" please, take away my heart. "

Affiliated Liu'er Mihou from 美猴王 (09). Subgiant. House 117 (Fibonacci). Penned by Kal.

[sixthear]

SIXTHEAR || Liu'er Mihou from Mei Hou Wang (2009)

Long before the sacred journey to the west, Flower-Fruit Mountain was home to a clan of monkey yaoguai. It was here that the Celestial Primates, Xiao Shihou (who the world better knows as Sun Wukong) and Liu'er Mihou, were born and raised.

A prince in everything but name. The throne was rightfully his. One day, Liu'er would be wholeheartedly accepted into the troop and receive the recognition he deserved. Except that day never came. Xiao Shihou, his first and closest friend, was chosen over him to be the next Monkey King.

[ APP ] [ STATS ] [ TRACKER ] [ RULES ]

Liu'er is from a adaptation of the classic JTTW novel that follows the early adventures of the Monkey King! This Liu'er is his sworn brother— the first and closest friend he ever had.

Had his gradual descent into madness + accompanying villain arc. He's better now though, thanks to the power of FRIENDSHIP!

He's just a little guy! ...Ohhh he a little fucked up actually...

This Liu'er is a lot younger than most other adaptations! (The same applies to his wukong too!)

he's never been a city before. oh my god. help this monkey who's from ancient china pls...

like all monkeys he is a creature of cute and cheeky mischief at heart. he DOES genuinely want to just be a kid and have fun!!

you ever wondered what would happen if Princess Peach snapped? well...

[sunsage]

"Maybe. I don't know." It's not like he can claim to know what Azure thought of him. It felt genuine, back then: the smiles, the praise, the way Azure looked at him like he was someone special. But the anger, the disdainful look he got when they reunited felt real too.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Wukong still hopes he was more than just a useful tool to the lion. But he'll never know for sure, now.

That doesn't matter anyway (it's all in the past), not when the things Liu'er tells him are far more important. Worse, in a way that is not exactly unfamiliar. His skin crawls as images flutter across his vision and he barely even notices a pull on not-his fur.

This is nothing like the sudden pull and cold grasp of her power, this slow and methodical disassembly of Liu'er's defenses. The fur on not-his body raises on end without Wukong noticing.

"I..." What does he even say, to that? Wukong chitters, feeling an almost familiar nauseating headache settle at his temples (less familiar in this body than his own). Hand reaches out blindly behind him, grasping at Liu'er's (his) wrist carefully. He squeezes once, aiming for comforting. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, kid. You don't.. have to talk about it if you don't want to. I won't bring it up again, promise."

[sixthear]

"It's not exactly something you'll be able to just forget now though, is it?" Liu'er mutters, sniffling a little. He pauses his grooming to rub at his face. It'd be embarrassing if he started crying like a little baby. Especially in someone else's body. (Even more so in Wukong's body.)

"...I'm sorry you went through something similar." Because what else was there to say, really? Liu'er falls silent, resuming his idle grooming, even though Wukong's hands were weird and finger-less and he couldn't quite untangle fur the way he'd like to. He tries to smooth it out, though it's sort of a lost cause with how much unease the other monkey definitely felt.

He's right, though. Do they really have to talk about it? Maybe it's... enough, just to have someone that knows. He picks out a stubborn little bug that was hiding in Wukong's (his) fur, and absently tosses it into his mouth. It works to distract him, a little bit, though there's so many images flashing across his mind. Different things. A life he really doesn't have any context to.

"You've met a lot of people," he says after a moment, wishing to do exactly what Wukong suggested. "I recognize Ao Lie. But what's with the other people you've traveled with?" He's asking out of genuine curiosity. If the other gets to know so much about him, it's only far to try and do the same.

[daxned]

He is a strange one. He's not even worried in the slightest. Should she be worried about him? She's sure she'll soon find out. "I let people speak whatever they want." Even if it were not true. She's used to it.

"I like to train here, too." Her own green eyes follow where his eyes move and then she turns to look at the boy. "It won't hurt you as long as you don't hurt me. I'm impressed. Many people can't hear it." There are five sets of eyes watching the monkey boy.

