Latest Posts by qiulangjun - Page 8
Elsewhere AU - End (to be continued)
again, reblog with reasons in the tags!
reblog with reasons in the tags!
*ignore the grammer error in the title, it’s supposed to say “is the most” dijdkdksk
Qijiu Week 2023
Day 7: Domestic Life & Warm Meal
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In exchange for Xuan Su, Yue Qingyuan took Shen Qingqiu far away and disappeared from the cultivation world. Meanwhile, Shen Jiu knows that the beast's blood lies dormant within his body, but is unaware that Yue Qingyuan, too, has placed his life in Luo Binghe's hands.
“原来，心是会碎的。
原来，心碎是有声音的。
心碎是什么声音呢？
那是一种天塌下来的声音，震耳欲聋、眼前一黑。”
《泾渭情殇》，第121章
-Chapter 121, Jing Wei Qing Shang by Please Don't Laugh
Because I’m curious what people think. Reblog with opinions in the tags!
So proud of my mother for doing her own research after I sent her that meme. A sign she hung in her car window.
Every time I am supposed to work on something serious serious I make a post :) Bufu (clothing with buzi) is definitely something fashionable for winter 2020/2021. I think there started to be more become popular since 2019 winter.
Even the porn bots want Shen Qiao but I mean who can blame them tho
t97, the author of nan chan and invitation to wine, has a new novel!!! its called guo tian men (rough translation: crossing the heavenly gate) and it’s xianxia, 1v1 and HE. very excited to see where this goes!
Gong Jun dressed to attend the Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2024 show in Paris.
hello im back with another carrd
i made this because i was having a hard time finding these, and i wanted to help my fellow qian qiu enthusiasts
OMG OMG OMG
TGCF SEASON 2 EPISODE 1 PREMIERE RECAP
Omg okay so it was the premiere today and yes TGCF DONGHUA season 2 is not out yet it’ll air on October 18 as scheduled but episode 1 is premiering early today, tomorrow and next week (?) at physical premiere ticketed events, one in Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok each.
What happened: (1) VA intros and yes! Xie Lian’s new VA (2) An edited 1 hour plus long S1 highlights so you JOG UR MEMORY OF WHAT HAPPENED (3) S2 Episode 1 premiere (4) Guest appearance by vtuber Fulgur lol and (5) There’s a lucky draw quiz segment (?)
What you guys can expect in Episode 1 of Season 2:
It starts with court drama as we all know and Jun Wu’s voice is more twinky than I expected LOL
SHI QINGXUAN?! That first meeting between SQX and XL we saw in the mid-autumn teaser release ISNT ALL LIKE THAT SCENE IS WAY FUNNIER IN FULL OMFG
Yes the part where SQX male turns back into SQX female and trying to get XL to try it out
GHOST CITY ANIMATION IS SO DAMN FUCKING GOOD??!!! And all the random store sellers and Lan Chang the older ghost who harassed XL?! And the way he delivers the line where he says he’s impotent LOL
OMFG AND THE DAMN HIGHLIGHT WAS CERTAINLY THAT GAMBLING SCENE FOR LANG QIANQIU omg all the ghosts were watching HUA CHENGZHU flirt with Xie Lian and LIVING FOR IT IT IS WAY FUNNIER ANIMATED EVERYONE IN THE HALL WAS LAUGHING EVERY TWO MINUTES
The TRIPLE QUARDRUPLE HANDHOLDING SCENES OMGGGGGG LIKE EVERYONE ISTG EEPED AND AWWED LIKE THAT IS HOW SWEET AND MUSHY AND EMBARRASSING IT WAS HUA CHENG CONTROL URSELF
We are in for a treat ISTG episode 1!!!
Ends with ‘Gege, I lost to you’ ERMMM AND FLASHBACK TO WHEN SAN LANG SAID HE WOULD MEET XIE LIAN THE NEXT TIME IN HIS TRUE FORM
A random ghost in the background: “omg I’m going to die I’m going to die” after seeing Hua Cheng’s newest ‘skin’ and another ghost going: “wtf aren’t you alr dead lol” 😂😂😂😂😂
Sound on for half a Xie Lian intro and a full Hua Cheng intro 😘
Going to head back and open up the goodie pack!!! I swear I had forgotten how good TGCF was and how excited I am for it like GET TOGETHER TGCF FRIENDS CUZ EPISODE 1 AND SEASON 2 DONGHUA IS GOING TO BE A HELL OF A RIDE
Wei Wuxian’s Cultivation Method
We were asked a series of questions pertaining to Wei Wuxian’s cultivation that were fairly interesting. We’ve decided to sum up the contents of our reply here. (This reply occurred over a series of messages so I’ve rearranged the answers and questions it to the best that I can)
What would be the most appropriate form to address Wei Wuxian’s cultivation? Should it be called the “devil/monster path 魔道 (Mó dào)” or the “ghost path / 鬼道 (Guǐ dào)? And how does that apply in the context of the book? (妖魔鬼怪 (yāo mó guǐ guài) was the term that Lan Qiren used describe the various creatures in the novel)
If he’s not using the “devil/monster path/ 魔道”, then how does 邪魔歪道 (xié mó wāi dào]) and 邪门歪道 (xié mén wāi dào) come into play? This phrase has been used by various characters (ie. Jin Zixuan) to describe his mode of cultivation.
