#taiyi zhenren

[snowscapism]

Various Nezha doodles

[mkartinip]

it came to me in a scholarly vision

[countandra]

Students & Teachers [NE ZHA]

[spoilersbutinaccurate]

Master and Disciple cont.

Pt.1 | Pt.2

[thirdlotusprince3]

Taiyi Zhenren: I’m leaving now. Ao Bing is in charge. I’ve left notes for each of you with instructions.

Nezha: Mine just says “Nezha no.”

Taiyi Zhenren: And you can apply that to any situation.

[feihu-containment-chamber]

Old man yaoi barrage

[qingyingpocketlirary]

Tea Collection 3; Nezha. Lavender (a herbal tea)

Looking back, he was in the wrong.

“Did you really just wing that plan of yours?”

Tang had asked when things were calm. The kids were all sleeping, tucked into a nest where they would be safe and warm with the little monkeys. The Pig was by the remains of the campfire and Macaque was long gone. The large blue demon was sat quietly with the blue cat in his lap, seemingly meditating.

His own accusation that Wukong never had any good plan for this whole mess had prompted the question from Tang and it had led to... well, Nezha should really have known better than to push the Monkey King.

Apparently, Wukong’s whole plan had been well thought out, and despite himself, Nezha couldn’t deny that if things had gone the way Wukong intended, the fight with the Lady Bone Demon might have gone very differently.

The Monkey King had actually planned to use the train ride to the mountain to speak about the fourth ring privately, to tell them that during his time away before the Bone Demon stole his staff, he had visited the place where Ao Lie had said he’d be laid to rest, hoping to find the ring entombed with his lost friend. Instead, he’d found the tomb empty, and realised that there was no trace of the fire there at all. That had been when Wukong realised that the fourth ring had to have been passed down the chain, meaning that as his descendant, Mei likely had the ring and it was only because of her dragon heritage and her immense chi that the ring had been rendered dormant within her. A testament to just how powerful the young girl was and could be if she ever tried to apply herself the way dragons of old had. 

Because the ring was needed for the ritual, Wukong had planned to make a numbing pill, one strong enough to leave Mei completely senseless so that he could remove the ring without hurting her the way removing the fire from Red Son had hurt him as a babe.

Nezha had demanded to know why this pill hadn’t been used on the child if it was so powerful. Wukong had remarked that the pill was a later invention, crafted after weeks of Ao Lie suffering silently with the pain until his body had given up and he’d collapsed into a shallow river, desperate for some relief.

Wukong went on, ignoring Nezha in favour of answering Tang’s questions about what he would have done after the rings were in his possession, explaining that his plan had been to use the rings and the fire to battle the Lady Bone Demon, using the flames to slowly chip away at her power and force her to abandon the child she’d taken as a host, allowing Wukong to unleash all the power of the fire upon the demon and end her.

With that done, he intended to turn the fire onto the corrupted relics and the trapped souls within the Trigram Furnace, cleansing it and them of any lingering hold the witch might have tried to leave upon them. Then, he would return to the mountain and split the fire back into four rings.

Nezha had scoffed at this and asked if the Rings would have then become yet another part of Wukong’s horde of relics and artifacts. 

“One ring would go back to the Demon Bull King. One ring would go back to Chang’e, one ring would stay with me and the now solid fourth ring would be returned to Mei. The map would have been returned to you then and we could have all gone back to ignoring each other. But, as always, no one listens when I try to talk.”

“I can understand why you didn’t tell the Third Lotus Prince your plan. But why didn’t you tell us?” Tang had asked, hurt and concern laced in his tone. “If we had known the plan, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Macaque to gain the upper hand.”

“The few people I once trusted with my back are gone, either sealed in the Underworld, they no longer call themselves my friend, or they are dead of old age. Those high above don’t trust me, those deep below despise me and many in the inbetween can’t even believe I'm real. I got used to doing things on my own, with no one to watch my back a long time ago. So, I kept the plan to myself and did what I saw as the best choices for all of you.” The Monkey King stated, shaking his head. “But, it's over now. Mei is safe, the fire within her is contained and with Red Son’s help she’ll be able to master it as her own, the Lady Bone Demon is gone… Another victory for MK.”

“Not yourself, Sun Wukong?” Nezha couldn’t help but snip.

Wukong turned sharply and for a moment, Nezha saw a flash of red eyes that had been absent for so long. “No Li Nezha, this wasn’t a victory to me because I didn’t win this battle.” Wukong’s tail lashed, and broke a nearby boulder in half. “MK did. A boy who is practically a baby compared to you and me and everyone else up in that grand hell you call home upon high.” Cracks began to form at Wukong’s feet, and Nezha saw blood drip from his clenched fists at his sides. “In fact, this is the third time that boy has put a stop to mistakes Heaven began by himself, and yet, not one of you dared to come down here to help when you saw what was happening.” 

“Wukong-”

“Not a one of you bothered to think that maybe, just maybe, the normal folk who actually have to work and earn their living, might need a little heavenly help with this mess before one of the few demons in all the world; who could match me blow for blow and took the combined efforts of me and my Master to seal, might I just add. Got back enough of her power to threaten Heaven and turn every realm into an icy waste land?” A burst of chi, enough to knock Nezha back a few feet as Wukong’s lips curled into a snarl, showing the normally glamoured teeth that lay beneath, sharp and ready to rip flesh from bone. “No, of cause not, because as per fucking usual, Heaven was too busy pretending that nothing and no one can ever reach their little estate of grand palaces in the clouds! Too busy with meaningless Merit and status to care that the people who actually matter are suffering! Too blind to understand that just maybe, something besides me might succeed and kill the Jade Emperor.”

“Monkey.” The Blue demon tried to soothe, but Wukong was beyond such attempts now, the glamour was flickering now, and it was only thanks to the moon light that Nezha could see the brief flashes of the scars that littered Wukong’s face, the band around his head, the burns around his mouth and neck, the ruined eyelids… 

How many of those scars did Heaven give him? How many more were hidden that Nezha knew his hands and weapons had caused? Did Wukong even remember them all?

“A boy, Li Nezha, a boy not even a quarter way through his life, was the one who defeated the Lady Bone Demon. Not you, not me, him. So go on and have your final say. Take a jab at me and make yourself feel good for finally winning a petty argument like the reckless, uneducated child you clearly still are. I’m so eager to know what possible victory you gain, beyond making yourself no better than the bastard who sired you!”

“Monkey!” Something in the tone, the suddenness of it all, or maybe it was the fact the blue demon had stood up and put himself between them that made Wukong stop and look at the demon with wide eyes.

Something unsaid went between them, and then Wukong had turned away, ignoring any attempts to call after him as he summoned his nimbus and took off at speed.

