#lotus lantern

[jttwconfessions]

#lego monkie kid #lotus lantern #erlang shen #lego monkie kid confession #fandom confession #jttwconfessions #115

[relmint-draws]

Good evening Erlang Shen enjoyers

#erlang shen #yang jian #lotus lantern #jttw #rel'sart #doodles #chinese mythology #jttw erlang shen #xiyouji #Baolian Deng #explodes him explodes him with my mind #myart

[deadshadowcreature]

Draws with Procreate

#my art #comic #shitpost #the last six drawings are requests after I got 3000+ followers on Twitter #lmk #lego #monkie kid #lego monkie kid #nezha #third lotus prince #longnu #MK #qi xiaotian #erlang shen #yang jian #liu Chenxiang #Chen xiang #lotus lantern #Nezha and Chen are now cousins I don’t make rules

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

Lotus Lantern is a story about breaking the cycle

[ID: A three page comic done in white and shades of purple. Characters are uncolored, but have shading.

1. The first panel shows Liu Chenxiang with a determined expression from the shoulders up. Behind him is a shot of his torso and arms, gripping his axe. Text next to him reads, "Liu Chenxiang, son of son of Yang Chan and Liu Yanchan, came upon a mountain with axe in hand." The second panel shows Chenxiang, on the ground, facing his uncle as he approaches Mount Hua. There is somewhat skewed perspective, following the mountain as it reaches into the sky, accented by the clouds haloing it and Erlang Shen. Erlang Shen is on a cloud in front of the mountain, accompanied by XiaoTianQuan. Text on the mountain reads, "Intent to cleave open the cold stone." The perspective on the text matches that of the mountain. The third panel melts into the second panel- the grass beneath second panel Chenxiang's feet melting into the abstract background behind third panel Chenxiang. Here, Chenxiang is lifting up hi axe behind his head, preparing to strike. Text next to him reads, "As his uncle once did so many years ago."

2. A silhouette of two figures, a brother and sister with backs turned to one another. The lower parts of their body are obscured by clouds, which appear to be spilling out from a mountain which is separating the two. These clouds and this mountain serve as a backdrop to a young Erlang Shen crying and running into the arms of his smiling, teary-eyed mother as they reunite. His mother has her arms out to hug him. Text at the top of the page reads, "A tale told once before." Written on the silhouette of the brother reads, "A brother and a sister at odds." Written on the silhouette of the sister reads, "A mother imprisoned." Written on the mountain separating the two reads, "And a son, with love powerful enough to move mountains."

3. The first panel shows Erlang Shen from the shoulders up, looking down at Chenxiang with a disapproving gaze. Text on either side of him reads, "Erlang Shen had lived this tale once before" and "It had been his own story once upon a time." The second panel shows a skewed top-down perspective on Chenxiang as he stands atop a somersault cloud in the sky, glaring up at his uncle with an angry expression as he holds his axe. Text on either side of him reads, "So then why-" "-did the face looking back at him..." Third panel is dark and contains only text. It reads, "Remind him of someone else entirely?". Fourth panel shows a zoomed-in shot of Sun Wukong's face during the havoc in heaven, with an angry expression echoing Chenxiang's. There is a dark purple gradient from the bottom of the page to the top of the page.

End ID]

#my art #lotus lantern #liu chenxiang #chen xiang #erlang shen #yang jian #sun wukong #also in case youre wondering why sansheng mu isnt in the picture in the recounting of erlang shen's tale 👉👈 got plans for that #hi everyone....... im back............... #to recap: things in life happened. things in life are much better now but im gonna be very busy. #this and the five next things i post are gonna be things i finished drawing before i disappeared and it might be a while for me to* #*post after that but. good to be back.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Are there more stories about what demons Erlang has faced? Or more stories about him or where his character is included? I'm aware of Journey to the West, fsyy, the story with his mother and Lotus Lantern, but I was wondering if there were other stories where his character appears.

There are a lot of stories with him but they are more like legends than like narrative tales so to speak. Xiyouji, FSYY, and Lotus Lantern are novels and plays that allow full narratives that Erlang Shen features in but none really show the full extent of his character as he is more of a feature character than ever the protagonist.

