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yunsound · 5 months ago

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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.

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.

#erlang shen #black myth wukong #chinese #chinese animation #chinese mythology #chinese history #chinese culture #chinese literature #ancient literature #ancient china #fengshen yanyi #mythology and folklore

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btescape · 30 days ago

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Unbound IX - (BTS x Reader)

↳index

T/W: Dark ritual, discrimination, classism

Pairing: Reader x Taehyung, Reader x Jungkook (and a tiny bit of ot7),

A/N: I genuinely had so much fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading it just as much!

** Credits for line divider by strangergraphics-archive

Word count: 5734

Previous ∘•···•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•···• Next

Chapter IX - Behind Velvet and Gold

There is a strange kind of numbness that follows exhaustion.

Perhaps that's why your limbs feel detached from your body as you step through the arched gate of the Academy and onto the road that leads into the heart of the Capital.

Or perhaps it's the sheer insanity of what you are about to do.

After all, the most lavish weekends you used to have involved two potatoes and a secondhand book. Who would have ever figured you’d be strolling into the center of Lunareth's wealthier districts, clad in clean robes and walking beside nobility like it's just another Saturday?

It's almost comical.

“I mean it,” Shuhua sings beside you. “I don't care if you believe in them or not, we are getting matching aura rings. Yours is all dull and grey, it needs a cleanse.”

Yuqi laughs from your other side, looping her arm through yours. “Ignore her. There are more important things in life than aura rings.. Such as do we have breakfast first or start with shopping?”

Shuhua doesn't give any of you the time to answer. “Fashion first, food after,” She declares immediately. “Otherwise I'll bloat and none of the tailoring will fit properly.”

“Goddess forbid,” Soyeon mutters behind you, trailing two steps behind with her arms crossed like she's shielding herself from the sheer decadence of her surroundings. “A tragedy more grave than war.”

Truth be told, you are barely paying attention.

You are more intrigued by the city around you.. It is unlike anything you have ever come across.

Breathtaking.

It's not like the Capital you passed through when you first arrived. Back when your boots were scuffed, robes covered in holes and you had drawn too much unwanted attention.

This part of the Capital is made of gleaming, golden roads.

Boutiques line the boulevard, their storefronts shifting appearance from ancient stone to crystalline illusions in the blink of an eye. You pass towering glass domes and balconies of marble floating in the air, each banister, inlaid with its own family crest, flutters in the wind.

Chatter drifts from a café shaped like a lotus, a theater is built entirely of enchanted mirrored panels and above it all, lanterns dance lazily through the streets, casting warmth even in broad daylight.

One of them dips just low enough to hover in front of you. It flickers, seems to sniff you, then lunges back into the air with what can only be described as a disapproving puff.

“Rude.” You mutter.

You try not to gape too openly as you walk, but it's hard not to stare.

The streets are bustling. Nobles wear silk and tailored coats, each with a crest stitched into their clothes. You watch in awe as a noblewoman glides by without touching the ground. She doesn't look at you, in fact, nobody does.

You should feel out of place.

You do feel out of place.

And yet—there’s a certain kind of high that comes with being allowed here. With not being stopped and chased out.

“Alright,” Shuhua announces as she halts in front of a store with a curved sign etched in crystal: AURA & ARIA: Soul-Attuned Charms and Personalized Glamourwear. “This is our first stop.”

Yuqi groans. “Shu, we’re only here for a few hours, not a full month.”

“I need at least one dress,” Shuhua argues. “And a hairpin that changes color based on my mood. It’s called self-care.”

Soyeon pinches the bridge of her nose. “What you really need is a leash.”

You laugh softly. “Let’s just get it over with before she explodes.”

The store’s interior is somehow even more extravagant. Floating racks of garments fly between glass pillars. The scent of lavender and starlight hangs in the air—no, seriously, the perfume spell at the door whispered it to you as you walked in.

A woman with silver-threaded braids appears from seemingly nowhere. “Welcome, honored guests. You shine beautifully today.”

Yuqi snorts. “That’s a new one.”

The woman ignores her comment. “Are you looking for emotion-mirroring accessories, subtle wear or full form-transfiguration ensembles?” The woman asks, bowing just slightly.

Shuhua claps her hands and gestures to you. “She needs a dress. Something dark and dramatic that says ‘I command the death but I’m also cute.”

The woman widens her eyes at the statement, but Yuqi quickly waves it away. “She's just joking. Nobody commands the death. Really.”

It takes almost an hour before you drag yourselves out of the shop.

Shuhua emerges triumphantly with a laced dress, two charmed rings and a pair of earrings that give compliments when activated. Yuqi finds a silk scarf with a spell woven into it that changes its texture to match the wearer’s emotions and Soyeon refuses to buy anything and loudly complains about how they are being “financially manipulated by magic.”

One look at the price tag had made you realize you cannot afford anything. And though Shuhua insists on buying something for you, you manage to distract her by mentioning the matching aura rings she had talked about before.

Lunch is a blur of food so pretty, you almost feel bad eating it and somewhere between enchanted pastries and bottomless goblets filled with cider, you start to forget why you were nervous to come in the first place.

Everything feels great for a while.. until it changes.

You know you've wandered too far the moment the cobblestone floor stops gleaming.

It wasn't intentional. One second, you were behind Yuqi and Shuhua, barely listening as they argued about cursed hairpins and whether mood rings could be rigged, while Soyeon threatened to sue every street vendor who so much as glanced her way, when you noticed a flicker of movement in the corner of your eye.

The crowd around you blurred and, without meaning to, you slowed your steps. You blinked once, perhaps twice, and suddenly your friends were gone and you were alone.

