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#when finding that clip of MK and Mei i had to rewatch swk's proud smile and i almost balled T^T
fluffypotatey · 7 months
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sorry. even more thoughts from gumy. hey in the s3 finale there's a direct contrast between mk's "i'd never abandon her when she needs me! we're heroes, it's what we do!" vs mei's "that's the hard part of being a hero!" as she tries to burn wukong to a crisp. the different facets of being the Hero
the contrast between MK's "we're Heroes! it's what he do!" vs Mei's "that's the hard part of being a hero."
dam T^T
but yeah, let's dissect this a bit more :)
well, we (the audience) know that both Mei and MK think of themselves as heroes. we first meet Mei when she saves MK, and our first scene with MK is him idolizing how "heroic" the Monkey King is. even after getting the staff and being dubbed as Sun Wukong's successor, MK wants to help people (he does it first by deciding to bring the staff to SWK because, you know, he's never fought bad guys before). MK's heroic ideology is to "help everyone," "save everybody," "protect my friends and family from the evil™️" and "no man left behind" (except himself)
Mei's is very similar but different. "Protect friends and family from the evil™️," "save those who cannot save themselves," and "protect others from themselves." this is probably why she was able to reckon with the act of burning SWK to a crisp because it was risk she was willing to take. the needs of all trump the needs of one no matter how much it might hurt
but MK can't do that. he has been shown how much he cannot do that. all of his plans are ones that are meant to ensure everybody survives and lives to see another day. (see, MK having everyone fight Peng and Yellowtusk while he and SWK fight OP!Azure.) and if he is told that there is no other way than to sacrifice another or that it's possible someone is lost forever, MK will try to find another way. and so far, his method has worked (bc he's the MC and the narrative cannot work if MK fails but that's more of a technical behind the scenes outlook rather than "in-story" which is a whole other can of worms and is not at all a part of my point)
however, Mei is shown to be a bit more grounded and have a realistic view that sometimes...you have to face the fact that there is no other option. Wukong's scroll being sliced? there was a very high likelihood that the monkey king was lost forever. MK refused to see it, but Mei knew that the chances of them even bring him back were super, super slim. Mei "understood the risks" so to speak that happy endings are not guaranteed. that the world is more gray than it is black & white.
in a way, both of their ideologies complement each other. it's why they are such a good pair as friends and when fighting together.
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ignoring my urge to sob, fucking look at these two T^T and doing some quick research on the web, yellow and green are said to be the colors of hope. both colors have mostly positive meanings, so put together simply adds to their individual hopeful vibes and doubles it, basically (idk color theory this is my interpretation of what i read and how i can apply it to MK and Mei)
they may not be complementary but they do compliment each other in that yellow brightens the room and provides a soft light while the green can provide a bit of that grounded darker tones and make a room more fixed. (wtf am i saying, why does this make sense to me, how am i mixing home decor with-)
so yeah, while the colors are different facets of hope, MK and Mei are also different facets of what it means to be a hero (selfless, compassionate, self-sacrificial, loyal, willing to do the impossible vs willing to do what's necessary for all) and i am now very emotional about them T^T
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