Erlang's control of water is Erlang Shen's first and greatest achievement was water control and water control and made him a famous water god. With Erlang God's water control as the core, it radiates into legends such as killing dragons and slaying dragons.

Carrying mountains to catch the sun was from the Kaixi Period of the Song Dynasty, the "Inscription of the Induction of King Zhaohui Lingxian" describes the Erlang Shen as "the majesty of disturbing the mountain to take advantage of the sun, and the bravery of crossing the sea to capture the dragon.

The legend of Erlang Shen leading his divine soldiers and generals to search the mountains and succumb to demons can be found in the volume "Searching the Mountains", also known as the "Erlang Shen Searching the Mountains".

In the Five Dynasties, there is a legend about Erlang capturing an evil dragon. "Shu Shu": "The New Year's Banquet in June, "Guankou Divine Team" by Jiaofang Haiyu. The image of the two dragons fighting, the sky and the earth were dark for a moment, and there was heavy rain and hail. The Qing Dynasty's "Sichuan General Chronicle" locks the dragon: " It is said that Erlang locked the evil dragon in it. When frost falls and water falls, you may sometimes see it locked in the clouds."

In the Song Dynasty, there were a lot of themes of Erlang killing dragons. The Erlang who spent money usually rode an eagle and followed the dog. The entourage held a bow and stood a three-pointed two-edged sword beside him to subdue the dragon or the dragon transformed into a human body.

In the early days, Erlang Shen's divinity mainly came from Li Bing, who controlled floods. Guankou Erlang Shen controlled wind and rain, and Li Erlang's main deeds were also to capture dragons and control floods.

The "Stele Record of the Divine Blessing King" written by Zhou Hu of the Southern Song Dynasty (1170-1231) records that in 1206 AD, that is, the second year of Kaixi, Erlang Shen helped him fight against the Jin Dynasty and achieved a major turning point. Therefore, Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty named Erlang Shen "Saint Martyr Zhaohui to protect the country".

As the belief in Erlang Shen spread widely, the priesthood of Erlang Shen also expanded as he was seen as a protector of the country's spirit. The "Nangong County Chronicle" of the Republic of China quoted Lu Zhongfu from Jin Zhangzong as saying: "In the autumn of the fifth year of Zhenglong (1160), the giant locusts covered the sky and ate all the acres. There were reports of hunger everywhere, the price of grain soared, and county people rushed to pray at the temple of Erlang Shen. The locusts dispersed and did not stay in the area. Fortunately, they were harmless at this time."

Erlang Shen is not only a god with vast supernatural powers and remarkable spiritual responses, but he was also regarded as the god of drama in the Ming Dynasty and was worshiped by Liyuan.

The Cuju industry also respects Erlang as the god of the industry and follows his character of playing games in the world.

Erlang God was revered as the "Lord of Sichuan" and became the god who protected the people of Sichuan from living and working in peace and contentment.

Song Zhang Tangying's " Sichuan Prayer " records: "(Qiande) in the second year of August, (Wang) Yan patrolled the north, and Prime Minister Wang Kai judged the guards of the six armies. The banners and flags were inexhaustible for hundreds of miles. Yan's military uniforms, Wearing golden armor, a beaded hat, and brocade sleeves, he holds a bow and carries an arrow. The people look at him and say he is like a 'guan-kou god'." Erlang Shen is equipped with a hound, an eagle, and a slingshot. It is a standard image of the hunting god, capable of restraining birds, beasts, mountain spirits, and wild monsters.

Because Erlang Shen carried a slingshot, he was attached to the function of delivering children by later generations. Because the slingshot is homophonic with "birth", it means birth. Almost every Erlang temple has people seeking children, which is the basic priesthood of Erlang Shen.

Tianqi was built in southern Fujian during the Chongzhen period of the Fengshan Ancestral Temple in the Ming Dynasty, the belief in Erlang Shen has formed a water god worship with strong local characteristics of southern Fujian in southern Fujian. There are now three statues in the Fengshan Ancestral Temple, which are called "Ambassador", "Second Ambassador" and "Third Ambassador", and "Ambassador" is the Erlang Shen in people's minds

I'm taking this all from his page so if you want a more detailed explanation I would suggest looking it into yourself because there is SO MUCH information about Erlang Shen being such a well-known figure and hero of legend that no way I can fit it all in one post but I hope this gives people an idea just how grand Erlang Shen's legend is and just how rich in both history and lore he is!

