#mhw09 personal

[cave-monkey]

Six Ears, and being left.

#mhw09 personal #gif warning #*screaming into knees* #can I draw your attention to his HAND PLEASE #I didn't realize that was going to be a *thing* #that little WAVE #I paid subzero attention to the closing and it was because I was subconsciously protecting my heart apparently #listen to me listen #it's about 'and a double-edged sword cuts your heart in two' #torn between Stone Monkey and *gestures to everything else in his life* *like literally everything* #it's about Stone Monkey going where Six Ears can't follow #and where the line is between staying behind and being left behind #and so he's stuck in place. watching him leave. weights around his ankles. #whether those be his duty to his troop or the demons in his head #always holding back. always in-between. always feeling like he's going to lose *something*. #six ears and that fear that's inside him #I've only seen 11 episodes and have just One Major Spoiler in my pocket am I barking up the wrong tree? MAYBE #but here we are anyway #also Jade Rabbit looking at him in concern from the background! this missing scene is gold. too bad it's on eternal mute.

[cave-monkey]

#mhw09 personal #episode 7 #gif warning #literal moments before disaster #but look at them! they're so CUTE #this whole episode had little moments that had me actually laughing out loud #the animation team did a great job

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 3

Them having Stone Monkey (apparently purely on instinct) constantly scratching while being introduced to the troop was pretty cool, since that's a legitimate deescalation behavior in monkeys. Something about how revealing stress acts as a bonding behavior and makes it less likely they'll be attacked. Humans do it too, kind of, when they rub at their hands or shoulders or neck (etc. etc.) when nervous or overwhelmed. ("Empathize with me! I am very stressed!").

Also something-something instinctive behaviors aside Stone Monkey being excited/overwhelmed/maybe a little overstimulated and choosing "ESCALATION!!!" as his response to all of that. He thinks the troop being scared of him is hilarious. He's scratching the fur off his arms but he's also going to get right up in your face anyway. Cautiously join him in admiring his cool new rock? He is going to play-lunge and also scream. Absolutely amazing. The troop has no idea what to do with these mixed signals. This kid is a menace and I love him.

Six Ears even gets in on the scratching behavior occasionally in the background, which might be because Stone Monkey actively terrorizing literally everyone trying to be playful (because he has the social skills of a literal, actual rock) is stressing Six Ears right out or it could be an attempt to deescalate on Stone Monkey's behalf. Monkey version of following in his new friend's wake throwing apologetic grimace-smiles at everyone. Possibly it's both. Point is: They included these behaviors and it's very fun.

You can also tell it worked because in just the journey to the cave you watch the four generals' views on Stone Monkey go from "uncanny valley horror entity lurking in the forest probably to kill us all" to "what a rude little kid >:| Emphasis on RUDE."

And, okay, I admit, I have softened my stance on the four generals. Somewhat. They seem to actually be taking their jobs seriously now. Maybe Episode 1 was a wake-up call and they won't utterly fail to notice an incursion until it's in the heart of their territory again. I don't want to go too crazy, but maybe they'll even be able to even muster a coherent response! Good for them.

Should probably still not be managing children, though.

Speaking of, Six Ears's increasing despair watching the train wreck in motion that was the four generals fumbling hard in giving Stone Monkey his very first etiquette lesson after he finally settled down and seemed willing to hear them out is also very relatable and hilarious. He knows they failed the test. Stone Monkey is definitely never going to listen to them again. They blew it. RIP Flower Fruit Mountain.

Stone Monkey does check in with Six Ears when he decides the generals are useless about explaining though, and that's pretty cute. He trusts his friend :) He also definitely internalizes that thing about having to ask to leave the presence of the king, so at least they managed to teach him some manners. ONE manners. A single manner. (Spoiler: They immediately regret this.)

But hey! This time Six Ears is left entirely to his own devices and still manages to get caught smack in the middle of enemy action. Not the Generals' fault for once! Six Ears just attracts this kind of thing, I guess.

3/3 Six Ears is Damsel-ed, but only 2/3 it's the adults' fault. The tally develops.

#also not gonna lie I first thought stone monkey might have hella fleas. he still might to be honest. someone check up on that. #mhw09 personal #squinting at old monkey king pretending to be asleep this episode #my guy you were definitely ACTUALLY out of it in episode 1 don't you be acting like you weren't #you passed out in the middle of an invasion and almost got your kid killed #the fact you managed to make it to your seat BEFORE you passed out so you could pretend you were just too cool for the LITERAL INVASION #doesn't mean a dang thing. you're not fooling me. #also. stop that. you are giving the troop SEVERELY mixed signals #I am easing up a liiiittle more on the generals since it seems the old monkey king is actively hiding and obfuscating the severity of his #condition from the very people who are presumably meant to help him shoulder the burden of leading the troop #no wonder they don't take him fretting about his age seriously: he's turning it into a joke himself #considering episode 1 and then here and also how much more energetic he seemed in episode 2 #I'm headcanoning (if this isn't just straight up canon) that old monkey king has good days and bad days #but you can't tell which he's having because he uses his good days to turn all his bad day low energy behaviors #into games. it's all DELIBERATE guys. he's keeping you on your TOES. he isn't LITERALLY DYING- #hiding his weakness makes perfect sense on the *whole* in keeping his troop from panic and insecurity. maybe. #but it's not smart that he's even letting his generals believe it #they're still not off the hook for throwing a kid out to face the horror movie monster they were convinced was living in the woods though! #and it's no excuse for being THAT negligent in their duties and then their straight-up professional incompetence in episode 1 #they let themselves get rusty and put everyone in danger and that's on them #but not being as much of a help to their king as they should be maybe isn't so much their fault #if they're being lied to about how much the old monkey king can actually handle. BY the old monkey king. #I GUESS #dang this troop is a total mess. I love it.

[cave-monkey]

I'm watching Monkey King 2009, and I know a bit of what happens to Six Ears later so I can't help but look at things through that lens, specifically the ways the FFM troop are a hot mess in a way that's actually kind of interesting and addressed in the show (to the extent a kid's show generally touches on those things). Like! The fact it's only the second episode and the troop is now two-for-two throwing Six Ears to the wolves at the first available opportunity! I decided to look back on what happened the last time they did this and go ahead and outline the thoughts I was having on it because, apparently(!), this was not a one-off! And I was not overreacting!

The very first fight scene in the series in Episode 1. Analysis, go!

Specifically, the part where a child is the one facing down the leader of the enemy warband, a combatant who already mowed through the advances of two experienced, trained adults with minimal effort, and the show...actually kind of goes a semi-realistic route with it?

Six Ears starts off strong and confident. He's basically an adult, his king put him up to this, of course he can handle it! He won't let him down!

And he does a pretty good job! It's very kid's show fun and punchy.

But then the Demon King of Havoc - an adult, a trained fighter, a blooded fighter - starts buckling down. And Six Ears slips up. And then he keeps slipping up.

It's not fun anymore. Six Ears is in way over his head and he knows it. So you get this (honestly kind of heartstring-tugging) shot of him glancing away while the Demon King approaches to look for his mentor and idol for help or guidance or something. He's a kid, he's scared now, and he wants his grandfather.

...and finds him asleep.

Now in most media I'd expect this to either be the mentor-figure feigning indifference or carelessness to encourage their pupil to handle the problem themselves (and implying in the process that they never doubted their pupil's ability to handle it - that they were never in actual danger), or this would just be building tension before the seemingly-oblivious mentor-figure suddenly intervenes at the critical moment.

But, of course, Six Ears isn't the actual protagonist, and that's not what happens. Six Ears looks to his king for help, finds none, and that's it. The Demon King of Havoc goes in for the kill and all Six Ears can do is run.

And he does, and he runs and runs and runs, farther and farther from his troop and anyone who can help because apparently no one was paying attention to the kid who was taking on the leader of the entire opposing force by himself, and he barely stays ahead of the sword, the trees the Demon King sends crashing down on him, and he's blatantly not able to do anything more than survive moment to moment.

And then he can't run anymore.

And the Old Monkey King doesn't show up. We find out he was never going to show up.

We get a shot of the Old Monkey King slowly waking up way back in the camp well after this scene, in response to Stone Monkey's hatching. (He also stands bolt right up, which is probably meant to be in shock at the giant stone rocketing into the sky wreathed in universe energy but I also like to think might also have been a "Where the FUCK is my KID" just so I can imagine someone was concerned about Six Ears during all this.)

Like, I cannot emphasize enough, Six Ears would be dead if Stone Monkey hadn't been hatching at this exact moment. An energy burst from the hatching blinds the Demon King long enough for Six Ears to bolt and start the chase again. That's what saves him. And then again when Six Ears manages to get the egg between him and a blow from the Demon King's sword.

Considering how eager the generals are to throw Six Ears to Stone Monkey when they're still convinced he's a legitimate danger in literally just the next episode, presumably just days after all this went down, and I...sort of think they were fully aware Six Ears was likely going to die to the Demon King. While I hesitate to say they didn't care at all, they showed in Episode 2 pretty clearly that they definitely cared way less about a child of their troop's likely death than they did about saving their own skins. Not enough to back him up, not enough to go after him when he's forced to flee, not enough to take on the fight in his place.

