Wei Wuxian And Chinese Virtues Of

Wei Wuxian and Chinese Virtues of 忠孝仁义

There’s a lot of conversation about Wei Wuxian and how he struck out on his path without a concern for the Jiangs; about how he’s reckless and not giving a sh*t about his role within his society; about how he had a family and siblings and threw it all away for his sense of right and wrong. But the way I read his actions is within the context of the virtues of 忠孝仁义 (and how the virtues, especially 义, is ingrained in him via the Jiang sect motto). WWX’s major decisions can all be read as him acting in accordance with one or more of these virtues. Even when WWX is being his most irreverent self (and yes he’s rude and bring about a lot of second hand shame) he still remembers the we-self (to borrow from baoshan-sanren’s post) context as the head disciple of the Jiang Sect. Even when he seems to abandon everything, he didn’t abandon his understanding of these virtues. 

Keep reading

Civil War is showing this week in Singapore! I HAVE GOTTEN MY TICKETS!! I can’t wait!! Anyway, here are some postcard print designs for my booth in September! I can’t help but to feature the two of them again. BFF till the end of the line!!! And yes, these are originally from the phone wallpaper! Now available as postcards prints~ Hehehe! If you would like a print (of any art you see!), just drop me a message! :)

I’ve been working on this post on and off for the last few months. I always intended to post it during Pride Month, and hey, here we are. I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now, so this might be the last book rec post for quite a while.

When possible, I’m linking to the Queer SFF Book Database since it has information on trigger warnings and links to reviews by queer readers. When not in the database of 6/15/20, I’ll be linking to Goodreads. Links are all below the cut.

Do not recommend cis authors on this post. This post is for centering trans and nonbinary authors. Please note that trans people write all sorts of stories and protagonists, and these books don’t automatically have trans or queer protagonists. 

My master list of book rec posts is here, if you want to find more.

If you’re looking for a starting place on trans SFF, I strongly suggest the Transcendent anthology series as an overview. It’ll introduce you to a wide array of incredible stories from trans and nonbinary authors. 

This list does not cover all of the amazing trans and nonbinary authors writing science fiction and fantasy! There are many more, and please feel free to suggest them here.

If you see any exclusionists or TERFs on this post, let me know without engaging and I will block them ASAP. I would prefer to keep this post a safe, positive place for trans readers. 

Keep reading

"grandmaster of demonic cultivation" "yiling patriarch" "founder of diabolism" big names for a guy who spends half the series staring at lan wangji hoping he'll look at him

Untamed and Swords

This post was sitting in my drafts for a while and I was actually quite close to just delete the whole thing, but then I JUST saw @hunxi-guilai posted THIS and I needed to take her questions and answer them!

Here we go! 

What is it that makes a peijian different from other weapons? 

In the Untamed World the Sword is usually the first weapon of choice, plainly because it’s rather easy to see on a first glance status and capability of the Cultivator - if he is not known. It’s a respected art of Cultivation. Taking this into the real world of Cultivation: Over the thousands of years Cultivators roam this earth, there were quite a lot decades in which the sword was on a similiar point of necessity like in Untamed. So in summary, this is just about the timeline one lives in. Each timeline has it’s own value of which kind of Cultivation is considered the most important. Untamed definitely chose the Sword for it. So you can use other weapons too, but nothing beats the excellent wielding of a Sword. 

Why are they so fancy and shiny? Who makes them? Are they also magic? 

I absolutely can’t talk for Untamed, because I don’t know on which information this world is build and how much the author actually knew about the subject. So I’m going to rely on the real world Cultivation, if you are okay with it?

Creating a spiritual sword, needs someone who is specialized in forming swords WITH the power of magic in the background. So, yes, very rare. If you’d ask me where to find such a person in this world, then I can’t answer because I don’t know. Since you can’t run around with a Sword in your hand nowadays, I guess the art of creating them died too?

The other (easier) method is to craft it with one’s own power. It needs a certain level of Cultivation, but the pathworking is rather ‘simple’

I think question one was a joke, wasn’t it? But if I’d answer this seriously, they are fancy and shiny because they are an object of power and an accessory at the same time. Everyone’s going to check out your sword first, before checking out you. So the sword should be fancy and shiny, right? 

Does the magic live in the sword, or in its wielder? Or both? 

It’s both. A magical Sword owns a connection to it’s wielder and vice versa. 

How sentient are these swords anyway? What makes a spiritual peijian different from your average sword? 

It depends on the wielder and the wielders Cultivation Level. The higher the Cultivation level the more sentient the Sword. If you’re one step further into a certain Cultivation, you can either infuse your Sword with a spirit or infuse the Sword with a part of your own energy until it becomes a spirit (yep, that’s possible). If it’s the second, your Sword will be incredible powerful, but it also has some disadvantages. 

