🌻go wild
yeah so people write wukong and macaque as touch starved and yeah they totally are but i dont think that most people write about/convey how deeply they are touch starved. from my very limited research (so dont take this as gospel (i plan on doing more)) monkeys are always touching up on each other in social groups. its a primary method for bonding. now i think wukong is less touch starved than macaque since he's on flowerfruit mountain surrounded by other monkeys. they probably all groom him and he grooms them they play they have their social dynamics but its always from a place where hes the ruler of them all in the social heirarchy so they all kind of have to do that. monkey society rules. so he suffers from a different kind of touch starvation where hes kind of been bombarded with it by his monkeys but its not 100% genuine yk? he'll always have their affection b/c hes their king but idk...maybe he wants someone he sees as an equal to be affectionate with.
now macaque has suffered from extreme isolation for hundreds of years probably and we know from Research™ (a la that one (cruel) study where scientists separated baby monkeys from their mothers to See What Would Happen) that this has probably fucked him up really bad. not as much as it would have if he were an infant monkey but that kind of isolation is detrimental. like no wonder hes snappy, distant, suspicious of others. he doesnt know how to act in these new social situations. and hes lacked one of the IMPERATIVE ways monkeys keep their sanity. just constant touching and grooming of each other and SOCIALIZING. this boy would CLING to ANYONE who offered him even the tiniest hint of affection. hed BEG for it its so fucked up. at first i thought that maybe it wouldnt be w/in his character, but doing outside research has made me realize it may be even more in character for macaque to be touchy than wukong. i can see macaque becoming really distraught if someone rejected his quite frankly, need for affection. it could be so interesting. someone who he comes to expect to always provide affection just. saying no once and how hed probably snap over it.
not even like. in a romantic sense either. monkeys just like touching each other. honestly something churning in my head rn is wukong and macaque reconciliating and then taking turns grooming each other out of respect + generally being cuddly completely platonically. its enthralling actually. not to mention completely in line w/how ive been imagining macaque and wukong. these boys do NOT kiss its all nuzzling and cuddling and maybe playful biting. ive also been reading up on (macaque specific but ive read it can also apply to other species of monkey) monkey behavior in general and like. ough. them just cooing and chittering at each other having conversations while grooming or laying around. lip smacking at each other affectionately. ouuuuagh. their own special little language nobody else understands. i read that macaques are especially cuddly w/one another after a fight. so like. macaque and/or wukong have some sort of end of the world fight deal and one of them comes over to the other to seek comfort. god its everything. we havent even factored in mk who regularly displays this comfort after battle behavior w/wukong.
i also think that exploring how their instinctual monkey behavior has mixed w/the behavior that they have learned mortals find acceptable. b/c. there's plenty of monkey behaviors that would make mortals eyes pop out of their heads if wukong or macaque were to do them around them LOL
monke.