He pushed too far. Every bit the child he’d been so long ago, the child who never gained the approval of a man he’d only ever loved in the beginning. 

Before he could retreat into meditation, he felt a shift, ever so slight and barely noticeable, but there and before he could stand and mask his injuries behind a glamour, the persons who had arrived stepped into the room and all at once, Nezha was on the verge of tears.

The first to enter was a woman, modernly dressed and mortal at a glance, but the aura of her and the faintest hints of white light that followed her movements spoke of her godly nature, however minor. She silently greeted Nezha with a respectful bow, but it was not too deep, as she was helping to guide the other into the room with great respect and care.

The second to enter was a man, dressed in familiar robes and frail in appearance, his long white beard neatly groomed and smoothed from years of care and attention. One arm cradling his long tailed fly-brush and the other was resting in the hands of the woman, allowing her to guide him as his eyes were still not quite adjusted to the brightness of Heaven.

Taiyi Zhenren, Nezha’s master and teacher, who had helped Nezha face the Dragon King of the East when he had rebelled, the man who brought Nezha back and comforted him when his own father had driven him to death. The man who had come down from his mountain with flowers and offerings to leave at the headstone of Nezha’s mother’s grave when she had passed, and who had been more of a father to him than the head of the Li Family.

“Master. Lady Chayi.” He greeted, quickly standing and descending the steps to greet them both. “Please, you did not have to-”

“I could feel your distress in my meditation, my student. I will not deny you comfort and aid when it is within my power still to give it to you. Even if I ought to have brought something to better shade my eyes from the brightness.” The frail old man dismissed his concerns softly, a fondness to his tone as the woman guided him further into the room, closer to Nezha. “You are injured.”

“It will heal by the morning.” Nezha assured as they met, gently taking the old man’s hands in his own as the Lady stepped back, allowing the old master and student their moment, she had never spoken of anything she witnessed, and she never would.

No one needed to know that the two embraced as family, no one needed to know that there was a small dampness to the elderly man’s shoulder from the few tears that slipped free in the safety of that embrace.

“If you are sure,” Zhenren relented, slowly stroking Nezha’s hair before pulling back a little. “Now, what has you in such a state of turmoil, my student? You’re brothers are well, yes?”

“It is nothing of the family, Master. I just… I…” Nezha turned his gaze away, suddenly feeling every bit the young boy he had been so long ago, unsure of his words and actions after waking from what he’d  thought would be his last breath.

The sound of pouring water and the scent of tea drifted by, and both males turned to see the lady had crafted a table and three chairs from seemingly nothing, setting a cup at each seat for each of them and herself as she poured the hot water into each cup.

“Lavender?” Nezha asked, somewhat confused. “You know I do not sleep.”

“The scent is good to help the restless drift into a restful sleep, yes. But in tea, the flavour helps to reduce stress and anxiety.” She explained with a kind smile. “It seemed fitting, given the late hour.”

“Thank you, Lady Chayi.” Nezha said, and helped his master to sit first.

“Please, use my name, the title feels far too grand for me, especially when at such a humble gathering with good company.” She requested of him as he pulled her chair out so she could sit down before him.

It was the lowest statue Heaven could offer to her without insulting the Great Sage of Tea’s disciple, Nezha reminded himself and yet still finding himself shocked at how reluctant the goddess was to use her gifted title. She barely permitted it when it came to her in written form, such that only the Jade Emperor and The Golden Star of Venus could use it without making her wince in discomfort.

But if anyone was to hear them-

“Very well, Chi Yue. If it is what you prefer, then please, call me Zhenren, our titles are not needed to share good tea. Is that not fair, Nezha?” His master smiled, and Nezha knew if someone was to overhear, they’d not question the lack of titles at the table.

“Yes Ma- Ahem, Zhenren.” He quickly corrected himself.

Neither of them reprimanded him for the slight slip, only sharing a smile between them before taking their first sips of the tea. 

There was no judgement amongst them, even as Nezha spoke of what had happened, not just Sun Wukong stealing the scroll but also the chase across the west, the fourth ring’s activation within the dragon girl, the possession of Sun Wukong, the battle and eventual defeat of the Lady Bone Demon at the hands of a mortal child.

“After the battle, they invited me to stay and rest a while, and for a time, things were pleasant. Until the sunset and I made a careless accusation.” Nezha said, his shoulders sagged and his body slumped in the chair, heavy with thoughts and questions he doubted he’d ever get to ask now that he’d pushed Wukong to the point of near violence.

“Oh Nezha.” Zhenren sighed. “Such a sharp tongue was not needed.”

“I know, I was wrong to push him… But I was so angry with him. All of this could have been avoided if he had just told me what the plan he had was instead of just showing up and trying to just take the scroll.” Nezha said.

“Would you have listened?” Chi Yue asked. “If he had told you what the plan was, would you have let him take the Scroll and do what needed to be done, trusting his words to return with the Scroll when the task was done?”

“...” Nezha slumped into his chair. “No. Sun Wukong being here put me on alert and, what with the history of him being in Heaven… I gave him no choice.”

“While your reaction was understandable, the way I recall, it was not Sun Wukong who began the whole mess in Heaven the first time.” Zhenren remarked, sipping his cup slowly, careful not to speak too loudly.

“Seems to me that you have forgotten that despite your current appearance, you are still a child, Little Nezha.” Chi Yue said, easily leading the conversation forwards. “It is understandable, given your desire to be respected, but it seems you have kept the lie up for too long and it has begun to affect your thinking.”

“What makes you think so?” Zhenren asked, setting his cup down with a fond smile.

“Since we arrived, Nezha has lost six inches of his height, and his face has grown rounder, his scarf is restless, constantly twisting into lazy loops and twists and, most telling of all things,” the goddess said, and gently reached over to put her hand over Nezha’s, stopping them from- 

Oh. That was why his hands felt sore.

“He’s been picking at his own fingers, a nervous habit many children suffer when they feel anxious or overly stressed about a situation.” She said with a kind smile, pushing some of her chi, steady and kind like warm water over aching muscles, into his hands. The small amount healing the raw sores and peeled skin with the same ease and painlessness as any god.

“I’m sorry,” He said, filling his hands with the cup so as not to start picking again, instead, letting the glamour of his adult self fall away to allow himself to better focus on healing his still sore body.

“Whatever for?” Zhenren asked. “You may be a titled Prince of Heaven and a masterful warrior now, but first and foremost to all those things, you were Little Nezha, the blessed gift to your lady mother for her faithfulness and devotion, not only to her husband, but to the Queen Mother of the West. You were blessed to her as a child whom she could have loved forever more, had that vile witch not taken her from you in such a cruel way.”

Nezha winced at the reminder of the loss, the memory of his mother, a mortal woman so kind, so loving and so gentle, quickly becoming weak and frail, withering away faster than the doctors could treat the poison that stole away her life.

