#the magic lotus lantern

[ruibaozha]

I hope this question doesn't bother you, I only know the 1999 Lotus Lantern movie (if anyone wants to see it, it's subtitled in English on yt) but I wanted to ask, are there other accessible Lotus Lantern media? I think I only know two versions of the story and the TV show.

Hello! I've been looking for a free to access PDF of the story itself, but this website has a very solid translation and I have used a few of their translations of Canonization of the Gods sometimes. I can personally verify it's validity.

https://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/chtales/story011.html

I also located a TV series under the same name. There aren't subtitles available though.

This also falls into Chinese Opera, first popularized during the Tang Dynasty. I have added links to both part one and two on Youtube. I hope this is what you've been looking for, despite lacking translations.

[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.

[ryin-silverfish]

Lotus Lantern: The Summaries, Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Chenxiang Jiu Mu Cixiong Jian ("Chenxiang and the Male-Female Swords")

-As the last Chenxiang tale in the collection, my feelings about this one are...complicated. Some parts are not as dramatic, but it also has some interesting changes to the plot that haven't really been taken up by modern adaptations.

-Also, it's the only version where Erlang wasn't the main antagonist.

-Anyways: in the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Dezong, there was a poor orphan named Liu Xi. He hoped to change his fate through the imperial examinations, and while he was on his way to the capital, he came across the temple of the Third Lady of Mt. Hua.

-Just like in the Precious Scroll of Chenxiang, she was out attending the Peach Festival, and when Liu Xi asked about his examination results, her Jade Maiden attendant threw him two divination slips: "Majorly Auspicious" (上上) and "Majorly Inauspicious" (下下).

-The conflicting results annoyed Liu Xi greatly; he proceeded to write a poem on her temple walls calling her worship a sham, good only for cheating fools out of money. Upon her return, the Third Lady wasn't too happy about that, and whipped up a truly biblical storm while she went after the scholar.

-Trapped in the midst of it, a terrified Liu Xi lamented that he was going to die before repaying his dead parents and making them proud.

-Suddenly, the Gold Star of Venus showed up and blocked the Third Lady's entourage, and was like "You are destined to have two months of romance with Liu Xi, by the Jade Emperor's decree! Don't you remember?"

-Also, because the storm she summoned had damaged the crops of mortals, she had violated heavenly law and was due for punishment.

-Still, the Third Lady went on to commiserate her two-month marriage with Liuxi before abruptly revealing her true identity, for the terms of her sentencing had arrived and she'd soon be imprisoned inside the Black Cloud Cave of Mt. Hua.

-She gave Liu Xi a precious sword, told him to take it to the capital, then disappeared in a huge sandstorm, together with the mansion she conjured when they first met. Liu Xi, still disoriented, wondered if he had been charmed by a demoness for the past two months.

-After arriving at the capital, he tried to sell the Third Lady's sword for some money, but no one offered to buy it. Just as he was lamenting his fate, he was interrupted by the entourage of Minister Wang, who instantly recognized his sword.

-See, his daughter, Wang Guiying, had received a similar sword from the Old Mother of Mt. Li, who told her it was the "Female Sword" and she was fated to marry the man carrying the "Male Sword", which just happened to be the one Liu Xi was trying to sell! 

-So Liu Xi attended the imperial examination, got very good results, and married Minister Wang's daughter. Some time passed before a Tudi god suddenly showed up at the family's front door, carrying baby Chen Xiang, his son with the Third Lady.

-Guiying was overjoyed and promptly adopted Chen Xiang into the family. Later, she also gave birth to a son called Qiu Xiang. When the two boys had both reached 12, they were sent to the mansion of the emperor's uncle-in-law for further study, and met the Imperial Uncle's 14 years old son, Cun Ge("Brother Cun").

-Chen Xiang, however, soon got into a fight with him, and when Cun Ge called him an illegitimate bastard, he killed the boy in a fit of rage. Just like before, he was forced to flee and decided to go to Mt. Hua to seek his birth mother, taking the Male-Female Swords with him.

-While he was busy getting lost at the foot of the mountain, the Thunderclap Immortal rode by on a cloud, saw him being miserable, and took him in as his disciple.

-After Chen Xiang mastered the Male-Female Swords, Thunderclap Immortal told him that, in order to save his mom, he must first go to his uncle Erlang's temple at Guanjiangkou, where the Mountain-Cleaving Axe was kept.

-So he went and was greeted warmly by Yuan Hong, head of the Seven Brothers of Plum Mountain who was also a monkey spirit. Unfortunately, Erlang was out attending the Peach Festival, and would be back in about...200 years.

-Chen Xiang really couldn't wait that long and pleaded to borrow the Mountain Cleaver Axe, please, he'd return it real quick! To which Yuan Hong replied that no one was allowed to touch the weapon without Erlang's permission, then resumed his patrol of the mountain.

-So Chen Xiang decided to just steal the weapon instead, and thought the best way to create an opening was…turning his swords into flaming dragons and setting Erlang's temple on fire. Yeah. 

-After putting out the fire, the Plum Mountain Brothers found the axe missing, quickly put two and two together, and went to hunt Chen Xiang down. Chen Xiang then challenged Yuan Hong to a one-on-one fight, cleaved his horse in half with the Male-Female Swords, and dashed away to Mt. Hua to free his mom.

-Mother and child had a heartwarming reunion; Chen Xiang updated her on everything that had happened, just in time for the Plum Mountain Brothers and their army of divine soldiers to arrive. Since he couldn't fight his way out, especially with his mom by his side, Chen Xiang cried out the name of his master.

-Seconds later, the Thunderclap Immortal showed up and captured the entire divine army in his sleeves. Then the Gold Star of Venus also showed up, bringing with him the Jade Emperor's pardon for the Third Lady, before being interrupted by an angry Erlang.

-He was basically like "Kid, I'm not mad because you stole the axe, but why the hell did you set my temple on fire?! Also, where are my brothers and soldiers?" After the Thunderclap Immortal told him the whole story and released the Seven Sages + their army from his sleeves, however, he did calm down and go back to Guanjiangkou.

-After going on a quick detour to save his father, stepmother and half-brother from jail (yeah, they were thrown in prison for Chen Xiang's crime), Chen Xiang took the whole family into the clouds for a reunion under the the South Gate of Heaven, and all is well.

[premiumbitch]

۶ৎ RICH, YOUNG & SUCCESSFUL: THE WONYOUNG MANIFESTATION & SCRIPTING PACK ˙⋆.˚

This is for the lovely people who want to manifest stuff about themselves or script this in their shifting script! this pack is a wonyoung (from ive) theme ⸜(��˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ enjoy!

𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ✧ 𝒜 𝒮𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒜𝓈 𝐸𝒻𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒜𝓈 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔

You move like the night breeze—soft, weightless, untouchable yet always felt. Every glance, every step, every whispered word carries the epitome of grace gliding across moonlit waters. There is a celestial glow about you, a quiet radiance that lingers like the last shimmer of stardust before dawn. People do not simply see you—they marvel, as if gazing upon something both ethereal and divine.

𝐋𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐭𝐮𝐬 ✧ 𝒜 𝐵𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓂 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐹𝓁𝑜𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝐵𝑒𝓎𝑜𝓃𝒹 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒

Grace is not just something you possess—it is something you are. Like a lotus rising from glassy waters, you exist untouched by the chaos of the world, blooming in elegance despite it all. There is a timeless beauty in you, something that does not fade but only grows more radiant. The world does not shape you—you shape the world around you, simply by being.

𝐃𝐚𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 ✧ 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝐿𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒲𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹

There is something about you that feels like a new beginning—fresh, delicate, full of hope. You are the soft pink hues of morning, the hush before the world stirs, the gentle light that kisses the horizon. Even in the quietest moments, your presence is felt, not as something loud or demanding, but as a promise that something beautiful always follows the night.

𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 ✧ 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒜𝓇𝑒 𝒜 𝐵𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑅𝑒𝓂𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈

Some people are admired in a fleeting moment—others leave behind echoes that never fade. You are the latter. There is something unforgettable about you, like the way a melody lingers long after the song has ended. A single glance, a single word from you, and hearts find themselves tracing your presence like reflections in water—endlessly shimmering, forever held in memory.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 ✧ 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒟𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝒩𝑜𝓉 𝐹𝒶𝒹𝑒

Your beauty is not something that flickers—it is something that lasts. Like golden light spilling over the horizon, like the glow of lanterns against the velvet sky, you shine in a way that feels endless. No matter how much time passes, no matter how far someone may go, the memory of you is something that stays—soft, warm, eternal.

𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐛𝐨 ✧ 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝑒𝓃𝓈𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒪𝒻 𝐵𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐼𝓃 𝒜 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂

Meeting you feels like stepping into a different world—a place untouched by time, where everything is softer, sweeter, more beautiful. You are the golden threads woven into a dream, the feeling of lace brushing against fingertips, the delicate sway of chandeliers in candlelight. Those who meet you do not just admire you—they get lost in the wonder of you.

𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞 ✧ 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒜𝓇𝑒 𝒜 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒮𝑜𝒻𝓉, 𝒴𝑒𝓉 𝒰𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒

Like the scent of fresh roses carried on the wind, you leave traces of yourself in every moment, lingering long after you have gone. There is a tenderness to you, a softness that soothes without effort. People do not realize they have been touched by your presence until much later—when they find themselves yearning for the quiet magic you left behind.

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲 ✧ 𝒜 𝐵𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐸𝓍𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝐿𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒜𝑟𝓉

If beauty were a sound, you would be the soft chime of wind against petals, the delicate harmony of blossoms falling in spring. Every movement of yours feels orchestrated, every word like the whisper of a poem come to life. To witness you is to witness art itself—something rare, fleeting, and entirely mesmerizing.

𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞 ✧ 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒪𝒻 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝓃

You exist like a melody carried on the wind—soft yet unforgettable, delicate yet powerful. There is a rhythm to your presence, an elegance that flows like a waltz beneath the stars. You are the hush before the orchestra plays, the shimmer of silver on quiet waters. People do not just see you; they listen—for in your presence, even silence feels like music.

𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 ✧ 𝒜 𝐵𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓈𝑜𝓂 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒩𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝐹𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓈

Some flowers bloom only for a season, but you? You are a garden in perpetual spring. There is a softness to you, a beauty so light and untouched that it feels almost unreal. Like the petals of the rarest flower, you are admired, sought after, but never quite captured. Your beauty is a dream, one that lingers long after the eyes close.

𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 ✧ 𝒜 𝒢𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒟𝓇𝒾𝒻𝓉𝓈 𝒪𝓃 𝒞𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹𝓈

You are not just beautiful—you are luminous, a quiet light that fills the air like golden mist at sunrise. There is a weightlessness to you, a softness untouched by the world’s harshness, as if you were made of clouds and moonbeams. People find themselves drawn to you, as one is drawn to warmth on a cold morning—effortlessly, instinctively, without ever wanting to let go.

𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐞 ✧ 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝒪𝒻 𝒜 𝐿𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐿𝓊𝓇𝑒𝓈 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉

One glance, and the world slows. There is a power in your gaze—not one that commands, but one that enchants. Like the blush of a blooming rose, your beauty is something that seeps into the heart, delicate yet impossible to ignore. People do not simply look at you; they become lost in the art of watching.

𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐰𝐧 ✧ 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐹𝒾𝓇𝓈𝓉 𝐿𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒪𝒻 𝒜 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝒟𝒶𝓎

Some lights are too soft to be caught, too precious to be held for long. You are like dawn’s first blush—radiant, fleeting, something people long for even as they stand in its glow. Your beauty is fresh, untouched, the kind that makes the heart race like the promise of something new. You are not just admired; you are anticipated, like morning light peeking through silk curtains.

𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫 ✧ 𝒜 𝒯𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒮𝑜 𝐿𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉, 𝒴𝑒𝓉 𝒰𝓃𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒

Your presence is not loud—it does not need to be. Like a golden thread woven through silk, you are noticed in the most effortless of ways. You are the whisper of sunlight on skin, the quiet luxury of something rare and irreplaceable. People do not rush to see you; they slow down, drawn in by the softness of your glow.

𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐞 ✧ 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝒪𝒻 𝒜 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝒲𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝒮𝒾𝑙𝓀

Softness is your nature, but it is not fragile—it is the kind that lingers, that wraps around hearts like a delicate veil. Your beauty is lace spun from the finest threads, elegant and intricate, timeless yet endlessly fascinating. You are the finishing touch to the grandest of visions, the dream that lingers long after sleep has ended.

𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐤𝐲 ✧ 𝒜 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒮𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈, 𝒴𝑒𝓉 𝐸𝓋𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓈 𝒞𝒶𝓅𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒

Some stars can be reached, but others remain untouchable, glowing high above the world with a light all their own. You are one of them—distant, mesmerizing, a presence that makes the night sky feel alive. People may try to understand your beauty, to define it, but they will always fall short. For you are not meant to be understood—you are meant to be admired.

[time-woods]

How would you describe the kingdom in your medieval fantasy au? I'm so curious about its rules and society

ok i need to put this down somewhere so im gonna take this as the opportunity to do such bc this things been brewing in my cranium-

The kingdom is a fairly young one, destroyed a few hundred years ago by a falling asteroid, it created a crater in its place. Few survived but those who did instilled the fear of the sky and what dwells in it to those who remained. So anything from the sky is no good, this includes birds. Things that aren't grounded basically. They also blamed it on magic and that a evil magic moon god did this to them, sending one of its children down to tear down their home.

the interesting thing is- they didn't relocate. they cleared what remained of the asteroid, using the stone as their new foundation. They say this is like showing their power over what tried to destroy them or whatever. but yea they built their new kingdom in the crater. Now I hear you saying 'what abt when it rains? wouldn't everything flood?' your right. but you see, they hate what dwells above, they covered the top. its flat. the kingdom is flat up top. (besides those who don't live at the heart of the kingdom- like farmers who need land n such)) Everything is illuminated by thousands of lanterns that carry a flame said to be of the very asteroid that created this pit. This is yet again them taking power over what crushed their kingdom all those years ago. (flame that never dies? doesn't sound very grounded to me mr kingdom..) Those at the crown seemingly hate magic and any form of 'ungrounded' thinking. They are tolerant to those who are half human but if you are deemed too 'monstrous' they lose that tolerance very quickly. rumors are that the kingdom in recent years has started getting double standards for what they allow in their home. aka the head guard being 'half monster' (hes a bug. hes literally a whole bug. there's no human there at all) when the people thought entrusting that care to someone unlike them would be unthinkable, but surprisingly they've been safer these past years with him at the helm.

also yea most of the kingdom is this purply rock cause of this, as well as the flame in the lanterns. despite it being underground it manages to be fairly bright !

OH YEA one of their symbols is a stylized lotus/flame (lotus' can be seen as a symbol of rebirth and that put in place of the asteroid's flames makes for a good cycle like a phoenix sorta)) (this design is seen on Carmine's armor/ alt version on the bg guards))

this is just some stuff thats been in my head as of late that i havent gotten round to writing down.

[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.

[yunsound]

Chinese Mythology- Erlang Shen

If Achilles, Odysseus and Hercules are the Big Three of Greco-Roman mythology, the Big Three of Chinese mythology can probably be considered Sun Wukong, Ne Zha and Erlang Shen. 

Sun Wukong is… Sun Wukong. You know him, you love him, whether as Black Myth Wukong, Son Goku, or just Wukong in all his glory. I also made a post explaining the mythology of Ne Zha, who’s recently risen to fame outside of China due to the movie Ne Zha 2 becoming the 8th highest grossing movie of all time.

