#lotus lantern monkey king

[aerkame]

I Love This Version of Sun Wukong

I'm not sure just how many movies there are featuring this version of Monkey King, but I noticed that he always treats kids so well it's honestly heartwarming and adorable to see. It's such a breath of fresh air to see this from a character like Monkey King.

Some examples: Monkey King helping DingDing put on his shoe (DingDing vs. The Monkey King), Monkey King helping one of the younger kids climb up his cudgel to join the others (Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven), and Monkey King comforting and grooming a baby monkey with no mother (From This Post).

I have no idea who was behind the design of this character, but they made this version of Monkey King so well and they made him very lovable. I also like how he pretty much stays in character no matter the movie, even if it's with different writers. Everyone seems to get what kind of character he is.

On top of that, his character traits in general really do match that of a monkey. He's caring (especially towards kids or younger monkeys), playful, and protective.

I definitely want to make a list of all movies I have seen so far with this version of Monkey King in it so I can share it with you guys. The problem is that I don't know what this design is called or if this design of the character even has a name. If you know, please let me know! Messages are always open.

[drifting-andromeda]

The influx of Erlang Shen x Sun Wukong from Black Myth Wukong is so funny to me. I know it was a popular ship even before the game, but also having the background that there are stories that Wukong trained Erlang's nephew to absolutely beat the shit out of him makes this ship even funnier

[inkyminx]

I couldn’t resist so have a character that appears in most adaptations of JTTW cause I like the concept and that it’d be fun instead of sticking a character to one series.

Experimental & whatnot. R.I.P spine and sleep schedule BUT HEY— IT FUN.

Have Some Trivia ~

The name’s Kaihua Haizi!  开花孩子

Kai Zi for short.

Panamanian White-Face Capuchin.

Gay, He / Him

Is a mystic, not born from stone.

Born on Flower Fruit Mountain.

Be loyal or kneecaps be backwards, sassy, strong-willed, brutally honest, curious & aggressive.

May have broken someone’s bone in an arm wrestle. Or two. Or ten—

A singer & performer: mostly ballet & acrobatics.

Has some kind of romance or camaraderie with Wukong (depending on the version) & often a mentor for successors and young.

This guy will make a sh!t ton of movie references (mostly Emperor’s New Groove) .

Kind of a busy-body.

Pretty much an older sibling type/guidance for the younger monkeys in FFM.

That or the guy that trains said youngins and newcomers, often times the kiddos being dragged back by him unconscious later.

Is a tad older than Macaque and Wukong. (Headcanon: Don’t know if it’s proven, but to me- Macaque is older than Sun Wukong) (more related to LMK) .

Gained Immortality through witchcraft and that one time Wukong stole the longevity peaches.

Possesses appearance manipulation, flora & black magic.

Uses hairpins, needles & a Guandao-like blade.

Was burned with an iron as punishment by the Heavens for being connected to Wukong and taking part in his war against them (hence the mark on his chest) .

Will Lion King his own kid (MK, Destined One, Fruity & Chenxiang watch out) .

And for the adaptations, continue under the cut!

Mei Hou Wang

Was raised alongside Liu’er by the former king after losing his parents as an infant (Headcanon, not sure if proven) .

Nicknamed “Hua Hua” by Shihou right after meeting him.

In a kind of love triangle with Liu’er & Shihou as they got older.

It’s unknown how their ending will go but it remains lighthearted and fun regardless (fvck off Nine Headed B!tch) .

Close friends and dance partners with Yutu.

Accompanied Liu’er during his training with the deer master (more so to keep an eye on him/babysitting) .

May have spied on Liu’er much after noticing something was up after his first encounter with the Nine Headed demon (can’t remember his name, sorry) .

Definitely hung Ginseng on a tree branch a few times as discipline.

Likes to tease Havoc and the monkey generals for days on end.

Nicknames Shihou “Shidi” for fun.

Started wearing his hair with a braid after Liu’er started it one day while enjoying the sunshine.

Played a LOT of pranks on the generals as a cub.

Was born with the mark on his chest as a symbol to his power in flora in this version.

Was taught singing and dancing to “ease his buffoonery” by the former king.

Kinda went the other way but still kinda worked?

Owns a flower-made promise ring Shihou made for him.

~

LMK

Calls Macaque “Shidi” to mess with him in this version.

In their youth, Kai & Sun Wukong were in a relationship for a couple of years (basically a friends-to-lovers situation) .