Which is tremendously messed up all on it's own, but it gets worse because these generals are all for treating him like a young kid when it's convenient for them. They see him as a child! But they're just as quick to throw him under the bus of adulthood as soon as that's convenient for them. Whatever requires the least effort from them, that's what they want him to be.

Seriously, who the hell is taking care of this kid? Because at this point it sure seems like the Old Monkey King - who is very old and very tired and whose body is blatantly failing him - is stuck not only trying to keep his troop in something vaguely resembling working order and secure them as much as possible for his imminent death no one but him seems concerned with, but is also somehow expected to be the primary (if not sole) caregiver of a young child. Something he can't be. Like, geez, guys. Let the man wither away in peace without piling on him more fraying threads of the things he can't possibly tie up properly before he goes, thanks!

Not to mention how this would blatantly conflict with the Old Monkey King's need to have a successor as soon as possible, since the most eligible adults in his troop are, apparently, all lazy cowards who are entirely unsuitable. He brings it up like two or three times in the first episode alone, so this is clearly something that's stressing him out, and his best option is still a boy. Meaning Old Monkey King is in a position of having to desperately (but trying not to show that he's desperate) push Six Ears to grow up just a little faster because he doesn't know how much longer he has left. There's just not a lot of room for him to just let Six Ears be a kid, in those circumstances. He needs a king. He needs Six Ears to make decisions and lead and take risks, even if the ones he's taking are far beyond the sort of things that should be on a kid's shoulders. He can't be his mentor and his grandfather and his king. No one person can be all three of those. Something is going to give. And so the Old Monkey King makes his mistakes. He piles too much on Six Ears too soon. He expects too much of him too soon. He nearly gets Six Ears killed in the first episode. (He accidentally leaves Six Ears vulnerable in the future to adults who want to use him.)

It's a fascinating little set-up. Obviously not really addressed in the show, since it's for kids and framed from a kid's perspective, which is also sort of genius? I'm thinking of the second episode where the generals are more than willing to dump Six Ears on the sacrificial alter, even physically carrying him out the door, an adult on each arm, like he might wise up and get scared and run (and if he did, like they wouldn't let him), and all Six Ears does is laugh. He's a kid. We've all been kids who think some of the most messed up things are perfectly normal simply because you don't have anything to compare it to. This is just the generals being the generals, obviously. They're so silly :)

But adults were writing this show, and I can't imagine an adult writing this not knowing exactly what they were doing. Especially knowing what happens to Six Ears.

Anyway, long story short: I want to fight the generals with my bare hands. I do not want to fight the Old Monkey King with my bare hands, but I do want to give him a long, disappointed glare over his cups that I feel like he would understand perfectly.

Also, someone needs to wrap Six Ears up in a burrito blanket and stuff him in a pillow fort with Stone Monkey where nothing can hurt them. That would be nice.

#images under cut #mhw09 personal #if this had a structure it went out the window real fast it's just me yelling about things at some point #okay look I guess I just had a lot to say after just two episodes. that's what blogs are for. (right? right. right.) #not even getting INTO how they talk about Stone Monkey #okay actually let's just not allow these guys around young teens at all. they can't be trusted. #you know what old monkey king how about you just point at one of the random background NPC monkeys we see hanging around and make THEM #your successor? #come on now #you're desperate and it's gotta be better than the literal child you are lovingly handcrafting SEVERAL major complexes for as we speak #and while we're on this topic how about you point to four random ones and make them your new Generals! #I mean sure the fact Ma Beng Liu and Ba are the Marshals/Generals probably means the others are somehow LESS competent or able #(maybe a cultivation level thing?) #but come on #actually I'm wondering if the Generals' lack of care for Six Ears comes from a similar place as their #fear and aversion to Stone Monkey #Six Ears is pretty blatantly noooot really a monkey “like them” either? #so wherever he came from I wonder if they had just as strong objections about HIM at some point #obviously they'd be mostly over them by now but...I dunno man #I wonder if they think of him less as a monkey kid and more as their king's weird alien pet project #oh! almost forgot! episode 2! the fact they off-handedly say they'll at least be hiding nearby in case Six Ears needs help #but uh...a whole-ass imp attacks him and they are nowhere to be found. Surprise surprise. #ugh they're the worst #they better get kicked into shape and grow better as people or they better get buried istg #that's a bit extreme #I mean it though #or at least replaced all right we'll go with 'get better or get kicked'

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 15

So this is basically all the many ways Old White Deer is an absolute ass, the episode, right?

Look, I don't want to feel bad for King Flood Dragon, all right. Dude was having the time of his life terrifying and trying to drown two kids (and succeeding, so far as he's aware), but Old White Deer is just that bad, I guess. I want to slap this dude on the back and pep talk him up. He's a big, strong demon king who doesn't need some old stinky deer making him feel small! He EARNED those powers!

Old White Deer threatening to rip his cultivation away from him, though? Yikes. The fact King Flood Dragon even...look, I guess that's sort of like if your abusive family member threatened to, I don't know, take away your PhD? This thing you worked for and earned, and them thinking they have the power to strip it from you? Them saying that they'll get you fired from your job, discredited, and you not doubting at all that they have the power to do that? It's not hard to take a step to the left and see how this would look in real life. Old White Deer also does that thing where he builds King Flood Dragon up just to smash him back down, then sprinkle the tiniest of approvals in there ("I gave you this important responsibility because I trusted you.") to get him back to chasing that high? Old White Deer might as well have written the textbook for abuse. He's hitting all the dockets. Pitting his victims against each other, deliberately setting them up to displease him and making them feel like it's their fault, making them feel like they have to chase his approval, just...Yikes. YIKES.

But also I'm like...80% sure that him getting pissy at King Flood Dragon for his performance at that overlook they were all hanging out on was maybe a snap decision all because Demon King praised King Flood Dragon's power. This is the same guy who was lapping up a little kid's awe and approval just last episode (ugh) (seriously though he repeated his show like three times and kept asking Six Ears to praise him it wasn't subtle), so I guess having his grandson finding someone else (even if that person is his DAD and HIS OWN SON) impressive was just...too much for him. His ego couldn't bear it. He not only had to crush King Flood Dragon back down but he needed to do it in front of Demon King.

This guy. He's so pathetic but so good at being a manipulative shit.

Oh, right, and they're trying to find the Golden Hooped Rod. Good luck with that, I guess. We know they're not going to succeed. RIP King Flood Dragon. Maybe never come back and also change your address. That might be a good life decision.

Stone Monkey found Ginseng Fruit, though! Good. That's good. And how Stone Monkey's laugh actually sounded kind of thick and broken up when he scooped Ginseng Fruit into that hug. I'm not getting emotional, you are.

And then they meet this little con artist. Biggest takeaway from that scene? Stone Monkey's face going from slightly baffled to delighted the second Little White Dragon opened his mouth and started scamming the shit out of them. The second he started in on his "Oh! The agonies!" Stone Monkey's face split into the biggest grin.

I've said it before, but this kid has a type, I swear to god. All his friends would sell you to satan for a single corn chip, all for their own somewhat horrible reasons, and Stone Monkey loves them for it.

Ginseng Fruit managing to peg him right off the bat strictly because of their flair for the dramatic, though. "WHO ARE YOU ON THE RUN FROM?!" be still his drama-loving heart.

This Sea Demon guy says capture, army immediately begins screaming KILL?, huh? Then they throw a giant death octopus at them? And the "capture" guy busts out with, "Yes. YES. Eat well, Giant Octupus!"? Well, that clears that up. The army knew what was expected of them right away, clearly lol.

Anyway, I thought that discrepancy in commands and actions was weird even before finding out later that the Sea Demon worked for Little White Dragon's dad and was supposed to only be recovering him after he just ran away, but after it's definitely. Something. I sure hope Little White Dragon's right and his dad is going to take this terrible man's shitty behavior seriously now and strip him of his rank, but I'm also remembering the source material and the guy Little White Dragon is meant to be based off of, specifically the death penalty part, and, uhhhh...

Well, we can hope.

Little White Dragon and Stone Monkey being two peas in a pod was adorable, though. Even when we find out that the entire reason Little White Dragon put them through all that was because he was bored. That's it! He didn't want to read and recite books anymore. Stone Monkey (of course, but also ironically coming from the guy out on a dangerous world-spanning quest to go to school) is perfectly understanding, of course, and it's not that I'm without sympathies for the drudgery, but still. They could have died!

Convenient that Little White Dragon knows all about Patriarch Subodhi though, lol. Not even a little vague, either! Right down to his address! The writers needed to get this journey moving.

Ginseng Fruit going max possessive wasn't all that surprising. Them turning into an absolute brat about it was...a little? For instance, their arms-folded-behind-the-back pensively staring into the distance thing. Hilariously ominous! That calm look over their shoulder when Stone Monkey dubiously commented on how good their eyes were after they sent Little White Dragon on a wild goose chase and their serene "Would I deceive you?", too. Absolutely amazing. I busted out laughing.

Can a single one of Stone Monkey's friends not be just a little bit evil? Not be one bad day away from their villain arc? A single one? I mean, apparently not. He does this to himself, though. He's drawn to this kind of thing.

Anyway, I'm glad Ginseng Fruit's lowkey preference for an unhealthy codependent relationship with Stone Monkey got called out, addressed (a little), and that they were neatly reset back to their normal levels of "weirdly intense" and less "budding evil".

