#that way LBD would not have left them

[askblueandviolet]

It's your fault

Is it ?

MASTER POST

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[rebeltigera]

What is V!wukongs back story?

Ya guys always ask good questions that i have no capability to answer to cuz my writing is shit skksks alr, buckle up , that might be long one and i'm gonna use my dear friend's short recap of this damn gotta put it in some order alr- The story starts with that he and his Mac were married/mated (yes, that's ofc shadowpeach based-) After the Havoc his Mac didn't left him under the mountain but stayed there all the 500 years to protect him from the mountain gods that tried to punish Wukong more . When trippy goes to free him ,Wukong wants to redeem himself so heaven will leave them alone - he goes with the monk , Mac goes back to the FFM , to protect it and wait for Wukong. The Heavens ofc don't play clear so the circlet was in fact cursed - And when it was used to punish Wukong , uh well, Mac was around and tried to stop Trippitaka. It didn't turned out well and Wukong attacked Mac because of the circlet . Mac fled, and when Wukong is back to himself pretty much rage overcome him , he kills the pilgrims. With the circlet (it was all the time activated during that time) he went to Diyu- just to find Mac . HOWEVER he doesn't find him there cuz he's not dead, just injured. He finds the scroll instead, uses it to get the info how circlet works and how to take it off. He find out where Mac did fled too. When he finally finds him, he cries his eyes out apologizing, they reconcile and go back to the FFM. Heaven want to punish Wukong again , obviously but before they can -Nuwa herself turns him into stone . To protect him from heaven's wrath. Aaaand weakened Mac is left alone again , protecting him. Waiting for him to awaken. And then Lady Bone Demon appears! because this monkey would do a fine power source in that stone state. Mac trying to defend him is being ereased from the world by LBD . Wukong after reawakening tries to find his husband unsuccessfully He goes to heavens, diyu , searching everywhere he could , because he would not know that Mac is truly gone, beyond rescue . His anger reaches much higher, Now all the higher principals against him, they would still try to bring him down cuz Wukong would go mad with pain and grief This time they wouldn't succeed , Wuk would bring them all down , gaining the power , and creating perfect opportunity to world to just fall apart. He might've eaten some gods n pilgrims along the way so he is even more powerful than ur usual wukong so- rip Half canon thing (Myth if you must-) is that he beheaded himself a few times in the meantime, each head creating a new body and going search for their Mihou in different universes (sheer excuse for RP in different universes-)

SOME ADDITIONAL STUFF ABOUT THE MYTH!

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere Wukong with LBD descendent hcs who’s trying to escape from LBD and not mayor herself. (Can the reader be female please and I’m fine with platonic or romantic ^^) scenario please 

I'll try my best to write a story for this, sure ^^; Here's Wukong being paranoid after you learn of your heritage.

Fight Destiny

Yandere! Sun Wukong One Shot

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Overprotective/Possessive behavior, Isolation, Implied kidnapping, Paranoia, Slightly oblivious darling, Dubious relationship/companionship.

"I know what she wants you for... but you'll be safe in my hands."

Not even you knew your heritage until a certain whisper called you. Since the release of Lady Bone Demon, you've felt a chill down your spine. You had been living a relatively normal life by this point...

But you've had to go into hiding once your connection to the Lady Bone Demon began to be known.

You're a young woman who was rescued by MK and friends during a certain battle. You had been attacked and was soon brought in to be treated at the noodle shop with MK. At the time it all seemed to be a coincidence... becoming friends with MK has been one of your best decisions...

But part of you couldn't shake the thought that it was... fated to meet them.

You weren't aware of Lady Bone Demon until you had met MK and friends. Let alone did you know you were related to the demon. You barely knew anything about the encroaching danger until you met MK... and by extension, Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong, when he first met you, had been caring. You knew him as MK's mentor and grew to trust the old hero. Wukong had also begun to enjoy your company.

But he always seemed... worried when he looked at you...

Or are you just seeing things?

"I can't hide this from you anymore...."

You had always just assumed he was worried due to the sudden catastrophic events occurring in your life. After all, MK needs training and you had been involved in quite the attack when you met. Unfortunately...

It seemed to be much worse.

"You're her blood... you're her successor... she wants to possess you and take you for herself."

When you hear the news from Wukong's mouth, it's like something clicked. No wonder horrible things kept happening. No wonder you were always on the run since you first experienced that chill.

Lady Bone Demon wanted you to be her vessel...

From then on you were on the run.

Ever since then, Wukong has vowed to protect you. Everyone has been so worried for you once you learned of the news. You had naturally been the most affected by this knowledge...

But Wukong seemed to be affected too.

"I promise she won't ever touch you... I can't lose you."

It has been a while since you've seen the sun. The only 'Sun' you saw was Wukong. You had been spending most of your time hidden away with Wukong watching over you.

The monkey had insisted that you stay with him at Flower Fruit Mountain. He had told you it was important for you to stay here while MK and the others find ways to challenge Lady Bone Demon. For now, you just need to stay under Wukong's protection.

Of course, you listened... After all, he's the Monkey King.

It wasn't long before days passed... maybe longer... It was hard to tell at times. All you ever thought of was being in Isolation. Sun Wukong rarely left your side.

Sometimes you'd ask to leave his home, to just relax a little. Wukong, however, always shot you down.

"You go outside and you'll be a target." Wukong would say before pulling you close. "I'm not going to fail you."

As the days passed, Wukong became more paranoid. Truth is, you were going against your destiny by being hidden away. Not like Wukong ever cared about that though.

"I have to protect you." He'd preach to you like his life depended on it... "Just... Trust me on this."

So, you did trust him. You trusted him on every little word, every little decision. For all you knew... Being locked in his home was the best decision for you.

Even when Wukong's behavior got strange... You accepted it. You had nowhere else to go. Plus... You needed the comfort.

You allowed Wukong to hug you, to feed you, to keep you safe. He was all you had as you tried to hide from an incoming threat. It... felt comforting whenever he wrapped his tail around you and held you close...

Even if his hold was tight.

"When will I be able to go outside again?" You'd ask, a certain innocence in your eyes. One very different from your ancestor....

"When I say so." Wukong would reply warily, pulling you in for a hug while stroking your back.

Even after Lady Bone Demon was dealt with, you wondered if Wukong was ever going to allow you to leave his side. After all, by then there would be no threat, right...? You won't have to hide anymore....

Yet even with the danger gone... He insists.

"Please let me leave, I miss home." Your questions turn to plees, yet Wukong keeps a cold expression on his face.

"No, I can't... There's still monsters in the world. Don't you know you're better off here? With me?" Wukong would explain to you again like you're a child who didn't know any better.

"Don't you know I'm what you need?"

You had originally come to Flower Fruit Mountain for refuge. While Wukong let you outside his home now, you still felt like a captive. It was nice to be rescued from Lady Bone Demon at the time... but...

"Please let me go home, Wukong." You whisper one night, Wukong having dragged you to his bed to curl around you.

"Home?" Wukong whispers, trying to be comforting as he rubs your back. "You don't need to go home... This is your home, isn't it?"

"No it isn't!" You argue. "I'm not in danger anymore, Wukong!"

"Not in danger? Love, do you seriously believe that?" Wukong glares, claws caressing your face.

You flinch when you feel him tilt your chin up, staring into your eyes with his golden ones.

"If it isn't Lady Bone Demon... It will be some other threat, won't it?" Wukong frowns, looking at your fearful gaze. You struggle in his embrace against the bed, but he holds you tightly.

"If you stay here, with me, you'll be safer than anyone else." Wukong tries to smile, yet your discomfort is hard to ignore. "Accept it... Accept me."

It's then you wonder what was truly your fate or destiny. Were you meant to be Lady Bone Demon's vessel at all? Or... was it just a means to an end.

Maybe instead you were destined to be here, with Wukong, isolated from everyone under the guise of protection...

Maybe you were always destined to be trapped, one way or another.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Surprise Marbled Egg

"You're working for the Lady Bone Demon!?"

The roar of rage filled the air as Macaque winced, ears flattening at the sight of his angry... well, he isn't sure what Wukong is to him anymore but he knows what he wants to be. MK, the poor kid, was staring up at him with tear filled eyes as he clung to Wukong's back and the reborn Pilgrims flanked him, the dragon is particularly spitting fire.

"W-Wukong! Listen-" Macaque stammered, pleading with the golden monkey, trying to explain himself only for Wukong to scoff.

"Why should I!? What reason do I have to Listen. To anything you have to say after this betrayal, Macaque!"

"I swear! I didn't- I wouldn't..." Macaque's words died in his throat as he remembered. That wasn't true. Had it not been for that chance encounter in the market, had he not seen his former mate pregnant and with his young child, he very well could have enacted his plans for revenge and helped the Lady Bone Demon without a second thought so long as it meant Wukong would suffer. "I'm sorry!"

"..." Wukong is silent, rage and fury burning his eyes red as his hold on century old glamours slipped from the sheer strength of his emotions, "Sorry doesn't cut it. Not this time."

"Peaches-"

"Don't you dare call me that!" The m9nkey king hissed, fangs bared as his free arm went to his neck, digging beneath hsi ever present scarf, "You don't have the right! Not after putting MK in danger, not when you betray me like this right when I only just started to trust it! You are a terrible beast, Liu'er Mihou, and I no longer can hold onto any part of you!"

With that, he gave a decisive pull, snapping something from his neck and throwing it to the ground. It was if everything stopped as soon as Macaque laid eyes upon it. A simple necklace, made with a shard of amethyst and intricately woven in a braid of black fur. Instinctively, his hand went to where it's matching citrine and ginger colored pendant, this one with stones of topaz, ruby, and jade added to the braid in addition to the main citrine, rest beneath his shirt.

"You... kept that?" Macaque's voice sounded distant, pained even to his own ears as Wukong turned his back to him, failing to hide his own tears as they welled up.

"It was all I had left of you when you left."

With that, Wukong walked away, pausing at the frame of the door to glance back, "I could never bear to part with it, not the most precious gift you have ever given me. But MK comes first, always. K can't stand by you knowing what the bone demon would do to my child."

With that Macaque's beloved wcaskngthe closing of the door casting Macaque and the forgotten pendant into shadow. His friends followed soon after, peering and spitting upon him as they passed.

OOOOooooooo! (earlier post describing this exact scenario). We discussed this a bit in dms!

Macaque done f'd up.

Even if he's genuine about not helping LBD, he still accepted a deal from her, and dragged his feet on telling Wukong about it. Now LBD is back, MK is traumatised, the world is in danger, and Wukong can't tell if the last few months have been even real between them as a family unit.

