solving, bc he creates a LOT of problems for himself)"

MK (Lego Monkie Kid)

"Oooooh boy where do I begin. MK the Monkie Kid is the protagonist of the story but he has *so many issues*. He wants to be a good person but has a whole lot of impostor syndrome and is convinced he will only hurt people the more he tries to save them. He is convinced that every major villain in the show is his fault, even as far as misremembering/changing up some events to put blame onto himself He also has an absent mentor figure that was supposed to help him but guess what he had to figure out all his powers on his own so abandonment issues go brrrr. He has so much anger toward his mentor Wukong but he just *bottles it all up* (common theme) Also he is so trans and adhd coded. First, MK is a nickname. We don’t know his real name, but it is v much implied he used to go by something else. He and his friends also puts a lot of emphasis on manly stuff like ‘I’m a big boy!’/‘he’s a Monkie *Man*!!!’/‘im the smartie boy, the plan man!’ He also has trouble focusing and listening to other people, is sometimes blunt and he is VERY interested in Sun Wukong and the journey to the west (Chinese classical novel that the show is based on) and just in general always needs constant reassurance and support from his friends. He is often compartmentalizing his feelings and internalizes a lot of fear and blame is also suppressing a part of himself that scares him. (Which, same) He loves his friends so much and tries so hard to keep them all safe, even hiding his own problems and worries from them as an attempt to protect them. He wants to go back to season 1, back when each episode was a villain-of-the-week kinda story, with no world-destroying threats. But nope, he saw the horrors, and he can never go back to the bubbly Monkie Kid from the beginning. Also he is terrified of spiders :>"

[night-faye]

*cracks knuckles* ALRIGHT- 1) Update on what I said for a hero will sacrifice one to save the world, a villain will sacrifice the world for one but its hero/warrior philosophy. I finally found Mei's line for it! "Wukong knew the risks. It's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero." And THAT'S why the next episode is "Time to be Warriors" because being a hero never works out :D 2) Isn't it SO funny how Macky's complaints about "other people will tell you to be patient" feels like the kind of thing Wukong would've learned himself from the Monk after the journey 🤔 "your first strike should be your last strike" *coughs in jttw wukong killed macky in one hit to the head* "you don't use a weapon, you are a weapon." Sir WHAT HAPPENED. This wasn't you before 😭 I'm starting to think his "don't you feel stronger now" might be something someone told him after this so called "who did you make a deal with?" 🤔 3) So we know Macky instigated the fight, naturally. but seriously WHAT HAPPENEDDDDDDD. he was SAD and GUILTY and WUKONG LOVED HIM SM HE WAS RUFFLING HIS FUR AND FIXING HIS CLOTHES. how does a guy go to such murdery lengths that they started hating each other sm in S1 and then??? like?? S5 that love is creeping back???? of course, just like Macky getting interrupted in S4, they just can NOT seem to hold hands 😔 so Fluffy had the bright idea of ShadowPeach hand holding when Wukong dies. She is obsessed with his death flags as a mentor. 4) "The old you would've leveled this whole mountain range!" <-- monkey MK splits a mountain in half. 5) "inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear." now that we know how crazy this play is for hinting stuff, WHAT is up with the monkey we see get attacked with evil vibes and why is it on this line Macky 👀 also hilarious to me "last show actually I was just heading off-" he seriously spent ALL DAY just talking about his break up over and over to anybody who would listen. "always the comedian" <--- s4 opens with Wukong joking and dancing on a table. Can you tell I'm obsessed with recontextualizing dialogue? "so you're her puppet now?" "haha you know me." HELLO? IMPLYING WHAT? all this talk about "a winning side" is very owie, when you think of the side that lost the war against heaven but also <3 in joining MK. despite LBD having WUKONG on her side. "your buddy Wukong values people by how useful they are to him." BUDDY YOURE THE ONE WHO FELT BAD YOU COULDNT BE USEFUL ENOUGH TO BREAK HIM OUT. I'm sensing some serious miscommunication over the Journey West here. BUT GEE really makes you think about Macky telling MK to be a weapon! That'll make you useful to the Monkey King for sure! also! the winning side was almost titled "a traitor inside" gee isn't THAT suspect. *pokes Macky repeatedly* double agent vibes lowkey. or is this a callout for betraying Wukong lol. 6) going through my like history and someone pointed out that MK was probably "you're in time out young man!" while Macky, fully able to fight back, stood there and let them tie him up like "oh no I can't believe you're overpowering me like this. this place is a nightmare." 7) Update on "Wukong is the undefeatable Monkey King he HAS to be strong." he only reacts to the spicy pepper burning his mouth bc he's used to pain ^_^ who cared at all if he was hurt by the circlet, why would they care if he complained about the burning? and really? a spicy burning hot pepper? when he already was forced to eat molten copper pellets? and dropping a rock on him when he had a mountain dropped on him? which fun fact: based on Wukong's pose, it seems he got trapped while running ;D

1) Update on what I said for a hero will sacrifice one to save the world, a villain will sacrifice the world for one but its hero/warrior philosophy. I finally found Mei's line for it! "Wukong knew the risks. It's what he would do if he had to. That's the hard part of being a hero." And THAT'S why the next episode is "Time to be Warriors" because being a hero never works out :D

🥺🥺🥺🥺

2) Isn't it SO funny how Macky's complaints about "other people will tell you to be patient" feels like the kind of thing Wukong would've learned himself from the Monk after the journey 🤔

MMM! YEAH I HAD THOUGHTS ON THIS THAT I WILL BE EXPLORING IN FICS HEHE

"your first strike should be your last strike" *coughs in jttw wukong killed macky in one hit to the head*

Hey, hey hey, shut up <3

"you don't use a weapon, you are a weapon." Sir WHAT HAPPENED. This wasn't you before 😭 I'm starting to think his "don't you feel stronger now" might be something someone told him after this so called "who did you make a deal with?" 🤔

Ohohohoh yes. this line. this line makes me Thing Things. So Many Things.

Will also be explored in fics I write hehehehe

3) So we know Macky instigated the fight, naturally. but seriously WHAT HAPPENEDDDDDDD. he was SAD and GUILTY and WUKONG LOVED HIM SM HE WAS RUFFLING HIS FUR AND FIXING HIS CLOTHES. how does a guy go to such murdery lengths that they started hating each other sm in S1

No lie I am currently working on a fic that will be exploring this EXACT thing :) You should Be Afraid :)

and then??? like?? S5 that love is creeping back???? of course, just like Macky getting interrupted in S4, they just can NOT seem to hold hands 😔

GOD YEAH IT'S SO HEARTBREAKING AHHHH

so Fluffy had the bright idea of ShadowPeach hand holding when Wukong dies. She is obsessed with his death flags as a mentor.

@fluffypotatey when I get you

Can you tell I'm obsessed with recontextualizing dialogue?

yes dw i am too hehe

"so you're her puppet now?""haha you know me."HELLO? IMPLYING WHAT? all this talk about "a winning side" is very owie, when you think of the side that lost the war against heaven

:)))) >*pats my trunk full of plans*<

6) going through my like history and someone pointed out that MK was probably "you're in time out young man!" while Macky, fully able to fight back, stood there and let them tie him up like "oh no I can't believe you're overpowering me like this. this place is a nightmare."

LMAO THAT'S SO FUNNY

7) Update on "Wukong is the undefeatable Monkey King he HAS to be strong." he only reacts to the spicy pepper burning his mouth bc he's used to pain ^_^ who cared at all if he was hurt by the circlet, why would they care if he complained about the burning? and really? a spicy burning hot pepper? when he already was forced to eat molten copper pellets? and dropping a rock on him when he had a mountain dropped on him? which fun fact: based on Wukong's pose, it seems he got trapped while running ;D

HEY WHAT IF YOU DIDN'T? (I'mjustkiddingthisisgreat)

[notsoamalia]

LMK Au

Crazy time

_____________

Hua lia : how you disappeared.. it became a tale.. 'The monkie kid and the ending' i personally hate the title..

Mk was sitting now, facing her as sh explained, he groaned at the title throwing his hands around..

MK : WHAT HAPPENED?! i failed again didn't i? I don't remember a thing!!

Hua lia sighed, offering him tea

Hua lia : it's worthless.. You need to focus MK..

MK looked at her, mostly confused..

MK: HEY I'm super focused! excuse me for wondering WHY I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT ME TIME TRAVELLING during an end of the world kind of fight... But ok.. Right..

MK tried his best to calm down, he didn't drink the tea, as much as he knew he needed to relax, he didn't trust this woman.. Even though she was very kind..

He learned his lesson, azure lion Imprinted that into his brain, he looked at her serious..

MK: what happened..?

Hua lia shrugged: you and your friends disappeared.. No one knows...

His friends! Right! He needs to find them, easily distracted with the new goal, MK jumped on his legs..

They must be around! He was sure! They have to be! He hopes

MK : RIGHT! if i travelled here! Then-

Before declaring his smarty MK attitude, Hua lia was already standing up.. Dusting her clothes

Hua lia : yep.. Surely they're around.. Let me help you find them..

MK looked at her surprised,he kind of wanted to hug her, Help! He needed that! Of course the great Monkie kid could manage alone, because as lucky as it's he still has the staff and he saved the world couple of times, so finding what? 6 people is nothing isn't it? ...

as much as he hated to say out loud, he knew.. He knew he was useless, dumb, weak, and so messed up..

MK knew.. That he was a problem magnet, a useless hero, failure excuse of a student, Bad friend and a worst son...

He trapped everyone in the scroll..

He lost the skull key to lady bone demon

He ignored it so long.. But whatever he do he just keeps pulling everyone he care about into those things!

He caused it, although he wanted to be a hero, to protect everyone, to save the day..

Hua lia just told him, how of a failure he's, to think he let the fight and literally teleported here! , and pulled EVERYONE with him..

He didn't know what he did but surely he was the cause..

-"MK!"

He looked startled at her, Hua lia repeated looking at him confidently..

Hua lia : i promise you! I'll help you return...

MK : how?

Hua lia : one thing at a time.. Ok?

She looked weird, she acted and talked almost as if she was already practicing the answer, MK looked at her suspicious..

He honestly don't know.. Should he trust her?

Mk: why?

Hua lia : you're famous! You know? Helping you is.. A dream

As if she was a robot, she answered so quickly, MK was weirded out, but he knew, he knows nothing about this place, having a guide is a blessing!

Plus.. He HAS to find the rest of the group, he can't afford the thought of one of them getting hurt..

Not another mistake, he needs to fix this..

MK answered reluctantly : o.. Ok!

Hua lia nodded smiling softly, she seemed weirdly calm, like... She was planning something, so MK.. Because he's brainy and smart and genius..

Decided to follow her from a presumed safe distance..

[nerevarswritingstuff]

First of all, hi, how are you? Second; I've been wanting to start writing fanfics or something like that, and the way you write is quite beautiful as well as your stories. Could you give me some advice and how is your process for writing and planning fanfics?

Hello there! I'm doing well and hope you are too <3

Thank you so much ;;v;; I'm glad you enjoy my writing!

HMMMM //strokes chin I have a few methods I usually use when it comes to planning fanfics or even stories in general... let me see if I can get a little list together

JUST A NOTE! This is how I usually do it, and while it's worked out for me, it might not work out for you or anyone else. It's all about finding what works best for you!

MUCH IS WRITTEN UNDER THE CUT (I got carried away........) SO BE READY

Planning

Now, when it comes to planning, what I usually do is figure out the end first. I don't really know how to explain it, but once I know how I want a story to end, I can figure out how the beginning and middle work out much easier.

This certainly doesn't work for everyone, because sometimes it's the ending that's the hardest to figure out, and other times it's the beginning or even the middle. That's just my personal thing.

A piece of advice I can give, if planning the ending doesn't work out, is to figure out what significant point you want to reach in the story. It can be 3 chapters in or 30 chapters in. What is the arc you want to reach and how do you plan to reach it?

After planning the ending, I go almost immediately into the characters. The most important thing I personally believe when making characters is a mixture of the personality and background. Background always comes first, because that's what helps make the personality--as our personalities are highly influenced by the life we've led.

A thing I've learned to use is the MBTI scale to help get a feel for how a character would act in certain situations and how their head works in general everyday life. (Again, this is a method that won't always work for everyone, it just works easiest for me!)

We'll use our characters from the TIaF fic, specifically Wukong, Macaque, Mei, MK and Nibby aka Reader as the examples!

Wukong: While most of his story hasn't changed too much, his personality has changed a lot. He's a monkey who almost always put his people and his friends before himself. He still holds himself in high regard, of course! He is the Handsome Monkey King, after all! However, he is also fiercely loyal to those he is close to, and he had to learn the hard way to not make it so obvious he cares. On top of this, he has also been (mostly wrongfully) blamed for most of the things that went wrong after the rebellion against the Heavenly Realm, to the point he actively believes that whatever bad thing that happened is his fault. And finally, he never makes it obvious what his true feelings are, especially the negative ones. In his experience, only a select few could handle his negative emotions, and they're long gone. Now, he has no one, and anyone he tried to talk to about it would shy away or be overwhelmed with the sheer amount of emotions he has that aren't just the usual "positive, impulsive Monkey King." Wukong's MBTI used to be ENTP, but now he leans more towards ENFP. He's very conscious of the emotions of others, but not his own. He's grown so used to not speaking about his emotions that he has difficulty acknowledging them. This makes Wukong a very complex and extremely complicated character who has more layers than an onion. Kind, caring, observant, impulsive. These are the words that best describe him.

Macaque: Macaque was a tough one to figure out, mainly because writing characters like him were something I always had some difficulty with. While Wukong believes everything is his own fault, Macaque believes that he is a villain, while Wukong and everyone else is a hero. Macaque's purpose is to hurt and kill, not heal and save. His black and white mentality was what made him think he'll never be anything more than a monster. He's also someone who's just as impulsive and controlled by his emotions. Sure, he was the thinker between Wukong and himself, but he's not completely detached to his emotions. When he gets desperate, he can't think properly, making him rush into doing things or making decisions. And much like Wukong, Macaque used to be open with his emotions (not as open as Wukong, mind), but time and trauma caused him to internalize a lot. His support group was practically nonexistent after The Disaster™ happened. It didn't help that during this time he was stewing in his thoughts, unable to properly get them out. He's certainly a complicated guy to figure out. He cares, but he doesn't like showing he does. He only gives a piece of help but never too much unless it's either worth his while or he's convinced to do so, because he believes "heroes" are the only ones who do that. And he's not a hero. If I were to lump him into the MBTI, he would be... either INFJ or INFP.

MK: MK was the biggest change from his canon personality. He is your precious little ENFJ who wants to help everyone and anyone, no matter who or what they are. He's so overly conscious of everyone's feelings, but he doesn't fully know the steps to take. He's also an overachiever, afraid to disappoint his fiends, his family. He wants so much for so little in return, selfless to a fault if it means that no one has to fight anymore. Granted, he will fight if he has to. He still wants to be a hero, after all! Just like Monkey King! But his view of Wukong's life was very much through rose tinted glasses and the only way for him to truly understand what kind of life he's going to lead would have to be learned through the hard way. Even if he's smarter than he lets others think, and is wise for his young age, he is still just a boy who's only 18 years old. So his views of the world will seem much more innocent and naive than that of Wukong, Macaque, or Reader's for example.

Mei: Mei was also someone who had a big re-write for her stuff. Mei is your undeveloped ENFP who can be conscious of other people's feelings, but it's unintentionally self-centered where she worries about the perspective of others towards herself. It's not in a negative sense, mind, but it is why she often misunderstands things. With this, she's also lived a life very different from the rest of the cast. She's a caged bird who was never able to see past the walls made for her, and never bothered to look past them either until most recently. She's rebellious and loud, but also quick to shrink at any sign of negativity towards her. She's confident but also unsure. She wants to be there for her friends, but doesn't know how. Mei holds the same innocence as MK does when it comes to the world, but it's in a more sense of "bad guys need to get beaten up, and we (the heroes!) are meant to beat them up!" Rather than trying to find an alternative route. She is very much a "shoot first ask questions later" type of gal, not often thinking deeper than surface level, and needs to work on that.