[sixthear]

He might be a little bit nervous, but he's trying to be better about appearing more confident. Like how Shihou would be. Though, it helps to know the tree yao lurking around probably won't attack. He can respect acting only in defense. "Nothing can get past the six-ears," Liu'er can't help but boast, wriggling his signature ears for emphasis.

"Well, I don't have a reason to hurt you. I don't like hurting others unless I have to. So, I think neither of us have anything to worry about!" He pauses, glancing towards the distance, in the direction of the king's castle. "Except for maybe the lord of these woods being cranky this morning. I think someone tried to steal from him again. Should definitely avoid that area of the woods..."

He hums, looking at her curiously. "But what kind of training do you do here? Martial arts? Magic?"

[sparklingsplendor]

"Friends?" It did seem like he was all alone. Even if the atmosphere around the entire event screamed that nobody here would be alone there would always be stragglers that managed to wander here all alone. However that was possible, even if Sparkle was part of that "group" and chose to be the social butterfly she always was.

"Well if none of your friends are here why don't you make a few more? I'm here, there's people over there, hell you can probably make pals with anyone else sitting here like yourself."

[sixthear]

The little monkey makes a face at that, looking away. He bites back the urge to snap at the lady that's just trying to be nice. Or seems to be, anyways. Anything he really wants to say would just sound pathetic to his own ears, he thinks. Which just makes the little rain cloud above his head angrier.

After a moment of his own mood raining down on him some more, he swats it away with a small growl, before looking up at Sparkle again. "...What's your name? I'm Liu'er."

[spurioussun]

Magnolia hasn't seen herself look this way since she was small like Liu'er. The feeling of abandonment, of being left behind, forgotten. She hates that feeling and most of all hated how it turned her. It was all Sun Wukong's fault.

"You should know," She starts, "we always have to prove ourselves and even then is it enough? Those men were in my way. They were obstacles that needed to be removed. I needed to get closer..." She knows she's not helping her case. While Liu'er had felt AWFUL for even thinking about hurting his friend, Magnolia was driven to finish Sun off. She was driven to see it through. It was what she breathed.

"I can't have anything more taken from me. So...before it happens I have to take from them." To protect herself.

[sixthear]

None of it makes sense to Liu'er. What Magnolia is saying just sounds like... the same venomous thoughts that sound all to similar to the kind that the lion fed him. He's in your way. You need to get rid of him. They'll love you, for real this time, if you're the only one in the picture.

It leaves only a dreadful, heavy feeling in his stomach. He curls in on himself -- in a body not his own -- her body.

He falls silent for a long moment, before quietly replying with; "Well, none of it worked, now did it?"

[sparklingsplendor]

There were almost too many carts down the streets of the Fibonacci Ward. And plenty of of them seemed pretty important to the individuals who were wandering on up to try and see what was for sale. To Sparkle there wasn't anything she'd say hit "close to home" but it didn't stop the fool from observing what others may have found.

Eventually she stumbled upon a downtrodden looking individual, a complete 180 to how everyone else looked like they were enjoying their time. Normally this was just someone she'd ignore and go on her merry way. But today Sparkle was feeling a little bit more out there. And such, she knelt down and opened up her bag.

"What's got you so down? There's so many little things to buy 'round here. Nothing fit your fancy? Not even a mask for all the celebrations going on?"

@sixthear

[sixthear]

Liu'er made for quite the pathetic sight. Ears drooping, tail dragging along the ground, and even a miniature cloud above his head raining down on the little monkey's parade -- not that there was much of one to begin with. Maybe if circumstances were different, he'd be much more excited about all the festivities. He's not sure why he even bothered to leave his nest today, honestly.

"Uhm..." they shrink back somewhat as Sparkle approaches. At least the bag she was holding sounded like it was full of stuff already? So, the stranger probably wasn't going to stuff him inside it. It's an experience he doesn't want to repeat.

"...I wish my friends were here." he mumbles, scratching at the back of his furry hands.