Throwing his marriage pendant back at his mate is the clearest statement of "You've f'cked up" that Wukong can say without bursting into tears.

Macaque still has his own pendant - he wore it the day he was dragged into the Underworld. Now he hides the one he gifted Wukong so many centuries ago beneath his scarf.

Most of S3 is Macaque in a fugue state, responding robotically to LBD's words. LBD sends the Not-Mayor along to ensure that her champion doesn't grow a backbone again.

Macaque still finds ways to sabotage the Thrall - deliberately splitting up the van to separate the gang as in canon, though for different reasons.

LBD and the Not-Mayor's frustration rises to a boil when Macaque allows Tang to claim the Ring of Samadhi from Lantern City. The scholar had some choice words to give the shadow monkey, but stoppered when he saw the exhausted, depressed look in his eyes (and a familiar black-cord pendant on his neck).

Tang: "You... you really did care about him, didn't you?" Macaque, icy curse already in effect: "Every single day. MK too." Tang: "You should probably tell them that for yourself. I swear you two are terrible for talking things out."

The talent show is quickly interrupted by a beefed-up bone demon thrall wrecking the stage - having finally given up on expecting the Macaque to do his job.

Wukong finally sees a glimpse of his mate's true self when he tackles the Thrall from grabbing MK - screaming at the stunned king and cub to run!

The gang makes it to the Ritual Site, where Nezha and Red Son are there to greet them.

There's chaos in the snow behind them as the Six Eared Macaque has reclaimed his will to fight. LBD's Thrall laughs at his predictability.

MK still embraces his best friend engulfed in True Fire.

Wukong is so overridden with guilt - not only hiding the last ring from everyone until it was too late, but also severely misjudging his own mate as having betrayed him.

Wukong flies off to confront the bone demon on his own.

Wukong is still captured and possessed - the Bone Demon preying upon his parental nature with her young host. The Not-Mayor becomes a limp noodle as his lady's power leaves him. Mei is stolen to power the Bone Mech's heart with her true fire.

Macaque is found half-dead in the snow. Nezha uses his own True Fire to melt the demon's icy curse from his body.

Macaque, shocked to be alive: "Nezha...? Thank-" Nezha, stern: "This isn't for you. It's for him." (*Macaque leans up painfully to see MK nearby, crying into the other three adults' arms. The cub is injured from Mei's fire, but doesn't care for his own injuries.*) Macaque: "Bud..." Nezha: "It is only because he requested that I dare drag you back from the brink. The Lady Bone Demon's geas upon you is null and void with your refusal, but mine is not. So I give you these instructions, Liu'er Mihou; Do not disappoint him." Macaque: "I won't. Promise." Nezha: "Good. Also, small side effect; your ears are stuck like that." Macaque, reaching to feel: "What do you- ehh!?" (*Macaque jumps up to look at his reflection in the sheen of the temple walls - seeing six lotus-petal-shaped ears on permanent display. He hasn't much time to ponder this when the full force of a baby stone monkey slams into him.*) MK, sobbing with relief: "MR LIU'ER, YOU'RE OKAY!!! (*Macaque sighs and hugs the child back. He can fret about any lotus-revival side effects later*) Macaque: "Hey bud. Sorry I messed this all up. I thought the Lady Bone Demon could help me get revenge on your Baba for a fight that happened a long time ago but... turns out revenge wasn't really the thing I wanted. I just wanted Wukong by my side again. But I still led her to you, and I am so sorry. I'm not a hero like your Baba..." MK, sniffling: "Can you be the Warrior instead? And help me get Baba back from the Lady Bone Demon?" Macaque, smiling: "I'll try my best, bud." Pigsy, interrupting: "Good! 'Cus if you hide something as big as, oh I don't know; Making a deal with a world-ending bone demon, again - I'll personally hand you over to King Yama myself!!!" Macaque: (*flinches, gives an intimidated thumbs up*)

Red Son has a brief moment of disgust at seeing Macaque alive again, but calms down when MK assures him that "Mr Liu'er is good now!". The fire demon still shoots his sworn uncle a glare, threatening to let PIF and DBK know about any future wrongdoing.

The gang confront LBD and her possessed champion. Macaque and Wukong are forced to fight once more.

The shadow monkey manages to break the King's trance by tying a certain familar pendant around his neck.

Possessed!Wukong: (*hand slowly reaches to touch the black cord and amethyst pendant. Is quiet, as if trying to calculate whether or not to rip it away.*) Macaque: "I'm so sorry, Wukong. Had I known you still thought of me so strongly, I wouldn't have accepted her offer. But..." (*Macaque pulls another pendant from his scarf; this one with an orange-fur cord and large sunset-like stone in the middle, flanked by smaller multicoloured shards. Even while possessed, the King seems to startle at the sight of it*) Macaque: "I really should have known that, seeing how I couldn't part with the one you proposed to me with..." Wukong, eyes flickering: "Mihou..." Macaque: "I haven't been the best mate. Or friend. But I want a chance to make it up to you and the cub. Even if you never forgive me, I want to be there for both of you. For all of you." (*Macaque takes Wukong's cool hands into his own*) Macaque: "If you will have me again, peaches." Wukong, crying: "Plums!" (*LBD's hold on the Monkey King breaks as Wukong pulls Macaque into his arms.*) MK: "YAY!" Red Son: "Noodle boy! The bone mech?" MK: "Oh yeah! Sorry!"

The Lady Bone Demon is defeated - MK feels multiple pairs of hands covering his ears and eyes as she tries to leave him a final warning...

Macaque still has a long way to go in making up to his mate and their cub. But he's got time.

[nekohime19]

Macaque study # S5

At last let's talk about the LMK S5 and Macaque portrayal in it! Took me so much time to edit this one but it's here!

So, to summarize what I said in the previous study of Macaque, after season 4 Macaque showcases a lot of redeeming qualities :

He stepped up to help even though he wasn't asked to, thus showcasing his care.

He admitted that the image of Wukong he was fueling, the one of an uncaring person only thriving for power, wasn't real. And showcased traces of yearning towards Wukong.

Both monkeys reached an understanding at the end of the season. Wukong even extended an olive branch in the form of a peach popsicle.

So if after season 3 Macaque's place within the group was still tentative, this time after season 4 he showed that he was willing to help even when nobody asked him to, thus cementing the tentative trust he forged at the end of season 3. Now, saying that he's buddy-buddy with the rest of the group isn't quite true. There is a distance between them that hasn't been addressed yet.

S5 ep 1

Macaque appears in the first half of the episode, narratively his appearance is here to highlight the season's main plot : MK's origins. He's here to introduce troubles. Essentially, he's doing groundwork for the rest of the season, encouraging the viewers to already question MK's origins.

Now story-wise I think his appearance is very interesting because it highlights the current state of his relationship with Wukong. While season 4 ended in a tentative offer of allyship, season 5 begins with an argument between the two monkeys, an argument they tried to avoid.

So, right after MK left, And Wukong fail to broach the subject of his monkey form, Macaque appears through Wukong's shadow :

Macaque : Well, that went well bud.

Wukong : Hugh, are you actually lurking here?

Macaque : Hey, this mountain has been my home just as long as yours.

This first section of the dialogue is relatively tame. Macaque is falling back on his habits which are : teasing/ taunting. Macaque is shown as smiling, relatively laid-back, while he nips at Wukong's unsuccessful attempt at talking (of course, the “that went well bud” is sarcastic, but it's not as bitter as we are used to concerning Macaque taunting). And the moment Wukong questions Macaque's presence on the mountain, Macaque answers with another quip.

It's also interesting to see that Macaque still considers the mountain as his home and lurks here despite having the freedom to go and explore the world. Of course, I do believe the writers are keeping him around for plot purposes BUT I also find it sweet that he cannot bring himself to leave the mountain. Perhaps, in some way he's scared to let go of the familiarity that the mountain offers. Macaque says that the mountain was his home just as long as Wukong's, considering that Wukong was born on the mountain, it's not far-fetched to think Macaque was born here too. If we follow this line of thinking, it means Macaque never truly left the mountain. So, in a way, Macaque's only experiences with the outside world have been : the brotherhood's wars, his death at Wukong's hand, and his time as a slave under LBD….So I can understand if he doesn't want to leave the mountain yet.

Now, after this first relatively tame section, things turn more serious.

Wukong : You found anything?

Macaque : no but with the Jade Emperor gone the celestial realms… Things aren't good. Wukong… the kid.

Wukong : I know.

Macaque : You need to talk to him.

Wukong : I know. But… He’s not ready.

Macaque : You mean you're not ready. You really are the worst mentor.

First, we learn that Macaque has been lurking around the celestial realms and probably shared his findings with Wukong more than once if Wukong is aware of his lurking. That in itself told us that they take their roles seriously, they're preparing themselves for future troubles, as they said they would at the end of season 4. At the same time, I find it interesting how Macaque is trying to push Wukong around.

He begins by highlighting the importance of talking to MK, especially since he just witnessed Wukong's unsuccessful attempt. But Wukong is dismissive. He answers with a succinct “I know” and turns away from Macaque, as if fleeing the conversation. Macaque notices his unwillingness and frowns, he insists again, and he fully turns towards Wukong. Once again, Wukong repeats himself, while still averting Macaque's gaze, giving the impression he's still fleeing, BUT then he meets Macaque gaze heads on at the end of his sentence : “He's not ready.” This shows that Wukong is sure of himself, he's not just fleeing, he has seen how MK avoids the conversation, the kid is truly not ready. Yet Macaque answers with a quip meant to push Wukong out of his comfort zone.

Yes, maybe the kid isn't ready. But maybe you're also not ready either.

Macaque knows how to make Wukong's react, he's trying to push him around. Yet when Macaque sees that Wukong is getting angry (cue Wukong growling) he drops his smile and attitude, because he doesn't want to fight Wukong, they have more important things to worry about.

Macaque : He needs–We need to know everything we can.

Wukong : He's just a kid. Can we just-

Macaque : He's not just a kid! Why him Wukong? Did you know about-when you chose him…

Wukong : No, I didn't know. It just felt…right.

Macaque : And that doesn't bother you!? This kid just happens to have all your powers, that is at the center of all these battles. And you never questioned why? None of us even knew he existed? How?

They're both obviously frustrated by the other, yet contrary to other seasons they try to not let this turn into a fight. When one of them feels like they're on the verge of snapping, they turn away and put some distance between themself and the other. Everytime they feel like exploding, they try to reign it in. In itself this is a huge improvement from their previous fights. They're really trying to not let this develop into a heated argument.

