#eventual shadowpeach

[kyri45]

was cleaning the blog and stumbled to this. When I told you I already had the entire Part 8: A Dark Long Night planned since July I wasn't joking ahaha

[centuryberry]

So. A Post-Brotherhood Route AU.

Before I get into what follows after Azure’s route, I need to backtrack a little to establish some events in the route that either wasn’t mentioned by Yue or happened outside of the game events:

- Upon Macaque’s return and discovery of Wukong acting strange and suddenly being all lovey dovey with Azure, he was immediately suspicious. Shanzha, recognizing the effects of the Junbei Berry, took a great risk in approaching him and telling him everything.

- Shanzha is eventually driven away from FFM. Azure had originally been whispering into Wukong’s ear to kill her and make a point to Heaven but Macaque made a good enough case to just have her exiled. He even gives her traveling supplies and a boat to return to the mainland.

We all know what happens to Wukong afterwards. He wakes up after the furnace and is horrified at everything he’s done. FFM was burned down during the skirmish, Macaque was dead, and he was imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years until JTTW happens.

Fast forward to the LMK timeline post Season 3 and Wukong finally decided that it’s time to go to therapy. Sandy recommends his own therapist and Wukong goes to his first appointment (disguised).

Enter: Therapist Yue

Yue is a wonderful therapist. She’s glamoured as a human in this AU since her demon form is well known in different circles and she just wants to perform her most recent job without that getting in the way.

Wukong, who has been avoiding Macaque, RinRin, and Shanzha out of guilt ever since their (Shadowflower’s) revival, finds them popping back into his life ever since he started to go to therapy. At Yue’s encouragement, he slowly reciprocates their efforts to reconnect and learns to forgive himself.

It’s peak dramatic irony because Yue knows these three are trying to get in touch with Wukong the Monkey King while never realizing that the Monkey King himself is her patient.

Warlord Shanzha AU is the end of the rinrin route.

Withered gray flower AU is the end of the Shanzha route.

Is king snow macaque AU Azure lion route ending you know the AU that macaque has a hot girl summer and works through all his issues by ranting his issues to his subjects. because I realize Azure lion route ending doesn't have one that goes to the modern day like the other two.

No, Snow/Winter Macaque King AU is more tied to Canon Macaque being thrown into LoES post revival. If Macaque had been revived post Brotherhood route, his feelings towards Wukong would be extreme concern instead of bitterness since he believed until his very last breath that this was not like Wukong.

But an AU post Brotherhood route. Interesting.

[p3ach-bun]

Got myself a drawing tablet for Christmas and this was one of my first drawings on it - way better than drawing on a shattered iPad screen :)

[rin-rin-comics]

Rough Shadowpeach animatic

She’s ROUGH but that’s okay

I promise I’m gonna finish the sketch I posted a couple days ago I just started feeling better so I pumped this out real quick. That’ll be up prob sometime next week cause backgrounds suck ass

i hope you enjoy this rough animatic

[peachez-n-mangoes]

I am about to genuinely go crazy.

THIS FLIPPING SERIES. I HAVE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT. When I first discovered it (I’ve been here since the VERY beginning) I said it was a cute idea! Because IT WAS! ITS SUCH A COOL CONCEPT, BUT ITS EVOLVED PAST JUST SHADOWPEACH?? Like the worldbuilding and the way everything’s presented PLEASE. I have gone through the five stages of grief every time a chapter comes out, and THE CHOKEOLD ON ME. The sillies and the way Kyri’s developed them. Ohmifosj. They’re forever rotating in my mind I’m going to scream. Now I can ACTUALLY SCREAM ABOUT IT!

LETS MAKE THR SHADOWPEACH BIO PARENT AU TAG TREND!

KYRIIIII

DROP ANOTHER CHAPTER. AND MY LIFE. IS YOURS.

[tangsvem]

May make a acc for lmk stuff but

Lmk Pokémon au with a twist anyone? Also technically what if macaque somehow reincarnated or more technically possessed the body of someone else.

Some parent macaque moments even though he has to hide. Reincarnation/possession shenanigans. Divorces. Starts of a pkmn journey. Chimchar evolution line causing trauma. Pkmn professor macaque…etc

Also Macaque and Wukong working on their relationship and the fact Macaque hid from their son(MK)

Edit: Acc is made go follow @macaquebusiness for the au!

[fluffypotatey]

Monkie Destiny Challenge 2024 Day 2

thanks to this new prompt list from @lunar-wandering, i was able to complete the second half of this ficlet!!!! took me a year :) but i did it :D tournament au we are so back (we're not)

prompt: Shadow//Light

words: 1038

* * * * * * * *

There have been a few times when Macaque remembers waking up into the unknown. One of those was dying. The dark shadows that hung over the blue lights, almost like you were being watched, was not a fun experience. Another was after Macaque was raised from the dead with a sealed contract bound to his soul. Cold veins slowly growing warm, whole stiff muscles almost seemed to defrost after being motionless for centuries.

The third time was actually his first: waking up in a strange house with some weirdo monkey watching over him. Sun Wukong, his first friend. He had asked Macaque what his deal was, golden eyes pensive with his body sat in forced relaxation. Macaque told him to shove it, they fought, and were best friends ever since. Until he died, of course.

