#erlang shen's sworn brothers

[mythologyfolklore]

Nézhā: I'm gay. *reactions* Lĭ Jìng: Just when I thought you couldn't be more of a shame on this family. Sūn Wùkōng: Hi, gay! I'm the Monkey King! :3 Èrláng Shén: Cool! I'm gay too! Let's go to the Mortal Realm, so we can throw you a coming-out party! ^^^ Èrláng Shén's sworn brothers: COMING-OUT PARTY! :D Tiě Shàn Gōngzhŭ: WE'LL THROW THE BIGGEST COMING-OUT PARTY IN CHINA!!! :D Tàiyĭ Zhēnrén: It's always good to know your true self, my dear student. Now, go to that coming-out party and remember to shoot a homophobe. Shoot them in the fucking face with that brand new shotgun I gave you for your birthday. ^^ Xiàotiān Quǎn: WOOF! :D

#journey to the west #investiture of the gods #nezha #li jing #sun wukong #erlang shen #erlang shen's sworn brothers #iron fan princess #taiyi zhenren #xiaotian quan #incorrect quotes

[acoraxia]

How do you view Erlang, SWK, NuWa and MK?

SO GLAD YOU ASKED ANON! I HAVE. N O T E S.

Firstly: I do not view Nüwa as someone who is motherly in the same way other people (seemingly) do. I do think, because she created humans and has spent time with them, she has a distinct personality. She’s approachable but she’s also got a cold and closed off personality.

Secondly: I think back on how she cursed a king because he lusted after a statue of her and claimed he wanted to marry her—pissed her off so badly he sent three fem-spirits to keep him from performing his kingly duties.

So she is not a good motherly figure—even if she sometimes acts a little goofy. She’s also the Jade Emperor’s daughter in Investiture of the Gods and thus I kept her as such (meaning she’s Erlang’s cousin).

(Below is my design of Nüwa; to me, the more powerful gods/celestials have no pupils and only appear when displaying heavy emotions)

I read of the myth where a piece of sky fell when she was patching it and that rock that formed was Sun Wukong; I loved that myth so much I kept it for my interpretation of LMK Sun Wukong. He wasn’t meant to be born, he just sort of happened, and she made no effort to keep an eye on him.

Much like Nüwa, Erlang is different during the FSYY Era, he’s devoted to Heaven and fights alongside them even killing one of the evil spirits Nüwa sent down in a fight.

But eventually, after witnessing Su Daji’s execution, he realizes he, just like many other soldiers, were merely pawns in Heaven’s game. He moves away, to the mountains, with his sworn brothers and no longer obeys by Heaven’s rules so easily. He only visits when summoned by the Jade Emperor himself,

Cue our favorite monkey being thrown into the mix.

Sun Wukong met Erlang Shen shortly after becoming Bimawen. But the two officially met when he was the guardian of the peaches—so before the whole banquet situation happened. Sun Wukong, being wildly unaware of Nüwa’s play into his creation, is essentially a good parallel to how Erlang was: he believes Heaven is looking out for him, respecting him as if he were one of their own, and happily listens to them when they beckon or call for him (blissfully unaware that Azure Lion has been lying to him and that Heaven is genuinely scared of how much power he possesses).

Eventually, after Sun Wukong gets triple shot traumatized by Heaven, realizing Azure Lion groomed him to be this usable pawn for his own fantasy game, and he got Journey’d by a random monk—he and Erlang had a heart-to-heart after defeating a demon (king?) together. They both realized how messed up their lives were after touching upon how cruel and unusual Heaven’s punishments are (how they both have high expectations from the mentors in their lives)

And bam! Sworn brotherhood formed! (Swk is the little brother Erlang never wanted <3 and the little sister he misses <3)

Eventually, after Wukong meets Xiaotian—he connects the dots so quickly as to why this magic monkey-kid can replicate all his abilities, magic, tricks, and even withstand training with him for months without breaking much of a sweat,

Because baby boy was also crafted by the human-creating Goddess of Marriage.

He is disturbed by this.

He did not want a little clone.

Ultimately: the four of them have CENTURIES worth of trauma and influence on each other (You cannot escape the “heaven is cool” -> “fuck heaven i’m making my own rules” -> “i have 500 years of trauma in my bones” pipeline)

What a weird family <3

#lego monkie kid #ask #lmk sun wukong #sun wukong #lmk erlang shen #lmk nuwa #nu wa #nuwa #lmk mk #lmk qi xiaotian #qi xiaotian #erlang shen #general headcanons #monkie kid #art stuff

[sunny-days-and-warm-mournings]

One of my many Sūn Wùkōng variants—

Xīshēng Chéngfá Yāng, appearing for the first time since his similar counterpart, SāngQī Zhēngdòu

——————————————————————

Xīshēng started out the same as the original classic did— happy monkey Yao full of love for his family and devoted himself to cultivate his immortality, but I wanted to explore the idea of him never joining or accepting Sukra's invitation to Heaven at all, instead staying with his family in Huāguǒ Shān.

Heaven and him had been at war ever since when they found that their plan on keeping him among them didn't set off as they'd expected. Sūn Wùkōng never instigated the battles and it was always Commander Lǐ Jing or Yù Huáng that puts players in the battlefield, though the summoning of Erlang Shen never happened until many more years later— which in turn that their fight ended in a tie.

It was then that Bodhisattva Guān Shì Yīn stepped up before the fight became even intense (which could've been a 'may or may not' situation with SWK's imprisonment under the mountain as well). And like any other ties, compromises were made to prevent further destruction and repugnancy between the two sides.

