#very Samadhi Fire Part 3 of them.

[imminent-danger-came]

I WAS LOOKING THROUGH PINTEREST AND I HSD TO START FUCKIMG PACING AROUKD THE ROOM

MK ANS MEI MK AND MEI A HERO AND A WARRIOR?????? WHEN DOES THE PAIN END GAAAAAAAAWD WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

The grind doesn't end when you're in this deep with the legos.

This is a very specific Mei and MK dynamic that I kinda adore

[iridescenttttttt]

This includes s5 spoilers!!

I think we as a fandom should talk more about how sun wukong has absolutely no self preservation, and how he has been self-sacrificial since season 1. Hi, my name is iridescent, and in this essay-

ok but in all seriousness, I have evidence from every season of him doing this, and I will be analyzing it and informing about it Meticulously.

I also have a couple of tangents about him protecting MK in here. I just like the detail of him always doing that, especially considering how he does it.

it wasn’t just season 5 where he was willing to sacrifice himself, season 5 was just the only season where it was outright blatantly stated that he was going to sacrifice himself.

(^Image taken from S1 EP9, Macaque)

this image in and of itself is fairly minor. Because we know he’s going to be okay. he is immortal, and compared to MK, an explosion most definitely will not do much, if anything, to him. and I’m sure he’s fully aware of this (which is probably part of the reason he shields MK with his body so much, there are SO many example of him doing this)

Still, even the fact his immediate instinct was to throw himself in harms way to protect MK is pretty sacrificial in and of itself. I’m 100% certain that even if it could hurt him, he would still protect MK like this.

(^ image taken from S2 EP10, this is the end)

Wukong here is visibly weakened and injured. It was stated early in season 3 that he was weak, and even at the end of season 2, we could tell. ESPECIALLY when he grabbed MK and escaped from LBD on his nimbus cloud. By the time they found their friends, it was deteriorating, and they quiet literally crash landed onto the ship.

But despite his obviously weakened state, he was still throwing himself in front of MK, protecting him from harm, and shielding him with his body. His first thought was to throw himself in harms way, and this time, there is a very real possibility that he probably can get injured! He’s weak, his powers are failing, there is no way he would have the energy to fight LBD. Not in the state he is in at this very moment, and MK isn’t, either. He knows this- I know he does, because instead of picking a fight, he grabs MK and runs. He even admits that he isn’t in any shape to face her. However, even though he knows he would hardly be able to put up a fight as it stands right now, he is still willing to throw himself in front of MK. (Which also directly supports what I said above! It does not matter if he can get hurt if not, he will still put himself in harms way to keep MK safe)

Similarly to above, he was fully willing to find and reforge the samadhi fire on his own, despite his weakened state- to keep the others out of harms way, because they are mortal and he is not. Still, even despite him being immortal, he’s trying to reforge the samadhi fire- one of the rare things that has the ability to actually hurt him. Wukong knows this, and he is still willing to do this alone. Even though he is obviously injured, and weakened, and there is a very real possibility the samadhi fire could kill him, he is willing to do this on his own. Because they are mortals- if the fire can kill him, then it can definitely kill them, too.

(^ Image taken from S3, EP1, on the run)

season 3 is, in my opinion, where his self-sacrificial tendencies and complete lack of self preservation becomes a lot more obvious. So, fair warning, season 3 is probably going to be a long one.

Wukong is fully willing to risk himself to get the map. And it isn’t like he doesn’t know the risks of forcing his way through the Barrie. Ne Zha even warns him, and says that if he forces his way through the barrier, they could both be destroyed. And honestly? If Wukong wasn’t, like, 7x immortal, there is a very real possibility that he would’ve been destroyed, then and there. And while, yeah, Ne Zha didn’t die, either, he also wasnt the one actively breaking through the barrier. I’m sure if Ne Zha was the one breaking through, he probably would’ve died. Even then, Wukong was severely weakened after this (as seen and talked about above!), he knew the risks and he still took them. He knew he could die, but if it meant saving the world and keeping MK and his friends safe? He would do it. And, again, even after being fully aware of his weakened state, he immediately ran to the protection of MK as soon as he realized he was in danger.

(^images taken from S3 EP10, The Samadhi Fire)

I’ve already talked about how often he is shown to use his body to protect MK from danger, but here, specifically, I want to mention be we are specifically shown a scene of him moving his arm to protect MK from danger. Especially considering the danger is the samadhi fire- something that can actually harm him. This is different from most other times he’s doing this, because this time, he can actually get hurt.

This is one of, in my opinion, one the most obvious examples of him being a self sacrificing idiot with very little self preservation (/aff)

his entire plan, from the very beginning, was to try and take the samadhi fire out of Mei (because he never wanted her to be harmed- he’s spent the entirety of season 2 and 3 trying to protect MK and his friends, he never one intentionally hurt them) and put it in himself. Think about that. The samadhi fire is something that can harm him- kill him, and he knows that. He knows that extremely well. His entire plan could lead to his death, and he’s aware of that. And the same thing goes for when he was getting the map in the first place- both times, he was fully aware that there is a possibility he could die from this. He doesn’t care, though. If it protects the people he cares about, he’s going to do it- even if he dies in the process.

once again, we are specifically shown a scene of him trying to protect MK. His immediate thought has always been to take the brunt of the fire, and keep MK from danger- I fully think, had there not been a shock factor to MK literally running straight in, he would have ran in after.

Again, in this scene he has no self preservation, and he is very self sacrificial. His entire plan from the very beginning hitched on having a weapon, something powerful enough to stop the lady bone demon, except that plan has failed, and now, there is no weapon. So his new solution? Stop LBD himself.

If he was truly confident he could beat her again, then why did he go looking for the samadhi fire, instead of going to immediately fight her and stop her? He’s desperate, he knows how bad the situation is, and he still isn’t sure if he can even beat her. He’s still willing to try, if it means protecting MK and his friends, and saving the world. He’s going into the fight. Alone. No backup, no plan, no samadhi fire. (And we know this goes wrong, too) He is fully aware of this! He knows he’s going into a fight he’s might not come out of. Everyone else knows this, too- Ne Zha even points out the chances of him surviving are slim.

(^ image taken from S4, EP1, familiar tales)

once again, his immediate reaction (even when being faced with his trauma) is to protect and save MK. He knows what the scroll is, and he knows what’s going to happen if he gets stuck inside of it- despite that, he still sacrifices himself to ensure MK doesn’t get stuck inside of the scroll. He lets himself get sucked into it. He is willing to face all of the mistakes he’s made and the trauma he’s endured to protect MK from having to go through the same.

WARNING YOU ALL AGAIN!!! S5 SPOILERS BEGIN NOW!!

Let’s all be honest here, they’re both lacking in the self preservation department. They are not lacking in the self sacrifice department, though, I’ll tell you that much! This entire fight, they are very blatant about how they are, quite literally, fighting over who gets to sacrifice themself. There isn’t much to say here that wouldn’t be stating the obvious- neither of them want eachother to sacrifice themselves, they both want to be the sacrifice.