But that’s besides the point. The actual point was finding out where he was currently, and why he woke up in a square stone room. There were only a couple torches that hung on the walls, so light was scarce. No blue flames, though, so it was a plus. Somewhat. Not to mention the scarce light meant he was surrounded in mostly shadow

Whoever seemed to have brought him here had very poor insight on him it seems. Very poor insight. Unless…

Macaque attempted to summon a shadow clone. Immediately, the room darkened and gave off a purplish glow. This, of course, was simply step one in summoning a shadow and took little to no effort at all. Actually, getting that fucker off the wall? 

“What the–?” Macaque grunted as the shadow resisted his call. Trying again, only made the shadow resist harder. 

Macaque stopped himself after the third attempt, the room’s light returning once more. If he had pushed the shadow even further, his situation would have gotten worse than just being stuck in an abandoned room. While Macaque likes to consider himself the Master of Shadows, he will never be fully in control of them. If he pushes them too hard, they could swallow him whole, and he wasn’t so keen on that option. At all.

Checking himself for any seals, Macaque found nothing, so whoever trapped him was self-assured enough that Macaque wouldn’t have enough power to escape swiftly. Which he didn’t, currently. Actually, Macaque was completely drained of all magic power. All that was left was his lifeforce which he couldn’t use because of…reasons (the necromantic kind, if you catch his drift).

So, essentially, Macaque’s magic was useless. Can’t-even-summon-his-cudgel kind of useless. How wonderful. How perfect. 

Stupendous.

It felt weird not being able to wield his weapon in such an unfamiliar place. He felt vulnerable, left open, outcasted, abandoned. Macaque hated it.

-

There’s a kind of insanity that comes with being cooped up in a room you cannot escape no matter how hard you try. The continuous pull on the shadows, the drag of exhaustion that enters after each use of your already drained magic. Macaque wondered when the decay would start up again. His magic was the only thing keeping it at bay.

“This is a terrible place to die,” he muttered, tail flicking to and fro behind him while he laid on the makeshift bed of blankets and sheets. “And boring.”

As if being challenged, the side wall to Macaque’s right bursted open, chunks of stone and dust clouds covering the room. More light even poured in, showing the empty and chalky yellow room for what it was.

Maybe the universe can be kind.

“You know,” said an eerily familiar voice through the dust cloud, “I am getting real sick and tired of being incapacitated like it's nothing. You’d think with my reputation, people would stop. Doing it.”

And the universe was back to being a cruel little shit.

“Maybe it’s because you have a tendency to piss everyone off.”

Wukong’s silhouette came to view as Macaque turned his head to the giant hole in the wall. It shifted in response to Macaque’s voice and he heard the monkey scoff. There was a touch of something— Macaque wasn’t sure how to describe it but relief was not one he wished to consider— as the Monkey King stepped through the new entryway, his fur covered in dust and pebbles.

“You threaten a dragon one time”—

“It was three if I recall.”

“You threaten a dragon one time”—

“Oh we’re sticking with one?”

“I could just leave you here.”

“And what would the kid say?” Macaque was unafraid to use Wukong’s attachment to MK as his ace. Sure, the two agreed to reach a consensus of a truce, but nothing was said about continuing to be petty. “Think he’d be okay with you leaving me for dead?”

“Wouldn’t need to,” the monkey huffed, stomping his foot as well (Macaque could not suppress the smirk even if he tried). “You’re dead as is. Basically a walking corpse who got off lucky, yeah.”

“And the Honorable Monkey King’s kindness knows no bounds!”

“YOU–! You wouldn’t know honor if it bit you in the ass!”

“I’m just not a huge fan of being bitten in the ass, frankly.” He shrugged. “But I won’t judge. Living a long time can lead to certain discoveries.”

Wukong choked, stammered, then stomped in a circle sputtering inteligible rants or curses to Macaque. The stone floors trembled and some of the loose bricks from the side wall fell in congruent to the stomping.

“See if I try and free you again!”

Ah, Wukong was back to speaking coherently. 

“Not like I even meant to. Do you have any idea how many walls I’ve punched through? A lot. If you even care.”

Nevermind, this was worse. Macaque really hoped he found MK soon so there'd be at least some kind of buffer.

“Oh and some weird smoke guy decided to taunt me in my face as if that was a smart thing to do. When I get my hands on that little shit!”

“I thought he was made of smoke. So, you know, that would be hard.”

Wukong’s tail twitched. “I would find a way.”

Or maybe the universe could just kill him now. Yeah, Macaque won’t even be mad. Just strike him down and end his suffering.

[zephyra-in-the-house]

Progress report?

Sorry i- i keep asking

I'm just so excited like ahh dghbbffhnbf

Dude me too!! This next chapter is going to be interesting~

Right now, I have about 30 pages worth of a sketch so I'd say I'm about 35% of the way done. I'm hoping to get some stuff done while traveling in this next week. I got this chapter that I'm working on and a few shorts that I'm slowly chipping away at so hopefully I'll get something done soon!

Stay tuned~

[lunar-wandering]

Behold my favourite pieces of my Electric Avenue AU Outline Document thus far

[soapcan18]

I’ve got the most diabolical Shadowpeach edit idea 😈

[forst-some-guy]

A sneak peak into my next LMK work: Feng Yue Hua

Tieshan Gongzhu hadn’t always been her name.

Once, she was Feng Yue Hua, the distant beauty of the Feng family.

Yue Hua had never been a major goddess like her relatives, the four winds, but she was told she was a necessary one, and, in those days, she had believed in heaven’s word.

She was that serene, impossible feeling of peace atop China’s tallest mountain, as fleeting as the wind. She was the necessary perfection for humanity to strive for, but never achieve. She was beauty itself.