The charm of the capital doesn't reach this far. The stores and floating lanterns lighting the upper districts vanished. Here, the street lamps are sparse and the old buildings lean inwards as if they are too tired to hold themselves up. Bits of old paper stick to the walls, remains of fliers long expired. You can still feel the magic lingering in the air, but it is faint now, barely hanging on beneath a stronger scent of smoke and damp stone. It feels familiar.

The place reminds you of home. The Iron Quarters. The flaws hidden under all that velvet and gold.

You should turn back and find your friends. Instead, something guides your feet toward a narrow alleyway where the sunlight no longer reaches. It's instinct, possibly, a gut feeling you don't fully understand until a sharp cry cuts through the silence.

You stiffen at the sound.

Without hesitation, you turn quickly. Your footsteps hit the uneven ground as you round the corner and find them. Two broad men in patrol uniforms, with cold expressions on their faces, are gripping a young boy by the arms. He's small, barely eleven, and his skin is smudged with dirt, his clothing too thin for the evening chill. One of the guards has his fingers curled around the boy's wrist, whilst the other is lifting the edge of his collar. The shimmer of a containment rune is visible in the dark and realization hits you in an instant. They're trying to activate it.

The boy twists in their hold, his voice is high-pitched and laced with panic. “I didn’t steal! I swear. I didn’t take anything!”

“Quiet!” One of the men snaps, his grip tightening.

They don't notice your presence until you speak. “Let him go.”

Both heads immediately turn to look at you. The older man, the one closest to the boy, narrows his eyes as he steps forward. His posture is squared as if he's ready to knock the stranger disrupting him aside. “And who the hell are you?”

Planting your arms at your side, you walk toward them in fake confidence. You're unsure what you look like, but hope your attempt to intimidate them masks the fear within and, hopefully, they don't pay attention to your exhaustion, the bruising from training and your slightly messy hair.

“Move along, girl. This ain't got nothin' to do with ya.”

Instead of following his instruction, you straighten. Their eyes drop to your robes and the change in their expression is instant; the older man stares at the hem of your robes, at the crest embroidered near your chest and he takes a full step back while releasing his grip on the boy.

“Aye, she's from the Academy.” He whispers to the younger one.

Even if they don't know your exact identity, they are highly aware of the consequences of a formal complaint from Astrelia and one of its, usually, influential students. The younger guard steps back too, clearing his throat. “There was a report,” He explains stiffly. “Possible theft.”

“I’m sure,” You reply sarcastically. “And I’m sure whatever crime he might have committed would’ve been solved by choking him in an alley.”

The older one, seemingly irked by the sudden interruption, glances away and after a tense silence, the two of them mutter something between an apology and an excuse before they turn around. You watch them vanish around the corner, then crouch beside the boy.

He is pressed against the wall, his breathing uneven as he hugs his knees to his chest.

“Hey. Are you okay?” You ask softly.

He nods a little uncertainly, but when he finally speaks his voice is hoarse. “I wasn’t stealing, I swear! I wasn’t even inside the stall. I just... I wanted to see if they had any scraps left.” He mumbles, eyes darting nervously down the alleyway.

“You don't have to explain,” You say gently and offer a hand. He takes it hesitantly. “What's your name?”

“Tae... Taeyoung...” When he stands up, you catch the traces of an old spell-burn on his wrist. Somebody tried to brand him, probably more than once.

Your chest aches at the sight. “I’m sorry, Taeyoung,” You murmur, apologizing for both the guards and the branding. “They shouldn’t have touched you.”

A grateful smile crosses his face. “Thank you, miss. For saving me.” The boy replies as if stopping two guards in an alley rewrites the inequality carved into the entire world.

You barely manage a smile. “I'm glad I could be of help, but next time, I may not be there..”

A deep voice interrupts, before you can say anything else.

“He’s good at finding trouble,” It says calmly. “Unfortunately, trouble tends to find him back.”

Turning slowly, you see him standing at the end of the street. A tall figure wearing dark robes, a satchel to his side and a family crest barely visible beneath his cloak.

Of course, you recognize Kim Namjoon immediately. He's standing there the same way he'd stood when you were the one cornered. After that moment, you've seen him more than once. At school, during classes. Seated beside the rest of his Elite friends, though never quite paying attention. He has never acknowledged you and you never blamed him. In fact, you almost admired how he managed to disappear in plain sight— too clever to be arrogant, too powerful to be ignored, too careful to be caught picking sides.

Now, with no audience around, you finally get to meet him properly.

You rise from your feet, brushing off your hands. “I never thought I'd find an Elite wandering these sort of alleys, but I suppose this isn't your first tour down here.”

Namjoon's expression barely changes as he draws near. “I come here often.”

You arch a brow in surprise. “Is this some sort of weekly community service or something?”

He lets out a faint breath, shaking his head weakly. “Not exactly..”

Once he closes the distance, you study him and your voice turns a little more dry. “Funny.. I've seen you at the Academy often, but you're a little harder to spot, when you're not pulling someone out of a sketchy alley.” Namjoon meets your eyes, his lips turning into the faintest smile. Shifting your stance, you fold your arms across your chest. “Of course, that may have been just a one-time exception.. You've done a pretty good job pretending I don't exist ever since.”

He lowers his gaze. “I'm sorry.. It wasn’t personal. I just..”

You wave a hand dismissively. “Don't worry, I get it. Elite politics. You have an appearance to uphold. Wouldn't want your friends to think you're not heartless.”

Namjoon lets out a soft exhale, somewhere between a sigh and a suppressed laugh. “Yeah.. They don’t really see much outside their circle.”

