Please Reblog is Your Blog is Safe for Non-Binary People.

one thing i begrudge cql is the practical effects. the fake blood looks so wrong…

nmj just looks like he chocked on some raspberry juice and made a mess of himself

Hi!! I was reading your blog & got me wondering, In the adaptations I’ve seen so far people tell WWX that using resentful energy is damaging him. But how so specifically?What I mean is, when I read the novel I attributed many actions he made to some form of PTSD that wasn’t addressed, considering all that happened to WWX before being thrown at burial mounds. And also applied some of the same thinking to MXY and XY, all of them going through really traumatic experiences previously in their lives

I’m really not an expert on this, both for cultural reasons and also because as a reader I am generally only interested in the fantasy elements insofar as to how they can serve the plot and the explorations of themes, but here is my opinion on it. Take it with a grain of salt!

We have to remember the cosmology (in an anthropological sense) that informs the universe in which mdzs is set. In this cosmology, the world is full of circulating energies/forces ( 气 ). The human body itself relies on this circulation of energy for life and health. Some have an ability to develop and channel spiritual energy (灵气)  in their dantian and through a spiritual core, so that energy comes from within them. Improperly cultivating that force/energy can however lead to a qi deviation (走火入魔). The are different paths ( 道 ) or ways to cultivate and channel energies. 

Modao  (魔道) (often translated as ‘demonic’ cultivation, but I do find that this translation has too much connotations for western readers that do not fit with the setting of mdzs), is different. I’ll use @tonyglowheart ‘s words because they said it pretty succinctly: “modao is a manipulation of external energies with yourself as a conduit. But the energies are corrosive energies and DO affect you corrosively as you channel it”. Using external energies is not limited to modao, and the risks of that are associated are also not limited to modao, as we see with the Nie Sect (ch 24).

“Nie Huaisang continued, “Because our cultivation method was different from those of the other sects’ and our founder was originally a butcher, it was only natural for blood to be shed. The sabers of our past sect leaders were all heavy with hostile energy (戾气) and killing intent (杀气). Almost every single sect leader met a sudden death through qi deviation. Their irritable tempers also had a lot to do with this.” 

Wei Wuxian raised a brow, “Now, this is getting quite close to demonic cultivation (魔歪道).”  

 Nie Huaisang quickly defended, “It’s different! Demonic cultivation is only demonic cultivation because it uses human lives. But, instead of human lives, our sect’s sabers use the lives of those evil spirits and beasts. [...]“

Them being external is also not, either, in itself the biggest issue: for instance, transferring energies can be beneficial, as we see with spiritual energy transfers. The issue is with the dissonance between the energies and the inherent corrosive nature of certain energies : for both modao and the nie sect’s method of cultivation, the issue is that these external energies are hostile or resentful energies ( 怨气). This is why lwj keeps telling wwx to stop using these methods because of how harmful they are to the user. 

“Wei Ying, for cultivating an evil path (邪道) you would eventually have to pay. Throughout time, there has not been a single exception.”

Wei Wuxian, “I can pay.”

Seeing how unconcerned he seemed to be, Lan Wangji lowered his voice, “The path would not only damage your body, but your heart as well.” [ch62]

Also in chapter 71,

Lan Wangji looked at him, as though he could tell at once that he didn’t take it seriously. He took in deep breath, “Wei Ying.”

He continued stubbornly, “The ghost path (鬼道) harms the body and the heart.”

As to how much of wwx’s actions and thoughts are influenced by the resentful energies he wages and how much is the result of his desire for revenge against the wen/his intent to protect the wen remnants, I think wwx’s unreliable narration keeps us from being able to draw a clear line since he himself is not a good judge of that. However, he does show signs associated with improper circulation of energy during that time: he seems more impatient, irritable and suspicious (him not having spiritual energy anymore is also a factor to consider). In a different cosmology, I can see how these might be attributed to PTSD, but I don’t think that’s what mxtx was going for. For me, however, it is clear that wwx does lose himself to the resentful energies during and in the aftermath of the Discussion conference. That we can infer wwx had sensory hallucinations during his time in the cave with lwj, and that he was no memories of this time, support it. Others have also suggested that by the end of his first life, in the process of destroying the yin iron, wwx arrived pretty close to a fatal qi deviation and it does seem likely that the backlash of attempting to destroy it would have been very intense.