What were the compromises? That the two forces be mutually exclusive but still have Sūn Wùkōng's name registered within their archives, though both sides are forced to intertwine some of their own work to make connections stable with each other. Future work given to or earned by Sūn Wùkōng (through his own fame amongst the realms or otherwise, like a force of nature that brings down havoc doubled in meaning), will also be forced to make ties with Yù Huáng and Heaven, for their own 'safety'. Di Yu will also be added to that roster.

Xīshēng is extremely bold and fearless, as stubborn as a rock and has devotion on par with a monk. He loves his monkey family and Huāguǒ Shān, as it's all he's fighting for save for his own other reasons to prove Heaven and his nemesis' otherwise. His connection with his sworn brothers had also strengthened throughout the years even until Xīshēng/Sūn Wùkōng gained a following of his own.

His relationship with other Yao isn't all too clear (his neutrality is as clear as mud much like how he was portrayed in New Gods: Ne Zha), but they respect him quite a lot. To both humans and Yao he is known as a respectable War and Chaos God, and an unofficial Tu Di Gong to the borders of Pūrvavideha, but that's just rumors within the immortal realms.

There's a lot more to speculate here— theories, theories, What Ifs and some hella research— but this is all I can reveal/say for now! I still need to figure out his relationship with his sworn brothers and some Heavenly people lol.

End.

——————————————————————

#jttw #jttw au #jttw fanart #journey to the west #journey to the west au #journey to the west fanart #xiyouji #jttw sun wukong #sun wukong #sun wukong fanart #art #the monkey king #Xīshēng Chéngfá Yāng

[the-monkey-ruler]

Regarding Erlang killing Wukong's monkeys, under what circumstances does this occur? I think the people of the lmk fandom portray Erlang as someone cruel, cold and a tyrant, however, it is also understood that Wukong was an enemy of heaven and Erlang followed orders to burn the mountain.

Lucky for you I just answered this.

I find it very giving that people don't know that Erlang Shen is one of the greatest heroes of legend and it saddens me when there are thousands of years of history showing him as the great figure he is, rather ignoring or being ignorant that Erlang Shen went against Heaven's order to spare Wukong's monkeys in the Nine familial exterminations order and leaving some of his family alive and his mountain still standing. Wukong even says in the Nine-Headed Demon arc how thankful he is to Erlang Shen and sees him as his sworn brother because he was able to spare his home and what few monkeys he could in the burning rather than following the order to wipe out his whole home.

I understand that people are upset with the burning, and they are right to be, but they also have to understand that the severity of Wukong's crimes not only called for his whole family and even his neighbors to be executed but rather his mountain wasn't flattened and he was still having a family to go home to. I know this isn't considered a lot by modern standards but facing complete annihilation instead for Wukong's crimes showed that Erlang Shen knew that the order was too much and didn't follow through it.

Erlang Shen is a complex but overall good and moral character that is going to do what he finds is right. He is considered to be rather a loose canon in heaven, similar to Wukong in that he doesn't always follow an order and rather has his own sense of justice that he chooses to follow. It makes him just as dangerous to heaven as he is also considered a god that puts heavenly officials in their place if they are ever seen abusing their powers. He is the most similar to Wukong in that he cannot be controlled or bribed but rather must make choices himself, thus why he lives on the outskirts of heaven most of the time. If he must follow orders then he does his best to make it that they follow what he deems is fair and it is clear that he didn't think killing all the monkeys in Wukong's family was fair, whether it is because heaven killed his own father and older brother, or that he truly thinks that Wukong's crimes don't fit the punishment is hard to say. Wukong committed a crime that went against the very foundations of the universe, trying to overthrow the JE and take over the position himself despite having no proper training for this role either. This kind of attack would not only put Heaven into chaos, but also all three realms as The Jade Emporer is meant to keep balance between the realms, and if Wukong made one mistake without prop training could’ve had catastrophic destruction on both Earth and the underworld, possibly even leading to the end of humanity if taken too far.

….. so yes, it was a very big crime.

A lot of modern media does take Wukong's rivalry with Erlang to be more antagonist depending on the film or show but more often than not they are to be seen as foils, two sides of the same coin that have gone down different paths. I see a lot of media as well Showing this foil of how Erlang and Wukong see themselves other, and how they are, both limited by society and their own desires to either follow their choices to their own destruction or learning how to change and adapt to their surroundings. Wukong is the one to try to overthrow heaven to fit what he deeps is 'right' through might. And Erlang rather join heaven and choose to change what he deems is 'right' while still within the laws. They are both outcasts (Wukong a yaoguai, and Erlang a product of an illegal union), both fought the Jade Emporer (Wukong for the sake of his status, and Erlang for the sake of saving his family), and both either being punished for their crimes or joining heaven, but only on THEIR terms. Erlang only joined heaven after his mother was saved and Wukong only joined heaven when he reached enlightenment and is no longer under the control of anyone in Eastern Heaven. They ended up in the same place but also refused to give up their personal freedoms as well.

They have similar pasts that make them such good foils. Both of them rebelled against heaven at first but while when Wukong won his first rebellion, rather than being punished he was awarded the position of Great Sage, and got what he wanted. But even then he found that it wasn't enough and ruined the peach banquet, and led to an even bigger fight where he rebelled again. And this time Erlang was his opponent. When Erlang first fought heaven he also won and moved to heaven with his sister San Shengmu and they both agreed to stay in heaven. He was never questioned again and he didn't rebel after being forgiven for his first attack rather making a place for himself in heaven and never being walked over for the circumstances of his birth.

