#this is...this is ENTIRELY about six ears and stone monkey

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 8 (Part 1/2)

This episode makes me scared for the future. It's so wholesome. This episode was all about what great friends these guys are, how much they care about each other, how important these relationships are to them, and I mean. It did a great job. It did a wonderful job!

They are definitely getting ready to rip them apart. They might let it ride a few episodes more only to spring it on us when we've let our guards down, but it's coming.

But!

Okay, so I already broke and talked a bit about Six Ears and Stone Monkey in this episode, so I won't go too crazy on that (maybe), but I do want to mention Stone Monkey's furiously intent expression while running to save Six Ears's life, and then how the second he was in range to attack that expression flipped to a smile. He also ripped Six Ears out of there and slipped back to a more serious expression when he asked him what he was doing out here all by himself. This entire episode Stone Monkey's kind of flipping between...really intense and then really flippant, which was interesting to watch? But also a bit whiplash-inducing. Jade Rabbit definitely took it as 100% real, and maybe it is - it's not like you can expect any version of Monkey King to not to be a little cocky - but...I dunno. I think there's some nuance there. It reminds me a bit of how he'd go from 0 to 60 when confronted with the four generals in Episode 6 compared to how carefree he might have been acting even just seconds earlier.

That smile is also only moments after he just watched the Demon King send Six Ears flying, and we got a shot of his face immediately after that too, and he wasn't happy about it. Stone Monkey, I think, can smile maliciously, but he still...hm.

I get the impression Stone Monkey doesn't really like showing that something's actually getting to him, especially when his "enemies" can see it. He'll pretend he's more confident than he is, or otherwise that it doesn't actually bother him at all, at least until he can't hide it anymore and it comes out of him snarling (we saw this in action in Episode 6, where he went from avoidance/running away at the beginning of the episode to passive-aggressive antagonism in the middle to having to be held back from squaring up to Marshal Ma at the end). Even when he's genuinely (or "genuinely") annoyed with someone, there's generally a sort of playful air of exaggeration, or he'll teasingly escalate for fun. What it looks like to me is Stone Monkey enjoys confrontation so long as it's basically harmless, but he doesn't like being actually angry. This might have something to do with the fact that when he actually loses his temper, he gets violent. We see this with the Demon King and with Ginseng Fruit.

Which isn't to say all his quick changes in mood are deliberate obfuscation. That's going too far. But I do think it's a part of his character that pokes its head out of the brush every now and then.

We also see a little of how people react to it. Stone Monkey was visibly struggling enough during his fight against the Demon King that Jade Rabbit was moved to help him a few times even though she was still very angry with him, and when she'd knock the Demon King down or trip him up (from hiding, Stone Monkey didn't know (maybe) that she was there) he'd immediately flip over to mocking laughter and confident poses like he hadn't been worried at all. This PISSED her OFF.

It also makes me kind of wonder how Six Ears perceives it. Both Stone Monkey and Six Ears will default to mocking and taunts and making fun when they can during a fight, so it's not like Six Ears isn't familiar with the tactic, but he also doesn't see how stressed Stone Monkey gets when trying to get to him before a rescue, either. He only sees the smiling entrance.

I'm feeling this out because of the part in this episode where Stone Monkey - for probably the first time ever - refuses to let Six Ears fight with him, and even throws him away from danger. (I LOVE that scene.) I have a lot to say about it, actually, and I'll get into what I think was going on from Stone Monkey's perspective there in a second, but from Six Ears's side that cannot feel good. Yeah, Stone Monkey's just trying to protect him, but he's also not trusting Six Ears to help. He's forcing Six Ears to leave his best friend alone in the middle of an enemy war party, because he doesn't trust him to help. That's got to feel like a horrible slap in the face, at least once the battle is over and Six Ears has time to process it.

And I'm sure that's not going to have any consequences whatsoever.

From Stone Monkey's side (didn't I say I wasn't going to talk about them that much? well I lied), going back to their earlier conversation where Stone Monkey asks Six Ears what he's doing out here alone, and then the look on his face when Six Ears explains (plainly and almost casually for the situation, like he doesn't realize he's rocking Stone Monkey's entire world) that he noticed Stone Monkey missing and went looking for him because he was worried that he might be in danger somewhere.

Stone Monkey's shocked.

It isn't that I think he didn't realize Six Ears cared about him before this moment; it's that this is the moment where I think it really clicked. That Six Ears will notice and miss him when he's not there, that he'll worry about him, that Stone Monkey has someone who will come try to find him when he's lost and help him when he's hurt. Six Ears has been doing this for him since they met, even outright scolding him for always vanishing without telling anyone, so Stone Monkey's definitely been a little slow on the uptake here, but I also think this is the first time Stone Monkey's heard Six Ears actually spell it out like this.

The progression of Stone Monkey's face during this conversation.

Six Ears also tells him not to apologize or say anything about always getting Six Ears into trouble, since Stone Monkey's always having to save him anyway. I mentioned before that I thought the sworn brothers thing was really important to Stone Monkey at the time, just because of how rough things had been with the troop and how nice it probably was for him to have someone willing to claim him and to let him claim them in turn, and I think this is something very similar. Confirmation that he's as important to Six Ears as Six Ears is to him. That they'll take care of each other.

Then fast forward a couple minutes and Stone Monkey throws Six Ears to the top of the cliff instead of letting him fall with him. I think this conversation is definitely a huge part of that.

It's not that I think Stone Monkey wouldn't have wanted to save Six Ears even before it, but I do think his emotions are running a little high at that moment. He saw Six Ears get flattened by the Demon King not long ago, they just had a very important conversation for Stone Monkey, and I think in that moment the thought of losing Six Ears when he probably feels he just got him (or had just allowed himself to believe he really had him, not much difference) was probably overwhelmingly horrible. He's already proven himself protective of Six Ears in the past, and I think that feeling is probably dialed up to a million at that moment, and so it's probably not surprising if he panicked and took a chance to shove him up on a high shelf for safekeeping. (Maybe Stone Monkey's mystic universe powers make him capable of recognizing narrative death flags and he said NOT TODAY.) (I kid.) (Or do I?)

There's also a possibility - way more of a stretch, not sure how I feel about this idea one way or another honestly - that he maybe now feels he can trust Six Ears to come back even if he isn't right next to Stone Monkey. That Six Ears won't leave him for dead, but will go get help and bring it as fast as he can, or will return to help on his own.

Or it's just that Stone Monkey 100% would have thrown Six Ears to safety in the past, but this is just coincidentally the first time there's been an opportunity. (Stone Monkey, shrugging: If you don't want to be tossed out of the fight, don't be so tossable.)

This ties into what I was talking about above (way, way above, oops) that Six Ears isn't always privy to the times Stone Monkey isn't confident. Maybe Stone Monkey didn't like even their combined chances and chose to save Six Ears because he genuinely thought they were going to die there when that tree went down, maybe he really did think he had a better chance of holding out longer than Six Ears, maybe he was going full big brain and knew that if he went back and tried to bring the army, there was a good chance the four generals just wouldn't listen to him, and it's just good luck that sending Six Ears lets him get his best friend safely out of the way. Maybe it's a weird mashup of many different reasons.

I don't think he genuinely believed he could single-handedly fight his way out of that canyon. I'm not sure if Six Ears knows that.

I'm not finishing this thought now, but I'm stewing on it.

And anyway, on a lighter note, most of Stone Monkey's intentions are totally moot because Six Ears - the universe's favorite trouble magnet - manages to either run immediately into another division of enemy soldiers (tiger guy probably had a grudge and went looking for him, actually) who bailed out of the canyon for their own reasons and gets tree-ed again for awhile.

There's also the possibility he took it upon himself to guide off some of the army from the canyon so Stone Monkey wasn't overrun while also handling the Demon King!

Anyway, I love these monkeys. This also totally derailed from being about Episode 8 so I'm going to do a part 2 to get things back on track.

[loverofstufflof]

Six Ears design

because I am once again not doing alright!!

Some of you may remember my Wukong design where I just mess around to draw a cute monkey, and I am back on my BS yet again! The voices will not shut up about these stupid monkeys!!

I was hoping to finish the entire roster of primates this weekend, but unfortunately life is not yet done slapping me in the face, so here is the one that’s been rotting my brain the most.

Design notes!

Because of we already have a stone monkey, I am keeping things on brand and making all of the primates elemental! Obviously, Míhóu is wood! (More on this when I finish the other two)

His ears are leaves that correlate with seasons! Is it summer? Past ear will be spring, and future ear will be winter, so on and so forth. Yes, they still function as intended, just able to photosynthesize as well.

Same as Shíhóu, I took references from baby langur monkeys and rhesus macaques. I think it makes sense that they’d be approximately the same species, considering the plot.

I couldn’t think of any clothes for him? I guess it makes sense for Wukong to be the only clothing-wearer, because he’s the only one that contacts society, but it still feels weird drawing him nakey.

Little patches of lichen litter his wood-fur in random places (wherever feels cutest), though most notably on his tail. I’m considering reworking it slightly so they specifically go on fluffy/differently coloured parts of actual monkey fur.

Considering the fact that the only proper description we have for Míhóu is when he looks identical to Wukong (and also his namesake) I’ve decided to just ignore trying to follow canon in that right. Makes things more fun.

And that’s all my notes! Really sad I can’t get to Yuanhou and Mahou quite yet (I have so many ideas for them) but I hope I can get to them soon!

Other than that, I’ve made some small refinements to my Shìhòu design—mainly his staff. It felt a bit too Monkie Kid for me. I’ve always wanted to really lean into the “he’s just hulking around a large pillar” idea, so I did some research on Chinese pillar designs and reworked it to resemble a huabiao! Something I’ll likely show when I put out my Gibbon and Baboon art.

And that’s all I got! Have this concept sketch from months ago while I head out to scream into the aether :3c

[alicedusstuff]

french version here^^

feel like writing a little today, so…a little writing.

Lost soul au (english)

“Give me a minute…” Macaque gently laid his eyes on Wukong’s dull red fur. It had lost its luster after he had finished his journey and returned to the Flower and Fruit Mountain. Macaque had thought that this change in color would wash away; but it never did. The fur retained that sun-like hue that was about to fade. Macaque tore his gaze away from the fur to focus on the entire stone monkey, sitting in the grass. He let the little monkeys groom him without making a single move. Sometimes, a little one would ask for attention, and Wukong would pick it up with a small smile. The little monkeys with dark fur had learned to stay away from the king, because seeing them made the king cry every time. And with the king’s sadness came the melancholy of the people of the Flower and Fruit Mountain. “Still lamenting?” Macaque asks, knowing full well that Wukong wouldn’t hear him. He never heard him. Not since he died. Macaque remains lost in thought at the memory of his own death. He had nothing left but fragments of what was his final argument with the Monkey King. It was common for Macaque and Wukong to fight. It was a habit that had often been tinged with anger and resentment since Wukong had left on his journey with his pilgrim friends. Macaque simply couldn’t stand the distance. And neither of them were really good with words; or with talking about their feelings. So the distance simply filled everyone’s hearts with anger. All Macaque remembered was through the memory of the sounds of the future he had heard when he had met Wukong. His ears had warned him that he would die at Wukong’s hand. And he ignored it. Macaque still remembers his own screams as if his assassination had happened yesterday. He remembers how hard it had become to scream, but that he had forced it on his bruised throat, because he was terrified, and that he thought that if Wukong heard how scared he was, maybe that would end their umpteenth fight. Wukong and Macaque always stopped when they realized; no; when they knew, that their friend was no longer able to hold their little squabble. Except that this was not a normal little fight. Macaque knew that perfectly well. But he hoped. And that is what killed him. Just as it was what had made him stay by the reckless young king's side. Macaque would not lie when he said that he was sorry for what he had done. If he had been given a second chance; he would have done exactly the same thing. He was not sorry for what he had done. He would have acted differently in the end, maybe, he would have tried to end this argument sooner, maybe. But he wouldn’t have changed the choices he had made. Macaque’s six ears unfolded a second time today, and he listened to his own voice bid farewell to Wukong. The king certainly wouldn’t hear him. There was no way that would be the case in this situation. It probably meant that the envoys of the gods of the underworld would come to retrieve Macaque soon.

