Heaven Official's Blessing

Is it surprising I giving you another #MXTX related review? Nope! Perhaps it's the Heaven Official's Blessing. Perhaps I'm dragging you down to hell-

If you don’t know how to continue living, then live for me. If you don’t know what meaning there is continuing to live, then for now, please use me as your reason to live, and treat me as your pillar to support you in life. Xie Lian was once upon a time the noble Crown Prince of Xian Le, a country that disappeared 800 years ago. He was born under a lucky star, yet after ascending to godhood at a…

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Mistakenly Saving the Villain

Started: 1/15/23

Finished: 1/18/23

Reading Links: Chrysanthemum Garden (1-120.3)

Song Qingshi, a doctor suffering from ALS, dies and transmigrates into Song Qingshi, a medical cultivator who shares many of his mannerisms and views, and is tasked with rescuing the Protagonist Shou—whatever that is? But he chooses wrong, and rescues the canon fodder who was about to die instead.

they said it so well

In hindsight the popularity of using “demonic cultivation” for what Wei Wuxian uses is running counter to what is actually in MDZS being used. It is resulting in a lot of fandom confusion, particularly since demonic cultivation is a xianxia genre standard. But that’s not what is going on in MDZS. The genre standard demonic cultivation revolves around stealing qi, absorbing life energy from others, possessing others to get access to their greater cultivation abilities, and in general much more assholery than what Wei Wuxian does. The actual term used by Wei Wuxian and most of the narration in the novel is Guǐdào; aka Ghost Cultivation. It revolves around manipulating the dead, using resentful energy as a power source, and to be absolutely blunt it is a form of necromancy. It is the “redirection” option in dealing with the dead; drain away resentful energy so that you can convince the dead to finally let go and be liberated. Either by getting the justice they were denied in life or having lifted the worst of their anger and attachment so they can think clearer. Not demonic cultivation. The very title “Mo Dao Zu Shi” is part of the subversion element and part of setting in motion assumptions about the story for the original Chinese readers who know the genre and what the usual tropes are. Because calling it “Gui Dao Zu Shi” would give away too much from the start of what is actually going on. Also per MXTX, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are “morally perfect” and as that is the intention given by the author herself, that means nothing Wei Wuxian does with ghost cultivation has to actually harm the ghosts in a way that would be morally wrong. Like destroying them, preventing them from reincarnating, that kind of thing. He does not hurt the dead. He’s honestly shown to be more friendly with the undead; he is endlessly kind to them in fact and even gentle. Polite too and that deserves marking because Wei Wuxian ignores most manners because he generally doesn’t care. But he puts that care into how he treats the gui (undead) he commands and works with. He gives them rewards for a job well done as shown in the Yi City arc! The one who does use ghost cultivation to hurt both the living and dead is Xue Yang who is repudiated by Wei Wuxian; “Xue Yang has to die” is what he says and that is what he helps Lan Wangji do. But the actual founder? The guy who made it and is the absolute master of it? Rejects that kind of thinking all the way through the story, even at his lowest.

written by lovepsychothefirst on pillowfort

the tag on ao3 is Demonic Cultivation (Modao Zushi) when it should really be Ghost Cultivation | Guidao (Modao Zushi) or something similar, and there should also be specification on which canon is being used, bc in CQL, the manhua, and the donghua, Guidao has adverse affects when in the novel it doesn't do shit to the practitioner.

Hilariously my dungeon meshi brainrot is actually turning out to be an obstacle for writing mdzs fic?? And not in the 'can't focus due to shiny new hyperfixation' way either it's because of a philosophical conflict between the two works. It's not like they're complete opposites or anything but in mdzs and the cultivation genre at large the act of finding balance and spiritual enlightenment leads to this... slowing and even halting of the cycle of life. You can go without eating or sleeping, prolong your lifespan and even become immortal and these are all good admirable things to strive for. Meanwhile in dungeon meshi that would not fly at all like the whole story is an exploration on how trying to extract yourself from the cycle of life and the natural ecosystem you're a part of is actually really bad and you shouldn't do it. All living things need to eat and all will eventually be eaten!!

So when i've been rotating dunmeshi all day and wanna get to one of my wips i have to actively rewire my brain before I start going "Inedia is a violation of the natural cycle of consumption and being consumed" girl that is NOT the energy that's needed here.

was reading my first ever MDZS fic and pfft.