Feng Yue Hua didn’t regret her fall from heaven, not even for a moment, but she was never addressed by that name again.

[sakurablossoms-world]

Shadowpeach Headcanon:

(Art belongs to @kazehita)

General:

Macaque is FtM and the only person he trusted with this secret was Wukong (and the little monkeys)

Macaque is Demi (romantic and sexual), he wants a genuine relationship with someone but struggles to truly connect with anyone until he met Wukong

Wukong is aroace and had no interest in relationships prior to meeting Macaque

They met when Macaque washed up on FFM sometime after Wukong returned from his training with Sabodi

Macaque is very insecure about his ears, but Wukong adores them and makes sure to always praise them

Despite being the flirt of the two Wukong is easily flustered

Macaque loves to put on performances for Wukong because it’s the only time he feels like he can truly impress his king

Despite what others would assume Macaque was the one to courtnap Wukong

Due to his insecurities Macaque is a very jealous lover, despite this Wukong is the one who will get aggressive if anyone flirts with Macaque

The reason Wukong doesn’t typically take Macaque with him on his adventures is because Macaque has expressed a dislike for the world beyond FFM

The two are very cuddly and affectionate with each other, with unique expressions of affection being Macaque kissing Wukong’s eyelids and Wukong nipping Macaque’s ears

Macaque’s nicknames for Wukong are: My King, My Hero, My Sun, Peaches, Sunlight, Sunflower, Sunshine, Sunstone, Sunny

Wukong’s nicknames for Macaque are: My Queen, My Warrior, My Moon, Plum, Moonlight, Moonblossom, Moonbeam, Moonstone, Mooncake

Havoc in heaven/JTTW:

Even amongst the brotherhood, not many people knew that Wukong and Macaque were mates

Macaque never spoke out against the havoc (or the camel ridge trio) because he had too much faith in Wukong’s abilities

The fight under the mountain (while not their first fight) was the first time Wukong had actually insulted Macaque

Macaque was never angry at Wukong for killing him, he was angry that he was abandoned and practically forgotten by Wukong

Wukong meanwhile pushed Macaque away because he was still haunted by his death and didn’t want to hurt him further (even if he won’t admit it)

Post-LMK:

Despite having once been a very affectionate couple, they now can barely touch each other without feeling guilt for their past actions and can only hold each other’s pinkies

They struggle to talk to each other because they’re so used to fighting and don’t want to fall into that same pattern

They have weekly therapy sessions with Sandy’s therapist to help them with their communication and affection issues

Wukong has the bad habit of shouldering the blame for Macaque’s past mistakes, and Macaque has to always remind him that he’s responsible for his own mistakes

They often go on dates to try to redefine their relationship and build something new together

Macaque has now become the bigger flirt of the two, though he mostly does it whenever Wukong is in a self loathing mood

Despite struggling to be affectionate, whenever either has a nightmare/panic attack, they fall back into old comfort habits very easily

It takes a while, but eventually they manage to become a strong, stable couple once again (now with the experience and maturity to survive any hardship)

[kyri45]

✨ShadowPeach Bio Parents Bio AU Q&A! 23/12✨

Welcome to the Q&A! A space where I can answer related or similar question about the Shadowpeach Bio Parents AU! If you submitted your ask anonimously, then you’ll have to check the whole post if it’s answered here, if it’s not, worry not! Your asks might have been used for a future comic or just in the queue~

@boonalina ha chiesto: Question: Why does Wukong's biblically accurate form have two faces? Also, was there some inspiration for you that made you want to design him like that? (Since I know he doesn't have any canonical Kaiju form in LMK) Also also, DAMN that Kaiju fight was so freaking pretty!! The colors were so well done!

thank you!! He has 3 actually, but in the panels you can see 2 bc the third is facing away from the camera aha.

Anonimo ha chiesto: would you make a Shadowpeach bio parents au zine?

yes I would. But it requires an enormeous amount of organization, plus you need multiple people to organize a zine, from contacting, to marketing, to production, to logistic etc… I don’t have the time right now as I’m already working.

@stro-lmk-enjoyer ha chiesto: Head canon that Red Son uses/used to use the ‘rubber duck’ method while working. The rubber duck method is: when making something by yourself you may get stuck/stressed out because you can’t find a solution to a problem. Have a rubber duck on your desk just so you can verbally explain your problem, which could help you solve it by actually hearing it out loud. But a side effect of this is now Red Son will talk to himself while he works, even if it does help it still freaks his parents out hearing him mumbling to himself when they pass his room. Just something I learned recently when watching a video about writing a characters backstory 👍 I thought you might like this too! Bye <3

i know need Red Son just talking about project to a cute rubber duck and MK finding it adorable.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Will LBD come back ? Even if it is just in a dream ?

maybe

Anonimo ha chiesto: how old is MK ? Like 18-21 ???

almost 22.

@haru7110 ha chiesto: IS MEI IMMORTAL LIKE MK AND REDSON IN THE SHADOWPEACH AU??? I NEED TO KNOW!! Fornoreasonwhatsoeverobviouslyhahahahaha (angst purposes)

no Mei is not immortal, but I would guess she has a lifespan slightly longer than average bc of her family.