“It seems that we’ll be parting ways with Wukong soon.” The stone monkey remained unperturbed by this news. Macaque had gotten used to talking into the void. So he didn’t worry about it.

“I don’t know when they’ll come to retrieve me. But I guess it will be soon. From what I hear, it doesn’t seem that far in the future.” Still no response. – Hey… I know it’s been a while since I asked you to find a way to bring me back to life. But I think if you’re going to have an epiphany about bringing back the dead, it’s now.

The Monkey King looked into the distance, his eyes lost in space. He played with the fur of one of the little monkeys for a bit before jumping slightly when the little one slipped through his fingers, to join its parents. Wukong watched the scene of the couple holding their little one tightly. The king looked away. Macaque could hear their hearts start beating faster. He took a look at what Wukong had seen, and felt his own heart break. He wished he could hug Wukong too. When was it since they had hugs? Real hugs. He remembered how he had often pushed the monkey away out of meanness, when the latter occasionally returned to the mountain. Oh; how he regretted that. If he had known that his last hug would be given to him just before his death; he would have put his anger aside, and let Wukong hug him as much as the king wanted.

-You are a real idiot Wukong… The stone monkey seemed to react to his name, and looked around a bit. Macaque ignored the gesture. He no longer had false hopes. There were times like this when he thought Wukong could hear him. But he had long understood that these were just brief, strange moments when Wukong seemed to have a sixth sense about Macaque. “If you stopped complaining for a moment, and thought about it, maybe you could bring me back!” Still no answers from Wukong. The stone monkey stopped looking around. It seemed that he hadn’t found what had brought him out of his vegetative state in the first place. “You’ve always been so obsessed with dying. You’ve tried every way to defeat death. You can… I don’t know, come get me, right?” The lack of an answer made Macaque give up. This time again, Wukong wasn’t going to come out of his strange state. Was it regret? Or mourning? Macaque wasn’t sure. To tell the truth, he would have sworn to himself that Wukong would forget him after a week at the most before moving on to another thrilling adventure, where, no matter what attracted him to the other side of the mountain of flowers and fruits that they both considered their home.

-No matter… Macaque decided to take a seat next to Wukong. He pretended to put his shoulder against Wukong’s. He knew perfectly well that if he really let himself lean against Wukong, he would pass through him. So, he remained stable, and placed his hand against Wukong’s. As expected, his hand passed through Wukong’s. Macaque didn’t worry about it. He did his best to imagine that he was physical. He tried to remember the warmth of Wukong’s skin against his.

Babum…

He tried to remember how good it felt to let himself rest on his friend’s shoulder without thinking about anything.

Babum…

He buried his head against his scarf. The only memory he had left of Wukong in his death. The only thing that still kept the impression that a part of Wukong was with him. Macaque let his ears whistle as he heard his own heart beating a thousand miles an hour. It hurt so much. He wanted to cry. He didn’t want to pretend to be against Wukong. He wanted him. He wanted him so greedily. He wanted to feel his warmth, to put his ear against his chest, and to hear his friend’s heart start beating wildly at the unfamiliar contact that Macaque would initiate. He wanted Wukong to hold him tight against him with all his strength; and he wanted to sleep next to him knowing that Wukong would crush him again in his sleep, because Wukong always ended up moving too much in his sleep.

-Fuck, Wukong…

-Sorry Macaque… And this time again, Macaque ignored him. Because he knew that these apologies weren’t really for him. After all. Wukong didn't know he was there. The stone monkey was just talking to himself to try and calm his conscience for the mistake he had made.

¤¤¤

"You're a real idiot Wukong." The stone monkey jumps and comes out of his thoughts to look around. He had heard Macaque's voice. He looks around for a moment before realizing that it was just a voice in his head. It had happened a lot lately. When he was so lost in his thoughts that he felt like he didn't exist anymore; there was Macaque's voice that would pull him out of the void to scold him or tell him what to do. It was a painful torture that Wukong had not yet fully assimilated. Little by little Wukong calms down, and returns to his thoughts. He replayed the scene of Macaque's death in his head over and over again. He didn't want to forget it. He didn’t want to forget anything about Macaque. It was still horribly fresh in his mind. His heart racing with anger, the pain of the crown against his skull, which seemed to fan the flames of his rage, and then, his loss of control. Macaque and he fought, as they had so often recently. And Wukong couldn’t explain why he had reacted so violently. It was stupid. Completely insane. Maybe it was because of Macaque’s scathing words; or maybe he had simply gotten fed up with their constant bickering, and it had made him lose his temper. But such was the fact that it had led him to snap out of his state, completely out of breath, his anger slowly disappearing; and Macaque’s body in front of him. Wukong remembers too painfully not having panicked immediately. He watched Macaque’s eye drain of life for several long seconds before he understood what was happening and prayed that Macaque wouldn’t leave. Wukong cursed. He had lost so many precious seconds. If only he had acted faster. He could have taken Macaque to his master sooner, and the latter would have certainly been able to save him. If he had… if he…

It suddenly became colder on his left. It was certainly an impression. It had been in the sun for a long time, motionless. Maybe it was playing a part? He didn’t know. He just knew that suddenly, he felt better. He felt something familiar. He thought of Macaque again. If he were here. He would probably be telling him a story; or something he didn’t fully understand. Maybe he would be joking at him? Wukong remained thoughtful. He imagined something simpler. Something he would like. He would like Macaque to still be by his side. Him and the shadow monkey sitting on the grass, in the sun. It would be nice.

Really nice.

Wukong’s heart ached at the thought. But no matter. It was better than when he was empty. He preferred knowing that he still felt something at the thought of Macaque rather than remaining painfully empty as he had so often been lately. If only he hadn’t been so stupid… If only he had been less impulsive. He… -Sorry Macaque. Wukong muttered, hoping Macaque would forgive him. But that was impossible. Macaque certainly held a grudge against him. Wukong wouldn’t even hold a grudge against him. Why would he forgive the friend who killed him? Could he even be considered a friend anymore? Friends don’t kill each other, do they? He was definitely the worst friend in the world. We’ll live happily ever after, my ass! Wukong hadn’t been able to keep the one promise he truly wanted to make with him. The stone monkey clenched his fist on the grass beneath his fingers. If he had made Macaque immortal and officially made him the king of the mountain by his side, Macaque might not have been so angry. The shadow monkey was someone who truly cared about the mountain. No doubt if Wukong had made him king, he would have cared about their people like no one else. Maybe then he would have been too busy to think about that pathetic friend Wukong was, and they would have escaped this pitiful scenario. There are so many assumptions; and so few answers. Wukong closed his eyes with a sigh. He missed Macaque so much.

<previous page _ first page

Chapitre 1 _ chapitre 2 _

[nekohime19]

Bimawen # 6 : You're likable

An ordinary day in an immortal monkey life includes : teasing his assistant, taking care of horses and stealing peaches

Wukong was perched on his assistant's head. He liked to be there. It was comfy, close to ears he could nip at, and it made the perfect vanguard spot. The moon was high and bright. Its kind rays falling upon them like a silver rain. Wukong looked down at the black-furred monkey. Mengai was cleaning his hanfu. He worked diligently to remove the wine spot straining the front of the luxurious dress. He searched the river earlier for flat stones. Wukong wasn't familiar with laundry work so it was quite fascinating to see his assistant's nimble movements. The Six-eared monkey was scrubbing the tissue with the stones. Removing dirt and grime hidden in nooks and crannies. Once he was satisfied with his work he poured ashes on the hanfu. He smeared them on the tissue and scrubbed hard. Wukong wondered where his assistant even found ashes. He had them in a little pot before he left the mansion. He watched the gray expand on the hanfu, recovering the red spot entirely. Once the hanfu was scrubbed hard, Mengai dropped it in the river once more, rinsing it until it was perfectly clean. Wukong hopped on the monkey's shoulder to get closer. He watched the red spot disappear. It was almost like magic in a way. The bimawen didn't know laundry could be so fascinating to see.

In a way, Wukong didn't know a lot about housework. When he lived on his mountain he lived with the whims of nature. He woke up at the same time as the sun. Slept at the same time as the moon. He didn't have any clothes, nor any tissues covering his body. Only fur. Cleaned by little hands eager to groom. Even if he had a mansion behind his waterfall, he didn't spend much time in it. Only when winter was too harsh would he leave the lush forests to take refuge behind the waterfall. Wukong never had to clean his clothes or his houses. And even when he began to imitate the ways of man, covering his body with tissues and sleeping in bed instead of branches, he left the housework to servants and clones.

Maybe he should learn more about them? In any case, Mengai made housework look particularly easy. Now that he thought about it, Mengai was way more talented at ordinary tasks than him. He was good at cooking. Good at cleaning. Good at fishing. Even good at folding clothes! How cool was that? Wukong couldn't fold his clothes for the life of him. He just threw them in his cabinet depths without a care in the world. His clones weren't better in this aspect. Perhaps he should ask Mengai to teach him? But the mere idea of asking his assistant for help was somewhat distasteful. No. He couldn't do that. He was the boss. The one supposed to show the way. What image would he give if he dared to ask for help? Good bosses were respected. Wukong couldn't let Mengai lose all respect for him by admitting he couldn't fold his own clothes. The black-furred monkey was already mocking him for his nonexistent fishing skills.

Once the hanfu was rinsed, Mengai delicately put it on a nearby tree's lowest branch, close enough to the fire to dry but far enough to not be burned by the sparks. Wukong returned to his designated spot, Mengai's head, and settled there like it was his personal throne. However, as the songbird was beginning to feel the ever-coming drowsiness of a full-stomach (Mengai had cooked before cleaning his hanfu) he was disturbed by his assistant shuffling. The black-furred monkey was undressing. Wukong huffed, annoyed by all the moving. Couldn't his assistant stay still? Didn't he see how tired Wukong was? How preposterous. The bimawen hopped on the edge of Mengai's round head and nipped at the highest ear. The fleeting appendages shuddered under his beck, like a butterfly trying to escape the web of a spider. Wukong felt satisfied, it was fun to mess with those soft ears.

“Ouch, come on birdie, I’m just undressing!” Whined Mengai, he tried to shoo the bird away with a flick of hand but Wukong was a stubborn creature. The bimawen nipped at the insolent fingers trying to dislocate him and smiled at his assistant's hiss. That would teach him. Nobody dislocated this mighty monkey, or perhaps songbird would be more accurate in this case? Mengai sighed, the tell-tale signs of his defeat, and resumed his undressing while ignoring Wukong's nipping.

Once he was as naked as a newborn, his old linen robe discarded on the shore, Mengai entered the river. Wukong didn't understand why the black-furred monkey was bathing in the river ice-cold water when they had perfectly heated baths at home. His assistant was a bit of an oddball at times. What a Mengmeng. Nonetheless, Wukong stayed on his throne, unwilling to depart from his vanguard spot. Mengai's head was his to sit as he pleased.

The water was circling Mengai's hips like the arms of a lover. The black-furred monkey began to scrub his body, harshly removing the dirt sticking to his fur. Wukong frowned in disgust. This wasn't how a monkey ought to groom himself! He was going to irritate his scalp if he kept scrubbing so hard. The bimawen was tempted to reveal himself just to stop this scrubbing madness. But then, would he be able to taste Mengai's grilled fish again if he discarded his disguise? He could order the black-furred monkey to do some but somehow the thought wasn't appealing. Freely given fish tasted better than ordered ones. Besides, with how petty the other monkey was, he could very well spit in the fish to spite him.