TLDR: Sun Wukong has been self sacrificial and has had a disregard for his own preservation since we were introduced to him. This has only become more apparent as he grew closer to MK, and as his character has developed.

is all of this already very obvious? Mmmaybe???? I’m not too sure. Did I make a couple of reaches a couple of times? Mmmmmmmaaaaaybe. Is this an excuse to infodump and talk about sun wukong? Yeah. Am I sorry? No.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Sad Huggy Monkey Asks:

Had to compile some of these for convince sake since I can't add much commentary beyond the delicious analysis the anons have sent in! All the text is in the image description if you need help reading/translating;

Referencing.

Yeaah Wukong is going through something right now, and it sends shockwaves through the room.

The Monkie Kids seeing this legend break down crying at the idea of having a mother. Most have never seen Wukong cry. Not even sniffle.

Sandy is better at recognising this emotions than others, but is still stunned by how strongly the Monkey King feels about this part of him. It proves to them in a way; that Sun Wukong is a person, and not a character.

Mei feels a little bad for how she blew up at Wukong when she developed the Samadhi Fire. To see him actually cyring makes her sympathy weep. She couldn't imagine a world without her parents - but the monkey has lived that very nightmare for thousands of years.

The Stone Royals seeing this other version of their son just so hurt by the way his world treated him. Luzhen sees this older, stronger, superhero version of his big brother; and is horrified to realise that he's this way because he never had anyone in his corner to take the burden off of his shoulders.

The fact that Wukong flinches at the comfort of a parent is telling enough to what horrors he's faced and what he's missed.

MK is sympathy crying. He gets it man!! He thought he had no bio-family either!! He still dont cus he's a homunculus made of clay by Nuwa, but thats besides the point! Monkey King is crying!!

Macaque just feels... a stab in his heart. Not just from empathy, but because he too has struggled with the same feeling of existential abandonment and loneliness! He just internalised it deeper due to at least having Chang'e as a surrogate mother/big sister for the first few years of his life. He's fighting not to grab Wukong then and there and not let him go.

Either way, this monkey getting hugged.

Bonus: times in the new season where Wukong was group hugged + crying;

I love all this tasty angsty introspective. <3

[evanvison]

First Impressions

I got into the show Lego Monkey Kid this past year. But I had been aware of the show since it first came out. I had always had it on my list as something to potentially watch but it took me until season 5 came out before I finally sat down to watch it. So I decided to talk about the ideas and theories I had formed before I watched the show because they were really funny.

To start: I saw a poster for the show (I don't remember which one) pretty early and after looking at it I immediately thought that MK and Mei reminded me of Kai and Nya from Lego Ninjago. So I had assumed that they were reusing their character concepts but in a new show. This was the only impression the poster I saw gave me. None of the other characters stood out to me and I never thought much else about it.

A year or two after the release of Season 3 and its end of Season movie, I saw clips from the show popping up in my YouTube recommended. I finally cracked a decided to look at them with ZERO context. I saw the Season 1 fight between Macaque and Wukong, I saw the release of the Sumadhi fire, and I saw Mei training with Red Son and the fire, as well as some scenes of the crew on the flying ship in Season 3 Ep 1.

The first scene I remember was in the Season 1 monkey fight when Macaque released the shadow clones for the first time. A good first scene to witness! I watched the whole fight but only remembered bits and pieces. Through that scene, I was able to pretty accurately guess both Macaque and Wukong's personalities, dynamics, and how they would affect each other as characters (the only accurate guess I made).

Then I saw some flying ship scenes. I mostly remember them just talking and not much stood out in my memory.

Then I got to the release of the Samadhi fire. I made the assumption that the reveal here was that Mei was a Samadhi dragon. Like a dragon that specifically produces Samadhi fire. Mostly because I saw the dragon rising from her fire and assumed dragon + fire = that's the dragon's fire. So you can imagine the shock I had when I started watching the show and saw how quickly they made it clear Mei was a dragon. Then how sad I was that I was spoiled on the actual Samadhi fire. But I did learn from those scenes that Mei was very different from Nya and wasn't related to MK. So that misconception didn't stick till the end. (Sorry the picture is small for some reason.)

Now for the part that I find hilarious and I have no idea how my brain came up with this idea. I somehow came to the conclusion that Tang and Red Son were the same person..... I guess I saw that they both had glasses (very different glasses) and jumped to the idea that Tang was his normal form and that he was some sort of professor who had some curse that caused him to transform into Red Son and this gave him fire powers. I assumed they were like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or something and that's why Red Son was so angry. I don't think I saw any scene where they were in the same shot so I had nothing to steer me away from this.

I just thought he had some alternate fire demon side or something. Then I watched Overly Sarcastic Production's summary of Journey To The West and saw Red Son and then I guess I just forgot about this theory until after I watched the show and realized that I was so very wrong!

I do kind of want to write a fic where this is what happened just because I find it funny. Or if someone else wants to include it in a fic I would love to read it!

But that's it! That's my early misconceptions and guesses about the show that I made. I didn't really have any thoughts on Sandy or Pigsy though I don't think I saw that many clips of them so I didn't really get the chance to think about them as much. Hope you all enjoyed it! If anyone else had some funny guesses about a show that wound up being wrong or funny please tell me!

[autism-autobot]

Flower of a Poisonous Seed Part 18

Part 17:

Sun Wukong had been rushed to the emergency room earlier that day by Nezha, and the Demon Bull Family were still anxiously awaiting their return.

The Demon Bull King was pacing around the living room, the inciting scenario replaying itself in his head, only causing him to worry more.

~~~

As part of Wukong's promise not to keep anything else from Nezha and his family, he took off his glamours to show them his true form.

His face was as blue as Azure Lion's.

Apparently, all of the tortures he endured because of heaven and his imprisonment beneath the mountain had left lasting scars. Many lasting scars.

The blueness of Wukong's face was due to leftover smoke and ash coating the inside of his lungs, causing him to not be able to breathe properly. Wukong being Wukong, this didn't kill him like it would have literally anyone else.

It took a bit of convincing, but DBK had managed to get his little brother to go to heaven with Nezha to see the doctor.

~~~

He could still hear his wife's gasp and his son's shriek replaying in his head.

Not the best reactions to Wukong's glamour reveal, but he wasn't much better, so he couldn't judge.

PIF: My love? Have you heard word from Nezha yet?

DBK: Not a sound. You, my dear?

PIF: Nothing. It concerns me greatly.

DBK: Myself as well.

PIF: Have you talked to our son at all? He seemed quite upset about the scar on your brother's face.

DBK: Scar?! What scar?!

PIF: Didn't you notice? There was a scar on Wukong's face that very clearly was the result of the Samadhi Fire.

DBK: No, I hadn't noticed. ... Our son must be deeply distraught by that.

PIF: I think so, too. We should speak with him.