Reader "Nibby": Now, with the reader insert, I always make a small list of things for them starting out, and go from there. With Nibby, for example, the first thing I wanted to put down was "what happened to them before they arrived in China?" The trauma they experienced in America before moving in with their uncle has left them reflexively putting people at arm's length. It's also left them paranoid of their own powers acting up at the worst times. They're essentially a feral cat who was shown so much abuse they almost forgot what kindness looks like. They're just as conscious of other people's feelings, but scarcely their own. They learned to be an observer of others to make sure they can find danger and plan appropriately. They learned to not trust certain people with their feelings because they can't handle the baggage they carry--aside from their own uncle. Hence why they're hesitant to talk about themselves, or let the spotlight be on them. Despite this, they do have a gentle side they show to the younger cast (ofc being Mei and MK), even if it's a bit rough at times. They're fiercely loyal and are quite literally a ride or die kind of friend. When you achieve friendship with them, it'll be hard to get rid of them. I would say they are an INTJ but their EF (extroverted feeling) is pretty strong, allowing them to better get a read on people's feelings.

With that, we can go into the next section! Which iiiiis planning the Reader's placement in the story!

Starting off, one thing I learned through both writing fanfiction and being a DM for D&D, is how to make the Reader feel like they're part of the world and not just some random nobody who gets dropped into a world and is just reacting to everything instead of actively making a difference.

When I'm writing a fanfiction, I have a list of questions I usually ask myself:

How do I want to incorporate Reader into the world?

How can I make Reader feel like they're part of the world?

What significant changes to canon would they make so it doesn't fell like they're "just there" while the canon scenario happens?

How would Reader act during certain events?

How would Reader treat certain characters and vice versa? What is their relationship starting out and would it grow from there?

It's definitely very apparent in TIaF that Nibby (our Reader-Insert) makes active changes to canon. The prime example being when Wukong makes his first appearance, as well as Macaque's own entrance! The order of the things that happened are different, and some are nixed while others are completely re-written.

This all comes back to the personality given to our Reader-Insert. Nibby, especially when they've committed to something, is not someone to just sit back and watch the fireworks go off. They're either the one helping light the firework, or moving them to a safer location to avoid forest fires.

One thing I've noticed in a lot of fanfictions (not just in LMK, but in plenty of other fandoms) is that people have a tendency to just copy+paste canon with the Reader slapped in there as another person reacting to it all. It just feels like we're watching the show all over again, but with an added side-character that has little to no voice to make a change.

It's my own personal opinion, but if you're going to put in a Reader-Insert, it's important to think about what significant changes will be made with said insert being brought into the picture so it doesn't feel like you're just sitting on a Disney ride watching the same characters act the same way over and over again.

Once this is all established, we can finally go into the next step: Planning chapters!

This will be a short section, because I will tell you right now.... I almost never stick to what I write down when planning chapters. However, I'll still provide an example screenshot for what I've written for the first bit!

One thing that's helped me get a nice feel for the flow of the chapters is something I actually learned from my wonderful sibling Cuddlefishie, and that's writing the planning layout like this:

Arc - Whatever significant event that happens - Plot 1: Establishing the setting for event about to happen significant to the arc - Plot 2: The buildup to the event - Plot 3: Event happening, aftermath of event and downtime - Plot 4: Buildup to the next arc

It doesn't have to be in that order, each plot section can just be something significant happening within the arc before we move onto the next plot section.

Example (Note please don't try to read the text I had to make it smaller to fit everything into the screenshot and also blacked out the last bit bc SPOILERS):

If you're caught up with my fic, you can already see that I have not fully followed my own planning for this aside from like chapters 1-10 X"D

I don't know how to explain it and it's not meant to toot my own horn, but I very easily remember what I want to put within each chapter without having to write it down. That does not mean this works for everyone, I highly encourage writing it down so it's easier for you to remember what you want to put into the fic.

But also don't feel bad if you can't fit everything you wanna fit! The chapter "Broken Pieces" is one I wasn't even able to put in at the time I wanted, but that doesn't mean it's not going to happen! It'll just be at a later date.

The final point I put into this very long section is this: Get a beta-reader/someone you trust who can help you write the fic.

Yeah, yeah, the whole "no beta we die like X" is funny and all. But it's so helpful to have someone to bounce your ideas with and to help you plan. I am blessed with my wonderful sibling Cuddles to help me with plot points, and even writing specific character thoughts because they are able to think of stuff that didn't even cross my mind.

It's because of the second opinion that I'm able to get my writing smoothed out to make it look so pristine and flowy and real. Cuddles bounces ideas with me and I bounce ideas with them, and we agree certain plot points aren't needed while others can wait, and some can be revealed within the next chapter.

It also helps to have someone who can look at your stuff who has an understanding of how specific things work, how certain characters work (Cuddles has helped me so hard with how Macaque and Uncle Zan's head works you have no idea), and a better description/rewording for specific scenes. It's literally because of Cuddles that I was able to see how often I write certain phrases X"D

So GET YOURSELF A BETA-READER!!!

And make sure they're not afraid to tell you what feels off and what looks good. Finding a good beta-reader/idea bouncer is important, as you need to make sure you can trust them with providing constructive criticism and offering suggestions for ideas or even offering ideas of their own. They're helping you make your fic a reality, after all!

Now comes the moment we've all been waiting for...

Writing the Fanfic

One important thing I urge to do is to try not to fit so many plot points into one chapter. It can cause information overload and confuse your readers and leave them scrambling to hold all the information given to them--especially if you're gonna end up writing like 10k words or more per chapter!

Don't be afraid to cut the chapter early if you need to. There is no shame in moving what you originally wanted in chapter 5 to be in chapter 6 or even chapter 10 instead because it would make it flow better.

For example: As you can see in the example screenshot, I originally planned the Oracle Cards to awaken for Nibby much earlier. But after reviewing it, Cuddles and I agreed it didn't make too much sense for them to awaken for Nibby right now, and would be better if it was done later at a more significant point.

Hell, there was a whole ass conversation I originally wanted to put into chapter 12 or 13 that I chose to save for later because it didn't make sense to put in there at the moment!

Now for the next point, this is more of a personal gripe I've always had in literally any fanfic I have ever read no matter the fandom, and it's changing the point of views.

Point of views are important to establish when in writing. Who's eyes are we looking through in this scene or this chapter or this entire fic? When we're in that person's point of view, we know what they're thinking, how they're feeling, everything.

My advise to you is this: Do not abuse the point of views.

Constantly changing it every paragraph can and will get disorienting for readers and in all honesty, it just does not flow well at all. This is a common thing I've seen in a lot of fics in my time: the POV constantly being changed so we know what everyone is thinking at the exact moment. My opinion?

Don't do it.

Stick to one POV for a little while, guys. Just do it. It's okay if we don't know what the coffee maker is thinking at the exact moment, they probably are just thinking about how much they wanna go take a nap and feed their pet bird or something.

I say again: Pick a POV and stick with it for a little while. Don't change it every paragraph or every other paragraph. If you want to change it, at least make it clear that a POV change is happening.

For example: I use these "————" to indicate a change in POV is happening in the middle of a chapter. If it's at the start of a chapter, I make sure people know almost instantly who's POV we're entering and sticking with for a little while.

It is okay if the readers don't immediately know what the other characters are thinking. The mystery of what's going through someone's head is half the fun!

Nibby in TIaF is good at reading others, but not great at it. They can't instantly surmise what someone is thinking or feeling just from a glance. They're not a mind reader. The same goes for everyone else in the fic. Literally the only one who knows how people work is Zan and that's because he's a damn therapist, and even then he never jumps to conclusions until he has concrete evidence to back his theories.

Keep the mystery, kids. It's half the fun of watching your readers wonder what other characters are thinking.

Now I'm not saying changing POV is bad. It's perfectly fine! However, much like chocolate, too much of it isn't good. It gets disorienting, confusing, and (in my opinion) frustrating because we can't stick with just one person for a couple of paragraphs.

It also becomes harder to relate to the character, to feel for that character, or even just further hate the character when the POV is constantly getting changed left and right. Don't be afraid to stick with one person for a while, but don't be afraid to change it up if you want to!

It's a tough thing to balance. Trust me, it took me years to get to where I am as a writer and I still have a lot to learn. It'll get frustrating, but you just gotta have patience and the willing to want to learn and change to grow as a writer!

That's about all I can think of right now... SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG-WINDED GOSH IOVJEOIRVJER

If you end up having more questions or would like me to specify on anything, feel free to let me know! And I hope these points were helpful to you!! <3 <3 <3

[sunsage]

partner drabble to this one

There are no lights turned on in Monkey King's house, not when he's there alone, so he doesn't recieve the warning Stars were 'kind' enough to give them. He simply blinks, closing his eyes on the bed in his house and opening them in the middle of a clearing near his mountain. The night chill seeps into his fur and he blinks again, but the stars above remain the same. He checks his phone for the date and when that doesn't help, checks the message app. Last message is from MK, listed as today's afternoon.

Was his time on the island all a dream? A stress hallucination of some sort (he never had one this long before but who knows)? Or was he really somehow brought to a different world for- what, over a year? - and only returned now, same moment as he left? Well, it doesn't really matter, he supposes. He's home now.

It doesn't matter. Even if it was real, he still always knew that place was a temporary haven (a forced vacation spot, he called it under his breath) and sooner or later he'll have to come back. It shouldn't matter, except-

If it was real, he wonders if Gabriel also returned to his world or if he is still in the city, without him. The idea sends an unexpected pang of pain thorough him. Of course he wouldn't want to be the source of the angel's pain, wouldn't want to inflict the hurt of someone you- care about leaving. But he can't deny that there's more to that. There is no way to control whether he ever goes back to the city. And if he never does, they will never see each other again.

He will never see Gabriel again.

One hand comes up to hold onto his chest when something inside contracts, hurts, bleeds at the thought and he's not going to pretend that he doesn't know what it means. Fuck, he was really trying to avoid that. He was supposed to be more careful- except he wasn't at all, jumping straight into it, blowing past every warning sign as if he didn't know how it will end. Falling for someone means either getting caught or hitting the ground, and maybe one of these days he will stop slamming himself down in front of people he knows can't stay with him.

Ha. As if.

==

Old rhythms are easy enough to fall into, at least, even when his heart isn't in it. Monkey King works on fixing up his home, takes care of his subjects, hangs out with MK and, on occasion, the rest of the gang. Tries to contact Macaque a couple times to no avail, but that's nothing new - the guy is evasive and likes his space at the best of times. Would've been nice to at least ask if he also remembers the Spiral city or not, but Wukong lets it be. They'll see each other sooner or later.

Even with all the distractions, trying not to think about - well - isn't easy. More than once Wukong catches himself noticing things he'd like to show to Gabriel, places he'd want to take him to. Looks up over his shoulder at nothing, reaches for a hand to hold that isn't there, writes texts to a number that doesn't exist.

He tries to at least not be too obvious about it and fails there too.

("Monkey King, are you ok? You've barely touched your noodles." "I don't know, kid, I... I think I'm in love." "Ooooh, with who? Oh, wait, it's Macaque, isn't it?" "What, no. Well, I mean that- That's a different thing." "Uh-uh, sure. Wait, but who is it then?" "I'd rather not talk about it." "...Okay, if you say so. But that's a good thing, right? I mean, I've never felt it but, yknow, they always say how wonderful love is on TV. Do they love you back?" "Yeah. I think so." "That's great!" He doesn't have the heart to tell the kid that no, it really isn't.)

===

He knows he shouldn't feel relief when he steps out of his junk treasure room only to tumble into a semi-familiar street of Fibonacci, but he does anyway. Of course, nothing is ever simple in this world (any world, he'd come to learn) and right away he's forced to focus on saving his universe first, and his feelings second.

(He wants to see his angel so bad that it hurts, but he's used to ignoring his own pain for the good of the world. It's fine. He wouldn't be able to rest knowing his home is in danger anyway).

So he seals off all the portals he can find, pulling them closed by force, much like what he did in the scroll except in reverse. Not the most elegant solution but it works, and he really is in a hurry.

Soon enough there is only one portal remaining and he walks through, planning to check for stragglers so nobody who shouldn't be there gets locked in a wrong world. His clones rush off in every direction to cover more ground while he takes off for the Flower Fruit Mountain. The first portal he saw was in there after all and he very much doesn't want to leave anyone in his house who shouldn't be there. Especially not in his treasure junk room.

He's so focused on his task that the sound of water curtains sliding open catches him off-guard (MK? Oh no, were they supposed to train today?). And he barely gets half a second to process what is happening before he's trapped in an embrace that would knock the air out of anyone more mortal than him. Gabriel. Here, in his world, in his home. Looking for him. Hugging him like he thought they would never see each other again. All the tension leaves his body in an instant and he'd fall to the ground if Gabriel wasn't holding him so tightly, if he wasn't clinging back in return. He thinks he says something, a joke probably, anything to stop the burning in his eyes from spilling over in front of-

-oh, right, MK.

"Hey bud, can you wait outside for a second?" Monkey King rasps out, his face, burning hot, pressed against the cool armor. MK, a wonderful kid but not the brightest one, thankfully gets the hint and backs out the entrance with a nigh incomprehensible 'ohoksureuhyoutwotakeyourtimeimjustgonnacallmeiaboutsomethingrealquick'. There is a splash of the waterfall and then they are alone (as alone as you can be, at least, on the mountain). Wukong takes a steadying breath and pulls back, not enough to break the embrace but just enough to see the other's face again, enough to reach up a little and place a kiss on the front of the helmet.

"Missed you too." He smiles, soft and warm and loving before leaning in to press his cheek against Gabriel's. "My angel."

Later, he'll probably have to explain things to MK, and maybe he will have just enough time to take Gabriel on a quick tour of his world before they have to leave. Maybe they'll even have enough time for a quick date, somewhere nice. Maybe they can even sneak into Heaven for a look. And later still, they can go back to the city and spend as much time- ah, what's the point of hiding it anymore- they can spend as much time being in love as the Stars allow them to and it will never be enough and it will always be worth it.

But all that will happen later. Right now, held so tightly by the man he loves, there is no other place he'd rather be.

[chaozsilhouette]

A Father’s Love

Another piece for @winterpower98's Swap Au.

I don’t really have a time frame for this scene, but with all the horror MK has had to endure in this AU I couldn’t help myself. I just needed a bit of fluff to break up my writing. Plus, I am all for Tang showing just how much he loves MK and being a protective father figure.

The poor boy needs a break, but we all know it won’t last.

_____________________________

“Well now, aren’t you a stubborn human.” Sun Wukong mused as he took in the one who dared to separate him from his creation.

The ground was split in a dozen directions. Craters dotted the landscape. The scent of volatile magic soaked the air. Yet, in the center of all this was a small circle of undisturbed land where his boy and the human stood unharmed.

The human didn’t look particularly impressive. If he had to guess, somewhere in his early to late thirties. He was obviously healthy but still suffered from the weaknesses all humans share. No, what truly caught his attention was the strangest sensation he knew this human. Almost as if the golden fillet was readying itself by his mere presence.

The human’s talent in magic was nothing to scoff at. Admittedly, it was nothing he couldn’t brush off, but seeing a human wielding so much raw power was supposed to be nearly impossible in this modern age. However, defying the odds here one stood before him trying to keep him from one of his treasures.

He was not alone in his curiosity. The Monkey King watched as MK stared at the bespeckled man in utter surprise.

“Since when could you do that?!” The newly revealed monkie demon all but screeched.

“Not too long.” The scholar cryptically stated.

His annoyance at the lack of an answer freed Mk of his fear. Just enough to swallow his need to be supported during this horrible moment and say what needed to be said. “You’ve got to run! Forget about me and get the others to safety!”

“I’d listen to my son if I were you, human.” The tyrant stated with a cocky smirk. “Since he’s started to learn his lesson about where he belongs I can be generous. You can take all your friends back home to rest up and we can continue another day.”

