#lego monkie kid analysis

[rainbow-beanie]

UGHHHHH THIS SCEEEEEENE!!! 😭

You can tell from the moment wukong looks at him worried that you can tell that he didn’t mean to accidentally trigger him. I wonder if wukong blames himself for mk’s turmoil over his monkey form. Like obviously none of the bad things that happened to mk is his fault, the fact that it still happened and he was one way or another helpless to help him, especially in the last episode in season 4 where inky version of him told him everything he feared. The truth is what happened is neither of their faults, but wukong still feels bad about it.

Especially since mk not liking his monkey form is like, at least in wukong’s eyes; mk hating something that’s a part of wukong. And that revelation is a loooooot to unpack 😬

[aroacenezhaanddainsleif]

so i was rewatching the end of lmk s4 with some friends today, and i noticed that in 4x10 peng says smth to nezha like "let the demon child come out and play!" and like. if i knew more about nezha lore thatd probably be quite concerning to me as a lorehead. and you seem knowledgeable. so. any thoughts?

oh boy. (cracks knuckles) it's late and i should be sleeping but I'm also sad so Nezha interest go BRRRRR

i will say for any accurate/culturally referenced info, go check out @ruibaozha - i am simply summing up as much as i can and some stuff is missing/not elaborated on

let me break down the basic elements of the Nezha myths.

Nezha is born his mom and his military dad, Li Jing, and his older brothers Muzha (second) and Jinzha (first). but Nezha is like fucking. superpower baby for some reason? Apparently the heavens decided to bless Li Jing with a powerful son for his military prowess, and Nezha's mom, Lady Yin(?), was pregnant for 3+ years. Then Nezha popped out as a goddamn ball of flesh. His dad attacked him because hey! Flesh ball! But then Nezha's ball split open and he jumped out as an already formed young child (ages often unclear- ppl say he's 7, or 12, and in some cases he died after only 3 days(?) alive.) either way, Taiyi Zhenren swoops in to be Nezha's master, and everything is fine for some time.

at least til Nezha kills Ao Bing. this part of the myth is really what defines Nezha as a "demon child" or not. in Fengsheng Yanyi/Investiture of the Gods, ONE of the older/more well-known written versions of his story, Nezha washes his sash in the East Sea and causes the dragon palace to quake. Ao Guang understandably gets pissed and sends up his general to ask him to stop, who Nezha kills. then Ao Guang's 3rd son, Ao Bing, who Nezha also kills (and rips out his tendon to wear as a belt)! sometimes Nezha also kills a demon, apprentice of Lady Earth Flow, miles away on accident because he randomly fired a bow. yet in another cases, Nezha is the hero- a demon came up to eat children at the shore, and Nezha obviously killed the dude, then Ao Bing, same thing. but in other other versions, Nezha was friends with Bing and accidentally killed him while playing due to being ultra powerful...

and then Ao Guang threatens Nezha's town, because the kid killed his son. (sometimes Nezha goes and strangles Guang before he can talk to the Jade Emperor, so...) Guang demands an apology and/or Nezha's life or he'll flood the whole mountain pass. and Nezha decides to slit his own goddamn throat to apologize to his parents and "return his body to them". Aka: he commits suicide at like, seven(?)

From here on, stuff differs: Li Jing is a shitty dad (like he REALLY really hates Nezha. calls him a curse and beats him), Nezha gets a temple and Jing burns it down, Nezha gets reborn in a lotus body by his master and/or Buddha, goes on a murder rampage against his dad and Muzha (beats up Muzha w/ a golden brick), is forced to submit to his dad through a Golden Pagoda, making Li Jing the Golden Pagoda Bearing Li Jing, sometimes Jinzha gets to flog his brother, and Nezha's basically a bitter fire god (child) put into the literal armies of heaven. he's also got his 6/8-armed and 3-headed war form in the myths...

now, this is a very long yet still EXTREMELY short explanation of the myth(s), and the "message" really boils down to what version you tell- the boy who started stuff by (unintentionally) murdering people, or the hero. but a lot of the main point of nezha's myth was originally about filial piety, and can be told as a story to remind kids that the parents are always superior, but in more modern myths and stories, Nezha has ended up shifting more into a symbol of rebellion. He's the protection deity of children: the outcasts and the demon children, the kids who question things and are loud and outspoken and aren't what people (especially their parents) want them to be. Nezha's story entirely depends on region, context and intent, which makes him a very versatile figure.

Now, put that into LMK?

I have a lot of hcs abt why LMK Nezha is the way he is, but my main one comes down to that "demon child" line. I like to think that Nezha was basically an uncontrolled force of war power and killed Ao Bing (regardless of the situation).

But then he got put into heaven and 1. realized how he acted and had to deal with crushing guilt and self-hatred and 2. got groomed into a (then) child soldier 👍

He was still a general, but learned to channel all that destructive power into being a protector and how to defend instead (ex: his shields, sealing power, etc). He takes his current job very seriously bc he sees it as his only reason to still be worth existing. he also dislikes Wukong bc he sees far too much of a younger him in Wukong; doomed for destructiveness and chaos. this is also why i put parallels to Nezha and MK because. yeah. (and imo, although i know Nezha paid it back w/ his suicide, I'm a bit surprised Mei wasn't taught to hate him, due to how much family matters to dragons...)

so aka, my hc of: "dude was literally always seen as a demon child/symbol of destruction, and therefore after being used as a literal war weapon and then being made to guard a map for ages (probably because he didn't want to harm anyone else), DUDE'S GOT ISSUES!"

[the-cinnamon-snail]

Okay, we're connecting LMK characters to Mitski songs again because we're listening to Mitski right now! This time(literally only the 2nd ever) it's Fireworks by Mitski, with Macaque.

We really love analysis and stuff and would like this to be read, so if anyone wants the plain text in a reblog/can't read the font well in the image even with zooming in, tell us and we'll get that done!

This is not in complete defense of Macaque: he is a complex character with many positives and negatives, nor is it a bashing of Wukong who is mentioned, as he is in the same situation. This is not to make Macaque seem like an 'uwu soft boy', it is simply an in depth analysis of a song we enjoy from our favorite artist and how we think that it connects to a character we enjoy thinking about from our favorite show. Just thought that needed to be said somewhere.

Part one, with Wukong being connected to Remember My Name, can be found here:

[menaceoffandoms]

So, I saw a theory from @mumatsi and it reminded me of a theory I had before season 5 came out, so I wanna talk about it!

In the journey to the west, the Buddha says their are 4 celestial primates that exist within the world; the intelligent stone monkey (Sun Wukong), the red-buttocked baboon, the long armed gibbon and the six eared Macaque. As far as I'm aware, (all my knowledge about jttw comes from overly sarcastic productions, so I'm very much not an expert) Wukong never meets the other celestial primates during the journey. With only their names and vague powers being listed, the celestial monkies are perfect bases for characters in a cartoon. We've already seen the writers take advantage of this with Macaque, who is the only other celestial monkie we met in jttw. So it makes sense to me that the others would show up at some point.