“Shame,” You murmur, tilting your head. “They're missing out on the Capital's real hidden gems. Crumbling alleys, charming officers with questionable morals and a notable lack of sunlight,” You gesture vaguely around you. “Not that I’m complaining. It's... good to see a familiar face.”

His brown eyes study you for a moment longer. “So, you do remember? That.. time?”

You shrug lightly. “Hard to forget someone who saved me from three strangers in an alleyway, instead of leaving me to fend for myself. It kind of leaves an impression.. Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is..” Clearing your throat, the following words come out softer than you intended to. “Thank you. For that time.”

His expression softens for a mere second, his voice lowers just a touch more. “I didn't expect you to thank me. Especially since I didn't exactly stand up for you against Jungkook or even tried to stop that fight during class.”

A sigh escapes your lips. “You couldn’t have,” You say honestly. “I was already losing control by then, so it wasn't on you,” A smile crosses your face. “Besides… I’m full of surprises. And questionable life choices,” your tone turns lighter, eyes meeting his. “But that’s a conversation for another time.”

The little boy tugs on your sleeve, interrupting the conversation.

Oh, right. You almost forgot he was still there.

“Miss? Do you know him?He comes here every week. He even brings us food. Books, too. Mama says he’s strange, but nice.”

You glance at Namjoon sideways. He doesn't look smug or proud about it, merely nods like it's not a big deal. As if he didn't just become the first person you've met from the Elite who makes you not feel bad about this world. Aside from Taehyung, even if you're still unsure about where his interest stems from.

“You come back here regularly?” You ask, genuinely curious now.

Namjoon nods, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. “My family used to live near here. Not here exactly, but close. My parents made sure I never forgot what the world looked like outside marble towers.”

You feel your heart lighten. “Smart parents.”

He hums. “I would agree. But when you're surrounded by people who only value legacy and bloodlines, that kind of thinking doesn't exactly fit.”

“Still, you're here,” You say, feeling a new gained respect for the man in front of you. “A walking contradiction in prestigious robes.”

“Guilty.” He chuckles and adjusts the strap around his shoulder. A short silence follows, but it doesn't feel awkward.

“I'm glad I ran into you,” You say finally as you fidget with your fingers. “I don’t get to see a lot of good nobles. Actually, I wasn’t sure they existed.”

Namjoon’s eyes meet yours, and something flickers there—something akin to vulnerability. His gaze drops briefly to the ground before settling on you again. “I wish I could say there were more of us,” He admits. “But I’ve learned that being silent in the right rooms is sometimes the only way to stay in them.”

You nod understandingly. “For what it’s worth...” You say gently, “I wish someone like you had been around when I was a kid. Might’ve made the world seem a little less hopeless.”

His expression changes, contemplative, before he answers in a low voice, “I wish I had been.”

When you glance back at the boy beside you—steadier now on his own two feet, wide-eyed but no longer shaking—you offer him a small nod. Then your gaze turns back to Namjoon, a smile tugging at the corner of your mouth. “Well,” you say lightly, a touch of warmth threading through your words, “It’s never too late to be someone’s hero.”

Namjoon smiles warmly. His shoulders ease, hands sinking deeper into his pockets. “Don’t say that out loud,” He murmurs. “I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

You grin, tilting your head. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

As you step back toward the main street, the boy gives a shy wave. You lift your fingers in return. Namjoon stays where he is, watching in silence, the faint smile lingering as his eyes follow you. His stance is still, almost at ease. And so is the feeling in your chest, the thought of somebody being here to help those in need.

Next day

The sun still hovers low on the horizon as you and the girls cross the stone bridge that leads from the Academy grounds into the Market Quarter beyond. Veils of mist cling to the river below, lingering beneath the pale morning sun. The Market is starting to wake; voices are shouting in the distant, the sound of rumbling carts fill the streets and the scent of crushed herbs and warm bread reaches your nose long before you see the stalls.

It should be a peaceful scene.

If only it weren't for those accompanying you.

“You know,” Yuqi starts casually. Her arm slips through yours as the four of you move forward. “You still haven't told us where you vanished off to yesterday.”

Shuhua falls into step on your other side, eyes filled with far too much mischief for this early in the day. “Right? One second we're looking at love potions, next thing we know—poof. Gone,” She grins. “Not that we're judging. It’s healthy to have a little mystery.”

Yuqi snorts. “Not much of a mystery when we all know it was a secret date with Lover Boy.”

You resist the urge to sigh. Instead, you look at Soyeon from behind you. “Soyeon, a little help here?”

Soyeon cocks her brow. “You're on your own here,” she says dryly, though there is a hint of amusement in her voice. “I know you keep saying you don't trust him, but it's hard to support your words when you keep staring at him with heart eyes whenever he enters a room.”

“I'm not staring at Taehyung with heart eyes!”

Really. You are not.

“You're dodging the question!” Yuqi bellows, while softly hitting your shoulder. “Just admit it. When we finally found you yesterday, you reeked like Elite.”

You roll your eyes. “Not sure how one would smell like Elite.. Ugh, If I admit I got lost, will that end this conversation?”

Yuqi gasps, feigning deep offense. “Lost? In the Capital? After all that combat training? Surely that's a lie.”

Shuhua wiggles her brows. “Exactly. Besides, it was a very specific disappearance. Right after we saw him at the gates and he smiled at you like he knew something we didn't.”

You nearly trip over a loose cobblestone on the ground. “He wasn’t smiling at me.”

“Of course not,” Yuqi says solemnly. “Just smiling at the air directly in front of you. Happens all the time.”

You glare at her. “I didn’t see Taehyung yesterday.”