Erlang Shen is probably the least well-known of the three. His title, 二郎神, means Erlang (Second Son) Shen (God). He has nowhere near as many adaptations as the other two, and outside of China I doubt anyone knows him. 

This is him! He's usually depicted as young and handsome.

Erlang, Ne Zha and Wukong are unofficially memed as the Heaven Haters, since all three of them rebelled against heaven in some way, or are depicted as rebelling against heaven. Wukong famously smashed the Heavenly Palace up a million times and Ne Zha is all about fuck authority.

Artist 万葉皆秋 on Xiaohongshu and Douyin

Look at this beautiful art. That's Erlang Shen on the left, Sun Wukong in the middle, Ne Zha on the right. I doubt they'd win against the literal Buddha, but with anyone else any of them could kick anyone's ass. Actually in terms of strength Erlang Shen = Wukong > Ne Zha, but that's okay, Ne Zha's still strong.

What about Erlang, though? Actually, he’s the nephew of the Jade Emperor. The same one that got his ass kicked by Wukong. The same one that inadvertently led to Ne Zha having to kill himself. 

Did you play Black Myth: Wukong? Well, I’m sure you remember Erlang Shen as one of the harder boss fights. Wasn’t his eye laser cool?

Erlang, the Sacred Divinity

Erlang doesn’t have one big myth like Ne Zha or Wukong do, and he doesn’t belong to any one major tale like Wukong and Journey to the West. He is also featured in Investiture of the Gods (for more on WTF that is, see my Ne Zha post and my Investiture post) and also fights for the rebellion against the tyrannical King Zhou of Shang. His stories are featured in multiple tales, which I’ll cover briefly.

Table of Contents:

Erlang’s Backstory

宝莲灯 Magical Lotus Lantern

Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods

Erlang’s actual name is Yang Jian 杨戬. (Some interpret Erlang as the deification of an ancient Chinese engineer’s son, but modern adaptations consider him to be Yang Jian. There are multiple backstories for Erlang- this is not the definitive one.)

Other interpretations of Erlang include Yang Erlang (a pretty important guy that’s just also called Erlang with the last name Yang) as well as another guy whose name I don’t remember.

I only know stuff about the Yang Jian version, and it’s generally the most well-known (if you hear Yang Jian, you think Erlang, and if someone asks you what Erlang’s name is, you say Yang Jian. However, the Li Erlang version is also very famous, even though the stories are very similar).

His mother is the Jade Emperor’s sister! As mentioned in the Ne Zha post, the Jade Emperor is the leader of the Heavenly Court. See my Investiture of the Gods post here for details on the background of the Heavenly Court and the structure of the pantheon.

His mother is named Yunhua, and is the younger sister of the Jade Emperor. She fell in love with a mortal named Yang Tianyou, and fled secretly down to earth to marry him. They had a son named Yang Jian. When the Jade Emperor found out about this marriage, he sent armies to kill them because immortals and mortals marrying is against the rules. 

Yang Jian manages to survive- he’s still only a baby at this point. Yunhua, as punishment, gets trapped under a big-ass mountain. 

It’s unclear exactly what happens to Yang Jian after his mom gets the Wukong treatment. He’s raised in the palace, probably, and was taught to fight. Yang Jian is super powerful, and trains very hard. 

OR

He was chased after by the Heavenly Court with his (maybe?) siblings and goes through a hell of a lot of pain trying to not get smited. Along the way, he becomes a super jaded, powerful and generally ruthless warrior.

When he finds out his mom is enduring the world’s worst stone table massage, he decides, fuck it, I’m going to break her out.

He goes down to the mountain his mom is trapped under, Tao Shan (Mt. Tao). This is when we discover Yang Jian is a dramatic sort of guy, because instead of doing the reasonable thing and pulling her out or even lifting part of the mountain, he decides to get a big-ass axe out and split the entire mountain in half.

Seriously, what were you going to do if you cut your mom in half along the way?

That’s Erlang Shen’s backstory! Both exciting and uneventful at the same time. 

Well, how did he get from plain half-human half-god Yang Jian to Erlang Shen? He cultivated and trained so much and became so strong that eventually he ascended naturally, just like Ne Zha- no, his name is not on the Fengshen Bang, and no, he didn’t die to go work a boring government job for the Haotian Emperor.

The Fengshen Yanyi and Journey to the West are still just novels, and it’s unclear exactly how much of this is made-up or inaccurate.

Erlang Shen's defining trait is probably his mythical third eye. It's right smack-dab in the middle of his forehead, and it's called the Tianyan (or Sky Eye, or Eye of Heaven). It can see through disguises- this is how Erlang fights Wukong, who commonly uses disguises.

The third eye can also shoot lasers. Cool.

One of his biggest myths is the story of the 宝莲灯, Baoliandeng (Magical Lotus Lamp). In this story, Yang Jian (he has already become Erlang Shen at this point, through cultivation) belongs to the second category in the backstory options. He also has a sister.

This is an animated children's movie based on the Magical Lotus Lantern made by the same studio that produced Ne Zha Conquers the Sea 1979.

By the way! It is unclear if the Erlang in this story is Yang Jian. As I said, there are very many possibilities as to who Erlang could be. Yang Jian is just one of them. The Erlang in this story (recall, Erlang just means second son, which is a semi-common name) could be the second son of someone else, but in popular culture (NOT necessarily in the myth!) this Erlang is the same Erlang Shen, and is also Yang Jian. 

His sister is called Huayue Sanniang, or Sanshengmu. That’s a long-ass name, right?

Well, Sanshengmu means third saintly mother. Why third? She’s the third child of Mount Hua’s god. As such, Erlang (second son!) is her older brother. They have another brother. 

This is why the Erlang in this myth is probably not the mythical Erlang Shen, Yang Jian- they have different parentage.

However, gradually these two stories merged. Keep in mind that Erlang Shen technically doesn’t appear in this story at all since he’s not actually Sanshengmu’s older brother.

The Erlang here just happens to be another Erlang. The reason why I’m including this tale is because it’s pretty common for these two Erlangs to be combined into one, so in popular culture it’s also very common to see them as the same person and to treat Sanshengmu as Erlang Shen’s younger sister.

In the Tang Dynasty, Sanshengmu meets and falls in love with a mortal scholar named Liu Yanchang. Erlang Shen vehemently opposes this marriage- he’s a pretty ruthless guy. 

Sanshengmu steals the magical lotus lamp, which can trap gods and spirits within it, and escapes to marry Liu Yanchang. They have a son, Liu Chenxiang. 

Here's a TV show filmed based on the same story. The guy at the top with a slit in his forehead is Erlang Shen (the slit is his third eye, which he doesn't ALWAYS keep open).

A few years later, though, Erlang Shen finds them and kidnaps Chenxiang to ask Sanshengmu to return the lotus lamp. She agrees, and in a strangely ironic twist of fate, Erlang Shen traps Sanshengmu under a mountain. 

Chenxiang, after he’s grown up, decides he’s going to kick Erlang Shen’s ass as revenge for his mom. Erlang Shen isn’t Erlang Shen for nothing, though- even though Chenxiang acquires a mythically powerful axe and trains his butt off, he’s still unable to beat him.

However, in the end, Chenxiang manages to use the lotus lamp against Erlang Shen, and wins. Then, just as Erlang did, he splits the mountain in half and frees his mother.

This is a recent animated movie called New Gods: Yang Jian. It's in the same animated universe as New Gods Reborn: Ne Zha (2021). I would recommend this movie: the plot is kind of a mess, but the animation is pretty great!

In Journey to the West, Erlang Shen emerges as one of the gods the Heavenly Court calls upon to try and beat Sun Wukong after he begins to rampage through heaven.

Although Sun Wukong is seen as the peak of fighting capability in Chinese mythology, Erlang Shen is actually just as strong- he beat Sun Wukong in Journey to the West, albeit with the help of some other gods.

