dorothygale123

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I'm subbing in a 5th grade classroom on the first day of FLE. Wish me luck.

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RIP Peanut the squirrel.

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Family of Sages

I mentioned in this post about possible Celestial Water Monkeys; that one Ming-dynasty opera (written nearly 200 years before the Jttw novel) depicts the "Wuzhiqi" (a simian water demon) as a sister to Sun Wukong.

@journeytothewestresearch did an article or two on this particular play, and how there's a possibility of there being multiple "Great Sages" throughout folklore.

The play itself is pretty bawdy given that it's writer was known for adult comedy; with "Sun Xingzhe" being a bit of horndog (only stopped by the circlet), based on a popular cryptid of the time infamous for stealing women.

Other details include;

Red Boy (true name being Ainu’er) being the son of the Bodhisattva Manjushri and the ancient demon-mother-goddess Hariti (comparable to the Echidna of Greek mythology).

The nine skulls on Sha Wujing's neck representing the nine previous lives of the Golden Cicada. (cool af)

Zhu Bajie being afraid of nothing (hah!) but Erlang's dog Xiaotian Quan.

Princess Iron Fan being unmarried, to which Sun Xingzhe offers to be her husband (guess people were shipping them even back then, explains Goku and Chichi).

Tripitaka returning to Chang'an without his pilgrim buddies, instead the Buddha gives him four bodyguards of his own for the return trip. The demons aren't allowed go back East. Kinda sad.

So it's best to take the characterisation with a grain of salt, though it has some cool ideas.

The family sound off is presented as this:

"We are five brothers and sisters: my elder sister is Lishan Laomu [離山老母, Venerable Mother of Mount Li], my second sister Wuzhiqi Shengmu [巫支祇聖母, Holy Mother Wuzhiqi]; my older brother is Qitian Dasheng [齊天大聖, Great Sage Equaling Heaven], I myself am Tongtian Dasheng [通天大聖, Great Sage Reaching Heaven], and my younger brother Shuashua Sanlang [耍耍三郎]"

Wukong introduces himself as "Tongtian Dasheng [通天大聖, Great Sage Reaching Heaven]". But his older brother has the title of Qitian Dasheng [齊天大聖, Great Sage Equaling Heaven].

Another later story mentioned in the article has the "Cinnabar Cloud Great Sage/Danxia Dasheng"; a red-furred staff-wielding monkey who acts as an antagonist towards the main goddess character. Curiously is described as both a peach thief, a survivor of Laozi's furnace, and a frequent identity-stealer (possible Six Eared Macaque?). He is punished for being so naughty by getting neutered (ouch).

And of course there is the God of Thunder Leigong aka "Sire/Duke of Thunder", who is often depicted as a celestial monkey/ape working as the muscle and executioner for the Jade Emperor. Became immortal after eating a Peach dropped by a fox demon (Jiuweihuli?) arguing with Celestial soldiers. Is married to the Goddess of Lightning Dianmu, who lights up the sky to help her husband see his targets. He is said to be one of Five Brothers, leading to more connections.

So theres;

Lishan Laomu/"Venerable Mother of Mount Li" - Eldest sister/sibling. Curiously named after a popular goddess of the same name said to be equal in power to Nüwa, and possible Mother Nature itself. Said goddess appears in Jttw as a companion of Guanyin, and helps out Wukong when the rest of the hang were poisoned.

Wuzhiqi Shemu/"Holy Mother Wuzhiqi" - Second elder sister. Her name is associated with an aquatic flood demon with a stretchy neck - bound to the bottom of mountain/sea by Yu the Great (original owner of the Ruyi Jingu Bang) with iron chains.

Qitian Dasheng/"Great Sage Equaling Heaven" - older brother. Has the traditional "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" title. Makes me think of Dasheng from HIB.

Tongtian Dasheng/"Great Sage Reaching Heaven" - second brother aka the version of Sun Wukong/Xingzhe in the play. Is closer to "Quagmire" than Sun Wukong tbh.

Shuashua Sanlang/"Playful Third Brother" - youngest brother. Not much is said about him. His name literally means "Playful Third Brother". Might be the baby of the family.

+Danxia Dasheng/"Cinnabar Cloud Great Sage" - red-furred Wukong double. Got neutered for being naughty.

+Leigong/Duke of Thunder - Actual thunder god.

This gang of monkeys siblings is likely what led to the depiction of the "Four Stalwart Generals" who are Wukong's closest monkey companions. But now I'm imagining an universe/au where the Stalwarts are all similarly orphaned celestial monkeys of deferring elements who adopted one another.

Danxia/Cinnabar Cloud is an odd mix of both Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque. Possible kid? Maybe inspired ideas of Wukong being red furred. His shenanigans even remind me of Monkey from the netflix Monkey King (2023).

And of course Leigong... Jade Emperor sends a monkey to kill a monkey, and is shocked when Wukong survives. Leigong is like an old blue-collar worker who refuses to work if it violates his union rights - even orders from the King of the Universe.

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2nd grader: Hey, is Bloody Mary real?

Me: *goes into a several minute long discussion about how yes Bloody Mary is based on the historical Mary Tudor who did have a lot of people killed but no the former queen of England won't show up if you say her name in the bathroom mirror 3 times*

My common sense, hours later: You could have just said no.

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Chapter 31: Macaque and MK get nappies. Yue finds religion.

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Chapter 30! Tang gets real excited, and Yue is concerned.

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Chapter 29, where we find out where Macaque ran off to.

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When elementary school boys keep using gay as an insult and treat it like a dirty word.

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I mean, I can understand why he wasn't in a rush to help. It was JUST Zhu Bajie that was getting beat up. It wasn't anybody important like Tripitaka.

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Chapter 28, with a special guest appearance from Zhu Bajie, who demonstrates the fundamentals of the Zhu Family School of Tough Love.

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My brother just referred to a chocolate teddy graham as a chocolate Care Bear. He wasn’t even trying to make a joke. He's so weird.

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MK: Monkey King isn't my dad.

The fandom: YES HE F***ING IS.

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Chapter 27, Wukong gets punched in the face!

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Chapter 26, where Macaque has a LOT of feelings. Like, a LOT.

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Chapter 25! Very fluffy!

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Chapter 24, where Wukong makes a very smart decision!

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My mom says I'm not allowed to take them home. She says Malibu is enough. She's heartless.