DBK: We should.

~~~

Nezha: How much longer?

Receptionist: Again, I don't know how long the doctors will take with the monkey.

It was already bad enough that Nezha was not allowed in the room while the doctors did... something to Wukong, but now Nezha had been waiting five hours for any word about Wukong's condition.

Nezha knew Wukong must be scared out of his mind while there. Wukong quite literally needed to be peeled off his chest by multiple staff members in order to be put on the table. Then the nurses had the audacity to shoo Nezha out of the room while Wukong cried in fear.

Nezha didn't want to tell the Demon Bull Family what had happened. The gods knew what they would do if they received word of Wukong's terrified tantrum and nothing else.

~~~

Seven hours in and Nezha was asked to help settle Wukong down.

Wukong had somehow made it into a janitorial closet despite not having use of his legs and several nurses chasing him. Three nurses managed to corner him in there while the rest went to either get help or attend to other patients.

Nezha found Wukong still in the closet hiding beneath a large trash can.

Nurse 1: Okay, I lift the trash can while you two grab him.

Nurse 2: No way!

Nurse 3: Not happening! Do you know how dangerous monkey bites can be?

Nurse 1: I don't think he'll bite you.

Nurse 2: He's probably more scared of us than we are of him.

Nezha: He's definitely more scared of you than you are of him.

Nurse 3: Oh! Nezha! Hope you brought gloves it you came to help out!

Nezha: Gloves will not be necessary, I assure you.

Nezha: Wukong, it's okay, I'm here now. It's safe to come out.

Wukong: Nezhie? Nezhie stay?

Nezha: Yes, Wukong, I will stay with you. The doctors have granted me permission to stay with you.

Wukong scooted the trash can over to Nezha and stopped when he accidentally bumped into his fire wheels.

Nezha slowly lifted the trash can and Wukong immediately wrapped his whole body around Nezha's leg.

Nezha shushed Wukong to soothe him, transferred him to his chest, and skated slowly back to Wukong's assigned room.

~~~

Wukong's breathing tubes did next to nothing to help with the blueness in his face.

They were given word that Wukong would have to return for surgery after the lunar new year. That was the soonest the hospital could operate.

Wukong dreaded every word out of the doctor's mouth.

Nezha was careful not to shed tears while in Wukong's line of sight.

Wukong's vitals showed an oxygen saturation of 11% with the breathing tubes, 6% without.

But that wasn't all. His heart beat at a rate of 7 bpm. Far too low for a monkey of any species.

He'd have to have both his heart and lungs operating on.

How long had he been like this? Over a thousand years at the least.

Nezha wept for his friend.

Wukong just buried his face in Nezha's shirt.

Nezha cradled Wukong in his arms as they went back home.

~~~

Red Son cut his hand on a buzzsaw by accident. Usually, he was more careful than that.

He was making all sorts of mistakes in the workshop today. Dropping a steel ingot on his foot, catching his hair on a low hanging hook, and now the buzzsaw cut. He was trying to clear his mind, not give it something else to worry about.

His father's entrance only proceeded to stress him out more.

After a bit of back-and-forth between the two, DBK understood that the cut wasn't intentional but accidental.

Biggest relief he'd felt all day.

He treated his son's wounds all the same.

However, their minds were both elsewhere.

On DBK's youngest brother and Red Son's favorite uncle (not that that was a real competition given he's the only one that didn't nearly obliterate the universe).

RS: So... still no word about uncle?

DBK: *sighs* No, still no word.

RS: *sighs* I figured as much. Mother told me that heaven has a habit of taking their sweet time to get anything done.

DBK: It would appear that way, yes...

DBK: Now, about your reaction to my brother's scars.

RS: I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE THAT NOISE I SWEAR!!!!!

DBK: I know you meant no harm by it, as does everyone else. I am more concerned with what scars concerned you the most.

RS: Oh! Uncle's burn scars. *sighs* I know I am the cause of those scars, and I want to make it right by uncle! But-

DBK: You were a toddler at the time! A child with a lit match you didn't know how to contain!

RS: But that doesn't mean I didn't hurt him!

DBK: While this is true, I know my brother. He doesn't take anything personal. Especially not something done to him by a child.

RS: Honestly, you'd think he allows the whole world to walk all over him with how little he cares for what's been done to him.

DBK: True, but he loves you very much. Him excusing your past behavior isn't just out of understanding of your youthful naivety, but out of love as well.

DBK: Would you hold a child accountable for lighting something on fire with a lit match they were handed at birth?

RS: No! Of course not!

DBK: Then why don't you hold your past self to the same regards?

RS: I...

DBK: Ponder that awhile. And no more working in here today! You've clearly been too distracted to be safe with yourself.

RS: I will, father.

Part 19:

@starrclown @swkbiggestdefender @istopaskingmemate @ainnur @then-be-a-warrior

Masterpost

[byfulcrums]

No but Sun Wukong is so much... less alone(? now

He's been alone for centuries, with only the company of his monkeys. He hadn't left his mountain in 500 years; the first actual interaction he had with someone outside FFM was MK, and even then, it was just one person. He only met the rest of the gang at the start of season 2 and then he left

In season 3 he was literally stuck with MK, Mei, Pigsy, Tang and Sandy. He didn't have a choice; he was hurt, MK didn't have his powers and if he left then who knew what LBD could do to them? Besides, Macaque was looking for them. He couldn't leave (probably didn't really want to leave either)

Even though he had to interact with MK and the rest during season 3 because, well, they were literally living together, he was still hiding so much. No one knew about the fourth ring nor about what his initial plan was. He hadn't told MK about LBD when she first appeared and everyone was still upset at him for it (which, okay. Deserved. But also- angst)

In the scenes where the gang is having fun with each other, SWK tends to push himself away? He stays at the corner, a little too far away, showing that he doesn't consider himself part of the group. These MK's friends, not his, and even if he cares about them (and even if they're his family's reincarnations + descendant) he still distances himself from them. He keeps secrets, doesn't trust them the way MK does, refuses to tell them all about the Samadhi fire. Hell, they don't find out about his plan until it's already gone wrong!

At some point in pretty much every season, MK is hugged by his friends after some life threatening stuff happens. SWK (if he's present) smiles fondly and stays out of it. After he finds out about LBD and the gang are having a good time together, celebrating (and also being so excited to meet the Monkey King), he gifts them some hair food and leaves

Also, at the start of Revenge of the Spider Queen it's shown that he wants to either celebrate with MK or spend his day alone like he's been doing every year for centuries

In the final episode of season 2, MK's friends rush to his side and no one goes to check on Wukong, even though he looks pretty hurt. Heck, they're (rightfully) angry at him! It's only after they convince him to let them accompany him to the West that we see him patched up, and that's on the first episode of season 3 (also it's already nighttime when that happens)

When the gang hugs Pigsy in Cooking with Chang'e (I think that was the episode?) he smiles, looking happy for them, but he doesn't join them

I'm not saying that they don't care about SWK, because they really do! But he mostly keeps to himself, never tells them what's going on and left when MK needed him the most without explaining why. Besides, he's a legend. No one can know what's happening inside his mind. How can they trust him when they don't even know when he's being truthful?