It's such a good thing Little White Dragon is cut from similar cloth to Stone Monkey and thinks this is all hilarious. Ginseng Fruit scraped their nerves a couple times (those comments about his people at the Dragon Palace definitely weren't taken particularly well, and no wonder, like, seriously, Ginseng Fruit, don't be a jerk) but overall they had the patience of a saint. I'm pretty sure they're riling them up on purpose at the end. Ginseng Fruit deserves it though, so it's fine. It's good for them.

There was also Old Monkey King sitting on the cliff, watching the ocean, and the four generals begging him to go to bed. On one hand, he did just turn one of his kids loose on a raft on the open ocean, and his concern is totally fair. Him worrying about Stone Monkey is nice. On the other, you have shit to do, my guy. Don't think no one noticed that cough. Go to sleep, and then maybe go check on that other kid you still have. I know he's not your intended successor anymore, but dang.

I realize Old Monkey King probably didn't intend to sign up to be the primary caregiver of two kids, but...well, no one else is going to do it, so he kinda did put himself out there, and he just ripped the rug out of from under one of those kids, and he knows it, because there's no way he didn't know what he was doing when he was training up Six Ears. Has anyone even seen Six Ears since Stone Monkey left?

Old Monkey King, come on now.

The fact Six Ears was actually there the whole time is also kind of...he couldn't have been expecting to really get anything useful out of it? I'm not sure how the magic mind-whammy affects his feelings about things like this, but doesn't that mean he was just...hanging out, watching Old Monkey King watching the ocean, waiting for...something? Just being near?

Because that's kind of sad.

One of the funniest exchanges of the episode though, was probably General Ba girding himself for battle and wading into Old Monkey King's melancholy like a blunt force instrument. "Your kid is SMART. Your kid is FINE. Go to SLEEP." and it actually kind of worked!

(I don't think Six Ears is aware Stone Monkey is supposed to be dead yet. Hm. I wonder what would happen to this level of magic-whammy/corruption/whatever it is if Six Ears found out about that anytime soon.)

#mhw09 personal #abuse tw #I wonder if Six Ears is subconsciously trying to seek comfort in Old Monkey King but can't make himself actually go to him #I wonder if he'd do this when he was younger too - just curl up near old monkey king if he was bothered about something #maybe hoping to be found maybe not #even pre-old white deer six ears was reserved and preferred to hide his 'flaws' and fears than admit to them. a major part of the problem #and now maybe there's this resentment working to keep him away too #ugh it's sad

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 14

I feel like someone on the writing team took umbrage to the idea a little bamboo raft would do well in open ocean. The pointed camera angle on the stores falling into the water the second they hit rough seas seemed...targeted lol.

Anyway, another lower-energy episode. I can't really say "calmer" since Old White Deer on screen together with Six Ears makes my skin crawl and feel anything but calm (Six Ears is not acting right at all, what did he do?), but it was definitely transitional, at least.

Speaking of Old White Deer, he has all these 干 relationships and it's so freaking weird. First there was just Demon King, now there's King Flood Dragon, and then Six Ears. Are there others? Does he just make a habit of this? Is this how he acquires minions? Six Ears calls him teacher right now, but is Old White Deer someday going to try to induct him into this creepy, creepy "family"? This weird cult? Were King Flood Dragon or Demon King and whoever else at one point also kids he lured in off the street, or got in good with their parents' trust somehow?

I don't like this???

Augh. Old Monkey King, please cave this guy's skull in with your staff. That might sound excessively violent. It's not. Like, why did Old White Deer go through the trouble of changing Six Ears's clothes with that spell last episode? Aesthetic? He's not a doll? Everything about this is so fucking creepy and I wasn't actually expecting it to be this creepy?

ANYWAY

Six Ears was present when Stone Monkey left! The credits have them talking too, which is great, and actually kind of make Six Ears look more conflicted and sort of...like himself than the actual episode makes him out to be. Which is also good, but also...I'm confused about the extent of that mind-whammy spell? I guess it'll become clearer over time. He was present, though. I sure hope one of the adults picked up on the fact he's not acting right :) And wonder where he's getting off to. Checking up on him after that pretty public outburst at least, maybe. That would sure be nice.

And if my entire lack of any mention of them whatsoever wasn't a clear enough sign, I...do not especially care about the heaven subplot. It gets smiles out of me occasionally, like when Laozi and General Li had their chat, and I try to keep track of things like - apparently they all have Precious Heavenly Birds that are also sometimes inanimate objects that they fight like beyblades or something? (why???) but...*heavy sigh*. I just don't care. Especially not about Fucking Dipper. That guy is...not the worst because Old White Deer exists, but he is up there. He is extremely up there.

And now, because Wudou the Absolute Tool has apparently decided to finally start putting that awful, petty little plot he's been not-so-subtly "slyly insinuating" to everyone in heaven about for the entire damn show into motion, I have to actually pay attention to him. Ugh.

Though him ending up in the middle of the monkey troop was a treat. Especially with them still so wired and territorial after almost all dying to the Demon King's army. Like, to be fair, they found a random stranger essentially taking photos of the entrance to their home, and that's a bit worrying for most people even when not regularly engaged in life-threatening warfare with their neighbors. Did they still jump to conclusions? Yes, absolutely. Would Wudou have deserved this if some nice paintings were really all he wanted? Of course not. But he's him, I've been stuck watching him weasel his way around being slimy and proprietary about Flower Fruit Mountain for pretty much the entire time I've known him, and so these guys giving him absolutely no quarter felt great, actually. No one deserves the four generals being the four generals at them more, honestly. I only wish they'd kept talking to him longer. They may have actually been able to make him cry with frustration. Especially Marshal Liu.

Also I called it, I called it, I even noticed this last episode but forgot all about it after the emotional bomb of those last five minutes, but General Ba really will not let General Beng say a single word anymore without immediately screaming GRANDPARENT TALK at him. It's so funny. Just let the man speak!

Especially when it gives us gems like General Beng, Mr. "I got praised once as a child for reading a book of poetry and I made it my whole identity" of all people busting out a sudden: "What the fuck just happened???" into the dead silence after Wudou's sudden vanishing.

Look, I'm harsh on them, but I really don't hate the four generals. I just think they should never in any way have any direct authority over children. They are better people when interacting with other adults and especially each other, honestly.

My heart, despite itself, did soften a little at General Beng and Marshal Ma yelling at Stone Monkey to just come back home if it was too hard, and all the commanders and maybe the whole troop picking it up. Though I also noticed how much better their attitudes became when Stone Monkey was given an actual title, especially one as prestigious as heir to their king. Definitely noticed that. Especially when them yelling at him to come home soon and safe contrasted their dead silence when they let him leave into the wilds of Flower Fruit Mountain entirely on his own just a few episodes ago :) Some things in life really are so much easier when you have status, I guess!

BUT. Stone Monkey. His calming breath as he looks out over the open ocean in front of him before buckling down was a really good moment? I liked that a lot. He was taking the adventure pretty okay, too! Cheerfully settling in, brightly looking for solutions to some minor inconveniences, and then...Ginseng Fruit is broken out of their gourd hiding place and you see Stone Monkey go through a mini-crisis when he realizes Ginseng Fruit is now in danger right along with him and Stone Monkey is going to have to keep them safe. The stress just slams back down. He makes the best of it, of course, and doesn't let Ginseng Fruit see much when he gets rattled, and he does genuinely like having friends with him, but I mean. Guy was definitely struggling for a few seconds there. What was he going to do, throw Ginseng Fruit into the ocean if he didn't like them being there? Try and row back to Flower Fruit Mountain against a headwind and the current to drop Ginseng Fruit back off? Like it or not, Ginseng Fruit is there to stay.

And then later when King Flood Dragon reveals himself (and he's a super creepy guy too, genuinely just messing with them and heightening their terror and struggle for fun, and it was actually disturbing), Stone Monkey snatching Ginseng Fruit up and tucking them up against his chest where they're safe and out of the way, immediately taking as much control of the situation as he can? His "Let me handle it!" making a comeback, like when he forcibly removed Six Ears from the canyon when their shelter went down. I think you can tell when Stone Monkey's genuinely scared or stressed because he immediately turns into a control freak about it. Just grabbing his friends and bodily shoving them out of the way as he tries to take over everything. I love this version of Sun Wukong so much. The writers really love examining his protectiveness, and how it's both a virtue and a flaw.

And then him trying so hard to throw Ginseng Fruit to safety when he realized he couldn't get them both out. Ay.

AND his "You can't die. You'll definitely find a big brother better than me someday (read: I'm about to die and I have to imagine you making it out and having a future and being happy and safe even without me because otherwise I'm going to lose it)." Putting all that effort into getting Ginseng Fruit clear, as safe as he can, followed by that long shot of him just having to sit there helplessly as he's pulled down to his death, unable to do anything to save himself.

Shhhush up, I don't have a lump in my throat.

It's okay though because Guanyin's coming in clutch. I couldn't see clearly enough to tell if it was another one of her hairs (if so, he's already gone through two and we're only about a quarter-ish of the way through the show oh no) or if she just called foul on King Flood Dragon and decided to intervene directly.

#mhw09 personal #I think I've transferred some of my tag rambling to the post proper which is why they're so long now #I'm still referring to Stone Monkey as Stone Monkey because that's how he's still calling himself. He doesn't seem to have really #assumed 'Monkey King' yet #he's on his way to Subodhi though so hopefully soon he will be Sun Wukong properly! #yay!