A light flick, a touch barely there, wiped away the tears that managed to slip free of his eyes.

“You’re allowed to be the child she would have loved, and if anyone, be they immortal or god, has a problem with that, then it speaks to their ignorance and disrespect to the Queen Mother more than it speaks of you. Such people are not worthy of your time or your energy.” Zhenren said kindly, as Chi Yue refilled Nezha’s cup before Zhenren’s and then her own.

“If this low born one may be so bold, I prefer your true appearance to the adult form you insist on holding.” The goddess said with pride.

“Why?” Nezha asked, unable to stop himself in the moment of shock at her words.

“Because it’s your true appearance.” Chi Yue answered honestly. 

“But, why do you prefer it? What could anyone possibly like about this?” The Third Lotus Prince rephrased. “Its short, unproportioned to my statues and duties, and-”

“And it is the you that your mother loved.” Chi Yue said. “To borrow some wise words from times past, to change, or alter what something is, when that something is not yours, is to ruin it for the person it was intended for. For example; If I were to wish for it, I could pour myself a Darjinglee tea from this pot right now, and if I wanted, I could form a plate of cakes to go with that bend of tea. Then because that is what I wanted and only what I wanted, I could pour the same tea and bring the same cakes for you, if this is what you want, then I am straying true to you and your wants. But if you do not want it, and instead prefer a sweeter tea, like say, Rooibos tea, or something sharper on the tongue, like a blend of Mint tea, and instead of cakes, you’d want small pastries or candies, and I deny that to you. I am ruining your experience of the tea for my own enjoyment, my own wants.”

“Hm, simple wisdom, but wisdom nonetheless.” Zhenren nodded. “From whom did you hear such words?”

“A kind old granny, a very long time ago.” Chi Yue said and both men caught the hint of loss in his words before she continued. “The same logic is so for your appearance, Nezha. I like you to appear as the child you were meant to be, because you were a gift to your mother. A child whom she could love and raise without worry that you would be taken and forced into the same style of life as your elder brothers, Jinzha and Muzha. The child who your mother could raise to be a gentle and kind soul, that is the Nezha the world should know. The Lotus Prince who put down the Dragon King of the East and the child who was blessed with his mother’s love eternal for her devotion to her family and faith. Not the adult appearance the man who sired you forces you to appear as, just because he can not stand the imaginary shame of it being associated with his family name.”

“It isn’t imaginary.” Nezha said, a familiar defence to the behaviour. “I killed Ao Bing. A Dragon prince equal to myself and I spoke poorly to Ao Guang.”

“After Ao Guang caused discord amongst the human realm for three years in your father’s absence and then sent his son to attack you, in retaliation for you defending your friends from being taken as offering to him. An act that had never been stopped before because humans back then were scared of the Dragon King of the East and never questioned the many missing people snatched from the waters as they bathed or washed their clothes.” Zhenren recalled, softly putting a hand on Nezha’s smaller one. A tenderness shared only between them. “If the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea had simply left well enough alone back then, his son could well be alive today.”

“But I-”

“You reacted, Nezha.” Chi Yue said. “Ao Guang cast the first stone in making the choice to be wicked and cruel in his domain during the time Li Jing was moping about the long pregnancy his wife had been blessed with. The ripples that went out from there and came back to him with the consequences of his actions. If General Li Jing wants to blame you for the fall out of his failing to subdue Ao Guang before the trouble grew beyond his control, then it is he who brings the greatest shame upon the Li family name.”

Before Nezha could ask what she meant by those words, Zhenren spoke up. “My dear lady, your truths are pure, like the waters of your birth and you are right to speak them. But this is not the place.” he said and there was the slightest flick of his fly-brush, back towards the doorway.

And quite suddenly, Nezha realised while they had been talking, another presence had approached, but had masked themselves to remain undetected by Chi Yue and him in his still recovering state.

A very familiar presence.

How long had- Oh stars, how much had he heard?

“But Zhenren-”

“You are right, the father has forgotten old wisdoms of the mortal realm, and for that, he should be corrected.” Zhenren went on to say, and Nezha swallowed the sound that tried to escape him down with a mouthful of the tea, hoping his face didn’t show the sudden shock. “But it is not the place of you or I to remind him of this. It should be his elder sons, or if not them, his seniors and brothers in arms.”

“His elder sons do not dare, he has them trained well enough to keep their silence even if they know he is wrong. And those who should correct him above them simply ignore it or are kept from giving corrections by others.” Chi Yue sighed, suddenly showing a very young side of herself as she turned her nose up to the topic, much in the way a child turned away from a meal they disliked at the table. “I’m not afraid to tell him to his face, nor do I care what he thinks of me in turn. Men like him do not deserve sympathy nor grace when they choose to be needlessly cruel to others.”

Zhenren laughed at that and Nezha felt himself smiling at the sound. It was a fond laugh, one of a man who enjoyed the braveness and honesty of young children around him, yet still understood that there were rules to follow and lines to avoid crossing.

“Such bravery, Oh my, I dare say such boldness would startle many an old warrior if they’d heard it back then.” He said and set his now empty teacup down. “But, I fear we have kept Nezha from his meditation far too long already. What with our talk of appearances, looks and statues.” He expressed, giving Nezha the answer to the question he’d been unable to voice.

As Nezha helped his Master stand, he felt a surge of Chi, warm as the sun as just as gentle, pass into him and all at once, his aches and pains were washed away, allowing him to properly glamour himself once more as an adult, and waved away the now unneeded seating placements. “Thank you for your time, Master.” The Third Lotus Prince bid as he stepped back and bowed deeply to the old Master. “And thank you for the tea, Lady Chayi.” He bid, with another bow to Chi Yue.

The old Master chuckled fondly, and offered as low a bow as his frail body allowed. “Until next time we both meet, my student.”

“Until next time, Prince Nezha.” Chi Yue smiled, and with a flick of his fly-brush, the two were gone, and Nezha made a point of not looking to the doorway as he climbed the steps back to his post and assumed the lotus position to begin meditation. 

He pretended he didn’t hear the steps that walked away from the doors a few moments later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will get around to sorting out a Head Cannon Post for things that don't make it into my serises, but first I have to finish making sure I don't accidently mix up any of my other works with what will be happening in the A Very Broken World story.

Enjoy!!!!!!!

[somewhere-in-a-microwave]

I watched Ne Zha 2 on Monday

Apologies for poor quality

[mythologyfolklore]

Nézhā: You gave me up, you let me down, you turned around, and deserted me. Lĭ Jìng: But did I make you cry? Nézhā: *cries on the spot* Lĭ Jìng: ...Shit. *Bonus* Tàiyĭ Zhēnrén, Èrláng Shén, Sūn Wùkōng and basically everyone, who loves Nézhā: *kick the door in and charge at Lĭ Jìng with battle cries*

[jytan2018]

Yessss.