In all of the scenes where they're all together in one place, SWK either stays closer to MK or leaves. There is no in between. Really shows how MK is pretty much his only friend lol

Also, all of his relationships went wrong. Macaque, Azure Lion, the rest of the brotherhood — all of them, thrown to the ground because of 'his' mistakes and 'his' bad deeds (not all of it was his fault, but there's no way he doesn't blame himself for that. He and MK are very similar). He (assumedly) killed Macaque and Azure Lion, Peng and Yellow Tusk were left in the scroll and he sealed DBK under a mountain. The friendships he did manage to keep are now gone not because of him fucking up, but because they're dead. MK is the first friend he's had in a long time and he is very afraid of messing that up too

When Mei gets the Samadhi fire (“Can't you see you're hurting the people who care about you the most?!” she said people, not person. She wasn't only talking about MK. They care about SWK too!), the first thing he does is leave again. He pushes everyone away, leaving MK and the others to take care of everything himself, and it fails. He fails, and MK is almost killed because of it. In the end, it was only because MK was accompanied by the people he cares about that he won. This makes Wukong see stuff differently

Post-season 3. SWK realizes that he doesn't have to be all alone. He notices how MK is doing so much better than him because he has friends (his support network or whatever that's called) and is like “Ohhhhhh okay. Yeah that makes sense. Alright-”

After the whole LBD fiasco, SWK is willing to trust other people more. He not only cares way too deeply now, but he also tries to share what's on his mind a little more! He's doing his best to show that he trusts them too and I think he's doing a pretty good job!

When Inky separates them, he says that he won't let some dumb curse keep him and his friends trapped. His friends. They're no longer only MK's buddies. They're not strangers he might've known once anymore; they're his friends. And some day they will be his family

The reason why they seem more like friends now is because of Sun Wukong himself. Sure, he might've needed some help, but he finally started to try to just. Stop pushing everyone away. This is why he's so much closer with the rest. It was all him

Also, I love this because it shows how you're the only one who can make the final decision that will change your life (dying or living, staying or leaving). You're more than allowed to ask for help and you can get it from anyone, but in the end, it's all you.

In the season 4 special, Sun Wukong shares his plan. He hadn't told MK about Azure Lion and the brotherhood before, sure, but that's because he thought that was over. In the scroll, when Macaque and MK go to find him, he opens up to MK. Shares his worries. Lets MK (and Macaque too I guess, with that smile. Ugh that SMILE) comfort him. And he, most importantly, fights alongside MK in the final battle. He gives the team the information they need for MK to come up with a plan. They fight together

And when the season 4 special ends, Yellow Tusk says something about true heroes (I can't remember the exact line) and the camera shows all of them, SWK included. The only one who is not there is MK, and even then it's clear that Yellow Tusk was talking about him bc the camera cuts to him sitting all alone at the edge of the cliff

SWK goes to sit with MK, but this time the rest of their friends are there. Sun Wukong, immortal or not, is a little less lonely now

[purble-turble]

For fun and because your prince red au is horribly underrated

Have any unshared head canons, plot ideas, ect about the au in general.

what stories lines would you have explored

Sure! I have lots of thoughts about the Prince Red AU that I either haven’t had a chance to share here or just I didn’t deem interesting enough to ever bring up.

My first thought is about Prince Red and his relationship with his parents.. a big part of his character is that he has all but broken ties with his mother from the very beginning of the show, and so when he is forced to interact with them again, it genuinely scares him. He’s afraid of his parents in a way that they probably don’t even understand.. My intent was to use his fear of them as a way for him to continue to do their bidding despite being so against their plans for world domination, and eventually I came to the conclusion that him having this deep seeded fear of them probably has more to do with himself than it does them.

You see, he’s spent so long in the company of Celestials and other Buddhists that he has kind of adopted their negative opinions about demons (despite the fact that he is one himself) and it’s crept into how he feels about his parents too. DBK and PIF in this version are not so different from canon.. they’re harsh and can be cruel at times, but they love their son and want their family to be whole again. The biggest problem there is that they have a hard time communicating that in a way that seems genuine because they’re afraid of being vulnerable or showing weakness. So this misunderstanding within the DBK fam goes on for quite awhile in the Prince Red AU.

My thoughts about how it ends are that, in season 3, when they need to get the ring from the Demon Bull King, that is probably where a confrontation happens and they finally have a heart to heart about their differences. I imagine it wasn’t long after that ceremony to remove the Samadhi Fire from him happened that Red Boy was removed from his parents and taken in by Guanyin, so the whole Samadhi Fire rings quest and the memories that brings up for all of them are a pretty good kickstarter for an emotional conversation, to be sure.. In any case, that gets cut short when MK and Mei steal the ring and all of them make a run for it, Prince Red included.

They meet again after the Lady Bone Demon is defeated, though this time I think Prince Red seeks them out.. he’s been avoiding them for so long out of fear and that brief interaction he had with them makes him realize that was unfounded. He learned they weren’t angry at him them so much as they were sad that their family was broken… though they were loathe to admit it, he still understood that to be the case, so he decides to take that first step to fix things.

Anyway, it works out pretty well, and by the end of season 4, DBK and PIF are invited to the beach party, just like in canon. 🎉

Some other little headcanons for Prince Red… well I don’t think it’s ever come up, but in this AU I like to make Prince Red trans as well. Not for any particular reason except to switch things up a bit. Plus both him and MK being trans is kinda fun.. or if we go with MK being cis in this AU then we can make Red have the fanbabies and give MK a break lol

Also, MK finding Prince Red in the scroll in season 4 is extremely harrowing for him because Prince Red reverts back into Red Boy, who is a chaotic little gremlin, and yes this version also wants to marry his pretty boy 🤣

There are probably some more little tidbits I’ve thought of but I cannot remember them right now.. I’m also happy to field any specific questions about how Prince Red being a permanent member of the Monkie Kid gang affects the plot of the previous seasons because I think that’s fun~

[beifong-brainrot]

(Continuing with the Dark Avatar Bolin idea) Imagine Korra being unnaturally harsh and rude to Bolin without even realizing it. And that will only escalate the relationship between Mack and Korra.

Bolin: Just breathing Korra with Raava inside her: Can you shut the hell up? Korra: Why the hell did I say that?