Erlang is actually still considered quite the rebel, even within the heavenly courts as you noticed JE how sent an entire crate of gold just to convince Erlang to fight Wukong. Erlang didn’t fight Wukong because he was ordered or even because of the gold, rather, because he thought what Wukong was going was too far. He might not have joined in the first fight where Nezha and Li Jing were to fight Wukong because he thought Wukong could’ve been justified in his anger, just as he fought Heaven once. But after the eating of the immortal Peaches, immortal wine, and immortal pills, and also abandoning his post and trying to overthrow heaven so he can take does Erlang make a conscious choice to join the fight. But even then the JE had to ask him with the prompting of Guanyin.

From there, two men of similar backgrounds are slighted by heaven, but one chooses to continue to fight and never be satisfied until he is in charge of all of heaven, while the other accepts his position and stays and rather lives by his own freedoms and sense of justice. And tell me, Lotus Lantern could be a deep dive into how Erlang became the same forces that he was fighting against in the first place and how he never properly processed his own trauma of heaven killing his family and rather him fighting himself when he fights Liu Chenxiang. He’s a very interesting character and that’s why people really enjoy putting him alongside Wukong as they both have generally good intentions, being considered strong family men, but somewhere along the way, they still lose who they are and in the end, hurt their family due to their actions and short-sightedness. Wukong puts his monkey in the crossfire due to his own crimes and Erlang arrests his sister despite him being a product of the very same crime she has committed, almost condemning his own existence.

These two are such great foil characters, they are so similar and they are so complex in both their good intentions but also how they remain so human and reliable despite being gods.

#anon ask #anonymous #anon #jttw #journey to the west #sun wukong #xiyouji #lmk #lego monkie kid #lego monkie king #monkie kid #yang jian #ask #erlang shen

[quitealotofsodapop]

Thought: Wukong and Erlang are actually super chill with each other but PRETEND to hate each other around strangers so no one starts asking inconvinuent questions like "Hey, why did you let so many monkeys on FFM go if you were supposed to burn the place to the ground?" And so they end up having conversations like:

Erlang: Seriously? Your successor had the same name as my dog? Dude, that's so funny.

Wukong: I told you, it's not the same, they're spelled different!

Erlang: But they still sound the same.

Wukong: Gods, you're so-

Erlang: Hey, someone's coming, get in character!

Wukong: UNBELIEVABLY PRETENTIOUS! I HATE YOU WITH ALL OF MY BEING!

Erlang: NOT AS MUCH AS I HATE YOU, MONKEY!

Mac: Guys, chill it's just me.

Definitely.

You see... Erlang was a big brother-figure to Wukong when the monkey started working for the stables and later the orchard. But they had a Big falling out because of the celestial war, the ensuing fight on FFM, and the capture that led the Monkey King into the Furnace.

Even with an uncomfortable reunion in Jttw to fight the Nine-Headed Monster - Erlang and SWK's brotherly bond still holds. Wukong knows that his bro wouldn't have burnt FFM unless no other miltary option was available to him; in Wukong's mind it was either the fire on the mountain, or it would have been complete annihilation of his fellow monkey yao from Heaven.

Fun fact: one chinese media theory I read mentioned that Erlang's "mercy" to the monkeys of FFM was likely to warn/evacuate them before the fires were set by Heaven - hence why so many monkeys survived and why Wukong welcomed him with open arms later on.

Even with the following debacle of "The Lotus Lantern" (a tale which Erlang Shen was the antagonist, though not without reason), the demi-god and monkey yao still consider eachother brothers.

The issue in the modern day, especially in the LMK verse? Status in Heaven.

Erlang and his sworn brothers were barely considered mortal mercenaries to the Celestial Realm before the war. Afterwards though? He became a Heavenly General. Outclassing even the Pagoda King in military respect. It was an insane promotion for the demi-god. He's now working directly with his uncle, the Jade Emperor, and is privy to the true cruelty the royals can dish out.

And exactly what the Emperor and Queen Mother think of his brethern.

To reference the most chilling scene in animation history (Prince of Egypt):

Jade Emperor: "Oh my boy... they were only mortal."

Erlang Shen can't risk the world knowing his true thoughts. How much he cares about his wild little brother. How much he actually knows is going on.

Yang Jian doesn't want to lose another sibling.

So yeah, in public the two pretend to hate eachothers guts. Only the Plum Hill boys themselves + Xiaotian Quan actually know that the two meatheads are thick as thieves. It takes Macaque a while to understand why Wukong dares to associate with the man who "burned our home". But a few incidents in the coming years leads Macaque to realise that the all-seeing God is deliberately ignoring some intel that could have spelled disaster for their new family.

Erlang (has the Third Eye): "The Harbringer's presence is still lurking on Earth. You, the Six Eared Macaque have been returned to the world of the living after so long. Not only that, but you and the Monkey King are living in secrecy among demons and humans alike raising a child of unknown powers..."

Macaque: *poised to start fighting*

Erlang: "...It's none of my business either way. Congrats on the baby, and your reunion as well. Bro would not stop talking about you when he was drunk." *leaves a baby-shower gift*

Macaque (has lie-detecting ears): "What the..."

Btw Erlang is def the type of (sworn) uncle to unironically get MK a dog toy as a baby shower gift. ("What? You'll thank me when he starts teething.")

