inugalon

[inugalon]

[inugalon]

A side-by-side comparison of Nezha's backstory in JTTW and FSYY

(Sth I've been working on for a while, as quick reference material for Nezha's story in the two novels specifically that doesn't go into the broader mythos.)

JTTW's Nezha:

-Born with the characters "Ne/Na" on one hand, and "Zha" on the other

-Has 2 older brothers and 1 younger sister: Jinzha, who worked as a guardian deity and attendant of the Buddha, Mucha, who was the disciple of Guanyin, and Li Zhenying, who's said to be 7 years old in JTTW (Chapter 83).

-There's also Diyong/Lady Earth Flow, the adopted mice sister that had eaten the Buddha's candle, was captured by Li Jing and Nezha, and spared on the Buddha's order.

-She shows up in Chapter 80, as a demoness who kidnapped Tripitaka for the purpose of marriage, and is subsequently recaptured to face celestial judgement.

-Three days after his birth, Nezha went off into an unknown ocean, stepped on a crystal palace and toppled it, and caught a flood dragon to use its tendon as a belt

-After that, Li Jing tried to kill him for being a menace, and Nezha did the "Return his flesh and bones to his parents" thing in anger

-His soul then drifted off to the Buddha's place, who performed the Lotus Resurrection Thing by reciting a mantra

-He then subdued 96 caves of demons, and went after Li Jing to take revenge for the "forced suicide" thing

-Li Jing pleaded to the Buddha for help, who gave him a pagoda with Buddhas sculptured on every level, and told Nezha to call the Buddha (on the pagoda) as his father from now on.

-The weapons he used in his Three-headed Six-Armed Form: The Demon-slaying Sword + Demon-cutting Blade, Demon-binding Rope + Demon-subduing Vajra, Embroidered Ball, Fire Wheel (held in his hand)

FSYY's Nezha:

-Is the reincarnation of Taiyi's oldest disciple, Spirit Pearl/Lingzhu Zi

-Is destined to be the Vanguard of the Zhou army in the upcoming War of the Investiture

-Has 2 brothers: Jinzha, disciple of Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun, and Muzha, disciple of Sage Puxian. (FSYY's quirk of making popular Buddhist deities into Daoist sages in a trenchcoat is at play again.)

-Mother was pregnant with him for three years, gave birth to a ball of flesh

-Jumps out of the ball of flesh when Li Jing cuts it open, wearing his Qiankun Ring as a bracelet, Huntian Sash wrapped around his stomach

-Was immediately taken by Taiyi as a disciple the next day, who told Li Jing that, born in the hour of Chou, Nezha is destined to break 1700 prohibitions against killing

-A 6 ft tall 7-years old (FSYY's sense of scale is really weird, like all old novels)

-Asked to go out and play in the river during summertime, unknowingly created a shockwave in the water with his sash that shook Ao Guang's palace in the East Sea.

-Ao Guang sent a Yaksha to check it out. Nezha sassed the Yaksha, who attacked him in a fury and got insta-killed.

-Ao Guang's soldiers reported the Yaksha's death. Ao Bing overheard the whole thing, asked to go deal with this random brat, and was granted permission by his father.

-Ao Bing rode out of the waves on his steed, and went "Who are you, sassy lost child, and did you just kill my Yaksha?!" And Nezha was like "Yeah, so what? Talk shit, get hit."

-Ao Bing charged Nezha with his weapon in a fury, got dragged down his steed by the sash, and was promptly bonked on the head by the Qiankun Ring, which reverted him to his dragon form.

-Nezha then pulled out his tendons to make a belt for Li Jing's armor and returned to Chentang Pass. Furious, Ao Guang hurried his way to Li Jing's mansion and accused him for the whole multiple homicide thing.

-Li Jing's first reaction was "My kid's only 7 and never goes out of the door, he can't possibly kill yours!" Then, when he indeed asked Nezha, Nezha flat-out admits it and went out to meet Ao Guang like "Yeah, sorry, doesn't know that's your kid. Anyways, here's his tendons, undamaged and untouched."