And Season 2, ohhh… Unalag will be pestering Bolin in every way, and dark spirits are following him all the time. And the dark spirits don't attack Bolin, and Team Avatar starts to suspect something. Tenzin senses very negative energy from Bolin, Jinora too, and Bolin starts to feel worse and worse until… a harmonious rapprochement occurs. Bolin suddenly becomes a dark avatar and screams in pain and fear, and he starts getting angry at everyone (especially Korra, because she should have known)

(Imagine this as the scene from MK when Mei is covered in the aura of the fire of samadhi) https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxFliqFGwSs_lSmbsmFnUWwJqYFIGT3ZiP?si=7cijG9k729M8wyKB

2. Avatar Bolin (with Raava) I imagine the scene when Bolin finds out he is the Avatar: 8-year-old Mako tries to create flame, he hears "Mako, look!" and he sees how his little brother created flame without hurting himself. "I can bend fire too!" 6-year-old Bolin shouts happily, while Mako looks at him in horror, his little brother… the Avatar!

Many years later

The newspapers write that "the Avatar is missing!" and the White Lotus actively searches for the Avatar but to no avail. During one of the pro-bender fights, Bolin finds himself cornered and he accidentally blows away his opponents from a reflex, the audience is shocked, Mako is very scared and worried.

NOT WAY! THERE'S THE AVATAR, AND HE JUST BLOWN THEM AWAY LIKE PEBBLES!

The sentries who were listening to the match are shocked, and (most likely) Korra exclaims "You're all going to the pro-bender arena!" (I think Korra and Tenzin will switch roles in a sense, Korra will be Bolin's teacher because he can't bend water)

3. The scene where Avatar!Bolin finally bends water.

Seeing his brother about to be stripped of his bending, he stretches out his arms screaming "NO"Amon stops, he twitches and groans.

Mako can control his body again, but that means… Bolin bends water, but not water… but blood.

Bolin backs away in shock looking at his hands, but Amon gets up and Bolin panics, bloodbending throws Amon through the wall and he breaks through it, and falls into the water.

Sorry if there is too much text.

I don't mind the long asks, hun, sorry for not responding earlier, but I have had a few busy days lol.

1. Bolin as the Dark Avatar

Well, the concept of there being a "dormant" Dark Avatar cycle that hasn't manifested due to Vaatu's imprisonment is an interesting concept. The idea that the Raava Avatar like Korra and heavily spiritual people like Jinora can sense this energy but don't exactly understand it could make for some juicy drama.

I wonder if Unalaq would be able to recognise Bolin for having the capability kf being a vessel for Vaatu. Perhaps he'd try to subtly groom Bolin into this role, or isolate him from thr Krew to be ablw to influence him more lol.

It could make Bolin and Eska's relationship more interesting too, perhaps instead of being an abusive girlfriend, she is ordered by Unalaq to keep an eye on Bolin.

Plus, this could recontextualise Vaatu in an interesting way. Vaatu escaping his tree prison and immediately "hiding" within Bolin makes hin seem more like a wounded animal than a big bad villain. Which is an interesting take because I've always found sympathetic interpretations of Vaatu very interesting.

But Vaatu's vessel, in this case Bolin would probably become flooded by his chaotic and 'dark' energy, which would be pretty painful, I imagine. Especially that Bolin has been shown to struggle with normal negative emotions. I can totally see him lashing out at people, especially Korra, whom he percieves as having "failed" him.

2. Regular Avatar Bolin

Honestly one of my favourite parts of an Avatar Bolin AU is actually that fire is the element after Earth in the cycle and therefore the element Bolin would learn firebending second.

Just imagine baby Avatar Bolin learning firebending alongside/from Mako ugh...

Im very curious of what people would think and how the world would operate with a "missing Avatar". And I can yotally see Mako trying to keep Bolin hidden from the world, not wanting them to be seperated and also knowing that as the Avatar Bolin would be often put in danger.

Bolin revealing himself during a probending match does make sense. I can completely see that happening in a moment of desperation or smth.

I also like thinking about what Korra would be like if she weren't, you know, the Avatar. Usually in this type of AU, I like to imagine her as Katara's apprentice, and perhaps not a White Lotus operative herself, but defined someone who works with them, particularly when it comes to looking for the Avatar. I think she'd be a little less socially awkward since she didn't grow up on a compound which is nice because she deserves nice things.

Her being Bolin's waterbending teeacher is really cute because either they'd get along swell and be immediate besties, or she'd make him cry. No inbetween.

3. Bolin waterbending

Oooh, that is very interesting and symbolic. Not sure how it would work lorewise, since bloodbending is very specialised and most people can only do it on the full moon, but ugh the juicyness of the scene...

[digitaldoeslmk]

I am curious about your LMK au. I mean, i think i remember thar you still have a lady bone demon in you au,right? So if she still wants to erase this reality to create her perfet World, she stills need the samadhi fire, what exactly is she going to do to make red son use it? Cause i dont think he is going to do it if she asks him😂😂😂. Is she going to make him, for example, remember that he had lost his childhood? I can understand that he is ok right now with that, but can still be something that can upset him if the overthink of it.🤔

PD, i love your au and your art! I wish the actual serie was more like that, or at least the part of guanyin and red son still having the samadhi fire.

Pd2.0, do you have a fanfic of all this? If you have, please tell me!!!! ����🤩🤩🤩I need it!!!💙💙💙

Sorry if my english is not that perfect😂

hello anon, and thank you for the compliments!! I don't quite have a fanfic proper cus long-format writing is a real struggle for me, but I do plan to do some scenes and such :D I'll post here and on AO3, particularly on this collection <3

as for LBD, that's the thing, that's not her motivation at all! xD like I said, my au is very JTTW-compliant, and in the novels, the White Bone Demon's only motivation was to eat Tripitaka to gain immortality thanks to his multiple lifetimes of cultivation. that's the motivation of pretty much all the demons the pilgrims face, save maybe Princess Iron Fan and Bull Demon King, who both want revenge on Wukong for defeating their son Red Boy.

in my au, LBD gets revived along with a few other demons on the prospect of getting revenge of Wukong for killing them, a proposal offered to them by Macaque. previously I stated that he ran away from the Diyu but after some thinking, im changing it to he was reincarnated once his time on the Diyu was done! despite being reborn, he wanted to get back at Wukong and the aspect of fate itself, and for that he needed to cause some real uproar, thus the sneaking souls out of the Hells for his own plans. however his plans don't include the use of the Samadhi fire, so no need to manipulate Red Son into using it for him.

also the Samadhi fire isn't exclusive to Red Son either! it's a very specific and powerful skill that only a few select individuals can use, but it's not this world-ending power like the series make it out to be. other characters like Nezha and Erlang can use it too uwu

[static-arz]

What are the relationship of Li with Mk and others and Shen too if its alright?(Sorry I'm just really invested in your oc's🥺✨)

DON'T BEE I LOVE TALKING ABT THEM 🥹❤

Also phew this one is gonna long answer so prepare! :'D,

1. Note: Li makes his first appearance in mid season 2 while Shen makes his first appearance in mid season 4!

Li Xin:

Mei dragon:

Just like I wrote on his sheet, she's Li's childhood bestie and are super close, for Li she's seen as a possible love interest too! Problem is that he's too scared to say anything and doesn't wanna ruin the long friendship they share so he loves her in silence :')

MK:

Just like the rest, Li only knows him through Mei. At first, Li was doubting him and judging him in all ways, didn't really like him at first because he thought he was the only best friend Mei had lmao he was kind of jealous tbh.