My initial idea was that MK was the red-buttocked baboon, mainly cause their cited as having knowledge of ying and yang, an understanding of human affairs and the ability to avoid death and lengthen its life.

It just sorta fit in my mind at the time, but after season 5 I don't think it dose anymore.

MK is the harbinger of Chaos, a created by Nuwa with the express purpose of restoring the pillar of heaven and restarting the cycle of the world. MK's not meant to exist beyond that purpose, he only has a life because the Nine-headed serpent wakes him up early and brings him to Pigsy. He, and the stones, are made from the chaos beyond the world, unique to anything else in the world.

So therefore, MK can't be one of the 4 celestial primates, because he wasn't meant to really be a person to begin with. It's why none of the guardians or Nuwa ever call him by his name, or any name for that matter. It's really fucked up when you think about it actually.

I do think it would make sense for the other two celestial primates to show up later in the show, but I don't think season 6 would make sense for that and I don't think they'll be villains. Antagonists, maybe, but not big bad's about to end the world.

I feel like they'll show up sometime after Wukong and Macaque get their shit together, if they do at all, and that means we'd be look at post season 6 at minimum.

But, going back to mumatsi's idea, I do think whatever the "he" the Nine-headed serpent was referring to could have something to do with the celestial primates.

We already know Nuwa made MK and in jttw there is never a definitive reason why Wukong came to be, other than a combination of earthly and celestial energy creating him seemingly at random. But since they both came from the same stone egg, I think we can guess that Nuwa might have had a hand in Wukong being created.

No idea why, but that's a train of thought for later.

I mention this because I think "he" is another God, some opposite to Nuwa who thrives in chaos instead of rejecting it. Their is a Chaos God in Chinese myth named Hundun and I think he could be our best bet at who "he" is.

I don't know much about this deity, I literally just did a quick google search, but given the only evidence toward who this character could be is chaos and the Nine-headed serpents vague mention, I think its as plausible as anything else. At the very least, I'm confident "he" is a God of some kind.

With that idea in mind and the thought that Nuwa created MK, we could assume that Hundun had some part in making Macaque and that is who he got his power from.

It would explain how he was able to stop the Nine-headed serpent, seeing as he seems to have made his own connection with the chaos after "escaping the cave" as he said, but Macaque would have a stronger connection by being made of the stuff.

It could also explain Macaque's death, since chaos and madness go together quite well and the laughter we hear from him in Wukong's flashback sounds very crazy.

TLDR: I wanna know more about the mystic monkies and why the fuck they were made. Hundun is probably the big bad of season 6 giving he's a chaos god and is likely linked to Macaque just like MK is linked to Nuwa, meaning we could get villain Macaque again in season 6 if his madness in Wukong's flashback is any indication.

Basically, there's a lot of potential for drama and I have many, many questions that will likely never be answered.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[itsabouttimex2]

You guys know MK will like… kill people. Right? You guys know that he’s not a blubbering little baby who insists on “being the bigger person” even in the face of everything he loves being destroyed??

And he has directly killed someone before.

Because she was threatening to destroy the world and kill his friends?

You guys know MK likes fighting. Right? MK from the very start has enjoyed fighting. Still enjoys fighting. Has always loved beating the tar out of his enemies. In the Calabash episode, one aspect of his “perfect life” was a very notable panel of the entire Demon Bull Family beaten to a pulp and sidelined- explicitly told to him that he was responsible for driving them away. Because MK liked fighting from the start.

You guys know that MK; who only starts having reservations about this behavior in season five, enjoys being violent. Right?

So much so that he threw Azure through Flower Fruit Mountain long after he had beaten him into degradation, even though he had dozens of other targets to aim at?

You guys do realize that MK was entirely in control of himself during this sequence, and was choosing all his actions?

And he chose to hurt Azure as bad as possible in revenge for being deceived?

You guys understand that he’s not like… a little blubbering baby who runs off to throw tantrums when he engages with basic violence? That MK understands that sometimes fighting is necessary and won’t fall apart the second he learns that people sometimes have to settle things physically?

You guys understand that MK has never held the use of violence against anyone, and has never blamed his friends or family or mentor for needing to engage in violence to protect themselves and their loved ones, right?

Right??

Right??

Right???

[cherllyio]

How Macaque died (Season 5 spoilers)

@rika1991tr tagged me, and asked what it tells us about Macaque's death/ him and Wukong's fight.

So- this is for you :D

and...

*cracks knunckles*

OH BOY

To get to the bottom of this, we have to understand one thing:

Wukong and Macaque never stopped caring for eachother. Beheind all that hate in the first three seasons, they still cared for eachother (none of them dares to show it though)

Just look at how Macaque reaches out for Wukong- (godamnit)

So... what was that "something" Wukong was going to do, that he was warning Macaque about?

Well... Wukong was going to do THIS to Macaque:

Because as my dear friend @lu-zijing (they talked about it here) mentioned to me, there is chains here in Macaque death scene:

And not only that, thoughs chains look A LOT like the chains Tripitaka and Wukong put on LBD:

SO IN OTHER WORDS:

MK AND WUKONGS FIGHT ARE A PARALELL TO MACAQUE AND WUKONG'S FIGHT.

AND ALSO THIS LINE?

Nine headed demon: How did you know that spell? Who did you make a deal with?

Macaque: What deal?

So clearly Macaque has a power, tha he got from someone else, that he CANT control.

And what do we see here in this scene?

The chains broken (again thanks to Lu-Zijing for mentioning that to me), but the shadowpowers OUT OF CONTROL.

In other words: I higely doubt Wukong acutally killed Macaque.

Yes, they got into a fight, but Wukong just wanted to trap Macaque in chains, so he could talk him out of this fight (instead of fighting who used to be his closest compainion).

But... something went wrong. Because right after that line we saw this:

Meaning that Wukong (acdently), destroyed Macaques eye, causing Macaque to PANIC, resulting in Macaque over-using his shadowpowers and then...

...

And one last thing, I would like to point out-

In that same scene Macaque was laughing, and an pretty evil laugh at that.

Almost like... his shadow powers had "taken over".

So lets do the math, yea?

Super unstable shadowpowers + super unstable monkey + the only friend he has ever had "leaving" him =

Ha ha- not to mention Wukong isnt even wearing a circlet here, meaning it didnt even take place in JTTW-!! but thats another can of worms, I will talk about another day-

(lol, did you know I acutally somehow foresaw this in a fanfic-)

[featherstorm2004]

Macaque is born from chaos

LMK SPOILERS FOR S5!!!

Ok so it's basically confirmed Macaque is going to be important for the next season considering dear Nine gave him so much attention, especially when you consider the ending shot is him noticing the chaos magic on the staff.