#lmk erlang #erlang shen #sun wukong #lmk hcs #lmk backstory hcs #the monkey king and the infant #the monkey king and the infant au #lmk shadowpeach au #lego monkie kid #lmk #liu er mihou #six eared macaque

[starsfic]

Spoilers for Season 4!

-_-

Basically I had some theories as to what would happen with Wukong’s tile broken and amnesiac Wukong came up. Enjoy!

Please work.

Please work.

Please work. Please work.

Please work, please work, please work...

It had been easy to get the tile back. Azure Lion, once a lowly steed, now had the power of the universe. A simple snap of his fingers and in a rush of teal, the two halves had been in his palm again. The letters were still dark and dim, but Azure could feel the power rush through him. This was fixable.

He had the power of the universe. He could fix it and bring Wukong back. If not, if the tile splintering had sent Wukong down into the depths of Diyu, Azure would go down and demand him back. His brothers had left, scouting around Camel Ridge and seeing what they needed to fix of their palace.  For now, he sat alone, holding the two halves together, focusing.

He could feel the magic still there. If he worked at it...

Something snapped. Azure’s eyes shot open. Fear rolled through his system- please tell me I didn’t break it-

No. With a quiet snap, the tile had knitted back together. The lettering was still dim but the tile was whole. Azure took a deep breath in and tried to calm his racing heart.

Now, for the important part. The tile was whole but was Wukong still there?

The ink rippled around him, wrapping around the tile. Azure focused and reached out, probing for a sight of gold, for a sight of a smile draped in sunlight, for any whisper of his sworn brother.

The ink rippled again and again until he felt it.

A hand ripped out.

Azure couldn’t help a delighted laugh, holding the tile away from his body to allow Wukong room. “There we go,” he said, focusing and encouraging the monkey up. “You can do it...”

The ink rippled and then shot out, exploding as Sun Wukong himself pulled out of the scroll. Azure grabbed his arm and steadied him as the ink finally settled and disappeared. Another bubble of delighted laughter escaped him. “I was so worried, Wukong, I though-”

“...Azure...?”

His name was said in a daze, drawn out as if Wukong had not spoken in a long time. The lion paused and actually took Wukong in.

Not unlike the three men that the children had rescued, Sun Wukong was not dressed in his modern day clothes. Instead, he wore a familiar yellow and tigerskin outfit. However, singe marks decorated the once noble dress and his scarf looked like someone had yanked on it, ripping it half off. Wukong took a step forward and nearly collapsed, Azure reacting quickly to steady him.

His hat was gone, revealing those amber curls, which looked knotted and stressed, as if someone had dragged Wukong by the hair. And, now that he was closer, he could see marks on his wrists.

Binding marks.

Someone had grabbed Wukong by the hair. Had bound him. Had...

Heaven was very cruel.

Heaven was very cruel and some things were drawing together.

“...didn’t tell...”

“What?”

Wukong’s eyes were hazy. “Didn’t tell,” he said again, almost desperately. “D-” His voice cracked and he swallowed. “Didn’t tell.” Azure blinked and Wukong spoke again, fingers grasping at his fur as if Azure was going to drop him. “I promise, I didn’t tell-”

This was worrying. “Wukong?” Azure asked, pausing the smaller in his rambles. “What do you remember?”

Wukong’s brows furrowed together as he thought, seemingly trying to figure out what he did remember. “Erlang Shen,” he finally breathed out. “The chop-” As if he used the last bit of strength, his eyes rolled back and he slumped over. Azure steadied up and scooped him up fully, mind beginning to race.

...well, shit.

#my writing #LMK #Monkie Kid #LEGO Monkie Kid #Sun Wukong #Azure Lion #Sunstone #Lionpeach #LMK Season 4 Spoilers #Lego Monkie Kid Season 4 spoilers #Monkie Kid Season 4 spoilers

[maidenofthecloud]

Hi! I hope you're doing fantastic. Your poetry about the clouds and sun is so ... POIGNANT. Are you excited about LMK S5? How do you think it's gonna start out? Would you prefer for it to be high stakes right away or low stakes but slowly building up to it? Do you think we'd see any other JTTW characters in it, or maybe in later seasons? What kind of character do you want to see in the next season, in terms of personality and role?

Also, I absolutely hate doing this but could you please ask @loupsbane why they've blocked me again I am absolutely baffled on why this keeps happening to me.

Have a great month, eat your meals regularly, don't skip your breakfast or medicine!

first of all thank you

Are you excited about LMK S5?

yes I am very excited for season 5

How do you think it's gonna start out? Would you prefer for it to be high stakes right away or low stakes but slowly building up to it?

If I had to choose to start season 5 I would say low stakes but slowly building up to it

Do you think we'd see any other JTTW characters in it, or maybe in later seasons?

I think that surely more jttw characters will appear as new characters or in flashbacks, personally I would bet that Erlang Shen could appear

What kind of character do you want to see in the next season, in terms of personality and role?

Ugh I have a very long list of characters I want to appear and now that you've asked I'm going to ramble on about it, bad luck for you

starting with the most probable:

The mayor

I want to know more about the character, what he was like before meeting LBD and being the mayor, getting to know his relationship with her in depth. Is he just a henchman or does he have his own motivations? what was he doing during Lady Bone Demon's confinement.

Erlang shen

I'm really dying to see what kind of character Lego Erlang Shen is, what kind of complex character he can be, will he be a villain, an antagonist or maybe an ally? Will being a demigod be important for his character? what will his relationship with Sun Wukong be like? They will be like sworn brothers or enemies

guanyin goddess of mercy

I really want to know what the lmk writers will do with Guanyin, how important his role would be in the series, taking into account his importance in Journey to the West, I think it would be great if it turned out that all this time Guanyin was secretly watching over MK and his friends helping them without them knowing. I mean, she always helped the pilgrims on their journey and could do the same for mk and his friends. I also wonder if his relationship with Red Son exists in lmk.

