#the one time macaque left swk on his own he never returned

[avisisisis]

To add a little more to that post about how peaches represent SWK and Mac's relationship:

In the mountain, Macaque is the one to crush the peach in his hand. He offered it to Sun Wukong, and when he didn't accept it and instead yelled at him, he destroyed it and threw it on the ground

In the end, it was Macaque who left first, not the other way around. Now, their broken relationship isn't completely his fault, but he did play a part on it

SWK screamed at him when he tried to mend their friendship, so instead of trying again, he left. That's what broke their relationship for good. Not Sun Wukong yelling, not Liu'er Mihou not looking for him, but Macaque leaving and (as far as we know) not coming back. La gota que colmó el vaso, we could say. Stuff had already been going on between those two. SWK never seemed to genuinely listen to Macaque and his promises of staying forever were empty (he never would've been able to stay in one place for so long) and Macaque never even bothered to communicate his negative feelings over this, so when he warned him he was ignored

Sun Wukong left again and again and again, looking for more power to "be strong enough to protect them", and eventually he lost sight of why he was doing it. But no matter how many times he left, he came back. Macaque didn't

#they both did what they wanted from the other #swk wanted mac to be able to leave when he wanted on the condition that he'd always come back #mac wanted swk to stay w him and be loyal to him the same way he was to swk forever #swk promised they'd stay there forever but even if he had tried he would've eventually broken that promise #the one time macaque left swk on his own he never returned #they both hurt each other so much #it wasn't a one-sided thing like so many ppl believe #“oh but swk left and killed macaque! he's a selfish shit!” “but macaque abandoned swk n hes technically the one at fault for everything!” #shut up #i'm not gonna say neither of them were at fault. cuz they both were #but it wasn't one-sided #now the difference between them is how they act about it. swk is trying to be a better person and to not repeat his past mistakes #macaque gets angry and torments mk (who is a child especially compared to him) for being close to swk #and tries to convince him that swk is a terrible mentor when in reality he's never hurt mk (yet. and even then it wasn't intentional) #most of mk's problems w swk come not only from the fact that swk sucks at communication but also from teh fact that everyone's+ #talking shit abt him. they're saying swk sucks n make mk doubt him n himself when swk rlly is just trying his best #anyways i'll get more into that later #lmk #lego monkie kid #sun wukong #the six eared macaque #liu'er mihou #swk #the monkey king #shadowpeach #lmk season 4 #peaches #avis talks #avis' post

[starsfic]

if your prompts are still open may i request monkey king getting groomed by someone after not being groomed in centuries and swk just up and falling asleep to the touch?

Anon: prompt of monkey king shuddering into macaque’s platonic touch after being groomed for the first time in centuries Anon: Prompt: Wukong gets nightmares one night and Macaque is left to hear the agony as Wukong talks in his sleep

Sun Wukong ended up moving in with him.

Macaque wasn't sure how, exactly. He just knew that Wukong needed a place to stay while the hut on Flower Fruit Mountain was rebuilt and the kid, for whatever noble reason, refused to let him stay alone at the temple. So, somehow, he ended up with him.

It...wasn't too bad.

Sure, it had been centuries since they had actually lived together. (Macaque didn't really count his dipping in and out at the mountain since Lady Bone Demon was living with Wukong.) But Wukong was pretty, almost weirdly, polite. He made some messes here and there but quickly picked them up, and even made dinner. He had started working at a garage he supposedly owned to help out with rent. (Macaque hadn't yet told him that the landlord was too scared to collect rent from anyone since he moved in. All the money was being saved in a jar under his bed to give back to Wukong when he eventually moved out.)

It was a nice change from when they first lived together, but Macaque had a feeling it was because Wukong worried about being kicked out and possibly disappointing the kid. When he returned back home, he would return back to his usual annoying self.

What wasn't nice was Wukong's sleep.

Macaque was a light sleeper. He often awoke thanks to a weird noise that his ears caught, and then he couldn't go back to sleep for hours. Usually, he would work during that time, focusing his awakeness on a project that would eventually lull him back to sleep.

Wukong slept like a rock. A crying rock.

It took almost a week for Macaque to catch it, suggesting Wukong must've tried to hide it.

It happened usually around one to three in the morning, when Wukong was deeply asleep. Silence, except for the shuffle of his sleeping body adjusting positions. And then, a noise. Soft, almost easy to miss.

A sob.

The sobbing would continue for a few hours, leaving Macaque the only one to hear what sounded like Wukong's heart being ripped out. Occasionally, he mumbled in his sleep, soft whispers of names or words that Macaque didn't try to listen to. It felt too private.

Eventually, they would die down, and the silence would return. The next morning, Wukong and his weird polite elf would come out, and then they wouldn't talk about it. Macaque never moved from his bed, tried to ignore the whispers.

Until, tonight, when-

"MACAQUE!"

The scream jostled Macaque right out of bed. "What the-?" he grunted, sitting up and rubbing his head. The yell of his name echoed in the silence of the apartment, excluding the quiet sniffles and whimpers from down the hall.