-Ao Guang, unsurprisingly, did not take it well and stormed off to press charges to the JE. Faced with his angry crying parents, Nezha also knew he had fucked up, and went to his master Taiyi for help.

-Taiyi's advice? Go ambush the dragon king on his way to complain to the JE and beat him up, mobster-style. Which Nezha promptly did, forcing Ao Guang to turn into a little snake and stay in his sleeves, to be carried back to Chentang Pass.

-The beatdown does not convince Ao Guang not to press charges. In fact, he said he'd get the other dragon kings of the Four Seas to press charges together. Li Jing raged at Nezha again, who assured him that it was alright, like, his master said he was destined to assist some Sage King and stuff.

-He then wandered into the back garden, picked up the Qiankun Bow and Sky-shaking Arrows of the Yellow Emperor that were, uh, just kept there in the family attic, and decided to do some archery practice.

-Sadly, he didn't know how far that arrow would go. It flew all the way to the White Bone Cave, abode of Lady Shiji the Rock Demoness, and went straight through the throat of one of her two disciples, the Verdant Cloud Boy.

-Since Li Jing also carved his name onto the arrow (…), Lady Shiji headed immediately to his place and whisked him away with her treasure, the Eight Trigrams Hankerchief.

-At her place, Li Jing pleaded that he really didn't do it, since the Qiankun Bow was a mystical ancient weapon no one could use in a long, long time, and Shiji released him back to Chentang Pass to find the true culprit. At which point he put two and two together, found out it was Nezha again, and told him to go answer to Shiji together with him.

-Nezha, who did not think this was his fault, smacked Shiji's other disciple, the Colored Cloud Boy on the head with his Qiankun Ring, when he came out of the cave on his master's orders. Shiji was even less happy about that, took his weapons away with a single swipe of her sleeves, then chased him all the way to Taiyi's place.

-At which point Taiyi was like "Well, if you want Nezha to pay for his crimes, how about we go to the Jade Emptiness Palace together and let my master (Yuanshi Tianzun) sort it out?" Shiji refused, stating that he was just using his master's authority to lord over her and unfairly protect his disciple.

-Taiyi then revealed the Chan-Jie division that would later become a huge thing in the War of Investiture, and basically went "Sorry that your student died in Nezha's archery accident, Lady Shiji, but it is literally Fated to Happen, which means you totally shouldn't be mad at me or him."

-Shiji did not buy that explanation at all, and they fought. Taiyi blocked her hankerchief when she tried to use it, then threw the Nine Fire Dragon Bell Cover over her head, burning her to death and reverting her to her true form——a rock.

-Taiyi then informed Nezha that with JE's permission, Ao Guang had gathered the other dragon kings to go after Nezha's parents. Nezha begged him to save them, and his advice was...well, "kill yourself and the dragon kings will let them go". Literally.

-So Nezha did, which was very graphically described in the novel, after which his soul drifted off to Taiyi's place.

-Taiyi told him to go to his mother and tell her to build a temple for him at Mt. Cuiping. He did, and Lady Yin woke up from her dream crying.

-Upon learning the reason why, Li Jing yelled at her for crying after Nezha had brought all these troubles upon their family. Nezha's soul then haunted her in her dreams for a week or so, until she finally relented and built him a temple in secret.

-Half a year later, Li Jing found out about the temple while Nezha's soul was out and away for some unknown reasons. In a fit of rage, he smashed Nezha's statue and burned the temple down (I talk about how this resembles the destruction of 淫祠, illicit cults in IRL history here).

-Nezha returned to his temple only to find it in ruins, at which point he went back to Taiyi, who did the Lotus Resurrection thing and gave him back his weapons, together with a new spear, the Wind-Fire Wheels and a golden brick.

-Nezha immediately rushed back to Chentang Pass to take revenge, stating that after the whole "returning his flesh and blood" thing, they were basically unrelated and didn't owe each other anything, so he was perfectly justified to go after Li Jing for the destruction of his temple.

-They fought. Li Jing, quickly exhausted, turned tail and fled using the Daoist arts of Earth Travel, at which point he ran into Muzha. While they were talking, Nezha caught up with them.