Ao bing

I really want Ao bing to appear, I don't care how or why. basically because I think it would be cool for the fandom to see that Monkey King isn't the only one with skeletons in the closet. It would also be interesting to see Nezha face someone from his past that he thought was buried and that he would never see again

Do you think we'd see any other JTTW characters in it

characters I want to see

Taibai Jinxing (Gold star of venus) I would really like him to appear to help the protagonists

Nezha's family I would like to see Nezha's family even if it's just in flashbacks, especially muzha and LI Jing

lady earth Flow I'm really curious to know what his design would be like in the series.

Jade faced fox although if she appeared I highly doubt that her relationship with the demon Bull King would be the same as in the novel

Jade rabbit

The ones that are least likely to appear but I want them to appear so bad:

Spindrax

I know the writers wrote it off for Strong Spider, but it would be great to see the spiders again. Maybe as an idea here the character of Spindrax wants to revive the spider queen or maybe avenge the spider queen, the writers could use to spindrax to show us spider queen's past and also give mei a badass biker rival (cough girlfriend cough)

Rumble & Savage

I know that many think that the macaque is practically redeemed, if they think that that is perfectly fine. but in my opinion I do not agree with that, because the basic thing in a redemption is that the character realizes his mistakes and repents of his bad actions, Yes, Macaque helped defeat the bad guys and everything. but he has no regrets for the damage he did to mk and his friends I thought it would be great for Macaque's future redemption arc to have him face his own past mistakes and what better way to do that is face the little versions of himself who want revenge of you and they won't hesitate to hurt your loved ones in the process just to see you suffer (cough karma cough)

Bone spirits

I really wanted to see Lady Bone Demon's army in the specials, They are literally the only villainous army not to make an appearance in the show and which I think is a big waste imagine that the mayor was not the only follower of lbd, if there were other followers and allies of her, plus it would be interesting to see more spirits or demons like LBD, besides I love his designs I mean who doesn't like skeletons with hoods.

#lego monkie kid #lmk #Monkie Kid #lmk mayor #lmk erlang shen #lmk erlang #lmk guanyin #lmk ao bing #lmk taibai Jinxing #lmk gold star of venus #gold star of venus #lmk nezha #lmk muzha #lmk li jing #lmk lady earth Flow #lady earth Flow #lmk jade faced fox #princess jade faced #jade rabbit #lmk spindrax #lmk mei #lego monkie kid rumble #lego monkie kid savage #lmk rumble & savage #lmk Macaque #lmk bone spirits

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 6 Thoughts

Chapter Six for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

Starting things off with another look at how time is accounted for in Heaven. Last time I concluded that the years that the Immortal Peach Trees need to grow their fruits were Earth years. This time around when they say that the Peach Festival happens every year they do mean a full year in Heaven, so multiple hundred years on Earth. It kind of has to be this way otherwise things would make little sense since if it wasn’t so the festival would be every day in Heaven and then they’d run out of Immortal Peaches really quickly even without a monkey eating them all up.

This chapter Heaven is back on with its nonsense, this time in retelling what happened instead of their actions. They most certainly did not “educate and nurture the talented monkey”, they didn’t actively teach him anything outside of maybe the bare minimum Sun Wukong was told by the people he worked with. They didn’t even tell him how the ranking system works!

Also they totally denied that he beat Nezha.

What becomes clear here as well is that they didn’t even pay Sun Wukong when they did give him the job to look after the garden. Sure it’s not like the Monkey King would have cared much, but that’s still not a good move.

We stan Guanyin, my favourite Bodhisattva, for sending her own disciple down to the battlefield for specifically a factual report. I firmly believe she is seeing through the nonsense the Jade Emperor has woven in with the truth in his recounting of events!

Also she is already saying “our [monkey]” like she has already decided to sort of take him under her wing. My speculation here is that she probably listened up when it was mentioned vaguely that Sun Wukong cared for his monkeys.

When Erlang Shen enters the fray some rather interesting points arise. For one his sworn brothers, who must know him very well, said that there was no time for “praise or blame”. Oho, what could they mean with praise? In the J.F. Jenner translation they even say "Stop admiring him and challenge him to battle.", which after taking a look at the original Chinese put through Google Translate is actually more accurate.

All of this is very interesting. Perhaps it is meant to harken back to Erlang’s own story and his troubles with Heaven, so now some appreciation for Sun Wukong being rather likeminded in this instance shines through. Aside from both of them having a rebellious streak, another parallel is that both of them have a brotherhood of seven!

And then of course Sun Wukong things of him as being very pretty. I can certainly see why people appreciate those two together.

Additionally Sun Wukong doesn’t want to fight him, because he appreciates his care for his mother! Aside from them not having any personal issues with each other.

Interestingly the Jingu Bang is always metaphorically called a Dragon in multiple instances of combat while the opponent’s weapon is referred to as Phoenix.

Some more translation shenanigans Erlang’s face is not simply green as stated in the Anthony C. Yu translation! I checked the Chinese text with the help of Google Translate for the Pinyin again and it’s verdant, so it could be more blue or green or inbetween even. The colour is specifically [青 Qīng], which doesn’t specify if it’s green or blue, just that it’s verdant. Only if an additional character had been used it could have been clearly differentiated. The German translation actually calls it “grünblau” literally greenblue as well.