Shen Qingqiu reminds me of Cale Henituse from the trash of the count's family.

It's the unreliable narrator/transmigrator who ends up as an antagonist in a story and who says they want to laze around and be laid back and have a quiet life (and survives) while very much being the least laid back/lazy person in the story who will do several acts of kindness and change said story that way and telling themselves that they are absolutely doing them for selfish reasons while lying to us and themselves about their feelings as a coping mechanism (and also misunderstanding other's feelings towards themselves).

I think I've decided that I'm simply not going to think about genre, age category, target audience, or writing to market in regards to my writing until some potential nebulous future day where the logistics of publishing/marketing become relevant. until then I can do whatever I want and the target audience is Me

Wild to me that in all the webnovels I’ve read so far, only Wangxian (and Xue Meng) end up as parents in their respective books. Please translation gods, send me a webnovel where the main couple end up as parents 😩

truly we could not rid the world of any au, the fandom ecosystem must have balance, and so, as much as it pains me to admit, much like the humble mosquito, or the wasp i fucking guess, we have to keep soulmate aus

(but they should go on a high shelf until alloros learn how to behave)

(if you said omegaverse aus, grow up. stop being a baby. they're not for you, they are for the furries, the touch starved, and those with breeding kinks, and where would we be without them?)

thinking today about depth and breadth of artistry, about connection and relationships and commonality. about how Louis really is acting as a gateway to these aspiring artists in a way that doesn’t claim ownership; he’s offering a platform and developing meritocracy. i don’t know one artist in the game that wouldn’t agree that providing these opportunities is a good thing, a great thing, but Louis is the only one out here practising the preach.

you wanna talk about impact on the cultural and musical scene? let’s talk about this.

Binding of Isaac Devs: "We have carried our torch through the valleys and the mountains, we have remade it countless times, growing and nurturing it endlessly. Along our journey we have worn boots into dust, traveled from mountains to rivers to mountains again, seen empires fall and rise, and at last our journey is at an end. We will let this torch burn out and rest a while."

ConcernedApe: "Let me carry it a while longer brother."

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol 3

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol 3

This is part of my growing number of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu posts. If you want to find more, check out the author tag here. A few days earlier, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t have gotten away from Luo Binghe fast enough, retreating three steps for every one he took. Now he didn’t want to do that sort of thing anymore. Retreating would make him look too much like a respectable woman kidnapped by a ruffian—too…

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The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun

Started: 11/15/22

Finished: 12/2/22

Reading links: Seven Seas Publishing

A tyrant who has spent his adulthood getting revenge on his unfeeling shizun commits suicide after his teacher-turned-concubine’s death and returns to his disciple days. Given this chance to protect his shixiong from an untimely death, he sets out to change his tragic past to a favorable one—but someone else seems to have a different plan for this do over. Things he was ignorant of the first time come to the surface, along with feelings he couldn’t classify in his past life.

nhs wearing skirts is a fun idea but the amount of modern AUs that go really far into making him a super effeminate are soo uncomfortable remember when the knitting fic had him identify as a 'femme-leaning pansexual slut'

Looking for game recs

I hope we get more English-translated Chinese fantasy games in the future. The cultivation genre, like Wuxia and Xianxia, is such an interesting fantasy genre that I'm sure more people would be interested in it if they just knew about it. So many are action games that a lot of gamers are missing out!

Though I've been looking for a game that I'm not sure has been made yet. I'm looking for a cultivation game that focuses on medical cultivation? Like helping people with ailments and defeating demons that are directly hurting people. Basically a game similar to Potion Permit but less grindy and more interesting. (Sorry to Potion Permit devs)

I'm def getting Amazing Cultivation Simulator cause its been described as like Rimworld (and it looks cool). The Leviathan's Fantasy looks good, but I'm not sure my laptop can handle all the graphics so I wish it was on ps4. I've considered Sword and Fairy: Together Forever but it has mixed reviews and it looks like it specifically has just fighting? Immortal Life looks cute, but it seems like its mostly just farming? I might wait until it's completed to try it.

How much does this make sense? lol

i think it really does speak about wwx's character how, the difference between demonic cultivation and ghost cultivation, is that modao not only requires hurting people to be made, but its sole purpose is to cause as much horrifying and irreparable damage as possible

meanwhile guidao can and wwx has used many times as a mass-killing weapon, but it has many different uses outside of it — but even while you're in control, it will always hurt the user the most