As for why he is important it's basically been confirmed that Mac's shadow magic is strange and in the finally we see it turn into chaos magic. Now, it's implied by Nine that Macaque would have needed to make a deal for this power, but Macaque has no clue what he's talking about which leads me to two theories.

And no I don't think it was the LBD's doing as he's had these powers long before her so no, I think either Mac was born in the chaos realm and somehow made it to this reality OR and this is my personal headcanon, Macaque was made by the "he" Nine referenced before departing in the finally. As to who this being is I have no idea but he is likely a figure of either equal or greater power to Nuwa, who then made Macaque to fulfill a purpose, similarly to how MK and Sun Wukong were.

As for what that purpose is who knows maybe it was to be his eyes and ears in this reality considering in the book Macaque had the ability to hear the past and future, or maybe it was to kill Wukong and Mk since they were Nuwa's sacrifices, we have no idea as this being is likely a creature of chaos so perhaps he had no reason and just wanted to see what would happen, but it's likely going to play a big part next season.

[the-immortal-restless]

FINALLY

it took me far to long to figure out how to post on tulmblr website

@kyri45 I got the courage to post this from the discord stream

Can you find the spicynoodles reference in there?

[luciusdaskel]

Macaque Episode Analysis ramble

So I was talking with a friend about the possible psychological and therapeutic take aways from each episode of Lego Monkie Kid, since I love Psychology as a whole, and came to a conclusion. Macaque's episode has a fuck ton of things to analyze. Such as - Not every role model you meet will be a good person Trust your teachers Don't push yourself too hard otherwise you'll get hurt, manipulated and possibly die (let's be real, Macaque would've killed MK if Wukong didn't step in) And, grooming They will all be covered as I explain the episode in depth. When MK first meets Macaque he thought he was Wukong but even after Macaque declines, MK still had stars in his eyes of pure admiration. He clearly looks up to Macaque since he was just as cool if not cooler than Monkey King. Within the very next second Macaque started the process of grooming, after a tiny test to see how strong MK's admiration was. "[...] I thought uh Monkey King was training you. [...] but you can never have too many teachers, I'm sure Monkey King would agree. [...]"

Then Macaque starts to train MK. This shows the duality of Wukong's more MK's current strength and capabilities training versus Macaque's more destructive and dehumanizing training. With Wukong's "Patience and focus, step into the strike", clashing with Macaque's far more brash "You don't use a weapon, you ARE the weapon." This is effective at isolating MK from Wukong and his teachings because MK feels like he is actually powerful now.

As Wukong says, MK's body isn't strong enough to handle the power. This applies to real life too. If someone tries to weight lift something too heavy for their skills, they could get seriously hurt. This is the just magical equivalent of weight lifting. But because of Macaque's influence, MK fights back and isolates himself from Wukong, his trust worthy mentor. This leads Macaque to his final part of his plan, lure MK into a trap with his full hearted trust in him.

Then Macaque finishes his plan by stealing MK's powers. Let's be honest, with how things were going and by our impression of Macaque in this episode, Macaque would have likely killed MK if it weren't for Wukong. OR left MK to die with the staff pressing him against the moutain. What can we gather from this? Well, first and foremost, MK's admiration made him an easy target for manipulation, and what resulted was MK nearly dying from the ordeal. Check for "not ever role model will be a good person", since Wukong is ALSO a role model, but a good one because he doesn't literally groom MK. (More on that in a minute.) Wukong was right and MK does what he taught him then admits his wrongs by the end and opens up on why, which Wukong responds with "Hey, your heart is in the right place, kid. We can work on the rest." MK learned to trust Wukong when he was teaching him something because ultimately that's what saved his life. I'm not saying trust EVERY authority figure, but one that is teaching you something that you trust and know will not hurt you. Get yourself a Wukong for your MK. Macaque's training has lasting impact on MK, making him feel like he needs to give himself up for others. Before this episode, MK never had the need to sacrifice himself or really seemingly blamed himself for anything. Macaque's dehumanizing training left MK with lasting damage to his mental health and also led to MK not being able to pick up the staff, granted that was after Macaque gut-punched the power out of him.

Ouch...

So, I hear you ask, "Ok, you made your point about various things, here but what about grooming? That's a bold word." Yes, it IS a bold word, especially considering the fandom space being primarily for children. However, I will clarify that grooming does not only apply to sexual circumstances.

This is from the official Canada public safety about child grooming. Notice the none sexual tactics.

"Make promises of a better life" - Promises to make MK stronger/a better fighter/hero

"Cause divsion saying "your parents are too strict" or "your parents don't understand you"." - Macaque says "Other people are going to tell you to be patient. They are slowing you down." to directly conflict with Wukong's training, further dividing MK and Wukong.

"May threaten or pressure your child to do what they ask, which could lead to sextortion." - Might not be explicit but it is implied MK had some minor doubts by the end of the training and was literally pushed into battle. Also he threw MK into the weapons rack on their first session, showing that MK was "weak" and prompted him to take up his implicit challenge, his trick. It's unclear if Macaque ever threatened MK while training, but I doubt it and he just pressured him and manipulated his drive and determination.

One that people might argue is "Approach your child online by pretending to be someone they're not - may falsely identify themselves as a person from school, or someone their age, to build a connection." but I believe it applies. - Macaque comes in creating a show with his own kaiju form, either to make himself popular or to attract MK or Wukong. Regardless, he seemed uncomfortable at first but once he prompts up "But you can never have too many teachers", that's when he starts creating a false identity, a trustworthy teacher who knows better than Wukong. That's also neglecting the fact Macaque pretended to not be that smoke demon.

If that's not "pretending to be someone they're not", then I'm not sure what is. Also for specifically adult grooming,

More signs I feel apply are;

"The person becomes withdrawn, or they may seem troubled by something but unwilling to talk about it. Alternatively their emotions might become volatile." - When Wukong points out MK has been running around other mentors, MK sounds calm and cold, like he was withdrawn. Then when Wukong presses on, MK yells at him and doesn't talk about exactly what was bothering him other than "You just don't like that there's someone who actually teaching me what I need to know."

"You notice them using or wearing something new, that you didn't buy [or teach] for them." - I added teach because Wukong points out he never taught MK how to break a wall like that, and was concerned and upset that MK learned that too quickly. Within that same scene, after MK yells at him, that's when Wukong notices the new symbol on MK's jacket and frowns. That's when he knows MK is being groomed, and by who.

"Groomers often aim to isolate their targets from their family or friends." - Well, we never see Mei, Pigsy, Tang, or Sandy in this episode, after the first meeting and they act like MK was gone for a month or more (could easily be a week lol). On top of that, Macaque was causing a divide between MK and Wukong. MK was very clearly pretty isolated already, and so Macaque just had to remove MK for MK's full reliance.

"The person might be spending more time on the phone, or online, than usual. But they won’t say what sites they’re visiting, or who they’re talking to." - This speaks for itself, but it's likely MK was training more and more with Macaque than being around his own friends, especially considering by previous point.