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 13

OW.

#mhw09 personal #WELL THAT WAS UNPLEASANT #I kept having to pause and start again. aaaaah that was hard. that was super hard. I knew it was coming and it still hit like a truck #stone monkey's FACE #old monkey king don't you just walk away and leave it on that note! GET BACK HERE

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 12

Jade Rabbit is the funniest character in this whole show. I will accept argument but you will not win.

The way she just straight tosses Ginseng Fruit once she's done with them, yes, but primarily I am talking about her faces. The look after she casually takes Ginseng Fruit prisoner? Absolute gold. Love it. Also the way she might soften a little but still gives zero ground whatsoever. Oh, you were gathering food for a starving refugee population? How noble! You're still wrong and should feel bad, but in light of this new information you've earned five seconds to grovel for forgiveness.

I love her.

Ginseng Fruit's flair for storytelling makes a comeback and I am here for it. Child was dramatizing for their life so hard they needed a whole other nap after that, and honestly? They earned it. Even made sure to throw in that audience participation. Ginseng Fruit is aiming for pro.

Anyway, back to the program. They're drawing their peaches differently! Huh. Did someone complain about the old style? I never really thought 'peach' when I looked at them, sure, but these new ones are like. Well, they certainly look more like peaches! To be fair! But they're almost so realistic it actually circles back around to looking super weird and sort of off-putting? It might be the coloring not really matching the coloring of anything else. I don't know, maybe they'll grow on me.

Another episode lightly touching on Stone Monkey's flaws and it was really good, actually. Unlike last time, these are less "flaws" that are mostly just products of him trying to survive his environment and more things that make me think, "Oh, yeah, okay. That actually is something he should work on."

The primary ones seem to be 1) a return of his obliviousness toward others' feelings and 2) impulsivity with 3) a dash of 'I'll just do everything by myself'.

Which sort of gets into the Six Ears Situation. Which I thought was really well done this episode. I really like how they're taking care to show why Six Ears - though still definitely going down a concerning path - might be feeling these things and give actual reasons for his growing distance from Stone Monkey. I think the primary example was in the food foraging mission.

Like, nearly from the word go, Stone Monkey doesn't fully grasp the gravity of the situation. This is frustrating for both of them. Stone Monkey, because he doesn't understand why Six Ears is acting so different, and Six Ears, because he feels he can't rely on Stone Monkey, forcing him to go on even higher alert and winding him up that much tighter.

And this is because Six Ears does understand the gravity of the situation. They are in enemy territory and Six Ears is tense. He's a far cry from the kid who was cheerfully helping Stone Monkey fix the peach stores just a couple episodes ago. He wants to get the mission done, get it done right, and go home. For probably the first time since they met, Six Ears doesn't want to play Stone Monkey's games, and Stone Monkey doesn't understand why.

And, honestly, Six Ears is right, is the thing. The peaches? Peaches ripen even off the tree. They're perfectly edible (if not very pleasant) even when they're still very green, so peaches that are just a little green are definitely not that bad. They won't taste as good as a peach left on a tree to fully ripen, but they'll do the job. Six Ears grabbing every peach in range as quickly as possible is absolutely the right thing to do when they need to get in and out quickly, and have so many mouths to feed on top of a need to pad out their stores (specifically so what happens to them later in the episode (they end up trapped and starving in a siege) doesn't happen). Stone Monkey wants to help and do right by the monkeys and give them something nice, but his priorities are off. He doesn't have a sense of urgency and he's not really thinking long-term. He's also not really willing to listen when Six Ears explains. This is a very realistic form of miscommunication and mutual frustration and I love how they wrote it and included it.

I also love Old Monkey King's delight at Jade Rabbit bullying Stone Monkey into teamwork. Man was tickled.

And then later when Stone Monkey throws himself out of the cave to "lead them away", therefore immediately giving away their entire position even though the Demon King was still unsure, preventing them from using that time to better prepare themselves? Even Old Monkey King shouted after him to stop that shit. You know how you have that super laid back guy who is basically never phased by anything and then suddenly they decide to put their foot down and they use that specific voice at three times their normal volume and only a quarter their usual octave and everyone in the vicinity abruptly morph into wide-eyed scolded children no matter their age?

Right, so I have no idea how Stone Monkey didn't shrivel up on the spot. A true superpower.

I gotta say I love Stone Monkey's impulsivity. Any version of a young Sun Wukong just feels so incomplete without it. In this show it's also generally always worked out for him in the past too, so I think this is the first time he's actually messed something up and not been immediately able to fix it? Love that for his character. Sun Wukong should be so competent and capable that he outpaces his development of caution and a true sense for consequences.

And, oh, so now the monkey troops are able to make a stand when their backs are to a wall, huh? No one out here calling for an immediate retreat? Is that so?

Say what you will though, the monkeys continue the trend of a better second showing over the first. They believe in a culture of constant improvement! Old Monkey King is not playing around, either. He hasn't thrown down this hard since Episode 4.

And like Ginseng Fruit's flair for storytelling, Demon King's theater hobby has popped its head back up. He was thrilled to finally be able to use that line. Do you think he's taken the time to mentally sort the monkeys into these opera roles? Who are the painted characters and who gets which face color, buddy? Old Monkey King get his own special category? That's so precious. No, no, don't be shy. I want to hear all your meta.

(But also, show, are you telling me that Iron-Backed Gray Wolf can run sideways on vertical cliff faces but can't balance on a barely shaking branch? Guy, what are you doing.)

Honestly though, this whole battle scene is tense in exactly the right way. Loved it.

*bops Jade Rabbit gently* Stop meta-gaming.

Listen, if Jade Rabbit's going to be accusing anyone of "wanting the acclaim" based solely off their actions, Stone Monkey literally gave away their entire position by deciding all on his own to take on an entire army single-handedly, and prefaced this by solemnly-but-resolutely declaring to the king that he was going alone to "lead them away" despite literally everyone saying, "Wait, don't do that."

He wasn't doing it for praise, but you can't say a case couldn't be made that he was glory hounding. And I'm just saying that if anyone feels the need to accuse anyone else of fishing for praise, Six Ears should probably not be the first name that comes to mind. Just. Based on what little has been seen by a certain person's own two eyes. Get out of the script, Jade Rabbit.

(That is definitely a motivating factor in Six Ears's decision, yes, but the point is how does Jade Rabbit have any reason to know that? She doesn't. *bangs gavel* case closed defendant found guilty of meta-knowledge)

That said, it was sort of a struggle figuring out Six Ears's motivations here. I'd call his plan sort of a contrived event to force the plot along, but I actually think it does make sense. I'm about to ramble a lot, bear with me.

Okay, so Six Ears deciding to quietly stage a surprise attack on the enemy camp at night without input from Old Monkey King or anyone else...doesn't actually fit his character, in most circumstances? At least in my opinion? Since Episode 1, Six Ears has always made sure to declare his intentions/seek permission from at least Old Monkey King before taking on a task, as is typically the proper way to do these things. Just taking off on his own isn't really his MO - that's Stone Monkey's thing. We should also consider even just the beginning of the episode, where he was definitely taking his enemies seriously and trying to handle the whole mission in as efficient and safe a manner as possible, and also being the first to insist to Stone Monkey that he needs to work together with someone. Six Ears abruptly deciding to underestimate them and also go entirely rogue from any authority figure is just...odd.

Unless he doesn't think Stone Monkey was punished for his earlier stunt of throwing himself out of the waterfall in front of the whole Demon King army and trying to take them on single-handedly. (Are you still with me? I swear I'm getting to the point.)

This isn't quite correct. Stone Monkey was sort of being punished. Or at least that's how I took it. Old Monkey King's giving him the same unimpressed and doubtful looks he tends to give the four generals. He's not humoring him or favoring him with any extra patience when he defends Six Ears's plan. Stone Monkey takes it like a champ and convinces him anyway, sure, but only after Old Monkey King listens long enough to decide that Stone Monkey learned something beneficial from his mistake after all, and he's mostly a cold wall until he does. Even when he voices approval, it's not exactly warm. He's far and away from the indulgent figure we usually see around the kids. Stone Monkey is in trouble.

But I'm not sure Six Ears would have seen it that way. In his head, it might look like Stone Monkey's recklessness and impulsivity is what they all want. If he's barely gotten a slap on the wrist for a mistake that big, that's almost approval, isn't it?

So! Six Ears's plan makes sense to me if he's trying to be Stone Monkey. It doesn't sit naturally with him, but he's desperate and scared (see all of last episode) and has spent a good chunk of his life chasing Old Monkey King's approval. I can see him trying, even if he knows it's a bad idea. Six Ears's caution and prudence, after all, hasn't benefited him in a single way he actually cares about - it hasn't kept him safe from the Demon King's army and it hasn't kept him in Old Monkey King's esteem (in his view). If he's deliberately ignoring the voice in his head listing why this can't work and he needs to run it by Old Monkey King right now - all the things he would probably want to say to Stone Monkey, if Stone Monkey had tried anything like this - well, Stone Monkey's been just fine without that voice, hasn't he? And so Six Ears buries it. (I actually think that dramatic hesitation when he's being questioned by the guards is just him internally screaming when he realized he'd have to say his dumb plan out loud. RIP kid, make better choices.)