#jttw #journey to the west #xiyouji #ask #erlang shen #yang jian #sun wukong #lotus lantern #fengshen yanyi #fsyy #investiture of the gods #romance of the gods

[aerkame]

I have issues with committing to long fanfictions, but I have a feeling that the one I'm working on will be good. I say so because I'm drawing fanart of it already lmao.

On a side note, geladas are super cool. I love lions so obviously the reader is going to be based on a gelada so I have an excuse to make them fluffy with big ol' saber fangs and a mane. >:p

Also ignore the quality, it's late and I wanted to draw while in bed okay?

ALSO, I did double check, and it appears both males and females will grow 'manes' and have fangs. Females don't really have fur that's as long as the male's or good fangs, but it's good enough. Meaning the reader can have a mane regardless of gender. So immersion shouldn't be broken. (I prefer making x readers immersive for everyone)

It's giving..."I is fierce!"

Cutoff text: Large arm and shoulder tuft, Big teef (sabertooth-like), reverse crescent blade chest tuft.

Context (SPOILERS)

Reader gets turned into a small monkey either by accident or on purpose. Inspired from the design of the monkeys in Uproar in Heaven and The Lotus Lantern (the little monkey seen in the movie). Chaos ensues. Also reader gets mistaken for being a lion cub A LOT.

#lmk #jttw #lego monkie kid #fanart #journey to the west #fanfiction #wip #sketchy sketches #sketches #monkey #gelada #cute #monkey reader #uproar in heaven #lotus lantern monkey king #lotus lantern #monkey king #monkey king uproar in heaven #gelada reader

[hel-the-growl]

Cultural Annotations on New Gods: Yang Jian -Part 1-

This is the companion piece to my long-ass thread about the same topic on twitter.

Light Chaser really outdid themselves with the visuals and research this time, and with Yang Jian out in NA theaters, it's totally worth seeing on the big screen.

There were so many historical references packed into this movie, I thought I'd do a deep dive into the characters, motifs and lore associated with Investiture of the Gods scene by scene.

Background

Yang Jian is the second instalment of the New Gods series of animated films (after Nezha Reborn), that are loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods (IOTG). IOTG shares some canon with other Chinese classics like Journey to the West, Classic of Mountains and Seas, Lotus Lantern etc. so there may be crossovers.

The character Yang Jian, better known as the god Erlang, is a figure widely regarded as heaven's greatest warrior deity. He is recognized for having a third truth-seeing eye, and in IOTG, helped bring about the fall of the Shang Dynasty in 1046 BC.

The movie however, takes place during the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties circa 5th century AD, some 1500 years after events of IOTG. We first meet Yang Jian as a rather lethargic but free-spirited individual, 12 years after losing his powers during a great disaster involving the three realms, scraping by as a bounty hunter.

A rough timeline

c. 1075-1066 BC: Yang Jian is born

c. 1060-1050 BC: Yang Jian cleaves Peach Mountain

1046 BC: Battle of Muye (Conclusion of Investiture of the Gods)

c. 9 BC-23 AD: Erlang defeats Sun Wukong (Journey to the West, Chapter 7 - Havoc in Heaven)

c. 405 AD: Disaster of the Three Realms; Yang Chan is trapped under Mount Hua

c. 417 AD: New Gods: Yang Jian

c. 1920s - c. 1930s: Nezha Reborn

Breakdown

Yang Jian’s crew all have backstories. In Journey to the West, Kang Anyu (康安裕) and Yao Gonglin (姚公麟) are two of Erlang’s six brothers of Plum Mountain, both supreme government officials in charge of military affairs. Maybe we’ll get to find out about the other four’s whereabouts in later instalments?

Xiaotian is Erlang’s dog sidekick who helps him subdue evil spirits and never leaves his side. The movie’s version of Xiaotian seems to be inspired by ancient paintings depicting her as a white hound.

The wanted bulletin printer seems to be inspired by a Hu Shi Ren You (虎噬人卣), a tiger-shaped Ancient Chinese wine vessel.

In Chinese mythology, Penglai is a legendary island for immortals. It has been reimagined to be the equivalent of the CBD of the divine realm.