In Black Myth: Wukong, Erlang "rematches" Wukong since Wukong was technically beaten.

Actually, Erlang Shen in Journey to the West is a bit of a crazy guy. He’s usually always seen as the trademark killing maniac (maybe not killing maniac, but definitely a little sadistic) since he literally set Huaguo Mountain (the mountain Sun Wukong lived on with his monkeys) on fire after he beats Wukong.

Later, however, he helps Wukong fight off another guy and the two become buddies. Funny how that works out. 

If you remember, in Black Myth: Wukong, he had a dog with him!

In all of Chinese mythology, probably the only famous figure that has a dog is Yang Jian, Erlang Shen. His dog is called Xiaotian Quan, or Howling Celestial Dog, is Erlang Shen’s companion, who fights with him. 

This is why when the Black Myth: Wukong official account said they wouldn't spoil the next boss but that he had a dog, Westerners were confused but all of China was like. Bro, who else could it possibly be, the only dog dad in all of mythology who has anything to do with Wukong is Erlang Shen.

It was a bit of a Givenchy Ariana Grande situation.

In Fengshen Yanyi, Erlang Shen also fights with the Chan Sect and Ne Zha against the King of Shang. There’s one tale he’s famous for, where he’s the key figure in overturning the tide in a particular battle.

Erlang Shen had learned how to transform into 72 different living things, and he allowed himself to be eaten by his opponent’s spiritual beast. Then, he killed the beast from inside, transformed himself to look like it, then tricked his opponents and stole all their fancy shit. 

He also used the 72 transformations against Wukong in Journey to the West.

Erlang Shen, Sun Wukong, and Ne Zha have all gotten recent modernised adaptations, and all three of them go against "traditional Chinese values" and still manage to be widely beloved and respected characters.

(Sun Wukong's most recent modernised movie is the 2015 Monkey King: Hero is Back, which was translated horribly since it really means something more like The Return of the King. The movie's plot is great, but the animation isn't as good as New Gods Yang Jian or Ne Zha 1/2.)

Look at that. Good movie, I hope they make a second one, and maybe they can get some advice from Jiaozi on how to improve the animation. I mean, it's not bad, but it's certainly not as good as it COULD be.

As such, the Heaven Haters boy band has officially debuted. Be sure to check out their debut album, "Fuck the Emperor", currently no. 1 in ancient China.

Wukong is still my favourite, just because he's the no.1 in every Chinese person's heart, but Erlang Shen and Ne Zha are also great.

Who doesn't love a crazy hot killing machine? Or a murderous fiery iPad kid on wheels?

Erlang Shen summarised:

A (slightly) ruthless but powerful righteous warrior with a third eye in his forehead that can shoot lasers and see through disguises. He fights with a cool mythical spear and has a super cute and super strong dog.

More on the Heaven Haters boyband later. I might make a big post as to why them hating heaven is significant.

[shadowuserannie]

Accidental Brother-Sorry, Babysitter-Acquisition (Fic WIP) (Part 2)

“You know you don’t have to do this, right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Nezha replied smoothly, skates whirring in their true form as he flitted about the area, getting it set up nicely with his true power before the others arrived. Unlit paper lanterns on strings were hung around the trees, soft blankets in the cleared area that was on the side of the cliff facing Megapolis, checking the snacks he’d brought that weren’t made of hair-

“Seriously, Ne-”

“-End that with that foolish nickname and the group will arrive to see a healing wound from a spear thrust to your mouth.”

Nezha’s back was to the simian, but he could feel the troublemaking smile.

“Nezhy, c’mon-”

Without looking, Nezha summoned his spear, split it to lotus petals, and thrust them at Wukong.

“What happened to hanging with your own family for New Years?!” Wukong yelped as he evaded them with no real effort, merely being dramatic in his movements for closer shaves. Nezha aimed more precisely-he was not tarnishing the surroundings before they could even get here.

“I am.”

There was an oof as several petals caught Wukong off guard, pinning him to the floor.

“What about your brothers? And your dad?”

“Busy.” Whenever time allowed, usually his father, mother and brothers tried to visit their poor, stuck brother/son who actually set plenty of seals long ago to be able to sneak out. Still, more eyes were on him during New Years’, that owing to celebrations being something more worthy of “leaving one’s post” for. Stupid.

Anyways, he typically got visited at least once during New Years’ with goodies brought by Muzha, but this year Jinzha had stopped by early and said apologetically that their father had decided to follow him and Muzha on an assignment that might not have them back until long after the celebrations had passed. Mother herself...well there were much better parties to attend to than an empty temple. Which was fine. Nezha saw them for New Years’ once every three years or so anyway. Missed New Years' was nothing in the overall of eternity of the Heavenly Realm.

Nezha tried his best not to leave his post during New Years’ festivities, because of the eyes, and also because paranoia meant celebrations = cover for thieves, despite the sheer amount of magic layered over his temple paranoia…was paranoia. That changed…rather recently, considering the spam habits MK and Mei had gotten into as they grew up and became larger yet somehow fonder annoyances to him.

“Still, I swear-”

“Wukong. How many New Years have you spent alone?”

“Come on, you stop by-”

“Once every few decades. For a few minutes.”

Wukong lets his head flop onto the ground. “Still unnecessary.”

“Making sure you don’t drown your sorrows in jiu for eternity, giving you tasks so you can get out of a place you’ve retired to for centuries, so the Heavens don’t impose worser tasks? Yes, definitely.” Nezha deadpanned.

Hmm. That string of lanterns was stretched too far.

Wukong made a sound that was somewhere between disbelief and teasing. “Psshh, Nezhy, I’ve seen you after cases with really bad assholes, remember? Know how long I had to spend convincing my subjects not to try what they saw you doing?”

“Why would you discourage them from following a far more responsible person?” Nezha arranged the plates carefully. Orange for MK, green for Mei, white for Pigsy, pink for Tang, blue for Sandy, gold for the irritating annoyance.

“Right, because over-steeping a dozen packets of black tea in baijiu instead of water is a fantastic example of sobriety.”

Nezha dropped the tin of almond biscuits, catching them just in time with his sash.

“That was-”

“-Most definitely not one time,” Wukong spoke with a fanged grin. “Remember when you told me about the fling with-”

“Wukong!”

The idiotic primate he would dearly love to cleave apart merely cackles at his misery. Unfortunately, he’s still the safest option when it comes to needing someone to sober him up or watch him in his drunken state, in the rare times Nezha cracks from sheer rage and brews his black tea with wine instead of water. Keyword being rare.

“…so didja bring any-”

“I refuse to kill children’s livers.”

“But yours is faiRRRAAAAA-”

“Stabbing your liver is fair game too.”

“Little shit.”

“Who’s not even five feet and uses glamours again?”

At last, with no help from the host whatsoever, Nezha finishes tidying the area and getting it ready for a small party. There are even snacks-double checked by Nezha to be safe-specifically for the monkeys, mostly consisting of fruits.

“Add any fur to this and I will chop off all 84,000 hairs on your body.”

Wukong hides the piece of fur behind his back and whistles.

“Reach for any peaches before they arrive and I will also rob your home of your peach chips.”

Wukong gasps dramatically, falling to the ground as if deeply hurt. “These accusations-”

“Are wholly true, you little-”

“Who’s calling who little-”

Nezha froze as voices definitely not quiet rose up from the foot of the mountain.

“They’re here.”

Wukong frowned at him for no reason as Nezha glamoured his Wind//Fire Wheels back to three-wheeled roller skates. He’d already dressed up before coming down to Flower Fruit Mountain, in a knee-length sleeveless red qipao and dark kuzi, no illusions needed there. His Armillary Sash was wrapped in a slightly fancier style about his arms, still and mimicking sleeves as usual. Rather than twin buns, he’d opted for a simple small one with the rest of his hair let down.