Wukong decided to teach his assistant proper grooming another day. For now, he didn’t want to reveal himself. Once Mengai stopped scrubbing himself, he poked his bandages. Slowly, he unraveled the snow-white ribbons, putting them on the shore. Wukong hopped on his assistant's shoulder to have a closer view of the wounds. Was he worried? Yes. He was. Would he ever admit it? Not for a million lives. Mengai's wounds seemed better. The once glaring red bite-marks were covered by a darker scab, almost like a veil hiding the tender flesh. Some areas were still exposed, littered with bruises, but it was beginning to fade. Mengai poked at the scab a bit, before scratching it. Wukong chittered in indignation, what was this guy doing!? You shouldn't scratch your scabs! The songbird glared at the black-furred monkey and nipped at his ears.

“Ouch!” Whined Mengai, he stopped his foolish scratching and turned towards the songbird perched on his shoulder. When his finger poked the wound again Wukong nipped once more with an angry chitter. “Okay, okay, I get it.” Groaned the black-furred monkey.

Wukong huffed, satisfied, truly he couldn't leave this Mengmeng alone even if he wanted to. The guy was too uncaring of himself! Luckily he had this mighty bimawen to watch over him. If the fool didn't want to care about himself, well, Wukong just had to care enough for the both of them.

Mengai stayed in the water until the pad of his fingers were as wrinkled as old plums. Then, he left the river and settled near the fire, letting the flames’ reflections dance in his night-black fur. It suddenly occurred to Wukong that, perhaps, he should have given his assistant some privacy while he was bathing. The bimawen knew humans were prickly when it came to nudity. They valued their privacy, not showing their naked bodies to anyone but a handful of trusting few. Wukong didn't fully understand this concept. Back in his days at the mountain, he ran around as naked as the moon, not caring if his body was for anyone to see. When he adopted the ways of man, he had a hard time understanding why people seemed almost ashamed of their nakedness. It was strange.

The songbird looked down at his assistant's body. He was lean, perhaps leaner than he ought to be. His limbs were overly long and thin, like the paws of a spider, and he had fuzzy fur, reminiscent of a young panda's coat. His build was more or less similar to Wukong's even if perhaps on a thinner side. The bimawen kept watching until his gaze fell on his assistant’s manhood. He knew humans were quite embarrassed by this part of their body, for one reason and another, but Wukong didn't feel anything about it in particular. It was a mundane body part, as normal as arms or legs. Still, the bimawen knew Mengai wasn't familiar with the ways of monkeys and so, perhaps, wasn't as comfortable as him with nudity. So, out of respect, Wukong turned away.

They stayed outside until the fire dried both Mengai and the hanfu. The black-furred monkey then put on his linen robe and put out the campfire. He returned to the mansion with the neatly folded hanfu in his arms. Wukong took flight and followed him until he disappeared behind the walls of his room. The bimawen hesitated a little, wondering if he should perch on the windowsill to make sure the fool was not messing with his wounds, or doing something equally stupid, but he decided against it.

As the saying goes, the weary bird knows to return.

***

Wukong woke up in the late morning. He filled his stomach with rosy peaches freshly picked from his orchard and rejoined Mengai at the front door. Like always, his assistant was waiting for him. Wukong got used to the sight. It was odd in a way. Would he feel disoriented if one day came when Mengai wouldn't wait for him in the doorway? Wukong usually wasn't the type to take notice of such little things, but he had to admit that his assistant presence was becoming something familiar, something he expected, something that dug itself in his everyday life. Wukong lingered on the thought for a few seconds before brushing it away. He had other things to worry about, like his horses.

The bimawen nodded at his assistant, at which Mengai replied with a nod of his own, and they both headed towards the stables in silence.

“You can begin with…” Wukong cut himself when he saw Mengai pick up the shovel and enter one stall. The bimawen blinked for a few seconds before following his assistant, he leaned over the stall and watched as Mengai dutifully cleaned it.

“You want me to do something?” Asked the black-furred monkey once he noticed Wukong's insistent stare.

“No, I'm just marveling about the wonders of adaptability.” Hummed Wukong, truly monkeys were creatures of great flexibility. With how he was handling the shovel, one could think Mengai had been doing it his whole life. Seemingly the out-of-water fish that arrived weeks ago was now swimming in his element. Some could even say it leaped over the Dragon Gate. As he thought of that, he saw Mengai flinch the moment the dragon-horse perked up, the black-furred monkey was clutching his shovel as if it was a mighty weapon capable of defeating any foes. Alright, maybe the fish wasn't totally over the Dragon Gate yet. Wukong put a hand on his chin and pondered on how to help his assistant overcome his fear of dragon-horses. Perhaps he should take him on the horses’ outing? He did give one lesson about riding, and even if it ended in mud, Mengai must have understood the basics, right? Yes, that seemed like a good idea.

“Actually, come with me after I'm done verifying the food.” Ordered the bimawen, Mengai squinted, perhaps suspicious of his intentions, but didn't question his orders and returned to his shoveling.

Once Wukong was done checking the food he waved Mengai over with a flick of wrist. The black-furred monkey put down his shovel and came his way. “I'm taking you on an outing with the horses.” Proudly declared Wukong as he ordered the clones to open the stalls. Mengai stilled for a second, becoming as rigid as ice, before replying :

“W-what? No, no, no, I don't know how to ride.”

“I gave you a lesson didn't I?” Retorted the bimawen with hands on his hips. His assistant looked like he gulped down an entire lemon. It was admittedly quite funny. Nonetheless, Wukong took pity on him. “Well, you can ride with me.” Sighed the russet-furred monkey with a shake of his head. Somehow, Mengai didn't look reassured by this oh so generous offer. Some would say he looked even more panicked.

Wukong turned around and walked towards Peach. She patted the floor in glee when she caught sight of him and leaned over, pressing her snout in his hands. The russet-furred monkey patted her scaled face and hopped on her back with a single jump, he steered her towards his assistant by shifting his weight forward. Peach was used to his silent commands. Any thrills on his skin was something she understood. Mengai looked up with flattened ears and widened eyes, tell-signs of his nervosity. Wukong straightened, trying to appear confident and somehow reassure his assistant, and offered his hand. Mengai glanced at his hands as if it was made of burning charcoal, but he eventually took it. Wukong hoasted his assistant at the back, he needed to be in front to lead Peach.

“Squeeze her with your legs and hold tight, alright?” Warned the bimawen, he felt his assistant tentatively grab hold of his red robe. The hold was so weak it could shatter with one gust of wind. “Don't you have any strength in those hands of yours? Why is your hold as weak as a baby's?” Huffed Wukong. Instantly, Mengai's hold became stronger, almost too tight for comfort. The russet-furred monkey smirked. He was beginning to understand how the other worked. One little push, one little mockery, and he would double down because of his pride. Wukong could relate in some ways. He hated when one dared to look down on him too. He wasn't as petty as Mengai though.

Wukong steered Peach forward, all the other horses followed her lead, stepping in her path. Peach hoasted herself on the mist with one decisive push. Wukong felt his assistant hold becoming tighter, fingers as taut as pulled bow strings. Peach pawed at the mist once she was settled and began to gallop. Wukong grinned. He felt her muscles burn under him. Each step reverberating to his very core. Behind them, the sounds of claws hitting mist became one single melody, one single wave taking all in its wake. The sun glided upon them. Rain of gold flowing in their mane. They were running in a tunnel of wind. It felt like the world was caving under their steps.

Wukong took a look at his assistant to see how he was fairing. Mengai was pressed against his back, eyes firmly shut, his long-tail tied all over his body in a pitiful attempt at shielding. The bimawen frowned, not liking the sight. “Open your eyes, I assure you it's worth it.” Tried to encourage Wukong, hoping it would be enough to galvanize his assistant.

“Living is also worth it.” Stubbornly replied the black-furred monkey as he buried himself in his boss's back. Wukong sighed. He could very well order Mengai to open his eyes but it wouldn't solve the problem in itself. After all, to conquer fear one must confront it alone. As much as he wanted to help, Wukong couldn't do anything if Mengai wasn't willing to try. But he could still try to push the other in the right direction. Wukong decided to use the one thing that always pushed Mengai forward : taunts.

“It's a shame really, I always thought you could stomach it, guess I was wrong.” Sang the bimawen, he made sure that his assistant could see the smirk blooming on his lips. Mengai immediately perked up, he glared at the russet-furred monkey with fire in his eyes.

The black-furred monkey straightened, trying to appear confident, even if the tremors shaking his fingers betrayed his true feelings. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. At first his gaze was tentative, not daring to linger in the powerful force driving the herd. But the more he looked, the more he seemed to be taken by the sight.

“I love the feeling.” Mumbled Wukong as he leaned forward, almost as if trying to merge with Peach. Her scales brushed against his chest. They were warm. Almost made of fire. Mengai's ears flickered, a sign he was listening. “The feeling of being one unstoppable force. It's addictive. Listen to the concert of paws. To all the breaths becoming one. It's almost like we're melting into one giant beast.” He felt the other monkey shiver. Wukong couldn't fault him. The feeling of merging could be as daunting as it was exciting.

“I guess it's not… that bad.” Whispered his assistant, the words immediately taken by the wind, shattered by the brute force of the air hitting them. Wukong hummed. He guessed that was a victory in itself, to make someone as stubborn as Mengai recognize that what he thought was terrible was in truth not so much.

They kept running for a few more hours. Sometimes stopping in sun-bathed parts of the sky to bask in the light. They came back to the stables once they tired themselves enough. Wukong hopped off Peach and helped his assistant get off by tugging him down. The black-furred monkey stumbled forwards, luckily he caught himself before he could kiss the grass and glared at Wukong with poorly concealed anger. The bimawen snickered.

“You see, you liked it.” Preened Wukong.

“Like is a big word.” Huffed Mengai with crossed arms. Not willing to admit he enjoyed the ride more than he thought he would. “Besides, it was very dangerous. We could have fallen off the horse or worse.”

Wukong rolled his eyes. “Don't be so dramatic,you ate the peaches at the Peach Festival so you risk nothing.” Reasonned Wukong with a huff. Even if the fall could have been hurtful, they wouldn't have died off it.

“I, huh, actually I didn't eat any peaches at the festival.” Wukong stopped his train of thought, he whirled around and gazed at his assistant with despair.

“What do you mean you didn't eat any!? It was the whole point of the festival!” Groaned Wukong. He couldn't believe his assistant would miss such a golden occasion to taste the most perfect fruit to ever exist.

“Well, I was more focused on the wine. And then the whole thing with Erlang Shen happened..” Pitifully tried to explain Mengai. Wukong fave palmed. What a Mengmeng! How could he miss the most delicious banquet on earth? Yes, immortal wine was a fine delicacy, but it was nothing against immortal peaches!

“This won't do.” Huffed Wukong with determination.

“What?”

“No assistant of mine can go on without having a taste of immortal peaches.” What sort of boss would he be if he didn't provide his own assistant with a piece of perfection?

“But we don't have immortal peaches? All the peaches in your orchard are normal ones.” Argued Mengai. He wasn't wrong. He didn't have any immortal peaches on hand… So that left them with only one option.

“Yeah… Let's steal some from the Immortal Orchard!”

***

Wukong would have thought that, with his overly cautious nature, Mengai would be against the idea of stealing the immortal peaches. But against all odds, the black-furred monkey seemed very excited at the thought. Both monkeys traveled until they were above the Orchad, then they landed near the entry, hidden behind a red tiled bridge.

“So why aren't we just barging in?” Asked Wukong with a raised eyebrow. Usually, when he wanted to steal something, he didn't bother with details, he just took what he wanted and ran without caring if anyone saw him.

“We need a plan.” Answered Mengai as if it was obvious.

“Barging in is easier.” Huffed the bimawen. Mengai looked at him as if he was the biggest idiot on earth. Wukong didn't like this look.

“The whole point of being a thief is to not be found out.” Pointed out the black-furred monkey. “Who are the ones in charge of the Orchad?”