This video goes into great detail on how it happens, why the victim is manipulated easily, and what it does to someone. Granted this video is about a long-time grooming, but I believe the point and the awareness stands. If Macaque had been grooming MK for about a year or more, I feel MK would be closer to these signs than he is in the cannon LMK. Anyways! I hope you had fun with my analysis, and let me know if you'd like more! I love to just ramble about the psychology of certain characters or the takeaways of LMK episodes! I'd love to do Wukong, Macaque as a whole (not just the episode), MK, Xiangliu/Nine mayhaps?? Or even the Focus episode or something else- I have a minor analysis on the focus episode already in my head lol

[angstandhappiness]

FASCINATING

I’ve had the thought before that Sun Wukong doesn’t use his whole strength when fighting because he’s holding a lot of anger and doesn’t want to lose control.

Thinking more about Sha Dali and the parallels between him and Sun Wukong strenghtened that headcanon. They both have scenes where their eyes are glowing, they’re about to punch somebody with so much power it’d kill their target, and they stop at the last possible moment because they don’t want to hurt them!

Mind you, these scenes are as much parallels as foils to each other because of very different circumstances.

(Huntsman triggered Sha Dali’s trauma, which caused his rage to spike in an uncontrollable surge and the almost-attack on Huntsman.

Sun Wukong was possessed White Bone Spirit, conscious but helpless during the attack, and if he felt any anger, it was certainly not aimed at Qi Xiaotian who is the last person he’d want to hurt).

But both of them avoid fighting when necessary. Both of them hold back. Both of them try to appear less threatening than their past reputations. Bloody reputations that were born because they injured / killed many as a warrior / a soldier.

And we know from Sha Dali that he changed his life because he didn’t want to be that person anymore. He wanted to become a better person. He doesn’t want to get violent not only because he’s changed, but also because he fears - with good reason! - that he could slip back into that mindset. It’s through no fault of his own but the risk exists either way.

To apply that to Sun Wukong:

I headcanon that he hides a massive well of rage. He’s afraid he’d slip back if he got involved too much in battles. That something could cause him to revert  to a much worse version of himself.

His rage comes from feelings of resentment, feelings of being cheated out of what he thinks he deserved.

From his suffering in his past. Being hurt by others, sometimes as retribution, sometimes just because they resented him

The anger that the promised change for him, for all of the pilgrims, apparently amounted to nothing. That all that he had done for the journey, all the hard work, all the consequences, ended with him being alone, all former friends and family lost or distant to him.

[autism-autobot]

Probably my most favorite thing about Sun Wukong is that he loves unconditionally.

In season 1, when MK actively goes behind his back to train with Macaque, he does get upset but forgives MK almost immediately.

He goes right back to loving MK, who, in all honesty, he probably wasn't too attached to at the time. He tells MK that the mistakes he made can be fixed and that they can work on that together.

Wukong somewhat does this with the Demon Bull Family as well, though most of that's background and off-screen stuff.

The first time he's in the same room as Demon Bull King since his imprisonment is naturally a little tense. Luckily, DBK got spooked by Lady Bone Demon so much that he dropped his conquering plans.

The next time he sees Wukong? Season 4 special's finale and becomes his fishing buddy! When Wukong arrives at the party with the popsicles, DBK smiles at him!

Those are the only times so far that the two interact, and Wukong isn't being actively malicious or holding a grudge or seemingly lost all affection he once had for his sworn brother.

I have personally run out of examples, but feel free to add on (hopefully involving more characters, too).

[the-cinnamon-snail]

Okay I'm not normal about Lego Monkie Kid this is a known fact but I was listening to Mitski last night and now I have. Words. Over how Mitski songs connect to LMK characters because I am not normal.

These are kind of long so I'll only do one section of how songs tie in with LMK characters per post because I have a lot of words.

This is part one, and it's under the cut due to the length!

Okay so obviously I'm going to start with the obvious one to me, that being Mitski's song 'Remember My Name' and Wukong.

With the first chunk of lyrics, I was already thinking of Wukong. The first three lines to me obviously connect to how, when Wukong and the brotherhood failed to remove the Jade Emperor from power, he was trapped alone under the Five Phases Mountain for 500 years. Wukong obviously missed the Brotherhood during that time, even if he argued with Macaque when he came to visit him (that being the 'and make some extra love' line to me because it's a question. Not guaranteed). Then, Wukong was freed by Tripitaka, and had to go on the Journey To The West, eventually thinking of the pilgrims as his new family, that being 'tomorrow's show' in my mind.

Speaking of the 'tomorrow's show' line, I think it leads into sort of how Wukong puts up a mask around people. He acts all confident, like a hero, and ignores all the wrong he's done to not worry people and to come off as a pillar of justice. That and I also like connecting it to Wukong's stage fright despite that fact.

The second chunk of lyrics is where it really gets good in my brain. Wukong needs people to remember him even after all he can do for others (be that the attempt to take down the Jade Emperor or even the Journey To The West) is done. It's his constant reckless acts without thinking of the consequences of his actions in an attempt for immortality, to live forever, to know what people think of him forever. He wanted to be immortalized, his name to be remembered. And it's a bit ironic because one of the ways Wukong did that was quite literally scratching his name out of the book of the dead.

The third chunk of text, Wukong needing something bigger than the sky, wanting all the immortality (cause c'mon, seven times is kind of overkill), he wants to know for sure that it's his. Also, during his time with The Brotherhood and even beforehand, breaking into the celestial realm and causing The Havoc In Heaven, trying to take down the Jade Emperor. All of these reckless actions Wukong did because he surrounded himself with strong people (in his eyes, stars) who encouraged him. Also ignoring Macaque who tried to warn him of the consequences, ignoring that it was dangerous and could be damaging. By ignoring the person who likely cared about Wukong the most, he lost everything, lost the chance to call his world 'heaven'.

The repeating of those chunks of lyrics to me signifies Wukong time and time again trying to reach out for something, someone to hang on to, but losing it. Losing the brotherhood due to self destructive tendencies and being trapped for 500 years, and losing the pilgrims due to the immortality that Wukong had worked so hard for before knowing them. He lost his grip on what he loved, no longer being able to 'hold it in his arms', even if it was his, his found family.

Also something about the lyric changing from 'to finally call it heaven' to 'something like heaven' to me sounds like Wukong finally realizing what he wants but still being unable to obtain it due to careless actions.

-

If you read all the way here I'd appreciate a reblog <3

Part two can be find here! ↓

[bonnisbon]

⚠️ I am not chinese, so if any chinese person in the fandom wants to add something or just point out any mistake, please do ⚠️

I've seen people in the fandom call Macaque's smoke monster 'kaiju', but this is not a correct denomination.