With a trembling hand, MK desperately gripped Tang’s pant leg. Praying that his love would be translated behind his pathetic display. “Please. I can’t see you get hurt because of me.” They were the kindest people he ever had the pleasure of knowing. He couldn’t bear knowing they got hurt trying to save him. The only reason they were in this crisis was because of him. If he hadn’t been so weak...

If he didn’t allow himself to be used, Wukong would still be trapped.

“Mk, you know I can’t leave anyone behind to suffer this tyrant’s hospitality.” The word was hissed out with more venom than a viper pit. “Especially not after learning of Macaque’s past.” Tang adjusted his stance so his side now supported the youth. His fingers twitched randomly, his eyes remained locked onto the armored demon. “Besides, we both know Mei would gut the two of us if we even think of considering it.”

It made no sense. They were in the presence of a being that filled the nightmares of all, from the lowliest human to celestial kings, yet young simian couldn’t help but smile. “Good point.” Compared to the Monkey Tyrant the young dragon was an insect, but she had earned the fear that accompanied her ire.

“Such a touching display. But do you really think you will be able to give him what he needs? That others will accept who he really is? You can say you love him until the sun blows up, but it will never change the fact he is me.” The Monkey King’s smile showed nothing but cruel amusement, but his tail betrayed his fraying patience.

“Do you take me for a fool? It doesn’t matter what he looks like, where he came from, or how he started out. He is my Son! And I refuse to let anyone abuse his kind heart ever again!”

Two hands slammed into the ground with unnatural force. Mystic runes and circles filled the air as the battlefield was bathed in a gentle yellow light. Golden ropes wrapped around the Tyrant as the earth formed a five-sided fortress around him. Symbols were burned into each side, somehow not concealing the burning rage from Sun Wukong’s enraged expression.

With that done, Tang grabbed MK’s hand and ran knowing full well both their lives depended on it. “Come on! That won’t distract him for long.”

Or at all. They hadn’t cleared five meters before they started to rocks crumble and mystic bindings viciously snap.

Somehow the two of them were able to reunite with Macaque and Mei in order to get some much-needed distance without any major obstacles. It was silently agreed that the Moneky Tyrant had let them leave. Why? They didn’t want to think about it. All they could do was patch themselves up and think of a new plan.

_____________________________

Pigsy treated them all to a delicious meal, after yelling at the four of them for tangling with the Monkey King. About how they could have gotten killed and berating them for thinking about leaving them behind. Tang was certain Pigsy’s volume was the only reason Macaque looked uncomfortable.

That night they all stayed with Sandy. It was agreed that they should stick together until the heat dies down. Mei stepped out to call her parents to warn them about ... everything. While Macaque had essentially taken over as her father figure it didn’t mean her birth parents were no longer a target. Macaque aided Sandy in setting up the spare rooms. Piggy was just cleaning up dinner and preparing a few things for breakfast.

Leaving Tang to begin creating wards to hang around the boat and MK to uncomfortably sit as he stared at the scholar.

“Why did you do that?”

Tang pushed up his glasses, looking more grave than the teen ever recalled seeing.

“I was preparing that spell the moment I opened my mouth. I figured after that outburst it was only a matter of time before he got bored playing nice and when for the kill. Despite what movies would make you believe, talking is not a free action.” His precious disciples learned that lesson the hard way.

“No. I mean...when you said all that stuff, did you really mean it? You view me as a son?” MK could barely get the last word out. It felt like all of this was just a wonderful dream and when he awoke he’d be back on Flower Fruit Mountain.

Tang set down his brush to fully face the demon. “Of course, I mean it. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.” He poured his entire soul into that truth, a fact he was proud to scream to the heavens.

“Even when I look like this?” Sharing the same face of the demon who caused so much pain and suffering. He could barely stand it, but the thought of continuing to live in his human form just felt even more unbearable. He was tired of lies. Tired of being used.

“So you look like a demon monkey, big deal." Tang waved off the concern, regaining his trademark confident sass. "Last I checked, we are close with several demons one of which is a rather famous monkey. At your core, you are still the same MK we grew to know and care about. You may have started out as Wukong’s clone, but you have come a long way since then.”

Seeing that the boy was still unconvinced, Tang wrapped his arms around the child’s shoulders and brought him in for a hug. “You will always have a place with me, with any of us. You are loved and appreciated, Xiǎotiān. Never forget that.” Circles were slowly traced on his back as shaky breathing gradually evened out.

Xiǎotiān nuzzled his father’s neck. Taking in the scent of aged paper, ink, and tea. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

“Of course.” Gentle fingers slowly combed through his hair.

The world was falling into the depths of madness, but in this moment Xiǎotiān could deceive himself into believing everything would work out.

[jade-it-queen]

Jade. The fate of female character in Mortal Kombat

It’s been a while since I posted anything on my blog cause I’ve been busy with my life and rapid changes in it. During this time, I’ve watched the new 2021 Mortal Kombat movie as well as the new animation Battle of the realms and also rewatched the Story Mode of MK11 a few times. As you probably can tell, I have a lot to say.

JADE. MILEENA. KITANA. SONYA.

Skip this if you don’t want to read my very important (and long as sh*t) rant about female characters in MK.

DISCLAIMER. This thing is going to sound extremely feminist and women-supremacist or whatever. By saying things that I’m going to say, I by no means think that male characters should be weak or lacking. If anything, it would be nice to have some godforsaken EQUALITY. I’ll explain further later.

Part One: Mortal Kombat (2021)

There’s no Jade in this movie. 

The end. That should be the sole reason I dislike it.

However, it might be better this way since the Nitara and Mileena portrayals in this movie are... questionable to say the least. Okay, y’all been robbed. If MY JADE would be brought into this movie to BE THERE for like 4 minutes of screen time only to get absolutely brutal FATALITY I. would. be. pissed.

More than I already am and that means something.

Sure, there’s a possibility that she’s going to be present in some of the upcoming movies because this one is definitely not the only one they’re going to make. But do I want that? Yes. And no.

Mortal Kombat movies (and Mortal Kombat in general) have a problem with women portrayal in general. The target audience for them are MEN, potentially heterosexual men, who want nothing more than bloody gorey fighting scenes with occasional sex scene here and there. To achieve that, they need a female lead, an attractive, kinda kick-assish but not too much, to not overshadow the absolutely badass men characters. Girls tend to be “independent” (because God forbid they’d want to express interest in the male leads before the time is right), sarcastic, laid back and sometimes even bitchy. Because, you see, they are fighters. And they are Sonya Blade. They need NO MAN. They just need plot armor, bigger than America itself. And if they’re not Sonya Blade, they are... non existent. They are there, but they are never really there. Here, let me walk on screen for a couple seconds. Let me sit beside Very Important Male Character (aka Shang Tsung) for a couple of seconds, looking absolutely gorgeous. Let me have a fight scene in which I make choices so f*cking stupid there’s no potential explanation to it. I exist in this movie to make people that love me (this character) to come into theatres in hopes to see some good action and interesting plot.

Now, I wasn’t born yesterday, I know how the world works. It’S bEeN LiKe ThAt FoReVeR, gEt OvEr here iT. Yeah, it’s been like that forever and the result is a mediocre movie that pleases neither the casual viewer, nor the actual Mortal Kombat fan. I don’t know, there might be guys who just saw Kung Lao’s fatality on Nitara, thought to themselves “Neat” and went on with their lives. But I exited the cinema with a sour taste in my mouth, feeling like I’ve watched one of the “fighting genre” films based on video games that had nothing worth remembering. Well, besides Kano. He was my favourite part of this movie and I  normally can’t stand the guy :’D

Would it really help if they changed the way the women were portrayed? I mean - is that the ACTUAL problem of the movie? No, women being the eye candy and barely something else (if they’re not Sonya Blade) are not the only problem it suffers from. It’s that MK has been going the same route, retelling the same goddamn story for the millionth time. It’s always THE SAME. The only thing changing is who’s gonna get brutally killed. But - of course - out of the “disposable” character pool. It’s never Sonya (because you need our female lead or else there would be no female characters in the story), who ya know could be killed by Mileena but magically WASN’T. Because Mileena FOR SOME REASON was like: Ya know what? Naaah. Even though Sonya’s from Earthrealm and is actively trying to stop you. If anything, kill her because she annoys you. BUT NAH. It’s never Liu Kang because he’s the Chosen One. But killing Kung Lao is fine, he can die so Liu can awaken or smth. It’s not the main character because how else can you portray THE MAGIC OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP? Ya, that’s what I thought, don’t even think about it.

You have an amazing universe, filled to the brim with SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL. Let go of the same boring plot line and show us Kombat from another perspective. Change something. F*ck, go all feminist route and make a story center around Mileena dominating the world. Try with different versions of the same story, making it center around different character each time. 

SURE, YOU’LL PROBABLY LOSE SOME VIEWERS BUT TIMES ARE CHANGING, AND MOST OF US ARE TIRED TO PAY FOR THE SAME STORY OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Part Two: Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms

Jesus f*cking Christ.

To say this film was rushed is an understatement. While I was watching it, I was like: TF? Everything happens all at once, we have Kuai Liang-Scorpion story line, we have Outworld’s attack, the tournament, not to mention the final fight that should be whole another movie. I felt like no story line was properly laid out, some of the characters died before I got to even know them and the battles were... disappointing. I believe they needed to push this movie out so they squished in everything they had and just went with it. 

But, again, this movie just repeats the same things as its live action version. Let me lay it down for you:

Kung Lao dies (because yes)

Sonya Blade lives (because yes)

Jade is just there (more of it later)

disposable characters are disposed of

Liu Kang is badass and always wins

You watch it and feel like you’ve already seen it before. Sure, gore is fine, human Raiden is precious and need to be protected at all costs and adrenaline is pumping (I guess).

BUT NOW.

You know what’s coming.

JADE.

JADE.

My f*cking piece of sunshine, the gorgeous goddess of beauty and kombat, the woman who owns my heart.

She’s there for like not even a minute.

Words can’t describe how f*cking PISSED I am by this portrayal. These motherfrickers put her in EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE SNIPPET OF THIS MOVIE. HER BATTLE WAS IN THE TRAILER, ONE OF THE SNEAK PEEKS WAS A SCENE OF HER AND KITANA.

TURNS OUT EVERYTHING I SAW BEFORE THE MOVIE WAS RELEASED... WAS EVERYTHING I WAS ABOUT TO SEE OF HER!!!!

THEY MADE ME HYPED UP FOR NOTHING!!!!!!

I know I’m not the only one riding this trolley. Li Mei was there just to be killed. Kung Lao had a f*cking single dialogue line and then BAM, fatality, buh-bye. But I was watching everything of this movie, being so enormously happy that I will finally see Jade in the movies, FINALLY! Only for her to be present in a single scene, get her ass kicked by Liu Kang (what’s new) and then she’s never seen again, even when the whole f*cking world is breaking apart.

Again. She’s just there. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the best Shao Kahn’s assassins, gets her ass kicked in fourty seconds. They NEVER let her speak ffs. She just spews some general villanous sh*t and proceeds to step on Johnny. Then, she just goes Observer mode as Kitana “betrays” Shao Kahn, gets tied to the column and then the world is ending. 

WHERE THE F*CK IS SHE?!

If you hype me up for her every chance you get, at least GIVE ME what you’re advertising. This is a scam. This is criminal offense. And homophobic. She is more than a revealing outfit and Liu Kang’s punching bag. I’m SO. F*CKING. TIRED. OF THIS. SH*T.

Kitana. The rebellious princess of Outworld... turned damsel in distress in this movie. Her role is so effing bad it hurts me to my core. You see her as a general being so badass and independent... oh right, we need Liu Kang to save her because he needs to maintain his hero look. And we need two kissing scenes. How do we get there? Oh, right, let him save her, because you know - that’s what makes wahmen kiss you. 

ARE YOU NUTS?!

The movie started just fine, with Kitana being in charge with her right hand, Jade. Then, obviously, they water her down and soon she is a princess in a tower (in this case, princess on a column) that needs her buffy sexy man to save her. Oh, and she can’t resist him - you know, every normal girl’s reaction to getting untied is to kiss a guy you’ve known for like a few hours but seen before and you’ve talked like three dialogue lines in total. Sure.

Kitana just gets the unfortunate role of a female main character. She’s Liu’s love interest and that makes her take the role of a strong (but surface level, only) woman who still needs her hero to free her. Classic damsel in distress story, with Kitana being the princess, Liu being the Prince charming and Shao Kahn as the dragon (lul). Of course, they try to cover this up by making Kitana a general, letting her win a few fights but it won’t matter in the end. Some say that women want to believe in fairy tales but the more I see fighting games’ lore, the more I say it’s the men who want to believe them. 

Is it necessarily bad? No. But it’s boring as fuk.

I would like to ask the directors to stop being so afraid of upsetting the target audience. Target audience can change and sometimes it comes out better than originally planned. My Little Pony was designed as a child’s cartoon but it was the creepy men who made it reach the top. Morally? Questionable at best. But business is booming, right? And that’s what they care for, right?

All I’m trying to say is these days women and gays are the future.

Thank you for today, more to come. I’m going to rant about the Story Mode.

[imminent-danger-came]

So like, "Sunshine boi who is mentally ill" MK takes don't cut it for me. It's too simple.

Like, yes, of course MK is mentally ill with a self-esteem of wet-paper. But he's also complacent. He has no real motivations out side of saving his friends and maybe the world (which usually line up). He hate's change. He refuses to acknowledge anything that questions his world view. In 4x05 MK says he can just ask Monkey King if he's MK's dad. MK doesn't ask. After they free Wukong he doesn't ask about the curse, or the stone, or the visions of Wukong he saw. Why? Because he doesn't want to acknowledge it. He doesn't want to know about himself. In 4x11, MK pushes Macaque about what happened between him and Wukong, if only to cement Wukong's "good guy" status in his head. In 4x02 he didn't even question risking releasing the curse to save his friends. In 4x08, even after learning about Azure's view of Wukong, this doesn't change's MK's choices. He immediately wants to let Wukong out of the scroll, without considering what the best course of action would be. He just wanted to free Wukong, consequences be damned, even if it meant relying on this strange new power that scares him (which makes him the opposite of Macaque, who couldn't/wouldn't free Wukong from the mountain). This cognitive dissonance upsets MK so much that when Azure presses him about his relationship with Wukong in 4x13, MK snaps. He doesn't want to hurt his friends the way Wukong hurt him ("Can't you see you're hurting the people who care about you the most?" [3x10] and "I can't risk hurting the people I care about, the one's I have left" [4x08]). And yet, MK leaves in 4x08 just like Wukong left in 3x10, hurting his friends in the exact way Wukong hurt him. He always wanted to be more like the legendary Monkey King, and now he is. Now he has all of the worst parts of Wukong in him. Nothing else matters as long as he has his friends by his side. But what if he runs away? What if he pushes them away? What if his friends turn on him, seeing him for the monster he will become? What then?

[cienie-isengardu]

Erron Black. Arguably a character I don't know much about. Is Erron Black feminist, sexist, or just soft on girls? Now I know MK everyone can fight everyone, but in story mode...

In MK10 Milenna impale his hand with a knife, but he doesn't fight her. I'll except injury for that one.

But then with Cassie Cage later, he fights her, only after she engages him, but once he knocks her down he stops fighting her to fight Kung Jin in the market.

Later on the bridge fight, we do see him fighting Jacqui Briggs, in the background, but she charged him, so she initiated it, and when they focus in he is fighting Kung Jun again.

In MK11, when young Erron Black goes after Jade and Kotal, he let's Jade leave without so much as a glance.

In the Black Dragon fight pit, even though she is right next to him, he ignores Sonya Blade until she actually attacked him. He doesn't even point the other gun at her, he points it up and looks away, until she punches him.

The only time it looks like he initiated a attack on a woman was when Sheeva got shot in her shoulder armor (and shrugged it off), but we immediately see him chasing down Nightwolf, so that looks like a accident. And they only fight after she punches him across the room.