“You…ever going to tell them?”

“I’ve gone lifetimes without doing so with others, Wukong. Remember our deal.”

“Hypocrite.”

“Idiot.”

“You know that’s long gotten as ancient as you, right?”

“You-”

[glitcheslikeslego]

Some funky things about my Skylanders LMK thing

it's a few ideas I came up with while drawing cause i don't think i've talked abt it on here :0

Jin and Yin are defected Arkeyan Machines, while drawing Jin I came up with the idea of their faceplates being similar to the Arkeyan Conquertron (so i can include the horns)

Nuwa is a Life elemental Giant, some other Giants include the Scorpion Queen (Dark), the Jade Emperor (Light), and Azure (Magic) after he kills the Jade Emperor

After some back and forth, I decided it would be really funny to make the little girl (Bai He) a portal master

All of the spiders have the Undead element, except for Syntax, who has the Tech element

Macaque's body has a ghostly bottom half and wields his Shadow Lantern as a weapon, inspired from Ninjini's wispy body and her bottle

Also with Macaque, before he became an Undead element, he used to be Dark

Red Son and Sandy are the only ones of their element, being Fire and Water respectively

And the element with the most characters is Undead, having Macaque, Lady Bone Demon, The Mayor, Spider Queen, Huntsman, Strong Spider (or Goliath), and the Nine Headed Demon

Nezha has the Life elemental and not Fire, this is because I really wanted to double down on the lotus theming and expand his move set a bit more

A lot of the inspiration for this came from Skylanders: Giants cause that is my absolute fav ever <3

i'll add some more later, but this is what i have for now :3

[samadhifired]

In JttW, changing ones name is quite common and usually accompanied by a big changes in their life (mostly for Buddhist reasons). And LMK seems to acknowledge this since they have used both the pre-Journey Zhu Ganglie as well as his later Zhu Bajie names when talking about the Pig Pilgrim.

And with this line of thought: there is no way that Iron Fan is is PIF's birth name.

Not only is it way too on the nose (unless PIF chose/was given her fan because of her name), she also has gone through a huge change in her life: abandoning her life as a Celestial Maiden and marrying DBK.

Which means... There is a huge opportunity for the show (or fanfic) writers to give her a double identity.

And part of me kinda hopes, if canon, that identity will be Yang Chan; the sister of Erlang Shen.

I mean think about it.

As Celestial, she was shown to have an equal standing with nephew and (kinda) grandson of the Jade Emperor. This makes it very likely that PIF is also related to the Jade Emperor in one way or another.

If she is Yang Chan, her mother would be Yunhua (Yaoji?); a goddess whose job by some sources was to "limit the gods' mortal urges such as love, greed, and ambition". Is it just me, or aren't those also major traits of Iron Fan as a character?

You could argue that DBK getting imprisoned under a mountain is loosely inspired by The Magic Lotus Lantern, the main story Erlang's sister is known for (forbidden marriage, parent getting imprisoned under a mountain by their brother, the son getting a weapon linked to Sun Wukong is a key item at freeing the said parent.)

IronBull family has been part of every single season so far. And when the time to choose the next Jade Emperor comes, it would be so easy for the writers to use PIF (who is still Celestial enough for Azure to refer her as such) as an excuse to get them involved in the progress. Double so if it actually turns out that PIF (and Red Son) has a claim for the throne.

The mere idea of Erlang and PIF as siblings is absolutely hilarios

[ruibaozha]

Does Investiture of the Gods happen before or after Journey to the West? What about the Lotus lantern? Is there a chronological order to the stories? Which happens before or after?

Hello!

Technically Canonization of the Gods occurs before Journey to the West. Canonization itself is a heavily fantastical retelling of the collapse of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, so figure around 1046BC, while Journey to the West is set in the seventh century - itself a fantastical retelling too.

However, it is extremely detrimental to assume the two are connected in any way, and this includes assuming the story of the Lotus Lantern to be related to the aforementioned stories. Canonization and Journey to the West were written down oral retellings by two very different people in two very different time periods. The ‘release’ of the Lotus Lantern was during the Tang Dynasty predating both Canonization and Journey to the West by a minimum of 500 years.

I understand the desire to want to make such connections though and have a well established timeline regarding the deities involved, but the fluidity of these stories and conflicting information within other external tales is a testament to the thousands of people who have listened to and retold such pieces of folklore.

Myself and @digitalagepulao were theorizing earlier about the sheer amount of story variation in China while Greek literature doesn’t seem to have many changes. Decidedly it’s a combination of sheer territorial expansion differences and Greek literature cases like the Iliad had actual lists of family names that needed to be maintained because any variation was seen as blasphemy; especially after the involvement of Christianity.

It is worth speculating on, especially for anyone involved deeply with the examination of various global mythologies and the many influences these belief systems were subject to. I hope this answer wasn’t too confusing, and thank you for asking!

[sketching-shark]

Friends can you believe that I haven’t done anything with Lotus Lantern up until now?! Well now rectifying that, here’s a sketch of Liu Chenxiang and Sun Wukong training in the martial arts. Here’s hoping he can get strong enough to defeat his uncle (a literal war god) and free his mother!

[mykingdomforapen]

courage of stars | a writer's commentary

It's here! The end of the fic is finally here. Oh my gosh, I cannot believe it. I'm so thankful to have gotten to write this fic and share it with you. Thank you for joining this journey with me, and for enjoying this story enough to want to read the behind the scenes. I'm really excited to shout obsessively about the thought process that went into this story, to the point where this commentary is +3k words rip.

Of course, major spoilers for the story ahead:

Original Inspiration

After finishing ‘spinning silk,’ I knew that I wanted to write a story about Cheng Xiaoshi and his mother. It took me some time to settle on how that story would play out, but the one thing I knew for sure I wanted, because this was the image that kickstarted my desire to write about them, was the idea of Cheng Xiaoshi diving into a photo and then stumbling into his mother, equally diving, who realises he is there and goes, “Little rabbit, is that you?” 

I also knew that whoever Cai Liangxing embodied would have a birthmark on their forehead, which I will get into later. 

Initially, I was going to make it a story that drew loose inspiration with the Magic Lotus Lantern story, which is about a demigod boy whose mother is stolen and trapped underneath the mountains by her godly brother, and he had to go on a quest to eventually be capable enough to break open the mountains and save her. In this story, his mother would have had some kind of photograph-related curse instead of abilities that fell upon her somehow, in which at random and uncontrolled moments, she would look upon a photograph and suddenly be sucked into it, and into the person within the photograph (not necessarily the photographer). She wouldn’t have control over it, which means it could happen at random, she can never go forward in time but backwards. Cheng Xiaoshi would have to keep diving into different photos further and further back in time to look for her, which would have led the narrative to explore different decades in Chinese history until he would find her. At one point, they would have agreed that whenever she was and whoever body’s she was in, she would bite her finger and place a small bloodied dot on her forehead so that Cheng Xiaoshi could find her. 

Slowly, though, I realised I didn’t want that to be how the story went. The dot on the forehead is in reference to a Chinese legend that I wanted to explore, and I realised that if I wanted to explore it to its full potential, the story had to go differently. So I scrapped the tumbling down into time idea and leaned more into this legend. This is how the legend goes: there was once a young prince who loved his partner, but something arose (intruders, I think) in which she was fatally wounded. As he held her in his arms and wept, she bit her finger until it bled and painted a small dot on his forehead and said, when I’m reborn, I will have this birthmark on my forehead. I will find you again. And then she dies. 

Many years passed, and the prince became the king. As king, he one day met a young man with a birthmark on his forehead and realised that this was his lover reincarnated. Of course, the young man did not retain any of those memories, but the king showed him great favor and took him in as his own, and eventually the young man grew to become the king’s trusted advisor. However, this young man slowly became corrupt, his allegiances were elsewhere, and it eventually became evident that he was a traitor to the kingdom and to the king. With a mournful heart, the king ultimately executed this young man. 