Not a lie. Technically. He wasn't the Elite you met.

Instead, the memory of Namjoon's voice in that dim alley remain in your thoughts and your chest tightens. You had promised him you wouldn't tell anyone about it and you intend to keep that promise. So, you lift your chin and say, “I wandered off, that’s all.”

Soyeon makes a thoughtful noise. “Hm.. Well, that I believe. You’ve got that ‘follow the shadows’ look on you sometimes.”

Shuhua twirls a strand of hair around her finger. “We just don’t want you falling too far into them, darling.”

You narrow your eyes. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The conversation shifts as you cross beneath the arched stone gate that marks the entrance to the Market. The streets here are narrower than the grand boulevards of the Capital, but no less bustling.

Stalls crowd every open space, each with their own flags fluttering in the breeze. Vendors sell crystalline vials and bundles of dried herbs, strangely colored concoctions and enchanted stones.

Yuqi pulls the crinkled assignment list from her pocket and waves it in the air. “Alright, ingredients first, gossip later. We’ve got a Transmutation assessment tomorrow.”

Shuhua wrinkles her nose. “Ugh. You know what’s annoying about Transmutation? Everyone’s ingredients smell different and half the student population don’t know what they’re doing.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Soyeon mutters. “Last time someone turned their cauldron into a literal mushroom cloud.”

Yuqi snickers. “At least yours always smells good. I swear your last project smelled like vanilla and lilies.”

Shuhua beams. “Thanks. When it comes to Transmutation, aesthetic matters.”

You smile faintly, but your mind is half elsewhere.

Taehyung doesn’t always know what he wants. That makes him unpredictable.

Jimin's words echo in your mind. You haven't forgotten them. Not during training, nor during your friends' teasing. You like to think you know better than to trust pretty words and easy smiles, though there's a traitorous and curious part of you that wonders what it is he does want.

Shaking those thoughts away, you instead scan the crowd. The Market grows busier by the minute - many students in Academy robes walk from stall to stall in groups, calling out greetings or haggling with the vendors.

Yuqi slows beside you. “Let’s start at the herb stalls,” She suggests. “Early batch always sells fast.”

Nodding in agreement, you match her pace with the others trailing behind. As you weave through the stalls, you can’t help but glance toward every flash of deep navy clad figure in the crowd.

It’s foolish, maybe.

But a voice in your head whispers—you can't avoid them forever.

And, knowing your luck, you won't have to wait long until you see them again.

As the sun rises higher and the morning drapes itself in soft gold and blues, the Market grows even more crowded. You and your friends push through the wave of students and vendors, drawn toward a row of herb sellers lining the north side. You catch a whiff of crushed mint and iron root, and clay braziers breathe out thin streams of smoke.

Yuqi pauses in front of a stall, where baskets filled with stalks are laid out on the shelves and large jars holding powdered roots are each labeled with a tag that describes its contents.

She's holding a list with the necessities in her right hand, whilst tracing the letters with the other and her eyes are thoroughly scanning the page. “Okay, we need Mandrake root and three bundles of dusk thorn. Two vials of powdered night orchids.. And, goddess help us, ether-blessed sprigs. They triple the price of those every time.”

Shuhua lets out a dramatic sigh. “At this point, I should be charging them for my presence.”

Soyeon elbows her lightly. “As if anyone would pay.”

You chuckle softly at their endless bickering, yet your gaze is focused on a bundle of silver leaf on the shelves. As your fingers move toward it, a familiar voice reaches your eardrums.

“...I told you, the merchant at the east end had the purest batch last time. You’ll get half-shelved stock here.”

Instantly, your body freezes and when you catch a flicker of deep navy robes from the corner of your eyes, you turn your head slowly to find the source of it.

Three figures approach the stall, still oblivious to your presence. Jeon Jungkook is the first one to come into view, his eyes already sweeping the ingredients. To your surprise, an uneasy feeling flickers through your chest by the sight of him as you are reminded of the duel in combat class.

You hadn’t meant for it to go that far.

During the fight, your magic had acted before your reason had caught up. You’d seen the shadows wrap around him— and his inability to contain his raw magic—and even now, part of you wonder if you could have stopped it sooner. The fear in his eyes at that moment haunts you more than you care to admit, even more so the amusement laced in his expression.

You hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone. You’d just wanted to prove you belonged. To him.. and to yourself most of all.

Beside him, you catch sight of Park Jimin, shoulders relaxed as his gaze glides across the jars and bundles with slight disinterest. Yet beneath that calm surface, you find a sharpness in his eyes as though he is cataloging every detail without seeming to care. Behind both of them, as though he has all the time in the world, Kim Taehyung trails at a leisurely pace with his hands tucked into his pockets and dark curls falling messily across his brow. There's a certain grace to him, the kind that catches attention whether he intends it or not, but the subtle lift of one brow makes it clear he knows exactly the kind of effect he has.

Of all the stalls in the market, and all the hours in the day..

“Don’t say anything,” You hear Yuqi mutter under her breath beside you. “Just grab what we need.”

Shuhua’s voice lowers, though unable to stop herself from teasing you. “You mean, don’t swoon the moment Lover Boy bats his lashes.”

Gritting your teeth, you ignore her. Instead, you turn back to the herbs and busy your hands tying a bundle of dusk thorn, though the weight of their sheer presence drawing closer is palpable.

The thoughts about the duel twist in your stomach. Perhaps.. Perhaps you owe him an apology. Some kind of acknowledgment, at least. But before you can even think through the words, he stops at the stall's edge and speaks. “Well, still here, I see,” Jungkook's voice holds no emotion and the guilt you felt only seconds before vanishes like smoke in the wind.