@cutvdo ha chiesto: When you first draw Red Son in his human form he looked small, but later he looks bigger (probably from you getting more comfortable drawing him). I like to think he changed his human form a bit because he found out MK likes big man

this is the best conclusion ever. He would fr fr

Anonimo ha chiesto: Guess you could say MK got his own personal monkey tree

omfg-

@aizieweex ha chiesto: Hey Kyri!!! I LOVE your art, aaaand thanks for the recent repost of my animatic (or animatik?...I honestly don't know which is more correct, I'm not a native speaker at all), I literally screamed, lol (And still screaming). I wanted to ask, how many parts of the comic are you counting on? Do you already have a certain planned number of chapters? Anonimo ha chiesto: Hello! How long will the shadow peach bio parents au be?

there will be 9 parts in total. I don’t know the exact number of chapters left but I can assume around 30.

@copyrightedbystarkindustries ha chiesto: Love your art!!! Are you planning on putting shadowpeach au stuff on your redbubble in the future?

Yes I do! But first I need to finish my job which will be more or less on the 20th of January.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Does MK use a glamour to hide some scars or something his parents aren’t supposed to find out about ?

yes

@twilight-bai-he ha chiesto: When you said during the livestream that MK will have a new outfit when he is magical girl, What do you mean by that ?

that he will eventually own a new outfit as “official outfit” let’s say. That isn’t his temporary fighting outfit he has now.

@magician-kitty ha chiesto: You think Mac will get more flustered now that Wukong’s more muscular thanks to all that weight lifting from the previous chapters?

a little bit yes.

@whotookfinn ha chiesto: Hey!! I’m absolutely in love with your art, it’s so beautiful and wonderful and IM OBSESSED. Anyway, I’m not sure if you’ve been asked this before, but who’s your favorite lmk character to draw?

macaque and Mk, they fluffy.

Anonimo ha chiesto: I HAVE A QUESTION! after your shadowpeach AU will be finished will you do other lmk Au????

nope.

@cjtuy ha chiesto: My question is about tang and pigsy are they married I've always wondered this

no they are not married, but it’s something they have been thought for a little bit. They known each other for years and got together for one. They know they work very well as a couple, and marriage would only be a more “official” way to show their union. It’s on their mind, maybe they will plan it in the near future

Anonimo ha chiesto: Have you seen that Brandon Roger's clip where he loses his kid? I can just imagine macaque going through that right now with mk being kidnapped. "Mothers adrenaline is kicking in!!" "have you seen my son, he's about this tall, clearly gay but we haven't had the talk" https://youtu.be/dJJUFrENZ_o?si=lbacsYlJr8XpaDQQ (this is the sound just in case)

LMAO I know that video by heart yes absolutely those would be the parents.

Anonimo ha chiesto: In the Bioparents AU, is Redson actually going to be able to court so Mk in the end after the whole celestial situation?

they will have time to do their stuff after the heaven shenanigans.

@ashmeertheimp ha chiesto: I hope you are having a lovely day/night and are healthy and well AND TYSM FOR THAT SPICYNOODLES KISS I LOVED IT AND MY HEART WAS ABOUT TO BURST! Anyway I was wondering if mk and Redson parents are gonna have quality time with there Nephew in spirt/potential son in law?

mm yes. Post heaven shenanigans but yes.

@cpazy ha chiesto: About that,

It means that Mac and MK's powers have to do with the moon cycle, like on a full moon they get stronger or something like that? And if there is an eclipse where the moon turns red, their powers would go out of control?

Yes, but the opposite. On a full moon they are weaker, while on a new moon they are stronger.

Anonimo ha chiesto: Hello! Not a question but I just love and ADORE your shadowpeach bio parents au! ❤️ Recently you had posted about LMK fic recommendations, I wanted to recommend "The Constellations Within Us" and it's sequel "Epilogue: Axis" (ongoing) by cloud_somersault on AO3. It's one of my favorite LMK/Shadowpeach fics! The writing and world building are stellar and it includes similar themes as the ones in your comic, like the themes of reconciliation, shadowpeach angst and repairing their friendship and their joint custod- I mean- mentorship of MK! It's a really good fic and I highly recommend giving it a read! https://archiveofourown.org/works/48308065 And again, love your comic so much! Have a great day! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

aaahhhh I will definetely check them out!

@astro-nomaly ha chiesto: Per ur Bio Parents AU, what happens when a courtnapping occurs, but the person getting napped isn’t actually into the courtnapper, and doesn’t want to be napped? Does courtnapping have a “leave whenever you want” clause or..? (I love ur au akshhenwb)

they are allowed to refuse anytime. If the kidnapper doesn’t allow the he’s a dick

@thecardboardbutterfly ha chiesto: Since everyone is starting to fear for tomorrow, I decided to share my convoluted thought I got yesterday night at like, 3AM to lighten the mood a bit (.3.)~* So Technically, given that Lmk is very much based on Journey to the West, maybe it's not that much of a stretch to call Lmk fan content of JTTW, like some kind of future AU or something. Which means your AU is fan content of Lmk. See where I'm getting at? Because your comic is so popular in the fandom, there is fan content of your AU out there, which is already fan content. Which means we reached a point where we have fan content (fanarts and various inspirations of the bio parents AU) of fan content (said bio parents AU) of fan content (Lmk) of a piece of content (JTTW). The chain is GETTING LONGER BOYS. I personally think it's funny. My apologies for everyone who lost their brain/ last remaining braincell reading this x)

omg. It’s a fan-inception!

Anonimo ha chiesto: Will Red Son and MK ever have a bad date?

I like to believe EVERY date will have would be comically bad. But I think that’s because they still need to understand that they don’t fall under the “typical demon date” or “amatonormativity” umbrella. The best date they could have is just them training and having lunch later, or them playing videogames or netflix and chill.