To answer question 1, you’d need to revert back to Chapter 13 of the novel.
This was in chapter 13:
"我问你，妖魔鬼怪，是不是同一种东西 / “I’ll ask you this; are yao, mo, gui, guai the same thing?”
” 魏无羡笑道：“不是。” / Wei Wuxian smiled as he replied, “‘No, they aren’t.”
“为何不是？如何区分” / “How are they different? How can they be differentiated?”
“妖者非人之活物所化；魔者生人所化；鬼者死者所化；怪者非人之死物所化.” / “Yao are created from non-human living beings; Mo are created from humans; Gui are created from the deceased; Guai are created from dead non-humans. ”
This exchange occurred when Lan Qiren questions Wei Wuxian on the classification of monsters, of which the book establishes that 魔 (Mo - devil/monster) from living (humans), and 鬼 (Gui - ghost) from the deceased (humans). Hence, based on this definition, as he’s only shown to animate the dead (humans) in the novel, it’s quite safe to say that he’s practicing 鬼道. (Ghost path.) C-fans have an additional meta that Wei Wuxian himself is a living person, so in terms of classification, he can only be classified as someone who is a “魔 (Mo - devil/monster)” (from a living person), practicing the “ghost” path. (ie. resurrecting the dead). To confirm this theory, “魔道 - devil/monster path” has only been mentioned once in the novel, “鬼道.- Ghost path” has been used 12 times. Wei Wuxian himself has also addressed that he “修鬼道” (cultivates the ghost path). (As a note, 妖魔鬼怪 itself is a general idiom that refers to all beings that are seen to be evil. MXTX takes the idiom apart in the context of this novel) Onto Question 2 (You might need to understand Chinese to fully appreciate this but I’ll try to explain it anyway).
邪魔歪道 itself is a common idiom which traditionally means to “stray from the traditional (or orthodox) path” [baidu dictionary definition] but it could also mean demonic/evil ways. This phrase is also commonly used in Buddhism teaching. “魔” in modern Buddhism loosely refers to Mara, a demon that claims lives and obstructs good deeds. The other term 邪门歪道 is a synonym of the former but without the religious connotations.
So here something that’s very interesting - this manner of which interpretation is used seems to depend on what the user is thinking. In Chapter 7 (footnote 7) Wei Wuxian has interestingly referred to his type of cultivation as “the cultivation method that he practiced in the past.” Also, in Chapter 14, when questioned by Lan Qiren, Wei Wuxian brings up the idea of a “fourth” source of power (ie. ghost path); and he questions as to why resentful energy can’t be used as a reservoir of power. From this, we can actually infer that Wei Wuxian feels that it is a source of unorthodox power, but not necessarily evil.
Contrarily, it’s obvious that the rest of the characters deem that his methods are downright evil. So hence, they would interpret idiom as demonic/evil ways.
Interestingly though, it seems like 邪魔歪道 were used by people in the "orthodox” clans - Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, Jin Zixuan, etc. On the other hand, 邪门歪道 was used by Xue Yang and WWX. In the same way that 邪魔歪道 is more closely linked to religious teachings, the unorthodox is deemed as “evil”, hence the term 邪魔歪道 becomes a more fitting term used by those in the orthodox camp. References (they’re all in Chinese): (1) Definition of 魔，(2) Definition of 邪魔外道，(3) Definition of 邪门歪道 (4) Definition of 妖魔鬼怪 (4) Chinese Meta - Wei Wuxian is a central character in MDZS, why is he on the 鬼道 (ghost path) and not the 魔道 (devil/monster) path?
guys i made a carrd for liu yao with updated links
(read liu yao. please.)
the journey of 10,000 li, home
The idea of Xie Lian, in his new life with Hua Cheng, carrying mini-trauma over things he'd gotten a little too used to over the centuries.