Glancing up, you straighten your posture. “Jeon.”

“I didn't think you would survive your last stunt, much less be allowed to roam the grounds freely.” He remarks coldly.

You look up to meet his gaze shortly. “Yeah, trust me.. I’m just as surprised as you are.”

Jungkook narrows his eyes, probing for the cracks you might be hiding. A small smile pulls at the corner of his mouth, though his eyes sent a chill down your spine. “I suppose standards have slipped.”

To be fair, the smartest thing to do is to gather the things you need and leave. But whenever have you decided to do the smart thing?

“Maybe they have,” You say softly. “But then again, I’m still here. So either I’m not the only problem or the Academy’s more forgiving than you think..”

He merely scoffs. “You lost control. That’s not something to be proud of.”

Exhaling slowly, your fingers brush over the bundle of dusk thorn in your grasp. I know, you want to say. I didn’t mean to. The words are caught in the back of your throat and you nearly let them out. Though one glance at his eyes makes you swallow them down.

“Perhaps it isn't,” You answer instead. “But you didn’t seem to mind the fight itself.”

There is a subtle pause in his breath, a muscle twitching at his temple. “I don’t mind a challenge,” Jungkook replies curtly, though the tension in his voice betrays the composure he’s trying to maintain. “What I do mind is reckless arrogance.”

Setting the bundle of herbs down, you turn to him completely. “Good,” You mutter, meeting his gaze. “Then you’ll be thrilled to know I’m working on both.”

His eyes linger on yours, a little too long for comfort. And beneath the layer of disdain, that same flicker from after the duel returns. Frustration, tinged with curiosity, the tiniest crack in an otherwise perfect mask. You wonder if he even realizes it's there.

Before the tension can build any further, a familiar voice cuts through the conversation.

“You’re going to scare her off,” Taehyung says lightly, stepping in with a lazy grin that somehow both soothes and provokes. “Which would be a shame. I was rather hoping to run into you.”

He directs his last words at you, eyes laced with amusement as he leans casually against the stall. His presence pulls away the tension, replacing it with something lighter.

You catch Jimin's gaze for a brief second, though he remains silent.

Jungkook spares Taehyung a brief glance, irritation barely masked. “I’m sure you were.” He mutters.

Taehyung smiles wider, utterly unbothered by his friend. “Of course. Markets are so much more enjoyable when you run into interesting people.”

Jungkook's eyes flick to you for a second longer than necessary, before they turn back to Taehyung and his voice turns cold. “You’ll get bored of this one too.”

Without waiting for a response, he turns sharply on his heel and walks off.

Once he is out of sight, you let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding.

Taehyung watches him go with a crooked grin before turning back to you. “You do have a talent for getting under his skin.”

“I’m not sure that’s a skill worth polishing..” You reply softly, though your heart is still hammering.

Taehyung’s eyes twinkle. “Oh, but it makes things so much more entertaining.��

Now Jimin finally speaks. “Just be careful.” His voice is low, the words meant more for you than anyone else. His gaze flicks once toward where Jungkook disappeared.

Then, just for a mere second, you catch the way Taehyung glances sideways at him— brows shifting almost imperceptibly. Though just as quickly as it appeared, the lazy grin returns to his face. Jimin offers you a small nod before trailing after Jungkook.

You arch a brow at Taehyung who still lingers, gesturing toward his friends. “Aren’t you going to follow them?”

“I prefer my own pace,” He says with a wink. Then he leans in slightly, voice pitched just for you. “And for the record… it wasn’t just him who enjoyed that fight.” With that maddening smile, he spins around and strolls after his friends. Watching him go, you fight the warmth rising in your cheeks.

Behind you, three very familiar voices break the silence.

“Oh gods,”Shuhua breathes, looping her arm through yours with a conspiratorial grin. “That was a wink, right? I need confirmation.”

Yuqi purrs, her arms crossed and one brow arched. “Pretty sure it was. And funny, considering someone here vanished into the Capital yesterday and now has Elite boys making heart eyes at them in the middle of the market.”

You shoot her a stern look. “For the last time, I told you I wasn’t off with anyone,”

“Mmm,” Soyeon hums. “Strange though. First you disappear half the day and return with secrets. Now the two most unpredictable boys in the Academy can’t seem to leave you alone.”

“It’s not like I planned this!” You protest, voice strained. “And please, stop making it sound like some ridiculous romance story.”

Yuqi's grin widens. “Romance? You said nothing about romance.”

Shuhua gasps softly, mock innocence crossing her face. “Oh no. Are we in the middle of a forbidden enemies-to-something-more arc?”

“Stars above,” Soyeon mutters. “Don’t encourage her. Or him. Either of them.”

Yuqi leans in. “But did anyone else notice Jungkook? He was looking at you like you had just stolen his favorite artifact.”

“More like she has stolen his attention.” Shuhua chirps brightly.

You drag a hand through your hair. “I was just buying herbs. Herbs, thank you very much.”

Soyeon arches a brow. “Mmm. Herbs and a trail of admirers.” Then an unusual softness creeps into her voice. “But seriously.. Are you okay? After that duel, after… all this?”

The question catches you off guard. You hesitate, before nodding. “I’m fine. Really.”

Yuqi exchanges a quick glance with Soyeon but lets it go. “Alright. But if any of them pulls anything, just say the word.”

Shuhua sighs dramatically. “Or let me at them first. I’ve been practicing my passive-aggressive hexes.”

They all grin and the teasing that follows leaves no room for guilt.

You exhale slowly, not trusting your legs to move just yet. Between Jungkook’s cold words and Taehyung’s infuriating grin, you can’t decide whether you’re flattered or in desperate need of a headache potion.

