[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.
Are you considering including Lotus Lantern in any of your AUs?? (For context, it's a story about Erlang Shen's nephew freeing his mother from underneath a mountain after Erlang Shen sticks her there. In many versions, it's Sun Wukong who acts as his sifu)
(Oh don't worry I know all about Lotus Lantern, Wukong's little outburst in it is half of what inspired the Wukong's Mom AU after all!)
And HONESTLY? Given how it's during the time Wukong is a Bodhisattva/full Buddha, it could take place in EITHER AU.
The only difference is that Chen Xiang (I think that's the lad's name) would have either a support group of a lot of immortal monkey aunts and a pair of badass moms BUT also has to deal with his sifu's little sister inciting him to do acts of violence to get the job done purely because she despises Erlang Shen.
Or his sifu's wife to act like a quasi-mother figure which is bother very sweet and INCREDIBLY sad and imparts on his further vigilance in getting his real mom out from under the mountain.
(Btw bit of a dick move on Erlang's part given he went through the same thing in some iterations of his own myth but WHATEVER)