PET NAMES ARE A TRADITION.

Introduced the shy Macaque to Wukong.

BOI this version’s chaotic tendencies go through the Heavens compared to the others (minus one) .

Was friends with the Brotherhood and often hung around together, getting drunk most times (minus Peng) .

Sorry Macaque, gonna have to drag TWO drunk primates back up the mountain this time.

Pranked tf out of Peng and lesser demons in his youth.

Got into an argument with Wukong right before the Brotherhood’s attack on the Heavens, leaving some strings torn.

“I’m not gonna stand on that battlefield and watch you die!”

Stayed with Macaque on FFM until his fight with the King.

Left FFM after his friends’ battle.

Now lives in the mountains of The Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey (Headcanon as seen in Sheng’s story) .

Plays a similar role to Macaque with MK in S1 but doesn’t try to uppercut the kid.

In fact, this guy is a pretty frequent customer of Pigsy’s Noodles before this but hid his history during that time.

Kinda.

Tang: YOUR THE MONKEY KING’S LOVER! 🤩 Kai: Ah sh!t, here we go again.

Makes up with Wukong after season 3, seeing him interact with MK and Macaque, and his change.

While not back together completely, the two go DAYS being menaces & buddy-buddy once more.

MK: Your technically my fifth dad, right?  Kai.exe Stopped Working.

~

Reborn

Is Sun Wukong’s close friend & comrade instead of pursuing a full relationship.

Appeared briefly in the town during their search, covering most of their face to hide themself.

Was caught by Fruity at one point in the town but the monkey not carefully shoved the baby in the pile of a vegetable stall.

Was hinted by Wukong when Fruity asked if he had someone waiting for him back home.

This guy is a lot more…mysterious & dark vibes in appearance than the usual chirpy but still holds that prankster/fun vibe.

Aside from that, there’s not much about him in the movie since he only appears in the background and is only mentioned verbally once.

~

1996

TBA

Will be created once I finally find a decent translation without signing for a subscription and whatnot.

~

Black Myth

Like most, Kai and Wukong were close comrades and eventually started a somewhat more intimate relationship before the Journey.

MANY years later, Kai plays a supporting role and guide for the destined one (similar to Zhu Bajie) .

In this version, Kai does appear as an elder (though not as much as the old monkey in the beginning) but does revert back to his true age near the end.

Age Appearance Manipulation do be like that.

Lost his right arm & left eye a period after Sun Wukong’s death.

Kai, to The Destined One: “When I was your age—“  Zhu Bajie: *repeats in spongebob mocking*

Despite not actually being able to be so GOD does this guy have a great time being an old man/monkey.

To Destined One: “FVCK ‘EM UP, SONNY!”

~

Havoc In Heaven / Lotus Lantern

This version doesn’t really do much in the story of both aside from what’s already been said, including an intimate relationship w/ Wukong, mentoring and taking care off the young monkeys, etc.

Their romance is more subtle in this version.

His design is more of a mix of the opera & ballet, but simplified to match the style of the animation.

If you thought LMK PeachSong (yea) was a chaotic pair, BOY LET ME TELL YA—

In the latter, Kai is sometimes seen either behind the lotus Wukong sits on doing his own thing (mostly just listening & basically giving off the “old married couple vibe” or being a guardian type to Chenxiang as he trains.

Grandpapi & Grandpapa be here wrecking so much havoc (badum chsss) .

[relmint-draws]

LISTEN--I just find the concept of Erlang getting an unspoken crush on Wukong after their death battle SO FUNNY

[sketching-shark]

you know the king has bad taste in men when somehow bajie is the best option out of the lot of them (didnt leave huaguo for dead. didnt kill like 70% of huaguo. bar is in the ground.)

ASFDGRTHDESWER%Q$EWQ

ANON. RUDE. BUT SO VALID. BAR IS INDEED IN HELL.

I couldn't help but be reminded of this post @antidotefortheawkward made some time ago regarding the zhuhou vs. jiankong debate in the "you vs. the guy he tells you not to worry about" format which you can view here:

And while I do find Zhu Bajie's plight in this pretty funny, it does pay to remember that he has the very real comfort of knowing that no matter what at least he has the major advantage of "didn't try to murder Sun Wukong while he was begging me to find a different solution to our differences" and "didn't firebomb Mt. Huagoushan."