Xie Lian doing a combat move training with Hua Cheng and sticking the landing without tripping or falling or getting injured, only to stand there blinking as Hua Cheng stopped in his attempted riposte, watching with mild horror as Xie Lian looked around as if searching for something to go wrong
Xie Lian waking up in the middle of the night with a start, not because of a nightmare but because he heard the slightest creaking of the roof and thought it was going to fall down on his head
Xie Lian walking down the street laughing with Hua Cheng, only to stop mid-sentence and grab his money pouch, eyes wide because it was still there
Xie Lian grabbing Hua Cheng randomly, and at Hua Cheng's worried gaze trying to laugh off the fact that he'd thought that, if he hadn't yet been injured, it was because his bad luck had led to San Lang getting injured instead
Xie Lian randomly wondering out loud how this place he'd stayed in for ten years hadn't yet come down with a plague or become a battlefield
Xie Lian buying a treat and stopping after the first bite because there hadn't been a single insect or piece of dirt on it; it was actually fresh
Xie Lian reaching up and grabbing the necklace around his neck with wide eyes because the earrings Hua Cheng had given him hadn't broken yet and that meant the necklace must have
Xie Lian waking up rested and relaxed and desperately checking his hair and clothes for blood stains
Xie Lian nearly falling into a bath because he'd prepared his body for the usual cold and he'd only felt nice and warm
Just. Xie Lian preparing for the usual minor aches and pains that accompanied living forever with bad luck and just getting shocked over and over again when things continued to be normal and pleasant. While Hua Cheng watches with growing horror and fury over these tiny, simple things that had been stripped from his god.
if literally any other character had asked this, hua cheng would have called them a piece of shit dumbass trash
Four Books in and no one working on Mo Dao Zu Shi official English release understands that Wei Wuxian doesn’t call his Cultivation Demonic but the Ghost Path.
This to me is just extreme incompetence at this point. I don’t know if it’s the translator or someone purposely changing it afterwards but either someone doesn’t know that Gui Dao and Mo Dao are two different words and that is important because the use of Mo Dao is meant to disparage Wei Wuxian in the story.
Or someone is purposely changing it back to Demonic Cultivation because they think it sounds cooler, because of the title of the novel (it’s meant to be a misnomer) I have no idea. Either way it’s completely wrong and completely misses the point why two different words are used throughout the story to refer to Wei Wuxian’s cultivation.
This isn’t a fan translation but an official translation and mistranslations like this are going to impact people’s understanding of the story.
The Narrative Importantance of Hualian's Sexual Intimacy
This is a repost and minor edit of a thread I made on Twitter yesterday. This is a topic I have always wanted to talk about because of how often it comes up in TGCF fandom, time and time again.
‼️CW: mentions of sexual assault, self-harm, bodily injury‼️
⚠️Major spoilers for the entire novel ahead⚠️
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Saw a question the other day on what relevance Hualian being sexually intimate by the end of the novel had to either the narrative or Xie Lian's character arc.
In short: it bears significant relevance, especially in context of other themes the novel explores like bodily autonomy.
Throughout the novel, we see time and time again that Xie Lian is often dehumanized by pretty much everyone—including himself—with the sole exception of Hua Cheng. I've talked more in depth about it in an old twt thread, for those interested. @/stalliondany on twt has also made an excellent recent analysis that goes deeper into the specific ways Xie Lian was used as a physical shield, martyr, or scapegoat for others without thought to his humanity or suffering. I highly recommend reading it first!
But to sum it all up: it's important to Xie Lian's character arc to keep in mind that he is used to seeing his own body as a tool to solve problems. And in crucial narrative moments, he is robbed of his bodily autonomy, and either brutalized or violated in service of others.
One of the plot points that ties together all these concepts is actually... Xie Lian's chastity vows. That will be the main focus of this post.
When he was a young teen (or possibly as a child), Xie Lian took an oath of chastity because such was the norm for cultivators seeking ascension in Xian Le. To Xie Lian, even as he grew older, he never had an issue with this because he just never felt sexual attraction to another person, or any desire to be intimate in that way. Even if he yearned for the concept of being loved. And indeed, at first glance, his chastity vows may seem like nothing more than a side note. Or even a funny gag when it comes to Hua Cheng (later).
In reality Xie Lian's chastity vows are not only used against him, but paint a very disturbing picture with regards to his repeated violation.
The Land of the Tender scene is the most obvious example of this. Xie Lian's vows are directly tied to his spiritual powers, and because it affects how his followers see him. They place a high value on his chastity as being vital to his moral character.