As we can see in those various shots, they always try to keep a distance between themselves, they're really trying to not let this turns into a fight :

At the same time, Macaque is trying to make Wukong realize that they cannot wait anymore. The question of MK's origins was always looming over their heads, but Wukong never looked into it. Macaque believes they cannot brush the matter aside anymore. That MK needs to know, that they need to know to be prepared. Macaque is a highly cautious individual, so character-wise it makes sense for him to have this need of preparation. He cannot let MK's origins remain a mystery, not when so many coincidences lead him to believe someone is pulling the strings.

But on the other hand, on what grounds can Macaque criticize Wukong's mentoring when he hasn’t been around for long? Macaque is right in his worry, but his way of broaching the subject with Wukong is not right, especially since he's very citisizing of the way Wukong handled the situation. Perhaps because his feelings for Wukong are still very much tainted by his previous hatred, he's very harsh with him. At the same time, if he's not harsh with Wukong, who will be?

In the end, despite their best efforts, the conversation turns into a fight.

Before leaving Macaque says :

Macaque : Look, that kid idolizes you, you're his literal hero and you just…

Wukong : I just what?

Macaque : He needs to know it's not all on him. You need to do better.

Macaque is very harsh and critical, and he's NOT the right person to say this, especially since he has no right to criticize Wukong on mentoring. But he's the only one that can currently push Wukong out of his comfort zone.

At the end of the episode, we see Macaque laying on the same tree that symbolized his friendship with Wukong in season 4 surrounded by monkeys.

First, how obsessed do you have to be to be laying on this particular tree? Macaque… really I have no words, how much of a simp are you? Seconds, the monkeys truly missed him 🥹. It's good that he's home, finally.

S5 ep 2

I found this episode particularly interesting for its duality, at the same time it shows Macaque closeness with Wukong yet it also highlights the distance between them (while also highlighting the distance between Macaque and the rest of the team).

Closness :

Macaque recognizes Li Jing’s spell before anyone else, showcasing how he was already familiar with it. Macaque is also the first to rush to Wukong.

In prison, one look is enough for Wukong to convey his plan to Macaque.

Still in prison, Wukong laughs at Macaque's joke concerning “MK lawyer bit".

During the fight against the celestial soldiers, both monkeys fight in harmony, defeating them together.

After leaving the celestial realm, Wukong explicitly says “I trust no one that isn't standing there right now.” Even Macaque is surprised by this affirmation, as he is standing here, meaning he is part of the people Wukong implicitly trusts.

Distance :

In prison, Macaque is standing in one corner while both MK and Wukong are sitting in the middle, thus creating a physical distance between them representative of the symbolical distance that is still present in their relationship. Moreover, as we can see in the shot, a chain is separating the three, furthermore highlighting the divide between the three characters.

Wukong and Macaque argue a lot. Even MK acknowledges the tension between the two. Wukong even says “Classic, I get all the punishment, you get to mop” which can be a reference to how he was constantly the one being punished (the mountain, the journey, the circlet) yet Macaque always acted like the one suffering. In response, Macaque says “Maybe going to jail wasn't on my agenda for tonight.��, which can be a reference to how Macaque is always getting dragged into Wukong's mess.

After landing, Macaque picks a fight with Wukong and both end up arguing once more. More precisely, Macaque calls out Wukong on his lack of substantial plan, doubting how whimsical, possibly not real rocks, could be seen as a great plan. Once again, Macaque is highly cautious.

This episode does a great job at showing us the chemistry/ the potential dynamic of Macaque and Wukong (their closeness) but still acknowledges the distance between them that cannot be totally breached yet.

At the same time, perhaps because Wukong acknowledges that he trusts Macaque, Macaque in turns decides to trust Wukong and MK. He sacrifices himself to Li Jin, thus buying time for the team to escape and go search for those (possibly not real) rocks, a plan he clearly didn't agree with minutes before.

It could also be a call back to Wukong sarcastic comments “Oh sure, cause normally you just rush to my rescue.” in season 4. Here, Macaque IS rushing to Wukong's rescue, both when he rushed to him when Li Jin threw the circlet at him, and now when he's sacrificing himself to buy time.

We can argue that Macaque never truly apologized to MK and the others, and I do think a verbal apology is still needed, but I don't think it's fair to brush aside his actions as “idiotic suicidal tendencies.” He helped save the world twice, and here he's yet again sacrificing himself. You cannot forget those actions, or brush them aside as bad writing, because you don't like their implications. Yes, Macaque never formally apologized, he still needs to, but saying he did nothing to gain the others’ trust is a bit much and quite uncalled for. For all it's worth, the others do trust him, Wukong trusts him, but that doesn't mean he's their best friend either. He's someone the others can depend on, now is he someone they like is still to be debated on (I do think MK likes him, Wukong too even if it's more complicated, but I don't think Pigsy likes him very much).

S5 ep 7

This episode is great because it does show us multiple things concerning Macaque. It further emphasizes this distance we have observed between Macaque and the others but also showcases how differently Macaque and Wukong process what happened between them.

After saving him from the memory eye, Macaque argues with Wukong (“Geez Wukong, kinda wasting my sacrifice here”). Furthermore, we can clearly see a physical distance, even more so a barrier, between them.

There is a pillar between them, a fracture of some sort that further highlights the divide they cannot mend yet. At the same time, we can notice how differently Macaque and Wukong react in this scene. Macaque is turned towards Wukong, his tail high, he's more annoyed than anything, he acts normally by picking a fight. Whereas Wukong is turning away, tail low, we could even spot tears in his eyes minutes before. He's withdrawn.

Clearly, those two processed Macaque's death differently. Macaque had time to come to terms with what happened to him. He lived through his vengeance arc, he processed the fight in more ways than one. But Wukong isn't the same. It's very likely that he repressed those memories, that he erased them from his mind (cue the numerous times he avoided the word death, instead referring to Macaque as “leaving” or “coming back”).

But this episode also showcases Macaque distance with the rest of the team.

When Macaque saves Pigsy, he does so in the background, by that I mean that he doesn't show himself in front of Pigsy. He stays in the back. Not willing to be on the same level. Moreover, when Sandy brings everyone into a hug, Macaque is at first not part of it, Sandy has to bring him into it, and even then Macaque looks greatly surprised and even confused by the gesture.

Clearly, Macaque is shown as withdrawn when it comes to the team. On numerous occasions throughout the season, he put himself in the back. Because he knows that even though they might trust him, it doesn't mean that they like him. Macaque might have redeemed himself, but it doesn't mean that his development is over, he gained the other's trust, but he'll have to go further to gain their affection. He's not suddenly everyone's best friend. As we can see, and we will keep seeing it, there is physical distance between him and others in each of his appearances.

S5 ep 8

There isn't too much to say about this episode, mainly because Macaque doesn't appear much. It does groundwork for the next episodes, with Macaque being able to free his hand of Xianglu power for a bit, informing us that Macaque powers are effective against him.

Also, Mei make one of the greatest joke :

MK : I'm very used to all our used to our enemies being just your recycled old enemies.

Mei : or like your ex best friends.

Also, not Xianglu acting like he was friend with Wukong when in JTTW he only appear on one chapter and Wukong kicks his butt cause he was scaring a village.

S5 ep 9/10

Ah, so much to say about those two episodes, 😌. The season ties up nicely everything we already observed about Macaque, mainly the physical distance we often noticed between him and the team throughout his numerous appearances.

I will adopt a more thematic approach to analyze those two episodes, instead of my usual chronological order, because I believe it is more relevant in this case.

Confrontation with MK

Macaque confrontation with MK is a great callback to the end of season 4, when Macaque encourages MK to walk his own path. Here, Macaque is trying to let MK know that he doesn't have to bear everything alone.

Macaque : this isn't the kind of things I meant when I told you to chose your own destiny!

MK : you don't understand if I don't do this everyone loses, everything get destroyed!

Macaque : You don't always have to be the hero! It doesn't alway need to be you!

MK : this is the only way

Macaque : You don't know that, you can't know that.

Macaque first sentence is a callback to season 4. Clearly, Macaque is trying to dissuade MK. Trying to let him see that he doesn't have to save everyone alone. It is something Macaque already mentionned at the beginning of the season, when he told Wukong to do better, he also told him that MK needed to know “that everything wasn't on him”. Maybe because he saw what happened with Wukong, what happened when someone decides to bear everything alone, he doesn't want the same things to happen to MK.

The “You don't always have to be the hero” is quite powerful in itself. Macaque always had some problems with heroes, but he did acknowledged how wrong his definition of heroes was in season 4. Here, Macaque tries to take MK's burden away, to let him see that he doesn't need to always sacrifice himself, but also he's trying to let MK see that he's not alone. I think it's very clever to let Macaque have this particular line. Especially since in season 3 MK was the one to show Macaque that heroes never abandon their friends, and thus that heroes aren't alone. Here, Macaque is trying to reenact in some ways what MK did in season 3 by trying to convince MK that he doesn't have to do everything alone, that he has people to depend on.

But of course, Macaque get interrupted before he can truly get through MK, 😭.

Closing the distance

Macaque distance with the other characters (and especially Wukong) was an underlying theme throughout the whole season, especially within the shots’ composition. As we already saw, Macaque was always withdrawn, he never truly fit in the frame, always cut off by either an external object (chains, pillars) or pushed to the background. And of course, the end of season 5 offer a tentative resolution of this story-line.

First, we have this very short scene, after Macaque is interrupted by Xianglu, he decides to give his all and free the other and himself at the cost of his strengh. Before doing this, he clearly say while glancing at Wukong :

Macaque : here goes nothing, make it count.

So Macaque is putting everything in Wukong's hands. He explicitly decides to put his trust on Wukong. This is a great improvement, especially when we consider how cautious Macaque usually is. Moreover, once Macaque free everyone he falls to the ground in a way that is very remiscinent of season 3, after the fight with the possessed Wukong. However, contrary to season 3 where Wukong walked over Macaque while not even glancing at him, this time Wukong reaches towards Macaque and asks if he's okay.

Macaque is the one who has to push him to leave. This is a great callback to make us realizes how much those two evolved compared to season 3 and how much things changed between them.

Morever, after MK leaps in the pillar and everything fades to white, each member of the team calls for MK but Macaque is the only one calling for Wukong. Probably because he knows that if MK was able to jump, it meant Wukong failed, and thus meant Wukong is probably crushed by guilt right now.

But truly, the gesture that ciment Macaque place is Wukong reaching towards him.

Once the pillar is on the verge of being destroyed, and everyone stands together to face what is probably their end, once again we can see that Macaque is in the background.