@sollythesalt ha chiesto: Dumb question but do you remember the scene in lmk where Wukong said he has stage fright? I wonder if you're gonna do something with that knowledge…. Ps: Keep doing your magic queen we love you and your art✌️💅

oh u bet I did

[somewhat-insane]

~Shadowpeach Headcanons (I'm Delusional)~

I did this because I was bored... so if you happen to like this... uh... feel free to suggest other things you would want to see headcanons for (I also take art and one-shot requests too -3- (pleaseee, I need ideassss))

Neither of them bothers labeling their relationship (Macaque is more aware of identities and labels and identifies as bisexual. On the other hand, if you ask Wukong about his pronouns, he'll just stare at you silently before completely changing the subject.)

Wukong may be a jerk, but one thing he absolutely WON'T do is make fun of Macaque's art. (He was always happy when Macaque would express himself when they were younger and still has a similar mentality about it. Definitely would diss anyone else's art though.)

Both are subconsciously protective of the other's boundaries (Macaque steers clear of subjects that might trigger memories of Wukong's past, and Wukong makes sure others don't get too loud around Macaque (while still forgetting to check his own volume.) If you were to ask them, they'd say it's because they're the only ones who get to antagonize each other.)

Wukong is surprisingly good at dancing; Macaque is salty about it.

They fall asleep facing away from each other and then wake up cuddling

At first, they would stick around each other just to be annoying, but it slowly turned into them genuinely hanging out, and now they have regular "dates."

Macaque writes notes to remind Wukong of things when he can't be there to remind him himself, and Wukong doodles on them (and then forgets what he was supposed to do anyway)

Wukong likes to draw Macaque smiling (both genuine smiles and that bastard smile he does)

Macaque is surprisingly cuddly in the morning.

They are groggy after waking up, but sometimes Wukong will be up all night and super energetic when Mac wakes up.

Macaque constantly rearranges the furniture, and Wukong runs into stuff because he moves through rooms on muscle memory

Macaque tries flirting with Wukong, but it all goes over his head. Meanwhile, Wukong says things that fluster Macaque without even knowing it.

Macaque laughs so hard at Wukong that he snorts, and Wukong teases him for it.

They have so many inside jokes that their conversations have become incomprehensible to people who don't know them.

They don't like beds and will shove a bunch of blankets in a corner and curl up there if they can't sleep outside because it's raining.

They have serious talks late at night that they both pretend never happened in the morning.

Both of them get really excited about random things and will info dump on each other

Macaque is scared of his food/drinks being contaminated and won't eat/drink something that is out of his sight for too long; sometimes, he trusts Wukong to watch his food, and other times doesn't

Wukong loves eating peaches and playing in the dirt but hates the feeling of his skin being sticky or dirt under his claws; Macaque will grumble and huff but will eventually clean him up

They make weird noises at each other.

Wukong still doesn't understand tech and constantly has to ask Macaque for help. Macaque is more knowledgeable than Wukong but still has to ask MK for help helping Wukong sometimes.

Wukong doesn't save his drawings because he doesn't think they're that important, but Macaque always keeps them. The same can be said vice versa.

[itsabouttimex2]

Can I request a platonic yandere sun wukong and macaque realizing that the teen mystic monkey they've been raising is planning to leave ffm?

O Child of Unity

(I’m assuming you want Shadowpeach, then? I’m still not the best with it, but I’ll try! Also, a new bot is up!🧡💜 Also again, this fic is compliant with Deepest Hues- which I’ll expand on soon!)

There are four base colors in our world: black, white, yellow, and red. Together, these four hues represent the base components of alchemy- nigredo, albedo, citrinitas, and rubedo.

In times ancient and forgotten, a massive reservoir of these four colors existed in each corner of the earth. Like pools of chaos they surged, brimming with power and life. From each of these brightly-hued depths did an egg arise, containing a Mystic Monkey of incredible potential.

One of light. One of shadow. One of snow. One of fire.

And recently, a brand new simian, born of a union from nigredo and citrinitas, pitch black and bright yellow fusing their mystical lineage into a mottled green.

Their union blessed the world with a little virescent monkey, big eyes and soft fur-

You.

The world is such a wonderful place, you’ve learned. Geysers of boiling water and hunched spikes of snow. Sand white as bone and lakes stained pink by algae. Forests comprised of just one tree and diminutive flowers with digestive maws.

From book to book you’ve torn, indulging your curious brain in every last little wonder of the world- from glacial peaks to crystal caverns.

How many pages have you worn away by now, dreaming of wonders far beyond your reach? How many dreams has your mind spun, longing for something new? How many times have you lost the world to a lovely little daydream that took hours to shake?

A less generous eye would view this behavior as unhealthy. They might even refer to it as a ‘coping mechanism’, spending half the day locked into a foggy haze, pretending that life was more exiting, more fulfilling.

Even you had come to realize the inherent instability of your constant stupor, eventually.

All you have to do to fix this problem, then… is make those dreams a reality!

…right?

Right! No time to waste worrying!

Packing is easy! It used to be a time-killer of yours as a child, pretending to go on adventures across the world with only your trusty well-stocked backpack. All these little games were played out under the watchful eyes of your fathers, ensuring your fun never turned dangerous or led you somewhere that was off-limits.

You’d pick a locale and prepare for an ‘expedition’ with snacks and clothes, always running and asking Bába to open the pantry for you.

“A winter adventure,” Sun Wukong would lovingly coo, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Sounds like fun, bud! Don’t forget to pack your warm socks, kay?”