That said, as always mad respect to the jiankongers for from what I understand having the common understanding that Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen couldn't really be anything but bitter exes at best after the burning of the Monkey King's beloved home. We love it when both sides of a ship get to hate each other for legitimate reasons <3.

Also & along those lines, and while I don't know if this is true for sure, I also find it pretty neat and really funny that Lotus Lantern retellings may have been the first spark to inspire what is now at least a couple of stories of Zhu Bajie and Sun Wukong taking care of children together. Jokes about Erlang Shen and the Monkey King getting into a custody battle over Liu Chenxiang are evergreen, but throw Zhu Bajie into the mix and it really becomes this incredible drama of "my ex bestie and his new bestie gang up against me & win guardianship over my nephew who hates me for unrelated reasons (don't worry about it)."

You do have to feel a bit bad for Erlang Shen though...with Xiyouji, Lotus Lantern and that story about him marrying and soon after separating from a dragon princess who was apparently pretty abusive, he really is among his other titles like the most divorced god ever lol.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Revisando mi antiguos cuadernos encontré este diseño de Chenxiang c:

@crazysaru99: (translated via google) “Going through my old notebooks I found this design by Chenxiang“

Ooo! I really like this design! I know you have drawn Chenxiang before, and I love how you draw his hair and expressions. I can imagine the right drawing is him after he’s adapted to the modern world and become more comfortable. I believe theres some inspiration from the Lotus Lantern animated film? I am glad that you sent this to me! <3

[the-monkey-ruler]

Out of curiosity, which Lotus Lantern Movie had the Three Treasures of Huashan? I understand now that Huashan having three treasures isn’t something from mythology, but I’m still curious about them honestly

I think it was the Lotus Lantern 新编宝莲灯 (2020)

Nuwa used the fire from heaven to mend the sky, extracted the essence of heaven and earth and turned it into a Lotus Lamp, and gave it to Sanseng as a magical weapon for body protection. After the Sanseng fell in love with the mortal Liu Xi, they were suppressed by Yang Jian from the Heavenly Court and went to Huashan. Chenxiang, the son of Sanseng, became a disciple of Sun Wukong when he grew up. He learned all kinds of martial arts and wanted to take back the Lotus Lantern and cut the mountain to save his mother. Yang Jian was heartbroken and blamed Chenxiang for the disaster that was about to happen. Sanseng was about to die, and Chenxiang went to heaven to change the rules of heaven, but the three realms of Buddhism, Taoism, and God were annihilated. The Lotus Lantern was originally the original force, but the three realms did not expect that the original sin had already ambushed the world when the sky split...

So in the movie, they show like the three weapons plus the Axe that I think was made by Pangu, but otherwise, I might have missed where it said what the other three were said. They look to be an orb, a scroll, and something like an amulet? Not sure. It's a really good movie though from what I skimmed! Love Wukong's design def.

He looks like a Japanese macaque almost!

[coming-for-them-kneecaps]

Monkie Destiny Challenge with Yang Jian

[angstandhappiness]

ADORABLE

Something something history not repeating but rhyming or whatever

[aerkame]

Adorable furballs

Oh my goodness, I knew the interactions between Monkey King and other monkeys in Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven(1960) was adorable, but I did not think it could get any cuter in the Lotus Lantern movie(1999). Dude is legit just cuddling this lil' monkey and letting them climb all over him while he vents over not knowing who his mom is, and the fact that he starts petting and grooming them too, I can't, it's so cute- 😭

On a side note, I like that they gave him a lot more of a personality in this movie, it really suits him with what they went with.

[emelinstriker]

Nezha ♡ A Special Stranger

Just a short one-shot of how you met Nezha. c:

Also, Honkai: Star Rail came out and now I'm stuck at TL41 with SU World 6 done and am still stuck on FH 11 cuz I only can make one team side work well. Got basically no other content besides that anymore and speedran 3 other accs to TB15 in under 3 hours each out of boredom. I'm a proud E1 Gepard main tho. :D

♡ Part 1 | ♡ Part 2 | ♡ Part 3

♡ ~ Fluff ~ ♡

You actually met your boyfriend on accident. The Monkey King apparently stole a very important item from the Celestial Realm, and said item was being guarded by Nezha. He never told you about what exactly went down, just that he was basically hunting him down for a while over some set of rings.

Either way, he ended up at Lantern City and knew Sun Wukong would be there. But he didn't want to garner attention or cause a scene with all the mortals around, so he slipped into the crowd with a cloak, waiting for an opportunity to confront the Monkey King... Honestly roaming the streets of the city was a little unnerving considering most of the merch they had was related to Sun Wukong in some way...