There is still a distance between him and the team. But this time the distance isn't ignored, instead someone reach towards Macaque, inviting him to stand together with the team, on the same level, and that someone is Wukong.

The fact that Wukong is the one who pulls Macaque at the forefront, who close off the distance between them, is a very powerful gesture. It is a sign of their healing, but also, symbolically, can represent how truly Wukong is the one that connect Macaque to the others. It is through Wukong that Macaque met the team, and thus Wukong has to be the one that close this distance we have observed throughout the season.

Unfortunately, as we all know, Xianglu (damn guy) will intefer before Macaque can take Wukong's hand. Symbolically, it can represents how difficult mending a relationship can be, and even if both parties reach out to each other, it doesn't mean that everything will be healed. Yet the attempt was made all the same. Wukong reached out to him, and Macaque reached back, this alone is proof that their relationship, even if rocky, is slowly healing.

It is proof that this distance, while not fully breached yet, is slowly being closed.

Macaque's powers

Those two episodes also gave us something really interesting to think about and that is Macaque's powers. Macaque's powers are admittedly the most mysterious of LMK and that is because his powers don’t come from JTTW. Indeed, it is never mentioned, in JTTW, that the Six-eared Macaque possess shadow powers. As such, Macaque's powers are an unknown factor to us that had never been truly explained.

Here, we finally have some lead on his powers, especially when they directly confront Xianglu's powers. Indeed, Macaque is the only one able to free himself from Xianglu's hold. Moreover, his shadows are very similar to what Xianglu's uses, the only exception being their colors.

Xianglu : Oh that was quite a trick. That power, who gave that to you? Who did you make a deal with?

Macaque : a deal?

Xianglu : ah, it doens't matter.

So that's very interesting. First if Xianglu is to be believed, his powers are not something he's born with but rather something he borrowed. However, Macaque doesn't seem to be aware of any deals whatsover, so either Macaque unknowingly made a deal or he doesn't need to make a deal. I'm more inclined to believe the second option.

First, Xianglu powers are linked to the chaos. And the end of the season confirm that Macaque's powers also stem from the same source with this particular shot :

What lead me to believe that Macaque didn't need to make any deal is because he has been tightly linked to Yin symbolism throughout the whole show.

Indeed, the Yin is linked with darkness, passivity (which was one of Macaque trait in the past, as in he prefered to avoid confrontations), the moon… But the Yin can also be tied to chaos. As such, perhaps Macaque doesn't need to make a deal because chaos is a part of who he is, it is in his nature, and thus he's born with it.

The idea of Macaque being linked to chaos could also explain a personal theory of mine. During the brief flashbacks of Wukong and Macaque fight, that we saw previously in this season, we could clearly hear Macaque laughing manically while Wukong was pleading for him to stop. Macaque sounded unhinged, precisely chaotic, perhaps because his powers, naturally linked to chaos, took over him in that moment.

So this ends Macaque study in season 5. As we saw, this season follows through what have been established in season 4 : Macaque gained the team’s trust but it doesn't mean there is no distance between them. In fact, it is only at the end of season 5 that an attempt at breaching this distance was made.

Macaque and Wukong relationship also greatly evolved from the first seasons. They still fight, but now they try to make a conscious effort of not letting it get messy. Moreover, Wukong actively reach towards Macaque at the end of the season.

As always, this is my interpretation of Macaque character and you are free to disagree, no hate. I do love Macaque so even if I try to be unbiased, I know my appreciation of the show will shine through no matter what I do.

Maybe if season 6 comes out and I am still into LMK, I will do another study of Macaque.

S1 / Previous

[magicwhiskers29]

“You don’t always have to be the Hero!”

“It doesn’t always need to be you!”

As I understand, this line has been thrown around a bit because, well, it’s just a really good line, for any situation it can fit for. It’s impactful, the voice work on the original is really good, and it summarises a lot of LMK season 5’s core themes really well! Heck, it probably summarises a lot of themes really well, but I think there’s something interesting to be found in the fact that it’s Macaque saying it, originally.

Let’s roll back a second to Shadow Play, s2e7, because I think that can really recontextualise it.

“The Hero and the Warrior were like the sun and moon, their light a protective glow, shining upon the world.”

“Together, there was nothing that could stop the two of them, in either the Celestial Realms, or on Earth.”

“As time went on, the Hero gained power beyond comprehension.”

“As his 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.”

…okay, so I’m pretty sure a good half of the fanbase already has this monologue memorised, but I digress. Because the loaded meaning behind the words “Hero” and “Warrior” are never forgotten by the show. If we cut ahead to Embrace Your Destiny, the s3 special, we get a direct reference to these titles in a practical setting.

“I’m not a Hero, bud.”

“Then be a Warrior!”

This is the moment which really kickstarts Macaque’s turn to start working with the Monkie Kids. He doesn’t work against them again, after this point! (As of season 5) MK tells him that to do good things, and save the world, he doesn’t have to be the Hero in limelight – he can be the Warrior, doing good from the shadows. And for as much as Macaque does take quite a prominent role in the fight after this, literally taking on Wukong 1v1, it’s still MK who ends up with the glory, in the end.

Macaque needed to hear this because he does these antagonistic things out of self-preservation, yes, but also out of a spite which he knows isn’t especially heroic. And because he doesn’t want to be the guy who leaves stuff behind. But after this, he doesn’t act as an antagonist again, and he does stuff which he really doesn’t want to do, like confronting his past with Wukong in the scroll, in the season 4 special! What MK says sticks with him.

And to get it out of the way, not every time the word “Hero” is used in the show is necessarily a reference to the Hero and Warrior. For instance, when Mei yells at a possessed Wukong and LBD in the season 3 special, she says “Because that’s the hard part of being a hero!”, but I don’t think she’s talking about the implications of limelight, or Wukong and Macaque’s story. I mean, she never even saw the play in Shadow Play, so she likely doesn’t even know the deeper meaning behind that word...

A lot of these other moments can carry interesting implications when examined through that lens (E.G. how Mei fits into the Hero-Warrior dynamic, or the nature of LBD’s “Save your hero speech, child” from the end of season 3) but I think those would better be left for a different analysis.

These two lines from season 5, at the beginning of this post, have a direct connection to the Hero-Warrior stuff though, because they're from the character who invented that metaphor, to the only other character who understands it. It’s like a coded message, I suppose.

Throughout a lot of Macaque’s screen time, especially in the earlier seasons, he preaches about self-preservation, specifically under the advice of “look out for number one”. He believes that people like him, and later MK, need to be the ones to look out for themselves, because otherwise, no one will. This is expanded upon to seem a little more heroic and noble in later seasons, to be similar to a sentiment that Wukong expresses about choosing your own destiny, and forging your own path. The core of the advice is still centred on trusting yourself, and prioritising your own beliefs, but it’s no longer about something that could be perceived as selfish, and more a tool to use for good.

Macaque is shown to want MK to look out for himself less selflessly. His advice in season 4 is this choosing your own destiny stuff, but it also mirrors the end of season 5 really well. He tells MK that the two choices of fighting Azure, or not fighting Azure don’t have to be the only choices. If MK goes to fight Azure as is, he will lose, and there is a good chance that he will die. Like, obviously Macaque doesn’t want the whole universe that he lives in to be destroyed, but he’s also not yet fighting for it, at this point. He does want MK to do what is most likely to save everyone, but the reason he pulled MK aside was to appeal to him to take care of himself.

Season 5 already mirrors and is a true continuation of season 4 in a lot of ways, with the main threat once again being the sky cracks that symbolise the end of the world due to the death of the Jade Emperor, but it’s thematically that we can really see that. Macaque even literally brings up that MK is misconstruing his advice from the previous season in the line right before the ones I’m supposed (haha, we're getting there) to be analysing.

Once again, MK has two choices, functionally: save the world at the cost of himself, or do nothing. Once again, Macaque is advocating for MK to make a third choice, one where the world can be saved without MK likely dying in the process, but MK had taken the whole “choose your own destiny thing” to be choosing the choice that only he can. Macaque’s biggest argument to this are these two lines. That MK doesn’t need to be the Hero, this time, or any time.

The Hero exists a public figure that people can rely on. He represents absolute power, as well as recklessness. In Macaque’s story, the Hero gains power, and then leaves his friend behind, so he’s strong, but doesn’t stop to think about consequences. Now, obviously Macaque is very biased in his story, because we know Wukong very clearly does still care about Macaque, but to what the story represents between MK and Macaque, that’s not necessarily important.

Macaque is just telling MK that he doesn’t need to be someone who’s the public picture of heroism. He has all of this power, but it’s his choice how to use it. Sometimes, it’s okay to take a backseat and be a Warrior, someone who can look out for themself, and who doesn’t always have to do everything themself. Once, the Hero and the Warrior were ultimate power together. The fact that the Hero became that by himself suggests that he still does the job he once did – he just doesn’t need to have anyone help him with it.

The Hero is supposed to be presented as a selfish figure, but that can also flip around to be someone who’s selfless, so selfless that they try to carry the weight of a good mission on their shoulders alone. The Hero’s sin was abandoning the Warrior, not unspeakable evil or something. And… Isn’t that sort of what MK is doing here? He’s trying to an act so selfless that it really could only be called heroic, but to the friends he’s leaving behind to make a sacrifice that’s really a not-so-subtly-disguised suicide allegory, it’s selfish. He abandons them all to fulfil his supposed destiny, but they don’t need him to sacrifice himself – they want to find another way with him.

If you want to look at it that way, MK is playing out the story again. Seems fitting, when later in the same episode, Wukong, the original Hero, tries to take his place and make the same sacrifice.

Macaque’s statement to MK is so loaded because of his history as the original Warrior, and what being a hero really means to him, and across the show with MK’s actions as a whole. He doesn’t need to always be the Hero – sometimes it’s okay to just be a Warrior. And it doesn’t always need to be him – just like the original Hero, there are people who would want to help him, if he just doesn’t leave them behind.