Despite the pity and grief at lost time that had been stirring in his chest recently, Macaque couldn't help an annoyed noise. "Of course, Wukong wakes me up- probably something stupid-" Still, he got up and headed down the hallway.

The guest room was almost too neat and tidy. The only point of mess was the bed, where Wukong had shaped a rough nest. Faintly, in the glimmers of moonlight, he could see the amber fur of said monkey. It was visibly trembling, Macaque's hearing picking up the noise of the individual hairs rubbing together.

He stepped closer. Before he could raise a hand, shake Wukong's shoulder, the monkey rolled over. Macaque froze at the sight of Wukong's eyes wide open, the glamor fading to be replaced by deep blood red. He raised a hand and waved it in front of those red coals.

Wukong didn't move.

Oh. He was sleeping with his eyes open.

That probably gave those soft tears easier access.

Macaque, for a split second, was tempted to run back and hide in his bed. Whatever could make the legendary Monkey King cry was nothing to sneeze at. Still, he stayed put. He watched those tears roll down his former king's cheeks, unsure of what to do, fighting that urge to run.

Instead, his hand raised up.

The moment his fingers brushed against that soft amber fur, Wukong's trembles suddenly stopped. Macaque dared to push his hand in, feeling his skin prickle at the touch. Wukong's eyes stayed open but dead to the world.

Macaque scritched.

His other hand rose up and joined the first. It took a moment or two, but they began to move in a familiar motion, something Macaque hadn't done in years.

He sat next to Wukong and groomed him.

He wasn't sure why. His own sleep was being disturbed by this, after all. Still, he stayed put, making sure to untangle every knot and bite down on any pesky bugs. Macaque, maybe, needed the comfort as well.

All he knew was, slowly, Wukong's eyes slid close and relaxed.

#my writing #LMK #Monkie Kid #LEGO Monkie Kid #Macaque #Qi Xiaotian #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #prompt fill #prompt fic

[imminent-danger-came]

do you find mk's arc in s3 a tad repetitive? i saw this point brought up in a video essay on his series long arc

Naw man.

Progress isn't linear. MK more often than not makes progress in an area and then promptly regresses afterwards (like in ROTSQ MK learned that he was separate from SWK, and that he had to find "his own way to win", which he then completely abandons in the back half of s2. After Minor Scale it's all about becoming as powerful as Monkey King as quick as he can). I like to joke MK is "2 steps forward 4 steps back" the character. He'll say "We're stronger together" in 2x10, but by the time 4x08 rolls around he's wondering if he'll just end up hurting the people he cares about (and then he'll fail to apply this logic to why Wukong would choose to take similar actions, say during s2 or at the end of s3, being delightfully hypocritical).

Then there's where MK actually is development wise at the end of s2 vs s3. By the end of s2 he's lost all of his abilities and given LBD everything she needs to destroy the world, with the only good thing happening being Monkey King's return. Of course he's worried about facing the Lady Bone Demon like he is in s2—in fact, the threat got much worse. Not only is LBD more powerful, but both him and Monkey King are powerless. Their only hope is in an uncontrollable weapon they have to reforge.

In s1 MK is just trying to master his new role as the Monkey Kid (even then wanting to protect his friends and the city, thank you 1x01). In ROTSQ he believes he'll never be as good as Wukong, carrying this belief into s2. As the stakes keep growing, MK feels more and more pressure to live up to the legacy of Monkey King, and in that desperation becomes the perfect pawn in LBD's plans. He assumes he was the wrong choice, the wrong successor, and that Wukong knows that too. After he realizes Wukong left for him in s2, in s3 he then jumps to Wukong ditching him over being a "mere mortal" again. But, MK wants to help. He wants to save his friends. By the end of s3, we've still yet to acknowledge the core issue MK's had since the AHIB special: his self-confidence. His identity and his esteem. MK's never been happy with himself (except for that one time in ROTSQ):

But, after ROTSQ came Wukong leaving in 2x01, LBD's manipulation in 2x05, Macaque's manipulation in 2x07, his ultimate failure in 2x10, being powerless in 3x01, Wukong's lies throughout s3, Wukong and Mei both leaving at the end of 3x10, and then the "to pain scene" in 3x14.

And then in s4 we hammer the nail in the coffin further with 4x07 and 4x08 living up to LBD's words: doing what you think is right leads to pain.

I think the end of TEW will be another ROTSQ situation, where currently MK is okay leaving the world a little bit better than he found it, but it's a philosophy on a shaky foundation. All it'll take is one push to all come crumbling down (and we have SO many things at this point that could be that push—MK's origins/true identity, SWK and Macaque's true falling out, another world ending calamity [no 'ol half marathons here]). Because, at the end of the day, MK may leave the world better than he found it, but he still needs to be okay making mistakes and being MK. He needs to be okay with hurting the people he cares about, because that's what happens as a part of life. He's still so hung up on keeping everything the same. He wants a world where both him and his friends never have to struggle, which will just never happen.