Hope OP doesn't mind me adding on, but another thing that makes Shen Gongbao a good Nezha/Ao Bing foil is how their parents contributed to their self worth.

Nezha grew up with parents that relentlessly defended him from an entire town that's hated him since his birth, even if Nezha went on to act out in ways the townsfolk rightfully resents him for (property damage and serious physical injury is no joke when you're a peasant who does manual labour for a living, y'all). Ao Bing grew up with a father who not only got the entire dragon clan to pry off their toughest scales (which is explicitly shown to be a PAINFUL process) in order to forge armour for him, but also admitted that his life experience may not be applicable to Ao Bing's pursuit of happiness and allowed him to resume risking his life with Nezha.

Shen Gongbao, on the other hand, grew up with a bootstrap-mentality father that teaches his disciples, "If you must hate, then hate the fact that you were born a demon!".

Like, I understand it's intended to be motivational, but that can't have been good for Shen Gongbao's self esteem. Papa Shen was unknowingly setting his own son up for a lifetime of failure, not because of a skill issue on SGB's part, but because Papa Shen himself is so loyal to the oppressive status quo that he doomed his own disciples by asking them to surrender to the Chan Sect. And when the only way to win the game is to change the rules entirely, is it any wonder that SGB found himself repeatedly losing and got desperate enough to turn evil?

I'm gonna go off on a tangent here, but another character I've seen people suggest SGB is a foil to is Taiyi Zhenren, and I find that especially interesting. Taiyi is consistently portrayed as the favoured disciple throughout both movies, be it through SGB's jealousy when he discovers their master gifted him the Shan He She Ji Painting (Taiyi's Doraemon pouch of ridiculously OP magical items suggests it's a regular occurence) or Wuliang calling Taiyi "privileged" while ranting about his justification for committing demon genocide. Literally, the plot of Nezha 1 kicks off because SGB got nothing after years of doing Wuliang's dirty work, and all Taiyi had to do to score the Golden Immortal title was babysit the Spirit Pearl's reincarnation (a.k.a. Nezha) for 3 years.

This privilege is also glaringly obvious in the simplistic suggestions he provides to them. Why don't you just ask Tianzun for Liquid Jade instead of going through the three trials? Why can't you simply apologise to Tianzun instead of killing everyone? These are solutions that can only come out the mouth of someone who's never been told no.

By all accounts, Taiyi is just as much a personification of the system's inequality as SGB is, and he should be its staunchest defender because of everything he stands to lose when it falls.

And yet, who was the one that decided to risk it all for Nezha and Ao Bing when they were caught in the Heavenly Trial Curse? Taiyi. Shen Gongbao gave up when the Curse struck because he simply couldn't see a way out of it, but Taiyi was the one who jumped in the moment they survived long enough for a glimmer of hope to emerge. He was only able to help BECAUSE he's never been discouraged and therefore has rock-solid confidence in his ability to save them. His magical items were only there to guarantee his success.

Another notable thing about Taiyi is that he's the only non-family person that SGB doesn't stutter around. Jiaozi has confirmed in the past that the stutter was a result of Chan Sect folks repeatedly speaking over/interrupting SGB and destroying his self esteem, so it says a lot about SGB's trust in Taiyi AND Taiyi's respectful treatment of SGB if the guy instinctively feels safer and more relaxed around him than he is with Ao Bing, the universally acknowledged precious boy who's never done anything wrong except when he tried to massacre all of Chen Tang Guan.

Of course, it's very easy to do good when you have the cultivation equivalent of a Doraemon pouch in your pants and you're not being constantly beaten down by the status quo, but I feel it's important to realise that Taiyi as a character isn't meant to prove that SGB had no excuse for what he did, and that the current system is still salvageable if it could produce wholesome thicc chads like him.

Nah, I'd argue Taiyi is meant to showcase the importance of refusing to succumb to bitterness and despair. This particular trait also makes Taiyi a foil to Oubing, because both of them grew up with the depressing realisation that their parents may have their back, but the world doesn't. SGB used the resulting bitterness to fuel his cultivation efforts, but he failed to realise that it doesn't work the same way as anger. Anger is your heart telling you that something is wrong and you must fight back, bitterness is your mind telling you EVERYTHING is wrong, so you don't have to hold back your worst self against anyone, not even those who don't deserve it. The ability to process that bitterness and despair (or at the very least, block it out temporarily) via self-care, mutual aid etc. can make or break a revolution, and it shows when the only thing Ao Guang had to say when demons were dying by the dozen in that cauldron was, "Don't give up." Taiyi had a lot of chances to turn bitter when asked to teach Nezha, or after he realised how far gone Wuliang was, but he continued to put the "relief" in "comedic relief" and kept everyone going with the resources he had at his disposal and/or his refusal to give up.

With Nezha 2's post credit scene implying SGB will accept the deal with Wuliang to save Papa Shen, I think Nezha 3 will set up another crossroads moment where he decides who he truly wants to be. However, given that Nezha's OG myth revolves around this epic battle between the Chan and Jie Sects where multiple major characters die and subsequently attain godhood for their service (both movies reference the Fengshen Bang/Fengshen Da Zhan, or God Induction List/God Induction Battle for this reason), literally everyone will likely be struggling just to stay alive, let alone reach out to a enemy-turned-ally-turned-enemy-again guy like SGB. Well, everyone except the comedic relief guy who's had god-tier plot armour for two movies straight.

It'll come down to Taiyi Zhenren, the one Chan Sect Guy who he can trust AND has the resources to shield him from some of the immediate backlash for his betrayal, to help SGB complete his redemption arc.

Nezha 2 spoilers - on the character of Sheng Gongbao.

More on Sheng Gongbao, because I think what the movie did in introducing this classic antagonist's parent and kid brother may feel really random at first, but totally recontextualsies him to be (1) an even closer foil to Ao Bing and (2) a new foil to Nezha.

Ao Bing

In Nezha 1, Shen Gongbao explains his nature to Ao Bing so he could share the similarities of their situations: that he is a leopard demon, and demons suffer the same disrepute and disadvantage of dragons in the world of cultivation. That's why he did all this scheming from Ao Bing's birth to set him on a path that can diverge from his own - so he can prepare his disciple to advance where he can't - so Ao Bing can climb higher on the cultivation ladder. Shen Gongbao would benefit from Ao Bing's advancement as the master who trained, raised, and sponsored him to advance on the celestial stage. Ao Bing's father and people would also benefit from Ao Bing's ascension.