[centuryberry]

just curious, i can figure out the rough timeline from lady bone demons debut chapter but in universes where yue is left in the land of eternal snow, whats the time limit before it becomes impossible to save her from her new evil step mother?

like what would yue do when her father started acting weird and her "new mom" is WAY to obsessed with her

would she be possessed immediately? or is there time? if she is possessed is it still impossible for them to save her?

if shanzha and rinrin were there when it happened would they be able to fight them off or flee with yue?

or an universe where shanzha got sent away as the bride how long does she (and rinrin in some universes) have to convince them to help her get her niece out if there?

is there a universe where the war in the land of eternal snow is just a custody battle over yue where they have to fight to get her back from thrall!yishan and his evil wife?

i know this might be spoilers cause we haven't gotten to the lady bone demon part of act 2 so feel free to leave this ask in limbo if it is or delete it, my adhd brain will probably forget it 30mins after i send it. i'm fine with waiting to learn this in the story as you write them

The clock starts ticking the moment LBD comes into direct, physical contact with Yue like in the fic. Until then, she would be unaware that the little scrap of a child was what she was desperately searching for. In some timelines, Yue manages to stay under the radar until she's rescued and spirited away. But in the timelines when she doesn't, LBD doesn't possess Yue immediately. Yue would be too weak to be a vessel. So, she starts fattening her up and taking care of her. Maybe even gives her a few years to grow. The point of no return comes when LBD transfers her conciousness into Yue's body.

Yue already avoids Yishan like a plague. So to see him in his manic state? She's super on edge. She's weary of her new stepmother too.

If RinRIn and Shanzha were there, they would've left the moment they heard that Yishan remarried. Not because LBD is super shady, but because legal wives tended to treat their stepchildren poorly in the clan and there was no way Shanzha was risking that.

In the timelines where Shanzha was sent away, she would have about a year to get help. (This time constraint starts the moment LBD comes into contact with Yue, so maybe even a little longer.)

All AUs where Shanzha doesn't die (including the canon Otome Game routes) pretty much have a war that's really a custody battle. Whether or not Shanzha is successful in reaching her niece in time depends. She's sometimes too late. (Most definitely too late in the canon routes.)

[deliveryboysomewhatequaltoheaven]

The Macaque Problem

I would definitely say Macaque's character is an issue for the show. His redemption arc is not good, and it brings down the other characters and takes up their time and arcs.

When we first see him in S1 and 2, he is an old frenemy of Wukong's bitter over an unspecified falling out. He is angry and lashing out at MK and his friends, projecting this feud onto them. He claims MK didn't notice his friends were gone, but we see him trying to call Mei, and that the others were resentful, but we see tang looking upset being forced to attack MK. Seems like a clear enough villain concept with some room forward right? But S3 and 4 derail that.

Chronologically, we can talk about the Brotherhood, (which he was not a part of in JTTW, and he complained abt being left behind in S2 but here he was?? Eh) He claims that Wukong pushed ahead without thinking or listening and that's what got him trapped in the mountain. But what do we see before Wukong surrenders to the Jade Emperor?

The rest of the Brotherhood trapped by the Celestial Army. We don't see Wukong fight the Jade Emperor. He was an immortal shapeshifter, I have no doubt Wukong could have escaped. But he turned himself in to save his friends. Was he in a bad mood in the mountain? I mean, yeah, but Macaque doesn't seem to consider that he's free because Wukong is not.

We still don't know about the final falling out and Macaque's seeming death, though S5 implies that Macaque pushed the situation. Still, it's not good, because if they can't properly resolve it, than it's just going to remain between them and Macaque's grudge against Wukong can't be properly moved past, which hampers his arc.

But then S3 happens, and honestly I think Macaque's motives are dumb. Why is he trying to get in the way of them stopping LBD if he also wants to be free of her? It's a positive for you! But they also start trying to portray him as someone who 'calls Wukong out' because S3 and 4 really try to make Wukong out to be a jerk. He made mistakes but it was a desperate situation against the Lady Bone Demon. I love Mei and Pigsy but they also call him out when they said nothing about the Fourth Ring/visions.

'You will make things worse for MK when I personally attack and threaten him and his loved ones for my own gain' OK Macaque!

But the S3 special is the real kicker. Macaque apparently changes his mind and we don't know why. They show some mistrust at first until MK says he knows Macaque is not a bad guy deep down... but doing one or two helpful things after three seasons of stalking, threatening, and attacking the gang doesn't exactly convince me.

And then this bit from the S3 special finale:

Uh, how??? Wukong is right, Macaque was until very recently willing throw everyone under the bus so he could get away from LBD. It's pretty rich that he would call Wukong self centered. Whatever Wukong did was trying to stop her and protect MK from having to deal with it.

In the S4 special, they also have Macaque talk about Azure Lion, and again I'm not sure why we are listening to him on characters' morality

Says the guy who wrote a play about how 'Sun Wukong is a big old meany who hurt my precious little fee-fees' if I never see or hear the hero and warrior monologue again it will be too soon but I will say he at least seems to consider he might have been wrong, though they don't really dwell on it...

Even in S5, we get this bit.

Once again, Wukong is right!! After 3 seasons of attacking and harassing MK I don't think he really gets to give advice. Plus WUKONG WAS TRYING TO TALK TO MK ABOUT IT RIGHT BEFORE THIS! But MK was not doing well emotionally and Wukong was trying to be mindful and not push!

And honestly I think they all let Macaque off easy for the S3 events, he literally choked out Mei and threatened to kill her! (Sidenote: he can call MK and Tang by their names, but Mei was just 'the girl' throughout S3... urgh)

But when Wukong gets mad at him, Macaque says "I didn't do this!" Well you forced the gang to do something that you didn't know what the consequences of would be! But Tang intervenes saying he did it, even though he awkwardly admits Macaque forced him but that he felt he should because of the golden cicada. Macaque later decides to leave the situation he forced. He later does help some, but doesn't really get held accountable for his part in everything.

But I guess it's fine bc at the end of the special MK gives him this drawing. This is actually kind of really upsetting and again makes little sense considering how much he and Mei care about other otherwise. But nah Macaque is cool now it's fine...

And Ao Guang! This is a tougher one, but in S5 they had Macaque let himself get sent to the Pagoda to buy others time... well I just say that's karma!

And Macaque comes back, of course, but we never hear more about Ao Guang. Even when they send the power of the Stones out, we do in fact see the East Sea Palace and the attendant, but not him, so his fate is unclear.

So yeah, overall, I think he was forgiven too fast, the root issue of his fight with Wukong unaddressed, and he takes up time from the others characters.

[fluffypotatey]

About macky having to "move on" I also joked about that like girl get up please, but when I think about it I realize that not even I could get over it, even if Wukong hurt Macaque, Macaque also hurt Wukong, we all know that so to the point. What catches my attention is that when you think about the story they had in their youth it makes sense, wukong himself shouted to macaque that everything he did was for them, and more than once he repeated that they would be able to be together forever like "as they always wanted" at peace as a fact, adding that to the hundreds of thousands of years they spent together.

And with their fight It wasn't even a closure to their relationship at that moment, it was with Macaque's death, there were so many things left to say and so much to process (the death and the anger, the fights etc) , only for Macaque to return with the only thing in mind being that he needs to get revenge on Wukong (for obvious reasons) so he comes back and tries to get revenge,he fails. Even in the moments of the show where Macaque is not actively trying to get revenge on Wukong, he still calls him, makes fun of him, hits him where he knows it hurts. And that goes hand in hand with 2 things

One is Macaque's need to get Wukong's attention, Macaque is seen trying to get Wukong to treat him seriously without holding back in fights, seeing that Wukong focuses more on protecting the kid is almost as if it offends him, they are not friends anymore but Wukong doesn't even consider him as an adversary? He can't let that go, Wukong owes him this! He caused his death and now he doesn't even face it when he didn't hold back before?At least give this some real closure! (macky pov)

Two is Wukong does not want to see Macaque, he does not want him around, and since Macaque knows how to get under his skin, Wukong attacks with even harsher answers so that he understands, "You are nothing to me and I don't want you to mess with me, go away" Wukong obviously must have reasons for acting like this, whether it be not being able to deal with Macaque's death or something that Macaque did to him (or Wukong did) to push him away ...and rightly so! macaque is one of the bad ones! he abandoned wukong, attacked mk and the others, allied himself with lbd and won't leave him alone! (Wu pov)

Idk those were my thoughts about them in the first seasons, I feel like at the beginning Macaque was a ghost from the past who tormented Wukong whenever he could. And macaque not leaving wukong alone for this same reason, if he can't kill him then let him be a walking reminder of his past (he's petty like that yk let's say that ignoring that may bothers him to be ignored ). For the most recent seasons the change is felt and is caused by how Macaque's perspective on Wukong changed. As for Wukong, I think it's safe to say that with so many ghosts from his past returning and Macaque HELPING and not showing signs of being a recent threat (and the fact that they used to live together so mac still has rights to the house unfortunately) he couldn't make many protests with macaque staying on the mountain, Mostly the change is caused by Macaque's attitude and his reflection regarding Wukong, besides that yes, I feel that Macaque really had to process everything again because bro wdym my ex situationship of thousands of years just looked at me for motivation in his worst moment and he gave me a peach popsicle? holyshit-

SO to the point I think there was a reason for macaque to being around wukong (piss him off basically) but with this new information about what type of person and intentions Wukong has and how he has changed, those reasons also changed. And macaque and wukong will say all they want but "I did it for us" meant something pretty big if it meant "I did it for us, I fought against the heavens and looked for ways to make myself more immortal to protect you and our home so no one else It would bother us never again and we would live in peace forever." Yeah… I don't think it will be easy to move on (for none of them, Macademia lives with it and doesn't cope very well, Wukong avoids it like the plague and doesn't cope very well, Macaron through teasing puts it in wukong's face so that he can afrom it/him, Wukong doesn't/can't do it)

Season 5 side note : It's not until this season that we see them both show that they still care (without any pretext or excuse behind)

It's always the ying yang situation with them....although that cannot excuse the fact that macaque continues to be a simp 😞/J

LAST SIDE NOTE : We don't know how much time passed from when macaque died to when he was revived, so the difference in time they had to process can also affect their attitudes. (English isn't my first language I'm so sorry)

anon this is the perfect analysis 😍 no notes so well done chef’s kiss

[floretskybright]

Another new idea for a Lmk Au (don't know how they continue to appear)

There are Aus with Macaque acting like a dad/mom for either MK or Bai He(the lbd's host girl) but in this idea it's not just that

After the defeat of Lbd everything turned back to normal , Bai He initially hang around MK's gang because she was grateful of them saving her but then it stopped being often

Both sides (MK's gang and Bai He's family) mutually agreed that it would be dangerous for Bai He to join them when they go so often against so many enemies and there would be the possibility of not being able to protect her from the crossfire , also she is very young and needs to focus on school and growing up healthly and she can't do that if she gets involved in adventures that could traumatize her further , Lbd was already enough trauma for her

So for a few years Bai He didn't see MK's gang as often as she would have liked but understood the point of keeping her safe , she also didn't mind because there was Macaque keeping her company most often than not