Wukong thought about the question. He was friends with most of the constellations and spirits here, so he knew quite a lot about what type of person they were and where they were working. “The Immortal Maidens take care of the trees. Some earth spirits too but they won't stop us.”

“Who is the Immortal Maidens’ boss?” Asked Mengai, his six ears perked up, the russet-furred monkey wondered if he could hear what was happening in the Orchad. It was quite fascinating to see in a way. The soft appendages fluttered delicately, like the wings of a butterfly. He had the sudden urge to nip at them.

“The Lady Queen Mother.” Replied Wukong while he repressed his urge to nip at the soft ears. He couldn't do that in this form.

“The one who organized the Peach Festival?” Asked the black-furred monkey, Wukong nodded. Mengai cleared his throat and wetted his lips. He then opened his mouth and spoke with a perfect imitation of the Lady Queen Mother's voice : “Ladies, I need your help. Can you come outside of the Orchard?”

Wukong was dumbfounded. It wasn't difficult to change one voice with magic but Mengai was doing it naturally. He even managed to replicate the Lady Queen Mother accent! The russet-furred monkey definitely had to ask about this ability later on. The Immortal Maidens rushed out of the Orchard, their gowns flying like the wings of exotic birds. They had thin legs and long necks, reminiscent of cranes, and when they walked, one could almost believe they were floating.

Mengai crouched down and quietly approached them. He stuck to the shadows, slithering in the darkness. Wukong watched him with excitement, eager to see what his assistant would do. The black-furred monkey was incredibly silent, he moved with the stealth of an owl. He crawled in the maiden back and let out a long breath imbued in magic. One by one, the maiden fell unconscious. Wukong realized his assistant used the sleeping spell. He didn't know Mengai had knowledge in spellcraft! Decidedly, he learned a lot about his assistant today.

Wukong hopped off his hideout and clapped, his assistant thieving skills were genuinely impressive. Mengai scowled and waved his clapping away with a flick of wrist “Don't mock me.” Grumbled the black-furred monkey.

“I'm not mocking you, Mengmeng. It was very impressive.” Huffed Wukong as he approached his assistant, he was careful to not wake up the sleeping maiden. Mengai observed him for a few seconds, perhaps trying to see if he could spot any traces of lies. When he realized the other was being honest, he scratched his neck in embarrassment and muttered :

“Thanks.” Wukong smiled. Proud to get a “thanks” out of such a stubborn mouth. “Don't be cocky.” Mumbled the black-furred monkey as he entered the Orchard, Wukong eagerly followed after him.

The Immortal Orchard trees were even more towering than his own. Each trunk was marked by age. Long sinuous bark which lived for thousands of years. As sturdy as pillars, as tall as palaces. Each one filled with the radiant fresh blossoms of an everlasting spring. Pink danced in the wind with the musk of peaches. The sun bathed the place in light, as if it blessed the soil itself. Wukong hurried to climb one tree, he settled on the lowest branch and looked up at the peaches with drool pooling in his mouth. Mengai followed his example. He had more trouble with the climbing but he still managed to join Wukong. The bimawen was almost proud that his lesson on climbing bore fruit.

“Behold perfection.” Huffed Wukong as he gestured towards the peaches. Mengai raised an eyebrow but made no comments. The russet-furred monkey picked two peaches soaked in sunlight, they were glowing like faces reddened by wine. He handed one to his assistant and kept the other for himself.

Mengai inspected the peach, weighing it in his hand with a clouded look. “Why do you look so troubled? Eat it!” Encouraged Wukong.

“... What does it feel like to be immortal?” Asked the black-furred monkey instead.

“You're kind of already immortal since you drank the wine.” Argued Wukong, his assistant flinched at the revelation, perhaps he didn't think of that.

“I guess that's true.” Sighed Mengai. Wukong didn't like the look clouding his face. He looked down at his own peach and wondered what he should say. Immortality was a broad subject. And perhaps what Mengai wanted to hear wasn't what Wukong experienced. The bimawen caressed his peach with the pad of his thumb, his finger grazed the rosy duvet of the fruit.

“Immortality is a long life, that's true. So I say let's enjoy it.” Concluded Wukong as he took a bite of the peach. Mengai looked at him for a few seconds before letting out an airy chuckle, he took a bite of his own peach.

As always, immortal peaches were the most delicious fruit to ever exist. Juice flooded his mouth. It felt like fresh naturally sugared water taken out of the purest river. The sweetness of the peach lingered in his mouth even after he swallowed the bite. Like a ghost dancing on his tongue. Never leaving. Never forgetting. Mengai seemed to enjoy his peach with the same fervor.

Wukong snickered when he saw juice flowing in his assistant's mane. The other was so taken by the heavenly taste he forgot his manners, letting juice fall all over him. “You need some grooming.” Pointed out the bimawen. Mengai regained his spirit and looked down at himself with disgust. “I can do it for you.” Chirped the russet-furred monkey, it was the perfect occasion to teach grooming to his assistant. Truly he was a genius. Wukong didn't let Mengai answer, he scouted closer and tugged at the other linen robe, intending to remove it.

Mengai shuffled away and crossed his arms on his chest, almost as if guarding it. “What are you doing, you pervert.” He accused.

“I can't groom you if you're all clothed. Besides, I already saw you naked.” Huffed Wukong.

“What? When!?” The bimawen was about to answer but stopped himself once he realized he shouldn't speak about his time as a songbird. He raked his brain for an excuse and luckily found one rather quickly.

“When I took you to the bath after you fell on your first riding lesson.” Mengai relaxed a little once the memory hit him.

“Still, I don't want to be naked in front of you.”

“Would it make you feel better if I was naked too?” Proposed Wukong, hoping his proposition would even the shame, if it was even possible.

“No? Why would you even think it would?” Groaned the black-furred monkey. Wukong sighed. He had to find something to make the other agree… Perhaps he should use taunts? It worked well enough the last time.

“I understand… My naked body is a sight to behold, it's too much for your puny eyes.” Dramatically sighed Wukong as he leaned over the bark, looking like he was bearing some sort of ill-fated curse. Mengai scoffed.

“Of course not.” Gritted the black-furred monkey. The bimawen hid his smile in the palm of his hand and kept acting.

“Soo it wouldn't bother you if I was naked?”

“No…”

Wukong beamed , he shimmied out of his robe, proudly exposing himself. “You see? Nothing to be ashamed of. We're just monkeys.” Mengai looked very flustered. His face was reddening like an erupting volcano. But then, after a few minutes of observation, he gradually calmed down, regaining his poise. Somehow, it wasn't as embarrassing as Mengai had thought it would be. It almost felt mundane in a way. Perhaps because Wukong himself wasn't feeling any shame, it was almost difficult to be embarrassed by his nakedness.

“... I'm keeping my pants.” Groaned the black-furred monkey as he removed the top of his robe and folded it neatly beside him. Wukong chirped in delight. He scouted closer and touched the other monkey's arms. Mengai flinched as if he was being burned. It wasn't the first time Wukong noticed this odd reaction coming from his assistant. For all it was worth, the bimawen decided to be gentle.

He slowly ran his claws in the other fur and began to groom him. Smoothing out strands and removing grime and peach juice. “Grooming has to be meticulous.” Hummed Wukong, he purposefully took strands on the other’s chest to show him what he was doing. “First you have to inspect. See if there is any dirt, parasites or debris. Then you remove them.” He was very careful with the other's scalp. Not wanting to worsen his wounds. Mengai's gaze was intently following his gestures, perhaps finding familiarity in something so imbued in any monkey’s nature. The bimawen purposefully scouted closer, pressing his shoulder against Mengai's, offering a clear view of his nape and side.

He felt Mengai's gaze zero on those areas, and soon, clumsy little fingers tentatively touched his fur. Wukong stood still, letting the other monkey find his own rhythm. It was instinct for monkeys to groom back when they were being groomed. Beyond cleaning purposes, grooming served a primordial social function, it was a way to strengthen the bonds within a troop. As such, it was natural to reciprocate grooming.

“I'm bad at it.” Groaned Mengai with a frustrated tone.

“You'll get the hang of it the more you do it.” Hummed Wukong as he removed the dirt hidden in every nook and crannies of his assistant.

“I don't know… I don't have a lot of talents. Maybe I'm just naturally bad.” Humorlessly chuckled the macaque.

“That's not true.” The bimawen felt the black-furred monkey fingers stutter. “You can cook, clean and fish. You can even change your voice without magic. That's a lot of skills.”

“... Everyone can do that.” Mumbled Mengai with a frown.

“I can't.” Blurted Wukong in a bout of frustration. Even if he didn't want to admit his own weakness, it was somehow frustrating to see Mengai downplay his own skills. Perhaps, to other people, his assistant's skills were nothing but mundane, but to him, they were fascinating to behold. Each person had their own strength. And it was somewhat saddening to realize Mengai didn't see his. Wukong bit his lips, wondering if he should keep his feelings to himself. He didn't like the helplessness that came with exposing his own heart. Yet in the face of such stubborn self-dislike, he decided that letting out a sliver of his thoughts would do more good than harm. “I know you don't like yourself. But for all it's worth coming from me, I think you're pretty likable.”

Mengai stilled, his entire body stopping in time. Wukong wondered if he said something wrong. Perhaps he should change the subject? Comfort was never his forte. Truly he shouldn't meddle with another's mental health. As he thought this, Mengai's head dropped on his shoulder. Wukong flinched, surprised by the action. He was about to grumble, annoyed that his assistant didn't warn him before letting his head fall, but he stopped himself.

Something wet was rolling on his shoulder. Wukong stiffened and slowly turned towards the black-furred monkey. There was no mistaking. Mengai was crying, trying to hide the proof of his feelings in the bimawen's fur, almost as if he wanted to smother them.

“Not a word.” Croacked his assistant with a shaking voice.

Wukong stood still, awkwardly letting the other cry on his shoulder. After a few minutes of inner debate, he stiffly patted the other on the back, hoping it would somehow ease what was seizing him so violently.

Ch1 / Previous / Next

[respawnjupiter]

╰┈➤Starfruits✮Trio꩜

Sun Wukong, Saimiri, and Macaque are NOT a ship. It is a platonic trio because I ship Saimiri with Sandy.

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More info about Saimiri below the cut

Background I got from the LEGO Monkie Kid's Background wiki.

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🌷 Saimiri (Sanwei Songshu Hou) is my LEGO Monkie Kid oc. She is a stone monkey/celestial primate just like Sun Wukong and Six Eared Macaque, except she has 3 tails and has been alive since the Ice Age. She's had 2 significant events in her life that have altered her entirely, this is a reference to the 2 arrows Buddhist saying. She experienced her first arrow (physical pain) when the world was changing from the Ice Age and she lost her entire tribe while the world broke apart. The second arrow (what your mind does) is when she goes on a journey with Princess Qing Yun and Aditi to learn what the meaning of living is.

🌷 She is encased in an iceberg by mystical ice for a very log time until Mei accidentally frees her using the Samadhi Fire. She then meets MK and becomes his 3rd mentor to teach him about the importance of empathy, emotional intelligence, and control over his emotions. She prefers to hang around Sandy more than anyone else in the friend group because she doesn't like much attention and she feels inferior to Monkey King and Macaque since she hasn't done as amazing things as they have. Sandy is also her best friend since they both understand how important mental health is. 

🌷 Her main weapon is a longbow and she summons two arrows by using the stars, she shoots both arrows at once but will also use a double-edged sword for close combat. Her three tails are a reference to the Buddhist saying "Three things cannot be hidden. The Sun, The Moon, and The Truth", this is to say that she is meant to symbolize the truth because she's the third piece to the story between Sun Wukong and Macaque. She knows the truth and she has seen all sides to the story, the truth cannot be hidden and she knows it's inevitable until everyone knows her truth.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if stone monkeys actually can give birth or lay stone eggs naturally? Like... if they have a partner it'll be a regular old birth the same as how MK and the twins came into the world... but say a stone monkey didn't have a partner. Stone Monkey are a rare and critically endangered species afterall (even if they don't have the protections of an endangered species).

