Very small wake from sleep issue that I haven't seen anywhere else

Components

i7 8700

Asus prime z370 a ii

igpu

1440p monitor connected via displayport

kexts:

lilu

whatevergreen

applealc

fakesmc

Other details:

in energy saver I have "prevent computer from sleeping automatically" checked

"wake for wi-fi network access" unchecked

"enable power nap" unchecked

darkwake=1 (before I didn't have this even explicitly set, I have since set it to 1 and I don't notice any difference)

So I have been having a semi-minor issue and I don't know if it's worth the effort fixing or not, depending on how complicated it is.

When my computer goes to sleep, I can mash my keyboard and mouse as much as I want, but my computer wont wake. however if I quickly turn my monitor off and then on, THEN mash the keyboard, my comp wakes up at the login screen.

The interesting thing about this though is that my password field on the login screen received plenty of characters from my keyboard mashing, (even before turning my monitor off and on) so I can only deduce the issue isn't one of my keyboard not sending a signal to my mac, as it clearly receives input from my keyboard, it just doesn't help to wake.

What would lead to my monitor being turned off and on helping to wake up my comp, but nothing else will?

Should I try other darkwake settings or something else?

I've googled around for this but most of the sleep issues I've seen seem way more hardcore than mine and I haven't seen my specific issue described anywhere.

thanks