The foil Shen Gongbao plays for Ao Bing is being a demon - underpriviledged, undesired, having to struggle and claw his way in everything, being twice as good and yet not good enough, all because of what they are and how they were born. But he's known to Ao Bing only as his master and senior, someone who understands how the world works and whom taught Ao Bing his martial arts and magic.

In Nezha 2, the characters Sheng Zhengdao, the father, and Sheng Xiaobao, the kid brother, are introduced. This immediately changes the reading of Shen Gongbao. Not only is he a master, senior and an 'adult' in the complicated and cruel cultivation world - but he is also a son. Not only is he a son, there is an intricate backstory about what kind of son he is - he's the son who left his home and backwater town to go to celestial university, he's the first in the family to be accepted into the Chan Sect, the son who achieved human form, the over-achieving son, the son with a career, the son who made it, the absolute pride of the family. The eldest son who's family think he is living it up.

He is..........decidedly not. This is where the 'demon' storyline comes back: he has hit wall after wall. He's done dirty quid pro quo. He's been decieved, used, and even cowed by the system. One can't be treated fairly as a demon. Since he cannot make it any further by himself, he's resorted to relying on Ao Bing.

However, Sheng Gongbao's new role as a 'son' now paints him in an interesting light to both Ao Bing and Nezha. We instantly see that his motivation isn't just about feeling oppressed as a demon and wanting to be recognised for his merits. There is also clearly some insane filial piety driving him - because his position and ascention is supposed to benefit his kid brother and aging father back home! He is not just doing it for himself. He did all that dirty quid pro quo, being used as a tool, cowed by the system....because he needed to be the good son for his family. Because the truth is he has not made it at all. But if only he trains the perfect disciple, more perfect than himself...if only he gets him accepted into the celestial word...if only Ao Bing becomes a god of the Fengshen Bang...if Sheng Gongbao is reocognised as one of the 12 Golden Gods.........

On and on. His foil to Ao Bing as a son adds an extra dimension to Nezha 1. Ao Bing trained his whole life (being given the advantage of being the 'Yang pill') to advance his father's and people's position. To the point of being convinced, even if for a moment, that levelling Chentang Guan and killing all the people to keep the shameful secret of his dragon nature, was the only way forward...This now sounds very similar to his master. This is the solution his trusted, experienced master sold him. In Nezha 2, we learn Shen Gongbao has done terrible things for the celestial Wuliang (his senior cultivation brother)...it follows he would unload that same treacherous cycle onto Ao Bing.

2. Nezha

In a broad sense, Sheng Gongbao as the son becomes 'young,' a former protagonist himself, the hero of his own story, with his own parents and brother to appease. What I found endlessly interesting, is that with this new role, Shen Gongbao explicitly becomes a foil to Nezha as well. But the specific foil to Nezha in this case is 'being a son who will go on a total rampage out of love for his parents/family.'

With the knowledge of his parent's 'deaths,' Nezha goes on a total rampage out of love for his parents and the pain of losing them, that ends in beating up dragons and locking them in a huge magic furnace, completely playing into the hands of the evil celestial Wuliang. When our hero Nezha mitakenly fights the Eastern Dragon King Ao Guang, with the threat of his unfinished flesh body being disintegrated (he's not ready to fight in that condition yet!) - what does he say? He says "I don't care if I'll die, so long as I kill you!" The urge to avenge his parents is stronger than his self-preservation. But it's a twist. His parents are alive!

In the furnace scene, Nezha is offered a chance to save his parents who are getting cooked into cultivation pills by Wuliang. To accept a pill that makes him lose his memory and fall under the control of Wuliang. But Nezha's mother bats that thing out of Wuliang's hands, that's stupid and her son will never be a puppet for nefarious gods! Nezha, in the end, comes from a loving and supportive family who knows and understand him. They accept him for who he is. They would never stand for it. And so Nezha is protected from being manipulated.

Upon the Chentang Guan plot twist, it's revealed Shen Gongbao actually has the same reaction Nezha has when he thinks his family has died. Except for the point that his kid brother really does die - right in front of him! After whisking away Nezha's parents, Sheng Gongbao steps out again to the war-torn Chentang Guan, to fight off a thousand demons and the three traitor dragons. All by himself. There's dialogue, Nezha's parents ask Master Shen Gongbao what is he doing - where is going - why doesn't he take shelter with them?! And Shen Gongbao answers with bitter acceptance, "What's the point? My family's gone." And he goes out to fight. To take a last stand. To die.

Going back to Nezha, doesn't that reveal Sheng Gongbao's deepest motivations as the same as our hero's? He wasn't really doing it - all of it - entirely for himself. Now that his father and kid brother are dead, there is no reason to strive further. Shen Gongbao can let go of being one of the 12 Golden Gods or whatever. He's going to go out into danger, satisfy the urge to avenge his father and brother, and die.

Which takes me to the very delicious, delicious, diabolical end credits scene. The villainous Wuliang goes to a terrible prison where Shen Gongbao and his barely-ok father are alive. In a scene that totally parallels Nezha's choice in the furnace, he presents the same offer to Shen Gongbao. Accept a curse on his mind and body that will enslave him to Wuliang in exchange for his father's life.

But Shen Gongbao doesn't have the same honesty, understanding, protection from his father...because all this time he has been away from home...not returning because he hasn't made it...his father under the impression he is living it up as a celestial...his father not even conscious...

His kid brother died.

He has just this one family member left.

A person he was supposed to be doing all this for, to make proud.

A person he was ready to get revenge and die for.

After all he has already done - what is a little curse on Sheng Gongbao for the benefit of his father?

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

Trailer and Bonus content of Nezha and Nezha 2

[spoilersbutinaccurate]

Master and Disciple

Pt.1 | Pt.2

[thirdlotusprince3]

Taiyi Zhenren: Be a teacher they said, it'll be fun they said.

Ao Bing, from the kitchen: PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!!

Nezha: IT'S TOO BIG TO SMOTHER! GET THE ANTI FLAMETHROWER!

Ao Bing: It's called a fire extinguisher!! FIRE EXTINGUISHER!

*glass shatters, something explodes, both scream*

Taiyi Zhenren: Don't listen to them. Don't.

[dorkshadows]

The Writeup

Thanks for the interest! As promised, I've come out of retirement for one (1) day to do this writeup about the intense things going on in the Nezha 2 fandom.

Once more, this is NOT about the people who happened to watch the movie, the people who are just interested in box office stats, the people who really enjoyed the movie, or the people who just really admire Nezha. This will be about the fandom fandom, the truly invested, the elaborate fanons behind certain ships that will make you go "wait what?", the rabid Ao Guang discourse that will also make you go "wait what?," the brainrot (affectionate) in its purest unfiltered form. This is a post about brainrot for those also suffering from brainrot.