As for mxy and xy, i think the situation is quite different, not only because their situations are different from wwx, but also because i feel like they are two different characters. mxy, as i understand it, did not learn how to cultivate the path (if so, he could have enacted his revenge unto his family himself by controlling corpses with resentful energies, no?) but learned a forbidden technique that uses resentful energy. Thus, his decision was made outside of the influence of resentful energies. As for xy, his corrupt and evil motivations (revenge, hate, sadism, greed for power, possessiveness) are what makes him turn to modao--so for me, I can only see modao as perhaps enabling that side of him even more. 

Hopefully, some people might be able to correct me if I said anything wrong, or might want to add more context. I’ll see if I can find posts written by people better informed on the subject than I am!

A bit late, but here’s my sister’s birthday cake. Strawberries and cream, definitely and improvement from last year’s.

It’s the first time I used cake crumbs to cover up my mistakes (definitely a good idea), since my sponge had risen to truly ridiculous heights.

If Satan is supposedly Sebastian’s father (relying wholly on the fandom) does that mean that he’s the son of a fast food worker or

i love them

BABIES.

THEY ARE BABIES.

These have got to be the prettiest things I’ve baked. Some tweaking to the ratios of the ganache and the resting time of the shells should make them better, but for a shot in the dark at a new flavour combination this is a damn good first attempt. 

White chocolate, pink (or red) peppercorn, and ginger macarons

On top is a piece of candied ginger to reduce the strength of its flavour and preserve it but still give that distinct flavour, as well as a shaving of white chocolate and some of the red outside thing (dunno what to call it) from the pink peppercorn. 

The filling is a white chocolate ganache, to which I added finely grated, fresh ginger and freshly ground pink peppercorns. The amount of ginger needed for it to even have the tiniest bit of flavour is insane. 

At the moment it’s not perfect, but a couple more tries and I’ll get it right.

This is why we love Sys. 

*King’s Maker 2nd Seasson Spoiler*

Apparently he’s Rudolph Goldenleonard, brother of Wolfgang and North King.

Don’t take this as a fact, as long as we don"t have access to the complete chapters, these are only spoilers and interpretations of who sees the images.

At the moment I’m going to Shipp Sys x brother 😁!

I READ THE KING’S MAKER IN HALF A DAY

The plot is amazing af, very well thought of (just that confusing chapter with the incomprehensible english, kind of skimmed through that) BUT THE FUCKING ART WOW. JUST BREATHTAKING???

You don’t have to look further than King Wolfgang Goldenleonard himself

I MEAN THIS BOI THO

From this wild beast and bb prince

TO HIS GLORIOUS MAJESTY WTF DO U CALL THIS KIND OF GLO UP?????

Noticed something though, doesn’t Wolfgang remind you of Shell Overlord????

And this guy (one of the king’s children)? Doesn’t he kind of reminds you of someone from Blood Bank?

And this Lord, doesn’t he look (and act) awfully like Victor Nikiforov???

AND SOMEHOW THANOS IS IN IN ALL OF THESE??????!!!!

BUT SERIOUSLY THOUGH, I JUST LOVE THIS SO MUCH AND I HAVE A LOT MORE TO SAY BUT FOR NOW I JUST WISH EVERYONE WILL GIVE IT THE HYPE IT DESERVES

This webtoon is so well-meaning and I even love the artists’ commentary in the end, about what they want to convey through this story and I just am so happy that it means so much to them that their message of love and justice and even the ugliness of society reached their audience.

AHHHHHHH IN LOVE WITH THIS SO I HOPE YOU ALL READ THIS :’)

We all love Lord Sys and his harem kingdom

Lord Sys is a fucking trip and I would Die for him

wolfgang: *doesn't listen* *gets into fights with everyone*

shin, who has to cover for his dumb ass:

Just to brag, once again

I baked this about a week and a half ago. Didn’t get around to posting it though. I also found that icing nozzle number 67 is a pain in the ass. You know the curved petal tips? I’m pretty sure those are for right handed people and right handed people only, unless I just can’t pipe roses. The latter is a more probable reason than I like to think.

Three layer chocolate sponge with a chocolate ganache, decorated with royal icing flowers.

I baked this

Well, I’ve been gone for a while. But I did bake this on Sunday for a friend of mine. Posting this really was quite the impulsive decision. 

Anyone who sees this, THIS IS FUCKING IMPORTANT!

When your head hits the pillow tonight, remind yourself that you’ve done a good job. You are headed down your path at your own pace, and with every obstacle you are trying your utmost best. Be patient with yourself, and remember that big things are achieved not all at once, but one day at a time.

Could you guys imagine if the only sex education people got was from bad fanfiction?