-Muzha was like "How dare you!" and Nezha replied with "Who the hell are you?" Only after Muzha said his name out loud did he recognize his brother and recount the whole story.

-Muzha retorted that "Parents can do no wrong". Nezha pointed out that after his suicide, they were no longer father and son, and told him to stand aside.

-Muzha whipped out his sword to fight him. Concerned that Li Jing might get away in the meantime, Nezha threw his golden brick at Muzha, hitting him in the back and knocking him down.

-The chase continued. Li Jing, knowing that he couldn't run away forever, was ready to commit suicide instead of facing the disgrace of being struck down by his son.

-However, Jinzha's master, Wenshu, suddenly showed up to rescue him. Nezha demanded that Wenshu release Li Jing from his abode, and if he didn't, he'd poke three holes in Wenshu instead.

"And who are you, to make such claims?"

"I am Nezha, disciple of Master Taiyi!"

"Never heard of you. You can throw a tantrum elsewhere, but not here, and if you keep this up, you are in for a spanking."

-Nezha attacked him. In return, Wenshu unleashed his treasure, the Flying Dragon Pillar, tying Nezha onto it. He then summoned Jinzha, handed him a walking stick, and told Jinzha to give him a good whipping.

-Then Taiyi showed up to rescue him, telling Nezha to bow to Wenshu, his Daoist uncle (Context: Taiyi and Wenshu are both among the 12 Immortals of the Chan Sect), and scolded Li Jing a bit for the temple-burning thing.

-Then he told the two to get along and go their separate ways. Nezha was delighted, seeing it as basically a free pass to resume his revenge the moment he was out of his master's sight, and indeed, he did.

-Then Sage Randeng (also of the Chan Sect) showed up, gave Li Jing a buff, and told him to fight Nezha again. Nezha, having witnessed the whole thing and reached an impasse in the fight, attacked Randeng in an attempt to disable the buff.

-Randeng was not happy about this "unprovoked" attack on an innocent bystander, so he dropped a pagoda out of his sleeves and onto Nezha, trapping him inside.

-On Randeng's command, flames ignited inside the pagoda. At last, Nezha pleaded for the sage to release him, under the condition that he'd call Li Jing father (grrrr grrrr) again.

-He was planning to pull a second "resume patricide arc" the moment Randeng left, until the sage gave the pagoda to Li Jing and told them to go back to Chentang Pass and Taiyi's place respectively, to wait until the War of Investiture formally began.

-And they did: Nezha was sent to rescue Huang Feihu during his escape from the Five Passes in Chapter 34, while Li Jing only showed up much later in Chapter 64, to kill a fleeing Luo Xuan after he got all of his fire-based treasures neutralized and taken away by Princess Longji.

-I will not do a full campaign-by-campaign summary of Nezha's performance in the War of Investiture proper, for this post is already long enough.

-The broadest overview: together with his senior Daoist brother Yang Jian, Nezha was one of the biggest powerhouses on the Chan/Zhou side.

-His total kill count in the novel (only counting the named/deified ones) is 15, which is actually more than Yang Jian's (12-13).

-Much like Yang Jian, he was often the one who survived lethal attacks and AOE plague spells while the others were taken out. His lotus body also made him impervious to spells and treasures that work directly on the soul, usually by pulling it out of the body.

-After suffering an injury from the Blood-melting Knife of Yu Hua/his master Yu Yuan, Nezha was given his final power-up at Taiyi's place via three cups of wine and three "fire jujubes", enabling him to transform into his Three-headed, Eight-armed Form.

-At the end of the novel, Nezha, together with Li Jing, Jinzha, Muzha, Yang Jian, Weihu and Lei Zhenzi, became "Sages in Flesh"——which I understood as "a better sort of gods/immortals that don't receive their godhood via death and deification".

-The 6+ weapons he has: Qiankun Ring, Huntian Sash, Fire-tipped Spear, Golden Brick, Wind-Fire Wheel (in its most popular "hot wheels" depiction), Yin-Yang Swords, Nine Fire Dragon Bell Cover

[inugalon]

Hi hi, so I read your post about Ao Bing and , so his job is to get offended because someone was born on certain dates (?) he wakes up one day and says "Oh, this person has offended me, so I'll give you bad luck?" 😨

It is still pretty messed-up by modern standards, but "offend" isn't nearly as personal as the translation implies.