For reference, an excerpt from TGCF vol. 3 of the English print translation, page 135:
Xie Lian's method of cultivation required a pure body. Those who worshipped the ascended cultivators who practiced this path were firmly convinced of the transcendence of gods untouched by earthly desires. If they couldn't protect their purity, their following would no doubt collapse and their powers would be devastated. It wouldn't be as serious as plunging from godhood to back to mortality, and there was still the possibility of recovery after many more years of cultivation—but with things as they were now, there was no time for him to sit behind closed doors and cultivate for years!
As a reminder: it is Bai Wuxiang who orchestrated this whole thing. Him trying to compromise Xie Lian in this way is horrific on many levels, yet that's not the main point I want to make here. It's that to preserve his "pure body," the solution Xie Lian realizes is to severely harm himself. To impale himself with his sword through the abdomen.
The juxtaposition of having to maintain bodily purity versus the gruesome violence inflicted on his body is extremely stark.
This grim contrast is no more evident than in the 100 swords scene. Where Xie Lian's body is literally brutalized and defiled to an unthinkable degree. To the point where he, quote: "no longer looked human." Yet he emerges from that temple physically "pure" all the same. His chastity vows were not broken, his body healed without scars. As though he was untouched.... And yet, he was completely destroyed mentally. It left permanent effects on him as a person. It's even worse when the scene is read analogous to sexual assault, as many have talked about before. I think that interpretation actually hits the nail on the head, especially keeping in mind the Land of the Tender scene and all the similarities between them.
Following the 100 swords scene, Xie Lian of course has a complete disconnect between himself and his body. I believe this is part of why he doesn't really feel pain, except when he is with Hua Cheng, who treats him and his body as one. As a person who is cherished, and loved. Hua Cheng is adamant in his adoring treatment of Xie Lian. Small injuries are also something he cannot tolerate because he knows what horrors befell Xie Lian in the past. (He was present at both the terrible moments mentioned above.) He will not let any of that continue, regardless of what Xie Lian says, because he sees it as injustice.
Xie Lian is willing to use himself as a tool to help others no matter the personal cost. He even thinks of it as something he must do, or that he deserves as penance. But Hua Cheng is the one person who asks "what about you?" He's the one that insists "your happiness matters." And it is Hua Cheng that takes issue with Xie Lian's chastity vows as being unfair, unlike everyone else. Regardless of Hua Cheng's reasons for this diegetically, symbolically it means a lot that he is the one opposed to this.
Just thinking about the chastity vows on their own for a moment: Xie Lian can indulge a little bit in stuff like alcohol, which isn't great to begin with for him. But he absolutely cannot engage in "pleasures of the flesh." He can totally have his flesh ripped from his bones, literally, but actually experiencing any kind of sexual gratification? Now that would make him unclean, and lesser.... Why? Because unlike everything else, that's something Xie Lian would do simply for himself to feel good. And what greater crime is there than to ever dare put himself first?
So Hua Cheng—being the one person who puts Xie Lian first above all else—thinking that such a restriction doesn't make sense is important. Hua Cheng being the person who Xie Lian breaks those vows for in the end is important! (Especially because it seems to have been an easy choice for him.)
And of course, the scene with Jun Wu and the Virginity Detector Sword™ has to be mentioned. Again, there's symbolism to be had! The perpetrator of two of the most physically violating moments of Xie Lian's life (both of which were sexual in nature; one literally and one allegorically) being the one to "check" Xie Lian's virginity... oof. Yikes. It's dramatic irony. It's deeply uncomfortable. Especially because Jun Wu probably wanted to know if Xie Lian slept with Hua Cheng, as he already knew Xie Lian wasn't the ghost fetus' father.
So it's once again a stark juxtaposition: of Ghost King Hua Cheng disagreeing with the purity vows, wanting Xie Lian to break them for himself and his own freedom. Versus Heavenly Emperor Jun Wu wanting to weaponize those vows against Xie Lian in whatever way he can, intact or not, to keep control over him.
Naturally, there's something to be said for the real-world problem with such purity vows being used against people, to judge their moral character, societal expectations, etc. Elephant in the room. It's very on the nose, so there isn't even much to say about it that hasn't been said already.
In the end, it comes down to how horrible it is that when Xie Lian tries to help others, it results in immense harm to his body every time. Yet he is expected to continue to bear it, for centuries, by others and also himself. Until he meets Hua Cheng, who helps him rediscover what it means to be happy, and to be loved. So yes, it's absolutely relevant that in the end, Xie Lian decides to break his purity vows to be intimate with Hua Cheng. That he's able to put himself in Hua Cheng's hands, and let himself be treated with affection and desire. It's Xie Lian finally forgiving himself, and beginning to heal.
WAKE UP Y'ALL SCUM VILLAIN IS ALIVE
this was posted on svsss japan's official twt account this morning in celebration of Shen Qingqiu's birthday