(He still brought people along, though. No amount of pretending to be Stone Monkey will be able to remove Six Ears's better judgement entirely. He's just gotten started. Give him a bit. He needs to work his way up to Stone Monkey's level. Baby steps.)

Also I agree with Stone Monkey that it's not a bad plan, exactly. It's the way Six Ears is trying to execute it that's wrong, not the plan itself. He's right that they need to break the siege as quickly as possible - they have no other options. They have no food and it's not even a day in, and the longer they wait the weaker they'll get. Even doing nothing, it wouldn't be a week before the Demon King's army could just walk right in with no resistance. A well-targeted, hard-hitting attack when they're most likely to be disorganized and slowest to respond is ideal considering their comparatively weaker fighting force. It's a good plan, actually.

The primary issue is that it's severely under-resourced and lacks any degree of cohesion with the larger troop. Old Monkey King, properly alerted to the plan, could have forces on standby in case something goes wrong and they need to provide an escape route, mount a defense of the entryway, or an opportunity to break the Demon King's army otherwise presents itself. They could make sure there are no conflicting operations. Old Monkey King wouldn't suddenly be absent three guards on the main entrance. I mean, hey, we don't even know if those three guys are good for a stealth mission. They could put together an actual team, maybe.

*claps hands* COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

(Moment of peace for Old Monkey King, having just finished hammering this lesson home in one kid and suddenly having the other immediately forget all his good sense and go sneaking off to single-handedly fight an enemy army.)

(The moment you realize these kids have one rational brain cell between them and by giving it to Stone Monkey he may have forcibly evicted it from Six Ears. Like magnets. They cannot both possess impulse control at the same time.)

(Really funny the whole 'kid sneaks off to single-handedly fight an army' thing happened twice in one day though. Literally can't turn your back on them for a single second, huh?)

#mhw09 personal #watching stone monkey's character develop since episode 2 has been pretty interesting #have some thoughts about how his solitary nature can probably at least partly be a consequence of the troop's keeping him at arm's length #like - why would he look for or assume cooperation with the troop when six ears has so far been his only reliable ally? #(and six ears is the only one he doesn't ever really argue with when six ears wants to go along with him haha ow I hurt myself) #(the only time he ever prevents six ears from helping him is that time he outright threw him to safety rather than let him fight with him) #(still my favorite scene btw) #(and that could be argued to have been a very extreme situation) #(six ears is pretty much the only one trusted to keep up but even that's got its limits) #stone monkey's got a major protective streak that mostly manifests as wanting to do everything by himself for people #and it can easily look like arrogance - in some ways it HAS morphed into arrogance #and it's pretty fun to watch #super frustrating to deal with probably though lol

[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.

#mhw09 personal #this is long but there is SO MUCH this episode and I LOVE IT #six ears ayyyyy kiddo ): #his issues are coming to a head. Most of how I think about it is like #primarily rooted in the fact that trauma in general and PTSD in specific #is very often rooted in a sense of powerlessness #a lack of ability to save yourself or control the situation that hurt you. And if Six Ears hasn't developed PTSD already #I'm almost certain he WILL #he's definitely got some form of compounding trauma that's prompting him to overreact in trying to cling to and control his life #re-establish familiar things and routines #he's still making his own choices here and that's going to be on him. but. #it's just sad watching how the fear is getting to him. and how he's letting it poison his strongest bond ): #oh almost forgot to mention that I like that they managed to work in the finding and accessing of water curtain cave still being the impetu #for Stone Monkey becoming Monkey King #sure sucks they had to wrap in a whole subplot around the fact that being Old Monkey King's heir was strongly hinted to Six Ears to be HIS #future #for most of his entire life #and I'm sure there's no way he's going to see this as yet another threat to his place in the troop (and therefore safety and well-being) #I'm sure he'll handle it with grace and zero overreacting panic and anger whatsoever #and by sucks I mean “Ow. Ow this is going to hurt. But good job writer people. But ow.” #anyway I need to go to bed

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 10

A lot happened, but not a lot happened, you know? Sort of nice compared to the absolutely packed episodes we've been having recently.

No idea how these kids were surfing a log the wrong way up a river and still somehow unable to stop before crashing into the waterfall (did notice Stone Monkey infusing the log with his energy though, it looked like? Pretty cool), but unlike the LAST time we got faked out when Stone Monkey careened toward certain waterfall death, this time we actually found Water Curtain Cave!

I actually really liked how they did it. At first it was kinda, you know, literally just a big cave with a tiny little bridge and I figured Water Curtain Cave was just going to be like that in this series. A bit of a letdown, but hey, a good homemaking subplot in the works, I guess.

BUT NO

They really went hard with making Water Curtain Cave a paradise-within-a-paradise in this one. It's gorgeous. I especially love the swirling carvings on the second hidden entrance, and the way everything is just slightly overgrown. Stone Monkey's blink-and-you-miss-it moment of not really recognizing what the hell the stone bowl was, also pretty fun.

Love this area so much. I love the large, dark cave that leads to this bright, magical door that opens to this absolutely gorgeous hidden grove. It's a 2009 animation series, but they did such a good job. I think it's one of my favorite iterations of Water Curtain Cave.

Also Ginseng Fruit is now calling Stone Monkey "Ge". Relationship development!

Old Monkey King taking this particular assault from the Demon King's army so seriously startled me a bit! He's never been this take charge. I kind of wonder what changed, but I'm personally taking it as a serious loss of faith in the four generals until proven otherwise. He's been mostly hands-off with them, and last episode that led to one of the kids - and it being Stone Monkey in particular - straight up fleeing the troop. Makes sense to me if he's shortened the leash. The defenses were definitely much tighter than they usually are, making me think Old Monkey King was there making sure his plans were meticulously executed, but at the same time the monkeys were way less flexible and aggressive than they've been in the past, and it ended up biting them. Part of that has to be because of plot demands, of course (they needed the monkeys to fail this time so that Stone Monkey had a reason to come running back) but I really like to Watsonian in-universe reasons as much as possible, so speculation is going to happen!

One possibility is that Old Monkey King being directly involved actually backfired because no one wanted to deviate even a little from the strategy - it's the Monkey King's strategy! - leading to the panic and collapse as soon as things went even a little wrong. They over-relied on his defenses and didn't take advantage of the openings presented to properly break down the opposing force when they had opportunities. They had the Demon King's forces separated, confused, and discouraged in record time in this episode, and then...allowed them to re-group. This was ultimately their downfall.

In previous encounters the monkeys still used traps to weaken enemy lines and force them to expend resources, but didn't rely on them so much. These traps also weren't really ever enough to properly disrupt enemy forward progress. The monkeys were much better about taking advantage of ambush opportunities and did not pass up opportunities to pursue. This did a very good job of keeping the enemy forces scattered and focused on flight instead of on counter-attacking or re-establishing communications with each other. This often led to total routes. Once the monkeys managed to break apart the Demon King's forces, they stayed broken. The main problem was getting those opportunities since their traps weren't ever really good enough to make them. They had to rely on luck, and then hope they were able to move their forces fast enough to take advantage of a bad placement or over-extension. This while also playing keep-away with their own forces - keeping them close enough to maneuver while not close enough to be caught outside those ideal circumstances since the four generals strongly suspected a straight fight would not go in their favor (they go over the difference in weapons technology a couple episodes ago, and I think they're right)). It generally worked out okay up until this point, but it was also pretty sloppy and had a high possibility of failure. Too much relied on chance.

Ideally, this episode would have had the best of both worlds. Their defenses were tight. The Demon King's weakness as a field commander is he always defaults to a straight frontal charge and is very slow to change his tactics. They took very good advantage of that and had his army essentially dusted almost as soon as they arrived. They've never had a better opportunity to divide and conquer, as discussed above. The issue was follow-through. As I said, they allowed them to re-group. I'm...really not sure who's at fault for this, honestly. We'd need to have seen the meetings prior to this confrontation. Either Old Monkey King's own orders limited his commanders to the point they weren't able to take advantage of that break (as in, he ordered them not to or otherwise refused to allow them the command authority to make those decisions without his input) or the commanders failed on their own accord to take initiative, either from misplaced confidence in Old Monkey King's presence on the field, a lack of confidence in their own authority with Old Monkey King being right there, or some weird cowardice (to be fair, I'm not thinking it was the latter, though the badly timed retreat order wasn't looking good).

The fact the defense fell apart the second things went a little wrong was not...good. Like at all. Every leader on the field at the time was to blame for that, honestly. The line should not have broken the second the Demon King got the ball for the first time. That retreat order was premature and might have cost more lives than it saved, considering the organization of an attempted rally might have given them the opportunity for a more organized and better defended withdrawal at the very least. The went from zero casualties to hoards of wounded limping with little guidance in random directions in a very short amount of time. Old Monkey King was right to sigh when the order was given to retreat the second things went a little sideways, but he was wrong to have frozen up himself the second he realized his enemy had an actual brain. He was doing a lot of watching and judging this battle, not a lot of taking charge. If his commanders weren't doing it, it was his responsibility to step up.

(Though not countering his Marshal's retreat orders might have been a good decision to keep from confusing his own forces in a very dangerous situation, it's still worth noting that retreating in this instance means his people are left wandering scattered and wounded with no safe place to retreat to. This isn't their first line of defense, it's their first and last. Attempting to rally the monkeys into a counterattack might have been worth it, if only to force some breathing room.)