In traditional Chinese astrology, it just means that certain combination of the Heavenly Branch and Earthly Stems on the date + hour of your birth is categorized as a Shensha star.

Depending on where said combination appears, and its relation to other Shensha combinations, it can be a good or bad thing for the people born under it, and when it's a bad thing, "offend" is often used.

But, to use an analogy: oftentimes, it's more like "You are born a Gemini and therefore [insert good or negative qualities]." When the astrology sign is associated with certain undesirable qualities, it isn't bc the constellation of Gemini is literally mad at you.

(I don't actually believe in any system of astrology, I just find the cultural context fascinating.)

Apart from the "bad luck to parents" aspect of Huagai, according to 三命通会, Huagai is more of a star of loneliness. People with that particular combination tend to be pretty solitary, even if they are born with wealth and power, and tend to become monks/priests or artists.

This "lonely" association also means being orphaned, widowed, not being the oldest heir, or being given up to another heirless family for adoption.

To use a bit of creative interpretation: it's less he wakes up one day and goes "You offend me and I'll give you bad luck" (that's more like the traditional characterization of the Taisui Star).

Rather, he's probably just doing paperwork, writing down the names of everyone whose Bazi falls under his influence, mapping out which particular way that influence will manifest and leaving his own suggestions, before handing the list to his colleagues and superiors in the Dipper Mansion.

And maybe also being JE's royal umbrella carrier while he was at it.

[inugalon]

tired

(ref used)

[inugalon]

Biting is a love language (twitter)

[inugalon]

Liu Qingge will never be in peace I believe

+ Liu Mingyan sketch !

[ID: A Scum Villain comic. Liu Qingge asks, "Mingyan-mei, are you there?" Liu Mingyan looks up from her desk, revealing she's drawing Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu sloppily making out (in the style of a meme). Liu Qingge looks tired and judgemental.

The sketch is screenshotted from a drawing software and shows Liu Mingyan sitting at a desk with a book in front of her and holding a brush. End ID] described by @nebulations

[inugalon]

(also on twitter)

[inugalon]

wth I'm reading svsss (spoiler ahead)

wdym shen qingqiu JUST DIED WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??? WHATmmm???? Oh my God WHATS GOING ON OMG LUO BINGHE YOU DUMB FUCK YOU STUPID GAYS WHY THE HELL DIDNT YOU TWO TALK TO EACH OTHER OH MY GOD WHAT

I'm going crazy I love this novel so much but damn DAMN what is going on I dont understand-cries- I was promised a fun reading featuring gays why I'm screaming in my pillow rn omg 😭

[inugalon]

Hey guys, my oubing art is clearly top!nezha and bottom!aobing. Please respect my preferred dynamic when tagging, thanks.

[inugalon]

Bingbing’s first time on the metro (also on twitter)

[inugalon]

The Third Installment to the Oubing Saga- Yunbing

PRIOR EXPERIENCE NEEDED!

Entry ticket: reading this post and acknowledging that the following is about to be 18+. No, I'm not writing anything explicit, but it's going to be some mentions of sex. Move on.

After finishing Ne Zha 2025 (or the 2019 version if you're a real one), did you feel overcome by the gayness? Did you wonder why the fuck anyone would ever look at their best friend like that? Did shoujo anime music start playing in the back of your head?

...yeah you're not alone.

As previously mentioned, Oubing is currently China's biggest fandom ship (I stay hopeful that this wave of hype will last longer than it did in 2019). I also trust that you all understand why that is.

Seriously, I've never seen any piece of Chinese media except for straight up BL THIS gay.

Let's count on one hand how many BL tropes these movies include.

Red/blue

Soulmates

Only friend

Enemies to lovers

Friends to lovers

Oh oops, we ran out of fingers! Next hand.

Friends to enemies to friends to lovers

Forbidden romance

Demon x angel

Two halves of one... thing

...bondage? I suppose? If you know you know THE scene.