This is a collection of patterns mainly from lofter, but also from douyin, weibo, bilibili, and xhs (I'm grouping everyone together because most artists/authors repost to multiple sites or have their content shared on multiple sites, so everyone ends up looking at the same things if they follow the relevant tags on each site). I didn't filter out or blacklist a single tag. I stared directly into the sun to collect this information!

Disclaimer: I genuinely have no idea how to warn for some of the things mentioned here, so just a blanket note of caution- if you click "read more," you are prepared to read about anything and everything. If you are OK with all this, then- let's go! 命由我不由天!

The movie has been out in China in for roughly 3 weeks. In those 3 weeks, all of this has happened in the deepest layers of fandom.

General patterns:

I can't speak for other site stats, but at least on Lofter, Nezha/Ao Bing as a ship is #1 and #2 trending (as Oubing and Bingzha respectively) out of all fandoms and topics on Lofter. But curiously, Ao Guang (#8 trending) and Shen Gongbao (#9 trending) are more popular as individual characters than Nezha and Ao Bing. The latter is noteworthy because Shen Gong Gong's tag was pretty barren circa 2019.

Some Oubing fans have decided that they don't have enough oubing content so they've started shipping Oubing.... from the 1979 movie. This is also in the top 10 trending. Their inspiration comes from this advert.

Ao Guang vocally disapproves of his son dating Nezha, but he can't do anything about it. The real victim here!

Any pairing you can think of exists. Any pairing.

Character/Reader fics exist for everyone in the main cast except Wuliang Shenweng and Taiyi Zhenren

There's a vibrant self-shipping community again for everyone except Wuliang and Taiyi

Lots of M-preg

CEO Ao Guang is common in modern AUs

Nezha is usually in his powered up form in Oubing/Bingzha content, but in his gremlin form in content focused on anyone else

Lots of "The characters themselves react to watching the movie!" type of stories

Shiji Niang Niang has been shipped with both Taiyi Zhenren and Shen Gongbao. The latter has spawned a meme. There's a comic I won't repost because I don't know who the original artist is, but it's very powerful. It goes like this:

SGB: "Prejudice is like a mountain in people's hearts-" SNN: "So I exist in everyone's hearts? That's beautiful <3"

"Lady Yin LIVES!" AUs aplenty

Wuliang's nickname is "Evil Peach"

Lots and lots and Lots of Shen Gongbao whump

Ao Guang has been separately interpreted as a daddy dom, a malewife, an old guy TM, a himbo, and a baby girl AND as all of those things all at once

Ao Run and Ao Bing are the only dragons considered to be smart

Shen Gongbao tends to have very low self-worth. This comes from a 2019 Jiaozi interview where he directly says our leopard lacks confidence

Any AU you can think of: modern AUs, mafia AUs, republican era AUs, actor AUs, musician AUs, wuxia AUs, this one AU where the Ao family are American senators for no reason, omegaverse, and so on

Lots of Journey to the West (a lot of Black Myth specific ones especially) and FSYY crossovers

There's a meme about the real Lu Tong using his antlers to attack people in their dreams if they dare make sexual content of him because someone who made "bottom" Lu Tong content claimed they were attacked by him in a dream. Others took this to mean that he only attacks if you make him a bottom. People who interpret him as a "top" claim that they won the lottery and their lives are going great.

Ao Guang and Shen Gongbao are usually on a first name basis. Ao Guang calls Shen Gonbao 公豹兄 (Gongbao Xiong, "Brother Gongbao") and Shen Gongbao calls him "Ao Guang" directly. This is sort-of canon because this is how they address each other in 敖丙传 "The Tale of Ao Bing/Aobing Zhuan". for those who ship it, their ship name is 龙王豹 (longwangbao/ dragon king leopard) *Keep Aobing Zhuan in mind. This will be important towards the wildest part of this writeup.

Now for the elaborate fanon lore behind two specific ships that seemingly came out of nowhere. Everyone knows about oubing, but what about the other popular ships out there? They're absolutely wild, but- HEAR THEM OUT.

DiLong:

This one has its origins from the first movie. 地笼 AKA "Prison Cage/Emperor Dragon." It's a ship based on Tiandi (Emperor of Heaven) x Ao Guang. The Di in "emperor" is pronounced the same as ground "di," which is also the first character that makes up the word "prison." And "long" (dragon) is pronounced the same way as cage (also "long"), hence the ship name.

Some time after Ne Zha (2019) came out, someone pulled out one of Ao Guang's lines and ran with it. It's a quote where he essentially says that even though the dragon clan was loyal to heaven and its emperor, the heavens betrayed and imprisoned them in the sea anyway. This section of fans took this to mean that Tiandi charmed Ao Guang on false pretenses, took advantage of Ao Guang's love for him, and then left him to rot in the eastern sea... after impregnating him with 1-3 kids. And this changed Ao Guang from an innocent beauty into a resentful dragon desperate for vengeance.

Things of note about dilong:

Tiandi 天帝 is NOT the Jade Emperor (Yu Di). Their mythos overlap, but the Emperor of Heaven is considered the supreme ruler of Everything in the universe while the Jade Emperor rules over the three realms. So Tiandi ranks higher than the Jade Emperor. (But he's also a more obscure figure in popular worship if we get technical)

At the time, Ao Guang didn't actually have a name in 2019 canon. So the fans referred to him as 敖广 (that's what the eastern dragon king has always been called, but Nezha 2 reimagines him with a different name that's pronounced similarly: 敖光).

Tiandi's given name, or rather, the name that the fans gave him, is Hao Tian 昊天, which is the actual name of one of the mythological Tiandi's many variations

Tiandi does not appear in either Nezha movie. His entire character (appearance, personality, etc.) is purely built on headcanons. He is usually written as a playboy, a heartless manipulative bastard, a deadbeat dad, an ungrateful power greedy monster, and so on. But he is always written and drawn as #Hot.

Ao Guang gave birth to Ao Bing in the Dilong universe.

As you can tell, this is a very angsty ship that usually ends in anger and suffering, but there are plenty of fix-its and happy ending versions out there too, mostly about Tiandi feeling bad for being such a shitty bastard in the past and trying to win Ao Guang back

Regardless of how you feel about Dilong after reading all this, if you are in any way fond of Ao Guang's design in Nezha 2, you owe your life and soul to Dilong shippers because Jiaozi's original idea for Ao Guang was making him a bearded geezer. The Nezha team saw how popular the humansona for Ao Guang was (from dilong fanart) and they incorporated it into canon.

#Dilong had a resurgence in popularity thanks to Nezha 2 (it's the no.6 trending topic on weibo as of right now). But you'll notice that pre-2025 Dilong may feel ooc now because Ao Guang is, for lack of better word, interpreted more as a softspoken twink than the beautiful himbo he is now.