So what if, as a biological advantage, a stone monkey actually can lay a stone egg and give birth to a little baby stone monkey the same way as how Wukong and Macaque were born. But it's risky since creating life without a partner is beyond dangerous and most don't survive to even see the egg hatch, so most can only have one at a time and have to REALLY want a kid since, well, they'd basically be trading their life for the kids'. A kid that probably wouldn't even be hatched until long after their parent is dead.

I think with Wukong, it'd be a bit different because, well, 7 times over immortal monkey. But he'd still experience the negative effects and basically be completely vulnerable for a long time afterwards if he ever did it.

Just a little headcanon I thought up that I thought you'd be interested in.

Oh like parthenogenesis! Like some reptiles do when theres no available mates. I figure in a similar sense, the baby Stone Monkey would be a near-genetic clone of the parent; with the environment the "womb" is in adding life energy/qi/dao and affecting the appearance/abilities of the developing monkey within. Wukong likely popped out the way he did cus his egg was at the top of a mountain - his egg absorbing the violent life energy of what was once an active volcano over thousands of years.

Considering a certain few lines in Jttw, it's suggested that Wukong and Macaque are the last of their kind (with Six Eared being a variant/subspecies) - or they're just the only ones in that hemisphere. Like ancient human relatives the great Stone Monkeys became lost to time or were drowned in the Great Flood, or in the case of the Gibbon and Baboon; left Earth entirely.

The idea of a Stone Monkey deciding one day "I want a baby" and their body taking from there if there wasn't a viable mating option is really interesting. Their body's becoming like golems, weathered down into boulders if damage comes to them. And also very sad cus they know that theres a really good chance that they will never meet their baby. :(

Though imagine what the potiential "trigger" for it could be...

Guanyin: "The Monkey King is currently held beneath the Five Point Mountain. It will act as his prison for the next five centuries." Gold Star: "Ah. Make sure he's watered frequently and has plenty of oxygen." Guanyin: "But of course, it is only humane. However, doesn't he possess many forms of immortality?" Gold Star: *is so old that he witnessed the first Stone Monkeys, some even developing on his planet* Gold Star: "Not unless you want him to make another of himself." Guanyin: "Pardon?" Gold Star: "In my observations; when a Stone Monkey without a mate wished to reproduce, they would bury themselves and abstain from all biological needs until their bodies returned to the stone from whence they came. A new stone egg formed within their body as if it were a womb. The process is very taxing, and many died if another was not present to "wake" them afterwards. Though even in the case of parental death; the egg within the body would live on to hatch forth an infant to be raised by the familial troop." Guanyin, panicking: "I... I will be back in a moment." Wukong, beneath the mountain: "...why am I thinking about having kids?" Guanyin: *busts in holding molten copper and iron cus it was the only thing next to her at the time*

Of course it is unlikely for Wukong to actually *die* if his body decided to Copy/Paste him into an egg. But the possible way it could occur to him accidentally in any universe would be scary.

Like say... being trapped in a (newly) air-tightened Furnace by spiteful past enemy...

Lets just say I thought of another way that Luzhen is created >:)

Macaque: *pops open the lid to the airless Furnace* "Oh thank Buddha! You're intact. Drink some water dummy." Wukong, "awakened" by the fresh air and water: "...I think I'm pregnant." Macaque: "Uh... congrats?" Wukong: "No, like. Being cooked in there with no air made me pregnant." Macaque, only vaguely familar with their species: "...we should really ask Gold Star about this."

Luzhen in the TMKATI au would be celebrated as an adored, if not odd, new member to the family. His egg pops out after a long time of just sitting in SWK's body like his swallowed a rock. Luzhen "hatched" in a way that triggered something akin to labor. After all, Wukong's egg split open his Rock-mother (possibly the body of his parent) when it was his time to hatch. Wukong decides it is the worst pain he's ever felt in all his immortal life. Luzhen blinks slowly when his shell finally cracked all the way, confused on where he was.

The bit of dao Luzhen absorbed from his enviroment allowed him to develop just a tiny difference to his father; a pair of moon-silver eyes. Macaque smugly declares Luzhen's beautiful eyes are clearly a trait he inherited from him - and likely *did* depending on if any part of Macaque ended up in the Furnace with Wukong too. Like lets say the bones from an arm grapsing deperately before the lid of the Furnace slammed shut...

Hilariously, if Sun Wukong couldn't breath and/or wasn't able to crawl towards the Wind Trigram his first time cooking in the Furnace; there was a good chance that Lao Tzu would have opened the Furnance to a statue-like Monkey King with an egg inside of it. Wukong finally reawakening 500 years later with a heavy stomach and *many* questions.

[luciferapollyon]

"MK?" Asked a voice in the void. "That's what you call yourself, right?"

MK turned. Standing before him was Macaque, the monkey who the Lady Bone Demon had possessed. She'd probably been possessing him the entire time. Now, though, it was obvious that Macaque was alone with no lingering coldness or cruelty in his eyes or in the small sad smile he shot MK's way.

"Yeah. Yeah, I call myself MK. It started off short for Mystery Kid because that's what Pigsy and Mr. Tang used to call me before they settled on a name." MK said with a self-conscious chuckle. "Of course, it doesn't really stand for that anymore."

"I see."

"Sometimes I wish I could remember what my parents must have named me. I mean, I must have parents, right?" MK said before sighing. "Not that it matters, since they must not have wanted me."

"I did." Macaque said quietly causing MK to look up at him in shock. "I did want you. You are a stone monkey like myself and Wukong and Yuan and Mahou before us. I made you because I wanted you. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry I let my anger and hatred for Wukong get the better of me. I didn't intend to leave you alone like I had been."

"I..." MK paused, took a breath and shifted closer to the dark furred monkey. "If I'm a stone monkey then why don't I look like you or Monkey King?"

"You're glamored pretty thickly. Come here." Macaque said shuffling closer to MK and reach out to him. MK closed the gap letting Macaque touch his face and run his hands through his hair before Macaque gently cupped his ears and what looked like a bubble of golden light increased and then popped off of MK's skin leaving him with fur; three tails and six softly glowing petal-like ears, like Macaque's own.

"There's my Xiaoge." Macaque said quietly. "My little song. I'm so sorry, kiddo. I wish I had more time."

"More time?"

"Yeah. When you destroyed the Lady Bone Demon, she was still possessing my physical form. You sent her soul straight through to destruction, but in the process..."

"I killed you!" MK exclaimed, his face falling and a sob came from his throat.

"Sh...sh." Macaque whispered as he drew the young man into his arms and held him tightly. "None of that, ok. I wanted to tell you that it's going to be okay. I'm so happy that you grew up and made friends and I am so proud of you. I loved you when all you were was a stone egg I'd sing to late at night. I love you now. I left the spell that dampens your hearing down to normal people levels in place, but you should have...you should have your Grandpa Wukong teach it to you, I know he knows it. I heard him learn it. You'll be ok. Just listen with your top set of ears before you listen to Wukong about anything. And..." Macaque held MK out from him to look at him one last time as his form began to waver. "Could you tell Pigsy and Tang that I'm grateful they were there for you when I couldn't be."

"I can tell them that, yeah." MK sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I killed you."

"I let you. She was trying to escape, and she would have made sure I didn't survive her leaving my body. She would have ripped my soul apart." Macaque said quietly. "Her form was never physical, and the only way to kill her normally would have taken the holiest of people with the holiest of weapons. I held her in my body and let you finish us both. It was the only way. I'm sorry, but we don't have any more time. I love you, my son."

With that Macaque vanished into the void.

*

So, AU idea where each Celestial Primate parents the one right after it. So, the Gibbon was a father to the Horse Monkey and the Horse Monkey was supposed to mother Wukong, but she died suddenly before Wukong was made. Wukong was away when Macaque was born and Macaque was all alone for the whole of his life because of this.

[journeythroughjourneytothewest]

Chapter 14 Recap: Mind monkey returns to the Right; the Six Robbers vanish from sight.

Though both Tripitaka and Boqin are driven to fear by the voice, the assembled houseboys state confidently that it “must be the old ape in that stone box beneath the mountain who is shouting.” Boqin agrees, and then explains to a perplexed Tang Sanzang that though the mountain is currently known as the “Mountain of Two Frontiers,” it was once known as the “Mountain of Five Phases.” Boqin states that he had further heard from his elders that the mountain had long ago “fell from Heaven with a divine monkey clamped beneath it,” and that this monkey had “lasted from that time until now, surviving both cold and hunger.” Boqin then suggests that they go see what the monkey is shouting about, and Tripitaka reluctantly agrees.

The two and the horse don’t have to travel long before they encounter a stone box that does indeed contain a sentient monkey currently covered in dirt and greenery. Said monkey greets Tang Sanzang as “master,” and states that he’ll protect the monk on the way to the Westward Heaven. He then asks Tripitaka if he is indeed the scripture pilgrim and, having that confirmed, reveals himself to be “the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven…who greatly disturbed the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago.” He also claims that he is now sworn to protect the scripture pilgrim, and that he is willing to become Tang Sanzang’s disciple.

Tripitaka is delighted at this turn of events, but isn’t sure how he can free the monkey from the stone box. The Great Sage tells Tang Sanzang that it’s an easy task, and that all he has to do is remove a tag with golden letters on the top of the mountain. Boqin and Tripitaka make their way up together, and upon seeing the seal Xuanzang prays to the Buddha to only let the monk remove the seal if the monkey’s speaking the truth. He then removes the tag easily, and it blows away, with the prison guard of the Great Sage also letting Tripitaka know that the seal is being returned to the Buddha.

After going back to Sun Wukong and letting the monkey know that his imprisonment is over, the delighted simian tells Tripitaka that he should “walk away from here so that I can come out.” The group of humans then retreat some five or six miles, but Sun Wukong yells at them to go further. Finally, after they had left the mountain entirely, “at once came a crash so loud that it was as if the mountain was cracking and the earth splitting wide open.” The next second a completely naked Great Sage is bowing in front of Tang Sanzang, thanking Boqin for “shaving the grass from my face,” and goes off to get the luggage in order. We’re also informed that Sun Wukong’s time as the BanHorsePlague gave him such authority over all equines that “the horses of this world inevitably would fear him when they saw him.” The monkey also informs the monk that he already has a religious name in “Sun Wukong,” and Tripitaka gives him the nickname “Pilgrim Sun.”

Boqin, now seeing Tang Sanzang is protected by “an excellent disciple,” makes his leave. The “stark naked” monkey and the monk continue on the journey west, Sun Wukong carrying the luggage, Tripitaka on his horse. They are soon menaced by a tiger which Pilgrim Sun takes on with delight, pulling out his as-you-will cudgel from his ear and giving big cat such a ferocious blow that he “caused its brain to burst out like ten thousand red petals of peach blossoms, and the teeth to fly out like so many pieces of white jade.” Tang Sanzang immediately falls off his horse in fear at this display of strength, noting that it had taken Boqin all day to defeat a tiger whereas Sun Wukong had reduced the tiger “to pulp with one blow of his rod.” An unperturbed Pilgrim Sun asks Tripitaka to sit down for awhile, and proceeds to make himself a loincloth from the tiger’s skin.

As they continue their travels, Tang Sanzang asks Sun Wukong a litany of questions about his cudgel and about his abilities, which the monkey is only too eager to boast of. Tripitaka is “more relieved than ever” upon hearing that his new disciple and his new guardian possesses “boundless ways of transformation” and ways to protect him, and the two continue travelling and chatting until sunset.