But around season 3 Li sees MK as an close friend too! The moment MK had to start figuring things on his own, that is when Li was able to relate to him a lot. He would often try to mentally support him and just be there for him as much as he needed. He adores the way he is and also apologizes to him for his behavior and now he's extra caring for him. uvu

Monkey King/Sun Wukong:

Nope. Not even a bit. For Li monkey King is a burden. He gets to learn about him throughout the season 2, 3 and 4 and he is not very convinced by him. He often try to avoid talking to him and be annoyed with his presence alone. He only sees the bad traits instead of the good ones. In the end of season 4 he does get to learn more about him, but stays natural towards him. So he doesn't really see him as friend.

Tang:

For Li he's sorta a mutual than a close friend. He doesn't bond with him much but they had their moments too. Li gets to see his troubles too and notices his lack of confidence. He often try to tell him the opposite though. By now you'd know that Li is sort of the therapy friend of the bunch.

Pigsy:

Just like Tang a mutual. he would often take advice from him when it comes to cooking because Li had to microwave his food most of the time because he is a student. He'd love to learn how to cook proper meals for his health and regrets never learning it from his parents. Pigsy gladly teaches him as well. Li also learns quickly and he's thankful he's here too.

Sandy:

Li sees him as a close mutual. At first he was quite suspicious of him because he never saw so much kindness before. Almost made him believe that guy is not what he seems to be. He actually had a lot of doubts in everyone but slowly he warmed up to him too and saw a genuine kind individual. Since he received pain and suffering most of the time he often got fooled by people who pretended to be kind. He's glad Sandy is not that person and never will be. He appreciates his presence too.

Red son:

He doesn't wanna admit it but pretty sure he's part of them too! When first met in S3 Li gets super suspicious of him too. Especially after hearing about what he did in the past with the others he quickly becomes protective and alert of his friends safety. Soldier instinct he has. He didn't really like him at first and was neutral about him until in the special episode: embrace your destiny, he sees him as ally once seeing how much he helped. Especially Mei since Li gets super anxious and even more protective once he saw Mei struggling with the fire of Samadhi.

2. Note: As for everyone else he was able to meet throughout the adventures with MK and the others, he'd stay natural and takes time to warm up to anyone that is seen as ally, and he will be protective and shielding against the enemies.

Shen Xiaotian:

Let's say that his relationship with MK and the others is a mix of hatred and adoration. He pities MK but at the same time he can't help but feel pleasure when watching him suffer because he thinks he deserves it. Shen sees him as a corny hero but at the same time Shen wishes he was that type. For the rest he isn't very impressed by them but more annoyed. Especially with Li because for some reason Li caught his attention shortly. There is not much to say about Shen and his relationship with Mk and the others since he freshly appears in season 4.

As for Monkey King, he's a different case. Shen first met him when he caught him stealing peaches of immortality. Back then Shen was a passionate celestial warrior so he'd definitely try to catch that monkey. For sure he failed. He was a nuisance to him and still is. Yet he does adores the way of his rebellious acts. But Shen is even more unhinged than Monkey King so when he finds out how "weak" be became he instantly gets disgusted by him.

Phew! That was a lot to write! Took me almost an hour! Excuse my spelling mistakes, I am quite fast in typing and english is not my first language! :'D. But yeah, let me know if something is unclear I try to explain it more!

[cherry-blossom-consumer]

I saw a take that someone made saying something along the lines of hiw Red Son has emotional trauma from his parents. Which, honestly sounds understandable.

Personally, and this is just my opinion, it isn't meant to offend anyone's headcanons and such, but I think it's honestly not extreme like I've seen a couple people say. Of COURSE the guy didn't grow up normal, he

1) Is a literal demon

2) Is immortal

3) Is classified as a former villain who LIVES with former villain parents

4) Was born with the Samadhi Fire which made him extremely powerful and destructive

And tons of other issues. His parents were only part of it. Yes he craves attention, praise, and recognition from them and is eager to please them, but on the inside they are still a family. They love eachother and care about eachother.

Not to mention when the Samadhi Fire was extracted, all the others chose to catch the rings since they had their hands free yet DBK didn't give the ring a glance and instead rushed to catch his son. He cares. They care.

DBK was obviously scared of the possibility of his wife getting captured by the Spider Queen. And while he claims on the outside that his son is useless or a disappointment, he very much cares about him inside.

They have issues, yes. Can they be reversed? No. Can they be fixed? Not really. Are they egotistical and have hard outer shells? You betcha. But do they love eachother as a family? Yes. They so very much do.

[imminent-danger-came]

so after I saw some of recent asks on your blog i went back and read your post about mei in full, and i liked her before but now i'm gonna be thinking about this forever. i love love love characters that are optimistic despite all the circumstances and oh my god. she's just like me for real!!!

on a separate note: hoping so hard that if/when MK goes ballistic with his powers, we get a scene like 3x10 with the roles reversed. someone made a really cool comic about the concept (that. might have even been you KFDJH) and i haven't gotten it out of my head since

final note: *chanting* mei dragon form. mei dragon form. mei dragon fORM. MEI DRAGON F-

"hoping so hard that if/when MK goes ballistic with his powers, we get a scene like 3x10 with the roles reversed" YEAH. SAMADHI FIRE PART 3 BABBYYYYYYY

Also I'm very happy I can dish out some Mei propaganda!

Sometimes I think about Mei and MK constantly reaching for each other, and how Mei's first scene in the whole show was her reaching for MK, and I just get a little emotional!

Mei and her "We have to try!" hopepunk mentality extends all the back to the AHIB special, with "Someone has to fight". She always takes action! She's going to try even when it seems hopeless! She'll reach and reach and reach! She's giving everything she has to protect the people she cares about:

Mei: "How dare you! My friends are in danger because of you! And you're not even going to stick around to finish the job?" (4x14 Better than We Found It)

[makiruz]

I have come to realize that while I did know things about Monkie Kid I didn't know what the seasons were about.

I knew about the Samadhi Fire and it's destructive potential, not the season was bout the good guys finding it and using it; I knew season 4 involved Azure Lion and the ink curse, but assumed the season was about him, not them reliving the Journey to the West; which is hella cool by the way, teaches kids about the story while giving character development; btw I didn't know Pigsy had a complex about his appearance, or Sandy, although it makes sense that he does, we did know he had been a mighty warrior in the past.

