#more allegories

[the-monkey-ruler]

Hope this isn’t too odd of a question but is there like, a minor theme of the villains being like evil versions of certain gods/allies? Like, the most obvious is the Six Eared Macaque, who impersonated Sun Wukong, but there’s also Red Boy, who’s compared to Nezha in appearance and also uses a spear and fire, Lady Earth Flow, who called herself the Half Guanyin, and I heard that Princess Iron Fan had an origin of being a goddess before becoming a demon, and I heard that the Queen Mother of (1)

Well like I said before when it comes to the antagonists in Xiyouji... there can be many different types of interpretations that can be drawn from. But I don't think that there is a real 'evil versions' of deities going on from there.

Red Boy being a good example as he has a history in Buddhism before Xiyouji was made.

I think something that people forget or don't know is that Wu Cheng'en's version of Journey to the West, wasn't really the 'first' or rather is wasn't something that he created all from his own imagination. The story of Xuanzang's pilgrimage has been told many times at this point and there were many stray stories with different demons or challenges that were either for pure entertainment value or did have great allegorical meanings.

What gave Wu Cheng'en that edge that made 'his' version of the story was not only did he drawn from many of the most popular stories, interpretations, and took the most charming (or humane) aspects of the characters and was able to make a large, long decently cohesive story that people in either lower class or higher class can draw enjoyment from.

So that being said... taking EVERY allegorical possibility of each antagonist, with each demon having a tie to either Buddism, Daoism, or Chinese folklore, or even a mix of two or all three... is RESEARCH PAPER level kind of study and I am not qualified to answer in a tumble post ;_;

But that being I said I don't think Red Boy is just evil Nezha (who has his own lore and history) as when he turns into the Child of Wealth he becomes Shancai which has a rich history all on its own.

Red Boy takes greater inspiration from the Buddhist history of this disciple than of Li Nezha.

Lady Earth Flow another example only calls herself 'Half Gaunyin' because she stole precious Candles from vulture peak. There are a lot of demons in Xiyouji that show their power or clout rather by having a connection to Buddisht lore, like the Scorpion Queen claiming she was able to injure Tathāgata and that the Golden Wing Peng is his uncle because his mother the Peacock ate him and he escaped giving 'birth' to him and was promoted to his godmother hence the connection.

These connections are more about giving credibility to the antagonists' power and even giving more insight into perhaps where these stories or such are connected.

Princes Iron Fan being a Taoist Goddess is a thing but that happens moreso in the Yaun Dynasty in which is before Xiyouji was written and in zaju she is presented as a sister of Lishan Laomu (who funny is enough is ALSO the sister of Sun Xingzhe in Zaju Xiyou ji so that is interesting) but left heaven due to a dispute with the Queen Mother at a banquet. However, it looks like in Wu Cheng'en's Xiyouji I have seen her being described as a Rakshasa which is connected to Hindu lore. I do now know if the intended meaning was to erase the Taoist backstory she has but perhaps making this a lot like Red Boy in giving the character a new background for the sake of the narrative. Or perhaps it is to show how multiple different inspirations can be used to create a single character and that while it is not really a 'canon' it would have been realizing known who the character is at that point and would not cause much confusion.

As for the Queen Mother being a demon, I personally do not think that the version seen in Wu Cheng'en would have that connection due to the fact that the image of the Queen Mother was greatly changed by that point. Her interpretation in the Zhou dynasty where they give her the title of a goddess of death and later she is influenced by Taoism and is given further elements such as immorality and longevity. But even in that interpretation, she is an immortal, not a demon, and perhaps the re-writings of her lore make it so that when he was more integrated with Taoism she was given a different backstory as well. I cannot say for certain as this is more of a case of a change of legends that she had ties showing of being connected to being a feline/tiger demon that was later changed within her own legend.

However when it comes to a lot of antagonists in Xiyouji having heavenly backgrounds I think there is more discussion there, than trying to compare them to any other existing deities as the doppelganger trope isn't played that much.

There are about 4 fallen Celetials if we are not including Princess Iron Fan being Yellow Robed Demon, Golden Horned King, Silver Horned King, and Yellow Brows King and about 12 heavenly animals (I will not name them all) that have escaped heaven and each one gives their own varies of reasons from being personal gain or that they were ordered to just to be trails specifically for the pilgrims to overcome. Some wanted revenge, love, glory, or just for their own sake.

Personally, I think that having so many heavenly creatures fall from heaven to be demons was to show that both heaven and earth are not perfect and that even in the highest authority there are still cracks in the system that must be held accounted for. Bajie and Wujing being two big examples as they themselves were fallen celestial soldiers on earth as a punishment while other celestials saw it as a way of freedom and escaping their responsibilities. It makes an interesting argument of how the heaven's view of Yaoguai and their origin influence their judgment, Wukong being the only Yaogaui without a background tied to the heaven beyond being made of Yin and Yang but his fellow disciples once had stood there.