And in the comic's when he kidnapped Cassie and Jacqui he defended them against Kano, telling him not to hurt them, and when he realized they were in serious danger, tried to free them and help escape.

Unless I'm missing something, well he doesn't avoid it, he doesn't fight initiate fights with women.

Before I will talk at length about Erron Black and his attitude toward women I wish only to emphasize this is my subjective opinion and there is no need to agree with me on this. Because no matter how much source material will be brought into discussion, there are many ways to interpret his mindset, especially since A) what Erron says is not always compatible with what he is doing and B) the specific game mechanics that limit and/or adapt his “personality” to the needs of the storyline.

Long text ahead!

Mortal Kombat X’s stated Erron Black was hired by Shang Tsung 150 years ago. So he was born and raised at least the previous century and half, thus his approach to women may be old-fashioned but I wouldn’t say he was somehow deeply concerned per se about gender to begin with. Yes, the mentioned examples suggest otherwise but their context is as important as Erron’s action alone. Because the context of the game will not always work well with in-universe logic. I’m talking here stricte about game mechanics that are built around chapter’s main hero that must win against the opponents and in the mentioned examples Erron was sadly just an obstacle to beat down so it is not like he could headshot Mileena, Sonya or Sheeva or any woman and be done with the problem despite how marksmanship is his forte. Also, the game mechanic in MKX kinda made me joke that Erron shouldn’t be left on his own for too long because his competence in those chapters seemed that bad (from Outworld’s main cast only D’Vorah looked to me as a competent character and she was a traitor, that says a lot about Kotal’s team doesn it?). Anyway, on the basis of the specific nature of the game alone I wouldn’t go so far to judge Erron’s mindset, especially since he was a background/supportive character in MKX and MK11 story modes. So far, Black didn’t have his own chapter - thus the story isn’t told from his POV.

To be honest, games and comics present Erron in different lights, thus his approach to women may vary from one source to another. Because of that let’s firstly look at the sources separately.

In MKX, on Kotal’s voiceless order, Black was going to kill Rain. Mileena attacked Erron by surprise before he could shoot down the rebel but it was Kotal’s chapter so the emperor was the one that dealt with her. Erron was part of the background during chapter 2 without any impact on the story.

Then we have chapter 4 about Kung Jin.

When Cage Team met Erron Black for the first time, the man demanded to know what is Special Forces’ business here including “a reason why we shouldn’t kill you”. Despite the not so friendly welcome, Erron was willing to address Takeda’s remark (“I can read you… You’re not from Outworld.”) and did not resort to violence once Cassie’s explanation did not satisfy him. Looking at the uncertain situation of Outworld, Erron’s lack of trust is understable - Kotal was still at war with Mileena thus in constant danger. Of course, it is up to interpretation, did Erron listen to Jin solely because the prospect of money spoke to him so much or there is some bias (thus the cynical remark about Raiden’s seal and dismissive attitude) against Cassie, the woman in charge. I personally tend to think Erron was simply cautious because the last Earthrealm that got close to Kotal tried to kill the emperor. And yeah, Kano is nothing like Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda or Jin but there was no way for Black to know that for sure, especially since Outworld and Earthrealm weren’t really at the best terms at that time and Raiden’s name did not foreshadow anything good.

The next sequences may be interpreted as Erron being soft on women but I’m gonna present here different possibilities:

Once Jin went ahead to disrupt the execution, Erron’s first reaction was to shoot him yet Black took aim instead of shooting blindly without care for the crowd (or at least the slow down of his action is how it looked to me). Because he was focused on Jin - the main culprit whose action caused unwanted riot, Cassie easily stopped the attack. Should Erron be more focused on the female soldier at his side? Most likely, but all of this happened in mere seconds so I can understand why stopping Jin acting on his own accord was priority to the mercenary since it was related to his job and he was the one that agreed to take Earthrealmians to Kotal. Which may be the reason why Black just knocked down Cassie and immediately ran after Jin. And mind you, Erron knocked down Cassie by hitting her on the head with the butt of the pistol, which is not a gentle way by no means.

The chapter 6 is focused on Takeda and partially on Cage Team’s run from captivity. The Earthrealmians were important hostages, even if falsely accused of working with D’Vorah. So it makes sense that “Outworld Champions” weren’t trying to kill them. Otherwise Kung Jin would be shot down for good yet Erron kept him just at gunpoint. Once again, the game mechanics don’t make much sense considering how Jin stayed behind as air support but somehow ended up on the bridge while Jacqui disappeared somewhere in the background. Also, the same as with Cassie in Chapter 4, Erron did not kill defeated opponents nor tortured / injured for fun (Rain is a different matter because Erron went for killing only after Kotal’s voiceless order to finish the traitor).

In Chapter 11, Erron is even more degraded into a support role and he did not attack nor take part of the skirmish in the forest until Jacqui beat down Kotal. Personally I suspect he could be (in universe) too injured for hand to hand combat but once Team Cage was surrounded and Kotal gave the order for execution, Erron was aiming at Jacqui and if Sub-Zero did not show up, Black most likely would shoot to kill.

(Also, he did not shoot any enemy from a distance, so the women and men were treated the same although if this is a matter of game mechanics or Erron’s own moral code, hard to tell. Black recognized himself more as Outworlder than anything else so he may actually follow the common there idea of one on one fight.)

So, MKX story mode alone does not tell us much about Erron’s mindset about women because he has never been the one starting fights in the first place. This kinda makes sense since he is a mercenary and kills or injures only those who Kotal wishes to see dead or punished. Besides that he didn’t injure / kill Cassie when he had a chance but he didn't do so with Jin either. MKX!Erron gives the impression of a collected, detached type of person who is far from macho stereotypes or psychopath/sociopath like Kano.

Thankfully there is additional information like dialogue intros and Erron’s ending (from what we learned about Erron's approximate age) that aren’t canon per se but at least give some insight into his psyche.

The best counter argument for eventual Black’s habit of going easy on women is his own ending in which he ambushed and killed Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda and Jin (this situation was repeated in Briggs’ ending except this time Cage Team was saved by Jax). This is a rare moment in which Erron was the attacker and on his own initiated the violence toward others. In this case, he attacked women and men alike.

Then we have intro dialogues in which Erron usually deals with people in a professional manner, some even sometimes addressing in a polite way. Like “Mr. Kung” to Lao, “Mr. Hasashi” to Scorpion and “Mr. Takahashi” to Takeda. Surprisingly, he addresses Cassie and Sonya by their military rank (Sergeant Cage and General Blade respectively) which suggests that whatever Erron learned a century or two ago about gender-related social norms most likely evolved accordingly to his own life experiences, especially those gained in Outworld.

At the same time, it seems some of outfashioned - harmful - convictions are still enough deeply rooted in him to say stuff like that:

Kenshi: The friendless wanderer.

Erron Black: Least I don't take orders from a woman.

Kenshi: Which century are you from?

Which is kinda ironic since Kenshi takes orders from Sonya whom Erron addresses by high military rank without any snide comment about a woman in the army. But as far as I managed to check the intros, this is the only(?) one outright sexist thing Erron said to anyone and surprisingly, he didn’t say that to any woman, just to Kenshi. Frankly, if the idea of taking orders from women was so offensive, why would Erron bother to call Mileena the Crownless Queen or Kitana the Fallen Princess, if both titles by itself imply facing women that are used to give commands or even hire people like him? Once again, there is little to no sexist attitude toward women in context of their power over other men. Which suggests that whatever prejudices Black may have, he does not allow them to affect his interaction with other characters. Usually, at least.

Okay, the insult toward Kenshi could be some of Erron’s deep-seated sexist beliefs adding to the reason why he didn’t support Mileena in the fight for the throne. Yet, at the same time, if that was the case, he could outright say he doesn’t agree to be bossed by a woman to her (or he could be accused of that by her or any character really). Of course, it could be something similar to Black’s claim to care only about money with MK11 strongly hints he is saying one thing and doing differently but I will come back to this topic in a moment.

Another argument against this insult: Erron was one of the characters that did not mock Mileena’s look, origin or called her crazy. If he really thought listening to women's orders was so bad, then he didn’t show that when interacting with her or other female characters.

At the same time, like many other male characters, Black is not immune to the beauty of women around him and some of his comments sounds disrespectful and are unwelcome by the ladies:

Sonya: The gunslinger.

Erron Black: I could take you away from all this.

Sonya: I must be a jerk-magnet.

→ Sonya is not amused by Erron’s words at all.

Erron Black: Hello, beautiful.

Jacqui: Messin' with the wrong girl.

Erron Black: But it feels so right.

Jacqui is like the only one woman described by MKX!Erron as the beautiful one, the other he usually referred to along the lines of hot / sexy. Yet once Jacqui outright warned him to not mess with her, Erron deliberately ignored her because it amuse him. Whatever it is a sign of an old-fashioned mindset (a remnant of the times he grew up) or just simply (male’s) egoism on his part, Erron likes to flirt with women but he does not always respect their opinion or wish to be left alone.

At the same time, Erron rarely tried to change women’s minds about him or their eventual relationship. So far, only the intro dialogue with Kitana seems to be the exception:

Kitana: Stop!

Erron Black: We've barely begun, my lovely.

Kitana: It will end quickly.

Black may put his own amusement above other people's personal comfort, yes, but didn’t act creepy like Kano did, especially toward Blade-Briggs-Cage family as a whole.

So we have this

Jacqui: I really don't like you.

Erron Black: I really don't care.

Jacqui: As long as we're straight on that.

in which Erron doesn’t care for Jacqui’s dislike of his person but doesn’t impose himself on her. He does not resort to the common rapist “excuse” that woman says no but her body says otherwise, like Kano did (“Your mouth says Kano, but your eyes say Kan-yes.”) and this contrast puts Black in a more positive light. Similar thing happened in the intro dialogue toward Tanya.

Erron Black: My friend, Tanya.

Tanya: We are not friends, bounty hunter.

Erron Black: Have it your way...

Again, whether trying to be friendly or ironic, once Erron was “turned down”, he simply accepted the situation without any additional crude remarks.

Interestingly, interaction with Sonya showed that Black was capable of rethinking his statement about hot/sexy women:

Erron Black: Girls with guns? Always hot.

Sonya: I'll shove 'em up your ass and fire.

Erron Black: Almost always hot.

Those examples suggest Erron may treat women differently, depending on their “fighting experiences”, age and origin and maybe even how sexually / aesthetically appealing they are to him. For example, veteran Sonya’s threat was taken seriously while (novice / new generation) Jacqui’s warning was ignored. At the same time, the intro dialogues didn’t hint at any romantic or sexual interest in Ferra (a young female symbiote) nor D’Vorah (Kytinn) and relatively good looking Mileena who deserves a separate paragraph.

To be honest, Erron, Johnny and Kano are like the main three men openly showing their (sexual?) interest in women around them. Understable, Black’s flirting / comments rarely were appreciated yet he still was less creepy or aggressive towards others than Kano. Erron didn’t bother to hide his eventual (sexual) interest in beautiful women but it can’t be said A) he had no control over his sexual drive and B) has rapist / sexual predator tendencies.

Another interesting thing: with few exceptions like Kano or Quan Chi, Erron threatened people with violence usually after they offended him and most of the time maintained professional neutrality toward his rivals. In that regard, Erron treated other characters the same regardless of their gender.

This is something worth keeping in mind how Black, as mercenary, in general is not the initiator of violence. Unless someone will pay him. For money, Erron would attack (kill) anyone, including women (to Tanya, “The Kahn wants your head.” + Erron’s Epilogue).

The last detail to talk about: one of the intro dialogue with Cassie suggests Erron thought she was an easy opponent.

Cassie: Is something funny?

Erron Black: I'll win this easy.

Cassie: You're going down hard.

but to be fair, he thought the same about Sub-Zero

Erron Black: You're an easy target.

Sub-Zero: As are you.

Erron Black: Bullets beat snowballs any day.

so I wouldn’t say it was the bias toward Cassie because of her gender and just Erron’s own arrogance (and maybe lack of good judgement on his part).

In summary, MKX!Erron in game alone tends to act in a professional manner. He had an occasion to shoot defeated opponents but did not seize the opportunity against not only Cassie but Jin as well. During the storyline he was rather collected, emotionless. In intro dialogues he openly expresses his interest in tough, relatively attractive women yet the banter is far from the creeping tone of Kano’s interaction with female characters.

Then we have Mortal Kombat 11 in which past and future timelines are messed up. Sadly, Erron’s characterization departs from the neutral-polite one seen in the previous game. Of course, this could be blamed on the younger version of Erron, but frankly, twenty years for someone living at least for a century and half shouldn’t make that big difference in behaviour and well, MK11 outright claims Erron is prone to violence for violence’s sake instead of just money. Which is one of many plot-holes and divergences between both games I guess.

Anyway, Erron, again, was the background character to beat down, so it is worth remembering that he couldn’t permanently hurt or kill anyone from the main cast. In chapter 2 he let Jade get away when he was facing Kotal and frankly, there is little explanation for that in-universe wise. I personally suspect it may be related to Erron’s own sense of honor, as in respecting one on one fight without cheap moves like shooting someone’s beloved person. Not practical in the mercenary job but it is possible for someone born and raised around two centuries ago. Also, Shao Kahn’s anger was focused mainly on killing Kotal for taking the throne. Because of that Erron could be not interested in Jade who simply did not have any significant political matter at that time. Sadly, it is really hard to say for sure what was on his mind.

In chapter 6, past!Erron stormed the Special Forces Base alongside Black Dragon members. There were women in that group but sadly, Black did not interact with anyone beside Johnny Cage. We can at least assume, Black did not mind fighting side by side with women.

Similary, present!Erron in chapter 7 showed up in the background during the alliance attack on Coliseum. The attack was led by Kitana (albeit did Erron join her to save Kotal out of loyalty or for money, it was not explained) and there were female fighters in the group. It seems then Erron does not mind fighting side to side with women.

During the pit fight (chapter 8), past!Erron faced the past!Sonya and the past!Johnny. Frankly, the same as in the previous chapter, game mechanics make little sense because there was no real reason for Erron to open the ring and face the characters when he could simply shoot down both from a safe distance. This really undermines the whole point of Black being a gunslinger, isn’t it?

Anyway, Cage took the forward position (which I think is both because despite his injuries he tried to shield Sonya AND because he actually met Erron during an attack on a Special Forces’ base) and got shot in the arm. After a short skirmish, Erron knocked down Johnny and aimed to kill the injured man.

The most logical thing for Erron in this situation would be to shoot down Sonya first and then finish already beaten down and exhausted Johnny. In defense of the Black though it is worth emphasizing that he didn’t completely ignore Blade nor turned away from her.

Most likely the weird slow-down action of aiming at Johnny was a moment of distraction that Sonya simply used to attack. Similar to MKX, game mechanics do not allow Black to headshot the main heroes, even though, in-universe, he should do just that and be done with the job. There is also a possibility that past and present Kano still wanted to keep Sonya alive for their own amusment (torture and sadly most likely rape) what could explain why Erron didn’t shot her from safe distance. I mean, the game alone did not voice what Kanos really ordered Erron to do.

I know that MK games like to slow down action for dramatic effects, but I strongly believe it was actually a matter of a few seconds of distraction (Erron looking aside to shoot Johnny and aiming) that Sonya took advantage of rather Black ignoring her on purpose. Even more since Black did not hesitate to shoot at her and seemed to enjoy facing “the legendary” Sonya Blade.

The same as MKX, Mortal Kombat 11 does not explain Black’s mindset. He does not shoot Jade or Sonya when he has a chance but he does not make any rude remarks toward women in general. However the intro dialogues shed a light on the complicated relationship that Erron has with women.

From what we learn about Erron, his childhood was far from normal or safe. We don’t know details, but what he shared with Cetrion and Cassie strongly suggest that Erron’s both parents were abusive people:

Cetrion: You shot your own father, Erron Black.

Erron: Sonofabitch had it coming.

Cetrion: Honor thy parents, mortal!

or

Erron: My Ma would’ve loved you, Cassie Cage.

Cassie: Aw, sounds like you miss her bunches.

Erron: I hated Ma.

or

Erron: I grew up around tough women.