He’d laugh and play along, pushing sandwiches and chocolate protein bars into your hands, always with a pouch of juice to pair. Sometimes he’d go the extra mile of bagging them up, giving you a paper sack that wouldn’t be out of place on a field trip.

(How often you begged to be enrolled in school, physical or at least online. And your fathers would ‘tsk’ and shake their heads, but quickly promise you ice cream as a bandage balm for your youthful sorrow.)

And then he’d watch your little journeys with a quirked eyebrow, smiling as you pulled your plushes (given that you had no playmates outside of base simians and your often busy fathers) along and narrated your games.

You’d fill out a page in your bulky journal detailing the ‘journey’, consigning your little hours of make-believe to white pages.

And as you had grown, that many-paged journal stayed tucked under your arm, all your thoughts and hopes written away into it.

Even now, as you stare out at the endless horizon so plainly in front of you- the book is held to your chest, warmed by the excited beat of your heart.

It holds all those dreams you’ve dreamt for a full decade now, each one precious and utterly perfect to your nostalgic mind.

The grass is long and bright, glistening with morning dew. It sparkles under the rising rays of the sun, a picturesque landscape laying in front of you. Flower Fruit Mountain (Mount Huaguo, as your fathers sometimes called it) was beautiful. Is beautiful. But pretty can only satiate the mind for so long, and certainly couldn’t fulfill your wanderlust any longer.

You had explored every cave, climbed every tree, mucked every puddle, cuddled every monkey.

It had been nice. And you’d miss it, but-

The world was waiting!

And you could wait no longer.

Stuffing the oversized book into your backpack, you do the one thing you’ve wanted to do for years- and take off running.

Lush grass rips under your feet, laying in scattered half-length piles as your boots tear across the wet ground. Muddy footprints squash down flowers and weeds alike, nothing stopping your gleeful dash.

Over puddles and through tree crooks, beneath towering canopies and across deep ponds- you run. All that hampers you is the heavy bags strapped to your back and waist, full of the supplies you once only dreamed of handling during a journey.

A real, actual journey! How long had you waited?! Years and years! And it was finally coming true!

But you turn the corner of a rock too quickly, and smack head-on into something solid and warm, the figure grasping you tightly.

And all too suddenly, one of your fathers- Macaque- stares down at you, clearly displeased.

“Explain,” he sharply says, holding out the note you had left on the dining table, unfolded and excitedly penned. It had been written in such a rush of gleeful adrenaline that some parts are nigh-unintelligible.

But; even with wild pen scrawl and joyful errors, it was clearly an intended farewell.

The claw marks shredding through half of the paper is proof that he hadn’t exactly taken the notion well.

“Y/N. What the hell is this? You’re running away?”

“N-no! I’m just-“

“Do you think this is how it all works? You throw a note on the table and head out into a world you know nothing about?”

“I do know about the world! I’ve been researching it for years!”

“Your ‘research’ doesn’t mean a thing! You have no skills, no experience, nothing!”

“Because you won’t let me do anything!”

The accusation causes him to bristle in anger, lips pulled back as he snarls. His fangs, glistening and sharp, draw your attention.

(Sometimes you forget what Macaque has done. How scary he can be. Sometimes you forget that he’s never regretted his crimes. Moments like this are happy to remind you.)

Your bravado and boldness vanish startlingly quickly, shrinking under the furious gaze of the simian.

The Six-Eared simian snags your wrist, stomping over to a cavernous rift of shadows. With your arm held tight, he jumps in and drags you along.

You fall from a ceiling and into the waiting arms of your other father, Wukong. He grins and nuzzles the fur of his cheek to your own, relishing in the warmth of familial closeness. A golden brazier burns next to him, recently lit and brightly chugging the wooden fuel within.

“Someone was up to a little bit of mischief, huh?”

His reaction is the polar opposite to Macaque- where his husband blows up and seethes, the Great Sage lies to himself and pretends that everything is okay. It’s easier to think of his child as a little imp than an outright runaway.

As Wukong dotes, Macaque rips away the thick jacket and boots that you were wearing, throwing them into the nearest closet.

You didn’t need them, after all. You weren’t going anywhere.

Though a part of you is disgruntled to have some of your clothing torn away so suddenly, it’s only when he snatches the backpack that you scrabble from the Great Sage’s arms.

“Don’t mess with that!” You call, trying to wrangle the bag from his grip- but he’s got your journal before you manage to pry it free.

He holds the gargantuan journal, full of all the dreams you had through your life- to see snow penitentes, to view miscolored lakes, to visit ancient forests, to explore the world that had been kept from you for so long.

“This is what gave you those ideas? Your little baby book, kiddo?”

“It’s not-“

“Shut it! You tried to run away. You don’t get to speak right now.”

He takes a moment to breath, glaring at the offending journal. To him, the answer is clear- get rid of the book, and he’ll get rid of your silly ideations of “freedom”. If it comes undone to the very binds, then maybe you’ll give up on leaving and return to the cozy schedule your fathers adhere you to. Forehead kisses and morning cuddles, shared meals and long naps through the cold of winter.

Without it, his life will go back to being perfect, and to an obsessive villain like Macaque?

A little bit of your sorrow is worth the happiness that keeping you close brings.

“Enough of these pointless dreams.”

The Six-Eared Macaque stands to his full height, the multicolored glow on his ears fading to black as his eyes burned red. With one angry sling, he throws your book into the deepest ashes of the gilded brazier.

It catches quick, melting and warping for just a brief few milliseconds before incinerating.