Far below the courtyard and lecture halls, deep within the Academy, a lone figure kneels at its center. The flicker of violet flames trace distorted lines across the floor, creating a summoning sigil long faded from the known curriculum.

Beside them rests an old grimoire and with trembling fingers, the students presses a dagger into their palm once more. Blood drips into the sigil.

The voice that follows is the same as before, too deep to belong to any human tongue.

“You dare call again, child.”

The student bows their head. “I must. The power... it answers her. It stirs because of her. I need to understand why.”

The circle shudders with a sudden pulse and the flames stretch higher,

“You are not ready.”

“I will be,” The student whispers, voice hoarse with desperation. “Please, teach me.”

The shadows writhe and a shape almost takes form; tattered wings and hollow eyes—but they fade just as quickly.

“The Child of Death awakens. You cannot control what you do not comprehend.”

The student shifts, sweat running down their temple. “Then what must I do?”

A silence stretches so long it seems eternal, until the voice returns.

“Observe. Listen. And when the veil thins—act.”

The flames fade to nothing and a faintly glowing mark remains.

Far above, unaware, you toss and turn in your sleep.

A dream claws at the edges of your mind.

Violet flames. Tattered wings. The sense of something watching.

You wake with a sharp gasp in the quiet of your room, heart pounding against your ribs and your throat feels dry.

After that, you lie awake for a long time, unable to shake the feeling that something beneath the stone, older than the Academy itself, is moving.

taglist:

@enfppuff

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mortallyclearwonderland · 3 months ago

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Iconic animated movie scenes but made in Nezha

I, probably like the rest of you, just found out about Nezha 2 because it's now the biggest animated movie. Not saying that the box office numbers are always an indicator of the movie's quality, most Disney/Pixar sequels, live action remakes (until recently), every Despicable Me sequel and many slept on classics that didn't get as much money because they weren't promoted enough or they come out around the same time as other great movies. I remember when it used to be a regular thing and not just 3 good movies a year.

Rant over, going back to Nezha. I haven't seen the first or the second movie yet, because busy. But I did watched some YouTube videos talking about how it's the biggest animated movie now, I also found some things about the original story and other adaptations and some fanfics. I also saw the ending scene of the second movie and I saw somebody say that this ending is just like in Disney's The Little Mermaid in which a King of water creatures let's his child go. This one comment opened up a floodgate of ideas in which I try to fit Nezha and Ao Bing into a bunch of other movies with similar plots or at least scenes that could be in Nezha movies. Enjoy and be inspired!

I already mentioned the little mermaid ending, but I would especially love to see Ao Bing coming out of the sea with open arms and shinning outfit (his clothes, I don't know what they're called, are already similar) while Nezha runs to him and picks him. Also, ''Daddy, I love him.'' You can retell the whole movie with them.

2. Another pretty obvious one are How to Train your Dragon movies. How humans fight with dragons but Nezha can't bring himself to kill Ao Bing, and from now on you can take the story wherever you want, friendship or love. It's not like I invented the idea, besides Astrid, Hiccup is the most shipped with antro/shapeshifting Toothless which is just like Ao Bing. You can go the, Nezha is Night Fury and Ao Bing is Light Fury, rout. I especially would love to see the deleted/changed scene from the third movie but with Ao Bing and Nezha instead. Also, the scene where Hiccup is mesmerized by Astrid when she whips her hair in front of an explosion. You can decide who looks at who, either way works. Or when Hiccup tells Astrid off (Yes, he wants to protect his dragon.) and she's like ''wow'' just like Ao Bing looks at Nezha during the ending of the second movie. Don't forget other family members! It would be cool if Nezha's family became the first dragon riders. Maybe their fathers don't get along at first but grow to like each other like Stoick and his dragon.

youtube

3. Another movie is Tangled. Nezha can use his sash or Ao Bing can use his hair like Rapunzel. In the original story, both Ao Bing and Nezha die. It can be easily changed that one got hurt saving the other and their magic can bring them back to life, the flower can be a lotus. Nezha = Fire = Sun = Light = Lanterns Ao Bing = Water = Healing = Moon = Night = Lanterns = Boat scene

4. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Dragons can be different sizes, so what if Ao Bing's dragon form was about the size of a horse and is hurt/too weak/doesn't know how to fly. Ao Bing and Nezha have their leap of faith and Ao Bing finally flies. Or the swimming scene. But with Nezha being human (humanoid?) and Ao Bing being in his dragon form it would play out more like the scene in Brother Bear 2. Speaking of which . . .

5. If you want to be a bit darker you can use some elements from Brother Bear. Three brothers, the youngest hot headed one leaves the fish in the open, bears dragons eat them, to prove himself he goes to get the basket and fish back (From their stomachs? I don't know what he expected to happen. He wasn't yet determined to kill it, was surprised when he saw it and said that he'll get the basket back.) but his brother dies instead. Nezha hunts down the dragon (which can be Ao Bing's mother) and kills it. Nezha gets turned into a dragon and has to learn what they're really like, what it means to be a man (someone who uses his strength to protect and not hurt), and the power of love (brotherly or romantic). I think this story fits perfectly into some of the themes of the original and the new version, shedding light on omitted characters, is a ''what if'' Nezha decided to stay with Ao Bing instead of the other way around. Also, I would like to give some ideas to people who don't ship it and just want them to stay as friends/brothers/soulmates without any romantic feelings.