Cassie: Didn’t they teach you respect?

Erron: They taught me to hit back.

The last statement suggests young Erron was abused by women (most likely including his own mother) to the point he is now willing to hit back anyone regardless of their gender without remorse. Erron himself says “I ain't above shootin' a lady” (intro dialogue vs. Sonya).

Beside that, an abusive mother alone could influence Black’s approach to women - and most likely she did, since he admitted to hate her. Surprisingly, Erron uses the past tense (“I hated Ma”) so there is a chance he gained distance over time in that matter. It also seems like whatever he feels about mother usually doesn't affect his relationship with other female characters. For example, in the mentioned banter he did not insult Cassie for reminding him about the abusive parent. Despite the bad childhood intro dialogues hint Black actually likes dangerous women.

Erron Black: I stepped out with Nitara before you.

Skarlet: You clearly have a type, Erron.

Erron Black: Just like living dangerously.

Like in the previous game, Erron openly shows his (sexual) interest in various women. The interesting change however is how:

His interest extends now to more alien-looking female characters like Nitara or Sheeva. Surprisingly, Mileena’s advances are still rejected. Also, Erron has like zero respect for the goddess Cetrion but to be honest, he does not respect any god.

Erron is more disrespecting by using nicknames like Legs or Baby Doll for Sonya or Sugar for Cassie. Of course, it may be just the “charm” of younger Black - hard to tell in most cases which version is speaking - but it creates an overall feeling of ironic, at times irritating or insulting approach to female fighters. At the same time, there are women that Erron refers to in a rather consistently respectful manner - Jacqui (Miss Briggs, Little Lady), Jade (ma’am, missy), Kitana (Princess, Kahn).

Before I will focus on the complex situation with Mileena, I need to talk about Erron’s important trait: he often says one thing but does the opposite. This is especially noticeable in intro dialogues concerning money and loyalty. Both games agree the main motivation for Black is a good payment, albeit MK11 highline also the thrill of danger. Anyway, Erron admitted he is willing to betray Kotal, a current employer, if someone offered a better deal (“Until a better offer comes along.”, “There's always a better offer, Kotal”). This strengthens the impression Black cares only about himself yet he rejects all propositions coming from Kotal’s enemies such as Shao Kahn, Rain or Mileena, Quan Chi, Shinnok and Kano/Black Dragons. At the same, he is willing to work with/ for Kitana who happens to be the best friend of Jade, Kotal’s beloved. Which makes Erron still operate in a group wishing no harm to the ex-emperor.

I’m bringing this into discussion because there is strong possibility that under the tough guy act, Erron still follows some “old-fashioned” sense of morality and is decent enough to not attack or harm women (and in my opinion, people in general) unless A) it is part of the job or B) is self-defense. Which could explain why he let Jade walk away or why he didn’t shoot Sonya from a safe distance but faced her in hand to hand combat. Depending how long he lived in Outworld, he could simply adapt into local customs - the people of Outworld are a combat-focused society and because of that have a strong sense of honor code. Erron’s eventual softness toward female fighters would get him in serious problems and I doubt he could afford such weakness when serving Shang Tsung or Shao Kahn.

So, why did Erron not want to serve Mileena, the designated successor? As the Empress, she was in position to offer the best (materially wise at least) deal after all.

In MKX!banter Erron claims Kotal paid him better:

Mileena: You aided the usurper.

Erron Black: He offered more coins.

Mileena: ...and no protection.

Meanwhile, MK11!Black outright says it was not a matter of money but of Mileena’s behaviour. Considering how prone to violence she was, it is no wonder why Erron decided to work for someone else.

Erron Black: Now what's got you all rip-snorting mad?

Mileena: When I gained the throne, you abandoned it.

Erron Black: Wasn't no pay worth dealing with your crazy.

This brings me back to the MKX’s banter suggesting Erron may dislike being bossed by women. Considering the implication he is currently negotiating a proper deal with Kitana Kahn (“New Kahn, same deal?”), the problem is more complex than judging someone by gender alone. I mean, Erron worked for Shao Kahn who himself was a cruel tyrant so sadism shouldn't be anything new for Black, right? Except, he was hired by Shang Tsung and because of that I think it is highly possible Erron had just indirect contact with the Emperor. Thus Erron could be not ready for Mileena’s unstable nature(?) and cruelty.

I mean - Erron comes from a pathological family and grew up around tough women. In his opinion Cassie has some traits or behaves in a way for which his mother would’ve liked the girl. So there are certain things that Black connects to hated mother. Now, Cassie is more of an extrovert type of person, showy and with sharp ripostes but she is one of the good guys and cruelty for fun is not her thing. So, if someone like Cassie can somehow make him think of a hated parent (that most likely is dead for decades now), how much Mileena could trigger Erron in the wrong way? To the point he chooses his mental health over money and/or thrill of danger?

If this is true, we may further wonder if bad experiences with tough women in childhood are the reason why despite flirtatious nature, Erron’s interest in female fighters usually is strictly sexual attraction? Because it really looks like he does not try to emotionally connect with women. Even his “thing” with Skarlet seems to be more a matter of thrill than a serious relationship, considering how Erron was okay with her eventual death.

(The possibility of Erron being freaked out by Mileena also rises an interesting question about her mental state between MK9 and MKX)

This is why I think Erron did not have a problem with working for women as long as they did not remind him too much of past abuse. And this is pretty nice implication, considering how tough guy Erron is for most of the time.

Because of that, Kotal questioning if Erron is jealous of Jade could be read in different way too:

Erron Black: So, you and Jade, huh?

Kotal Kahn: Jealous, Erron Black?

Erron Black: She's quite the looker, Kotal.

And yeah, Erron brings this to the matter of appearance alone, but hopeful as I proved earlier, Erron sometimes says one thing but does (thinks) something totally different. Because of that I suspect he may not be really jealous of Kotal for having a sexy lady but actually of the relationship itself. You know, build on respect and love than just build on sexual drive.

Like I said before, the game cutscenes and character banters may be interpreted in many ways but for me MK11!Erron Black - at least the older version - seems to mask his trauma and/or complex nature of his relationship with women under the act of tough guys. At the same time, there is a high possibility he still follows an out-fashioned sense of honor and though he is not above shooting women, he does not attack them unless it is demanded. Though to be fair, in my opinion this is how he approaches everyone. A mercenary’s mindset that distinguishes him from the likes of Kano.

In Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermatch, Erron met Sheeva, when the Shokan Queen in the company of Fujin, Nightwolf and Shang Tsung carried a coffin to the Soul Chamber. Black and Baraka decided to confront the Shokan woman and it quickly turned into a fight (and the typical game mechanics).

There is a question though - did Erron really take Kitana's offer or did he stay with Kotal? Because it’s really suspicious that he happened in the place where defenless, injured Kotal was in the healing process. Anyway, whatever the case, Black directly or indirectly worked for the new Kahn so it is highly possible his actions were dictated by Kitana’s best interest rather than his liking or disliking anyone.

Let’s just look at the situation - Kitana is the empress but she promised to treat her allies as her equals. That means Sheeva, as well respected Shokan Queen, plays an important role in the new regime - killing her or permanently injuring was out question, otherwise Shokan people could rebel against Kitana and in result the freshly established peace would go straight to hell.

In my opinion, this is why Erron asked Sheeva’s group to go with them quietly so the situation could be explained to Kitana without unnecessary violence. Black actually was okay with Sheeva go to Soul Chamber as long as Shang Tsung (Shao Kahn’s sorcerer) and the suspicious coffin was returned to him. Thanks to Shang Tsung, one of Tarkatan warrior died and thus the situation got out of hand. It makes sense Erron was more focused on Shang Tsung (hated by Kitana), Nightwolf (whose current self is revenant) and Fujin than on Sheeva who, potentially, was protected by political immunity.

When the Shokan Queen beat down Baraka, Erron in my opinion did not try to hurt her, only fired a warning shot. Maybe to make sure Sheeva will not kill Baraka (another important leader whose support Kitana needed to uphold the peace in Outworld). The Earthrealmers on other hand were another matter. Maybe Erron was too trusting or too reckless to not pay more attention to Sheeva or simply didn’t really think she was the traitor. It was after learning she is trying to resurrect Kitana’s evil mom - a dangerous, not consulted with Empress decision - Erron faced Sheeva in hand to hand combat.

Not much to analyse here, especially not with limitations of game mechanics yet I strongly believe Erron’s course of action was dictated by political situation and Kitana Kahn’s best interest so killing or seriously injuring Sheeva could be out of question. Also, like I said previously, Black is rarely the aggressor, what I believe is related to his mercenary’s mindset.

The last source, Mortal Kombat X comics series, requires a little clarification: I treat it as a potentially additional insight into Erron’s psyche than any real canonical material. Partially due to many plot-holes but also because of overwhelming violence used for violence’s sake alone. That said, here what happens:

Earthrealm (Special Forces) and Outworld (Kotal Kahn) weren’t on the best terms. To help Kotal, Erron and Black Dragons kidnapped young (under 21 years old) Cassie and Jacqui and took them to Outworld. During the journey through the dangerous jungle, girls tried to run away but got hurt in the process by Kano. Erron openly talked against brutal treatment of prisoners.

Looking at the difficult situation of Kotal, it was in Erron’s best interest to keep Cassie and Jacqui in one piece. Otherwise the whole plan would fail and then Kotal would be forced to deal with really pissed off Sonya Blade. And that would take a bad turn for Black himself. But like I said earlier, the tough guy act could also cover Erron’s more empathic nature that in the mercenary world was seen as a weakness to exploit. I personally think he did not like torturing people if that was unnecessary but also that he would have spoken against it even if Cassie and Jaquie were boys.

Then the Red Dragons attacked to take over hostages.

(Once again, a tough guy act with the “girls are Kotal’s property” as in cover up his worries about the situation or his true mindset, or mix?)

When the fight started, Erron went to tied hostages:

One one hand, Erron needs the girl to stay alive and not be taken by the enemy. On the other hand, he does not promise them safety nor ask them to run away. He is freeing them so the two girl (both under 21 years old) will fight against experienced criminals armed with swords and other dangerous stuff. This is actually an interesting detail, because it suggests Erron thought Cassie and Jacqui had a chance against thugs or that at least that way they wouldn't be a burden to him.

Jacqui punched him and Erron, either was taken by surprise or did not want to hurt her, was “saved” by Kano. And then betrayed by the Black Dragon leader.

Kano’s worlds raise a question, how much Erron is driven by the money and how much he uses the tough guy act to actually hide his unwanted “vulnerability” (as in, having moral sense and not being the heartless psychopath like Kano).

My general conclusion about Erron is that, for a side character he has a really complex relationship with women around him. I strongly believe that Erron sticks to some old fashioned sense of honor that mixes well with a mercenary's mindset. Thus rarely he is the one attacking first. This most likely influences his interaction with female fighters but at the same time, Outworld is not a place where people are judged by gender but for their skills and powers. So, Erron living there for decades for sure got influenced by that mindset to some degree.

I would not call him a feminist - not because he couldn’t be one but for lack of proper material to analyse. Feminism has many shades but in the most general sense is about establishing the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Erron does not show much opinion on that matter and does not interact with “common” women; those truly weaker than him, disabled or anything else other than warriors, soldiers or queens. With lack of such interaction there is no chance to come to a proper conclusion.

Does Erron have a soft spot for women? It is possible but that would not stop him from hitting back or killing them if the situation called for such action. I think the safest option is just that Erron is in general a more emphatic and honorable human that he wants to admit, to not look weak or be exploited by others. In contrast to Kano, Black for sure has some moral code he follows no matter what. Even if this get him into trouble more often than not.

Hope it answers your question!

[dancingthesambaa]

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 13

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him.

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 13: The Apocalypse (But with More Bulls)

A group of children huddled together as they tried to escape the robotic drones that surrounded them in the ice cream shop. The streets were no longer safe as they had been filled with roaming Bull drones and they ripped and tore no matter what or who stood in their way. They hoped that they would be able to wait it out until help arrived, but they didn’t count on the drones coming into the building and finding them.

“AHHHHH!” They all screamed as the bulls began to leap at them.

SMASH! BASH! CRASH!

Their eyes widened as they saw the machines falling to the ground in bits and pieces until there was nothing left except for an ominous violet figure before them.

“S-s-stay away!” One of the older children nervously warned as she stood in front of them with her arms stretched out.

“Dude, he-she-they just saved our butts,” another child put a hand on her shoulder, “I think they are one of the good guys.”

“We don’t know that!” She argued.

“I mean, they are standing right there and haven’t attacked us yet sooo,” a younger girl pointed out. “Point in the good guy direction.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“Wait, I know him!” They all snapped their heads to the youngest in their group as he ran up to the figure.

“Bao!”

“Wait!”

“Are you crazy?!”

“MAC MAC!” He grinned as he threw his body to him, “I am so happy you are here!”

The monkey said nothing as he caught the child and gently patted the child's head.

“Sooo, Imma go out on a limb here and say he's good,” said the girl with the prosthetic arm. She happily smirked at their groans.

“Oh yeah, he is my sister's former teacher, though I don’t think I've ever seen you like this,” he pondered.

“Clone,” the demon uttered.

“Clone?”

“Follow me,” he instead said as he walked to the door, “I’ll take you where it’s safe.”

“Really?”

“Awesome!”

“That’s a relief.”

“Can I bring some ice cream?”

The children all chatter with a bit more pep in their step as they trudge through the war torn streets and fallen buildings until they laid eyes on a set of buildings that looked relatively untouched by the madness surrounding them with a pristine white hospital building in the middle of it all. Some people were littered around the street, but when they stepped into the hospital it was a lot more hectic as not only doctors and nurses were bustling around trying to tend to as many wounded as they could. But there were also regular people trying to give a helping hand as they either did basic first aid to those who needed it or helped the staff collect the supplies they needed.

“Whoa,” they all collectively gape at the semi organized chaos inside.

“Bao!” The child looks to see Bohai's relieved expression, “thank the gods you and your friends are okay.”

“Mac Mac saved us,” he wiggled out of the monkey arms to get a hug from the jellyfish demon then he looked around the room. “Where’s Yanyu? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine, she was working when this all went down, so she is currently in the back taking care of a bunch of patients. Are you all alright?”

“Just scrapes and bruises,” one of the girls says as she covers the mouth of the one armed girl. “You are not making another missing arm joke, you hear me.”

“Fine,” she huffed then she grinned mischievously as she looked at Bohai, “so do you guys need a hand, I can only spare you one though.”

“For the love of-!”

“Stoppp!”

“Nooo!”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she laughed at the agony.

“If you want to bring the staff some snacks and drinks, and yes I’m including everyone in this list, that would be awesome. They really need to pick me up right now,” he showed them to a small area where copious amounts of food and drinks were laid out. “People have been bribing them since this all started, but no one really had a break yet.”

“You can count on us!” The oldest girl saluted as she and the rest gathered snacks in their arms and began to spread out all through the hospital, except for Bao who was still holding onto the jellyfish. Even the clone Macaque had left had begun to venture through the hospital and began to help out a few patients.

“…is everyone else alright,” he whispered out in hesitation.

Bohai kneeled down and smiled, “I think they will be just fine, your brothers and sisters are smart after all. I know they will pull through.”

“Right,” he nodded and shared a grin.

“And we have people and demons looking for anyone who needs help,” that included his friends on the list as Daiyu took to the skies and over the seas, Minsheng and Ahmed took to the streets looking for stragglers, and Macaque leaping from building to building checking to see if there are any lingering people trapped inside. “So don’t worry about them, instead how about we focus on feeding some hungry people. I know how cranky they can get when their bellies are empty.”

“Like Yan Yan when she forgot to eat because she had a 30 hour shift and she tied us all up when we mentioned her leftover food in the fridge.”

“Exactly.”

“How does this keep happening to us!” Mei yelled out as she and MK were hanging onto the sword for dear life as they dangled above the pit of despair.

“I don’t know!” MK yelled too as he clung onto Mei’s legs. “How do we get down?!”