I wanted this idea of someone Cheng Xiaoshi loved being in the body of someone else, but who is losing themselves entirely until they are someone who causes Cheng Xiaoshi harm. I replaced reincarnation with the Cheng family’s photo hopping abilities, and eventually (and might I say, through tremendous and late-night efforts lol) developed SUn Yihan, the one who really had to carry the story’s stakes. I also knew that I still wanted this story to be deeply tied to Chinese modern history, and so Sun Yihan’s backstory was the way it was. 

There were three scenes I knew for sure I wanted to write, that really propelled the direction of the story: 

1) “Little rabbit, is that you?” 

2) Cai Liangxing, knowing of Lu Guang’s abilities, speaking to him through a photograph, and 

3) the scene in heaven of Cheng Xiaoshi and his parents, “Oh, Yinhe, he’s so beautiful.” 

I just knew I wanted to keep these concepts in and write them in whatever way possible. 

I also would be remiss if I didn't mention the song from which the title of the fic originated. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that its music video left an indelible mark on me, and is probably from where the imagery in the final chapter drew inspiration!

Epigraph

The epigraph for this story is one of the most famous poems from Li Bai, a Chinese Tang dynasty poet. It’s so famous, in fact, that I hesitated to use it because it’s famous to the point of cheesy. Elementary school children recite it, it’s one of the first poems you will learn in any Chinese language class. It’s very simple, and yet the themes just felt fitting. 

Here it is again in Chinese: 

床前明月光

疑是地上霜

举头望明月

低头思故乡

Here is its English translation: 

Before my bed lies a pool of moon bright I could imagine that it's frost on the ground I look up and see the bright shining moon Bowing my head I am thinking of home

The moon is such a crucial symbol in this story, and Chinese literature/art is FLUSH with moon imagery. This one I felt to be really fitting because I felt it reflected Cheng Xiaosh and Lu Guang all at once. Cheng Xiaoshi’s relationship with the poem a little more in its literal meaning, in that his mother had told him in the beginning of the story to look at the moon when she is gone because Mama Rabbit is always looking after him. And how, as Cheng Xiaoshi walked to the forest to his death, he looked at the moon and saw it for what it meant, rather than what it was, to draw courage from it. 

Lu Guang’s relationship to this poem is more tied to its context. Li Bai was writing this from a place of reflecting on filial piety. The inspiration from which he wrote it was imagining a Confucian scholar in the employment of the emperor who misses his hometown on Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s almost a little too on the nose for Lu Guang, isn’t it? Haha. 

Sun, Moon, and Stars

When I first wrote the opening of “courage of stars,” with Cheng Xiaoshi and his parents stargazing on their last night together, I honestly expected that to be the extent of celestial bodies’ presence in the story. All I had asked from it was for the stars, representative of his parents, to reflect that myth of stars being long dead but their light still reaches us. In this scant use of the motif of the heavens, light still represented love. 

In fact, the mention of Mid-Autumn Festival aligning with CXS’ death scene was just for my fun, since his death might coincide with Mid-Autumn on any given year (albeit not any year that the story could logically take place, but we’re assuming that they live in an alternate earth anyway hahaha). It felt like it would be fun to make the slowly filling moon reflect the passage of time that draws closer to CXS’ death day. In short, the sun and the moon were really meant to be somewhat melancholic motifs, and not much more.

Also, I liked to draw a through line between Cai Liangxing and Chang’E, the legend of the moon goddess. In order to protect her husband’s magic, Chang’E consumed a magical pill that a cruel man was trying to steal, which made her levitate all the way up to the moon. She kept the villain from taking the pills, but in turn she was trapped on that moon with no way to come down for the rest of eternity. Much like…

But the more that I wrote, the more that my appreciation for the moon and what it could symbolize really took root, particularly in the moment where CXS and LG reconcile after their painful conflict. Chapter 7 is really precious to me because I wanted to write a reconciliation between best friends that showed them in all their messiness and earnestness. I wanted these two best friends to be confronted with the shortcomings and pitfalls of each other and their own ability to love, and to still be able to comfort each other. I think for me, I err on the side of writing a friendship love in an idolizing way, putting it on a pedestal as the Ultimate Source of Love, when that isn’t really sustainable. CXS and LG aren’t going to be perfect friends to each other. They’re going to be messy and selfish and their love for each other will not be complete. But it is still precious. 

So when I wrote the last scene of them in LG’s bedroom, forgiving each other, the moon motif struck me. I thought about how the moon, in its pearly luminescence, is really reflecting the light of the sun. It glows, it is gorgeous, it is the stuff of poems and music, and it is in truth a reflection. My writing is really guided by my faith, and I often think of the line from the musical Les Miserables: “To love another person is to see the face of God.” My experience with love and with faith has often been best described as that we people are riverbeds, receiving and outpouring love to one another whose source is the Living Water. So when I wrote about the moon, it just…clicked. Ah, it’s a fountain. From the sun, to the moon, to the earth. Light as water as love. Cheng Xiaoshi shines with love to Lu Guang, but he doesn’t have to have the pressure or the burden of being Lu Guang’s only source of it. They are both joyful, earnest riverbeds, whose imperfections are not enough to stop the flow of love coming to one another.

After that, it really guided me in my writing, especially as we reached the climaxes, and Mid-Autumn approaching. The filling moon, and the holiday, still held this ominous tone to them because they do still indicate Cheng Xiaoshi’s coming death day. But, much like the memories of other motifs in this story, painful imagery also live alongside hopeful and encouraging ones. The full moon that terrified Lu Guang is also the moon that lit Cheng Xiaoshi’s way and followed him, symbolically, when he was afraid. We all go through journeys in life where none of our loved ones can follow us all the way, physically or emotionally, whether because they leave or because they simply cannot. Only we can feel the heartache in our own chest, even when someone is holding our hand. In that moment, as loved as Cheng Xiaoshi is by his friends, he must take this journey to his death alone. His own mother had literally forgotten him. But the moon, sunlight reflected, this story’s motif for love and courage and mercy, followed him every step of the way. 

Frogs/Corpse Pond

Frog Guang has become such an icon from this fic that I feel like I must make a little section for the frogs! 

When I was writing ‘spinning silk,’ there was a moment where Lu Guang is reliving his childhood and there’s a moment where he is with his grandfather, and he’s showing his grandfather a fat frog that he found. It was a throwaway line, and I do not intend for the universe of silk to be the same as stars (for the most part, I intend for each of my fics to all be of different universes, not even different timelines, but they simply cannot coexist), and there are differences in each Yeye’s backstories. But that throwaway line did plant that idea in my head that Lu Guang loved frogs, to carry over into ‘stars.’ 

I’m not a frog aficionado myself, although this headcanon has made me a lot fonder of them. I am ever thankful to Rulos who knows much more about frogs than me and told me frog facts and types to flesh out Lu Guang’s favor for them. But I do have an echo of frogs in my own family history. When my grandmother was pregnant with my father, this was during the famine years and she was like, 36kg/81lbs. There just wasn’t a lot of food! So she ate frogs that came from the pond in her neighborhood to supplement her nutrition. That was a story she told us and it stuck to me ever since, especially because said pond is one I am very fond of in my own life. For, of course, very different reasons than hers. Which leads me to my next subsection…

Hunger

The motif of hunger vs abundance came almost naturally, as a result of the frogs. One of my readers (I see you Juno) aptly noticed the juxtaposition between Lu Guang having a love for frogs that his grandparents ate out of desperation, and I was so excited that they saw that because that’s exactly what I was trying to capture. Hunger vs abundance. Starvation in Yeye’s anecdotes, and even Sun Yihan’s adulthood (for my parents’ generation, it was indeed so rare to eat chicken that it would only ever be eaten on New Year), compared to Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang basically having tons of snacks and meals in every chapter. And then, the way that hunger can really make people go impulsive and reckless and foolish. I know I make some dumb decisions when hungry just to fill my stomach. Anecdotes of people in horrible situations, be it in war or genocide or famine, hurting or killing others just to have a small bite to eat. Cheng Xiaoshi was so, so hungry for want of his mother that he betrayed Lu Guang. Sun Yihan/Ye Ci, starving for lack of a father figure and a sense of belonging in the world, betrayed his mother. Remember that you have been hungry, too. 