Anyway, this is a very interesting story, and like it takes place inside the scroll, and like they're confirming the guys are the reincarnations or the Pilgrims, I guess? I mean Sandy, Pigsy and Mei are descendants of Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie and the White Horse Dragon, we knew that and it makes sense, but Sanzang doesn't have descendants, he's a monk; so what is Tang to him? Mmmmmmm

Oh my god, the early part is a perfect match for the story! Even after Tang becomes himself again, it's the Monk, his monkey protector and his white horse dragon, that's why episode 3 is just him with MK and Mei; and then their jumping is just people trying to eat Tang because he's in the role of the Great Monk and as we all know eating the flesh of a holy monk gives you immortality, obviously

[quitealotofsodapop]

"The Monkey King and the Infant" details Part 3 - and likely last for now before I go on Spoiler lockdown so I can write:

links to Part 1 and Part 2:

The Jade Emperor sees/is aware of the canon Monkie Kid series. He thinks the whole situation as a big waste of time. So... remove Monkie Kid = no Monkie Kid series, Monkey King stays retired, and less of a headache for the big man up top. Win win.

The Jade Emperor shows Sun Wukong visions of the worst parts on the series inc; LBD's return, the Samadhi fire being reignited, The Jade Emperor's death and the potential breakdown of the universe etc... This is also how SW learns on accident that Macaque is alive again.

Internally SW is very conflicted cus... the universe might end? But more importantly he might actually die? But also consider; Free Son and a return to his beloved.

Other characters occassionally get tormented by visions of canon events/death omens - likely a side effect of the altered timeline, or the Jade Emperor subtly trying to turn them against one another.

Erlang and various other mythos characters show up. Erlang is tasked with ensuring that SW destroyed MK's egg, but is knocked out by Moksha (on command of Guanyin) to give SW a chance to reconsider. In the egg's place, Erlang found a "shell" of obsidian. This isn't enough to convince Erlang... but it's enough to convince the Jade Emperor and the few members of the Celestial Court who knew about the Egg that the task had been completed. Erlang is sussing SW hard for this... but wants to see what the big deal is with the undercooked Stone Monkey before he says anything.

Moksha is acting as Sun Wukong's parole officer as a "Sorry I bonked you" favor to Erlang. Shows up in glamour at Pigsy's as customer to keep an eye on things. Big shipper under her no-crap cop attitude.

Guanyin herself is Very Against the idea of scrambling MK (Mercy personified yo). But she doesn't appear physically, meaning that not even the Jade Emperor knows that she techincally betrayed Heaven.

Nicknames/familial titles MK calls his fam through out the story:

Sun Wukong = "Dad" "Baba" "Baba Wu" Macaque = "Mom" "Bama" "Baba Mihou" "Mama" (when he was really young) Pigsy = "Dadsy" "Pops" "Boss" (at work) Tang = "Papa Tang" "Pama" (verbal slip as a toddler that stuck) Sandy = "Shúshu/Uncle" Mei = "Meimei" " (little sister - techically she's older but the title is also a pun on her name) Nezha = "Tánggē" "Gege" (grew up thinking Nezha was an older cousin)

When it comes to finally training MK when he comes of age; Sun pulls a "Lego Batman and Bruce Wayne" - hoping that by separating the personas, he'll be able to reach MK better as a teacher. And MK 100% falls for it. Cus "The Monkey King" and his dorky "Dad" are two completely different guys! Right?

Macaque meanwhile has a very different style of teaching:

Macaque, in his series outfit, manifesting from the shadows: "MK, we need to talk about-" MK, battlemode: "AH! THE SIX EARED MACAQUE!" Macaque: "I'M LITERALLY YOUR OWN MOTHER! YOU PUT THAT STAFF DOWN THIS INSTANT MISTER!" MK: "yes sir"

This leads to a funny misunderstanding later on when he sees Macaque and The Monkey King interact during training:

MK: "Wait... if my mom is the Six Eared Macaque... and I've got Monkey King's powers..." MK: *"GASP!"* MK: "MOM!? Did you you cheat on Dad with The Monkey King!?" Macaque: "...really???" SW: *laughing his ass off*

Ok imma punch out and try to finish the first chapter. Will probably post a spotify mix soon. Pls tag or reply, or ask if you got any thoughts/questions. I love feedback!

[lagt-duck]

Someone liked this so now you get an update after s5

- wukong is born and becomes monkey king

- at some point he meets macaque and learns under master subhodi and gains human speech and a new name

- he goes to the diyu to erase his name

- in a nebulous sequence he becomes bimawen steals the peaches and pills and gets the title of great sage

- azure forms the brotherhood

- they move war to heaven

- wukong loses/surrenders (because the show refuses to tell us)

- he gets put in the furnace and then under the mountain (supposedly. Because a lot of stuff like the furnace is stuck as a plot point in season 1)

- the shadowpeach fight happens

- Tripitaka comes and frees wukong giving him the circlet

- the journey happens, where the brotherhood gets STOMPED

- At some point wukong loses the circlet (so I suppose the journey ends)

- in a again nebulous sequence the samadhi fire and macaque death happen and the pilgrims die

- for some GOSH DARN REASON DBk decides that it's the perfect moment to move war to the mortal real and gets STOMPED BY WUKONG who retires from the scene

- Xiangliu prematurely hatches mk

- mk is taken by pigsy and grows into a young adult (my man pays taxes stop saying he is a minor)

In all of this the only thing we discovered is that mk is actually canonically a stone monkey and that Nuwa is probably the most decently written god in a lot of shows (aka she thinks on a scale that to us seems cruel but In her eyes is perfectly reasonable)

Nezha became kinda meh and pagoda bearer Li is kinda just there

I honestly don't even know where they might go with the serie now

Like where do you go after your protagonist attempts heroic suicide?

I loved the glimpse at the shadowpeach fight, but I am tired of dancing around the topic. I would like to know if

- wukong is actually macaque killer? Yes or no. (Rn we have a very good probability of yes)

- macaque was under a spell? Did he just go insane?

- does Mac has any actual feeling about the whole thing. Because seems to me wukong is clearly shown to be at least a bit shaken at the reminder of the fight. While Mac is in this writer hell where they wanna make him part of the group with the issue that you can't really do that with wukong in the group? Because of the fucking implications????? Like here is the issue

In season 1-3 macaque and wukong are both kinda just forces of nature. They aren't really part of the protagonist group constant assets.

So it was fine having both of them as this morally greyish good guys

Season 4 raises an issue

Which in my opinion was very stupid on the writers part.

They made mk, THE PROTAGONIST AND AUDIENCE SURROGATE ask a question that we all wanna a clear answer out of.

"what ACTUALLY happened between these two bozos?"

Because this is like a pulcinella secret as One May say

We all know what CANONICALLY happened to macaque but the show doesn't say it. So we MAY BE WRONG

But if we are wrong. This is still a huge fucking issue

Like this is not a "where does comic relief character come from" kinda secret that's completely fine if the story never answer

This is kinda of a big issue

Because if we are right

How are they able to interact with each other?