Macaque didn't have a problem hanging out with her , he kept her company , protected her , he also taught her how to manage Lbd's powers

Because of Lbd's having used her as an alive host she was able to retain/absorb some of her powers when Lbd left

So Bai He has ice powers and her clairvoyance now

Macaque was very helpful , most of all with the clairvoyance because he kinda knows how to deal with it as he has a similar power ( aka hear the past , present and future)

But then something happened , not with Bai He but with Macaque

Macaque already escaped death but it had a setback , when Bai He grew up a bit Macaque entered a coma-like state and Bai He will go search a way to wake him up

She will ask MK's gang for help and they will help her save Mac despite Wukong's protests

Bai He and Wukong will not get along at first , it's not like they deslike each other and it's nothing personal but Bai He wants Mac back and Wukong , despite helping (more like forced by MK because it was the right thing to do) , he can't help but say his opinion about letting Mac die like he should have centuries ago

Wukong will later soften when discovering what kind of person Mac is around Bai He and will try to give Mac a second chance if they succeed at waking him up

Shadowpeach can be seen as platonic , romantic or just friendship

[akitatheformlingandbaihe]

As you all could see I am a very fan of lmk and ninjago. Now I mainly focus on Akita bc I got back into my fixation with Ninjago not too long ago but I still love lmk! And bai he! So I have so many hc based on my view of bai he and rp’s I don’t with her over on discord! So ima share some of it (it’s allot so I am mainly talking about the important parts this time)

TW! Abuse! Child neglecting and stuff- ;-;

Bai he used too live with her dad and mother who where not living parents they would often argue and fight and this deeply upset her. She tried cheering them up by making drawings of their family happy together but it didn’t work. It only got worst as time went on and her father would start drinking and getting more angry he would often hit her mother and her and leave nasty marks on her that would hurt for months. Bottles got thrown, hurtful words got yelled and so on. One day both parents had enough and got out of control and hit her hard. The mother disgusted of the child grabbed her and threw her into the alley way while she was unconscious and left her there too root. When she got thrown she hit her head hard giving her some bad type of memory lost. She couldn’t remember who her parents where or anything only thing she could remember was her name. She started living in the streets and she stole some food from pigsty’s noodle shop for food and some clothes from ppl who put them outside for drying. After some time when she got possessed, everything was black LBD had taken her body but she was now trapped inside her own head. Everything was black around her and the so called ground she stood on was also black it looked like a void but filled with souls and fog and coldness. She tried screaming for help but nothing worked and then she heard lbd’s voice she could hear everything that was going on outside her own body. But suddenly blue chains wrapped around her making her unavailable too move. The chains were cold and icy and the ice would give her frost injuries. But when she looked infront of her she would noticed that the once so called void wasn’t just that. She could see through ‘her’ eyes. She could see what lbd was seeing and what she was doing too her home. Her city! And that’s when she saw all the suffering.. she couldn’t bare it and tried screaming and fighting for control but ofc.. it didn’t work. When she saw macaque for the first time she knew what lbd was going too do but she didn’t expect too see the flashback of him and Wukong fighting and everything lbd reminded him off… she felt bad for him and wanted too help more then ever but had given up on hope.. she knew that not even the monkey kid or his friends would save her… no one even realized that she was possessed… during the time where mk meet lbd for the ‘first’ time lbd let bai he be in control for only few seconds too get mk too fall for her plan. Bai he didn’t know it and sat down curled up into the sewer wall and cried and when she saw mk she felt scared.. she thought he was gonna hurt her like everyone else died hate her. But he didn’t- when she tried reaching for his hand she. Lost control again and lbd took over. Too finish her plan. Tricking mk all along while bai he was left with the guilt. All the cracks that lbd got during her control over bai he body would be permanent on bai he after the possession. The only way for her too cover them is with makeup or bandages since she can’t use glamour like macaque and Wukong for example bc she isn’t an immortal and she doesn’t have powers. During the fight between lbd and Wukong she felt betrayed and scared she didn’t expect the monkey king himself too try instant try killing her with a second thought but she couldn’t blame him.. she let lbd use her and this was all her fault. She deserves all the pain inflicted on her she thought to herself.. (more info on my hc soon!!)

[chubbyheadquarters]

fluffy Syntax x reader platonic

Reader pulls spider crew out of the well, after LBD’s defeat

Genre: Platonic

Pronouns: Gender-Neutral

TW/CW: Mention of Death

Character(s): Syntax

His head hurt.

The intense throbbing, the bright light source coming from the doorway-

He froze.

Doorway?

There wasn't supposed to a doorway-

"Rise and shine."

He was supposed to be-

The demon shot up, hissing in pain while backing away and bumping into a wall, trying to engage his tech...

Only to realize it wasn't there.

He was panicking.

The last thing he saw was that blasted Mayor before he was killed! Thrown into that blasted furnace.

And now, he's in some unknown location-

"Syntax! It's okay!"

Finally hearing that familiar voice made him look up, seeing you with a worried expression. He was surprised to see you, since you had suddenly vanished on them before...

"...What?"

He could feel himself calming down from that statement alone.

You were slow with your movements, trying not to make the situation worse. With raised hands to show that you meant no harm, you spoke, "Bone Demon chick is gone."

You moved back, sitting back in your chair and running a hand through your hair.

Silence took over, with Syntax calming himself a bit more before speaking up.

"...What about the others?"

You smiled, standing up and offering him a hand. He took it, groaning in pain with the sudden movement, opting to simply sit up instead. He could look at the new place later.

You noticed that he was trying to stand up, and you quickly moved to help him sit up first.

"Safe. Right now they're resting. It's been a busy day."

Of course, he had questions, and you answered the best you could. Explaining how Mk and his friends defeated Lady Bone Demon, that you found the furnace and managed to pull them out, albeit with a bit of luck. That you and the other spider demons had managed to find a place and set up camp while he stayed unconscious, concluding that him being in the furnace for the longest might have taken a lot of energy from him.

You leaned over, hand over your mouth as you whispered, "Don't tell the others that I said anything, but they were really worried about you."

You tilted your head, "What for?"

Syntax seemed to still at the information, but immediately chuckled afterwards.

Worried, huh?

Didn't sound like them at all...

But he wasn't going to lie that a part of him was...happy about that.

"...Thank you."

"...For not abandoning us."

A laugh passed your lips, "No way would I do that!"

You gently bumped shoulders with him, offering a caring smile, "We're in this together."

Even with the scoff that left him, the soft smile on his face said otherwise.

He liked the sound of that.

[jedineedlove]

Sun Wukong A Bad Mentor??

I wanted to make this post so I could place my opinions on this topic. I know many people have already posted about this a lot before but I just wanted to say this and make my points. It a bit wordy just to be warned.

Many people see Wukong as a bad mentor because of the LBD arch. Where he left MK and went on his "vacation." But we the viewer have seen that wasn't the case. He did not sit back and relax as MK protected the city. Wukong was on a major task of researching Lady Bone Demon, this is something he has done before in the Journey to the West. He finds what he can about his opponent and uses what he finds as a way to predict their movements. He was playing smarter, not stronger. When LBD showed Wukong her predictions she showed him MK being burned and the world destroyed. This made Wukong doubt himself and his power as we see in Season 4 he states the original reason he sought out immortality and more strength was to be able to protect and he lost his way.

This is similar he may have gone about communicating it to MK the wrong way but he did not do this for selfish reasons he did it for the sole purpose of protecting MK. The LBD's powers stem from fear, when that scene of MK burning was shown to WUkong it shows that his fear was losing MK. Remember Mk has not been learning long and these are complex powers that take a long amount of training. Wukong training with Mk would know where Monkie Kid's limit would be. He knew the kid would not be able to handle a Demon of this magnitude.

Yes, he let MK handle DBK alone but he was a small fry compared to LBD. DBK was a villain that was making some smaller plans unlike LBD she was a calculating mind that had A plan that was years in the making. She was one that had more brain than brawn and that's what made her different than the others. Wukong knows this having faced all these guys before. MK having Wukong power means he can out-brawn them but the kid would not know the mental mind games LBD would be playing.

With his student's life pretty much threatened by a powerful demon that was mentally crazy. Wukong distances himself from MK. MK the ball of sunshine that wants to help and wants to keep proving himself Wukong would know that if MK knew about this mission he would want to join. If Wukong refused him then MK might feel like he doesn't trust him. If Wukong just left MK after denying him MK might have tried to follow Wukong and get into trouble. Acting goofy about the whole thing was most likely meant to reassure MK that everything was okay. He did all that while on the inside he was stressing out and panicking about what could be.

Wukong is seen doing that a lot reassuring MK that MK can do anything and that everything is alright. Something a lot of adults try to do for children. Wukong has proven time and time again to be a protective and encouraging mentor. Trying to lift MKs sprites does he do a perfect job no and can you blame him the last human contact he had was hundreds of years ago. But he tries and he has been trying.

The things Wukong has done to be a better mentor like when he went on stage to please MK neglecting his own boundaries for the kid. He watches over MK during some of his fights and steps in when he needs with sage advice.

If Wukong always stepped in then MK would never be able to gain the self-confidence he needed. Mk also would never learn from his mistakes. Wukong made many mistakes in the past and the consequence only showed up years too late. When Wukong faced punishment what he did was set in stone for those around him it was already too late to take anything back. But with MK facing things he fixed his mistakes faster than Wukong got to do in his youth.

Wukongs enemies have seen a lot of Wukong in MK and who's to say Wukong doesn't see that too. With years of reflection and learning from mistakes. He wants to clearly set MK on the right path. He wants to give MK the lessons he wishes others taught him before he made his mistakes. He want to be the master that his were not for him. Understanding, supportive, and encouraging. Instead of degrading and pounding his spirit to the ground with golden fillets and harsh words, but to lead him down the right path with words of advice to listen to. He wanted to give MK the one thing he didn't have someone that understood, the struggle of being a hero, the pedestal that a hero can never seem to step down from, the self-doubt the two of them are a lot alike that gives each of them kinship.

We all seem to forget that the world is not black and white and in the LMK universe, we don't actually have the full story. This Wukong is very different from the Wukong in the books. Things that happened in the book did not happen here, things that happened here did not in the book.

So many condemn Wukong for so much. Saying things like if Wukong had just dealt with the villains in the past then Mk wouldn't be dealing with them now. To you sure but you must remember he traveled with the pacifist Tripitaka. During the journey, he condemn violence including those that would save his life or stop the destruction. TRIPITAKA, THIS IS THE MAN THAT DECIDED TO SEAL LBD INSTEAD OF GETTING RID OF HER BELIEVING THAT SHE COULD BE REDEEMED! And in the book if you do want to go off of it. many of the demons were former apprentices or pets, or animals that belong to or with gods, goddesses, sages, etc. Many of them were spared because of who they were.

