#i also dislike p*achynoodles but like not for moral reasons

[venicity]

HIIIIII I am so glad to be able to Understand them with you, they make me feel SICK, I hate them (I have been hyperfixating on them for months now)

I also absolutely agree that they'd choose MK / his life and safety over each other like I don't particularly see his relationship w them as father-son BUT I do think it's familial (with SWK at least) and deeply important all the same. I actually feel like both swk and mcq have an unhealthy dependency on mk BC he's like, the first person to care for and believe in them both in hundreds of years— swk bc he isolated himself on FFM for hundreds of years and mcq bc he was dead LOL. But even before that; mcq only ever had swk and after their relationship went south, he didn't actually have anyone else in his life which is definitely part of why he dedicated himself to hurting and being swk's enemy. Even if it was a relationship of bitterness and hatred, it was all he had that mattered to him.

Honestly, on the topic of mcq, he specifically drives me insane in his relationship w swk and mk bc he is someone who is deeply independent, distrusting, and he's made it a point to prove he's all about self preservation. But I do not believe he's someone who is inherently/by nature cruel or evil— he never cared about being strong for himself or about destroying or being on top of the world. All he cared about was being by swk's side, and when he couldn't do that, it was to hurt swk as much as swk hurt him no matter the cost.

But the MOMENT he realized mk cared for him and genuinely believed in him, he cracked. He went against his own self preserving nature bc his care for mk outweighs his own fear of lbd and his own death, and that's just the beginning of their developing friendship after yk,, being enemies LOL. And it's the same with how, the MOMENT swk said he trusted mcq in 5x2, mcq threw himself at Li Jing knowing he could die or be imprisoned at LEAST possibly for a very, very long time but it didn't matter. Because it was something he did to protect swk and mk, and smt he does AGAIN to try and save mk from himself during 5x9, because to him...it was an easy choice. Either run away and live, or throw himself at an enemy he knows he can't defeat to protect mk and swk. And he will always choose them. Always. Which is GUT WRENCHING to me bc for him, although I don't think he'd ever intentionally doom or end the world, it was never about saving the world. It was only ever about saving the very very few people he cares for in this world. Or at least dying like an old, loyal dog by their side.

Can u tell who my favourite character is LMFAO,, I am so deeply unwell about him. About shadowpeach in general but also just their relationship and like their individual relationships w mk as well bc I don't ship them w him bc it makes me deeply uncomfortable for personal reasons, I hate how people kinda just ignore just how important he is to both swk and mcq, and how he is the only reason they have a relationship again to begin with since without him, they would've stayed bitter enemies who are just a bit too obsessed w each other.

GOD DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON DRAGONFRUIT, I don't talk about them nearly as much as I should but they are my second fave ship in lmk specifically bc their entire relationship has been built up and tended to by the writers so beautifully, like the connection they share is a special on specific to just the two of them bc they can understand each other in a unique way that others can't— and also bc like even though they're their own seperate and well written characters, their stories are so intertwined that it simply does not make sense to have one without the other bc they have impacted each other in such important ways.

I wouldn't say they're written FOR each other but I also wouldn't say they're not like they did start as their own characters but throughout the seasons, they've went from simply having a fun dynamic to their relationship being so vital to the core of their characters and development (ie Mei going from afraid of her own powers to feeling lesser than and only confiding these feelings to Red Son, who was the only possible person who could understand and comfort her in the way she needed to Red Son only accepting and trusting in mk and his crew bc of Mei— bc of his relationship with her, and the fact that she proved he could believe in them by saving the world; saving his PARENTS when he needed her too. Although I do think he would've held her cose as the world burned around them if she was unable to.) that it'd be CRAZY if people stripped their relationship and importance of each other in favour of giving it to another character instead which...does nothing but get rid of the woman in the equation. That'd be wild. I couldn't imagine anyone doing that in a fandom space known to always prioritize male characters over female characters :)))))))