*Keep Dilong in mind as well. It is the source of much insanity below.

LuBao:

Next, in a similar vein to Dilong, another wild ship has risen over the horizon! In terms of quantity, dilong is more popular, but in terms of engagement, this is doing bigger numbers nowadays. I'm talking likes in the ten-thousands range. That ship is.... Lu Tong x Shen Gongbao. AKA 鹿豹 (LuBao, DeerLeopard)

You might be thinking "HUH!? Why!?" My answer for you is that it's all Taiyi's fault. Both inside and outside the movies, Taiyi consistently screws Shen Gongbao over. Life imitates art! This section is a little longer than the dilong section because there is a Lot going on here. I'll admit that one of the most profoundly beautiful and well-written stories I have ever read is a lubao fic on lofter, I understand now

Just as the fans did for dilong once upon a time, this section of fans pulled a blink-and-you-miss-it quote from Nezha 2, where Taiyi tells Nezha that the previous captain of the demon hunting team was Shen Gongbao (after they meet the current captain, Lu Tong).

From there, the lore just got deeper. When Lu Tong greets Taiyi, he calls him 师伯 (Shi Bo, senior martial uncle). But you only call a male relative 伯 in Chinese when that person is your father's older brother. Wuliang is Taiyi's elder (martial) brother (Shi Xiong, as I'm sure you all know), so Lu Tong's address is incorrect. Taiyi knows this as well, so he corrects Lu Tong and says "It should be 师叔" (Shi Shu, younger martial uncle). Lu Tong continues calling him Shi Bo anyway. The fans took it to mean one of two things:

Lu Tong did it on purpose because he only acknowledges one (1) person as his Shi Shu and that's Shen Gongbao

Lu Tong is officially Wuliang's disciple, but he believes himself to truly be Shen Gongbao's disciple and since Taiyi is Shen Gongbao's elder martial brother, he'll call him Shi Bo

Then it got even more elaborate. The fans surmised that since the celestials are so condescending towards demons, Lu Tong and He Tong were ostracized and bullied when they first arrived at Yuxu Gong. And the only person who was nicer to them/protected them/stuck up for them was Shen Gongbao since they're the only demons there. This is why you'll sometimes see fanart of the three of them together in the "Yuxu Gong days."

When Shen Gongbao immediately realized Shen Xiaobao's wound came from Lu Tong's arrow, the fans decided this meant that he was familiar enough with Lu Tong to know his fighting style. When paired with the above headcanon, this directly turns into "Shen Gongbao himself taught Lu Tong archery."

Whenever Ao Bing possessed Nezha, fans noticed that there was always a closeup of Lu Tong's reaction. They decided this meant that Lu Tong recognized Ao Bing through recognizing his fighting style, taught to him by Shen Gongbao.

The fans also think Lu Tong did not have to go off that hard on Shen Xiaobao and Shen Zhengdao. There's following your boss's orders and there's following those orders in the most hyperviolent over the top way possible. Their conclusion is that Lu Tong knew that was Shen Gongbao's family and did it on purpose. Because when Shen Gongbao left Yuxu Gong without telling him, Lu Tong took that personally. And when he took Ao Bing on as a disciple, Lu Tong took that more Personally. So Lu Tong has decided to do his best to kill everyone Shen Gongbao ever cared about until he has nobody left but Lu Tong. Audiences complained that Lu Tong lacked a personality in the movie- the fandom has assigned him a personality and that personality is "sadistic freak obsessed with his Shi Shu."

Things of note about LuBao:

dilong was requited at some point in time, but lubao is an aggressively one-sided ship where Shen Gongbao only requits 1% of the time either because it's a complete AU, none of the movie's events happened, or he has amnesia (inflicted on him by Lu Tong)

A common trope revolves around Lu Tong hoping and hoping for Shen Gongbao to take him on as a disciple, which never happens, planting the first seeds of disappointment and HATE

Lu Tong really fucking hates Ao Bing, whom he considers to be the antagonist of his life because Ao Bing STOLE all of Shen Gongbao's love that rightfully should have been Lu Tong's. He also really hates Ao Guang too, again for stealing HIS shishu. actually, he hates Taiyi sometimes too. He hates anyone Shen Gongbao ever talked to.

He Tong is the only person who knows Lu Tong is this way.

Sometimes Lu Tong meets Shen Gongbao as a primitive deer, a fully adult celestial-in-training, or a literal "deer boy." During his time as captain, Shen Gongbao usually takes Lu Tong under his wing at some point and/or is the person who spares Lu Tong from being slaughtered by the rest of the team or convinces the others not to kill him. OR, even wilder, Shen Gongbao interacts with Lu Tong for 5 minutes 200 years ago and that's enough to cause Lu Tong to go on this spiral. Whichever the case, Lu Tong imprints on Shen Gongbao.

90% of LuBao content includes Lu Tong taking his revenge on Shen Gongbao after Wuliang imprisons him. This includes all manner of graphic torture.

Lu Tong wants Shen Gongbao to hate him because he believes Shen Gongbao left him in the past due to indifference towards him. "Hate lasts longer than love."

Shen Gongbao: *exists* Lu Tong: I'll kill your family. I'll kill your disciple. I'll kill your disciple's father and your disciple's best friend. And Taiyi Zhenren too. I'll kill everyone who ever interacted with you. Then I'll break you and break you some more until you're nothing but bones and dust. I hate that you made me love you and that you left me. What do the dragons have that I lack? Are my antlers lesser than their horns? We both have blood on our hands and yet you think yourself nobler than I. You are inherently kinder than me and I hate that the most about you. My dearest revenge is dragging you down to my level, to make you hate me as much as I hate you. If I can't have your love, I will have your hate and your pain and your tears- Ao Bing & Ao Guang: 有病!??????? WTF.

恨明月高悬独不照我 is a phrase now permanently associated with this ship. It translates to "I hate that the moon in the sky shines for all but me." Lu Tong hates that shishu shares affection with everyone except him.

This is such a prevalent characterization of Lu Tong at this point that "obsessed with Shen Gongbao" is now his defining trait even in content where neither he or Shen Gongbao are main characters

If its an Ao Guang/Shen Gongbao fic, Lu Tong sometimes shows up as SGB's abusive ex, abusive stalker, or a guy that Ao Guang finds extremely creepy and annoying

If you're still here, this next and final section puts everything else to shame!

The Ao Guang Discourse

There is a lot of drama surrounding Ao Guang now, not because of anything he did as a character, but because of who's he's shipped with. But there's actually only one side of the fandom instigating all the arguments.