The dice used in the casino are 18-sided Xing Jiu Ling (行酒令) from the Han Dynasty. It has the numbers 1 to 16, along with the characters for "wine" and "arrogance" engraved in gold and silver. The rat is the first animal of the Chinese Zodiac.

Shunfeng’er (顺风耳), who now goes by Old Gao and works at the casino, was usually accompanied by Qianliyan (千里眼). They are two temple guards whose names translate to “all-hearing” and “all-seeing” that could hear and see things from thousands of miles away.

Light Chaser is serious about its monkey business. The way casino monkey grabbed Yang Jian’s tally with his foot, the big ape miming and even in Nezha Reborn where the little monkey imitated Yunxiang.

Fun fact: The monkey is voiced by Yang Tianxiang, the same actor who voiced Li Yunxiang (Nezha) in Nezha Reborn.

Refresher - Primordial Spirit, known in Chinese as yuanshen (元神), is is a concept in Daoism defined to be a level of existence surpassing that of physical existence. In the New Gods universe, they manifest as giant glowing avatars.

New Gods also has a recurring theme of lost Astras - In Nezha Reborn, Wukong’s staff is nowhere to be found and Yunxiang has only recovered Nezha’s Sky Ribbon so far. Among Erlang’s many Astras, three are mentioned in the movie.

Yang Jian’s headdress is designed to resemble his signature trident, the "three-pointed, double-edged lance". Hence when casino monkey asked him where his weapon was, he clinked the headdress.

This weapon was later shown in a flashback:

Another one of his Astras is a golden bow with silver bullets. According to the director, it was melted into his harmonica (although this was probably retconned as in the teaser for the sequel, it was his mother who gave it to him as a child). The harmonica not only has the powers of his bow, but is also the ignition key for his ship.

The third weapon featured is his mountain-cleaving axe (开山斧). It is the axe he used to split Peach Mountain in half to save Yaoji. He is shown wielding the same axe in the opening montage 1500 years earlier and it is currently wedged inside the Lotus Peak of Mount Hua from the events of 12 years ago. Needless to say it is a powerful Astra with earth-shattering capabilities.

The Four Diablo Brothers - Mo Lihong, Mo Liqing, Mo Lihai, and Mo Lishou - were initially antagonists in IOTG, having launched an attack on the Western Foothills. This led to the introduction of Yang Jian, who helped defeat the brothers.

By the conclusion of the novel, they were enshrined as the Four Heavenly Kings - Vaiśravaṇa, king of yakṣas (多闻天王; Duowen Tianwang), Virūḍhaka, king of kumbhāṇḍas (增长天王; Zengzhang Tianwang), Dhṛtarāṣṭra, king of gandharvas (持国天王; Chiguo Tianwang) and Virūpākṣa, king of nāgas (广目天王; Guangmu Tianwang). In the movie, only Mo Liqing was addressed by his title when Shen Gongbao met him inside the lighthouse.

There's a PSA on the noticeboard with a picture of Nezha pissing. It reads "no urinating or defecating here." This might be a piss (pun intended) at the 2019 animation Ne Zha from a rival studio, and its hilarious promo. The shade 💀

Further supporting my theory that White Snake and New Gods are from the same universe, Precious Jade from White Snake is recruiting!!! And medicine boy plugging his illegal business lol.

Jinxia Cave (金霞洞), lit. Gold Sunset Cave is Yuding’s HQ. It is located on Jade Spring Mountain in the Divine realm.

The little disciple playing the flute is a tribute to the 1963 ink animation “The Bamboo Flute” (牧笛) produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

Yuding is one of the many disciples of Yuanshi Tianzun, one of the highest deities of Daoism known as the Primeval Lord of Heaven. Yuding is ranked 10th among the “12 golden disciples”, and among his peers are Jiang Ziya (the main character of IOTG who led the battle against Shang), Taiyi Zhenren (Nezha’s master) and Shen Gongbao etc. They are all practitioners of Chan Daoism, also known as Kunlun Sect, founded by Laozi and Yuanshi Tianzun.

In the tale of the Magic Lotus Lantern, Chenxiang was the son of Yang Chan AKA Goddess San Shengmu AKA the holy mother of Mount Hua AKA Erlang’s sister, and a mortal scholar named Liu Yanchang. This parallels the Yang siblings’ own origin story as the children of a goddess and a mortal.