I think there is a lot to be said on how the treatment of Yaoguai changes when the antagonist is from a heavenly origin as they are rarely if never killed, rather being subdued and sent back to heaven for trial or just punishment. As much as Wukong does kill a lot of demons, he also sends a lot of them to court for their crimes which I do find to be an interesting take, especially with yaoguai that Wukong wishes to personally punish.

The relationship between heaven and yaoguai is something I think could really be delved into with how there almost seems to be double standards when it comes to how yaoguai are to be treated when they cultivate on their own verse if they eat humans to cultivate verse if 'cheat' by skipping their reincarnation cycle and going straight from animal to humanoid using heavenly objects. From there that almost distracts whether they are able to go back to their original forms to cultivate for their next life to be a human or if they are to be killed and try again in the next life.

But no matter what the case is, yaoguai is seen as both a punishment by the heavens but also seen as a chance for individuals to escape their current status and strive for their own goals, as selfish as they are.

Long story short.

It is that deep.

https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jletters/article/download/251848/171700/942171

[fogmoo]

Lamb to the slaughter

[valtsv]

an angle i enjoy in cosmic/eldritch horror is when, instead resorting to the old classic "the horrors being so incomprehensible that they break your brain and drive you mad" cliché, the premise is that in comprehending the horrors you are so changed by the experience that your new state is indistinguishable to an outside observer from madness. you comprehend the unknowable just fine, but actually communicating that to anyone else is impossible because they just don't have the mental framework required to understand it. the eldritch horrors don't drive you mad. what does is the ordinary everyday horror of finding yourself isolated, ridiculed and doubted at every turn, no matter how hard you try to make yourself heard and understood.

[beaulesbian]

- [Nimona]:You should be questioning everything right now. The will of Gloreth, the Institute, the wall. What's it all really for? - [Ballister]: For protecting the realm. - [Nimona]: Oh, you mean from villains like you? Or monsters like me?

[perdamian]

hey guys… we all know that it’s okay for mithrun to have a caretaker for the rest of his life, right? that even after he heals and potentially regains his desires he will probably still need support?? that the goal of healing is not to become a “normal person”, but to build skills to navigate the world in a way that accommodates your disability??? that relying on the people around you is not a failure, but proof of your desire to live????

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Council of lovefools.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[laikabu]

my controversial opinion is that i like that laios is bigger and more muscular than kabru because, as a poc, buff brown guy x scrawny white guy is so popular and tired, i like it whenever there’s a subversion of it from a work that’s well written. of course, not to mention that they have a very fun dynamic and the comic from the new official world guide spelling out for everyone that they do care about each other lol

i like that kabru does look feminine, especially when fandom makes the brown one always the bigger and masculine one in fanon and any instance of their delicate features is erased, even in yuri (looking at gwitch lol)

speaking of, i really like kikimari in that namari is portrayed as very masculine while kiki is feminine and elegant in fanwork

obviously, fandom isn’t activism duh, but i’m merely speaking from experience as someone who dabbles in both eastern and western fan spaces. i’ve seen it happen so many times that it’s become the staple so i love subversion that’s actually good

[swampybogg]

[flour-is-a-spice]

Is this anything

(original under the cut)

[jules-ln]

ngl I'm a bit obsessed with the idea of Achilles's divine counterpart being the protector of youth. Because Achilles himself is a young man and will remain forever a young man, trapped by death in that state of his life without ever growing old

So, in a way, he represents young men in war

Then I think about Patroclus and how he was basically Achilles's death, he basically was the reason Achilles died along with war

That's why I think if Achilles is Apollo and Hector is Athena, then Patroclus should be Ares

He's the glory of the father, the kind of glory that you can only get by dying in war and being immortalized in songs, He's the thing that kills young men like Achilles, the thing youth like Achilles will kill and die for without thinking

[soaked-ghost]

the three genders: butch dyke, man fag, and grandpa

[drabbles-of-writing]

more memes from the ghostly Golden Guards but now they’re finale flavored

the ghosts are Luz’s own personal hype team and I just know they went through the widest possible range of emotions. first they’re mourning that Luz died and she’s probably not gonna be a ghost with them, then they’re hollering that she’s back to life, and then they’re howling like deranged monkeys as she beats Belos to a PULP. felt more emotion in those ten minutes than they had in their entire living lives

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

[mearchy]

You think THIS site and THIS generation have no media literacy? Guys I read a twitter conversation yesterday between middle aged men where among other things they said the fascist allegory in the Star Wars prequels is the Jedi. That the Jedi having a strict code makes them “arguably fascist.” My god. Award for the least media comprehension on God’s green earth goes to cishet boomer sci-fi fans.

[pharawee]

"How can it be your fault? Let's just let fate runs its course, whether it's your fate, my fate our both of our fates combined."

—I SAW YOU IN MY DREAM · Episode 11

[rambunctioustoons]

"It's funny. Laugh."

[skeleetrom]

I'm not really able to explain this well but...

He/him

She/it