Yippie, Xiàotiān makes an appearance this chapter as well! Wish we could have seen more of the good boi, but maybe we’ll get more later at some point. For those who’d like to see more of her, I can happily refer to the New Gods: Yang Jian movie!

She’s so goofy, so adorable! Yet still packs a pawnch as well.

Guess why Erlang is called Little Sage in this! The German translation notes that it is because Erlang [二 郎] has the number two [二] in it, which stands for the force of Yin with which the small/little is associated. So it’s Little Sage in the chapter title! Additionally Sun Wukong has a lot of Yang force, which gets opposed and undermined by Erlang’s Yin.

Lastly the Audio Drama Production Notes of this chapter bringing forth that the “plant-headed deities” in the Anthony C. Yu translation, well, have nothing to do with plants at all. Instead something they could be called which is more true to the intended meaning is “unappointed deities”.

And that should be the last we see of Huaguoshan until about… Chapter 28! Good grief, I’m not ready.

#xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw #new gods yang jian #guanyin #erlang shen #xiaotian quan #sun wukong #monkey king #jttw reading group #jttw book club

[sketching-shark]

PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW—

How were the Huagou monkeys doing when SWK returned? And what happened to them, their home, after SWK became a Buddha (the other too?)

OKAY @sunny-days-and-warm-mournings so the story actually ends pretty much right after the pilgrims complete the journey and receive their new religious designations, so there's no word on what happens to the Mt. Huaguoshan troop afterwards. From what little I know of the 17th century fan sequel Journey to the South, however, one imagination is that Sun Wukong went back to live with them presumably as their guardian and king, and even had at least three kids (Quidou, Luohou, and Yuebei Xingjun).

In Journey to the West itself, however, the Mt. Huaguoshan monkey yao go through one tragedy after another. The first time we see what happened to the troop was right after Sun Wukong returns home after being banished for the first time from the pilgrim group. Here he sees the devastation that the war with heaven left in its wake even 500 years later, which basically left Flower-Fruit Mountain a withered and barren wasteland since Erlang Shen and his sworn brothers had burned it "to total ruin" after Sun Wukong was captured.

While he's grieving the state of his home, a few little monkeys run out and after excitedly greeting SWK tell him that in addition to living in a wasteland they're also being relentlessly hunted by humans. SWK furthermore learns that between the heaven's fire, migration to hopefully more fecund lands, starvation, and the hunters, the Mt. Huaguoshan troop was reduced to "no more than a thousand" from a population of 47,000 monkeys in Mt. Huaguoshan's heyday.

The monkeys beg SWK "'to take care of us,'" and the Monkey King starts this by slaughtering about a thousand of the hunters persecuting his "little ones," along with their horses. He then tells the monkeys to strip the human corpses of their clothes and weapons before dumping the bodies in a lake so that they can "ward off the cold" and start up military drills to learn how to protect themselves again. He also orders the horse corpses to be stripped of their hides to be made into boots and for their meat to be cured for consumption. After this, Sun Wukong "gathered together more fiends and beasts by the day, and he stored up all kinds of foodstuff...As he enjoyed wide friendship and great power, he had no trouble in borrowing some sweet, divine water from the Dragon Kings of the Four Oceans to wash his mountain and make it green again. He next planted elms and willows in front, pines and cedars in the back; peach, pear, date, and plum--he had them all. He then settled down to enjoy life without a care."

Soon after Sun Wukong restores Mt. Huaguoshan to something close to its former fecundity and violently ensures the safety of his "little ones" for a time, of course, he's called back to the pilgrimage. The monkeys beg him not to go, but Sun Wukong tells them: "Little ones, watch what you are saying. My accompaniment of the Tang Monk is no private matter, for Heaven and Earth know that Sun Wukong is his disciple [and therefore he's compelled to resume the journey]...You all must take good care of our property and don't fail to plant to willows and the pines in due seasons. Wait till I finish accompanying the Tang Monk and taking the scriptures back to the Land of the East. After that merit is achieved, I'll return to enjoy the joys to nature with you." So SWK does leave the monkeys in much better shape with both lots of food and the means to protect themselves, and seems sincere in his promise to to come back.

BUT NO ONE EXPECTS THE SIX-EARED MACAQUE. The second time SWK returns to Mt. Huaguoshan he finds an imposter on his throne who he describes as having "take[n] my descendants [the monkeys] captive," and indeed before they meet Xiyouji made it abundantly clear that LEMH doesn't care about the Mt. Huaguoshan monkeys outside of how he can use them as tools to achieve his own journey. Hell, after Sha Wujing kills the monkey that was impersonating him, LEMH instructs the others to "have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines. After their meal, that Pilgrim selected another monkey monster who knew transformation to change into a Sha Monk. He again gave them instructions on how to go to the West..."

So yes, not many fun times for the Mt. Huaguoshan monkeys after the war with heaven. Even so, their love for Sun Wukong and Sun Wukong's love for them is consistent.