They find shelter for the night after some difficulty, with an elderly man who opened a door they knocked on being left “panic-stricken by the hideous appearance of Pilgrim,” but who is soon mollified upon seeing “the handsome features of Tripitaka.” Monk and disciple are soon invited in, and Sun Wukong relates how he had seen the old man when he was a child collecting vegetables and firewood. The old man, for his own part, recounts how his great-grandfather had told him about how when “this mountain dropped from the sky, it had a divine ape clamped underneath it.” Tripitaka and the old man also discover that they are from the same clan as they both have the secular family name “Chen.” Sun Wukong then asks “Old Chen” for some boiled water so that he and his new shifu can clean themselves; old monkey in particular hadn’t taken a bath “for five hundred years.” Pilgrim Sun further requests a needle and some thread from Old Chen after the bath, which he uses to properly stitch his tiger skin. Wearing that and one of Tripitaka’s shirts which the monk had left out specifically for the monkey, Sun Wukong “paraded in front of his master,” and Tang Sanzang compliments him, saying that his disciple now truly looks like a pilgrim.

Pilgrim Sun and Tripitaka are back on the road the next morning, continuing the journey west. Soon enough the seasons change, and early winter is upon them. It is then that master and disciple are suddenly accosted by six bandits, who demand that they leave their horse and bag behind. Tang Sanzang is terrified enough to fall from his horse. Sun Wukong, however, calls this robbery a trifling matter, and that the bandits are “just some people coming to give us clothes and a travel allowance.” The monkey then nonchalantly lets the bandits hack away at him about eighty times before deciding that “it’s about time for old Monkey to take out his needle for a little entertainment.” He then proceeds to “beat every one of them to death, stripped them of their clothes, and seized their valuables.” He brings these spoils back to Tang Sanzang, smiling broadly.

Tripitaka, for his own part, is horrified by his disciple’s actions and soundly reprimands him. Confused, Sun Wukong notes that if he hadn’t killed the bandits, “they would have killed you!” Tang Sanzang, however, is adamant that “As a priest, I would rather die than practice violence.” Pilgrim Sun then states that “when I, old Monkey, was king on the Flower-Fruit Mountain five hundred years ago, I killed I don’t know how many people. I would not have been a Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, if I had lived by what you are saying.” Tang Sanzang retorts that “It’s precisely because you had neither scruples nor self-control…that you had to undergo this ordeal of five hundred years,” and that because even after entering the fold of Buddhism the monkey insisted “on practicing violence and indulge in the taking of life as before, you are not worthy to be a monk, nor can you got to the Western Heaven. You’re wicked! You’re just too wicked!”

This monkey, so the story next informs us, “had never in all his life been able to tolerate scolding.” And so he flies off, leaving Tripitaka to “set off sadly to the West.” The lonesome monk doesn’t travel long before he meets an old woman holding “a silk garment and a cap with a floral design.” He tells her about his mission and about Sun Wukong’s spat at her questioning, and she gives him the garment and cap, claiming that they used to belong to her son who “had been a monk for only three days when unfortunately he died.” She also gives Tang Sanzang a spell called “True Words for Controlling the Mind, or the Tight-Fillet Spell.” She tells the monk that when Pilgrim Sun returns he must give the monkey the garment and the cap, and then recite the spell silently “if he again refuses to obey…He will not dare do violence or leave your again.” Tripitaka thanks the old woman, who transforms into a shaft of golden light and vanishes towards the east. It is then Tang Sanzang realizes that he was speaking with the Bohisattva Guanyin.”

Sun Wukong, for his own part, heads straight to the Water Crystal Palace of the Dragon King of the Eastern ocean. The two kings start chatting, with Pilgrim Sun telling the dragon about his refusal to listen to the monk and his desire to go back to his mountain, having only stopped by the palace “to come visit you and ask for a cup of tea.” While the Dragon King indulges the monkey, he soon tells him that if he is “unwilling to exercise diligence or to accept instruction, you will remain a bogus immortal after all.” Sun Wukong does soon agree to go back, even running into Bodhisattva Guanyin on his way. Once he reunites with Tang Sanzang, Pilgrim Sun moves to get his shifu food from a bag, and sees the silk shirt and flower cap. Tripitaka tells the monkey that he may wear the fine garments if they fit. An eager Sun Wukong tries them on, and no sooner had he put on the cap than Tang Sanzang started reciting the Tight-Fillet Spell.

The monk “went through the recitation several times without ceasing, and the pain was so intense that Pilgrim was rolling on the ground, his hands gripping the flower cap.” When he touches his head again, Sun Wukong finds that “it was tightly bound by a thin metal band; it could be neither pulled off nor ripped apart, for it had, as it were, taken root on his head.” It can’t even be removed with the as-you-will cudgel. And Tripitaka doesn’t give Pilgrim much time to try, and this time goes through the recitation of the spell until it was “so painful that [Sun Wukong] did cartwheels and somersaults. His face and even his ears turned red, his eyes bulged, and his body grew weak.” The monkey promises to obey the monk if only he stops the recitation. Yet right afterwards he tries to kill Tang Sanzang, and after he’s brough to heel a second time expresses a wish to beat the Bodhisattva Guanyin up. Yet soon after, “Pilgrim gave up all thoughts of disobedience or rebellion.” Whether he will keep with this new mentality is a question that will have to be left for the next chapter.

[lucidboba]

This is a vent post on the Lego Monkie Kid fandom and the show. I am in no way an expert on the Journey To The West book so take this with a grain of salt.

I am honestly so sick of the Lego Monkie Kid fandom spreading misinformation around and claiming they know everything about JTTW Sun Wukong as a character when half of them don't even read the book and just get their information from OSP JTTW and LMK.

OSP on their podcast already said they left out a lot of stuff from the book for their videos as it's a summary and might have made Sun Wukong seem more impulsive then he actually are and they encouraged more people to read the book instead so I don't blame them.

What I blame is the part of the fandom that keeps on acting like they know everything when they just watch a short summary of a very long and complex book.

I get it, LMK is different from JTTW and change the original story a lot as it's a kids show. You shouldn't have to read the book just to enjoy the show. But you shouldn't spread misinformation around about the actual book just because you heard it from somewhere and did little to nothing research and just read a couple of short analysis.

This happens mostly to Sun Wukong as there are people saying he was unjustly punished and he didn't do anything wrong or people saying he was a moster demon spawn that deserve his punishment even when Guan Yin had to step in to intervene or people saying he was dumb, entire personality is being impulsive.

He is the Intelligent Stone monkey, the Monkey of the Mind, the monkey that have knowledge of ancient medicine and cured a king, the monkey that almost managed to sued the Devarāja Li if not for the Gold Star Of Venus's intervene, ment to represent the mind in all it's clever chaotic glory. he was one of the top students under Patriarch Puti for goodness sake and was the one who solves most of their problems on the journey. He has his moments of being impulsive and dumb but not nearly as much as people might think.

Not to mention their favoritism of the Six Eared Macaque, they baby him as if he wasn't the representation of what Sun Wukong would be like if he actually didn't have any control and just did whatever he wanted. Now LMK Macaque actually is trying to help MK in season 4 which I am very happy about, but JTTW and LMK are very different. So please, if you want to say JTTW Macaque did nothing wrong, don't use LMK as source.

Now the show have some flaws that I feel need to be adress. The show deviates from the actual book a lot which I have no problems with as it's a kids show but how much deviations are you allowed to have to the point of being an bad representation of the actual book. They said they consulted Chinese experts on the book which sometimes you can tell but other times, it just doesn't feel like it.

But there are also some fans that spread nonsense around and because they have a lot of followers everyone just believes them without more research. It made the show just feel like another bad adaptation in a sea of plastics that just so happens to float above the rest of the bad adaptations the book have gone through.

Which is a shame, you can tell a lot of thought and hard work have been put in the show with it's stellar animation, amazing voice acting, beautiful soundtracks and some actual moments that can put you to tears. But I wish the fandom would stop taking information from the show and stop saying it's exactly like the book. It made just enjoying the show and interacting with the good part of the fandom with it's beautiful fanart and great discussions harder to enjoy when all you can think about are the inaccuracies people are spewing around about the actual book.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my long rant. I really needed to get this of my chest.😮‍💨

I might rephrase this at a later date if I'm unhappy with it.

[sketching-shark]

hmmmmmmMmMMMMM so lego show spoilers ahead & good chance this is just me misunderstanding things and/or being too harsh on a silly goofy lego show and/or hanging onto an increasingly dwindling hope that Monkie Kid will give a better explanation for the Monkey King’s behavior than they’ve so far done beyond “Sun Wukong’s a impulsive idiot 5 eva,” but does it seem to anyone else that in the process of making a number of the villains from Journey to the West more relatable that it’s resulted in Sun Wukong just coming off as worse and worse? (to say nothing of the “intelligent” part of “intelligent stone monkey” seems to be getting dissolved in favor of hyperfocusing on the ol’ chaotic/impulsive characterization but that’s a conversation for another day).

Like in the og classic one of the things that makes the Monkey King a fascinating character is that he IS very violent, BUT his violence always has a clear reason with clear thinking behind it & which he’s often shockingly honest about. So to give a few examples! Why did Sun Wukong wage his havoc against heaven? Because heaven sent an entire army against him after he ruined one(1) banquet. Why did he attack the yaoguai kings of the Lion-Camel ridge? Because they were planning to eat the Tang monk (and had already eaten tons upon tons of other humans like holy HELL the description of their actions & their cave is gnarly). Why did he murder the Six-Eared Macaque? Because the Six-Eared Macaque attacked his pilgrim family, aimed to murder-replace him, and was using SWK’s monkey family as his personal tools to do so. So this SWK is a murderer many times over as he himself freely admits, but he tends to have pretty clear & dare I say understandable reasons for being a murder monkey.

But in Monkie Kid? Well, turns out that Sun Wukong convinced his sworn brothers to attack heaven again AFTER his havoc in heaven, and presumably thus got them all in a heap of trouble/trapped in an evil scroll for something he instigated! Why did he attack the other yaoguai kings? I guess he’s just a power-hungry jerk who betrays everyone now! Why did he murder the Six-Eared Macaque? Ditto the previous quote.

Now there is some slight indication that this betrayal of his former sworn brothers was because he was literally tortured into submission by heaven, but this only comes in a brief hint, while again the focus seems to be on how thoroughly Sun Wukong hurt and failed literally everyone he’s ever cared for up into the show’s present. And this has been true for the past couple of seasons. IDK, maybe this will all end with him being the ultimate example of “even if you are struggling with crushing grief and guilt & feel like you need to solve everything by yourself you need to accept help & tell people things,” but for the time being it’s honestly just making the Monkey King seem like someone who’s incapable of doing the right thing or changing for the better and who no one would possibly want to interact with.

Kind of does make the sudden concern for SWK that characters who clearly hate his guts or have some beef with him show when he gets locked in the evil scroll weird. Like, why do you care?

[theoutcastedartist]

Do yo have a story or au for Macaques shadow in your drawings? Because if so I hope we get to hear it and if not there’s so much potential!

OOO I INDEED DO!

There's still a lot I'm tryna figure out for the shadow (like yknow... a NAME jfhajaj)

Also my head is a mess rn so if some of the wording is weird, that's why haha ANYWAY

In my Anathema AU, it is an ancient evil that had been sealed away in the stone that Six Ears first emerges from. One that almost no one, except a handful up in heaven, know the existence of.

Since Six Eared Macaque emerged, it has been (albeit very, VERY slowly over the course of centuries) trying to take control of his body. The shadow being takes on many shapes and forms, the "Smoke Monster" is simply one of many. The entity only ever appears to macaque, unless macaque is using supposed "kaiju form"

And so is this fucking guy, who for the life of me I CANNOT figure out what his name is, besides the Demon King of Havoc referring to him in the show as "Grandpa Qian" I think (correct me if I'm wrong, I've only seen the first 14 episodes of the show 💀)

In Anathema AU, Demon King of Havoc and Grandpa Qian have no association with each other. DKH simply wants to take over the mountain that Old Chief Monkey & Macaque reside on to further spread his forces and territory (to which he succeeds in running the monkeys of the mountain and takes Six Ears as a prisoner for 700 years.)