Like, it's ridiculous to me how high of a note the s4 special ended on for everyone in the gang. It's like being on the final episode of a season and seeing that everything's resolved and great, but knowing there's 20 minutes left before the end. You just know it's all going to come crashing down. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

And you know what! I'll say this: being mentally ill is repetitive. And that's what MK is. He has anxiety. He has depression. I mean this seriously and sincerely. MK's running around in circles in his own mind trying to run away from himself (doing so quite literally in 4x07). But he can't man. None of us can.

#people on youtube just say anything #oh how quickly we forget reflection motif! #Never forget! Never forget reflection motif! #was this even a slightly effective rebuttal against that video essay lol #Like yeah I guess maybe MK's arc could be considered repetitive. But he also just regressed. I thought we all liked that about him #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk MK #lmk analysis #lmk theme: identity #lmk reflection motif #asks

[skellebonez]

for the fanfiction trope mashup- shadowpeach with 4 (coffee shop au) and 9 (dance au). i just think it'd be fun

Oh heck yeah, this does sound fun! I am the kind of person who can read 28 coffee shop AUs so this is me just having fun with something I would be writing for myself honestly. I had to sprinkle in some Secret Identity Comedy for this. Since these are more chill AUs I will say that this is going to be a more chill summary overall.

A lot like the detective AU I wrote before this, I'm giving this the tiniest twist in making it so Sandy owns a coffee and tea shop that is attached to Pigsy's Noodles and always has been. The first few chapters would be from their perspective. When not at work MK and Mei hang out there and Tang and Pigsy go there when the noodle shop is closed. One day they start to notice a very particular regular who's been showing up for the last couple weeks when he leaves as they arrive.

Sandy tells them that he comes in every single day like clockwork and orders a different drink, a very complicated coffee that has one thing changed every day, before sitting down with a laptop to type away for two hours before eventually leaving. He always pays in exact cash and leaves a tip and a week into coming by leaves Sandy a piece of fruit as well (usually a mango or plum). He always has the name "Mac" for his drink.

Then, one day, there is news of a large dance performance troop relocating to their city all over social media. That very day the star dancer, a certain someone calling himself by the stage name Mr. Cheung, starts coming into Sandy's shop for peach teas.

And then he see's Mac. And Mac sees Mr. Cheung. And they freeze. And this is when perspectives start to swap!

They both know exactly who the other is. Sun Wukong can clearly see that it's Macaque working on that laptop, his human disguise isn't that different from how he normally looks, and Macaque knows Sun Wukong when he sees him for much the same reason. The extra twist is that these two... already worked out what happened on the Journey because Tang Sanzang encouraged SWK to find his old friend and talk to him (this lead to another nasty fight and would be shown in multiple flashback sequences, not just handwaved or mentioned as happening in passing offscreen). They didn't leave each other on good terms but they know the truth (or most of it) and left each other alone.

And MK mistakes them freezing for them being too stunned by the other to speak and breaks the tension by making a joke to SWK about if he knows the other guy, which is immediately rebutted. And because they are desperate to believe it both of these dorks convinces themselves the other didn't recognize them and they can just go about their day.

Then SWK starts to become a regular at the shop. And Macaque is too stubborn to find another one, so he just starts ignoring the other every time he comes in. Until SWK sits down at his table one day, fully intended to mess with him and reveal he actually knows who he is. He asks what the other is working on and Macaque initially intends on brushing him off but decides why the heck not. He has nothing better to do.

So he tells him that he is writing a drama novel and goes more and more into detail about what it is and SWK realizes that it is a modernized version of their friendship from when they were younger. And it's very clear to him that the main character has a pining crush on his best friend and oh that makes so much back then make so much more sense oh no. But he pretends he doesn't notice, after all that's all in the past!

And he tells Mac he'd love to read it when it's finished and in return for the rousing discussion he gives him tickets to his next dance show. Macaque is hesitant to go but eventually does (and everyone else is there too) and the show is amazing. But, of course, SWK takes the spotlight in every way. And Macaque realizes he never quite got over his feelings for the other.

SWK invites them all backstage and when MK and Mei expression how amazed they were by his dancing he offers to teach them and jokingly extends the offer to Macaque... who accepts, much to everyone's surprise.

And as the story continues SWK slowly starts reciprocating feelings toward Macaque as he can tell the other has changed over the years after their talk. They meet up every day after a while to dance together and eventually it becomes too much for Macaque to hide when his old feelings keep resurfacing.

So he confesses. He tells SWK he knows who he is and has known who he is and he understands if, after their history, he doesn't want Mac to come to the shop anymore because he's much closer with everyone else there already than he ever was. He moves around a lot, it's nothing to him to leave him be.

And then SWK reveals he knew the whole time too and confesses he had no idea that Macaque liked him when they were younger. But he's starting to like him back now too and if Macaque is ok with it he wouldn't mind giving the two of them together a chance (after maybe some group therapy sessions to work out any underlaying issues they might still have).

And something something they confess and start dating and I never know how to end coffee shop aus but they're together now.

#fanfic trope mashup #shadowpeach