Oh wow look at that we ran out of fingers again. MOVING ON TO THE NEXT HAND-

Okay, I'll stop here. All of this makes Oubing technically a very vanilla ship (ignore the bondage that's mostly a joke. Though you WILL see a lot of art involving Ne Zha's red sash in... different usages) and very sweet. Pure love, I suppose.

Do you know about Shangmei Oubing, a variation on Oubing featuring different adaptations of Ne Zha and Ao Bing? Well now you do. Read this post to figure out what I'm talking about.

If there's a spectrum of the wholesome-ness of Oubing ships, Shangmei Oubing is in the middle. Yes, it's very toxic, but technically Ne Zha does really love Ao Bing a lot, just in the wrong ways.

On the OPPOSITE end of that spectrum, we have Yunbing.

Yunbing is the ship between Ne Zha and Ao Bing from the 2021 movie New Gods Reborn: Ne Zha. The movie itself is on Netflix- it's kind of a mid movie, I'm NGL, but the animation is pretty good.

I haven't watched the whole movie (how do I know it's mid? Because I saw some clips and they made me sigh out loud) so I'm maybe not the most reliable critic, but it's just not peak storytelling, okay?

Yunbing is 80% made TF up (headcanon ships are the best ships) because in the movies they hate each other, like TRUE hate, not gay hate. I'm talking GENERATIONAL hating.

If you ignore canon, though, (my favourite thing to do), you are left with Yunbing, which is honestly really fucking yummy.

Here's a quick overview of the background and dynamic of the ship/movie/characters without spoiling the plot of the movie.

The main character of the movie is called Li Yunxiang (remember that Ne Zha's dad is Li Jing, so technically his full name is Li Nezha prior to him fucking himself up via sashimi-ing his flesh from his bones).

Li Yunxiang is the reincarnation of Ne Zha in a modern setting in the fictional East Sea City (Donghai City). He doesn't know or remember being Ne Zha. He works as a deliveryman I think, or a smuggler or something low-paying and dangerous I think.

In East Sea City, water is in shortage due to the Dragon Clan (now a rich family business) hoarding it. The third son of this Dragon Clan (his name is De San) is, you guessed it, the reincarnated Ao Bing.

Actually I'm not sure if he's reincarnated or if he's just been here the whole time hating.

De San, unlike our polite nice Ao Bing from Ne Zha 2019/2025, or the terrified victim Ao Bing from Shangmei, is a huge bitch. He's also a girlfailure. He's not some mass-murdering psychopath, but he's a spoiled rich brat who lives and breathes capitalism and privilege.

Look at his stupid face. Isn't he punchable? No, despite the blonde hair, the director has confirmed he isn't mixed or foreign, he's just an idiot who bleached his hair.

He was supposed to be some sort of dominant playboy daddy character but the entire nation of China just immediately saw the potential for girlfailure brat bottom and I guess that's where my brain went too.

After Ne Zha pulled his tendons out, his dad paid some SERIOUS money to make him a mechanical tendon. Let me tell you I don't know why but this shot of his metal spine is SO fucking sexy

Sorry for thirsting on main, IDK what it is but it's getting to me.

De San still wants revenge on Ne Zha for pulling his fucking tendons out so he spends like 10000 hours trying his very best to kick Li Yunxiang's (confused) ass and never manages to get there, it's so funny.

See, the main reason this ship is so delicious is the dynamic, not their interactions because this is ACTUAL hate, I'm talking they'd kill each other in an instant with NO hesitation. The sexual tension is through the roof. Okay, they're both straight, but you DON'T HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THAT DOCTRINE.

Mild spoiler alert!

There's a scene in which Li Yunxiang gets one over De San by making him crash his car. As De San goes flying out of the car in intense pain, he glances over at Yunxiang, who's looking back at him.

Instead of giving him a middle finger or a thumbs down, Yunxiang fucking gives him a finger heart. IK it's supposed to be mocking but it's so funny, especially the BLATANT rage on De San's face afterwards.

The appeal of this ship is just the hate sex. This is a ship 100% meant for gooners, if you'd prefer sweet vanilla hand-holding and blushing you probably want to go back to regular Oubing.