Names

I was very excited about the fact that I could make each chapter name of ‘stars’ correlate to a name, or to a meaning of a name/name-adjacent, because names really do play such a big role in this story. For one, plot-wise it is what put Cheng Xiaoshi in so much danger. Cai Liangxing and Cheng Yinhe’s names being oh so symbolic. Cheng Xiaoshi’s and Lu Guang’s childhood nicknames become almost motifs in and of themselves. And of course, Sun Yihan’s chosen name marking him as a punishment versus his secret, lost birth name of Ye Ci (which shares a character with the word ‘mercy.’) 

Also I want to emphasize that whenever he talked about him, Grandpa Lu always referred to Sun Yihan by the family name (Sun zai) because I didn’t want him to really interact or acknowledge his self-given name of Yihan. As he always said before, Grandpa Lu has no regrets meeting SYH, and he wishes SYH would not either. 

And I do love when a name is thematic. Cheng Xiaoshi naming Lu Guang’s new frog ‘Cassini’ is so important to me. 

Alternate Scenes/Ideas

Yeye was originally going to have abilities! His abilities would have something to do with being able to see a room in the past, so time traveling within a confined space of a room. He would have been able to use the traditional art of paper cutting that, if you pin it onto the wall, you would be able to see what had occurred in the room during the past (although, not necessarily able to interact with it). I did want to try to create a power for him where one could interact with the past, but then realised it would get messy and also would be very ironic of Lu Guang to be so adamant about his time scruple. The wall art magic would have been the original way that LG and CXS find out about CXS’ father’s death–witnessing it, not so much living through it. Sorry, CXS.

Lu Guang initially was supposed to be able to talk directly with Cai Liangxing while she was in the past. So LG was actually going to be the person to tell CLX that CXS has an unchangeable death node, and they would have come to some kind of agreement that they would do everything in their power to save him. Something about his abilities combining with Yeye’s would have made that possible, however I scrapped it because I couldn’t think of a way to do it elegantly, and that would stay true to the rules of the magic/universe. 

Qiao Ling at one point would have tried to use her abilities to look into a photo of Cai Liangxing, and would notice that when she peeked into Cai Liangxing’s mind, it would be exactly the same as when she would try to peek into Sun Yihan’s, thus emphasizing that the two have molded into one person. 

Sun Yihan was actually going to be something of a serial killer. He would have murdered young men with the surname Cheng in order to absorb Cheng Xiaoshi’s abilities, albeit he doesn’t know if he found the right Cheng Xiaoshi or not. Scrapped because I realised that would lean him towards villainy, which wasn’t what I ultimately wanted for his character, so…serial kidnapping. 

On that note, Cheng Xiaoshi would hae been recruited by Captain Xiao to dive into the photo of one of the victims to find out who the killer was. Upon discovering that it was SYH, LG would have panicked at him to get out and that would be how they realised SYH is hunting CXS down and for what reason he was killing all these young guys. I ultimately took all the tension I wanted from such a scene and put it into CXS diving into his father. 

CXS was initially going to get kidnapped by SYH (no Lu Guang as bait) and forced into experiments, which would lead him to dive into SYH’s mother at one point. He would inherit her emotions towards her son. I scrapped it when I reasoned that she probably would not have had any chance to take a photo between getting accused and getting killed. 

Fanart

I am so blessed to have artists share fanart of the fic with me. I wanted to put them all in one place, and will continue to add to this doc as I know one of my commissioned pieces from Sunny will be posted sometime later today. Thank you so much for everyone for sharing their imagination and vision of this little world with me. I'm so touched. Everyone please please please feast your eyes on these arts and show the artist love!!

PM_Paint

@sailboat-sparrow 1, 2

Blepps

@quarriart Quarri

@sgdlr-asdfghjkl Niebo

intothefrisson (sunny)

@doublxpresso (DX)

Thank you...

I just want to dedicate this space to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful beta and dear friend, @fluffy-rulos. Rulos was cheering me on as I wrote this monster of a fic, tracked the mystery for me, gave me suggestions and feedback that helped me make the fic better, and of course, gave me all the frog facts for Frog Guang. I am so thankful for her and this story wouldn’t be the same without her. This story took about five months to write, writing for almost every single day of the week, and I don’t know how I would have made it this far without her encouragement and excitement. Thank you for joining me on this adventure my friend!! 

And thank you to everyone who stayed with the fic from beginning to end. I really hope you liked it and enjoyed reading the behind the scenes. I'll miss you all <3.

[ryin-silverfish]

Ask/Writing Masterlist (irregularly updating)

Ryin(阿璎), 23. She/They. First Gen Chinese student. Ryin_Silverfish on AO3. Currently hyperfixating on old Chinese novels. casual Zhiguai tales and LMK enjoyer.

Investiture of the Gods/FSYY:

Why are the Daoist immortals fighting?

Did Yuanshi Tianzun manipulate Shen Gongbao?

Chan, Jie, and possible prejudice against yaoguai

Azure Lion and the other Bodhisattvas' steeds in FSYY

Daji's fox form in FSYY Pinghua

The historical Su Daji

Is Shen Gongbao a yaoguai?

Are all yaoguai irredeemable monsters in FSYY?

Ao Bing and the dragons Nezha fought

Does deification wipe your memory and personality?

Bi Gan and the Great Fox Massacre

More discussion about prejudice against yaoguai

How old was Su Daji the human when she died?

Differences between FSYY novel and Pinghua

Musing on FSYY's view of fate and its possible effects on Yang Jian

Master Yuding

The messy marriages of FSYY

Is Daji a goddess in the novel?

Names of immortal masters in FSYY

Just for fun: the FSYY drinking game

Nezha's age in FSYY

Nezha's death and resurrection in FSYY

What happened to the original Daji?

Lady Shiji aka the Rock Demoness

Chinese Fox Spirits:

Auspicious/Demonic Foxes

More on fox spirits

The inner core of foxes

Foxes and their association with Fire

Notable fox spirits

The foxes of 狐狸缘全传

Has Daji ever been worshipped as a goddess?

Fox masks

The foxes of Liaozhai

Weaknesses and abilities of fox spirits

Three resource collections on Chinese fox spirits: 1, 2, 3

Human-fox hybrids

Can foxes and their descendents magically know if someone's telling the truth?

The magical properties of fox saliva

Fox exams and Heavenly Foxes

Are male foxes more malicious?

More on fox exams

Offerings to fox spirits

The "Lady Fox Immortal"

Chinese Mythos in General:

The Precious Scroll of Erlang

Into the Erlang-verse: Li, Zhao, Yang

Can immortal masters romance their students?

Why we don't power-rank characters in God-Demon novels

A brief overview of Chang'e

On Chinese Religion and "Respect"

The 28 Lunar Mansions

Can the Heavenly Emperor be replaced + a primer on dynastic successions

A Guide to the Chinese Underworld (and what it isn't)

Is Nüwa JE's daughter?

Weaver Girl

Can yaoguais a/o their descendents enter the Celestial Bureaucracy?