Chhejjxjdjsj thankyou for replying and reading, I am very sorry for the many MANY paragraphs its simply. Who I am. If I don't yap and ramble for things that could be said in like 5 sentences then who am I? LOL

Very very sorry for the spam but you are the only person outside of my immediate friend group who enjoys both shadowpeach AND dragonfruit in the very specific way that I do 🛐🛐🛐

Like I am the BIGGESTTTTT believer in aroace swk who has only ever really loved mcq in That Specific Way. Like not romantic but also not completely platonic— he loved him and he loved him in a way he never loved anyone else which is what mattered most. And mcq I see as...idk! Maybe he's aroace too, regardless I think he also loved and only loved swk BECAUSE he was swk. That is all that ever mattered to him. That it was swk. Loyal to a fault; even after swk hurt him so much, even after he hurt swk just as much. (Haha this is just like I'm Your Man by Mitski—)

And I do NOT see them as cutesy or as like a sweet and domestic couple. They are FAR from over their many, many issues and they will always have that bit of toxicity and hurt no matter how much they may hypothetically mellow out bc the ways in which they hurt each other WAS unforgivable. But the thing is, does that even matter? Does it matter if they'll still love each other anyways? If, in the end, all they ever wanted was to be by each others side even as they were covered in each others blood and blinded by their own heartbreak, anger, and hatred. Love. Obsession. Whatever it was that they felt for each other.

I also like,,, even if they somehow hypothetically hot their shit together enough to be a "functioning couple", I do not see them w any of the typical relationship labels like I think mcq would hurl if u called swk his boyfriend, husband, lover, etc like PLEASE I understand not everyone will have the same opinions and ship dynamics and I respect it, but I have a very specific view on their relationship and they are neither romantic or platonic, but a secret third thing. But they are also actually both. Whatever it is, it's love. A love that grew sharp and bent in its intensity when that love festered into a hatred that edged the line of obsession far too many times to ever be "normal" hatred.

Okay I think I've ranted enough. For now. Thankyou very much if u read all of this I have so very many shadowpeach thoughts 🛐

OMG HELLO

You are the only person outside of my immediate friend group who understands shadowpeach the way I do

I could honestly also read Macaque as allo, but no matter what their relationship is so aspec/arospec to me. Like whatever their bond was, it didn't matter because they had each other. Until they didn't. Until they knew their relationship was one of hatred. Until it was somehow even more complicated.

What drives me crazier is at this point, they would both choose MK over each other. It's pretty clear that Macaque expected Wukong to sacrifice himself in MK's place v ("He needs to know it's not all on him" "It doesn't always have to be you!" "Get the kid you idiot" "Wukong..."), because that was what he was willing to loose. He had already lost Wukong before, but MK? He's someone neither Macaque or Wukong could bear leaving them (the way they left each other). Like s5 committed so hard in the run motif ("You're the one always running off!"), and MK has been set up to be the one to leave Wukong since like s2.

It's also rare for me to run into another dragonfruit fan!! Tbh it is kinda just the text, but I find them so interesting. Like what if Mei handled the worst parts of Red Son better than he ever did. What if their mentor/mentee dynamic parallels MK and Macaque ("You don't use a weapon, you ARE a weapon! - "Don't use the flame Mei..." "Be the flame!"). What if Red Son knew Mei would stop at nothing to free his parents, the way he stopped at nothing to free her.

But also, what if Red Son was Mei's silly rabbit.

I know some people despise 5x05, but the truth is that Red Son has always been a support character to Mei. Even in AHiB, Mei and Red Son are often singled out together (ilu Mei saving MK and "I'll handle this" scenes). It's more obvious in 1x06 or 1x08, where Mei and Red are both racers and, of course, "Red flames are cool! Want to see some green ones?". RoTSQ focuses entirely on Mei and Red Son's relationship, which is continued into 3x06 and beyond.

Thank you for the rant it was a good read!