But then he bumped into you. Or rather, the side of your backpack. You were enjoying your time as tourist and weren't alarmed at his cloaked look. You were able to still see his handsome face after all. "Sorry...", he said before slowly trying to walk away again. However, something told you to strike up a conversation with him, so you did.

"H- Hey! Wait up!" Nezha stopped in his tracks as he turned back around to face you. "Are you a local? Do you know about any sights here other than the giant lantern?"

And that's when you both got caught up in a conversation. Oddly enough, the people around you were loud, yet Nezha had no problem ignoring the sounds to solely focus on you. He didn't seem interested in talking to you at first, mainly due to him being on a mission. But then you brought up the topic of how you were a fan of stories about the Celestial Realm. The way you got excited about this topic piqued his interest... You could tell based on how he suddenly started talking a lot more. You did find it interesting how he knew about even more stories than you though. He even added in more details to moments you only vaguely knew of.

Apparently his talk with you was so fun and distracting that he didn't even notice Sun Wukong suddenly being on stage: Until the pig holding the mic started singing so loud you had to cover your ears. It wasn't exactly the volume itself that got to you, it was mainly just the sudden volume change without warning that hurt. People closer to the stage even seemed to have been blown away by his voice... literally. Nezha took notice of your discomfort and looked over at the stage, now taking notice of the nervously smiling Monkey King. He glared in his direction before making his decision.

The Lotus Prince put one hand on your back and started to lightly push you away from the stage and away from the crowd. "C'mon", he mouthed over the singer's voice as he lead you to a more quiet area. You were still able to hear the stage rather clearly, but your ears were no longer in pain. He made sure you were okay first before telling you that it was getting late and he slowly needed to go. You asked him if you'd see him again, and he couldn't stop himself from smirking.

"As much as I'd love to see you again, I don't think my job allows me to have the time to look for you..." You tilted your head in confusion, prompting him to continue. His mouth formed a straight line. "...Let's just say I'm a guard."

You let out a quiet 'Oh, okay' before your disappointed gaze avoided eye contact. Nezha sighed, placing one hand behind his neck. "Look, you're nice to talk to, but we're both tourists here and would have to part ways anyway. I'm just your average stranger, after all."

Now, that just gave you a funny idea.

You took off your backpack, placing it in on the ground between the two of you before pulling out a cap that was white on the front half and red everywhere else. Afterwards you pulled out one of your pens and started to write on the front. Then you handed the cap to the cloaked Lotus Prince. "Here you go!"

He looked at you in confusion after reading out the words you wrote on it. "(Y/N)'s Special Stranger...?"

"We may have to part ways, but that doesn't mean I can't give you some sort of souvenir... If you think this is kinda funny too, that is. You can just get rid of the cap if you don't want it... I haven't been able to use it much anyway", you commented. However, instead of throwing it away or handing it back to you, the stranger let out a chuckle in amusement.

"Well, it certainly is funny. Thank you, (Y/N). I'll keep it, don't worry", he said as he gave you a small smile. But it was enough to make the rest of your day all the better. However, you decided to ask one last thing with a grin...

"Before you go, what's your name, dear special stranger of mine?"

He rolled his eyes with an amused smile before answering with a name that surprised you, as it seemed very familiar.

"Nezha."

...

"So that's why you're wearing this thing", the Monkey King connected the dots in his mind as he looked at the words written on the Lotus Prince's newfound cap.

He sadly wasn't able to wear it during the time the entire Lady Bone Demon crisis happened, but now he finally got to wear it in peace... for the most part. Because Sun Wukong came to visit him and immediately had to tease him over the obvious claim written on his friend's new hat by a mortal.

The simian gave him yet another smug grin. "Are you going to try see them again? Your lovely stranger~?"

Nezha felt his cheeks heat up as one of his hands moved to lower his cap in the front a bit, seemingly trying to hide his face... and failing. "I already told them I can't. The Samadhi Fire's map may have probably been the most important item I was supposed to guard, but there are still other items I was tasked to watch over."

Wukong's expression then quickly turned into an unamused one. "Seriously? You're not even trying to look for them on the side for like five minutes a day?"

"How would I be able to find them within five minutes? I don't even know where they're from!"