It is better to call it "法相" (fa3 xiang4), meaning "image of (commonly Buddha)"

"佛教术语，指诸法之相状，包含体相（本质）与义相（意义）二者"

Trans.

"A Buddhist term that refers to the appearance of all dharmas, including both physical appearance (essence) and righteousness (significance)"

Following this definition, a 法相 is your true self, your essence, both physical and spiritual... meaning that Smokey (little guy) is not a 'kaiju'. It is an essence, Macaque's.

Same goes to all manifestations of characters who have a version of their 法相, it's their true essence.

Yes, you got it right! This little (not so little) guy is also a 法相.

(Don't call them 'kaiju', please).

Just to add, they can also be called 'war forms', since they appear in the original jttw.

[that-guy-sleepy-miles]

Hello folks, it's Miles here! You may know me as the guy who deduced what Rayman is snorting in episode 5 of Captain Laserhawk! And today, I'll be going over how...

There Are 6 Types of Magic in LEGO Monkie Kid

You can honestly stop here if you don't want to get into the most convoluted stuff ever. If you're vaguely interested but don't have much time, click read more and scroll down to Red Son, because he's where shit gets interesting.

A disclaimer! I've literally never broken down or written a magic system before, I'm just like. writing down and making sense of what I've noticed while watching the show. If you disagree with my assessment of a character's magic, think there's a better term for something I've described, or think I'm just plain wrong, please let me know so I can update the post! I don't know what I'm doing, and I've never looked into magic systems before!

An important thing to note is that LEGO Monkie Kid adheres somewhat to the power systems in Chinese mythology, so I will be bringing up concepts from Chinese mythology that are not talked about in the show. Honestly, if you went 100% on the show and not on Chinese mythology at all, there wouldn't be a magic system in the first place.

Now, let's begin!

‎

First, vocabulary.

Magic Class: The root of a user's magic. Classes are not exclusive, but actually compounding. For example, Wukong has Intrinsic-based Actively Cultivated Magic. Magic Subtype: A modifier to a class; additional information to explain how a user's magic came to be or how it works. For example, Tang has Revitalized Bestow-Inherited Actively Cultivated³ Magic — the subtype goes before the class because it's a modifier. (Yes, I will explain why his Actively Cultivated Magic is cubed.)

(In the naming scheme of magic, everyone has a full classification and then a shorthand classification. The classifications above were all shorthand.)

Magical Energy: The basic form of magic; unfiltered energy that can be channeled, manipulated, and cultivated. This energy can be used to attack directly or utilized in a spell. MAGICAL ENERGY IS QI, "MAGIC" IS JUST BEING USED BECAUSE THIS IS WRITTEN FOR A WESTERN AUDIENCE. Power: A defined ability, such as a spell or a technique. Not all Powers are explicitly named, but powers have defined forms and details whereas Magical Energy is usually a geometric shape. Examples of Powers: 72 Transformations, Golden Sight, teleportation. Magical Expression: How Magical Energy and Powers form upon release. Examples of Magical Expression are glowing eyes, full body glowing, magical seals, anime-esque energy blasts, Red Son's* fire, Ne Zha's fire (two VERY different forms of Magical Expression), and Macaque's purple shadow outline. Ne Zha's Wind Fire Wheels are examples of Magical Expression with a conduit. Zero Magical Expression ≠ zero release, but can. Conduits: Anything that can hold, channel, or manipulate Magical Energy. All living beings and magical artifacts are examples of conduits.

Channeling: Collecting magical energy internally Releasing: The basis of Magical Expression; using collected magical energy for an attack

(Mei showcasing channeling and releasing in Rip and Tear) You can always tell when a character is channeling and releasing.

Knowing which class of magic a character is using can be hard — they all tend to utilize anime-esque energy blast graphics and glowing bodies for Magical Expression — so you have to pay close attention. I'll be going over how to identify the specific magic types as we go through them.

Each type of magic has a "poster child" — a character that fully embodies that type — and I'll be using them to explain how the magic works. Once we finish the easily categorized magics, we'll get into the Special Cases.

(MK showcasing Intrinsic Magic in Rip and Tear)

(Wukong showcasing Cultivated Magic in A Lifetime of Mistakes)

Now, onto the classes of magic!

Intrinsic Magic is a class of magic...

That's not inherently pedigree-related. Ne Zha's father Li Jing was a mortal man.

Most gods and local deities have, and some yaoguai have. (Older demons like DBK and Wukong have Intrinsic Magic, while younger demons like Pigsy and Sandy might technically have Inherited Magic. It all depends on how you want to look at it.)

That usually comes with unique powers, commonly the ability to walk and talk upon birth. (Wukong got laser eyes, and Red Son* got the Samadhi Fire).

And holders have unnatural births? Pangu's cosmic egg, Ne Zha being born a ball of flesh after being gestated for three years, Wukong's rock that's existed since the dawn of time, etc.

Ne Zha is the epitome of Intrinsic Magic! If you think Intrinsic Magic, you think Ne Zha. The unmistakable way to identify Intrinsic Magic is to look for themes. If a character has a theme to their magic, again and again, they likely have Intrinsic Magic! For example:

Ne Zha's Intrinsic Theme is (obviously) lotus flowers/petals.

Red Son's* Intrinsic Theme is flames.

Macaque would be a contender for intrinsic magic (we will be getting back to him, though).

Cultivated Magic is a class of magic that has two subclasses: ACTIVE and PASSIVE, and...

That's ENTIRELY self-created. A magical pedigree can help, but no pedigree is required in Cultivated Magic — Li Jing cultivated magic as a completely human man, for example.

That NEEDS a Conduit. The conduit for Cultivated Magic can be the magic user themselves, but often it's a magical artifact or a technique. Note: a conduit doesn't require Cultivated Magic to be used, but Cultivated Magic requires a conduit. (Known Conduits include: Wukong's Cloud Somersault, Nezha's Wind Fire Wheels, and Princess Iron Fan's Banana Leaf Fan.)

That's very backstory-heavy. There's always a way that a character learned or got their power, or a description of how old they are.

A magic that you see most with yaoguai and immortals. The older the yaoguai, the more cultivated they are.

Passive Cultivation: Every living being is a conduit for passive cultivation — by existing, you are passively cultivating. The best method of passive cultivation is age; the older something is, the more passively cultivated. A Huli jing is the best example of passively cultivated magic. According to literature, the older a fox is, the more power it accrues.

Active Cultivation: Active Cultivation is when a being seeks out magical power. The most common form of active cultivation is being taught Tao techniques (Wukong's Cloud Somersault, Li Jing's Burning Pagoda Art). In this situation, the technique is the conduit. Other forms of actively cultivating magic are yaoguai eating humans and magic-accruing technology (specifically DBK's Furnace armor, which converts rarity into magical energy.)

Cultivated Magic comes with the implication of being wise, at least in some form, and those with cultivated magic are able to teach others. Being a disciple immediately means you have Actively Cultivated Magic.