A average Sword cannot be compared to a spiritual Sword. I have some trouble explaining it, I guess? It’s a question of energy. Uhm… that’s the point where I always closed my draft because I just don’t know how to get that into words. Maybe ask me some more questions? I have tendency to find the right words then. 

What makes peijian so different from the Qinghe Nie dao? 

The killing instinct. Nie’s Sabers are definitely infused with a different energy and thus they are bloodthirsty. Pretty much sure Nie Sect is using some form of military cultivation which can enchant those sabers. 

Does Jin Guangyao’s soft sword count as a peijian? 

Hmm… yes and no? It wouldn’t get accepted as a status symbol. But it’s definitely a deadly tool.

What makes a peijian different from other secondary spiritual weapons? 

The options. You have way more options with a Sword than with all the other available weapons. Does this need more information? 

Can peijian be passed on from owner to owner? 

Usually no. But this largely depends on the Cultivation level of the Wielder. The higher the level the more unlikely it will be for the sword to allow someone else to be his master. Low level spiritual Swords can be passed, though - but those swords kinda hardly count as real spiritual Swords. 

What happens if you wield someone else’s peijian? 

This depends on the Sword. They can burn you when you touch them, they can make themselves so heavy, no one besides their master can even lift them. They can bite, they can just vanish.. and so on. Spiritual Swords are creative. All  in all, NEVER touch a spiritual sword unless the Wielder is okay with it. 

What difference does having a core/sealing your spiritual energy make when it comes to wielding your peijian? 

There is always an energy exchange between the Wielder and the Sword. So should you not be able to use your core / or lost it, the Sword will still allow you to use it, but it demands energy to do so. In a battle, you can’t hold out for long, because it’s incredible draining if you cannot circulate the energy. In that case the Sword just sucks your power but can’t give it back. 

What are the mechanics of sword-sealing? 

Huff, how do I explain this? A Sword is a part of the Wielder. It always wears his energy and is able to exchange energy / circulate it. Through this it protects it’s wielder. When the Sword feels the connection is broken (because the wielder died or is severely injured or in a state where he can’t wield the sword anymore), it will seal itself. The high-grade spiritual Sword only accepts one master (much like the Yin Iron), so it will close himself should it feel it is of no use for it’s master. It’s a safety mechanism. Some Swords are extremely powerful, in the hands of the wrong it could damage a lot. So this is why they choose to just seal themselves. Does it need more explanation? 

What are the social taboos/mores around wearing/wielding your peijian?

uh, let’s see if I still know all of them…

It depends of the era on lifes in (as well as the country), but the last time I read the rules (for worldwide use) it was something like this: 

you need to always wear your sword / have it with you. It mustn’t be seen, but at least have it stored on your body (can be a spiritual pouch, as well as spiritual jewellery) 

never greet someone else - especially not an other Cultivator - with an unsheated Sword

the sword should never have stains

never initiate a fight

don’t use the sword if not necessary

never touch someone elses sword

don’t steal swords (it’s a rule, because there are stories of one’s who tried and uh.. remember when I said the swords are creative?….)

don’t use swords to breach seals / wards or gates 

don’t fly the sword (that’s a new one. it’s largely because of satellites and other systems which could find you doing so and it would be kinda odd for non-magic-users to see someone flying on a sword, I guess?)

so, uh, what was the rest? It were about 20 rules, and that’s pretty much all I can remember right now. A lot of things don’t need to be written down, because it’s common sense to just not do it. For my own sake, let’s say I found the rest too hilarious that they needed attention because, well, should be natural to not do? 

To answer the question of @forerussake:

It makes sense actually. Suibian recognises Wei Wuxian because he was his wielder all the time. They fought a lot together. Even without a golden core, Wei Wuxians energy is still the same. He just doesn’t own the engine anymore which would drive his spiritual power. For Jiang Chen to be able to unsheath it, is because of the golden core - which Suibian recognizes. The golden core has a distinct memory of Wei Wuxian imprinted on it, and this is what the Sword is able to notice. It would protect JC as well as WWX. 

Lan Wangji might be able to unsheath Suibian if Wei Wuxian would be true to his feelings. The moment he would absolutely - with absolute faith - recognize Lan Wangji as his soulmate and allows his feelings for him, Suibian would notice that LWJ is a part of WWX. It would let him wield it, too. 

Jin Guangyao’s Violation of 忠孝仁义

So I had written about WWX and his strong sense of 忠孝仁义 last week. While I was writing it, I kept on thinking about JGY and how he managed to violate all of these virtues. I wanted to go into this characterization of him because I find it so interesting how opposite he is to WWX in the decisions he made. (Warning: i’m not nice to JGY here so if you don’t want him dragged, don’t read?)

Keep reading