We have to watch and listen again look at the expression hear the tone in the voice, read the atmosphere. Please remember to see things through others' eyes before you judge before you condemn. I'm not saying he's a saint I'm saying you can't heal a wound when it is repeatedly stabbed open again and again. By living in the past there is no bright future. For a brighter future for Wukong AND the others, we need to live in the here and now and look to the future.

Thank you for reading.

[quitealotofsodapop]

I just thought of the perfect excuse for Wukogn to come down from the mountain in Soft Boiled au! If Yuebei is a ribbondancer, she had to start young. This means Wukong had to enroll her in classes for it at some point. Imagine if, after winning some competition, Yuebei was actually IN the parade as one of the dancers! This means she, unfortunately, was smack dab in the middle of the chaos, hidden behind a glamour. This could be both how her dancing troupe and otber friends finds out about her being a monkey... and the world at large discovering Sun Wukong had a daughter if she hadn't been known about beforehand.

To make things angst, imagine if she had left her asthma inhaler with Wukong so it wouldn't get lost/damaged in the performance. And unlike Redson, Yuebei didn't escape without being captured. Luckily, SQ isn't willing to actually harm a little girl like that, even if she is Wukong's daughter. In fact she finds the fact Yuebei is such a Daddy's Girl and Wukong is so protective of her extremely amusing and kind of sweet! Unfortunately Yuebei ends up having an asthma attack tho, just form a mix of tbe bad quality air in the mech, the excitement and exercise she had, and jsut waking up feeling kinda bad. And since Wukong has the inhaler and both are currently trapped, they have to rely on their captors to be kind enough to get Yuebei her inhaler from Wukong's pocket. And it isn't SQ who is in the room when it happens.

Macaque was spying on them from the shadows and watching as Wukong damn near begged LBD to let him save his little girl, actually crying tears as the bone witch just laughed in his face, not caring about the girl. She grabbed the inhaler andjsut threw it on the ground in front of him, stepping on it, before walking out. Once he was sure LBD was gone, and Wukong was distracted trying to help his daughter and keep her calm, Macaque made his move. The medicine disappears into a shadow portal and Macaque slides out next to Yuebei, inhaler in hand. It's a very tense moment before Macaque proceeds to help Yuebei use said inhaler, but he won't cut them free.

Not without a VERY overdue conversation with his ex.

Prev.

Oohh that would be so cute <3

Wukong noticed Yuebei's interest in ribbon-dancing a long time ago, and found it a good way to get her to interact with regular kids roughly her age but under supervision. Wukong may be a bit of a helicopter parent, but none of the other guardians or teachers judge him for it when he expains that Yuebei is health-compromised.

Yuebei thinks her dad is super embarassing, sitting on the sidelines with a whole doctor's office in his bag, cheering for her and her group for every bit of progress, bringing fresh fruit for everyone, calling her his little Moonlight - UGH!

But she'd rather have he there and keep going to class than not go at all so...

At New Years, Yuebei's school gets a prestigious role; acting as junior dancers in the parade! They've done competitions and live performances before, but New Years!? :D

Yuebei does not stop fretting about it when she gets home or meets up with the Noodle Gang. She's low-key panicking since it will be her first time in a parade at all. All that anxiety makes her start to wheeze a bit...

So on the evening of New Years; Wukong tells MK to go hang out with his dads and friends for the day - and maybe take a break to watch the parade! MK and Mei are super excited to see Yuebei perform for real, and convince Pigsy to close the food truck for a few minutes when it's time for her school's progression.

Then the spiders attack.

Yuebei is scream-wheezing with anger by now. She's spent days preparing for this parade! How dare these B-Tier villains wreck her and her team's performance!? Nearly aflame with rage, her glamour falls apart, revealing a very familiar-looking monkey demon...

Spider Queen is quick to capture this one, even if the little Monkey Princess is too cute to eat. She's perfect bait for catching her Daddy.

Wukong is captured alongside DBK as in canon, with the addition of Yuebei in the web next to him. Weirdly, the spider mech seems to "glitch out" a bit when it draws energy from her.

As Wukong soothes his crying little girl that it's ok and that they'll make it out of here, he notices how here breathing is Off.

Yuebei's asthma had gotten better as she grew up, but it never went away. And now she was in the midst of a massive attack.

Wukong panics as he struggles to reach for the inhaler in his pocket, gritting his teeth as the contricting webs pull at his strength, still assuring his daughter that everything will be okay.

Then the strange little girl appears... and Wukong pales at the sight of her. He weakly asks for assistance to help his child, only for the Bone Demon to mock him for having "such a weak progeny" and crush the inhaler underfoot. She leaves the room, threatening her future goals.

The other demons in the room now fully realise that Sun Wukong, The Monkey King, is terrified in this moment - terrified for his child's life. Wukong is trying his best not to cry, still trying to keep his daughter calm and breathing, but hope is running thin....

Until a shadow leaks into frame.

Anyone whos broken an inhaler casing will tell you that you can still release the medicine if the cartridge is intact, its just a little awkward.

Macaque fumbles with the cartridge as Wukong instructs him how to use it to help Yuebei, all three monkeys breathing a sigh of relief as the youngest's wheezing calms and breathing steadies.

Macaque is about to ask Wukong a much needed question when DBK manages to break free from his own webbing, terrified for his niece's well-being.

Ripping the webs asunder, DBK brushes the tears from Yuebei's eyes, asking if she's indeed ok before heading out to look for his own child. Wukong thanks his brother sincerely. And thanks Macaque too.

Macaque acts non-chalantly about it, and finally gets to ask;

"Who's kid is this?"

Wukong and Yuebei's faces tells him it's not a question they expected him to ask. Or one they would need an answer for. Macaque mentally panics as he calculates all the similarities between his ex-mate and the little monkey demon he just helped save.

Macaque blinks as the realisation comes to him; "Oh sh-"

And then the gang's airship releases the spider venom antidote throughout the city. More questions for later!

[nekohime19]

Macaque study # S3 SPECIALS

Macaque in season 3 was a whole ride, really. The specials are quite literally the following of season 3 and it ties up quite nicely everything that has been already established beforehand!

So I would like to creates this time frame of Macaque in season 3 before we dive in the specials :

EP 1 : Macaque being established as a villain working for LBD yet we see he's nervous and frantic which is unusual for him.

EP 2 : Macaque as a threat that follows the team (and thus was not defeated the previous episode, it establish him as a recurrent villain this season)

EP 4 : Macaque goals does not align fully with LBD, he's about survival and he's playing a two-faced game by trying to balance the scale between LBD and MK.

EP 8 : Macaque first betrayal of LBD after learning of the samadhi fire but she gets a hold of him and chains him.

EP 9 : Macaque being desperate and his second betrayal of LBD, he goes after the samadhi fire for himself.

EP 10 : Macaque achieving his goals of freedom and fleeing away from this mess + MK proving Macaque wrong about heroes.

-> All in all, I do think season 3 was really tied up nicely concerning Macaque developpement. Like I said in my first study, LMK is a short series with not a lot of time, so every appearance is pivotal. We cannot have multiple episodes of Macaque hating LBD to really dig into our heads that he's not on her side, one or two scenes are enough for that, they have to be enough. You can feel like Macaque development is fast-paced but in reality it's just the kind of show LMK is, every appearance is meant to add layers. Here everything follow a logical order : you cannot have Macaque's first betrayal in EP 8 without establishing that his goals do not align with LBD beforehand (EP 4).

Now let's delve into the specials!

By theory, Macaque shouldn't return. He has everything he wanted this season : freedom. Yet he does return. He saves MK from the possessed Wukong by portalling him away.

This lil action tells us two things :

First, Macaque never left. He presumably stayed close to MK to watch the events unfold and when MK was put in danger he decided to intervene. This shows that Macaque does care about MK enough to stay behind even if he has the choice no to, but at the same time Macaque doesn't feel confident enough to reveal himself until MK is put in danger. And even then he doesn't show himself, perhaps because a possessed Wukong is quite intimidating and LBD is still near.

Second, Macaque portals MK where Mei is training with Red Son. This is not a coincidence. Clearly he meant for MK to be in a safe environment with known faces. And it also shows that it's not just MK that Macaque has been keeping an eye on after his flee but the whole team.

This scene serves us as an audience to indicate that Macaque did not leave but at the same time he's not fully on the team yet, even if he helps he does not reveal himself.

We see Macaque again some time after when the team are all together. It's interesting to see that Macaque chose to appear from Red Son shadow.

At the moment Red Son was the most isolated person of the team, while everyone was at the front of the frame, he was in the background.

Macaque chose to appear in Red Son shadow specifically because :

First, he came as an ally and didn't want to appear threatening. It would have spooked the team way more if he suddenly appeared in front of them. He was also perhaps more nervous than he appeared and wanted to put some distance between him and the team.

Second, it held significance. Red Son is here as a “reformed villain”, or at least he's here to help. Having Macaque emerge out of Red Son's shadow is a way to portray the same intentions : Macaque wanting to help.

Macaque : I hope I'm not interrupting. But if you're making a plan to defeat the Lady Bone Demon, I know a guy who might be able to help.

He makes his intentions clear by calling out the team plan, and offers them what I'll call a “peace offering” to be more easily accepted. We know that the not-mayor will not be of any help to create the plan (as we can see in the next episode) but Macaque, here, was more looking for a “proof of his goodwill” than a truly helpful hostage. By giving the team the henchman of the Lady Bone Demon he's proving how he's not on her side anymore.

The not-mayor reveals himself to be quite useless. And we got this shot of Macaque :

We can see how he's completely cut from everyone. He's cut from the circle, alone to the side of the frame, yet he's also tied up. I think it physically represents Macaque right now. The team is still suspicious of him, they tie him up, but at the same time he's not being interrogated nor being circled by the team. His place is ambiguous, in a weird in-between.

I think it's telling how it's Macaque who provides the inside information that the team tried so hard to pull out of the not-mayor. Macaque, out of anyone here (except the not-mayor), is the one who knows LBD best. He spent a lot of time with her. Moreover we already established that Macaque is a good observer (we can see how throughout season 3 he successfully gets a lot of the team characters simply by observing them), so we can easily assume that as much as he observed the team, Macaque also observed LBD.