6. Now we go from the whole movie with plots and character arcs to just some scenes. This one is from Disney's Atlantis. Kida aka Ao Bing goes swimming with Milo aka Nezha who gets flustered. I think this scene would've worked ''better'' with Ao Bing who is covered almost head to toe as opposed to Kida who wears a two-piece swimsuit with a towel over her hips almost 24/7. Switching Atlanteans for Dragons wouldn't be too hard but Milo and Nezha are too different not to mention you would need to rewrite the whole supporting cast in terms of their personalities and abilities.

7. Another scene is from Disney Tarzan in which Jane and Tarzan swing on the vine together. I think Nezha's sash would make a good replacement for a vine but other than that I got nothing. Tarzan's story would fit Wukong more. Nezha is a ''wild'' child but not literally.

8. Beauty and the Beast ''You came back.'' scene. I think it can work as a more emotional alternative to Nezha's confident ''I knew you'd be back.'' If you want to be more faithful to the original you would make Ao Bing the Beast but if you want to be more with the 2019 movie you would make Nezha the Beast. But it still would not work 100% because the whole point of Disney's Beauty and the Beast is that the prince was transformed for being a bad person meanwhile Nezha was just born that way and he's not actually evil.

9. Running on raindrops from Raya and the last Dragon, this the only think I liked from this movie. Watch LobsterHero's review of it.

10. Ao Bing uses his ice and water powers like Elsa from Frozen. I grew to hate Frozen for its problems, being overrated and everywhere, its terrible sequel, and many more in the works. But credit where credit is due, they have nice ice and some songs are great (if you don't think about what they do to the story). I can see Ao Bing not fully controlling his powers and accidentally ''outing'' himself as a dragon. Singing ''let it go'' when he is at odds with his family or ''into the unknown'' and ''found yourself'' in regards to him being drawn to Nezha as his literal other half. At least it makes more sense than whatever Frozen 2 tried to do. The reason why Frozen's formula wouldn't work is that Nezha is the one being an outcast. I guess you can change it to him being just a normal human or have him find out about his powers much later like in those fake Frozen trailers in which Anna has magic powers that are the opposite of Elsa's. Also, Ao Bing has a family and a whole species just like him that he can go back to. He's not like Elsa who is the only one with powers (Unless Frozen 3, 4, or 5 change that.) and is afraid she'll be feared or killed for being a witch or something. If some humans tried to hurt him, his father and other dragons would eat them alive.

That's it for now. If I'll have any more ideas I'll post them. Now, I would like to hear yours. Please use those ideas I listed in your fanart and fanfiction. It's not plagiarism. I want more fanfics (like 90% of them are in Chinese and other Asian languages and google translate isn't the best) and art. Let's make it a challenge to make it go big. I know Tumblr. It can be done. I challenge whoever reads it to use one of my ideas. (Please and thank you. Do it only if you truly want to. It's just a joke and for fun.)

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time-woods · 2 years ago

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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.

#asks #medieval fantasy au #maybe ive been thinking about this too much #im gonna draw the kingdom eventually along with some other details #this kingdom really hates birds #or anything that flies #rip carma #this is all just bg info that doesnt spoil stuff

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angstandhappiness · 2 years ago

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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.

#erlang shen #sanshengmu #chen xiang #yang jian #yang chen #the magic lotus lantern #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 #fic #meta #meme

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xi4oyan · 3 months ago

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Huayan – The Tigress of Moonlight

They say that when the moon touches the plum blossom on the highest hill of the Jade Forest, a creature is born between the silence of shadows and the whisper of stars. Her name echoes in the breeze like an ancient song: Huayan, the tigress who carries moonlight in her eyes and mist in her hair.

She was born from a whisper between the human world and the realm of beasts, daughter of the morning fog and the spirit of a white tiger. Her skin, warm as summer, bore the marks of her lineage—stripes that danced across her face like brushstrokes of wind. And on her forehead, a silver symbol shimmered: the crescent moon, sacred and serene.

She did not walk — she glided.

She did not speak — she enchanted.

Her smile was gentle as dawn’s breath, but her eyes… ah, her eyes held centuries of silence and secrets even the gods dared not decipher.

Huayan belonged to no temple, no throne, no cage.

She was free, like dew at daybreak, like leaves dancing without destination.

Animals lowered their gaze before her. Spirits followed in silence. And men… men fell in love at a glance and ached in her absence.

But it was Wukong, the Monkey King — he who had defied the heavens, stolen the peaches of immortality, and toyed with gods as if they were children — who stood before her and forgot to breathe.

The first time he saw her, he did not see a woman.

He saw the world.

He saw what his rebellious soul had been missing.

He saw tenderness made legend.

She smiled, and in that moment, the warrior of the skies knelt — inwardly.

“Are you the silence where my war finds rest?” he whispered.

And Huayan, with her arms around his neck, answered only with a smile — one that made comets tremble with longing.

Since then, wherever Wukong walks, a soft laugh lingers in the air, a scent of lotus flowers graces the trees, and sometimes, the clouds take the shape of a tigress with moonlit eyes.

For Huayan is not just a legend.

She is memory.

She is eternity made moment.

She is the love that blooms at first sight — and never fades.

The Sanctuary of Mist and Paper

Huayan lives not in a palace, nor in an enchanted cave.

Her home rests between cloud and moss,

between the memory of the forest and the echoes of the mountains.

There, hidden from the eyes of men, lies a temple undone by time,

where columns are roots and windows are frames for the sky.

Her refuge is built of ancient wood, interlaced bamboo, and rooftops draped in lichen.

A lake mirrors the moon each night, and upon its shores, nameless flowers bloom in silence.

There is wind, there is breeze — but never storm.

At its heart, a great stone table stands, not for feasts, but for stories.