"Fine then! I'll find them for you-" The Monkey King exclaimed before suddenly grabbing Nezha's cap, ripping it off his head before placing it on his own, smiling brightly with his thumbs up. "Take my help as a little gift for your love life. See you in a bit, Nezha!"

The simian then quickly summoned his cloud before zooming off into the skies, leaving a completely red-faced Lotus Prince behind. Whether the red colors came from pure rage or pure embarrassment was hard to tell. It seemed to be more of a mixed case. He cursed under his breath before using his own abilities to go after the monkey.

"SUN WUKONG!!"

> Masterlist <

[totallynotokguys]

Lego Monkie Kid Rewatch: Season 3

Episode 8, Benched

Through my rewatch, I've been trying to pay attention to the smaller details and people in the show, so I can really appreciate the world.

Thank you animators, for taking the time to draw this disgruntled birb getting poofed by snow. There's no big reason here for the bird besides illustrating that its snowy now, which background scenery is already showing us. But nope! The show went the extra centimeter to include this lil birb, giving this world a little bit more depth and vitality.

"I didn't like how any of them turned out, though."

It's the circles isn't it. Circles are hard.

I love this city's design here so much!

The lanterns, snow, warm glowing signs. Look at that crane! Or the lotus! And those lantern kites! I love their mix of modern with traditional architecture! Please tell me they made a lego set of this city! And look at the people! I want every single one of these lego figures in that picture. Cute coats, cute hairs, cute winter accessories! And the toy monkey! I love it!

… ah…

Don't get me wrong. If I saw this before the show I would have thought it was a cool shopping district. But when compared to the ambiance the show gives and the background characters designs… It's just… sigh.

Monkey King casually throwing someone else' property and or merchandise like he oh so carefully threw the ring probably. Looked like a steam bun basket… ah! I bet there were some delicious baozi in there!!!

Love the accessories! So fitting that MK got a cute Monkey King stuffy. And Mei's lantern bag is the best 10/10 I would buy please give me.

I'm trying to figure out what accessories Monkey King got. I see the pin, but what are the patches on his hoodie?

Did…. Did Wukong buy a sticker pad and instead of pealing the stickers out, he pealed the whole backside and thwacked it to his clothes randomly?

Please say yes! That would be hilarious!

I'm crying again. Just look. LOOK!

Look at the way this image makes you feel. Grand. Warm. Dazzled. Festive. Cozy. Green, gold, and red all incorporated perfectly together to make a stunning block pallet! This is what we could have had! I want a set that makes me feel this!

"Can't read?"

MK. Don't just call someone out like that! You gotta ask these things delicately, in private, with a show of compassion so they don't feel judged and are more likely to be honest with you.

Sandy has to wear glasses to read?!!!! How did I miss that the first time! Sandy, I've failed you.

"But none of us have any talents! There's no way we can win!"

Ouch. MK. What is up buddy? Why are you so carelessly hurting everyone's feelings today?

And now, compilation of Monkey King freaking out. Because we all need this in our lives. I guarantee you can relate to at least on of these expressions.

"You're benching me?" "Mm, pretty much."

MK!!!! Stop hurting people's feelings! Honesty doesn't mean you have to be brutally blunt about it!

This here is a gungzheng, and it is amazing! Sadly the show doesn't do it nearly enough justice, though I am thrilled about its inclusion.

If you want to here it for yourself, here's some links to two of my favourite songs with a gungzheng!

These are my favourite nuisances. I love this family.

Tang: I feel hurt, like no one takes me seriously and I don't matter in this friend group. But since I'm a mature and rational adult I know exactly how to handle these big feelings.

Tang: By stealing!

"I'm not useless!"

Tang, dear, don't cry! You matter! They care about you, I promise! Just don't jump off that roof!

My baby!

At first I was kind of miffed that Macaque didn't just get the ring while the others were distracted. Like, come on Macaque. You're smarter than that. Wasn't he supposed to stop pulling his punches after LBD latest threats of complete deletion of his self?

But then I had a thought. Why does his shadow magic originate from under Tang? Does… does he need a living beings shadow to hop around? Was he unable to get up there unless someone else was there? That would be super cool mechanic of his powers!

"It's the guy sitting in the wings while his friend are busy having fun without him."

Ah, maybe this is where MK gets his 'bluntly saying the very thing that makes people feel bad right to their face' trait.

I love that Tang doesn't even respond to Macaque's goading. Yeah, you can see the shadow's words hurt him. But Tang sees the bigger picture, and that's getting the ring before LBD's henchman gets it!