[daxned]

"Because you're Liu'er." An interesting thing, this Liu'er. She tucked a strand of pale white hair behind her ear and bowed her head in greeting, "Dam-bi is my name."

She wonders If that means he can hear the beast that lurks within the tall trees, blending in and camouflaging perfectly.

[sixthear]

Liu'er grins, sweeping his tail behind him as he bows back dramatically. "Nice meeting you, Dam-bi. What kind of things does Dam-bi do, besides let people spin rumors of some ghost?"

Oh, he definitely can. He may not know what it is that's lurking in the woods nearby, but he can tell the difference between its careful movements and the wind idly rustling the leaves of the surrounding trees. There's a brief glance in its direction, though he ultimately doesn't say anything.

[sunsage]

He lets out a surprised chirp at getting picked up. Doesn't fight it (probably couldn't, given the strength of the body holding him), doesn't think Liu'er would hurt him despite- everything. It feels a little weird, being held like a baby monkey. Wukong can't remember if anyone ever tried holding him like that, even when he was young, but the body he's in relaxed in the hold as if on instinct.

It's... nice.

He listens to Liu'er's story, blinking away the images that flash in front of his eyes (an old man, a young girl, Shihou again, back and stronger than ever (no, not yet, but he will be soon)). The feeling of bitter loneliness permeating the memories makes his heart hurt - he knows what that feels like, from the years spent under the mountain, but Liu'er is so young, so small and he already had to deal with it through no fault of his own. "That... really sucks, kid. You deserved better than that."

(Did his Macaque ever feel that way? All his magic was self-taught, but.. did he want to go with him, to learn under a real teacher?

... It's far too late to think about that. But he will, now.)

"I had a-" He stops, unsure how to continue. A friend? Was Azure his friend? More than that, back when the Brotherhood was still whole? He's not sure - it's hard to untangle old feelings and newer grudges - and thinking on it always gets him stuck somewhere between melancholy and frustration. So he doesn't. He tries again- "I knew a lion, yeah. We were close but- well, things changed."

He's not seeing anything else just yet, which is a relief and makes him dread knowing what's to come at the same time. He leans into the touch, tries to ignore all of it (Liu'er isn't the only one hoping for a distraction here), and continues, "He was my sworn brother. He was- strong, devoted to his goals. But when I- failed to do what he wanted, he abandoned me." Wukong scratches at the fur on the back of his palms, a borrowed gesture, "He- did some bad things and I was asked to-", ordered to, "-deal with him. Needless to say, he wasn't a fan of me after that."

(And Azure Lion still died smiling at him).

"I'm guessing the lion you met under the mountain was different?" He asks, trying to sound reassuring in a voice that still doesn't quite fit.

[sixthear]

Liu'er cannot imagine having a sworn brother other than Shihou. They pause as more memories flit across their mind. Unable to help the disgusted little noise they made. They didn't like the conflicting feelings Azure Lion's face brought up. Disliked the idea of Shihou swearing himself to others even more.

Some sworn brother they turned out to be, though. What right do they have to think like this? Shihou deserves as many sworn brothers as he wants. (Deserved better than them.)

They pause, briefly, in combing through pale gray fur. They're not talking to their Shihou right now. But Wukong is, in a sense, a shihou still, isn't he? Their mouth twists, and they resume brushing their-- Wukong's-- fur. "Sounds to me like he was just using you," they mumble, quiet and bitter and maybe a little angry. They're not sure who they're angry at.

Then the topic gets shifted back to them, and their hands maybe jerk a little too roughly. Not enough to actually hurt, though. They're quick to smooth down the fur they accidentally tugged on in apology. Quietly, hesitantly, they continue. "The Nine-Headed Spirit... he was... sealed down there, long ago. I've never met a demon like him before. So... old." Powerful. Angry. Hungry. Sweet promises on the lion's tongue. A false comfort provided when they were so desperate for someone to understand.