And then, perhaps because he showed he was willing to go against LBD, MK includes Macaque in his plan to defeat her. And this is Macaque answer :

Macaque : Look, I brought you the Lady Bone Demon's lapdog but I'm not up for being a hero, kid…

I think it's pretty telling that Macaque is not fully on board with being a “good guy”. He spends so much of his life painting himself as the darkness to oppose Wukong's light, so much time building his act as a villain, even if he wants to oppose LBD, he's still reluctant to join the team and call himself a hero.

Even when MK proved how wrong Macaque's idea of a hero was, it's difficult to change the way you see things overnight. Macaque spent much of his rebirth hating heroes because of what happened with Wukong. He blamed everything on Wukong's status as a hero. So calling himself a hero stings for him.

And MK knows this, perhaps that's why we get this exchange :

MK : Stop you keep playing at being this bad guy, acting as if you're just in it for you. But I know, deep, deep down, you're not that guy. Help us. Make it right.

Macaque : I'm not a hero, bud.

MK : Then be a warrior.

MK just got it. He knows Macaque has been putting on an act since the beginning. He's acting as if he's only caring about himself yet he comes back to save MK even after he has the choice to flee far away from this. MK calls out everything we established about Macaque those previous seasons, how everything Macaque showed was just part of a performance to either enact his vengeance or appear more intimidating in stressful situations.

MK's words “Make it right” are pivotal in Macaque redemption processus. It can be interpreted as MK asking for help but it's also a way to offer Macaque a chance at proving his goodness, at setting the records straight. MK offers Macaque a chance to right his wrongs.

And while MK is doing his lil speech, Macaque is not trying to put on another mask either :

Macaque is genuinely surprised that someone calls out his act, or even picks up on it.

Yet still Macaque looks away and refuses, not because he doesn't want to right his wrongs but because calling himself a hero would be too much for him. It would question everything he is, everything he built those last years, and Macaque is not ready to abandon everything about himself and become a “hero.”

That's why MK's next words are Macaque saving grace. Because that gives Macaque familiarity. He doesn't have to cast away everything he is, or even the entire identity he built, instead he can be something familiar while still trying to right his wrong.

He can be a warrior.

It's important that Macaque doesn't jump on the occasion of being a good guy. It wouldn't have felt genuine otherwise. The fact he has the occasion to right his wrong but still doesn't call himself a hero provides a balanced in-between.

Macaque : What can I say? I'm dramatic.

Yes. Yes you are. Look at how dramatically you put your cape on!

Both Macaque and Red Son preparing themselves in the same shot is not coincidental. It's an emphasis on both their journeys to get here. If you don't see Red Son as a villain, you can't see Macaque as one either, there are differences between the two but at this very moment the show portrays them in the same way : the redeemed villains.

Macaque and MK confrontation with LBD is very important because Macaque is not just helping MK in a roundabout way, he's directly confronting the one who tormented him all season (LBD), the one he preferred to flee rather than fight before the specials.

LBD : MK the Monkie Kid and the Six-eared Macaque, here to embrace oblivion?

Macaque : The opposite actually. I'm kinda on this whole living streak thing right now, so we were hoping maybe you could call off this whole end of the world thing? Would really help us out.

We can see Macaque is still trying to diffuse the situation but this time it's interesting to notice that instead of doing it like he used to (with sarcastic quips and threatening smiles) he adopts an attitude closer to what Wukong would have done. Wukong is always the one to joke around and make light of a situation. Macaque actions and words are closer to what Wukong could have said if he wasn't possessed. Perhaps Macaque is trying another method to handle stressful situation without his villain persona now that he's in the good guy team, or in his way Macaque unconsciously imitates Wukong because Wukong is the only example of a hero he has.

This similarity between Wukong and Macaque in this particular scene is further emphasized by this action :

I don't have the exact episode in which Wukong twirl MK above his head the same way Macaque does in this scene but I know it happens in season 1.

I think the fight between Macaque and Wukong is quite interesting because the sequences is the exact same as their fight in s1 ep9, yet Wukong uses something he never used before : his laser eyes. It does makes me think that LBD is pushing Wukong to be way more violent than what he is and forces him to use power he doesn't naturally wants to (like his laser eyes that are particularly destructive). That could explain why Macaque is so easily defeated and so soon too, because Wukong is pushed beyond his limits and forced to abandon his fighting ethics.

I do love that to defeats LBD everyone in the LMK cast have to steps up and join forces together. But what I really love is the two scenes we got that emphasize Wukong and Macaque in particular. How they acknowledge the other despite everything that happened between them :

First we get their shared look and nod when everyone is coming together to merge their forces and power up MK's mech. This simple look speak volumes of how easily they can understand each other, they're on the same wagelenght even after years of being ennemies, it speak for itself of their bond.

The second is when they're side by side to push the staff on LBD, it's a nice way to hint at their rekindling relationship. They are in this together despite being ennemis since the start of the show.

Even if not everything is good between the two of them, far from it, this wordless acknowledgement that we see in those two scenes, of them fighting side by side, really ties up Macaque redemption quite nicely.

Then, after LBD defeats, we get the after-fight party that nicely ties up the series.

And obviously we get a fight between Wukong and Macaque.

Macaque : You're done with that right?

MK : actually I -

Wukong : Actually he was saving that for me. Cause you know, I'M his mentor *agressive eating*.

Macaque : Still the same Wukong. Doing what he wants with no regard for other.

Wukong : Oh yeah, yeah I'll keep that in mind next time you scheam with the ennemy and almost get us all D.E.D.

MK : You know you two are the same right?

Wukong/Macaque : I'M NOTHING LIKE HIM!

Macaque wanting MK's bowl of noodle because perhaps he doens't feel comfortable enough to ask Pigsy for one and MK is the only one in the team he feels comfortable talking too right now is one of my personal headcanon.

So first, I think that might be the first healthy fight between Macaque and Wukong. Instead of any of their other fights where they hid their true feelings between mask of nonchalance, here they are openly expressing their anger and frustration to the other. We can see Wukong is still salty about Macaque taking his place as MK's mentor, mayhaps he felt like his place was endangered. Macaque answers with a comment on Wukong's selfishness. Wukong, probably hurt by this, reply with a comment on Macaque working with LBD and endangering them all. Unlike before, all their bickering are direct and more in tune with the present. They're not trying to purposefully hurt the other by digging at past insecurities (Macaque fear of not being enough, Wukong unhealthy way of coping), instead they comment on recent events (Wukong stealing MK's noodles, Macaque working for LBD). Which I think is an improvement, no matter how tiny it is. It shows that they're not trying to hurt the other as much as before, they're not going at the other throat, even if they're still frustrated and angry.

Also, MK is so right when he says they're the same, it's even more funnier because they have the exact same expressions on their faces.

Wukong : Hey! Where do you think you're going!?

Macaque : Don’t know, somewhere I could do a bit of scheming probably. See you around MK.

Wukong : Eugh, I hate that guy so much. Acting like he's so cool!

I do like to think Wukong is questioning Macaque about where he's going because he doesn't want to see him go, 😌.

Macaque callback to Wukong comment minutes earlier is a funny lil quip to annoy him before disappearing. Also his soft tone when addressing MK does really shows he cares about the kid in his own way.

Wukong last line is so funny because no one said Macaque was cool, you're betraying your own thoughts here Monkey King.

All in all, I do think Macaque redemption was handled really well. Each episodes showed us a new layer of his character. His evolution, based on his actions alone, was logical. No matter how much you think Macaque hurts the team, you cannot erase the fact he saved MK twice this season, and keep doing so in later seasons. But I think we also have to remind ourselves that Macaque character arc is not finished yet!

Also, the voice over talking about “redemption” and having one of Macaque first genuine smile in the entire series is so heartwarming for me. The fact MK also draw Macaque smiling 🥺🥺

That was my study of Macaque in season 3 specials! Hope you liked it. If you have any more theories or if you simply disagree you can talk about it, I'll be glad to hear about it.

I'll post my study of Macaque in season 4 in another post!!

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[yanderelmk]

Okay uhm hmmm

How about headcannons with MK, Mei, Red Son, Macaque, Wukong, and maybe Syntax

What if the reader kinda just disappeared for like a month. No trace of them left

Then they come back from vacation because they needed a break from the yanderes. Of course they would never know that

(You can ignore if it’s too troublesome-) ✨

A/N: Got so long I had to make a Part 2 sdighidof ---------------------------------------------- MK: - Absolutely inconsolable, constantly trying to message and call you to find out where you are -Extreme anxiety over whether you're safe or not, worrying if one of the demons got to you -Begins to fall into a depressed state thinking he got you hurt and/or killed -Can't sleep because all he can think about is that you might be out there waiting for him to save you but he can't find you. This is literally his nightmare scenario -The SECOND you come back he's clinging hard like a puppy and not letting you go. Constant calls and texts. I imagine especially during/after LBD he has serious separation anxiety so you just dropping off the face of the Earth for so long was massively bad MEI: -She tried to use every tech trick she knows to track down your location, the second she gets a ping she is going AFTER you, if you avoided her for a month it was likely at a place with no cell service -Would've been heavily stalking your social media for any tiny hint about where you were, analyzing whose posts you recently liked to see who might know where you are -Second you enter city limits she is going to ZOOM when you cell phone pings off the nearest cell tower -Clinging. So much clinging. Your arm is hers and she's not releasing -She may or may not bet trying to figure out a way to bug you so she can track where you go RED SON: -Red Son had bull clones sweeping the city and surrounding area the second he realized you were gone -Started going through a whole mourning arc thinking that you must have died, swearing that whatever brought about your end would know no peace so long as he had breath in his body -He's going to be FURIOUS when you come back and reveal that you went traipsing off without telling him - "I THOUGHT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU! Do you know how many enemies my father has accumulated over the years?! I could not sleep or eat, I worried that somehow in some way they knew of your connection to me and were torturing you!" -You're gonna have to do a lot of making up to him, though of course he would never leave you, he'll just demand to know where you are every second of every hour of every day until his anxiety over the matter calms -He's gonna get so fed up with worrying that you're going to run off every time you leave for the store, but he has a solution! -WOE, INTO THE BASEMENT YE GO MACAQUE: -When he notices you're gone after the first few days, he began sending out his shadow clones to find word of you -He begins panicking more and more when he realizes you're not in the city -If necessary he'll have as many clones as he can make scouring the whole country for you -When he does find you and realizes you're safe, that you just left without telling him, he's going to be enraged -Just keeping you tied up in his cave isn't good enough. Oh no no no. -You'll be kept in the Lantern as punishment until he feels like you've learned your lesson, and then you'll be kept in his cave for the rest of your days