Knowing what I do now about the Journey to the West and the encounter Macaque and Tang Sanzang had with one another… makes this fight between them way more intense and impactful.

Familiar faces bringing up some bad memories there, eh Macaque?

Once again, Macaque is blinded by his flawed perspective. His whole speech is about Wukong. No mention of MK, the main hero. Or Pigsy, the sensible one. Or Sandy, the caretaker. Or Mei, the passion. Macaque is acting like Wukong is the only opinion that matters in the team. As if the other's don't even exist. But a team is not a single player, it is defined and strengthened by all of its parts.

And this is Macaques greatest flaw. He does not look past Wukong's shadow or his own past.

"I know that my place is along side my friends. One day, I will become someone they can depend on, the way that I can always depend on them!"

Tang reminding us that we don't need power or wealth to matter, our true friends and family care for us because its 'us.' They are people we trust and look up to and who inspire us to become the best versions of ourselves.

Thank you for this message, lmk. Its important.

Love that Pigsy's singing overstimulates Macaque. The show finally remembers his full name, the Six Eared Macaque.

"I will grant you my aid."

Yeah… Doesn't look like Macaque wants it. Can he send it back?

NOOOOOO! Lantern City!!!!!

The cozy ambiance! The festive atmosphere! The cute winter apparel! All gone!!!!

[sketching-shark]

You know it can be pretty fun and funny to compare and contrast Xiyouji retellings but it is genuinely wild just how different the stories of Sun Wukong’s tudis are.

Tudi #1: An unnamed prince of the Jade-Flower District in India that the pilgrim group passes through on the way west & who becomes an amazing martial artist under Sun Wukong’s tutelage. Is also endowed with “divine strength” by the Monkey King. He’s a minor character, but he clearly admires and respects his shifu

Tudi #2: Liu Chenxiang, the demigod hero of “The Magic Lotus Lantern” folk tale. Faced many hardships and traumatic events on account of his uncle Erlang Shen killing Liu Chenxiang’s father and imprisoning his mother Sansheng Mu underneath a mountain for the crime of falling in love with a mortal. Some versions of the story say that Sun Wukong was his shifu in the martial arts. The Monkey King is also often presented as the one who made a magical axe that allowed Liu Chenxiang to split open this mountain and be reunited with his mom. His relationship to Sun Wukong is a little more tense, but overall he’s presented as admiring and being very grateful to his shifu.

Tudi #3: Qi Xiaotian, the generally cheerful protagonist of the cartoon Monkie Kid who Cannot Catch A Break Ever. Mr. “Have-Some-More-Trauma-While-Everyone-Dunks-On-Your-Shifu-all-while-Sun-Wuking-frequently-makes-things-worse” himself. Seems to still at least love the Monkey King, but a part of him also seems to be wondering why. Oh no.

[quitealotofsodapop]

¿Cómo es Nezha cuidando a los niños Qi? ¿Cómo fue de incomodo el encuentro/reencuentro(si es que se encontraron alguna vez) entre Nezha y Chenxiang? ya sabes el sobrino de su maestro que le hiso la vida imposible. Ahora que lo pienso es bastante raro que las almas nazcan con los recuerdos de sus vidas pasadas, talvez Chen quería ver mucho nuevamente a su maestro/padre que ¿No quería perder sus recuerdos?

translated via google:

"What is Nezha like taking care of Qi children? How awkward was the meeting/reunion (if they ever met) between Nezha and Chenxiang? You know the nephew of his teacher who made his life impossible. Now that I think about it, it is quite rare for souls to be born with memories of their past lives. Maybe Chen wanted to see his teacher/father again so much that he didn't want to lose his memories?"

Nezha is a good big brother... but he's not used to being a big brother. He has 2 brothers much older than him that were kept out of reach when Nezha's demonic birth happened. He never really had a brotherly relationship that wasn't based on someone treating him like a 3 year old unexploded bomb. He's the Protector God of Children, but he wasn't sure what he could do beyond physically protecting them from harm.

For some time when Red Son was a baby, Nezha was one of few bio-family members allowed to help care for him - being that Nezha is naturally resistant to fire and never personally disowned PIF (he didn't even understand what the big deal was with her marrying a demon - Nezha's technically a demon too). Nezha's first time caring for a Red Son was very stressful, but not something he hated.