Cultivated Magic often doesn't have Magical Expression, because it's all about existing and learning. When it does have Magical Expression, it's usually depictions of strength and power or the conduit itself glowing.

(Wukong's hairs glow as they are used as conduits for his cloning technique in Macaque)

(Wukong and Macaque's strength is showcased through Magical Expression during a fight in Macaque)

Cultivated Magic can be seen through any technique that was stated to have learned, such as Wukong's astral projection and his speed/quick reflexes.

(Wukong focusing in order to astral project to MK in Dumpling Destruction)

(MK having to actively learn and practice astral projecting in Minor Scale)

MK: Monkey King! It worked! Monkey King: Hey, bud. So, you figured out astral projection, huh? MK: Yeah, and I only had five nose bleeds.

Cultivated Magic is best showcased in action, and characters cultivate over the course of the show.

(Wukong showcasing his Cultivated Magic by pulling some fast ones on MK in Impossible Delivery)

(4 seasons later in Strings That Bind, Wukong and MK spar, showcasing MK's Cultivated Magic. Tumblr will NOT let me embed both videos, and the first one is more important, so this will just be a link.)

Inherited Magic is a class of magic that has two subclasses: ANCESTERAL and BESTOWED, and...

Comes from someone else and was given to or passed down to the magic user.

Is sourced from Intrinsic or Cultivated Magic, but the magic user is not intrinsically magical/did not cultivate that magic themselves. The Intrinsic/Cultivated Magic is specific to another (perhaps deceased) being.

Can have ZERO Magical Expression or release.

If a character has Ancestor-Inherited Magic, they'll have a family animal, a family artifact, and/or a known ancestor.

If a character has Bestow-Inherited Magic, they were given their power by another magic user (known as the Bestower) so that they would serve that magic user, defeat a foe, or as a reward. Bestow-Inherit Magic users are often previously mortal.

Bestow-Inherited Magic is most blatantly a character giving another character magical powers, but being granted godhood, being brought back to life under a deal, and everyone receiving heavenly ranks/Wukong and Tripitaka receiving Buddhahood and Buddha titles at the end of Journey To The West is also Bestow-Inherited Magic.

A quick note: Older yaoguai (DBK, Azure Lion, Wukong) are considered to have Intrinsic Magic, but Modern yaoguai (Pigsy, Sandy) are deemed to have Inherited Magic. This is because these younger demons are not yaoguai specifically unto themselves — their status as a yaoguai comes from their ancestors. They have no unique, intrinsic powers, nor were they specifically predestined to be yaoguai despite their heritage (such as in the case of Nezha, who was predestined to be a celestial being).

For example, Pigsy. His status as a Magic User exists because of his family history. While, yes, his family is important to his character and story, it's not something he did himself — he did not cultivate his grandma — and there is nothing unique about him biology-wise besides just being a pig demon. He is a reincarnation, but being a reincarnation didn't make him a yaoguai. (That was a whole fate, symbolism deal, though.) If Pigsy hadn't been born, his family would still have a pig demon kid.

Now, onto the subtypes. (As a reminder, a subtype modifies a class!)

Revitalized Magic is a subtype of magic. It means that the magic is from a pre-incarnation that a character unlocks and requires reincarnation.

Uuuuunless it doesn't, and it required Un-Death. Auto-Revitalization of Magic is definitely a thing, but it's not a real category. It's just a specification to explain things that have happened to a character.

For example: The reason Macaque's shadows turned into chaos magic at the end of season 5 is because he's dead. He's outside of the reincarnation cycle, he's Undead, his magic is Auto-Revitalized —so when the reincarnation cycle is broken, his magic is also changed. At least, that's my personal theory. I might be DEAD WRONG.

Okay, back to Revitalized Magic proper: Remember back when I said Tang's magic was cubed? Yeah, this is why. (Before we start, Táng Sānzàng will be referred to as Tripitaka from here on out.)

The full classification of Tang's magic is: Potential Revitalized Bestow-Inherited (Tripitaka), Revitalized Actively Cultivated (Golden Cicada), Revitalized Actively Cultivated (Tripitaka), Actively Cultivated Magic. (Maybe, we'll get into this.)

The entire reason demons tried to eat Tripitaka was because he was the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, who was a disciple of Buddha, which made Tripitaka's flesh holy. Being a disciple immediately means Actively Cultivated Magic; Tripitaka had Revitalized Actively Cultivated Magic. Tripitaka was a Buddhist disciple as well, which means he also Actively Cultivated. If Tang is a reincarnation of Tripitaka, who is a reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, then Tang has Revitalized Actively Cultivated Magic twice (or, even, 10 times, if you look at the Sandalwood Buddha thing, but Tripitaka and Golden Cicada are the important disciples so we're only counting them).

If Tang has Revitalized Actively Cultivated Magic and Revitalized Actively Cultivated Magic, that means he has Revitalized Actively Cultivated Magic². However,

Tang is a SCHOLAR. BEING A SCHOLAR MEANS THAT TANG IS ALSO AN ACTIVE CULTIVATOR.

HENCE, TANG HAS ACTIVELY CULTIVATED MAGIC³.

Celestial Magic is a subclass of magic that includes any magic with a seal. It's not exclusive to Celestial beings, but it's most often used by beings with Heavenly connections.

Celestial Magic is also known as "Spells", I'm pretty sure. Wukong just dropped this terminology on us in Season 5, and spells usually require words, but like. Okay, buddy. Whatever. You're the magic guy.

Celestial Seals have a unique symbol for every "Artist", or a Hànzì that explains the spell's purpose. For example, Li Jing's seals have a little pagoda on them, and the containment spell's seal (the only thing that can truly be called a spell here) has the character "牢", which means "prison" (or "enclosure", which is hilarious because it's containing 3 monkeys).

Consequential Magic is any magical energy or power gained as a result of an action taken by someone who is NOT the magic user.

Consequential is not a subclass of Cultivated because the magic user had no say in acquiring/did not know they were acquiring Consequential Magic; Consequential is not a subclass of Inherited because the magic user was not intentionally given these powers and they did not come from ancestry.

(Red Son* is literally the reason this subtype exists.) Every example of Consequential Magic is different, so I'm just going to some of the ones I know of in canon:

Wukong's Golden Sight (Consequence of the Eight Trigrams Furnace; Torture-consequence)

Ao Lie having the Samadhi Fire inside him after they fucked up the seal (Samadhi Fire/Red Son*; Samadhi-consequence)

Mei Dragon's ability to harness the Samadhi Fire/the remnants left over inside her after (Samadhi Fire/Red Son*; Samadhi-consequence)

MK's human form (form as in the shape of something btw) (Xiangliu fucked his shit up; Birth Interference-Consequence)

Macaque's new Chaos Magic (Xiangliu fucked his shit up; Chaos-Consequence)

I have spent this entire post explaining the way magic seems to work in LEGO Monkie Kid, getting slightly more and more unhinged as we go on. But there might be two things on your mind: Why? and Why does Red Son's* name have an asterisk on it every time I've mentioned him in this post?