(All of this to say that I'm not too impressed with the Old Monkey King's performance as a military leader here, either. This was a major example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Sitting in contemplative judgement is all well and good, but sometimes you gotta take charge. This defeat that should not have happened was on him as much as it was the four generals. More, actually. He's got ultimate responsibility.)

(...Figuring out how this might have happened in-universe is pretty fun, actually.)

OKAY DONE. It's safe to come back out now!

Okay, so Jade Rabbit running to Stone Monkey about the Demon King's attack and Stone Monkey's answer being (paraphrased, obviously) "I don't know why! I just...I know I have to go! I need to go."

Immediate thought from me: An unexplainable but driving urge, huh? Is Six Ears about to be captured or almost killed again?

Answer: Yes.

Good to see that whole thing still going strong lol.

(Yes, this was meant to showcase Stone Monkey's remaining attachment and loyalty to the people who took him in, who he owes at least a little, showcasing his better nature and strong morals even toward those who didn't treat him entirely right. Him having a spidey sense but only for Six Ears's impending peril is way funnier though.)

Not gonna lie though, the show does a good job making me feel actual dread sometimes. Six Ears being trapped at the bottom of the pit while the demons one-by-one slowly gathered around the lip, all armed and laughing, with Six Ears helpless at the bottom? All I could think was how badly they could hurt him with Six Ears unable to do anything about it, and it gave me some chills.

The second time was the Demon King ordering them to cut off a set of his ears. Like.

Jesus.

And Six Ears sitting there with his eyes squeezed shut, terrified but trying to pretend he's not because he can't stop them? Surrounded by people who think his pain will be funny, who call him by dehumanizing (you know what I mean) insults instead of by name, about to lose parts of himself, and there's nothing he can do except try not to show them that he's afraid?

Christ.

Stone Monkey's swooping in to stop them with a goofy face was actually really good. Like. I just talked about this, what, two episodes ago, about how it must seem to Six Ears when he's in these situations and Stone Monkey comes in like it's nothing? It felt so jarring to have him sticking his tongue out and mocking them when Six Ears was inches away from having parts of his body cut off. I almost felt a little irritated with him for it, but of course Stone Monkey cares. We couldn't see his face when it was covered by a mask and the camera wasn't focused on him for once, but we know how seriously he takes these kinds of things. We know how quickly he flips from furious to pretending to be careless and unconcerned the second his enemies can see him. We watched it happen real-time in Episode 8, and they're just not showing the lead-up this time. It's pretty cool visual storytelling. Giving you a piece of the puzzle and then taking it away again, leaving you to simultaneously have to remember it on your own and showing you what the picture looks like without it. This is the part of the rescue Six Ears gets to see, and how it must feel to him...pretty interesting.

Now kidnap him back to Water Curtain Cave, Stone Monkey. Get that boy safe behind your magic waterfall. He needs it.

(Stone Monkey seeing a whole hoard of wounded monkeys and jumping straight to "WHERE'S SIX EARS" also caught my attention lol. Nothing to really say about it, but I sure noticed it. Also him hearing they don't know where to go and not immediately offering up Water Curtain Cave.)

(We know he's going offer up Water Curtain Cave, but I mean. I liked that he wasn't immediately on board with letting these guys into his home right off the bat. He's got limits.)

That's about all I got. Good episode! Six Ears with a fire arrow, absolutely awesome. Also liked seeing him using his ears for...maybe the first real time since Episode 1? Right before he almost loses them? LOVELY.

#mhw09 personal #torture tw #doesn't actually happen to any characters but it's threatened and I go over it a bit #I really thought this was going to be a quick recap but then I started taking fictional kids' show battle tactics too seriously #Also also. Old White Deer. I do not like this budding obsession that seems to be happening there. #He was creepy enough last episode we don't need MORE creepy #stop luring kids into your home to drug them! how about that! #and then being mad when they set it on fire! you have to admit you had that one coming!

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 9

The one where Stone Monkey blows up a mountain I guess.

TIME SKIP

TIME SKIP

Old Monkey King is BACK BABY. And Stone Monkey immediately mellows out! Fancy that! Literally all Old Monkey King has to do is go, "He's not that bad, actually." at the four generals complaining and Stone Monkey is immediately chill, full of love and benevolence for the world. All the tension he's carrying just drops, basically (or at least resets him to late Episode 5/very early Episode 6 levels of frustration, basically the same thing compared to where he's been at recently), and you can practically see the relief when he realizes someone with actual weight is in his corner again. He's so happy he's even calmly accepting a pretty harsh punishment for something that was, uh...only sort of peripherally his fault at best? And even defending his deserving of it to Ginseng Fruit.

Amazing how well offering a kid just a little bit of security works, amirite. Almost like he no longer feels like every vaguely confrontational interaction is the death knell on his right to exist or something.

At least until those people go behind Old Monkey King's back to harass the kid to the point he finally gives up and leaves and they don't even try to stop him. Old Monkey King is so done with their shit, too. Between him flat-out telling them that if anything happens to Stone Monkey it's on them (and himself too, and the entire troop to a lesser extent, but the message was for them) and earlier in the episode when they came up to him and he immediately went from 😄 to "...What do you want? 😒" it's a wonder these guys even have the confidence to pull this shit. They're on such thin ice. I have the distinct impression they've been skating here since Episode 4 too, so like, there's thin ice and then there's the vaguely frosty condensation layer these guys are tapdancing on.

Six Ears's entrance was super cute, though. Him sliding in determined to cheer Stone Monkey up and the way Stone Monkey lit up at seeing him. The half-hearted "You should go rest" but knowing Six Ears won't leave him, and Six Ears laughing at him about it, and how easy they were while working together later. Six Ears appears and Stone Monkey's day is immediately 500% better. The sun has risen. It is a new dawn. They are so cute.

...Even though I am chock-full of questions about where, exactly, Six Ears was. He came "back"? So late at night? Like, come on, but this just keeps happening. He's often off somewhere by himself and this time it wasn't him taking himself off on a mission to track Stone Monkey down since Stone Monkey was actually sticking close to the troop for once. All the four generals were asleep, so who was keeping track of him? What was he out there doing?

They're not sending him out on his own, right? Because I feel like we all know why that's been proven to be a very bad idea. Not that I expect the four generals to make solid decisions there, exactly. Heck, maybe they think he's good bait (they had better not think he's good bait). Maybe they don't care as long as it keeps him and Stone Monkey separated. Maybe the timeskip means Six Ears and Stone Monkey are actually getting something approximating real responsibilities now instead of ones they just sorta give themselves, and the wonky schedules are just...actually maybe also an attempt to keep them separated. I think the likeliest possibility is he was tagging along with a patrol or something, but. Hm.

Anyway. Tangent over.

Him desperately throwing himself between Stone Monkey and the four generals trying to defend him was just...really sad, though? Who in the writer's room okay-ed this? He's trying so hard to protect Stone Monkey and his voice actor did a really good job getting across the desperation and nerves, a kid trying to talk down grown adults, and it's just. Ugh. Ow.

And Stone Monkey watching him beg for him and watching it get him nowhere, knowing that the four generals don't want to change their minds, and just. Losing it. Finally. My heart was in my boots during this scene. Stone Monkey taking off, and Six Ears turning back to the four generals and now he's nearly screaming, "You can't do this, it's not safe, what's going to happen to him?" but it still doesn't touch them at all, and Six Ears turns back around, the anxiety and fear, going in circles, but Stone Monkey's already gone. And then that sad little wave and it's all straight to the heart for me. Ugh. UGH.

*drags hands down face*

UGH.

I don't blame Ginseng Fruit for losing their temper, even if the results were like this. It was not a good way to handle it, but they beat themselves up for it so much throughout the episode already it's pointless to condemn them. They're young, and angry that their friend is being mistreated, and they lashed out. It was maybe inevitable.

Ginseng Fruit and Stone Monkey's relationship was really nice this episode, actually. The timeskip has helped them smooth out some of the rougher edges of their relationship, and they're apparently together all the time these days, for reasons sort of touched on in the episode? They exist in very similar states of loneliness, and that similarity pushes them together even if they aren't naturally very compatible. They still clash, they still fumble and don't quite succeed when trying to give each other the support they want to give, but they choose to make it work anyway, even if it's not especially smooth all the time. It's a good relationship.

I should talk more about Old White Deer, but I'll admit my entire reaction to the Stranger Danger PSA that was the latter half of the episode was primarily:

CHILDREN. CHILDREN NO. CHILDREN PLEASE.

And, honestly, I feel like that sums it up. There was not a single point past encountering Old White Deer where I wasn't screaming some variation of the above in my head. Creepy man.

Like. The tea. The fucking tea. Stone Monkey, please.

In Stone Monkey's defense, the last time he was approached by a random person in the middle of the forest and they asked him to follow them home, he met his best friend and it worked out sort of okay for him. He's also predisposed to a fondness for trickster mentors after Old Monkey King. He's learned all the wrong lessons for this encounter, okay. Some very alarming wires got crossed somewhere in his head and it did not do him any favors here.

But it's okay though, because he blows up the mountain.

!

!!!