“I don’t know!” She adjusted her grip on the sword, “we are currently on our way to fight the Demon Bull King, one of Monkey King greatest enemies, with less than 2 weapons on us if you don’t count my daggers and your brass knuckles, the rest of our team still keeping the ones up top busy and-wait!” Mei’s eyes brighten, “not everyone!”

“Huh? Who?!”

“Macaque!” Mei could feel a breath of relief come through her, “he’s still in the city dealing with the other clones, but I think this warrants a higher attention.” If anyone, other than the Monkey King and MK, can stop the Bull King, it’s him.

“I don’t know,” MK flinched as Mei's head creaked to him and her eyes began to twitch.

“Oh no, we are so not doing this, I am calling fuzzbutt whether you like it or not,” she stated and she sucked in a deep breath.

“Wait,” he quickly climbed her and put his hands over her mouth, “we don’t need to call him, I can handle this.”

“Do you not see where we are?” She would emphasize their precarious situation, but she is currently holding onto the only thing that is stopping the both of them from becoming mush on the floor. “What is your problem with calling him for help?”

“Nothing,” he too quickly defended himself.

“Then you should have no problem if I call him.”

“You're not calling for him.”

I’m calling him.”

“No, you're not,” he argued.

“I am!”

“You're not!”

“Am!”

“Not!”

“Am!”

“Not!”

“Am!”

“Not!”

“Not!”

“Am! Wait-dammit!” He cursed as he got tricked.

“Ha! I win, and I'm calling him!” Mei grinned.

MK was about to refute her when he saw a terrifying sight above them. “Noooo.”

She raised her eyebrow as she turned to see what he was looking at and she almost let go of her sword as she saw hundreds of deactivated Bull drones stationary all over the walls and mere meters from where they were at.

“Shit.”

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Mei’s phone buzzed quite loudly.

“Shit.”

Blue eyes lit up one by one as the drones quickly woke up at the sound as their heads all snapped towards the two lone humans.

“SHIT!”

“GHA!” Red son grunted out as he was flung back. He gritted his teeth as the sharp rocks pierced him, but he shakily stood up as he stood behind his mother, who was also silently huffing for air as the two of them faced down the enraged Bull King. He knew something was wrong, there had to be something, otherwise, his father wouldn't so carelessly nor even attempt to accuse the two of them of traitorous intent based on the barest of threads.

‘There has to be,’ he desperately thought as he silently looked at his hands and gripped it as it began to heat up. ‘But there is no defining evidence…I should have never taken that key.’ He regretted silently as they were once more prepared to go toe to toe with the Bull King when out of nowhere.

“AHHHHHHHH!” BOOM

MK lands face first into the ground.

“Noodle boy?!” What is he doing here?!

“Little thief,” Bull King hissed out as he then gripped his head and uttered. “Sun Wukong.”

Both he and his mother were startled by that admission as they couldn’t help but share a glance, as they passively watched Bull King begin his assault on the Monkey King successor.

Red son gritted his teeth as he watched his friend get pulverized by his father. ‘I have to do something, but what can I do? Something nefarious is afoot with father and yet I am standing here like a dame instead of helping MK. MK? No! No, I mean I have to help father snap out of whatever has come over him instead of beating upon my fri-noodle boy! Hurting noodle boy…he is hurting noodle boy…MK.” He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the horrifying sight of the rage filled demon looming over MK with his fists raised high in the air.

“NO!” He burst into flames and charged forward, but was stopped by his mother as she swiftly sent out two airstrikes to the Bull King and used her fan to sweep the boy away from his demise and plopped him down next to the both of them.

“Wha-” he groggily got up as he looked up in surprise at Princess Iron Fan.

“It’s the canister, they have driven him mad with power,” she said as she hatefully eyed the glowing blue canisters upon the Bull King back.

“Well that’s a problem,” he blinked as he saw the skeletal remains floating about in the sludge of energy.

Then in a feral-like fury where only instinct took full control of body rather than the mind, the Bull King had snarled at them and began to charge on all fours.

“All right,” he used his staff to pick himself up, “time for round 2.”

“No, we fight together,” the prince said in determination as he readied his stance and was about to charge once more when another voice echoed.

“Seems like you guys can use a hand,” their eyes widen as they see the Bull King sink into the ground as a massive transparent violent hand of energy crushed him.

“Dad/Macaque!” MK and Red son cried out in relief as Iron Fan said it a bit more calmly as MK continued. “How are you here?!”

“Jade rang for me,” the voice echoed out as it continued its struggle against pinning the demon down. “Said some interesting things too.”

Mei's hands twitched anxiously as she waited for any sign of MK. She had just finished cleaning up the rest of the drones in the caves, but she thought it best if she kept here in case there would be any bot or people trying to sneak in to aid the nefarious family. Yet, that didn’t stop her from wanting to go down there and help her friend, no matter how stupid or dangerous that may be.

“You know what, screw this. Sorry MK, but we need all the help,” she gave a quick apology as she sucked in a deep breath and yelled, “MACAQUUEEE!”

Her voice vibrated through the walls.

She knew that she could have easily called him on her phone and he would have come just as quick, but that didn’t really matter in the long run as he saw a dark figure leap his way over to her. “Took you long enough,” she said with a small grin as he phased into the mech.

“Sorry, the city is in chaos as you know,” Macaque sarcastically said as he eyed her state to see any injuries.

“I’m fine,” she quickly said, “but MK is down there fighting DBK!”

“What!” His golden eyes that were tinted with violet eyes snapped onto her light green ones as all six ears twitched.

“Yeah, he didn’t want me to tell you, but I think we have bigger things to worry about.”

“Don’t want me-no,” he stopped himself short before he could go deeper. “Putting that to the side, for now, bigger problems first. Will you be fine if I go to your idiot brother.”

“I am currently inside of a monkey mech,” she deadpanned, “I am more than fine.”

He shot her a smirk and ruffled her already messed up hair and sunk back into the shadows and began to move deeper into the pit.

“Ahaha, about that,” MK nervously scratched the back of his neck.

“We are talking about this later.”

“Yeah that’s fair,” he slumped down.

Then a figure leaped out from the shadows of the Bull King as the Bull King rapidly gained back its bearing and destroyed the hand pinning it down.

Macaque whistled, “Well, I thought that it would at least keep you down a little longer than that, but apparently I’m wrong.”

“It’s the canister!” MK yelled, “they’re amplifying his powers.”

“You don’t say,” he muttered as he eyed the glowing blue power of energy then stared at it a bit harder as something felt off about it. “Somethings not right.”

Princess Iron Fan raised an eyebrow at his comment but quickly pushed it aside as she readied herself. “We can save questions for later, right now we have to get those off of my husband.”

“Right,” he nodded and his eyes went back to the Bull King who was getting up, “alright anyone got a plan.”

“Both Red son and I shall distract him, while the two of you get that monstrosity off him,” she said.

“Gotcha, you ready comet,” he summoned a few of his clones.

MK hesitated before nodding as he put his staff forward, “born ready.”

Then, without warning, the rest of the royal family burst into action as the two attacked the Bull King in a rapid fire as he was suddenly surrounded by a huge fire tornado.

“YOU SHALL FALL TOGETHER!” He roared out as he dispersed it with a loud crackle of energy.

Both of them, who was very much still injured and winded from their already long fight, were pushed back as they fell into the rubble. They slowly tried to get up as the glowing King stomped his way towards them.

His form seemed to almost ripple in anticipation as he locked his glowing blue eyes on their downed forms. No hesitation in his steps as the voices in his head urged him to finally end the traitors.

End the traitors

Destroy them for their treachery

Build a kingdom worth your name

Let their bones turn into ashes

Let their blood soak into the ground

Let their flesh set a reminder

You are the true king

“Yesss,” he hissed out his agreement as he raised his arms to finish them (ignoring the heavy invisible restraint against his arm and a small voice yelling at him to stop.) He would end this now.

Then his head was hit by a rock.

He snarled as he turned to look at MK, who was still in a throwing position.

“Hey, guess I’m a better pitcher than a hitter!” He joked, but then yelped as he felt himself get caught in the Bull’s hand.

“I’ve had about enough of you, one would think that you would learn more of the little sage tricks,” he snarled.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” he shrugged.

Bull King snarled as he proceeded to squeeze him until he was nothing but bones and blood.

“Wait! Wait!” He cried out until he poofed out in a golden light.

“What!” He shouted as he looked at the falling hair, “a clone!?”

“Yup!” He looked to see the real MK in mid-air, “and I didn’t learn little tricks from only the Monkey King,” he grinned as he summoned a hoard full of clones.

He snarled and was about to jump up to meet them when he felt his hooves and hands being grabbed, he looked down to see many Macaque clones holding him down, while some were grabbing his hands.

“Get ready for a nice wake up call,” the real Macaque smirked as he kept into the shadow to keep a steady supply of energy to his clones.

“HERE COMES MONKIE KID!” MK cried out as he and his clones proceeded to all out attack the Bull King until the canister was finally knocked off his back and with one final burst of energy, it had dispersed.

Freedom

Freedom

Gather back

Become one again

Vessel

Freedom

The black furred monkey felt a shiver running up his spine as he heard the voices ringing in his ears. He looked around and sure enough, it seemed that he was the only one who heard the ominous whispers.

‘That wasn’t a normal power madness,’ he concluded as he realized what really happened. Before he could tell the rest he felt a gust of wind come about as the three demons proceeded to leave.

“Are you serious?!” MK panicked as the rocks began to fall down all around them. “You really just left us here!”

“Honestly not surprised,” he shrugged his shoulder and grabbed his kid by the back of his shirt, “now come on and let’s get out of here before the rocks do us in.”

“How?!”

BOOM!

They looked to see a giant Monkey Mech burst in as Mei smiled at them.

“Everything went well! Need a lift?”

“Mei!”

“Nice timing Mushu.”

“That was some fight huh,” Sandy said as he ate his noodles on top of the giant mech with everyone else. “But we managed to stop DBK.”

“Nice job defeating him MK,” Tang grinned as he slurped up the remains of his bowl.

“I don’t know, I don’t think I really defeated him,” he muttered as he fiddled with his chopsticks. “There was something weird, that power he had just made him…different.”

“But we won right,” she looked on the bright side.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” the historian appeared over Pigsy's shoulder and was casually grabbing some noodles from his bowl. “You don’t need this right sugar.”

“Get your hands off my food!” He pulled away from his lover as everyone around them laughed.

Amid their exuberant energy, they haven’t quite realized that the area was almost desolate with anyone else, including animals and bugs that usually roam around here. The only animal anywhere near them was a bird that perched right on top of one of the outer rocks in the clearing. It seemed to be in a tranquil state as it took in the scene, so it spread its wings to fly off when a voice stopped him.

“You know you could have jumped down and talked to them instead of standing there like an actual creeper,” said Macaque as he emerged from the shadow.

The bird gave him wide eyes as he instinctively transformed back into his original form, “Didn’t really think I should just go in there when all is said and done,” Wukong said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Wow, it must have taken a long time to think about that with the way you were sitting there,” he rolled his eyes and leaned against the rock.

“I’m not that bad,” he muttered and settled back down on top of the rock.

“Could have fooled me with the number of times you have a stupid idea.”

“Oh like you haven’t had one.”

“I have my own fair share, but it doesn’t even pale in comparison to yours, should I bring up the Kinnara incident,” he smirked.

“How was I supposed to know that she would kick our ass for interrupting her song,” he grumbled.

“Your ass,” he emphasized, “I had the common sense to stay behind, one would think not to mess with a being whose own gaze can pierce through you.”

“Didn’t seem that way to me.”

“Well, you didn’t have something called survival instinct.”

“To be fair I had plenty of instincts, but I just chose to ignore it back then and thought she was a harmless target,” he then shuddered, “so many regrets that day.”

“Pfft,” he chuckled lowly and Wukong couldn’t help but join in. He knew he was very stupid back then and so much more impulsive and looking back on it now, it is rather funny. But the laughter couldn’t last forever as it then died down as the atmosphere turned into an awkward silence.

Both monkeys knew they were avoiding the bigger problem at hand, but neither wanted to bring that up. At the same time though, they couldn’t ignore it forever, and eventually one of them will have to make the first step soon.

So Macaque opened his mouth and said, “Well if you ever feel like leaving your mountain other than stalking my kid, the forest is always open.”

“Really,” his eyes widened.

‘You really want to see me again.’ The silent question was asked.

“It is a public area, though you might want to bring starlight along with you if you want to see the not so public sights,” he said with a shrug.

‘Yes, I do.’ Was the silent answer.

“I’ll definitely do that! Maybe sometime next week?” He couldn’t stop his smile from growing widely.

“That work, well I got to get back. Too much damn medicine to make and that’s with my clone's help,” he grumbled as he pushed back off the rock.

“See you then,” he said with a short wave.

Macaque flippantly waved his hand as he sank back into the shadows.

Wukong grinned as he watched his friend's aura travel through his shadows until he had reached the city limits. It was only then he turned back into his bird form and took off towards his mountain once more.

“So the hospital is really that backed up again,” MK asked as he sat on top of the rooftop with his dad the next day.

“Like a car side swiping a train,” he groaned as he laid down. “I just got done helping not even an hour ago.”

“I bet Yanyu had to drag you out,” the monkey successor snorted.

“Nah, she was snoring in the back room, she passed the fuck out a few hours back after a successful surgery,” he grinned in pride. His student has really come far since he first started teaching her and to think that she had doubts about her ability, now look at her working alongside the attending physicians. He can still remember her running towards him and lunged at him with utter joy on her face when she told him that she passed her qualifying exam. He is really proud of her.

“She deserves it,” he nodded.

“She does,” the monkey hummed as he got up, “but I think it’s time we talk about that little thing back in the cave.”

MK nervously straightened up as he scratched the back of his neck, “hahaha what do you mean?”

“You are still a terrible liar comet, why didn’t you call me,” he looked him in the eyes.

“I was going to,” he mumbled, not sounding at all convincing.

“Really,” his voice dripped with sarcasm.

MK tried to keep a straight face, but it didn’t last long as he groaned and put his face in his hands, “Alright fine I wasn’t! But I could have handled it! You're always there and I know I can count on you, but something I need to do by myself. I’m not a child anymore.”

“And I know your not, and I have tried my best to not hound on you,” he said then he let out a sigh, “believe me when I say that I know I worry a little too much-”

“A little?!” Mei shouted as she lifted the hatch up.

“Mei! How long have you been there?!” The twenty years old shouted.

“Hehehe, long enough,” she nervously giggled as she slowly climbed out and sat next to her brother. She had forgotten she was eavesdropping on them and just had to blurt out. “Kinda forgot, but I still stand by my point.”

“I know, I mean ever since you left I've been trying to hold back from outright following you around,” he reluctantly said, not even blinking an eye at Mei’s sudden appearance.

“And I'm glad you haven’t, Mei already has a tracker on all of us,” he shot a glare at his sister.

“Wait really?”

“Yes siree!”

“…I feel like I should talk to you more about that kind of stalking,” he eyed her as he was forcibly reminded of another monkey and his stalking.

“Have you seen the number of times we unintentionally get into weird situations, let alone the times we actively seek it out?” She deadpanned.

“And I take that back,” he retracted his words. “But regardless, I trust you Starbright. I trust you even when I want to scoop both you and your sister up and hide you away from the world. But when shit like this happens, I get fucking worried cause that could have ended in a complete disaster, you understand?”

“But it didn’t!” He protested.

“But it could have,” he shot back and leaned in close, “and I’m so fucking grateful that it didn’t. Cause what if something did happen and the both of you wound up biting more than you could chew, fuck the two of you could have died and I wouldn’t have known shit until I saw your corpse.”

“I-I,” MK didn’t know what to say as he lowered his head alongside Mei. Both teenagers were at a loss of words at the reality of the situation, especially MK.

Macaque took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh as he brought both children close to him, “Look, I trust you to take care of yourself, but if you think you land in a situation you can’t handle, please call me. I know I sound repetitive at this point, but I stand by my fucking word that I will come, okay.”