I can answer both of those questions with one statement: Red Son does not adhere to the magic rules other characters follow. I've tried to find examples to see if I was thinking of the magic wrong — and that's fully possible — but I didn't find anything. In fact, the more I look, the more sure of this I become. It's like he actively decides against following the rules of the magic system.

He can be used as EXAMPLES of the magic system, but when you dig into his magic specifically, it's completely wack-a-doo.

First and foremost:

Red Son has a completely unique form of Magic Expression. His emotions are directly linked to his Magical Expression and release.

Emotionally linked magic release is something no other character does, but here he is doing it over and over and over again. The only example close to it is MK's Mystic Monkey form flickering in and out when he's distraught, and that's LITERALLY CREATION-GIVEN NÜWA MAGIC, THAT'S FROM A CREATURE WHOSE CANONICALLY "OUTSIDE OF THE 10 SPECIES" AND CANNOT BE CATEGORIZED?? AND ALSO NOT QUITE THE SAME EITHER.

(This could also be attributed to the concentration part of the Samadhi Fire, but he doesn't... seem to have access to that anymore? At least, not like Mei does. We'll consider it a factor in his magic expression, though.)

About his fire,

Red Son and his mom are the only two characters with Wuxing/Elemental Magic — every other example comes from a magical artifact. It's actually a 50/50 chance on whether or not PIF has wind powers or if the Banana Leaf Fan gives her wind powers (I'm pretty sure it gives her wind powers, but just to be safe we'll count her as having wind powers.) Wuxing Magic is not uncommon in actual Chinese mythology, but it is in the show for some reason. And it ALWAYS has an artifact as a conduit. Wuxing Magic always seems to be just a visual effect or an added addition to attacks in the show.

Another weird ass thing about Red Son's magic is its contrast with Nezha's. I'm pretty sure Red Son's fire is actual fire that he conjures magically, in contrast to Nezha's Wind Fire Wheels (conduits that Nezha fuels, and release Wuxing Magic as a visual effect) which make specifically magical fire.

Okay, so, I've been going through this assuming you're aware of the show's visuals concerning magic, but this is important for me to cover in detail. Everyone has two magic colors (white doesn't count for this). They can change in lighting, but you'll always recognize them as being the same general colors. Other colors may be used for emphasis, but they'll only be darker versions of the colors and they'll be used as a background for the main colors. (Quick note, MK and Wukong might have only one magic color? Fun stuff.)

The reason I think Red Son's magic is not... magic persay, is because it doesn't follow the color rule. Like, it's not actually the color of Red Son's magical energy half the time, it doesn't follow the magic color rule. Red Son's fire shifts like an actual fire, which is very cool visually, but is not how magic works.

(Quick note, magic seems to be lighter in the celestial realm. This is because the Celestial Realm is really well-lit. The environment is literally pure sunlight or some shit, so all the characters and their magic are in perfect lighting. So Red Son's magic getting inexplicably darker would make no sense unless Red Son's magic is doing that on its own and the lighting has nothing to do with it.)

His magic also isn't the color of the Samadhi Fire, nor is his fire. That time in season 5 when Mei helped him with the seal, the two of them together made a Samadhi Fire-colored seal. He didn't seem capable of doing that by himself, which leads me to my conclusion:

I think the suppression of the Samadhi Fire suppressed Red Son's Intrinsic Magic as a whole, and his magical core (as one user put it) is compensating by drawing directly from his element.

Characters having an element isn't a new thing. Wukong's element is metal, he's a metal guy, it's why he can't swim, and it's why MK can't swim. MK needs floaties because he'll sink like a rock because he shares the metal element with Wukong.

But this is a possible explanation for why Red Son's magic is so weird.

On the note of Mei having more access to the Samadhi Fire than him, Skellebonez (my rock through this journey of a post) brought up a good point: "[I] think it makes sense because whatever they did to remove it from him could have also added a barrier preventing its return to an extent[.] Like a filter[.]"

This Intrinsic Magic cap/Samadhi Filter might also explain why he keeps getting his shit rocked despite having such potential to be powerful (that's probably just because it's silly tho) and it could explain why his parents are so damn disappointed in him in season 1. It's because they took his magic from him (however unintentionally) and he's not as magical anymore. The only type of categorizable magic he uses is Celestial magic, which HUMANS can use and can be bestowed on ANYONE. You can just like... LEARN THAT, and I think he just did.

In canon, nobody ever seems to be hurt by Red Son's fire? It seems to just be... a thing that he does. Everyone is less and less scared of it as the show goes on, and the only thing it does major damage to is MK's apartment. He uses his fists to attack more than he uses his fire, it's generally left as a visual effect. Red Son uses his fire as an intimidation tactic, not as an actual weapon, and I think this could also be explained by an Intrinsic Magic cap. His intrinsic magic is suppressed, so he has to rely on things like physical strength/cultivation.

I also think nobody knows this in canon, they didn't know about it, or they don't understand it. I think Red Son has a magic limiter on him, which is why his parents were such raging fuckasses in season one. They thought their son was "useless", or in Wukong's words, "half-baked", after showing such promise in his childhood before an incident. They only got a healthier relationship after they stopped obsessing over power and spent some family time together, when they realized that their son being a powerful magical demon isn't the most important thing in the world. (AND WE WEREN'T SHOWN IT.)

Red Son is magic-disabled, in this essay I did.

ALL MAGIC COMES FROM THE PRIMORDIAL CHAOS, SO, IN ACTUALITY, ALL OF IT IS THE SAME! FUCK YOU!

[itsabouttimex2]

Do you think that Tang Sanzang was abusive? I see it in the fandom a lot and it’s pretty contentious

The reason people think that LMK!Sanzang is abusive is because the circlet makes no sense outside the context of Sun Wukong being a borderline supervillain, and using a heavenly restraining bolt (That’s putting it kindly, of course. There’s been comparisons to shock collars, which are unflattering but not entirely unfair. Still, let’s be fair to the intention and not simply the execution of the circlet- it was to keep Wukong from murdering people/running away from the journey.) on someone who has already been punished for his wrongdoings for five full centuries is excessive as best, viciously petty at worst.

Outside of the context of Sun Wukong being a borderline supervillain, I’ll repeat.

I’m going to level right here- I think that in the book, the circlet was entirely justified, and that calling Sanzang an abuser for that is silly. But LMK is not the book, and I think it’s also silly to try and use JTTW-specific writing when people are talking about LMK. What Book!Sun Wukong is not what Show!Sun Wukong did, because the two of them are different characters in different stories. Not only that, but the tone and genre of those stories are wildly different, and I’m so tired of people being willfully ignorant to the fact that LMK is a divergent adaptation.

To start: Sun Wukong did nothing to earn the circlet.