Upon it, hundreds of scrolls lie curled like sleeping serpents,

carrying lost tales, ancestral legends, secrets of magic,

and poems that time itself forgot.

Each morning, Huayan awakens to the sound of bells

hanging from the eaves — touched by invisible spirits greeting her.

She sits upon a white fur rug, wrapped in a pale kimono,

and with serene gestures, she unrolls a scroll

as one unveils a veil draped over truth.

Her eyes trace the lines with reverence,

as if the words were made of light.

Sometimes she smiles. Sometimes she weeps.

On certain afternoons, she recites fragments aloud,

and the wind carries the verses down the mountain.

Upon bamboo shelves rest manuscripts of her own making —

reflections on the spirit, verses devoted to the sound of rain,

thoughts she whispered to Wukong

as he slept among the clouds.

When the day comes to its end,

Huayan lights oil lanterns scented with green tea and jasmine.

Her temple becomes an island of gold in the heart of darkness,

and even the owls hover in stillness,

listening to her words in rapture.

There, in that sanctuary where time slows its breath,

Huayan lives between worlds —

With one foot in the words of the ancients

And the other in the dream of the one who loved her at first sight.

When the Sky Fell Face-First into the Garden

The afternoon stretched across the valley, blushing in shades of peach and smoke.

Birds chattered in the bamboo groves as if gossiping about absent-minded gods,

and the wind wandered lazily, pulling curtains of flowers with invisible fingers.

Huayan, as usual, was seated beneath the crooked cherry tree.

Surrounded by open scrolls arranged in a circle—like enchanted disciples—

she read, murmuring spells and ancient legends

as if singing lullabies to ghosts.

Her hair, loose, spilled like a curtain of shadow across the pages.

Beside her, a kettle whistled, utterly ignored.

She was too deep in a story about a monk who talked to fish to notice.

"Of course he turned into a fish too," she laughed to herself.

"Men are so easily persuaded..."

And it was at that exact moment

that the sky lost its composure.

With a muffled thud, something—or someone—

fell from the clouds with the grace of a ripe jackfruit.

There was a plop, an ow!, and a whirl of dust.

Huayan’s eyes widened. Scrolls flew.

From the cloud of dust, he emerged.

Wukong.

Hair tousled, a plum blossom branch stuck behind one ear,

and the look of someone who had literally—

and proudly—fallen from the sky.

“I... was aiming for the temple,” he said, trying to regain some dignity,

brushing leaves from his robe with theatrical poise,

“but your tree seemed more welcoming.”

Huayan didn’t reply. She just stared at him—

the same look one gives a thunderclap

that, for some reason, decided to make a face on the way down.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow

with a grin the heavens would surely classify as a felony.

She crossed her arms.

“I missed the silence” she replied calmly,

though her eyes were laughing.

“It died the moment you arrived.”

Wukong stepped closer, one step at a time,

crushing flowers without remorse.

“But it died for a noble cause,” he said, leaning in dangerously,

“for me.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t retreat.

The air between them now tasted sweet,

ripe like late-summer fruit.

“You always show up when I’m at peace.”

“Because peace is boring" he whispered, even closer now.

“I prefer the chaos you pretend not to carry.”

And then, out of nowhere, he pulled from his robe...

a rice ball.

“I brought snacks.”

Huayan blinked.

“You fell from the sky with food?”

“Of course! One doesn’t visit a goddess without offerings.”

And he held out the rice ball, almost solemnly.

She laughed.

Softly at first.

Then with trembling shoulders and closed eyes.

He watched, slightly lost, completely enchanted—

as if that laughter were the real magic of the world.

“You’re impossible,” she said at last, accepting the rice ball.

“But now I’m your problem” he replied, collapsing to the ground

like a king undone by his own heart.

And there they stayed.

Among scattered scrolls, warm tea,

and a sky still blushing—

as if watching it all with a touch of divine embarrassment.

#sun wukong #sun wukong x reader #lmk sun wukong #lmk x reader #wukong x reader #sun wukong x y/n #journey to the west x reader #jttw sun wukong x reader #jttw oc #sun wukong x oc #oc art #journey to the west oc #oc x canon

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shadowuserannie · 6 months ago

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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-”

#lmk nezha #fic wip #lmk monkey king #lmk sun wukong #lmk fic wip #lmk fic #lmk royalty duo #the bit with Nezha consuming black tea+baijiu is from that one tea post #where everyone has fav tea and he's just. got his own panel #of him pouring baijiu straight into a convenient tea kettle #with what's basically coffee #so. yep it's that #also his family DOES try to visit him. it's just #Celestial duties #they have their own shit to deal with #and in the grand scheme of forever what's a few missed holidays to bureaucracy?#accidental brother sorry babysitter acquisition au

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glitcheslikeslego · 10 months ago

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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

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mykingdomforapen · 10 months ago

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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.

#link click #LC writes #stars commentary #shiguang dailiren #shiguang daili ren #cheng xiaoshi #lu guang

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samadhifired · 1 year ago

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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

#Lmk #Monkie kid #lego monkie kid #lmk princess iron fan #Lmk pif #lmk erlang #On the line with the ironbull-lotus lantern theory #Nezha could be PIF and DBK's lotus lantern #He is the lotus prince #And he is close enough with ironbull that he was present at the sealing of the samadhi fire #And the person Red Son run to after the Brotherhood's attack #Plus he seemed to care about Red #so Nezha helping to protect Ironbull in the past in otherways #like keeping the hidden from Celestial realm #could be plausible #Sf rambles

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ryin-silverfish · 1 year ago

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Ask/Writing Masterlist (irregularly updating)

Ryin(阿璎), 24. 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