You stand there for a moment in sheer disbelief, watching as a decade of heartfelt writing crumbles away in seconds.

The raw, unspeakable hurt it produces leaves you breathless and mute, incapable of summoning even a single sorrowful word.

Macaque staggers back as tears bubble up in your eyes- even the villain himself has realized that this was a step much too far. His intention; as often to the innocent and undeserving, was to inflict suffering.

Even his own family wasn’t off the table.

His sable hands are much too slow in retrieving the book from uncaring flames, snagging only an empty cover now bereft of inner pages.

Ruined. Utterly ruined and destroyed.

The slow realization that you’ll never have back your childhood journal, never read again your years of games and research, never write another word in the precious book, never finish it- never, never, never, never, all in a devastating row.

The realization sinks in slow, but clicks into place all the same.

A low whimper builds in your throat, slowly pitching up as wetness spill down your cheeks. So many tears fall that they blind your vision, pairing well with the sobs that escape you.

Wukong glares at his partner with boiling eyes, a look of outright hatred in them. “Macaque. What. The. Hell.”

“…they h-had to learn a lesson,” he weakly justifies, his cowardice bubbling up in full force.

Run from Five Phases Mountain. Run from the Brotherhood. Run from Wukong. Run from the Lady Bone Demon. Run from the Samadhi Fire. Run from consequences and run from heroes, and pray that everyone forgets how badly he deserves to be punished for his cruelty and arrogance and sins.

Still a little rat, slinking in the shadows.

“Get out,” the Great Sage snarls, fangs dripping with immeasurable hatred, and, as ever, as always-

Macaque runs.

Wukong turns to you as his pitch husband bolts, throwing off his chest-plate and wrapping his unfathomably powerful arms around your quivering form.

He’s warm, much like a spring of volcanic water, or sun-kissed wood.

Or a raging, burning fire.

You don’t really want to be warm right now.

But the ferocity with which you pound his chest and gut leave the simian utterly unfazed, shushing and hushing you all the same.

“Shh, pumpkin, shh. You know your Bába hates to see you cry. C’mon, let’s dry those tears. Y’know what? How about we get you some ice cream, bud? Something sweet and cold to make you feel better.”

Wukong doesn’t wait for a response. He rarely does. The immortal boosts you up into his arms, heading to the kitchen. He kisses your cheeks and forehead and the bridge of your nose, trying to placate your tears with an overdose of physical affection.

This was your life. Your world.

And you were starting to doubt that you’d ever leave it.

[acoraxia]

What are your thoughts on shadowpeach?

Fandom wise? I do not care for it.

Canon wise? I believe in men committing crimes while forming the most toxic, unhealthy attachments to one person could lead to such a dysfunctional relationship that it, eventually, turns into a functional one. And also they’re trans and aspec.

Disclaimer: this is all my opinion and people can do whatever they want, i simply have my gripes with some of the fandom stuff. this is just me explaining what i like and dislike about shadowpeach.

I think the most common thing people fall into when it comes to ships—or shipping in general—is how to domesticate these two characters without fully addressing their flaws, personalities, behavior, and their overall choices throughout the original media/show they come from. 

Macaque and SWK both suffer equally through this mischaracterization: Macaque is often painted as this shy or “edgy” character with little to no ties to his actual character in canon and, more often than not, he is perceived as this “dad” type of character when, in fact, he should not be allowed near children for I fear he will bully them nonstop until they sit there in the corner feeling disheartened and miserable about themselves; Sun Wukong is often portrayed as this dumb himbo with little-to-no means of understanding social cues, not understanding emotions in a way that’s very frustrating, and be this yearning, pining idiot who’s still longing for his childhood crush when he did not hesitate to punch this guy in the face multiple times throughout the show. So when they are paired up together it’s this weird mash of people believing Macaque is the better dad with more understanding of human behavior and Wukong is his dumb, doting husband who’s doing his best and cannot stand up for himself when confronted about things.

The amount of times people choose to make Macaque sympathetic by having Sun Wukong’s family side with Macaque when it comes to Wukong’s actions/choices is so vast I could not count them all on one hand. The common trope of having Princess Iron Fan (Sun Wukong’s sister-in-law) become Macaque’s sworn sister is so disheartening to see for someone who read through Journey To The West and thought of how silly the overall family dynamic of the Demon Bull Family and Sun Wukong’s troops was. Removing Iron Fan as Sun Wukong’s literal sister just to have someone backup Macaque and sympathize with him is funny and a bit silly. 

That being said… the canon version of Shadowpeach and its possibilities are, in fact, very delicious.

Canon wise this is what we know about Sun Wukong and Macaque’s history together: 

Sun Wukong and Macaque meet

The brotherhood is formed after Azure meets Sun Wukong, Macaque tags along with Wukong (note: Macaque is not addressed as “brother” by the characters, only Wukong is)

Macaque tries to warn Wukong about how dealing with Heaven might be a bad idea

They share a peach under a tree; Wukong reassures Macaque this plan will work

Wukong carries on with Azure’s plan anyway (yes, azure lion’s plan, not wukong’s)

The brotherhood is defeated and Wukong gets trapped under a mountain

Presumably no one comes to visit Wukong, only Macaque

During his final visit, Wukong is angry that Macaque is free and can’t see the fact that Wukong was trying to do everything for them and his kingdom

Macaque snaps back at Wukong and calls him an obsessive demon before leaving

They have another fallout and fight

Wukong ends up killing Macaque in the aftermath

500~ years later, Macaque and Wukong fight again with Wukong being more apathetic towards their reunion than Macaque is

Macaque obsesses over Wukong continuously (coughs)

Macaque is biased in his retellings of his and Wukong’s relationship (see: all of shadowplay and the scrolls memories)

They fight (again) throughout S3

They somewhat reconcile by the end of S4

We will address the fact Sun Wukong was groomed into going to war by this former celestial warrior instead of having it be because of his own want to protect his family and friends after Heaven refused to pay him the respect he wanted when he first joined their ranks later. Right now we focus on the fact that Sun Wukong is canonically a person people easily fall in love with (platonically) and have a tendency to want to stay close to regardless of what his future actions will be like and Macaque is sequentially obsessed with him throughout the show.