So when he learns that The Harbringer/Egg is possibly a baby? He jumps to protect them, even though he doesn't fully understand what's going on. And he even loses some respect/privileges in the Palace for his recklessness. He starts visiting Wukong and Macaque during their pregnancy partly out of guilt for "messing up" Wukong's original mission, and because he uh... isn't in a good place with his dad. The whole situation fascinates and terrifies him.

So when Nezha is offered to hold baby MK and/or baby Mei for the first time? He starts full-on ghibli crying and shaking. He's so afraid of accidentally hurting them that he doesn't know what to do. It takes a lot of encouragement, and talking with Sandy before Nezha feels confident enough again to handle one of the babies. Afterwards he's like a fish to water.

Nezha does get a little confused sometimes cus he's honestly not sure what is and isn't considered Allowed, whether in general or in the modern day. Are little kids allowed roller skates? Can a child be trusted around fire? How old does a kid have to be to get their own spear?

And his relationship with Chenxiang? It's... complicated.

Lotus bros! These boys love pink and flowers!

Are techincally Second Cousins. They even get mistaken for bio brothers regularly.

Both are considered the Older Brothers of the kids, making Nezha not feel so alone in his new family.

Both have a fatherly and/or brotherly attachment to Sun Wukong.

Both are extremely powerful. Like, scarily powerful.

But... Chenxiang may or may not have done something back in his day that made a lot of Celestials look at him with a lot of horror/pity.

I'll be making a whole post dedicated to Chenxiang and his connection to the story very soon >:3

[angstandhappiness]

READ IT, ABSOLUTELY DIVINE

@sketching-shark : #hey besties you should all totally read this#definitely one of the better fanfics that i've come across#earl-of-221b#also dang now i'm imagining some aftermath to all of this that involves sun wukong taunting erlang shen#about for as much as the war god might look down on him & his fellow yaoguai#his nephew begged to become the monkey king's tudi#after fiercely rejecting yang jian and everything he had come to stand for

#new gods yang jian#erlang shen#chen xiang#the magic lotus lantern#this is going to be so tragic and so funny all at once <3#also i’m really hoping that they still keep in the part about chen xiang running away from erlang shen & studying under sun wukong#world’s oldest 25-year-old loses custody battle to a monkey grandpa#but yeah erlang shen with lotus lantern as an extension of his story is so fascinationg#because you have an uber powerful deity so dedicated to the cause that he inflicts the same trauma on his sister and nephew#that was inflicted on him by order of his uncle#and then his nephew basically does the exact same thing he did#like aaaaaaa PLEASE make yang jian aware of narrative & familial repetition & respond to it

@sketching-shark oh my god. You should……you should read my fanfiction from 2017 - How the Black Sheep Breathe.

[the-monkey-ruler]

I was watching Lotus Lantern 1999 and apparently Wukong had already finished his journey and ascended to Buddhaism when he started training Chenxiang. Do the other versions of Lotus Lantern have the story placed at the end of Journey to the West? (however, I could be wrong because I watched the movie in Chinese language)

Yeah, all versions of them are after his journey, at least the ones that include Wukong as his mentor. It only makes sense both in verse and out of verse. Wukong would have no time narratively on his journey to train Chenxiang since it isn’t in Xiyouji at all, and Wukong wouldn’t be qualified to train Chenxiang when he was still in the middle of his own character arc to be in a proper place story wise to be a mentor. I have yet to seen any Lotus Lantern story that involved Wukong as a mentor during his journey. You will see that all Lotus Lantern productions that involve Wukong has a mentor have him already enlightened such as seen in Lotus Lantern (2020) 天界异闻录：宝莲灯, Lotus Lantern - Floating Fairyland (2021) 宝莲灯·赤子之心, Lotus Lantern (2020) 天界异闻录：宝莲灯, Lotus Lantern Prequel (2009), Lotus Lantern (2005), and Lotus Lantern (1999).

Though there was a movie Monkey King: The One and Only (2021) 大圣无双 (this is a Wukong fighting an evil clone of himself movie) where Chenxiang actually made a cameo appearance in the middle of Wukong’s journey, where they seemed familiar with each other but it was an antagonist relationship (this isn't exactly a high-quality movie so please don't take it too seriously). Wukong needed Chanxiang's ax so it looked like Chenxiang completed his journey to save his mother but they never showed how he and Wukong were connected since it wasn't about Chenxiang. He was more of a reference than anything else.

But timewise Yes, it only makes sense that Wukong trained Chenxiang after the journey.