#ask answered #sun wukong #monkey king #journey to the west #jttw #xiyouji #mt. huaguoshan #CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THESE MONKEYS A BREAK

[mythologyfolklore]

Èrláng Shén: *casually* Hey, Pagoda-bearing Heavenly King! How are the arms? Lĭ Jìng: They're fine- uh, NEVER MIND! Get out here! You owe me a rematch! Èrláng Shén: *sneers* I owe a lot of people a lot of things. Most of them money, one an organ ... one an entire mountain forest. Brother Kāng: Yeah, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven keeps calling about that. Èrláng Shén: But I don't owe you shit! You beat your kid and ignore your wife. And when you're not doing that, you're trying to start fights with people, because of your screaming ego. You remind me of my uncle, but at least he has the common courtesy to stay away from me. Èrláng Shén: *pissed off* So get your massive inferiority complex the hells off my land, and maybe I'll fight you again someday. When you stop acting like such a massive c*nt. Lĭ Jìng: *stammering*

#chinese mythology #erlang shen #li jing #one of erlang's sworn brothers #source: dragonshortz #the og dialogue at least

[candrawithwip]

Just going to talk a bit about season 4 of LMK after having sat down and watched it officially. S4 SPOILERS below “READ MORE”

Well to start off with I have no idea why people are so mad at Wukong. He’s irresponsible but he’s trying to grow and improve but it seems to be one thing after the next for him and MK. Sure we don’t know much about what happened with the Jade Emperor but it’s obvious that something happened there. I mean even if his betrayal was intentional, I seriously doubt that his approach to the situation would have been to kill Macaque, annihilate Camel Ridge, and trap his sworn brothers in the memory scroll without explaining anything whatsoever.

He doesn’t communicate well but even when fighting Nezha he was still dropping hints that whatever he needed the Samadhi fire for was no small thing. I think they were trying to tell us something by having his ink self taunt him with the circlet after mentioning he’s not one to allow himself to be controlled. It was also so painful to know that he was fighting to get back to MK and as soon as he found him he lost him again. What more is he supposed to do? He’s basically a young adult forever and he needs emotional support and most of his friends are dead... the man has a literal shame temple and he presumably named it that himself like come on.

I also still stand by what I said in another post my side blog; I don’t think this is the end for Sun Wukong. If their intention was to remove him from the plot forever the broken scroll wouldn’t have been such an item of interest and the fact that MK was able to recover it wouldn’t have brought much fanfare. The broken scroll pieces and Sun Wukong by extension are heavily implied to be important for what will happen going forward. I’m also not sure if MK could handle the reality that he’d never see Wukong again after the way that things happened. I think this was the “beating MK down” season so hopefully what comes next is the “building MK up” season/special/whatever.

With that out of the way there is obviously some stuff happening behind the scenes and I think the Camel Ridge group has done precisely what was expected of them. Someone is extremely interested in systematically tearing down the foundations of the current world order, but their end goal is still a mystery. If their true goal was to bring in a new era then where were they during all of this? I feel like their real objective might have been to destabilize the celestial realm and if that was the case then they absolutely succeeded.

The celestial armies have fallen, and all other major players aside from MK and his allies, Macaque, and Nezha (through pure happenstance) have been removed from the picture; now there’s a massive power vacuum and although the Camel Ridge group is currently standing victorious, their allies are few and their new domain is in shambles. Someone could take advantage of that instability in any number of different ways. 

Honestly I think the biggest candidates are Erlang Shen based on a previous speculation, or potentially Kui Mulang since his status is unknown and he has beef with the the Celestial Realm and Sun Wukong. That might be a stretch but I felt like I would throw that on the table and see what people make of it.

If I had to make a prediction about what happens next I think since the scroll is basically contained memory, repairing the memories within it are probably the key to repairing the scroll itself. I think either Macaque or MK (or both - one for each half) will have to go into the scroll and in doing so will learn more about Wukong and his reasoning. I think they’ll come out of the situation knowing how they want to move forward in any case.

Whatever happens they are 100% building up to a “pull the rug out from under both sides feet” sort of reveal and Macaque has 2000 IQ for concealing his presence and dropping off the face of the earth because people be schemein’ and I do not like it.

#lmk #lmk spoilers #lmk season 4 spoilers #lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid spoilers #lego monkie kid season 4 #lego monkie kid season 4 spoilers

[acoraxia]

Su Daji and Erlang Shen being together is not the power couple you think it is. The way that Su Daji comes back from the dead like a crawling corpse and has her own body — granted to her by a god she despises — and now announces that she will never owe him by freeing herself of the chains that would bind her to Erlang.

So what then?

He could let her go and have her be killed by some other god (Nezha, Muzha or Jinzha) and just go on with his life; he asks her to go home with him and when she laughs and spits in his face she's knocked out and taken there anyway. Because he can't let her go out there and be killed again.

And it's toxic in the way that she doesn't pause to ask if he's okay and he doesn't laugh when she's in trouble or anything — they're toxic because she presses up against him and calls him Yang Jian a name that's been dead since he's been called Erlang Shen. Since he fought in the war. Since he watched her die.

And then she has the fucking galls to call him that and then grin wickedly because he is glaring at her and wishing he could stab her and kill her and get rid of her but instead he leans in and says, "Do not call me that unless you want to choke on blood, spirit," and then moves past her. Doesn't shove past her. Doesn't kick her or scream or shout and she hums, satisfied, and will move on to torment him during dinner.

It's not girlboss x malewife it's a fucking huntsman itching to grab his bow again and a fox taunting him by saying she's the last of her kind and her fur would look lovely on a coat and he knows it's true and he knows he wants her dead but he also knows he wants her and she knows that, too, so she abuses it and manipulates him and drapes on top of him from behind and brushes her lips against his ear—and calls him Yang Jian.

And Erlang's sworn brothers come back because Xiaotian Quan is barking loudly and terrified and they walk in to find Daji heading to bed and Erlang coated in blood of silver and red and he tells them he'll be turning in to bed early.