They can't quite remember the details of what happened, exactly, when they reached the lion's crypt. They don't really want to. They especially don't want to think about everything that came after, either. But Wukong might be seeing glimpses of it all, anyways, and isn't that just the most horrible thing? "There... were a lot of things the lion asked for me to do." A lot of very, very bad things that just got worse over time.

(He couldn't stop. It wasn't going to stop. Why couldn't he stop?)

[lakepuddle]

Lil snack

[daxned]

"I live here," Is her simple answer. "Didn't you hear about the ghost child that drains you of your energy if you didn't do what she requested?" It was all rumors of course. The little girl was her that people talked about. The pale ghost child that would ask for wishes and if they were not granted...well..

"You heard me." It's a statement. Green eyes study the creature in front of her. A monkey? A humanoid demon? His ears do not go unnoticed. "Is it because of your ears?"

Could he hear the denizens or whatever lurked in the mist as well?

[sixthear]

"Well, you sound awfully alive for a ghost." Liu'er says simply, shrugging slightly as he stares back. Of course he's heard rumors -- but the Mistborn he's come across are relatively harmless spirits, and are very different from the clearly living person in front of him.

At the next question, the young monkey grins. Even wiggles his ears to emphasize them. "Mhm! I can hear everything in this forest." Which means he doesn't have much trouble avoiding the Denizens and other creatures in the mist. It's easy enough, once you know their patterns and habits. And Liu'er learns them all from a nice, safe distance.

"It's because I'm Liu'er. Who are you?"

[daxned]

@sixthear

"What would you have done if I hadn't shown up." The thing about living in Mistwood is that you learn a thing or two about certain things. There's no way to fight against the denizens, but if you look carefully and if you're lucky there are ways to avoid the dangers that lurks here. Dam-bi likes the Mistwood for the reason of the danger, the mysteriousness, and the potential of getting lost. MOST people stay away from danger like that.

Not this boy, though.

"What made you come this way?"

[sixthear]

Liu'er wasn't a stranger to the Mistwood. While his magic was still limited outside the Sky Isles, he was steadily regaining it. Which meant he had to actively keep testing himself. What better place than here, in this place that reminded him, for better or worse, of Havoc King's territory. (Though, truly, it had always been the Lion's territory. Havoc King and White Deer were just allowed to live on it. He stops his train of thought there.)

He heard the girl coming from a mile away. A human child? No, there was something about her. His ears twitch. There was movement nearby, too, hiding in the trees that he could sense. Though he couldn't see it just yet.

He huffs, leaning against his staff. "I come here to train. Why are you here?"

[sixthear]

𝓕 ❒

𝓕 : My muse’s handwriting. (Is it good, bad, difficult to decipher, do they prefer writing by hand or with the help of some form of machine, e.t.c.) 

First I would like to say I put way more thought than necessary into what form of script Liu'er even uses due to being from around, like, mid Zhou dynasty and a mostly culturally isolated island. Then I thought about how Shihou probably brought back with him knowledge of more mainstream script variants from the mainland when he returned from training with Patriarch Subodhi, and taught that to the other monkeys as well.

Assuming that MHW's timeline doesn't... Follow the actual amount of time it took to do things in the novel (it probably doesn't, it's basically its own timeline and both Liu'er and Shihou are still portrayed as, at most, the equivalent of 14-16 y/o by the end of the show.)

So I eventually settled on; "well, Liu'er's handwriting probably looks like older examples of seal script (you can see a more "modern" style of seal script below)

So then I was like "well, liu'er is that extra." So I like to imagine he's like that one student who spends a lot of time making sure his characters are relatively nice and neat. And then, like most young writers have done at some point, if he's not trying to communicate something urgent, it probably ends up looking a lot like purple prose with as many fancy words and long flowing sentences because he wants to come across as super cool and mature. we're all writers on tumblr dot com so i think u can get the vibe i'm trying to describe here. he probably adds some extra "tails" and "swirls" to his characters to make them seem fancier, too, almost like bird-worm scripts. on top of that his word choice iiiiis likely rather archaic and Would be hard for any modern person to understand easily without Isola's wonderful magical translator. i'm sure whoever designed the spell/program is having a wonderful time.

speaking of modern stuff liu'er is still not very tech savvy so he absolutely prefers old fashioned ink on paper. probably prefers brushes over pens just because the weight of ink feels so drastically different (and results in different line weights, too, which he doesn't like. he's nitpicky.)

i was gonna write smth on both headcanon asks but this one got so LONG orz so i'm ending it here.