Chenxiang literally means Agarwood. It is a revered wood valued for its use in incense and traditionally burned during meditation.

The place on Jade Spring Mountain where Yuding sealed the sect brother’s Dharmakaya (the embodiment of the truth itself, a transcendence of the physical and spiritual bodies) is based on the travertine pools in and around Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan. Notably, a scene from Journey to the West, a story associated with Erlang, was once filmed at one of the waterfalls here. I’ve been here and yes, it looks exactly like this irl.

Part 2｜Part 3｜Part 4

#erlang shen #new gods #new gods: yang jian #yang jian #新神榜 #二郎神 #杨戬 #新神榜：杨戬 #xin shen bang #jttw #investiture of the gods #lotus lantern #light chaser #xsb #still laughing at the nezha shade

[ejaysstuff]

Yang Jian and Sansheng Mu before the whole,,, mountain thing

#erlang shen #sansheng mu #yang jian #lotus lantern #my art stuff #I DREW ON THE WRONG LAYER. FOR THE FIRST ONE #anyway i care them very very very much #not as much as jinzha tho he is no.1🔥🔥 #also the hanfu is all messed up so uh. sorry

[themetallicnemesis]

I finally got to watch lotus lantern a while ago, and i wanted to draw chenxiang with my swk

#jttw #sun wukong #lotus lantern #liu chenxiang #art #my art #edit: oh yeah almost forgot to add #i based my chenxiang design a lot on some of antidotefortheawkwards art so you guys should really check out his stuff

[relmint-draws]

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

#jttw #journey to the west #lotus lantern #sansheng mu #erlang shen #yang jian #yang chan #meishan brothers #sun wukong #shxtpost #monkey king #rel'sart #jiankong #what has my life come to #animatic #xiyouji #Youtube

[theghostshost]

Chenxiang! AKA TK, THE NEW MONKIE KID!!!!

#LMKReborn #LMKRebornau #lmk #lmkau #legomonkiekid #legomonkiekidau #lotus lantern #lego monkie kid oc #lego monkie kid au #lego monkie kid #lmk mk #qi xiaotian

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

___, Two, Three

[ID: An illustration of the Yang siblings in their childhood and in the present. The Yang siblings are running happily to the left in their childhood, arm in arm and laughing. Yang Jiao, dressed in red, holds a stick. Yang Jian, dressed in maroon, grabs onto Yang Jiao's arm, himself holding a slingshot. Dressed in yellow, Yang Chan is similarly holding onto Yang Jian's arm, with a wooden sword in her free hand and another tied to her belt. In the present, Yang Jian and Yang Chan are uncolored, dressed as gods and both looking off to the right side forlornly. They stand at roughly the same position as their childhood selves, so that there is a noticeable empty spot at where Yang Jiao should have been. End ID]

#my art #lotus lantern #chinese mythology #erlang shen #yang jian #sansheng mu #yang chan #yang jiao #for people unaware- the 'er' in erlang is 'two' and 'erlang shen' means 'second son god' #similarly the 'san' in sansheng is 'three' and 'sansheng mu' is 'third sage mother' #</3 theyre always put in relation to their missing piece oughghghghhf #illustration #hanfu

[the-monkey-ruler]

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

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

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

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

#anon ask #anonymous #anon #jttw #journey to the west #sun wukong #xiyouji #ask #lotus lantern #Liu Chenxiang #erlang shen

[ruibaozha]

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

Hello!

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

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

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

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

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

#journey to the west #jttw #xiyouji #西遊記 #canonization of the gods #investiture of the gods #fsyy #封神演義 #封神榜 #the lotus lantern #lotus lantern #the magic lotus lantern #宝莲灯 #chinese mythology #chinese folklore #chinese literature

[sketching-shark]

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

ASFDGRTHDESWER%Q$EWQ

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

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

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

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

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

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

#anon answered #niuhou #zhuhou #jiankong #sun wukong #monkey king #zhu bajie #zhu wuneng #erlang shen #yang jian #lotus lantern #liu chenxiang #sun wukong looking at zhu bajie: 'he really is the best friend ever' #one of his monkeys: 'what makes you say that?' #sun wukong: 'he hasn't tried to kill me with his full might or burn down my home <3'