Now, remember Aobing Zhuan? That's a spinoff comic focused on Aobing's childhood that came out circa 2021(?). It goes into depth about his early days with Shen Gongbao, his brothers, and even his mother, 应龙, Yinglong. (Yinglong is a real mythological creature, a powerful dragon with a place in old mythos and folklore as well, but that's not entirely relevant here lol). Yinglong is older than Ao Guang, is beautiful, strong, etc. She dies in the spinoff.

A significant number of fangirls latched onto Ao Guang (as presented in Aobing Zhuan), and projected onto Yinglong, the mother of his children. After Nezha 2 released, Ao Guang understandably gained even more fangirls. Most of them became GuangYing shippers.

Now, it's a golden rule in CN fandoms to tag your content so others can avoid. GuangYing shippers do not care about this. They go onto any and all m/m content with Ao Guang to insult the authors and argue that their disgusting ways are disrespectful to canon, disrespectful to Ao Guang, and disrespectful to women everywhere. It doesn't matter that Yinglong is not in the movies and also dead--Ao Guang is not allowed to move on from her ever, and also he is STRAIGHT. Is there not enough gay content out there?? Why can't the heterosexuals have this one man to themselves?? The injustice!

Edit to add: m/f is also unsafe from the wrath of guangyin shippers. They also attack Ao Guang self-shippers for daring to be sluts coming in between him and his true love, Yinglong.

They especially hate dilong and have been harassing all dilong content for the past month. Dilong is their main target, but it's not their only target- you can also find them under Ao Guang/Shen Gongbao content claiming that "they're just besties" and "Ao Guang just sees Shen Gongbao as a pet" asdfasdf

Dilong shippers retort by saying all Guangying shippers do is attack and harass others instead of making their own content, which is why their content is so lacking and pitful. They also called into question the canonicity of Aobing Zhuan. Jiaozi supervised it, but he's not the actual author. They started bashing Aobing Zhuan as focusing too little on Aobing, making Aobing look bad to make his brothers look good, accusing the author of being a Xiao Zhan stan in the wake of the ao3 ban, creating events that directly contradicted with canon, crediting things that Ao Guang or Shen Gongbao did for Aobing as things that Yinglong did, the official Nezha team is embarrassed of the direction Aobing Zhuan went in and doesn't acknowledge it anymore, Yinglong is the author's self insert, etc. And back and forth-

And then, 匪我思存 (Fei Wo Si Cun), acclaimed web novelist, author of multiple novels, including 东宫 (Goodbye My Princess 2019) and 9 more that were turned into TV shows.... published a Dilong fanfic on main (weibo). It referred to Ao Guang as 敖广 and involved M-preg, of him giving birth to Ao Bing, who is also Tiandi's child here. Yinglong and Tiandi's wife are both in the story too- they are a lesbian couple who double as beards for their husbands.

The Ao Guang fangirls, I mean, Guangying shippers LOST IT. They came at Fei Wo Si Cun with full throttle rage. Countless socmed posts about what a horrible disgusting disgraceful thing this author did! How dare she use her wide platform to do this instead of putting it somewhere where nobody can see!? Some have even accused this one fic of destroying Nezha 2's image on the global stage. This one story about this one ship has DESTROYED the reputation of ALL OF CHINA. This is TREASON. Now when normies see Ao Guang and Ao Bing, all they will think about is M-preg.

Not only that, Fei Wo Si Cun had the audacity to do something as misogynistic as turning Yinglong into a lesbian beard! It is a SIN to break up a "canon" pairing and a sin to change the character's sexualities into anything except heterosexuality!

Correction: the lesbian couple part is hearsay and probably came from FWSC saying (that in her fic’s setting) Yinglong and Tiandi’s wife married their husbands because they can’t be with the people they love for “reasons”

The Yinglong crowd is still going at it as I write this. FWSC has not deleted or apologized for this fic. China's reputation has, last I checked, not been DESTROYED by this one story about an animated dragon man from a kid's movie, and dilong shippers are still suffering.

And that's a wrap for now. I may or may not update this if something even wilder happens. I want to say no, this is the end of the ride, but we are only 1 month in. There's plenty of time for more to crop up!

UPDATE: This post is already out of date LMAO! For those interested in updates on everything mentioned above, here's the follow-up: Writeup Part 2.

[sheildos]

Odd question, but indulge: does anyone else absolutely love these little dudes?

The Barrier Beasts (?), also called the Sheildos in the American subtitled version, are humorous little bastards under the direction of Taiyi Zhenren.

I usually don't like the "funny little things just there for comedy" characters (such as the Minions for example), but the thing that separates the Sheildos, I noticed, is their capability.

I'd compare them to Pain and Panic from D*sney's Hercules.

Two comedic little assistants to a main character, but they are CAPABLE.

The Sheildos have proven time and again of their usefulness, from their loyalty to Taiyi to their devotion to the protection of Chengtaang Pass, even being powerful enough to keep Shen Gongbao from harming the heroes and actually managing to give the Roots Maxima Dragon some pushback even for a second, powerful as it is.

They are not only funny but useful - they PROVE THEIR REASON FOR EXISTING. They don't exist just for laughs. They are in the narrative to show that there are capable creatures protecting the Pass, as well as to demonstrate the power of any antagonists who manage to shatter their magic.

It helps that their designs are so peak.

I love these little guys. Some of my favorites.

[SPOILERS BELOW]

https://youtu.be/C3bcBdCwrwo?si=zol1lQOxCF4Wfay8

[ringlorn]

"Hey hey hey now whoa whoa whOA—" Of course, Nezha starts getting antsy when Sun doesn't stop.

"I told you not to get sappy—what the heck, fuzzbutt!"

He almost pushes the other guy away, but it's the first time in a long time that his best friend and then some reached out for him. Besides, they were in the middle of the woods. There was nobody else here to see, if he thought about it.

But the lotus prince freezes when Sun praises him of all things, then throws an apology and a thank you all in one. There are too many feelings associated with each word: surprise, gratitude, melancholy. He's still flustered on top of all that and—well, to hell with it all, he'll just stop thinking.

"Yeah, I get what you mean," he finishes lamely and sinks into the hug, chin resting on the other's shoulder.

Sniff sniff.

Nezha blinks in confusion a second later. "...what in Taiyi Zhenren's name did you do to yourself, Sun? You smell like a fruit orchard."

It's not unpleasant but...it was new.

He expected Nezha to move or something. There was no telling what Sun could do. Even he knew he was unpredictable. There weren't many people out there who'd trust him fully after all. Nezha and Tang Sanzang San Zhang were different. Monkey King was another story as well.

"I would never," he says, yet his arms outstretched to pull the taller male into a secure and thankful embrace. There's so much gratitude (or at least as much as Sun can showcase) in this hug.

Sun lets the hug hold and only deepens it and sighs "You...did great." If he could give Nezha back all of his time, he would in a heartbeat. "I'm sorry and thank you."