Both of them looked up to meet their dad’s concerned eyes and nodded.

“You got it,” Mei smiled and leaned further into his fur.

“Okay,” MK sniffed as cuddled closer to him.

The black furred monkey smiled down at both of them and gave them each a kiss to the forehead and silently watched the bustling city below just a little longer.

“I’m fine my queen,” Bull King grumbled as he walked through the cave. “I sustained only minor injuries.”

“I know you have, but you were overtaken by a sinister energy source that managed to drive you mad with power that put your meridians past the point of exhaustion,” she deadpanned. “You need to rest.”

“It still doesn’t make sense how such a source can overtake father's mind,” Red son muttered as he looked through an ancient book. “I have heard tales of items having power from their previous owners and using it to their own design, but never of just raw aura. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“You're not wrong spitfire,” they turned to see Macaque phasing out from the shadow of a rock.

“Six Eared Macaque,” Bull King grumbled before he suddenly caught a bag that was thrown at him. “What is-”

“Spiritual roots from the Kunlun Peak, brew those in tea and they should help your median lines get back into condition before the month is up,” the monkey said as he walked closer.

“This is most useful, I will transfer the money-” Macaque cut her off.

“Consider this repaying the favor of saving my son Raki.”

“If I had not attempted to harm your child in my plight of madness there would be no need for this,” DBK gritted out and slightly lowered his head. He knew that the slight of offense of their agreement was on him and his mad conquest of power, if the Six Eared Macaque declared retribution for his actions then he would have to honor his word. What the outcome will be for both sides remains a mystery.

“Yeahhh what you did was stupid, but that’s actually what I came down to talk to you guys about,” he patted Red Son on the shoulder, “your kid is right about the power madness, what happen to you was not that.”

“What?” Both father and son blurted out.

“Explain,” the mother's eyes narrowed as her hand twitched.

“You were being possessed by one bitch of a spirit, what kind, I don’t know, but I do know the signs of possession when I see one.”

“How?”

“Was the different colored glowing eyes not obvious enough? His spouts of madness? Him going completely feral? Whatever you guys found is powerful, powerful enough to influence you BK.”

There was a silence as the surreal announcement enveloped them then someone growled as two craters appeared on the walls.

“Who dares think they have the audacity,” Queen Iron Fan hissed out as the wind began to swirl around her.

“I swear when I find the leech who manipulates me, I will tear their body limb from limb, bone to bone, blood into ashes and let their soul never find rest,” the King growled out in utter hatred.

Prince Red Son said nothing as sparks of fire flickered on and off around different corners of the cave and his hand trembled with fury.

The Royal Bull family does not take lightly to insults upon their names. They are known for sparking dread within people, making those fall to their feet, being a symbol of fear and power spread all through the nation and someone had the insolence to try to not only take control of their King but even fucking dare try to rip the family apart and kill them under his own hands?

They shall feel their wrath, this they declare.

“Well I have my message out of the way,” he wasn’t even fazed by their spirited anger, “Red a word.”

This snapped the prince out of his fury as he walked over to his pseudo uncle, “How may I help you?”

“Not me per say, but certainly my two kids who are worried the hell for you.”

“Their okay right,” he quickly questioned as he knew MK was alright but hadn't seen signs of Mei.

“A little bruised up, but they had worse, but my advice to you kiddo is talk to them. They have been worried out of their minds and I’m sure whatever you might have done they’ll forgive you.” He knew that Red Son wasn’t talking to them out of some sort of self doubt and guilt, but he wasn’t about to pry into what he did.

“You really think so?”

“You’ll have to ask them yourself.”

“…I will,” he nodded, “Thank you.”

“No problem, but let me tell you that since I have known you for a long time and I know you wouldn’t do abuse trust so lightly, especially from people you give a shit about, I’ll let you off with a light warning,” his eyes began to faintly glow a light violet color, “I may not know what you did, but don’t try to maliciously deceive them again, okay.”

“Yes sir,” he immediately said.

“Good boy,” he smirked and ruffled his hair, “now stop fucking around and send them a text before I duct tape their mouths myself.”

“They’ve been that bad?”

“I almost sicced Daiyu on the both just so they could do something else other than complain,” he deadpanned.

“…full permission to do the same if they get past that point,” he smirked.

“You don’t need to even ask me.”

“Yes!” He excitedly pumped his fist.

[lunar-wandering]

Okay, okay, so what if in the Midnight AU, the forgetting effect only works on people who have fond feelings for Wukong? The Demon Bull Family reluctantly agree to help him. Wukong is relieved and is on his best behavior and is all respectful and nice. Slowly, their feelings of resentment for him start to fade. Unfortunately for Wukong, so do their memories of him.

fkgjdhgkjgldfks upsetting

i mean. i was going to have the Demon Bull Family be immune to it for Reasons, and just to have some shenanigans of Wukong hanging out with them but. h.

upsetting.

of course, i think that Red Son would probably figure out that it’s connected to how they feel about Wukong, so he’d probably tell him, so Wukong knows that this is why they forget him which. ouch??? that’d hurt so much more if he knew the reason the Demon Bull Family was starting to forget him was because they were starting to care again????

....Wukong actively starts antagonizing them, in a last ditch effort to keep them from forgetting, but it doesn’t work. and soon enough. Wukong is on his own again. 

meanwhile, MK and the others....since they’ve forgotten why they’re out in the middle of nowhere, well. they’re in the right state... to be attacked-

Wukong hears them being attacked and shows up to save them- and gets reintegrated into the group, but this time its as “random person who showed up to help us, none of us know who he is though”.

and Wukong.....it hurts him, every time the others look at him and theres no recognition from before in their eyes. but, he can’t just leave them again, because what if they get attacked again? no, he can’t just separate himself from them. so instead he just grins and bears it, pretends to be an actual stranger-

he slips up sometimes, saying something he shouldn’t know, and he just wants to start crying when they respond to it by looking at him in suspicion, but he bears it. because he has to. for their safety.

[inkweaver22-blr]

Hi there! So I’ve learned that I can’t focus on multiple big fics at the same time. That means I’ll be focusing entirely on Scattered Cicadas until it’s completed! Yay!

This chapter is an important one so pay attention! Hope you enjoy!

AO3 Link

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Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Eleven: Soul Searching

Tang gets into an argument with himself.

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He was, once again, in the uninteresting, featureless cave. The voices seemed to blend together as they called out in concern. His name had almost lost meaning at this point with how many times he had heard it. He didn’t even bother closing his eyes as the golden light enveloped him.

----------

Tang was tired.

How long had it been since this all started?

He had been experiencing these time jumps for what felt like an eternity. He’d lost count on the exact number of cycles he had lived through more than a few centuries ago.

It had been somewhere in the 800’s from what he could remember.

Tang was exhausted.

How old was he now?

He certainly didn’t feel the 41 that his body usually started out as each cycle. Each jump tended to last a year with a few outliers lasting two to four and the exceptionally rare occasions where it was hundreds of years before the start of the baseline events.

He was certainly much older than even Wukong at this point.

Tang was weary.

Did the new memories each cycle granted count towards his age?

They were vivid and detailed, so while he may not have personally experienced them, it felt like he had. The amount of times he had been the immortal Tripitaka instead of just his reincarnation would probably double his age from the memories alone.

If he factored them in, it was probably somewhere in the tens of thousands range.

Tang was fatigued.

In all these years, all the cycles and resets, how much headway had he made in figuring out what was happening?

None. Zilch. Nada.

He had scoured libraries, both mortal and celestial, learning many wonderful things. But he still was empty handed when it came to discovering what was causing his current existence.

He worried that the information he sought was entirely unique to his original timeline.

Tang was so tired.

He was close to giving up, resigning himself to this fate of infinite cycles. He could instead focus his energy fully into being there for his family.

There was a certain appeal to the idea, one that felt almost temptatious. All he needed to do was let go and give himself up in his entirety to their well-being.

Tang gave a sigh as he followed MK up the steps of Flower Fruit Mountain.

These melancholy thoughts were getting harder and harder to shake. Talking to Sandy helped somewhat, but his flame of hope was slowly dwindling.

He didn’t like to think of what he would become when it finally died.

Tang shook his head and did his best to refocus.

He was here for MK, not himself. His kid needed his help.

This cycle was particularly nasty on the young man’s mental health.

There had been cycles where he had been the actual reincarnation of Wukong and had been trained by a clone his past self had left behind, but this was worse.

This time, he was Wukong.

When the Monkey King had sealed away the Demon Bull King, he had sealed himself as well. His memories, his powers, his personality, all locked away and leaving behind a baby MK many years later.

MK hadn’t known until he had visited Flower Fruit Mountain for the first time looking for the Monkey King. Instead, he was greeted by the spirit of Tripitaka who had told him the truth and promptly left.

MK wasn’t handling it well. The pressure and responsibility had made it obvious that something was hurting him.

Tang and the others hadn’t found out exactly what was going on until they had been kidnapped by Macaque who threatened to kill them if “the real Wukong” refused to show himself. MK had saved them, but revealed himself in the process.

(The amount of times MK had become a monkey over the course of the cycles should have made Tang prepared, but it was downright shocking to see him look exactly like Wukong.)

They had managed to reassure him that they still considered him to be their MK, but it was obvious he had been agonizing over it for some time.

Which brought him back to the present.

It didn’t happen often where Tang and Tripitaka were entirely separate people with unique souls, but it did occasionally occur. Not often enough to be anything but an outlier though.

Tang was not pleased with how this version of his past life had treated his son. He planned on having words with him.

“This is it,” MK said, snapping Tang out of his thoughts. “This is where he appeared.”

MK had led him to a statue of the ancient monk. Tang couldn’t ever remember one being here in previous timelines.

“Why’d you want to come here again?”

“Well, I was hoping that by praying for guidance, we could perhaps get some first hand knowledge about the Monkey King to help you adjust to your powers.,” Tang explained as he began setting up a makeshift altar with the supplies he’d brought with him. The items he placed on the small fold-able table seemed normal enough, but were actually the components needed for a summoning ritual to call a spirit and commune with it.

Not that MK needed to know that.

“Do you really think this will work?”

“Only one way to find out.” Tang lit the incense he had placed and knelt before the statue and altar. MK quickly joined him on the ground as he began the incantation. Luckily, it sounded enough like a plea for help as opposed to a spell so he wasn’t questioned.

As he spoke, the statue began to glow a bright yellow and there was a slight tugging sensation in his chest. It was probably just the ritual creating an anchor between him and the spirit he was invoking.

Once he finished, the light separated from the statue, coalescing into the transparent form of Tripitaka. MK gaped while Tang gave a respectful bow. The monk seemed surprised for a moment before offering the pair a patient smile.

“Ah, my student,” the spirit said. “I had not expected to see you again so soon. How may I be of assistance?”

“Well, uh, Mr. Tripitaka sir,” MK said while rubbing the back of his head. “My friend Tang here thought it would be a good idea to get some, uh, stories about my past? He thinks it could help me get used to my powers if I heard about them first hand.”

“Indeed?” Tripitaka stared at Tang for a long moment before turning back to MK and smiling. “A more than reasonable request. I’d be happy to reminisce about our time together.”

The next hour was spent listening to Tripitaka as he told stories about the Monkey King. MK was completely enthralled by the tales, his tail swishing in excitement. Tang only half paid attention, making sure to have a polite smile on his face and keeping the incense lit to keep the spell going.

Tripitaka would eye him knowingly whenever he did so, but didn’t comment.

“Now, my dear student,” Tripitaka said after finishing one of the stories. “I have a request for you.”

“Sure,” MK hopped up and began bouncing eagerly. “What do you need?”

“Could you give your friend and I some privacy?” Tang sat up at that and MK blinked in surprise. “I have some things I wish to discuss with him that may potentially be… confidential.”

Tang scowled at the monk. That made it sound like he didn’t trust MK.

“Oh...” MK’s shoulders predictably drooped a bit. “I mean, if you really don’t want to tell me…”

“That’s not-”

“It’s okay MK,” Tang reassured, his interruption earning a brief frown from the monk. “He said it was only potentially confidential. I’m sure I’ll be able to let you know about anything important.”

“If you say so.” MK glanced suspiciously between the two serenely smiling figures, seeming to sense the tension, before he shrugged. “I guess I’ll go see if the stories helped with figuring out my powers.”

Once he was out of sight, the scholar and monk dropped their peaceful facades and glared hard at each other.

“Who are you and how were you able to summon me?” Tripitaka narrowed his eyes in accusation. “This ritual should not have been able to work on me.”

“Well it looks like it did anyway,” Tang said, glaring back. “I’m not sure I feel obligated to answer the questions of a master who mistreats their student.”

“Excuse me?!”

“You left MK alone.” Tang let all his anger show, making the monk step back in hesitation. “You showed up, dropped an emotionally devastating revelation, gave him an impossible responsibility, and then you left.”

“My purpose was to-”

“I don’t give a damn what your ‘purpose’ was supposed to be,” Tang snarled. “MK may not be Sun Wukong any more, but he’s still the Monkey King. He’s still your student.

“And when he needed you the most, you abandoned him.”

Tripitaka flinched as if he had been struck, his face pulled into a pained grimace.

Tang didn’t care. He had started the process of getting things off his chest and let the freeing momentum of it carry him.

“In all the times he’s returned to this mountain, not once did you reappear to offer reassurance or guidance.”

“I- I didn’t think-”

“Oh that much is obvious.” Tang had quite a lot of pent up frustrations. It felt good to have an outlet to release them on. “You left MK shattered and didn’t even think he would need help picking up the pieces!

“If you’re so wise, why didn’t you know how hard this would have been for him?

“If you’re so benevolent, why did you leave him to suffer in silence?

“If we’re so perceptive, why the hell did it take so long for us to notice his pain?”

Tripitaka straightened at that. His expression changed from shame, to confusion, and finally shocked understanding.

“If we’re so smart,” Tang was screaming now, tears flowing down his face as the years of bottled up emotions poured out, “then why can’t we figure out this damn curse we’re under?!

“Why?!” Tang pounded the ground with his fists as he sobbed. “Why?! Why? Why…”

Tripitaka knelt next to the scholar, waiting patiently as the sobs eventually subsided. He spoke only when Tang’s breathing had evened out.

“You’re my reincarnation, aren’t you?”

Tang jerked up in surprise at that. He had been under the assumption that this was one of those rare cycles where he had a separate soul from Tripitaka. If that wasn’t the case then…

“You aren’t actually Tripitaka.”

“No,” the monk confirmed with a sad smile. “I am merely a copy of his memories and essence given form and limited autonomy. I was sealed into this statue for the purpose of guiding my student when he eventually returned.”

Tripitaka gave a sigh and looked away in shame.

“As you’ve pointed out, I haven’t been doing a very good job at that.”

“I- Yeah, kind of.” Tang winced. “I didn’t mean to go off on you that much.”

“Don’t apologize,” the spirit said. “It was a truth I needed to hear. Not everyone would have been as honest or even brave enough to chastise someone as ‘wise’ as myself.” Tripitaka bowed his head in respect. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Tripitaka straightened and gave Tang a smile before turning serious.

“Now, you being my reincarnation explains why you were able to summon me from the statue, as I am essentially a part of you.” Tang supposed that was the tugging sensation he had felt earlier, before returning his attention back to the monk.

Tripitaka stared directly into the scholar’s eyes, concern written in his own.

“But what was that part about being under a curse?”

Whoops.

He hadn’t meant to let that slip.

“I can’t tell you.” Tang sighed and shook his head, as that wasn’t entirely accurate. “I want to tell you. Part of the curse is that whenever I tell someone about it, they’ll forget the conversation even happened a few minutes later.”

“That sounds incredibly frustrating,” Tripitaka said, his voice full of understanding and compassion. “You must feel terribly lonely.”

“You have no idea,” Tang said with a groan, laying backwards onto the ground. Tripitaka hummed, seeming to be lost in thought.

“If the curse disallows anyone except for you to know about it,” he mused out loud, “and I am an aspect of your soul's past life… Or, essentially, if that means I am you...”

Tang shot up into a seated position as he caught on.