Queen Mother of the West and her husband(s)

Bixia Yuanjun, Lady of Mt. Tai

Erlang's dad

The story that gives us the name "Yang Jian"

On the transformation of Erlang's image (and his relationship with JE in JTTW)

Erlang's mom, Lotus Lantern, and a neat little discovery

Erlang cameos in other stories and Zajus

Erlang's mom-saving story in Chinese operas

Child Manjushri, or: the absurdity of pinning a definitive age on gods

The strange modern ship of Mengpo/Yuelao, and Mengpo's myths

The half-beast form of QMoW

Does Erlang have a wife/love interest?

Nezha's mom

A overview of Gonggong and his mythos

Some introductory sources on the Chinese Underworld

Mythos-inspired Worldbuilding:

Dragons of the Four Seas

LMK S5 and a possible "Celestial Council of Regents" AU

LMK S5 Fix-it: the Four Divine Beasts

Character/Story Analysis (JTTW + LMK)

Heart and Mind: Tripitaka

Local Lion Uncle enjoyer goes on a rant

On SWK and his fear of death

Why the Dead People Supreme Court?

No, seriously, why?

Chinese Underworld =/= Christian Hell

LMK S4, Havoc in Heaven, and revolutions

Why I dislike the "class warfare" reading of Havoc in Heaven

In Defence of Li Jing...ha, as fucking if

On Yin-Yang, Chaos/Order, and the Harbringer

JTTW's view on the Three Religions

Disjointed S5 Reactions

"Chaos doesn't work that way in traditional Chinese Cosmology"

Xiangliu, the Nine-headed Bird, and Jiutou Chong

Lotus Lantern: The Summaries

Part 1: Precious Scroll of Chenxiang

Part 2: The Epic of Prince Chenxiang

Part 3: Lotus Lantern 1.0 + 2.0

Part 4: Chenxiang and the Male-Female Swords

My Fanfics:

Climbing the Sky

The Wild Son

Bodhicitta

The Serpent and the Deluge

South Seas Sojourn

Journey of the Gods AU sideblog

Masterpost 2

[iwriteasfotini]

Diyas

A Christmas themed excerpt for @noblehouseofgay 25 Days of Jegulus. Day 17 - Candles

Diyas are small oil lamps with a cotton wick often used in South Asia during worship and religious ceremonies and are lit during the festival of Diwali to symbolize prosperity in the New Year.

James POV, fifth year/fourth year for Regulus Rating: Teen 576 words

There was a knock on the door and James said, “Eṉṉa?”

Effie poked her head round the door. “It is ready.”

James had to admit, he was a bit giddy. It was not often his parents surprised him like they used to when he was a child. Abandoning their pie plates on the floor, James and Regulus hurried to the door. 

The hall was dark and there were small flickering diyas all along the perimeter of the floor. James sucked in an excited breath. He was never home during Diwali, as it was celebrated at the end of October and beginning of November. In the past, they had gone to Madurai to celebrate James’ favorite Indian festival, the Festival of Lights. 

James walked to the living room and saw the furniture had been cleared away leaving a large open space for a huge rangoli display, a beautiful lotus with ample geometric designs. There were diyas all over the floor, as part of the rangoli and on the few remaining surfaces in the room. 

“It is for Regulus,” said Effie. Regulus was blinking very quickly and rubbed his nose. James grabbed his hand. 

“Thank you,” Regulus whispered.

“Traditionally, rangoli is done outside the entrance to a house and represents happiness, positivity, and liveliness. It welcomes the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and good luck.”

Effie went to stand before Regulus and held out her hands. James let Regulus’ hand drop and watched his mother hold both of his boyfriend’s hands in hers. She was dressed in a deep purple sari, which had intricate gold embroidery on it. 

“Regulus, you are part of this family, as long as you want it. James loves you, and we love you.”

James looked over and watched a tear track down Regulus’ cheek. Regulus couldn’t wipe it away as Effie was still holding both his hands. 

“You don’t even know me,” he whispered. 

“We know you. Sirius talks about growing up with you and James tells us about spending time with you at Hogwarts. We have had you in our home for five days now. I have watched James grow and mature as he has dated you. And to see the two of you together, you light each other up. So we wanted to give you some light of our own.”

Regulus didn’t say anything—just nodded—tears still flowing down his cheeks. Effie pulled him into a tight hug. James watched Regulus wipe at his cheeks over his Am’mā’s shoulders. 

Monty also wanted to hug Regulus, which Regulus permitted. 

“Thank you for being such a light in our son’s life,” said Monty as he released Regulus. And James caught his father’s eye, smiling shyly.  

They all sat down and soaked up the warmth from the tiny flickering lanterns, while James and Regulus exclaimed in awe over the intricate workmanship of the rangoli lotus. 

“Magic helps,” laughed Effie. “When I was a girl, my Am’mā made us daughters do it by hand until we were well into our school years. But I simply do not have that kind of time.”

“It is breathtaking, Effie,” said Regulus. “Can you leave it?”

Effie gave a sad smile, “It is only for tonight love. The short lived joys always leave the greatest impression. Because we know they are going to fade, our minds remember more of the details. Then we can keep coming back to the memory.”

 “I will remember this forever,” Regulus said softly.

...

This is an excerpt from the one-shot I posted today, in celebration of the holiday season. Happy Holidays All!

[quitealotofsodapop]

So one thing about Canon LMK I find absolutely hilarious is the fact Ruyi Jingu Bang was quite literally found in some rundown alley. Like, the opening scene of the first episode shows how Sun Wukong used it to seal DBK underground and how the Megapolis was built around it, and based on all the various merch seen in background and such Sun Wukong is a very popular character in the city. Yet his famous staff is just... sitting there. In some alleyway. Like it isn't the most famous treasure he owns and the reason their city could even be built!

Not only that, but we then get to see another city with a similar treasure of Wukong's in Lantern City. The absolute difference between how they treat the Ring of Samhadi that Wukong hadn't even intended to gift them and how Megapolis treats Ruyi Jingu Bang is absolutely insane! They literally gave festival's held for the ring, they built a shrine for it! Yet Ruyi Jingu Bang gets and alleyway and a peach tree

Yeah thats kinda odd...

Compare to where; The Monkey King's literal Golden Staff sealing a giant demon in Megapolis was kept vs some hot glowy ring he dropped in a hole;

My first thoughts were that maybe it was a case of hiding in plain site; SWK could have bought the area and pretended it was under construction forever so nobody would ask questions. But MK, PIF and Red Son just sorta walk in there, no magical barriers present. One stray urbex explorer could have found the Staff and circulated what they saw online.

Like, the Staff is stuck in what appears to be the remnants of a hill or mountain. Wouldn't it make more sense for the people nearby to turn the surrounding area into a city park/shrine?

I've been to parks/botanical gardens in Singapore before that had shrines and statues to different gods. They were pretty beautiful and tended to be in small alcoves just off the path. It would be easy for SWK or a city planner to be like; "Oh yeah thats a cool-looking staff. We can build a little shrine around it and say it's a recreation of the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Tourists will love it." (now my hc for what the Staff do be looking like at the start of the TMKATI au)

More confusingly for me though; is why the "Ring of Light", the literal treasure and power source of Lantern City, was the top prize in a talent contest?? Thats not something you just *give* someone like the Stanley Cup!

It would have been funny if when the Monkie Kid gang actually won the contest, they quickly find that the Ring of Light they got was a trophy replica. ("You honestly thought we'd give you the real Ring of Light for song?! No!! Thats our city's relic! Gtfo!") Then Tang's background mission would have had a much bigger payoff.

Also idea for a gag where trophy ring(s) is used to fakeout whoever wants the Rings of Samadhi. XD

Fun fact, the location of where the Ring was being kept occording to the Lego sets is apparently a hotel called the "Lotus Hotel". While in the show it was a large suspended lantern.

Making think of *another* infamous (lotus-themed) light relic associated with chinese folklore that SWK could have buried there...