“The hero and the warrior were like the Sun and the Moon. Their light, a protective glow, shining upon the world. Together, there was nothing that could stop the two of them. Either in the Celestial Realms or on Earth. As time went on, the hero attained power beyond comprehension. As the hero's light grew, so too did his shadow. And soon, the warrior was cast in that shadow. In the darkness, the warrior was forgotten by the hero.”

Fun fact: Macaque is never going to be on par with Sun Wukong’s power and he works best as support than he does a duo-attacker along side Wukong. Wukong is on his own power level and Macaque, while being able of holding his own against enemies, could be stomped to death by Xiaoijiao is he crossed the line.

Macaque’s obsession with Sun Wukong comes from the inability to move on from the past; Macaque wanting things to go back as they were is a subtle theme going through the show — he keeps latching on to biased memories and avoiding the actual problems that caused their relationship to fall apart and it isn’t until Season 3’s big confrontation with Long Xiaojiao’s Samadhi Fire ritual. He realizes he abandoned Wukong during a time of need and proceeds to flee, abandoning him again. 

Macaque has issues. More often than not people call out on Sun Wukong for abandoning Xiaotian or the Monkie Kid Crew all while ignoring the fact Sun Wukong does not purposefully leave Qi Xiaotian, he tries his hardest to make it back in time and is visibly scared/horrified when LBD attacks in his absence. Sun Wukong tries his hardest to comfort Xiaotian while Macaque tries to torment him. 

Regardless, Sun Wukong and Macaque’s relationship is unique to most media’s portrayal of friends turned enemies. Because Wukong does not see Macaque as a threat up until he teams up with Lady Bone Demon — he is only scary by association, not by anything he has done up until that point. You can tell with the way Wukong mocks him and calls him something akin to a puppet during their interaction in Season 3 when Macaque trapped him and Nezha in the ice. 

And even then Macaque doesn’t even bother trying to engage with Wukong in a friendly manner because kindness is for losers HA i’m not apologizing for anything, bye Sun Wukong, you big old LOSER [proceeds to possibly live on the streets and stay homeless until wukong allows him to return to ffm under certain house rules]

You’ll notice that Sun Wukong barely has any opinions on Macaque.

This is because Macaque is favored by the narrative more than Sun Wukong is so we have very little context as to how Sun Wukong genuinely feels towards Macaque. 

Sun Wukong sees Macaque as an annoyance, a bother, a threat, a coward, an imposter and then, finally, an ally. 

But all we get from that is Wukong handing Macaque a peach-flavored ice cream pop as a parallel to him sharing a peach with his old friend back when they were young monkeys before he was trapped under a mountain for 500 years as a result of his abuser’s power hold on him that forced him to fight heaven as a way to “make the world a better place”. 

We love to see it.

Macaque and Wukong’s relationship goes from mutual interest and a supportive friendship established years prior to the original building of the brotherhood to a very weird, uncategorized type of dynamic. The only way to characterize Sun Wukong’s “affection” towards Macaque is, possibly, the same way most people would characterize Macaque to be towards Wukong. Y’know the slightly judgmental actions and eye rolls and scoffs of affection most people write about Macaque when Wukong does something stupid? Yeah.

“But Macaque said “this guy” when Wukong was presenting his plan to defeat Azure—“ yeah have you considered Wukong does a lot of masking in the presence of the entire Monkie Kid Crew and Macaque has a tendency to present himself as this cool persona when in fact he’s just a homeless monkey who’s been crashing on his ex’s couch for the past weeks since the ending of Season 3? 

“OK…. but why QPR Shadowpeach?”

Sun Wukong throughout the course of Journey to the West and all its past and future iterations have always had him be uninterested in both men and women. There are multiple instances where he’s capable of courting women and he instead backs away or does not pay it any mind; aside from this he’s heavily implied to only care about familial love and friendships. He does not see his pilgrim brothers as anything more than family and he views Tripitaka as a mentor rather than someone whom he was chained to. And Azure was his idol and he was groomed by him, and everyone else was viewed to him as a troop — or, y’know, a family.

This and the fact that— both Sun Wukong and Macaque are over a thousand years old. Why on earth would they have a normal type of relationship? Giving them a checklist of what passes on as romantic and platonic when to them the line is so blurred it’s barely existent to them is amusing. 

Sun Wukong and Macaque having their own weird relationship where it changes from frustrated best friends to partners to angry middle aged demons to the tired traumatized immortals who sometimes cuddle while still beating each other up is so deliciously interesting and unhealthy to the point where it is healthy. 

Also Celestial bodies are not the same as mortal bodies; canonically Sun Wukong has transformed into women before and people have addressed him with female-leaning pronouns before. my personal headcanon of sun wukong being genderfluid lves on and now we can have sapphic shadowpeach with transfem macaque.

also im still feverish so if this doesnt make sense then too bad damn im sorry