“Then you might be immune to the curse’s effects,” he finished excitedly.

“Precisely. It’s at least worth a try.” Tripitaka shifted into a more comfortable position. “So tell me about this curse.”

Tang took a breath. What did he have to lose at this point?

So he told him.

He told him about the cycles.

He told him about the many different changes to the timeline.

He told him about dying.

He told him about the love he felt for his family.

He told him how tired he was.

He told him about losing hope of ever finding a way home.

He told him everything, and Tripitaka patiently listened.

Tang sat catching his breath for a few moments after finishing, his throat raw from both the earlier outburst and from how long it took to relay his story.

He hadn’t felt this light in decades.

It would hurt if the monk would forget, but the catharsis had been worth it.

There was silence for a while as they waited to see what would happen.

“Now that,” Tripitaka said after several minutes, a grin slowly growing on his face, “is quite the curse.”

Tang could have melted in relief.

“Oh thank the Heavens,” he breathed, wiping away fresh tears.

It worked!

“I have never been too knowledgeable when it comes to spells or magical effects,” Tripitaka admitted, before smirking at his reincarnation. “I’m sure you probably knew that already though with the amount of times you’ve been me.”

“Remind me to tell you about the cycle where we were a sorcerer researching magic,” Tang said with a chuckle. It felt so good to be able to talk about this with someone. Even if it was a copy of his past life.

“Truly? Fascinating. We are getting off topic however.” Tripitaka became serious once again. “I may not know as much as you currently do, but I can certainly tell that this is no common affliction. It is a much too complicated and in depth effect to be a simple curse anyone could cast in passing.

“You aren’t physically moving between times, or else you would have stayed dead the first time you had passed or would have aged until death had you not.

“The most interesting part is that you always awaken as a version of yourself. This makes me believe that this curse isn’t just affecting your mind, but is tied directly to your soul.

“You have probably already come to the same conclusions.”

“Yes I have,” Tang said with a sigh. “But I’ve never been able to find anything on what could cause a soul to jump across timelines.”

“Hmmm…” Tripitaka gazed off into the distance in thought. “Perhaps you are focusing on the wrong thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have been researching the what of this curse, but not the why.” The monk turned his attention back to Tang, his eyes lit with the satisfaction of figuring something out. “There are a countless number of things that can affect a soul. Far too many to properly look into even without the complications of the random changes to the histories of the worlds you visit.

“What is most important to answer here is why your soul continues to move between time.

“If the point of the curse was to banish your soul to an alternate timeline, then why didn’t it just stop after the first jump? Why do you continue to travel between these realities at set intervals?

“By working backwards from why the curse works the way it does, the what will surely be revealed in time.”

“That’s… That’s brilliant!” Tang frowned, his excitement dowsed as he thought of a complication. “But how am I supposed to figure that out?”

“Have you tried examining your soul? Perhaps that could provide some answers.”

“Examine my soul?” Tang blinked in confusion. “How would I do that?”

“Do you not know how to manifest your soul outside your body,” Tripitaka asked, genuinely surprised.

“You can do that?”

“Yes. Or at least, this reality’s version of your past life could.” Tripitaka squinted in confusion for a moment. “You must get your tenses mixed up quite a bit from all this.”

“Remind me to tell you about the cycles that involved time travel.”

“Oh that sounds like a headache just waiting to happen.” The monk shook his head. “Anyway, your past self had to use this ability in order to create me. Since I have all his memories up to that point, I know how to do it as well. I should be able to guide you through the process.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Take my hands and begin meditating. I’ll be able to do most of the work from there.”

Tang took the monk’s hands and took a few steady breaths. Meditation came easy to the scholar after the many cycles of being the monk across from him.

He ignored the strange feeling of something moving through his arms and into his chest and focused. He soon fell into a relaxing trance.

“Oh my!” Tripitaka’s gasp broke Tang’s concentration and he opened his eyes.

Floating between him and Tripitaka was what he assumed was his soul.

It was a collection of bright golden-yellow threads wrapped loosely into the outline of a sphere with empty space making up the majority of its center. Knots of light were randomly placed across the strands and one had a thread pointing off away from the sphere, seeming to stretch infinitely into the distance.

“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Tripitaka said, examining the soul closely.

“So I assume souls aren’t supposed to look like this?”

“Certainly not! Souls usually manifest as whole spheres of light.” The monk leaned in to look at the thread that was leading away from the rest of the soul. “It looks like yours has been unraveled like a ball of yarn.”

“Unraveled?” Tang swallowed nervously at that. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not as bad as it being shattered would have been,” Tripitaka said absently. “Your soul, stretched thin as it is, still seems to be completely intact.” The monk blinked as he sat back up. “I think I’ve figured out how this curse works.”

“Don’t you mean why?”

“Practically the same question at this point,” Tripitaka dismissed. “The point is your soul has been scattered across time and space, but not shattered. It is still a complete soul.

“The reason why you’ve been jumping across these timelines is that you are following the thread of your soul to recollect the scattered pieces, or knots to go back to the yarn comparison. Each time a new cycle begins, your soul merges with the missing piece found there.

“You are literally winding your soul back together.

“I’m not sure why the cycles last a year, but my best guess is that’s how long it takes for your soul to find the next piece.”

“So that means the farther away the cycle starts from my original timeline,” Tang contributed, “the longer it takes to find the next piece. That’s why the cycles that start hundreds of years before my base time last as long as they do.”

“A reasonable assumption.” Tripitaka focused, and Tang’s soul floated gently back into his chest. “You still seem to be missing a fair amount of your soul however. You’ve already been doing this for quite some time, so I can’t even imagine how much longer it would take to collect the remaining pieces.

“But you now know why this curse works the way it does. This effect is so specific, I can’t imagine many things could have caused it.

“Once you find out what could have done this, I have no doubt you’ll be able to reverse it and return home.”

Tang’s eyes began to water once again.

The thought of continuing to be trapped in these cycles until he collected the entirety of his soul was terrifying. He had already been at this for so long.

But now there was a new hope.

He had a new lead he could follow in his research. Something specific and tangible he could look for.

For the first time in countless years, Tang felt the weight of helplessness and despair lift away.

“Thank you.” Tang let his tears fall freely as he held tightly to Tripitaka’s hands. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome, my child.” The monk squeezed Tang’s hands comfortingly. “If you ever feel the weight of your burden become too much to handle during this cycle, please come and speak to me. I’d be more than happy to offer a supportive ear.

“For now though, I do believe you are almost out of incense. It is time for me to say goodbye to you and my student who should really know better than to eavesdrop.”

There was a scrambling noise behind Tang and he turned to find MK nervously peeking out from behind a nearby boulder.

Tang laughed at the expression on MK’s face at being caught. He hadn’t felt this joyful in a long time.

“I’m sorry! I was just worried that you guys were going to fight and-!”

“You aren’t in trouble, my student,” Tripitaka said. “In fact, I should be the one apologizing to you. Your friend here was quite correct to be angry with how I’ve neglected to be there for you.

“I should have told you how to contact me during our first meeting so that you could have had someone to talk to about all of this. Instead I simply fulfilled my original duty and considered my work done.

“That was wrong of me to do. You are a wonderful person, Xiǎotiān, and it brings me great shame to have contributed in the pain you have felt.

“I am truly sorry, and hope that one day you can forgive me.”

Tang laughed once more at the stunned look MK wore.

“Say thank you, MK,” he wheezed out after a few moments when it looked like the kid was just going to stand there.

“T-thank you Mr. Tripitaka! You really didn’t have to apologize.”

“And yet I have,” Tripitaka said with a smile. His form began to fade as the last of the incense began to burn out. “My time is up for now. If you wish to speak to me again, simply channel your power into my statue and I will appear. Please do not hesitate if you ever need advice or words of comfort. I look forward to speaking to you both soon. Farewell.”

Tripitaka vanished as the incense was finally spent, leaving the area still and quiet.

Tang began to pick up the materials he had used for the summoning, MK soon joining him.

“So… You’re really Tripitaka’s reincarnation?” MK’s voice was curious as he helped clean up the altar.

“Yes I am,” Tang answered truthfully.

“Do you remember any of it?”

“Not at all.” Not in this cycle at least.

“Are you really under a curse no one can remember if you tell them?”

“I’m honestly surprised you remember even that much,” Tang said.

“Well there was a lot said in the middle and end that I can’t,” MK admitted, “which is really weird, but I do remember that part.”

“Interesting. Yes I am under a curse. I have been for a long time”

“That sucks.” MK frowned before brightening back up. “But hey! It sounded like Tripitaka remembered when you told him! It must feel good to finally be able to tell someone about it.”

Tang returned MK’s wide grin with his own.

He no longer felt tired.

“Yes. Yes it does.”

----------

Here we have the explanation for the fic’s title! I’ve been waiting to reveal this one for a while.

This cycle takes place in stagemanager’s story The Lost Prince. While the fic itself doesn’t say MK learned about the truth from Tripitaka, this fanart by @smallpwbbles shows that part actually happening.

The plot is picking up from here on! Hope you’re all hanging on tight! Until next time!

[ninja-go-to-therapy]

Getting Attached

Summary: Wukong does everything in his power to ensure that he doesn't get attached to his successor. It doesn't work.

Trigger Warnings: death, violence, blood

1517 words

Don’t get attached.

He’d been telling himself not to since the very beginning. He was immortal, and the kid was just a human. A human worthy of being his successor, yes, but a human nonetheless. He would die one day, and Wukong knew that getting attached would only make it a thousand times more painful.

If he held the kid at an arm’s length, when the inevitable happened, he would just be able to move on. He’d find himself a new successor, someone else who could wield the staff.

As long as he didn’t get attached.

The kid made it so awfully hard not to. He was so full of life, excitement constantly buzzing under his skin. He asked questions, he did his best to learn. Even if he lacked confidence and focus, he was still a perfect successor.

A good successor. Not perfect, not anything all that special. He was just a normal kid that Wukong had absolutely no business caring about. He wasn’t fond of MK at all. 

He wouldn’t let himself be.

Don’t get attached.

MK’s lack of focus would be the death of him if Wukong didn’t set him straight.

Not that that would be that bad — no, yes it would — but he wouldn’t be that upset if something were to happen. He couldn’t be. It was inevitable. He knew it would happen eventually.

He didn’t care that much about his kid — fuck, the kid. The. Not his. MK had enough father figures already, he didn’t need another one in the form of him. It would be better for both of them, in the end.

Don’t get attached.

He was honestly legitimately offended when he realized that MK had been running around with some other mentor. He tried to tell himself that it was insulting, and not just downright hurtful.

But above that was the concern he couldn’t help but feel.

MK wasn’t acting like himself. He was all… dark, and too quiet. So unlike himself. It was all wrong, and Wukong intended to get to the bottom of it.

Purely so he could have his student back, of course.

Don’t get attached.

Seeing the kid pinned to the mountainside, looking absolutely terrified out of his mind had nothing to do with caring about him and everything to do with the fact that it was Macaque of all people who had him pinned there.

The relief in MK’s voice when he showed up was irrelevant, he was focusing on his mortal enemy right now. Not on his the kid.

He would have won if suddenly it wasn’t Macaque he was going to hit, but MK. He faltered, unable to make himself hurt the kid, and he was immediately beaten back and pinned to the ground by Macaque’s shadow clones.

He was so stupid, he shouldn’t have fallen for that. It was a cheap trick, and he knew MK was still where he had previously been. Pinned to the mountain, struggling to the best of his ability.

And then Macaque summoned the smoke monster, and — he was going after MK. He was going to kill him.

The fury and the panic that rose inside him weren’t important, he just — he had to stop him. He had to save his kid.

And as MK managed to land that final blow, and Wukong threw himself around him, protecting him from the explosion, only one thought was going through his head.

Fuck. He’d let himself get attached.

After the months of tug of war with himself on this matter, he should have seen it coming. He should have known that the second he let his guard down would be when it would happen.

It had been so sudden, too.

It was a hard enough battle that Wukong had needed to get involved, yes, but he’d been sure that it would be a piece of cake from there. MK was doing so well, too. He’d been learning so fast.

One moment the kid was doing great, dodging and hitting and doing everything perfectly.

The next, the tip of a blade was sticking out of his chest.

The sword jolted MK’s entire body, and he went still after that, gasping so loudly that it was the only thing Wukong could hear.

The world froze.

MK didn’t even scream. He was barely moving, his breathing beginning to pick up as his mind caught up with him, and Wukong was already running.

The sword was ripped out of his body, and MK fell to his knees. The blade, Wukong realized in a distant sort of horror, had been the only thing holding him up. And that made it that much worse. 

The first thing he had to do was take out the bad guys. That was easy, he could — he could do that. He just had to be fast.

He knocked them all unconscious — or maybe they were dead, but he didn’t particularly care at this point — before rushing to MK’s side, placing his hands over the gaping wound. There was so much blood.

MK gasped again, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Hey, hey, deep breaths,” Wukong said, even as his own heart raced and bile rose in his throat. He swallowed it down.

“It hurts so bad,” MK whimpered.

“You’re gonna be okay, bud,” he promised.

“I—” he began to choke, and blood dribbled from his lips. “I’m not—”

“Yes you are, dammit!”

He couldn’t lose his kid. Not here, not now. Not so soon. Not so young. Not like this. He’d always known it would happen, but he’d imagined it so much less bloody. So much less painful. He’d thought they would have more time.

MK choked on a sob. “I’m going to die.”

“I won’t let you.”

“You may be the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven,” MK said, breathing shallow, “But I’m not sure there’s a lot you can do about this.”

“Bud, the entire Court of Heaven loves me. I’m not letting this happen.”

“They hate you.” A statement. A fact. Hopeless.

“They… tolerate me.”

“I’m going to die, dad.”

Wukong’s world halted violently. MK had just called him… that. On what was essentially his deathbed, in his very last moments, he’d called him dad.

He’d wanted this for a long time, but not like this.

He’d imagined it would be like in those fanfictions the kid didn’t know Wukong knew he wrote, where MK slipped up, forgot, maybe was too tired to think about it. Where Wukong’s brain would short-circuit, and he wouldn’t be expecting it, and it would be weird, but nice. Where MK would be embarrassed at his mistake, but Wukong would be delighted.

MK wasn’t embarrassed, and Wukong wasn’t delighted.

His child, his child, was choking on blood, a brutal stab wound going right through his body. Wukong had known it was a bad idea to take away MK’s invulnerability, but only now did he fully realize what a stupid choice it had been.

He could have just trained the kid properly from the get-go, let him stay invincible, keep him safe from shit like this.

But no, because of him, here they were. With MK dying, and nobody but him here to help.

He wouldn’t even get to say goodbye to the other people that cared about him.

“You should—” choke “You should see if Mei can hold this thing,” he said, not even bothering to gesture towards the staff. “She’d—” spitting up blood, too much blood “make a good successor.”

Wukong had once thought, if he’d been able to keep himself from getting attached, that he’d be able to do something like that. That he’d be able to just pass along the staff to the next person who was worthy, choose a new successor, and move on.

The thought made him ill, now.

“Thanks for giving me a chance, even if I was really lousy,” MK said, before breaking into a coughing fit.

“You were not — are not lousy. You make a perfect successor,” Wukong insisted.

“You’re just a good teacher. You’ll find someone else, someone who can actually—” choking choking choking stop choking on your own blood “get shit done. Defeat some demons for real.”

Wukong wanted to scream.

“I’m sorry for failing,” MK whimpered, his breathing finally beginning to slow.

No, no no no, he would fight all of heaven to keep this from happening. This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be. 

“You didn’t fail,” he said, frantic. “I’m the one who failed, I should have done better, I should have protected you, I’m so sorry—”

“It’s okay,” MK wheezed, voice too soft. “You’ll find someone better.”

The kid’s body went still before Wukong could say anything against his false statement. There was nobody better than him, he wouldn’t ever find someone like that. MK was the only one perfect for the job.

Wukong didn’t have the strength to pull his hands away from the fatal wound.

The Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, quite literally had the blood of a child on his hands.

He never should have let himself get attached.