Not in the form of “Sun Wukong has never done anything wrong ever in his life!” but really more so in the form of “Does anything in that picture up above seem wrong to you?”

And if there is something that seems off… good job! You’ve noticed a critical change from book to show!

Among the LMK fandom there’s this misconception that Wukong got the circlet because he assaulted Heaven and tried to take it over, but… no. His punishment for that was being locked under Five Phases Mountain, and then when he was released under the premise of guiding Sanzang, that was it. Punishment over. So, what did Wukong do to “earn” his collaring?

One- Smash a non-threatening tiger’s head into pulp and skin it right in front of Sanzang, then string the fur around himself.

Two- round up six people who are currently not a threat to him and beat them all to death in front of his new master.

Three- admit to his master’s face that he honestly doesn’t even remember how many people he’s killed through his life, without a speck of shame or remorse.

Four: Throw a fit and run away to sulk. I’m not fucking with you- it takes being lectured of all ONE time before he quits and gives up on self-betterment, and has to be talked into rejoining by a draconic king.

In Journey To The West, the Monkey King, well- he’s not that great of a person. In fact, he’s pretty damn bad. And he’s quite blunt about it, too. Old Sun really likes to talk in great detail about how many people he’s killed, eaten, and in general just been an absolute menace to. JTTW!Sun Wukong saw that he needed to convince his master that the girl (actually the White Bone Spirit) he killed was a demon in disguise and decided that the best way to do it was… to level out how many times he had murdered people by transforming into enticing forms.

(Source for content and translation.)

Not a good look for you, buddy.

Under the context of Sun Wukong being able, willing, and quick to murder indiscriminately, oftentimes without explanation or even giving a second thought to alternative options, the circlet as a safeguard makes sense, and Sanzang seems rational to turn to using it because not only is there not really anything else he can do, but because we get to see the Monkey King acting like someone who needs a torture circlet to keep him in check, we give him more slack for doing it.

That’s important!

If (Char A) is going to string (Char B) up with a divine shock collar but still be someone we sympathize and agree with, then (Char A) needs to have a very good reason to do it.

JTTW!Sun Wukong has that reason.

He kills people. He kills people for fun, for food, for pissing him off, for causing him trouble.

But LMK!Sun Wukong is not a killer, he’s not a cannibal, and he’s certainly not the threat that his book counterpart ever was.

When this doesn’t earn you a collar?

When butchering and serving up mortals to a horde of hungry demons more than a mile long doesn’t get you the collar, but leading a bloodless siege on Heaven does?

And speaking of blood!

Here is only one shot of the literal mountains of death that Sha Wujing built! He murdered hundreds, maybe thousands of people! And he was still going for more!

When this doesn’t get you a collar? When murder and butchery and the eating of mortals doesn’t get you a collar? When mountains of death don’t get you a collar?

But this does?

Well. That makes Heaven seem a little less reasonable.

Now, this isn’t me saying Wukong should’ve been let off the hook for trying to take over an entire realm, nor be given an immediate pass for ransacking the heavens! He caused trouble, stole things, and made a mess of the whole place! And then he led a siege against it!

No, this is me saying that the writing has accidentally predisposed the audience to think of the Celestial Realm as sort of. Well. Biased to themselves. And that could work, if the show was willing to explore it!

Is a realm’s first duty to itself, regardless of how bad things are down below? It is just incredibly hard to maintain protection of a mortal realm when it’s so much wider and more expansive than their own? Do they question if deities should even be expected to involve themselves in the lives of mortals? Do they think it’s wrong to interfere in mortal affairs? Is there a vague non-interference clause to prevent both good and evil from tipping the scales? Do they literally just not have time to help more than by the bare minimum because their heavenly duties keep them busy?

That sort of exploration could easily lean to people sympathizing with them; and thus by extension the very monk who carries out their will by journeying with his disciples, but they don’t.

In general the Celestial Realm is entirely predisposed to their own (mostly) idyllic happenings, and every time we go there it’s populated with generic armored jobbers or copy-pasted background NPCs… when it’s not gapingly empty and bare.

When the Celestial Realm legitimately is incompetent, faceless, empty, and weak? It accidentally lends sympathy to the Azure Lion’s cause by kind of… proving him right?

So not only does the Brotherhood’s act of rebellion seem less bad by manner of nearly emptying the Celestial Realm of competent/sympathetic figures, it also seems almost justified. All we ever see these guys do is stuff their faces, lose their fights, stand around doing nothing, or fuck around in heavenly leisure while the realm below is inundated with demonic threats that they never interfere to help with!

If it hadn’t been for the “Actually Azure was delusional all along and also the Jade Emperor’s power isn’t made for him!!” twist then really, what exactly is so bad about someone saying “This realm has lounged in luxury long enough!” and then deciding to take it over to help the little guys who are getting eaten by the dozens?

(I mean, just take Azure and replace him with someone like MK, with the same justification and goal, and you can imagine a lot of the fanbase agreeing, right?)

(Even Nezha, much as I adore him, only gets involved when his realm is involved first, not out of the desire to protect innocent life!)

So, when you cut away almost all of the bad things that Sun Wukong has done, accidentally make the rebellion he was partaking in seem legitimately fair by making the target incompetent, strip away the methods by which Wukong establishes his character to Sanzang that justify his willingness to use a divine implement of torture, make two of his brothers worse in comparison without giving them equal methods of restraint?

Well. The intention might not have been for him to be abusive, and I think intentions are important to keep in mind!

This is clearly not meant to be a victim of abuse. Sun Wukong’s love for his master and brothers is played entirely straight. He’s supposed to be uplifted and bettered by his relationship with them. He adores and loves and misses them.

But it’s not wrong to feel iffy about the execution, either.

Because the writers did take out all the justification behind Wukong getting his circlet. They did have Sanzang snap the circlet onto Wukong before the monkey got a chance to make any mistakes, essentially stringing him from one punishment into the next without giving him a chance to see that the first punishment has changed or helped him grow. They did make his brothers far more violent and deadly than him and not address that.

And it’s not wrong to have a worse view of Tang Sanzang as a result of that! It’s not wrong to have a negative perspective of the monk when you look at his actions from an LMK perspective, because LMK!Sanzang is NOT the same as JTTW!Sanzang, and he simply does not have the same justifications behind his actions that the book version does.

I don’t think he was abusive, at least. But I also wouldn’t blame someone for having a negative view of him.

TLDR: Intentions good, execution somewhat iffy.

[cherllyio]

I want Pigsy's Noodles to be destroyed - a very angsty theory

(Spoilers)

I theorize this can happen, because if MK really does go apeshit, that would be the final trigger.

Because that little noodle shop, is the most comfortning place for MK.

Its the place he got a place to call home.

Its the place his dad is.

Its the place where he can seek comfort.

Therefore the best way to break MK, would be to take that away.

And then imagine if Pigsy was in the building when it got destroyed-