#and i also like ‘Wukong killed him indirectly’ by leaving him for dead

[fluffypotatey]

THERE IS ALWAYS MORE TO THE STORY *evil grin* That's my favorite part of ShadowPeach angst :D because if LMK says Macky "thinks" it happened a certain way, and Wukong has been shown to think Macky just "suddenly came back" and NOT from the dead??? or he DOES know he came back from the dead, and the way he's been acting so far is hard core avoidance coping, but I doubt it bc it seems we're gearing up for ~ Macky was misinformed about his own death ~ but ever since the S4 special, I've figured he'd already gone to terms with it, with the whole "that's what I used to believe." At least, over their fight anyways. It's so delicious that for Wukong, those centuries of mourning Macaque were taken from him. Is it a blessing or an agony for all the times you cursed his name for hiding after what he did? There is nothing to mourn, he is alive and well right beside you, and yet the same gaping horror and emptiness claws through his stone heart. It'll polish it into a new form of grief. He can never say, "I missed you" to Macaque after this, has skipped right over knowing what he lost, all because those missing centuries were branded into bitterness, but y'know. That's a pill you swallow. The shadows never had the chance to respond to him no matter if Wukong ever tried to sniff him out.

“that's what I used to believe."

yeah :) hearing that in the s4 special just confirmed to me that there is more to the story in what happened between Wukong and Macky that led to his death. like i already had a feeling and that feeling increased thanks to one of the writers’ tweets (i think it was a David Breen?)

and so my personal theory is that Macky’s memory of their fight lines up a lot closer to what “technically” occurred in the jttw book. meanwhile the truth and what Wukong remembers is a lot different

[quitealotofsodapop]

"It takes Shadowpeach literal years of living and raising a child together before they realise that they've fallen back in love" of course. Could you give more details? Like what was the time it takes between that happening and them realizing? Who fell first? How long after that until they actually do something about it or do they still avoid the subject to canon time

OK SO

Basically, at the start of the story the Shadowpeach is on a bit of a hiatus cus of the whole... Macaque being killed thing.

Macaque is understandably very upset with Wukong. Like, if Wukong hadnt shown up with MK's egg, Macaque could have darn near killed him. But he's able to put his anger aside for the sake of the unborn Stone Monkey.

Wukong this whole time has had deep festering love for Macaque, but resigned himself to grief in the centuries following his death. The joy he feels upon his resurrection is clouded by the fear of losing him again. So much so he fears reigniting their flame.

Cue them coming across Pigsy. The pig demon assumes from the shabby clothes, the arguing, and the bump under Macaque's clothes (actually MK's egg in a harness); that the two are young, soon-to-be parents needing shelter. Wukong hams the misunderstanding up, and Macaque is too furious with him to clear the air.

Basically they move into the apartment pretending to be a couple. And soon after a while, the pretending starts getting harder and harder to differentiate from the real domestic love they shared back on Flower Fruit Mountain.

Its around the time of MK's first birthday when they begin to suspect the other of falling back in love. It almost takes another birthday for Macaque to accept that Wukong is geniunely trying to mend things between them, but scars run deep.

When MK turns 3, a random demon gets a drop on the fam - I'm leaning towards a variatn of the annoying Demon of Confusion from the very beginning of Wukong's tale. The demon assumes MK and Macaque are just really powerful monkey spirits and whisks them away to be his servants. Cue the whole noodle fam, especially Wukong going ballistic. In the ensuing rescue, Macaque is... conflicted.

Here's a rough draft:

Macaque: "You didn't have to save me, you know?" SW: "Why wouldn't I? I couldn't just leave you with that jerk." Macaque: "Because I had your living vanity trophy on my back?" Toddler!MK, in a sling: *babbling* SW: "I... I know that you could have escaped. Fought your way out on your own without breaking a sweat... But when I learned that Demon *took* you away, I just... I just..." Macaque: "Just what?" SW: "I just... thought of how many of MK's birthday's you'd miss. How many dinners at Pigsy's uneaten. How many nights alone in bed... I lasted over 500 years. But now... I don't think I could have survived another day without you." Macaque, realizing: "Oh..." Pigsy, Tang & Sandy: *wondering if they should leave the lovebirds alone*

After that incident, they slowly build back up their relationship. Baby steps, just to confirm the bonds hold firm.

It would take them a few months to spit out an "I love you". The first one to break being Wukong - watching Macaque doing a shadow puppet show for MK with a goofy look on his face. He says it without warning, thinking it was just in his head until Macaque froze. It took Macaque a week to respond with "The feeling is mutual I suppose" while lying in bed.

They do hit snags later down the line. Notably SW briefly regressing back to a "find means of immortality for mate and baby"-phase the first time MK got seriously injured. And in turn Macaque hiding how much he was hurt by his death, and hiding who resurrected him + the price he has to pay for it. This also not including Sun Wukong disobeying his order from the Celestial Realm to "scramble" MK.

Until the events of "A Hero Is Born", Monkey King is pretty much assumed perma-retired after the New Stone Egg incident, while the Six Eared Macaque is presumed dead. Then the Demon Bull Family indirectly drag them back into the spotlight.

They are both emotionally constipated, your honor. I sentence them to 18 years of hard parenting and couple's counseling.