[memies]

Send me a symbol and I will write a headcanon about…  For multimuse blogs, please specify!

𝓕 : My muse’s handwriting. (Is it good, bad, difficult to decipher, do they prefer writing by hand or with the help of some form of machine, e.t.c.) 

✈ : My muse and  traveling. (If they do it frequently and why, if they never left their home town, e.t.c.)

✿ : My muse and nature. (If they are an ‘outdoorsy type’, like the sound of bird’s singing, if they have never set foot in a forest, e.t.c.) 

☼ : My muse’s first memory. (Where it was, who was with them, how this memory makes them feel, e.t.c.) 

☙ : My muse’s favourite food. (Bonus: A memory, be it good or bad, associated with said food.)

♬ : My muse and music. (What type of music they like listening to and in what context, what music they would never listen to, e.t.c.)

↺ : My muse and the past. (Do they live in the past and struggle to let go of past grievances, or move on more easily, is there anything in their past they want to forget, e.t.c.) 

☾ : My muse and sleep. (How much they sleep, how much they wish to sleep, if there is something that never fails to put them to sleep, e.t.c.) 

✧ : My muse and art. (If they have an artistic side or not and why, favourite artist if they have one, e.t.c.) 

❃ : My muse and social media. (If the muse is/would be on social media and why/why not, their general opinion on it, e.t.c.) 

✉  : My muse and others. (If they social and outgoing or more introverted, and why. If they prefer communicating with others face to face or in written form, e.t.c.). 

▶ : My muse and level of education. (If the muse has some form of education, what education they perhaps wish they had, e.t.c.). 

◐ : My muse and animals. (If they like animals and treat them well, do not care for them at all, e.t.c.). 

❒ : My muse and gifts. (If they are good/bad at finding gifts, good/bad at receiving gifts, good/bad at wrapping gifts, e.t.c.) 

☘ : My muse’s relation with their family. (If they speak with each other and how much, if they are close or estranged, e.t.c.). 

[sunsage]

His ears shift, listening to the quiet answer to his question. It makes him feel sad, and he knows this feeling isn't his - not fully at least. Wukong breathes in, holds it, breathes out. Lets the sadness pass through him. It's been a long time since he left the mountain (and Macaque) for the first time.

There were other, worse things he's done since then.

He reaches up blindly to pet Liu'er on the head. "It's alright, if you didn't want him to leave. I'm sure he missed you too."

His hand stills abruptly as more images flood his head. The bitter lies revealed of a teacher who couldn't teach him anything, the burn of betrayal, of weakness. And a voice booming from somewhere below the earth. A lion (ugh) in a cold dark cave, the shadows wrapping around them-

And you

Gave

Him

Your—

After a pause, he retracts his hand. His voice doesn't shake, though it is quiet, when he asks, "And what happened after he left?"

[sixthear]

Wukong is greeted by a heavy silence as Liu'er shifts. The muffled sound of a heart skipping a beat, freezing slightly in fear. A thick swallow. Fidgeting with the fabric of the blanket.

Eventually, they decide to gently, (carefully) pick up Wukong. Or at least manhandle him into sitting upright. Their body feels so light, in the arms of this body that was so much older and bigger. Thin and fragile under the layers of fabric. They kinda just hold him like that for a moment. The way they've seen older monkeys handle the younger ones, sometimes; the way Grandpa used to hold them, when they were smaller.

"Nothing." Another pause. "I... thought I found a teacher of my own. Like the one Shihou found, across the sea. He said he'd make me stronger." With my teachings, you'll be able to prove that you're the strongest; the more capable one. When Shihou returns, they'll all see it.