Just! Sets that big hunk of rock on fire! He did not have to do that, but I can't blame him for feeling a little pyro-y, I suppose. He can have a bit of arson. As a treat. Make the creepy-crawlies from being drugged and left tied up on the floor of a creepy old man go away, maybe.

...This episode was so viscerally uncomfortable, though. Good job, writers. I hate it.

I hope Old Monkey King on the horizon is looking at this giant flaming mountain in the distance like, "...Well at least I know where he is."

#mhw09 personal #the four generals thing comes to a bit of a head and I wasn't actually prepared #old monkey king come pick up your kid please he needs to go home right now #also: stone monkey can control bees now? #or rather he...has made friends with the bees? #was the bee swarm a result of his little bee friend returning to her hive and unleashing the bees of war on the four generals? #like I'm just saying...that seemed targeted #and also can stone monkey being able to sic bees on people be like. talked about. #can we discuss that incredibly alarming possibility? #stone monkey has pocket bees I hope the four generals never sleep again #the only acceptable scenario to driving stone monkey out: they took one look at that situation and went 'mm MM NOPE. that kid needs to GO.' #also bless jade rabbit hanging out while the demon king howls about flattening flower fruit mountain #and being so alarmed #she's only really been involved in one skirmish herself so far so I guess she's new to this #but my child they threaten that like. every episode. #we're old hats at this just sit back and watch- #OH MY GOD SIX EARS IS OUT HERE UNSUPERVISED #SHIT

[cave-monkey]

Like rocks tossed in rock tumbler, and unknown to me, my brain's apparently been working on the thought of 'Stone Monkey is pretty violent when he's genuinely angry, actually' that's popped up a couple times in the last few episode babblings I've done, because it just abruptly spat out, apropos of absolutely nothing:

'Well, obviously. It's not really any wonder he reacts to any and all perceived threats so violently considering he's been participating in a war where he and his best friend are both high profile targets since Day 1 of his existence, consequences of failure: Someone he cares about dies, or he does. Old Monkey King almost did. Any possible threat, to him, would feel like life or death. And so that's how he responds. Doesn't matter if it's Ginseng Fruit making fun of Jade Rabbit or the Demon King actually trying to kill Six Ears.'

Which. 1) I was literally just cooking breakfast, brain, and didn't ask, but thanks, I guess. And 2) That's a fun way to give a reason for and adapt young JttW Sun Wukong's canonical anxiety over death/the future and protectiveness. Give him heaps of ongoing trauma!

#mhw09 personal #I got task paralysis and have been fighting myself to finish episode 9 for like two weeks now #where did this even come from #I love this show a lot #I desperately need to get more than less of 1/5th of the show watched though or I'm going to mangle the heck #out of what little of it I do know #you can only chew on bits and pieces for so long before they become unrecognizable #brain you will meet me at dawn for fisticuffs. bring the task paralysis.

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King Episode 8 (Part 2/2)

*BUSTS THROUGH THE DOOR* All right, time to finish this!

It's been two days since I watched this episode let's see what stuck.

"The Six-Eared Macaque has six ears! Isn't he really cute?"

Ginseng Fruit thinks Six Ears is cute. Canon.

Okay, so. The fake bunny ears? Absolutely adorable. Holy shit. These kids are the cutest. Jade Rabbit's body dysmorphia is probably on a level to qualify as the full disorder, and that's less cute and more sad and distressing, but it's so nice this attempt at comforting her worked and they were able to make her feel a little better about it.

Stone Monkey was so worried about her, too! Six Ears was clearly only there as emotional support (desperately needed, because Stone Monkey was not doing okay) since he had no idea who she was and Ginseng Fruit just didn't like her, but Stone Monkey probably would have started ripping the island apart stone by stone to find her if they hadn't managed to coax her out. He was worried! And emotionally unstable about it! Ginseng Fruit losing their patience and insulting her got them attacked.

Like, it took Marshal Ma a multi-episode timespan to wear Stone Monkey down enough to have him almost lunging for Marshal Ma's face. Ginseng Fruit got there in about two sentences. Even Six Ears was pretty alarmed about it. (Six Ears trying to comfort an angry and distressed Stone Monkey by cautiously reaching out to touch his shoulder from an entire arm's length away is very monkey of him. I just had to note that.)

Also that thing again of Stone Monkey's genuine anger being pretty violent. And how much quicker he is to lose it if the ones you're jabbing sticks at are his friends and not him.

I can't even really blame Ginseng Fruit for being upset they were spending so much time and energy checking on Jade Rabbit, since from Ginseng Fruit's perspective she was actively trying to hurt/kill the two of them nearly since Ginseng Fruit met her. They have reason to not like her and not want Stone Monkey around her. Still not the time or place, but their concern and frustration was understandable!

From Stone Monkey's perspective, what's a little attempted murder between friends, I guess? They had a Bash Brothers bonding moment against the Demon King's army before Jade Rabbit's headwrap was knocked off and she panicked, so clearly it's all square now. She was just upset! She didn't even manage to actually hurt them! It's fine! It's also possible he blames Ginseng Fruit for Jade Rabbit being angry at all, since if Ginseng Fruit had just stayed away from him like Stone Monkey had wanted them to, and hadn't tagged along, they never would have had a chance to run their mouth and set her off. Which isn't really fair, but. Stone Monkey barely seems to tolerate Ginseng Fruit at this stage of their relationship and that was true even before all this went down. I'm not sure he would be fair. Especially not when they're shouting insults his already hurting friend might be able to hear.

Six Ears got them to work it out, of course, but I definitely noticed that Ginseng Fruit's tears weren't even enough to rock that look of utter disdain until Six Ears scolded Stone Monkey about it.

(Ginseng Fruit: *sobbing*

Stone Monkey: Suffer.

Six Ears: Hey. Hey, isn't it funny how all your friends keep getting sad around you?

Stone Monkey: 😟*🎶SHOT THROUGH THE HEART🎶*)

Six Ears really did go for the throat, though. Jade Rabbit wasn't even Stone Monkey's fault! Don't imply it is! He'll believe it if it comes from you!

I thought it was pretty funny and cute though, that Six Ears apparently just took it upon himself to carry Ginseng Fruit around while they were accompanying Stone Monkey. Looking at all of this though, it might also have been him just trying to keep Ginseng Fruit alive. He put Ginseng Fruit down for FIVE SECONDS and in the next scene they're picking a fight with an already upset Stone Monkey and almost getting their skull crushed in. They were right back on Six Ears's hip in the next shot lol. Can't take these guys anywhere.

But in reality it was probably just Six Ears's self-appointed Monkey Kinda-Maybe-Prince Boy Scout babysitting reflexes kicking in. He accompanied an upset Stone Monkey to go find this other friend of his, saw this little guy with tiny little legs trying to keep up with them (and especially Stone Monkey who was probably not in the mood to slow down or have Ginseng Fruit on him), and just scooped without a second thought. And Ginseng Fruit likes him! At least if their comment about Six Ears being cute later is anything to go by. You have a stalwart fan now, Six Ears. You carried them, spoke up for them a bit, and now they will die for you. Ginseng Fruit does nothing by halves.

This episode had so much character relationship building in it. I loved it a lot. The actual editing of the episode was a bit more like a fever dream or like the guy storyboarding it hadn't slept in a week, so I hope they're all right, but the writing was hitting all the beats. It was so good. Easily my favorite.

#mhw09 personal #this was 'stone monkey loves his friends so much' the episode #jade rabbit! #speedrunning enemies-to-friends #their entire back-to-back fight! #starting from the three-way fight between stone monkey the demon army and jade rabbit #from stone monkey LOOKING RIGHT AT HER before 'accidentally' letting her get caught by the rope and then going #'oh whoops didn't see you there!' #(I don't think he actually knew who EXACTLY was behind him but he wasn't too torn up about the fact he got jade rabbit caught lol) #(he knows she's out for his blood) #then letting her loose as soon as he dealt with the demon army soldiers only for jade rabbit to go straight to trying to kill him again #right up until a soldier gets a shot at jade rabbit's back and stone monkey TAKES A BLOW FROM HER to protect her #(his pained grimace-smile and mild trepidation knowing he's left himself vulnerable to her. ahhhh.) #then THAT TROPE of her looking like she was going to take advantage and strike him before taking out the OTHER guy coming up behind HIM #AHHHH #the truce! #stone monkey putting himself at jade rabbit's back 'IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ME INTO MEDICINE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO KILL ALL THESE MONSTERS FIRST #with that absolutely infuriating smug grin #jade rabbit being immediately on board: 'Okay. And when I do I won't have mercy on you!' #a true bash siblings moment #lol

[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.

#mhw09 personal #images under cut #this is...this is ENTIRELY about six ears and stone monkey #I'm sorry I failed #the next part will be about more of the episode lol #this is what happens when I fall asleep halfway through writing these things they grow to monstrous size #anyway I just love how much these two love each other #platonic romantic whatever #on my own note while I do think peachbuds is very cute and I DO ship it #(sometimes - you know. headcanons. fluid and endless etc etc.) #I prefer to watch the series through the lens of it being entirely platonic #mostly because I don't really think adding a crush would actually change their interactions much at all #I think for these two the fact they're best friends is and always will be the first priority #even when they're older

[cave-monkey]

I can't wait for my usual post-episode ramble (edit: it's Episode 8 don't read further if you don't want to know anything about Monkey King 2009 Episode 8, okay, okay good). Because where did this come from?