They share a bed.

It might as well be ruined now.

#think pan #uhm #hi #LNCJDSKCS #lmk erlang shen #lmk su daji #blindjustice #uHM #writers note #??? #its not a fic but ok #LMAO I LOVE THEM A LOT IDK IF YO UCAN TELL #requiem au #lmk au #a requiem of chained memories au #arocm au

[the-monkey-ruler]

Can you tell me who are the sworn brothers of Erlang and Sun Wukong? Maybe Nezha too and Bull Demon King please 🤔

I’m not sure if Nezha has sworn brother honestly… he just has real brothers. At least that I know of.

Jinzha 金吒

Muzha 木吒

Wukong does have a LOT, pilgrims not included even if those are his junior brothers in Buddhism.

Bull Demon King 牛魔王

Peng Demon King 鵬魔王

Dragon Flood Demon King 蛟魔王

Snub Nose Monkey Demon King 禺狨王

Spiritual Macaque Demon King 獼猴王

Lion Demon King 獅駝王

Immortal Zhenyuanzi (became sworn in the journey) 鎮元大仙

Erlang has his 6 plum brothers!! (and Wukong)

Kang Anyu 康安裕

Zhang Boshi 张伯时

Li Huanzhang 李焕章

Yao Gonglin 姚公麟

Guo Shen 郭申

Naoken 直健

Sun Wukong (became sworn in their fight) 孙悟空

Bull Demon King is similar to Wukong's list just without Immortal Zhenyanzi. And actually he has a REAL brother that is Immortal Ruyi 如意真仙 who guards the abortion water.

#anon ask #anonymous #anon #jttw #journey to the west #sun wukong #xiyouji #erlang shen #li nezha #bull demon king #six plum brothers #seven sages #li jinzha #li muzha #ask

[orchid-oscar-day]

JTTW AU Idea

Ok so, y'know how the six eared macaque is fucking insane (cannibalism and thinking he's SWK)?

Basically what if they were 'best friends' (demi aroace couple with no word for what to label themselves as other than "sworn brothers") and when wukong "left" Liu'er Mihou all alone on FFM to protect it from Erlang Shen, he turned to dark magic! And then became corrupted, slowly went insane and hungered for flesh (of monkeys) and began thinking he was the King of the Monkeys instead!

And the only reason Sun Wukong didn't "reconize" him is because he didn't reconize his old lover due to his insanity! So he killed him to release him from his misery.

#I still don't think they are bio brothers #it was a “maybe” question on the origins of the six eared macaque for if he was born from a stone #I think he was born a normal six-eared monkey #became a demon when his name was removed from the book of death #and gained his power equal to the monkey king via the black magic #the black magic then required him to feast on the flesh on the other monkeys #jttw #journey to the west #jttw au #sun wukong #six eared macaque #liu'er mihou #monkey king #hc six eared macaque #head canons #au idea #jttw au idea #text #day rambles #rambling #rambling in tags #corruption au #jttw corruption au

[starsfic]

I'm liking your Prophecy Father AU already.

You mentioned that Red Son was raised on the story of Wukong. But what exactly was he told? Are DBK and Iron Fan also worried about him? What have they been told about Wukong's condition?

I can't help but imagine it to be like an abused spouse situation (even if Azure didn't intend for it to be that way) where Azure doesn't let them visit or even see Wukong and just makes up excuses. Like "oh, being Empress if very busy work, he doesn't have time for visits" or "oh, he's not feeling well and doesn't want to see people right now" or something like that. And DBK and Iron Fan find this SUS. But can't really do much against the Emperor and it's driving them insane.

I imagine that there are a lot of people worried about Wukong. Has he met Guanyin and Nezha? What is the Queen Mother doing in this AU, if at all?

Okay, so the timing of the Camel Ridge Trio's conquest of Heaven is after the Demon King of Confusion was defeated by Wukong and he took his and FFM's names out of the ledger of the dead. In the confusion of the Ten Kings' reports, the Camel Ridge Trio killed the Jade Emperor in a surprise attack. Meanwhile, Wukong, Macaque, and DBK had become sworn brothers.

Red Son is told about the first two conquests, including how loving Wukong was to his subjects. DBK and Macaque both know that Wukong must be worried sick, and it definitely doesn't help that, for almost 23 years now, nobody has said a word about the Jade Consort.

Nezha and the Queen Mother have both been imprisoned, alongside Erlang Shen, due to trying to launch a rebellion. Iron Fan was almost caught in said rebellion, but DBK provided her with an alibi so she didn't get arrested. Azure can't imprison Guanyin or the Buddha, so he's very nervous about their silence.

Wukong never met any of them up close and personal, although he has received mystery gifts on his and Azure's anniversary and his birthdate.

(Nuwa is the only one openly banned from seeing Wukong and Xiaotian after her prophecy, but Azure knows he can't actually do anything if she wishes to see them. Like Guanyin and the Buddha, her silence makes him nervous.)

#Prophecy Father AU #LMK #LMK AU #Monkie Kid #Monkie Kid AU #LEGO Monkie Kid #LEGO Monkie Kid AU #AU #Azure Lion #Sun Wukong #Macaque #Demon Bull King

[maidenofthecloud]

Mk: why do you want to help Monkey King?

Erlang shen: because I am sun wukong's sworn brother

Mk: *gasp*

Macaque: *gasp*

Tang: *gasp* wait, why am i gasping? I already knew that

#lego monkie kid #lmk sun wukong #lmk monkey king #lmk tang #lmk erlang shen