This is the form that appears most often to Macaque. For now we'll refer to the entity as "Qian" until I either figure out a name for the entity or learn what this dude's name in particular actually is lol

Qian is manipulative and messes with Mac's head a lot, slowly chipping away at his will in hopes of making him vulnerable enough to fully possess him one day.

The color of Macaque's fur is usually a pretty good indicator of how far along Qian's possession of him is. The darker his fur is, the closer Qian is to his goal of being in full control.

At times he'll so much as twist reality in Macaque's head for his own goals. As a result, Six Ears to keep to himself a lot of the time distrusting everyone and everything around him. The only other person he ever felt comfortable being around was Old Chief Monkey, who Six Ears viewed as a grandfatherly figure.

Old Chief Monkey knew there was something up with Six Ears (yknow besides being born from a rock lol), but could never figure out what it was. Regardless, he truly cared for him as if he were his own flesh and blood. The loss of Six Ears during the DKH invasion of the mountain filled him with so much grief, which he still feels to this day.

Sun Wukong didn't even know of the entity trying to slowly possess Macaque, not during all their years of friendship, not during all their years of rivalry, and not in reconciliation did he know about it.

Before the two monkeys ever met, Macaque had long since given up on trying to get rid of Qian. Even if his resolve against Qian hadn't wavered after centinues of being in chains and scorn from both regular mortals and other demons, it's not like the shadowy entity would just let Macaque mention anything about it (at least not explicitly)

SWK had figured this entire time that Macaque's darkening fur had to do with his shadow powers growing. MK (along with his friends) believe something else is going on with our fav fruity goth monkey

...but Qian will not let go of this vessel so easily.

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 11

Ohhhh I really liked this one.

First, I have to say it, comparing the four generals now to Episode 1, they have come a long way. At least in regards to the tactical side of their jobs (they should still not at all be directly responsible for children). When they thought the enemy had found their camp and were closing in, they were on their shit. Marshal Ma was snapping out orders immediately, no one was contradicting anyone else or squabbling or anything, and it was definitely a Sign Of Growth.

Or the major and repeated servings of humble pie they've been swallowing recently. Active war will probably do that to you, especially when you can't blame your scapegoat for your failures after you ran him off.

Also once again showcasing their highly conditional displays of respect and goodwill. Stone Monkey pops back up with Six Ears and he's being called a "Little Hero" now, huh? You literally drove him out of the troop to his possible death and didn't care much at all not that long ago, my guys. We all saw you. You can't fool us.

And, eyyyy, Six Ears. Buddy. Bud.

Oh no.

I can see where it's coming from, is the thing. He used to be the kid pulling off the stupidly risky feats and being praised and rewarded for it. "Earning his place". The sacrificial lamb to Stone Monkey's scapegoat. Neither is a great role to be filling, but Six Ears doesn't know that, and the life of a sacrificial lamb probably still looks a whole heck of a lot better when you're looking at it from the place of the scapegoat. And now it looks like Stone Monkey's taking his place, right, and without that...where does he fit? He knows how conditional the approval of the four generals is, and at the start of the series he dealt with their hot-and-cold reception of him by flippantly ignoring it, but he did experience it. Stone Monkey has had it "worse", but Six Ears isn't so far removed from it that he can't easily imagine himself being in Stone Monkey's place, I'd think. So it's no real wonder he's territorial of his "place" in the troop, feels like the four generals', the troop's, (and possible Old Monkey King's) regard is a finite resource, and reacts badly to feeling like it's all being "stolen". Jealousy is rooted in insecurity, and Six Ears has absolute heaps of that.

And speaking of insecurity, it's also worth noting that he keeps continuously being captured and having his autonomy and ability to protect himself removed, over and over and over again, and this time he was almost tortured. By having his ears cut off while he was tied down and unable to fight back. We don't know how long it took the kids to track down the troop again, but since we're meant to assume the entirety of the surviving troop made it to the cave, the commanders would have needed to have at least enough to time to track the scattered groups down. In that case I'd imagine this is several days later at least, but still only days. Maybe a week or two at most. Six Ears probably hasn't had the time to really process what almost happened to him, but it would still be there in his head. He also, unfortunately, didn't have a whole lot of agency in his own rescue either, so that lack of control, that lack of feeling like he can keep himself safe, and shame at his own helplessness has got to be eating him alive. Take the above belief that he needs to earn his troop's support or risk losing it entirely with the fact it's very unlikely this kid has actually felt safe anytime in a very long time, not since the Demon King's incursions first really started honestly, and Six Ears is definitely not going to be doing well. So double up that insecurity and set it on fire with a heaping spoonful of desperation and you probably have Six Ears's emotional state right now.

*sigh*

He's definitely going to pull some shit, basically.

And holy cow someone actually called General Beng out on his pretentious language. General Ba was NOT having it. I actually almost kinda felt bad for General Beng. He's just trying to make his report, starts tripping over his literary references, and General Ba comes out swinging immediately. "Come ON. Do you think we have the time for you to be pulling out this grandparent talk?! SIT DOWN." And General Beng is like "):".

Like, harsh, General Ba. Fair! But dang. It wasn't the time at all, but General Beng trying to comfort himself by falling back on his quotes and poetry was actually kind of, I don't know, sad. Everyone is just really upset here. General Beng's trying to self-soothe, General Ba is lashing out, and the Marshals are...uh...dissociating back there? (Hey, actually, yeah, Marshals, why are you letting your generals struggle through delivering this very important report to the king instead of doing it for them? Or swooping in at least, when they fumble? What do you even DO?)

And I'm not 100% sure, but General Ba also seems to make a pun on General Beng's stuttering over 此乃 (fancy schmancy "this is")? Or at least that's how I read it, and it kind of made me laugh. Honestly my Chinese isn't good enough to catch most wordplay, so I could also be barking up the wrong tree entirely, in which case, don't mind me. I'm still gonna giggle at it, though. (General Beng: "This g-, uh, This g-" General Ba: "This GRANDMA.")

General Ba even liked that turn of phrase so much he repeated it again later. Poor General Beng will never be able to use his beloved 此 in General Ba's hearing ever again without having "How's it feel being a GRANDMA" yelled at him immediately.

But honestly, General Ba is pulling zero punches here. He's genuinely rattled, since he's finishing General Beng's report for him by going, "Look, fancy language or no fancy language, all I know is we took everyone to the back of the mountain and the enemy was already there. They are everywhere. We have nowhere to go and we are fucking dead." He also has this really haunted look to him. General Beng is only the first casualty. General Ba has looked death in the eyes and is going a bit feral about it. No one is safe.

Plus that one monkey soldier coming back and breaking down in tears because "the monkeys without weapons are getting the worst of it...they had to run away."

"Run away". Right.

Listen, guys. Just say they died. We understand.

I'm actually noticing this cartoon is fine with having soldiers screaming KILL THEM ALL with no hesitation, graphic death threats abound, but they don't like admitting anyone actually died. Especially not the monkeys. I think that's a bit of an odd line to draw, but I'll respect it.

(They definitely died, though. Those tears tell all. Non-combatants led around to the back of the mountain and straight to their deaths, I guess. Yikes.)

Bless Ginseng Fruit for trying to defend the boundaries in Stone Monkey's life. By creating boundaries for him without Stone Monkey's input or approval <3 "It's fine," says Ginseng Fruit. "He only needs boundaries with other people. I'm different." Godspeed you weirdly intense little fruit. Glad Stone Monkey has a handle on that, generally by means of straight up covering Ginseng Fruit's mouth and doing whatever it was he was going to do anyway. I guess if it works for them it's fine?

Also appreciated Stone Monkey leading them all to the waterfall and then his face that perfectly speaks to the fact that Stone Monkey is having the abrupt realization that his last time entering this cave was a complete accident caused by reckless use of logs and a total shattering of the laws of physics he isn't positive he can repeat. Do you think he imagined asking Marshal Ma to surf a log up the river and just crash straight into the waterfall, no, really, it'll be fine, for approximately two seconds before his brain shut down on itself in self-defense and also despair? Absolute gold.

And the writers slipping in a little reminder of the tenuous and fickle regard of the troop by having a few of the soldiers immediately ready to believe the worst of Stone Monkey right then and there. Thanks, writers. We might have forgotten.

Not gonna lie, I was looking at the Demon King's army in slight confusion wondering at some of these character designs (the artists are actually usually pretty good about using familiar character models for every crowd shot, so the new guys stood out), before I remembered that Demon King had the great idea to issue a fake decree in Heaven's name. OH, went I. HA.

I mean, I'm sure that's not going to backfire spectacularly in any way at all. Heaven probably loves having random demons lying and using their authority to stir up trouble only to then point the agitated results of their tomfoolery right to their doorstep. Everyone loves having their name dragged into a fraud case!

But also...okay, jumping topics entirely, but why couldn't anyone just jump back and grab Sixth Eldest? Any one of those guys could have made the jump there and back in half the time it took the kid to finally do it himself. Yes, of course, "but the tension!" or whatever. I call contrived. As far as I'm concerned, the only one with an excuse was the one monkey apparently responsible for handling six children by herself. What was she going to do? Toss the one baby to save the other baby? She's got her hands full.

Watching Sixth Eldest make that jump though, I was just thinking the whole time: Wow. How much would it suck to be the reason your entire community was overrun by murderous enemy forces? As it is, this kid is probably going to be hearing this story at every drunken feast for the rest of his entire life. RIP, little buddy. (I'm also counting children and if Yellow Flower Monkey has six kids to look after total, that means Sixth Eldest is the youngest. Who's the kid being held in her arms, then?! Why's the littlest kid out there toddling over sheer drops and water-slick rocks by himself while this baby gets the VIP ride? Is it...*gasp* favoritism? Yellow Flower Monkey's secret dark side?!? /j)

Old Monkey King excitedly waxing poetic about Water Curtain Cave, though? Cute. Super cute. He was incredibly excited and I don't think we've ever seen him this tickled. It was amazing.

None of the adults actually bothering with rationing until after the food was already gone, though? Less cute. They even called themselves out!

"It's better not to wait until these kind of things become a problem to sort out a solution." *sage nodding* *cut to elderly monkeys literally collapsing from hunger just down the hill* "By which I mean, it would be better, but all the food is already gone." "WHAT."

And it can't just have been gone either, since people aren't generally out here just immediately collapsing from hunger the second the the last fruit is plucked off the branch. Even if they are elderly. How long were they out of food before they had a meeting about it? Guys. I just said you were getting your shit together.

Ginseng Fruit, reading the room and dragging Stone Monkey away before he can volunteer to feed the whole troop from enemy-infested territory single-handedly, pointing a very stern finger at him: "No...nO..."

Stone Monkey: UGH. I KNOW. I wasn't GOING-

*aforementioned collapsing elders and Yellow Flower Monkey (again)*

Stone Monkey: ...to WAIT. Off I go, I guess! See you later, Ginseng Fruit. Hold down the fort while I'm gone, okay?

Ginseng Fruit is over here running their hands down their face shaking and screaming violently on the inside, I bet. If they'd seen that elder go down before Stone Monkey did, they absolutely would have buried the poor man alive, I'm sure. Like shoving a mess you don't want your guests to see in the closet. Except with a living person. And mounds of cold, wet Earth reminiscent of a shallow grave. Look, all's fair in love (/platonic) and Not Letting Your Favorite Person Die For The People Who Left Him To Die Regardless Of His Feelings On The Matter war. Sorry, old man. Nothing personal. (I do not actually think they would have done this, but I do think it would have crossed their mind. Let Ginseng Fruit be a little unhinged. It's funny.)

On a sidenote, gotta appreciate the old man for apparently recognizing their limited food supply well in advance of anyone else and taking care to make sure the young got what they could while they could. What a guy. I like that guy.