The Demon King cuts down the tree Stone Monkey and Six Ears took refuge from their army in, and as they're starting to fall they have this exchange:

Stone Monkey: Six Ears, leave! Let me handle this! Six Ears: No! I'm staying with you! Stone Monkey, grabbing Six Ears by the wrist and throwing him to safety on top of a nearby cliff: Go!

!!!!

#mhw09 personal #they were playing games and goofing around just seconds before this what the SHIT #not to even mention earlier when it turns out six ears was out alone because he was worried about stone monkey being in danger #he noticed he was missing and went looking for him #and stone monkey just stares at him explaining all this with this FACE #and he has a moment where he says 'it's all my fault' still with that face #before he puts his smile on and finishes 'always getting you into trouble' #and it's like #*buries face in hands and screams* #these KIDS #and this prompts six ears to yell at him to shut up because who exactly is always having to save who? #and stone monkey just smiles at him through it #they love each other so MUCH #they love each so. SO MUCH #I can't handle it #NOBODY TOUCH THEM #I know what's coming I will BEAT IT OFF with a STICK #NO #there's also a lot this episode about how stone monkey kind of...puts on his smile and carelessness over genuine fear and anger sometimes? #I dunno that's not for here #but he does it during that conversation with Six Ears and it's SOMETHING

[cave-monkey]

Monkey King 2009 Episode 7

Huh. Is it just me or did they do something different with the animation this episode? More detailed faces? Additional expressions, maybe? The transitions aren't as smooth, but there seems to be...more there, somehow.

Anyway, in making up for the last two episodes I guess, this one is just fun. Ginseng Fruit is an absolute character. I'm not sure I like them, exactly, but then, neither is Stone Monkey, so there we go lol.

The monkeys being perfectly okay with random little guys clambering over them is one of my favorite things. They're immune to this sort of thing. Or like...mostly. We had a bit of a sample size this episode.

Marshal Ma: Immediately starts stress-scratching but makes zero effort to actually remove this weird little creature from his person. Marshal Liu has to rescue him.

Marshal Liu: Perfectly at ease with this weird little not-monkey hanging off of him. Cool as a cucumber. An absolute pro. A Dad, even.

Stone Monkey: GET IT OFF

(Stone Monkey succumbed to the inevitable and let Ginseng Fruit clamber over him and go on rides as they please eventually, but also they WILL get slung into the stratosphere if they can't hang on and Stone Monkey doesn't see how that is any of their concern. Train that grip or die, little buddy.)

They were trying to endear the four generals to us in the beginning of the episode too, I just know it, but I am holding strong. They need to properly apologize at this point before they get ANY slack. That said, them actually trying to do their jobs (to varying degrees of success) and actively looking out for their exhausted troop, was pretty all right. Sure, the fact that they can't manage to figure out how to man sustainable defenses without running their forces into the ground before any battle or siege even has a chance to start isn't good, but we already know they aren't great at their jobs and that's probably meant to be the point. Maybe a nod to how frequently Flower Fruit Mountain got into deep shit without Monkey King in the actual book.

And, okay, if the Demon King had actually been testing their defenses during this time, I'd cut them some slack, but we know he wasn't. He was busy fumigating his house and losing to fruit babies. He has a life outside of you!

Also, General Ba not even pretending to be doing anything besides shit-stirring was kind of funny.

Them not immediately letting on that they know exactly who Stone Monkey is was...probably cool of them, though? Not throwing the kid under the bus of this total stranger. Or they were just messing with Ginseng Fruit because they could. They're monkeys, Ginseng Fruit is Dramatic; maybe it was just too tempting to resist the mischief. Or they just wanted to pretend Stone Monkey didn't exist for awhile! The possibilities are endless.

Stone Monkey gets woken up from a nap and immediately chooses violence against random infants. (He is going to regret that.)

Hilarious how, so long as they were arguing and Ginseng Fruit was insulting him, Stone Monkey was perfectly happy to hang around, but as SOON as they start loudly praising him to the heavens, he panics and runs for the hills. Relatable. Little does he know, no one will ever reach Ginseng Fruit escape velocity. You are friends now, Stone Monkey. The choice was never yours. Face loss with dignity. (He does not. I haven't really felt the need to share screenshots in awhile, but this whole episode has me wanting to, because Stone Monkey's faces while Ginseng Fruit ran him down were great. Boy was struggling.)

But also, wow, he really does like his friends a little mean, doesn't he? Stone Monkey has a type, and Ginseng Fruit is not it. Good thing Ginseng Fruit has decided this isn't their problem.

Speaking of, I was gonna make a comment about Six Ears being inexplicably missing again for an entire half an episode, but turns out Stone Monkey was going to visit Jade Rabbit this whole time, so, you know. I guess that's their go-to excuse now for when they need a reason Six Ears and Stone Monkey aren't attached at the hip? Last time they just had to do it and hope no one noticed. (We noticed.)

Also I'm sure Six Ears being left totally alone while the Demon King and Company were screaming about flattening Flower Fruit Mountain in the beginning of the episode isn't going to lead to any unfortunate circumstances.

AWWW. Jade Rabbit protected Stone Monkey! She's got him tucked behind her when she goes after Ginseng Fruit, and even more notably, Stone Monkey stays there. I'm pretty sure Ginseng Fruit traumatized him. The Demon King wishes he had what Ginseng Fruit has. Literally. (Also also...so Stone Monkey SEES the crater left from where she went after Ginseng Fruit and even makes a 'wow I almost witnessed a murder. wow I might STILL witness a murder' face while Ginseng Fruit is held at wand-point but...says nothing to vouch for this kid. Leaves them to fend for themself entirely. Cold, Stone Monkey.) (He will also come to regret that.)

Jade Rabbit's really a, uh, 'kill them all, let Someone sort it out, maybe' kind of a girl, huh? Shoot first, ask questions never. She is out for BLOOD. That rock VAPORIZED. That's a nice little warm-up for what she wants to do to another, somewhat monkier shaped rock. She really went from ':)' to 'MURDER' in .2 seconds flat, and that is not an exaggeration.

And, look, she's going for Stone Monkey's entire, literal life almost immediately after this, but backing up I have to say that Stone Monkey's embarrassed/apologetic smile and Jade Rabbit's answering embarrassed smile while Ginseng Fruit did their thing was so cute. They're cute.

And then Jade Rabbit's slow death glare over her shoulder.

[insert boss music]

Run.

(Stone Monkey's blank Default Smile Face when he dodges Jade Rabbit's first murder attempt is also extremely funny. He is having a day today.) (This episode is so funny.)

And don't let me forget to mention!

Appreciation for the fact that, even while running for his life and still actively being pursued by divine vengeance, Stone Monkey is 100% ready to switch gears over to Gotta Rescue Six Ears mode on a dime.

But also: What are the chances?

Just glances casually to the left while sprinting away from a Murder Rabbit shooting death beams and, oh, hey, there's Six Ears getting MOBBED just down that hill! What a coincidence!

Like, not only do we find Six Ears surrounded by enemy soldiers like they're iron shavings and he's the magnet in a kid's science demonstration, but they somehow managed to find him in the MIDDLE of a RANDOM PART OF THE MOUNTAIN, presumably NOWHERE NEAR the main body of the troop considering how close they are to the Forbidden Forest, with Six Ears probably not having been doing anything but minding his own business and taking a nap away from the noise or whatever else it is he does when off by himself, like, not only this, but also Stone Monkey manages to run right into them.

Quick, what do you think is more powerful? Six Ears's 'Designated Damsel' danger magnet aura or Stone Monkey's inexplicable ability to cut a straight line toward him at any given moment of duress?

Jokes aside, Six Ears was holding his own pretty well, though! Stone Monkey's coming in like an irate comet in a few seconds, so he'll definitely be fine unless the Demon King manages to grab him as a shield and run first, but Six Ears managed to hold out against most of them by himself! Pretty sure he killed a dude, too? Ehhh I'm sure it's fine. He's doing a good job! He shouldn't beat himself up too much for needing help! (He's definitely going to beat himself up too much.)

...Oh, hey! It occurs to me that Jade Rabbit and Six Ears are almost in sight of each other.

!!!

Let them be friends.

Or the pettiest of mortal enemies. I feel like that could work too, but also that those are probably the only two options.

#mhw09 personal #I don't have a whole lot to say with any depth lol #this was a fun episode #ginseng fruit is actually a pretty good storyteller! #they were born for that stage life #Let Them Act #They're just a theater kid trapped in the body of a fruit in magical ancient china #also I say mortal enemies!jade rabbit and six ears might be incredibly petty but make no mistake #they WILL pull a shank on the other with no hesitation #and as either friends or foes stone monkey will never know peace again #also don't think I didn't notice Ginseng Fruit noticing that he could cry his way into Stone Monkey agreeing with him #'Ginseng Fruit Will Remember That' #jade rabbit breaking down sobbing halfway through trying to kill stone monkey and stone monkey reacting with immediate concern: aw #the fact that stone monkey's second of only two friends trying to kill him takes a bit to break through #before he finally realizes she's not going to stop and he has to run #I'm holding out on deciding whether this is sad or not to see how it resolves next episode #but this could also be pretty sad #right now it's funny though #(...*squints at Old White Deer*) #(HmmmmmmmmmMMMM) #(I think I know what you are)