If we are not then what the fuck happened

Especially because we get to see at the start of s5

That they are still an extremely good team

Anyway I am still very normal about these losers

Okay so

LMK TIMELINE

So my current theory for the timeline of the show as in the past and lore is

- wukong is born and becomes monkey king going through the waterfall

- wukong goes on his quest for immortality where he learns human speech

- he comes home and at some point macaque arrived (because In the scroll macaque and mk see past shadowpeach chatting and wukong said "that's why I trained so hard" and mk asks why he didn't stop and after that we see flashes of what I'm theory comes next)

- wukong goes to the underworld and erases his name

- he goes to the celestial realm where theoretically he becomes bimawen

- he gets the title of great sage and at some point the brotherhood is formed

- I assume he goes back and that's when he steals the peaches and pills

- like in the book he runs away and that's when azure proposes to attack the celestial realm

- war with heaven happens and wukong "loses" (either he actually loses or he accepts defeat we DON'T KNOW)

- he gets put in the furnace

- and then under the mountain

- the shadowpeach fight happens

- wukong gets freed by the monk who gives him the circlet

- the journey where wukong kicks the brotherhood in diyu and beats lbd

- at some point wukong doesn't have the circlet anymore

- after this the samadhi fire and macaque death happen followed by wukong sealing dbk under the mountain

- at some point mk is born from clay/mud/who knows

- mk gets put outside of pigsy's who adopts mk and live until we reach the start of the show

Things we don't exactly know when they happen because they could have happen really early or really late in the timeline:

- when macaque is brought back

- when azure is brought back

- when wukong loses the circlet

- when AO lie or any of the pilgrims die (less important but still)

- when wukong gets the staff (I have a theory but we never got an explanation so-)

- when macaque actually MEETS wukong

[magpiepaws]

LMK S4 THEORY TIME

So I was thinking about the box art that came out recently and thought of something we might see in season 4, involving Mei, the Samadhi fire, and her love for the game Monkey Mech.

[!This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for previous seasons of lego monkie kid, especially season 3!]

Inspired by this thread by colesmonkies on Twitter!

The thread above talks about how season 4 might take place inside a video game, specifically Monkey Mech, or maybe even the unnamed game that Wukong made from S2E6 "Game on". This theory is supported by the fact that Monkey Mech has been a big part of the show since the very first episode, and that it inspired MK's physical monkey mech power - which is the sole thing that separates him from Monkey King as his successor.

This journey into the game (instead of actually traveling to the past) would help tell the story of Monkey King's adventures that were never covered in Journey to the west, like his relationship with Macaque. Because let's be honest, that monkey would never talk about his past problems out of his own free will, especially not that part of his life.

Some people have pointed out that it was suspicious how MK's arcade machine was highlighted next to MK's staff and the scroll in the end scene. We know the latter is definitely going to be important in season 4, and we know Pigsy removed the game from his store when it kept distracting MK from his work too much.

So why does Wukong have it? Did he just want to have the game for himself to play? Or maybe there's something special about it? And most importantly, how would they get INTO the game in the first place?

Mei has a big role in MK's Monkey Mech obsession. It's also her favorite game and she's an expert at it, easily beating him (or anyone else, really) every time they compete against each other.

Very early in the series, in S1E3 "Coming home", she reveals a bit about her childhood, her personal life and her family, and obtains her dragon sword. She has grown a lot since then, going through character development comparable to that of MK himself and other major characters.

In S3E6 "The first ring" she is shown to be able to create, or at least modify, other vehicles and transform them into her own, very much like MK's physical monkey mech. She does this by plugging her dragon sword into it like some sort of overpowered USB stick. This particular vehicle is white gold and blue instead of her usual green, the same color scheme as her Monkey mech horse character (and her outfit on the new box art).

Also why did Red son have an input specifically for Mei's dragon sword in his car? I could go on about this but that's a topic for another post

Mei is insanely powerful even without the sword, or her dragon powers. She has created a fully stocked futuristic secret base, owns multiple personalised motorbikes, put a totally-not-creepy digital tracking system on all of her friends, and probably much more i forgot about while writing this post. She is a massive tech nerd much like Red son, the previous holder of the Samadhi fire.

Thanks to him, Mei has now learned to make the fire her own. This is a huge development, something i assume they won't just gloss over in season 4. I fully expect to see more of her abilities now that she has the fire under her control, especially combined with her dragon powers. We've only seen a snippet of what she can do with it (Including nearly cooking MK alive on like... three separate occasions).

I was watching the season 3 specials again, and one thing Red son said stuck out to me:

The samadhi fire is more than just an inextinguishable flame. It's an interdimensional weapon, with the destructive power to burn through the very fabric of reality."

Season 3 put emphasis on the fact that the fire could destroy reality. But what if through some training, the fire could also modify it, BEND it? We know Mei can teleport now, so it wouldn't be too far fetched to assume she could use this INTERDIMENSIONAL weapon to travel between realities.

We've seen that Mei can plug her sword into things to give them a "power up". So what i think might happens is that she will use it on the Monkey Mech arcade machine, and using the samadhi fire's interdimensional abilities, somehow transport herself and her friends into the reality of the game where (a big part of) season 4 will take place. She will need to leave her sword plugged in while being in there, which could explain why she doesn't have it with her in the box art.

TLDR: My theory is that the plot of season 4 will be about Mei plugging her dragon sword into the Monkey mech arcade machine, and transporting herself and her friends into the game thanks to her new samadhi fire powers.

I don't really have an idea for why they would enter the game and how the scroll could to this. Maybe they just wanted some fun, or it was an accident? Either way, they would need to find a way to get out back to their own reality, either by finishing the game or with help from outside. (Red son on Guanyin? Flying Bark? pls?)

Let me know your thoughts!

------------

EDIT 3/12/2022: MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BECAUSE MORE SETS CAME OUT!

The man antagonists of the new sets are the yellow tusk elephant, azure lion and golden-winged eagle which are minor characters in Journey to the West. The Rhino king was a character from JTTW that made a cameo in Wukong's game in S2E6, so it's likely that these three new animal-based characters will have a similar antagonistic role.

But what stood out to me are their sidekicks, called "ink demons". These demons are original characters, never appearing in JTTW. @/sonofwu on twitter pointed out that heir names imply that there's a possibility our main cast will dive into the world of a book (the scroll from S3E14?) instead of a video game, or that the characters in the book come alive into the real world of Monkie kid.

Since Mei gets a lot of focus in the sets, and her and MK being the only ones not as their past selves unlike Pigsy, Sandy and Tang, I believe there's still a possibility of her using her sword to take MK and herself into this dimension (either into the book or the game) instead of traveling to the past.

Something that stood out to me as well was the backgrounds for these sets, which appear very similar to the scenery in Wukong's game from S2E6. This could support the theory that they'll travel into this game instead of Monkey Mech.

In one set, MK, Mei, and the original versions of Pigsy and Sandy are shown to be vendors of some kind of stores (for example, Mei being a blacksmith). Maybe this implies that they'll take part in the game as NPC's too, like how the original Tang did in Wukong's game.

Also, you know how I said Pigsy, Sandy and Tang looked like their past selves in these sets? They also have VERY similar outfits to their game counterparts! I wonder if this means anything....

Let me know your thoughts!