Why does De San have such pillow princess potential? First of all, look at him. What the fuck is that waist to shoulder to leg ratio?

Second, in the Cantonese dub, he calls his father (Ao Guang) "daddy" (in English btw). Sorry, what? You are a twenty-something year old fully grown man. It is fairly common for rich Cantonese people to call their father daddy (according to my rich Cantonese friend) but it's a little much.

Third, he's such a failure it's hilarious. Spoiler alert: there's a whole scene in which his father calls him a failure and he's like "wait what". He's kind of dumb and pathetic despite being arrogant and proud.

Very princess-like. Chinese version of Drarry, basically. They also both really like cars! TBH if they weren't Ao Bing and Ne Zha's reincarnations they'd probably be really good friends.

Generations of hating each other is such gay behaviour, WHY is that other man on your mind over thousands of years??

Some of the popular headcanons for Yunbing:

Yunxiang calls De San "third princess" or "princess" because he's such a... princess

In the middle of like, fistfighting each other they somehow transition to having sex without knowing how

De San slaps Yunxiang in the face and he's like "on the other side too"

"Only I can be the one to kill him, fuck off!" *surprised look* "No that's not what I meant-"

Inappropriate usage of the metal spine (which is probably more sensitive and delicate...?)

I recommend, if you're looking for Oubing content (of the decidedly not workplace friendly variety) and if you like ENEMIES to lovers (emphasis on the enemies part) that you go through the AO3 Yunbing tag (云冰, I'll link the AO3 tag here directly).

If you want recs please ask me, I am so passionate about all three iterations of Oubing.

To quote a XHS user:

Oubing: Pure love

Shangmei Oubing: Pure fear

Yunbing: Pure hate

[inugalon]

For any Ne Zha 2 fans and especially Oubing fans, may I recommend: Shangmei Oubing

Oubing (Ne Zha x Ao Bing) is probably the biggest ship in China right now. I'm sure we can all understand why. Soulmates, red blue, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, angst, hurt, comfort, THE WHOLE PACKAGE DEAL.

Oubing is generally a very sweet, vanilla and heartwarming ship. For those of us that like the darker stuff, though, I have something for you: 上美藕饼, or Shangmei Oubing.

What TF is a Shangmei? Shang-mei is an abbreviation for Shanghai Animation Studio, a company that made many beloved animated childhood films in the 60s-90s. They made the most iconic Ne Zha film, which is the 1979 Ne Zha Nao Hai (Ne Zha Conquers the Sea).

In the 1979 version, Ne Zha and Ao Bing are definitely not friends. Ne Zha plucks out Ao Bing's tendons and skins and kills him, and Ao Bing eats children. Ao Bing 1979 is also kind of really ugly (his dragon form is really pretty though!)

This doesn't exactly seem like ship material right? You're correct.

BUT!

Shanghai released a short promotional video to celebrate a collaboration. The promotional video featured Ne Zha and Ao Bing from the 1979 version. In the video, Ne Zha didn't kill Ao Bing. No. In this video, Ne Zha and Ao Bing have a bit of a... scary dynamic.

You can probably find the video on Douyin or XHS, but in it, Ao Bing appears in a familiar-looking red wheelchair. He looks very different from his 1979 design- he looks more human, and he's in a half-dragon half-human form. Generally much prettier than his 1979 design.

Throughout the video, he wears a slightly terrified and miserable expression on his face. His phone screen is a selfie with him and Ne Zha in which he's smiling VERY awkwardly. Ne Zha, in fact, has opened up a seafood shop for the two of them.

Probably the biggest thing is that Ne Zha in this promotional video calls Ao Bing "Bingbing". Ao Bing also calls Ne Zha "Zhazha." So cute, right? Seems normal?

Well, in Ao Bing's phone screen saver, the selfie with him and Ne Zha involves him sitting on the wheelchair, smiling a pained smile. Ne Zha is hovering over his shoulder, smiling a very THREATENING smile.

Oh, and the wheelchair? The wheelchair isn't a wheelchair. It's Ne Zha's flying red sash, the Huntianling. Remember this sash obeys Ne Zha's will.