"But it was all a bunch of— of bullshit. I learned some tricks but it amounted to nothing, compared to the knowledge Shihou came back with." It makes him also think of, with a familiar bitter feeling on his tongue, how far Jade Rabbit had progressed in her cultivation, while Shihou was away. He remembers her leaving for the Celestial Realm, too.

He frowns. Tries to distract himself from the feeling by examining the fur on his body's head. It gave him something to do. There's a part of him that secretly hopes the act of grooming might distract Wukong from whatever he's seeing, too.

They try to blink away more images that bubble to the surface. A fight in the heavens. Hands stilling, briefly, at the almost-familiarity of it. Exhales, slowly, before continuing to pick out the bits of leaves they left in their fur before the bodyswapping. They figured it was probably itchy to someone not used to it.

They want to ask what, exactly, is Wukong seeing. They want to ask about what they're seeing. It outweighs the part of them that wants to shrink away and never be seen again. "...What do you think of lions?"

[spurioussun]

Her smaller body freezes. So...this is how Liu'er feels when he's scared or nervous. She can feel the chittering beginning to bubble up inside, but she holds it back and looks at amber golden hues.

"Would you listen to my story if I were willing to tell you?" Her voice is quiet, a whisper only a six ear Macaque wouldn't need to struggle to hear.

"I would never do that to you, Liu,er...what I did back then...

It was to get to my end goal."

[sixthear]

They look away. They can see their own anxiety reflected back at them. They always hated how small they were. How high-pitched and squeaky their voice could get.

"I'll listen," they're always listening. Even when they don't want to. Even when they shouldn't. They already have an inkling of where this conversation was going. The obsessive need to prove that they were stronger, smarter, better -- that they were someone desirable to keep around. That they could be the pride of the troop too. (Now there is nothing but shame and so much unshakable grief.)

I'll listen, they say. I'm not promising anything else.

[spurioussun]

Once they arrive, she can feel what was taken from her return back. There's a glimmer of a shadowy substance that oozes from behind her, only briefly. "Oh--," and when she's pulled, Magnolia chuckles and follows behind. Not that she ACTUALLY has a choice.

"This place is beautiful." Her tail moves in awe. She can see why both Sun Wukongs chose this area to live. From where they are, she can see the large tree house at the far distance of the isle and she can see the other place.

"Let's find a spot that is an open field? A large garden perhaps?"

[sixthear]

The shadows, luckily, go unnoticed. Liu'er's attention is focused on searching for the perfect spot, after all! "Hmmm..." They scratch their cheek with their other hand, tail swishing behind them as they take a moment to consider their options.

Then it hits them: they already know the perfect place for this friendship tree! They grin, turning around to hold both of Magnolia's hands. "I know just the place!" They grin, a glimmer of impishness shining in their eyes as they tug her closer--

There is, briefly, the sensation of falling; in a blink, the younger macaque has teleported them to a small clearing. There's makeshift archery targets hanging from the surrounding trees, and a corner with some straw dummies. But most importantly -- plenty of space for a young peach tree to grow and flourish! "We could plant it here!"

[spurioussun]

She knows nervousness when she sees it. The way his lips twist--preventing that smile, the way he fumbles over his word and the way he looks for some form of comfort by touching her hair. He's seeing something and suddenly she feels dread at the pit of her stomach. There are endless things that he'll see and things she does not WANT him to see.

"Liu'er, what do you see?" Her voice is calm, careful to not startle the Six Eared Macaque.

[sixthear]

She sounds so sweet and so caring. They want to believe its genuine. Their mind briefly flits to memories of White Deer. Then the Nine Headed Spirit. Fingers continuing to twist in hair that's not theirs. If they were in their own body, they'd be tugging at the longer fur atop their head instead.

"...the... the men, that you killed." Didn't they, too, trust her? Considered her a part of their family? He can't quite grasp the cultural differences between those humans and the monkeys of Huaguoshan. A troop is a troop. "You..." Where is the regret? The grief? The horror? What he sees is not a memory that haunts her. But he sees it, and thinks of--

All the things he wishes never happened.