Six Ears...definitely has ulterior motives for going with Stone Monkey, but also this is still the kid who took it upon himself to hunt Stone Monkey down every time he took off by himself on dangerous missions in the past too, so him going through the old song and dance of noticing Stone Monkey was just straight gone without a word halfway through a conversation (Stone Monkey will never outgrow that, will he? Lol) and knowing from experience that Stone Monkey was definitely off to Solve The Problem and promptly running after him is basically their old dynamic in its entirety.

It's just...sad now. Because Six Ears is definitely going to be making some bad choices and do something that's going to hurt because he's hurting and it's going to suck and I don't wanna see it. And meanwhile Stone Monkey's just happy to have Six Ears with him.

I love them ):

Stone Monkey actually noticing Six Ears being kind of subdued once they're out of the cave, though! My boy! He never does that! Or at least, that's how I interpreted it since there's an animation of him jumping up to walk next to Six Ears, who is frowning at the ground, and the animation has him glance sideways at him, look away, glance sideways again, and then away again. And he's also frowning the same way. They did that on purpose! Tell me Stone Monkey isn't noticing something.

But of course they're interrupted before it can go anywhere. Ergh.

[looney-mooney]

Lego Monkie Kid MK theory

Spoilers for season 4 and the season 4 special under the cut!

So we can all agree that MK is a Celestial Primate, right? We're all on the same page about that? Okay, good. Now that we've established that, let's get into the interesting question there.

Which one is he?

From what I've seen, most people in the fandom seem to agree that he's a new celestial primate, someone who's sort of a class of his own. But this is Lego Monkie Kid, and we all know how much this show absolutely ADORES reusing characters and concepts from the original Journey to the West at pretty much every opportunity.

I'm going to be using this article I found for most of this, but it's pretty much all from the book: https://journeytothewestresearch.com/2022/02/20/a-quick-study-of-the-four-celestial-monkeys-from-journey-to-the-west/

In Journey to the West, there are four celestial primates, two of whom are prominent characters in the narrative and two of whom are presumed dead before we get the chance to meet them.

Sun Wukong is the "Stone Monkey of Numinous Wisdom" (or Numinous Luminosity, depending on which translator you ask), who "knows transformations, Recognizes the seasons, Discerns the advantages of earth, And is able to alter the course of planets and stars." Macaque is... well... "The Six-Eared Macaque," who "has a sensitive ear, Discernment of fundamental principles, Knowledge of past and future, And comprehension of all things." We already know who these two are, so I'm not gonna get more into them.

The other two Celestial Primates are characters we've never met before, in the book OR the show. The Connected Arms Gibbon, who can "Seize the sun and the moon, Shorten a thousand mountains, Distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious, And manipulate planets and stars," and the Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey, who has "knowledge of yin and yang, Understands human affairs, Is adept in its daily life And able to avoid death and lengthen its life." MK is probably a reincarnation of one of these two (if not some sort of bizarre combination of both?)

There's a case to be made for either of these roles. I don't think he's the Gibbon though, since MK's monkey form clearly has a tail (three of them, even, in his war form!) and Gibbons, as great apes, don't tend to have those. It'd be cool to meet the Connected Arms Gibbon, though!

Instead, I would like to make the case for MK being the Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey. There's a lot of debate over what species of monkey that's even meant to represent, so MK would be free to be a sort of... amalgamation monkey. The IDEA of a monkey, instead of any specific species, like Sun Wukong himself seems to be. (Plus, he usually wears red pants, so that covers the "red-buttocked" part of the character description lol)

Not to mention, that "understands human affairs" bit REALLY fits, since he's spent his whole entire LIFE living as a human! Not to mention, one of the very FIRST powers MK struggled with was invulnerability, something that was so powerful it had to be taken away from him (and something even Sun Wukong himself doesn't appear to fully have - he's immortal times a kajillion, but that doesn't mean he can't get beat up!) In a genre that has a lot of "invulnerable protagonist" as a basic element of the storytelling, that's a pretty clever way to hammer home that "avoids death" is an actual POWER of his pretty immediately

Plus, who's MK's BFF FOREVER? That's right, Mei the Dragon Horse girl. Who better to be the Horse Monkey's bestie?

But I wanna know what you guys think! Do you think MK is the Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey? The Connected Arms Gibbon? Or some completely new Celestial Monkey the showrunners made up specifically for the protagonist of their show? LMK!

[darkhorseduo1fan]

ORDER AND CHAOS

CHAPTER 1: LIU'ER MIHOU

Nuwa arrived at Flower Fruit Mountain carrying two spirits in her hand. One of the spirits glowed completely golden while the other glowed with Nuwa’s color.

Nuwa went to the top of the mountain and placed the golden shining stone on the round stone there.

Nuwa: I am sorry in advance, my child, for your loss in the great sacrifice that is near and the disaster that will follow. But you must succeed. This world is very precious

After Nuwa put the golden spirit into the round stone, she turned to the spirit in her other hand, which was trying to escape in a hurry and discover itself at the same time.

Nuwa: Your mission is more valuable and difficult... After the imminent disaster, there will be a war... The war of Chaos and Order... Destiny does not say how this war will end... So you will either change destiny or support destiny... Don't forget...

Nuwa began to guide the spirit that was still fluttering in her hand towards the shadow of the stone egg. The spirit became more agitated and tried harder to break free. It was too self-aware for a newly emerged spirit.

You are the weapon

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Evening~

A man dressed in a black and blue robe approached the stone egg.

His master, Hundun, had ordered him to awaken the powerful being on top of the mountain and bring him to him.

According to Hundun, this existence was necessary for chaos to win the war. Now, how will this happen?

The man touched the stone and woke it up. From the stone came a monkey demon with orange fur and golden eyes. It was extremely excited. It was running around.

???:Hey! Come here!

The man chased him. They were traveling almost the entire mountain. While running after the stone monkey, the man's hood slid off his head, revealing his extremely angry face. The man had nine hair snakes on his head, which were shorter than a normal snake. He also resembled a snake and looked young. The man's name was Xiangliu.

Xiangliu: I said come!

When they returned to the top of the mountain again, Xiangliu saw the stone monkey frozen in fear. Xiangliu looked at where the baby was looking and his eyes widened in shock...

The plants that were there before had completely dried out and lost their energy. The stones were broken and worn out.

Xiangliu: This... It's not good...

Xiangliu began to move towards the source, completely forgetting about the stone monkey, while being on full alert for any danger. Finally found the source...

This is a...

It was a baby

The poor baby was crying and covering his ears with his little hands. Out of fear, he was spreading chaos energy around him and harming beings that did not have this energy.

The baby had white fur. The whites of his eyes were black and his pupils were orange. His ears were not visible because he put his hands over his ears.

Xiangliu approached the baby.

The baby became more frightened and retreated, taking his hands from his ears and standing on his hands and feet... He had six ears...

Xiangliu: Liu'er Mihou...

Xiangliu reached out to the baby. There was no threat, but the baby was still afraid. An idea came to Xiangliu's mind.

Xiangliu formed a butterfly of chaos and directed it towards Liu'er Mihou's tiny nose.

This caught Liu'er Mihou's attention and she watched in fascination as the butterfly landed on her nose. The destructive chaos energy that Liu'er Mihou emitted disappeared and she started playing with the butterfly.

This would stall Liu'er until Xiangliu brought Hundun.

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Chaos Realm~

Xiangliu:Master...

Xiangliu had come to Hundun.

Hundun: Why did you come here without bringing that monkey?!

Hundun was obviously angry. Xiangliu was a little scared, but then immediately became defensive.

Xiangliu: Because I found something stronger! Something created from chaos!

Xiangliu was smiling. Hundun looked a little shocked.

Hundun: Are you serious...?

Xiangliu:Yes! It even exploited the life energy of some living things on the mountain and harmed those that were not living things.

Hundun: Bring me that puppy immediately!

Xiangliu: It would make more sense for you to take it, sir...

Hundun: Why was that?!

Xiangliu: He's afraid of me... And he won't let me get close to him...

Hundun: So?

Xiangliu: So... Since you're technically his father... Maybe you can calm him down...

Hundun glanced at Side eye. He didn't like this at all. Becoming someone's father was not in his plans. He could have left her and gone. But Liu'er Mihou may be the key to ensuring chaos prevails in the upcoming battle.

Hundun:Good... Take me to him.

Xiangliu: Of course...

Xiangliu and Hundun used a portal to go to Liu'er.

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Liu'er was still playing with the butterfly and looked very cute. Even though it is a weapon created from chaos, it is very cute.

Xiangliu:Aow~

Xiangliu already had big brother feelings towards Liu'er.

Hundun:So... This is my "son"?

Liu'er paused when she saw Hundun, and her cute smile grew even bigger. Liu'er immediately ran towards Hundun and climbed on his head.

Xiangliu:Aow~ He loved you

When Xiangliu reached out his hand to Liu'er, Liu'er showed his teeth, so Xiangliu pulled her hand away.

Xiangliu: You little bastard!

Hundun glared at Xiangliu. Then he took Liu'er off his head and began to gently hold him in his arms... He was his son

NOT:ENGLISH IS NOT MY LANGUAGE! IF THERE ARE MISTAKES I APOLOGIZE!

[krzys2000]

,@fancycat-thesilvertux​ No I did not see loud house

You know what is good about Having Sun Wunkong and Liu-er Michou as powerful and wiling right and left hands?

They are (two of once four now five)spiritual primates

Sun Wukong is the intelligent spirit stone monkey who knows transformations, recognizes the seasons, discerns the advantages of earth and is able to alert course of planets and stars --> meaning pranking on cosmic scale (and possibility of changing/controlling future/fate)

Six eared Macaque a nearly omniscient being with very sensitive hearing, knowledge of past and future and comprehension of all things --> meaning best damn intelligence gathering and counter-intelligence service in entire universe. You can’t escape, nor hide . And any and all plans of counter attack will fail

Now let that knowledge sink in.

What are your thoughts about How much will everybody panic when they finally remember that facts about their power (Buddha explained that about their power)

Beside Xiaotian would fell bad about demons going into hiding until he was remained that demons who hide are ones who attacked him. And demons (and gods) are hiding in hopes that somebody else is stupid enough that they will piss Mk more and his ire will concentrate on that idiot(s)

he needs a break

[simping-on-the-daily]

What if,,,,, what if some of the monkeys were scared of Wukong,,,,,

Maybe they were scared when he first popped out of that rock. He wasn't real, he wasn't organic, he wasn't natural; he was born from a stone and decided that he was just like everyone else. But he wasn't. He never was and no matter what Wukong does, he'll never be like them. After all, he is the Monkey King

Or maybe they were scared when people kept invading the mountain. Wukong kept pissing people off and it lead to the mountain constantly being under attack; Celestial Beings flying to their mountain all because Wukong didn't think. He never thinks. Maybe it was when he fought Erlang and he became so large he frightened his entire army no monkey is that big and he's no monkey he's an impulsive demon with no idea that actions have consequences he never will be normal he'll never be like them

Maybe it was when he removed the names of every single monkey from the Book of Death. Immortality was a curse and how dare Wukong place it on them, how fucking dare him. To live centuries stuck in a mountain never to move on is misery, and yet they know that Wukong could do so much worse. After all, he and Macaque were once trusted friends, and look at where that got the six eared monkey; with a blinded eye and buried six feet under.

Or maybe, just maybe it was when they found Wukong in an open field, sobbing his eyes out. Crying about DBK, about Macaque, about LBD, about his time under his mountain, about the furnace; to see their ruler, their protector in such a state terrifies them. They don't know what to do except stand still in fear as Wukong cries; because what are they supposed to do when a man has undergone so much pain, and not be scared? Wukong could very well snap, or he could enter the mountain, with the same smile and insisting that everything's fine, and they don't know which one is scarier