You can interpret this two ways.

Ao Bing has had a change of heart but is a little depressed because he's disabled now. He and Ne Zha are just good friends, and Ne Zha is taking care of him while also keeping a close eye on him to make sure he's not doing anything bad.

2. The popular interpretation.

Ne Zha, out of trauma (remember his dad is a huge asshole and he had to commit suicide very, very painfully) has formed an inappropriate attachment to Ao Bing, who is terrified out of his mind of Ne Zha, but is essentially prisoner because he can't even walk and is trapped within the red sash at all times.

Ne Zha forces Ao Bing to call him by a cutesy nickname, pretend that he loves Ne Zha, and essentially is speedrunning Stockholm Syndrome.

VERY toxic and very dark. Remember that Shangmei's Ao Bing is not a good innocent baby dragon- he eats children. Ne Zha is a protagonist who believes in justice, but he's also a kid who's been through a LOT of trauma and has never had a good family, whereas Ao Bing grew up cherished and loved.

For Ne Zha, this twisted love may be all he knows. For Ao Bing, he's terrified out of his mind, but knows he "deserves" this treatment- doomed to play happy family with his enemy, the enemy that crippled him.

I am NGL, I kind of like this dynamic. Being part of a big fandom is so satisfying. Whenever I'm full on sweet happy Oubing content I can switch to dark Shangmei Oubing content.

Shangmei Oubing is now one of the most popular ships in Ne Zha fandom. It's second only to regular Oubing. People also ship Ne Zha and Ao Bing in the 2021 New Gods Reborn movie: that ship is also really yummy. Oubing in general is yummy.

The dynamic I've seen the most often is as follows, with minor alterations depending on the specific fanwork:

After beating Ao Bing's ass, Ne Zha leaves him alive, but the rest of the myth and story proceed as usual (for the actual myth, see my Ne Zha post linked here). After Ne Zha commits suicide and is reborn in a body made of lotus roots, he ascends to godhood.

Ne Zha, traumatised and brimming with hate for his "father" Li Jing, searches for any source of love and affection he can find. He settles on Ao Bing, his old enemy- the little white dragon who was once so arrogant. He doesn't know exactly why: half jealousy that someone as evil as Ao Bing can have a better family than him, and half a desire for revenge since Ao Bing's death was what led him to have to commit suicide.

He kidnaps Ao Bing and keeps him captive on the red sash wheelchair. Ao Bing's father can't help him- he's already lost to Ne Zha multiple times, so Ao Bing can only resign himself to being Ne Zha's plaything.

Ne Zha, seeking love in any way he can get it, essentially begins to play house with Ao Bing- pretending they're best friends, calling each other cute nicknames (in some versions forcing Ao Bing to share a bed with him) and generally being very affectionate.

Ao Bing, terrified of Ne Zha, goes along and essentially lives a life of misery.

Ne Zha technically treats Ao Bing very well if he doesn't misbehave. If he does, however, well then...Ne Zha sometimes tortures Ao Bing emotionally (his trauma has made him ruthless and somewhat cruel) and humiliates him by making him crawl, since Ao Bing is now crippled. When Ao Bing cries or gets upset, Ne Zha tells him it's his penance for eating children.

Mpreg is a common tag, but more commonly it's Ao Bing finding some way to either commit suicide or he goes completely insane after years of living in fear. Ne Zha panics after seeing Ao Bing break down, and realises he's come to truly care for Ao Bing.

Toxicity adds flavour, everyone. Shangmei Oubing is actually so delicious.

[inugalon]

Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, talking to his son Ao Bing, "Let me see your war face!" (cr takehisa) (from Chinese box office god donghua movie NeZha 2) (sound on please)

[inugalon]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! WELCOME 2025!!

[inugalon]

Shizun! Shizun! Shizun!!!!!!! 😘😘💕✨

[inugalon]

Luo Binghe would sadly show Shizun his papercut for sympathy with big wet eyes and a trembling bottom lip, but then a monster rips off his arm and he's waiting in the bushes for it to grow back before he shows his face to his husband again.

[inugalon]