OMG OMG OMG

Hua Cheng, after Wu Ming: "When faced with any problem, I only have to ask myself 'What would Second White No-Face Xie Lian do?' I will completely base my personality and moral code on this question, as an act of devotion. When next I meet Dianxia, we will be a perfect match."

Hua Cheng: becomes the Great Feared Calamity Ghost King

Hua Cheng: meets regular Xie Lian, just a very nice guy

Hua Cheng:

Hua Cheng: "Shit"

i just want he xuan and qi yan to be besties

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?

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!

hi hi! Bingmei chiquito for welcome

post-canon fics where hua cheng gets amnesia'd back into wuming, who inevitably finds out His Beloved Is Married always read like the meme "I'll be his second husband." (what happened to the first?) "Nothing you can prove."

jump to xie lian, who knows exactly what mental contortions the love of his life would go to rather than recognize that xie lian loves him, deciding to humor wuming's murder fantasy for shits and giggles. 'you want to murder my husband, wuming? hm, i dont know... he is nice. except for the time he proposed to me and then immediately walked it back as a joke- oh, you'd treat me better than that? you'd never do something so cruel? well... im listening.'

cue hua cheng getting his memories back like "gege i thought we were over this. gege. gege stop laughing. gege please. i said sorry!"

Unfortunately, I am once again asking for assistance.

Due to several factors I don't really want to talk about, I've suffered a series of mental health episodes over the past few weeks that have left me, quite frankly, in the worst state since... basically before I started working on trauma recovery. I've come pretty close to being hospitalized a few times, but aside from the additional trauma that might incur, I also just simply couldn't afford it.

My ability to work an outside job was already limited by my C/PTSD among other things, but for right now, I can't even think about picking up a shift without having a panic attack. I can still force myself to do things if necessary, but... honestly I really need to be able to not do that, at least for a little while until I can get back on track.

Unfortunately, I can't afford to take a break with no income. A few surprise expenses came up recently which very nearly brought everything crashing down. It's only thanks to the support of my followers and fans that we were able to scrape by, but right now there's no buffer whatsoever. My partner's already working as much as he can, and almost his entire paycheck is going to rent payments and other bills. I can't ask him to work even more to cover my expenses as well.

Last month, I had to skip getting a prescription filled. I can't do that again. My cats are more than six months past due for their shots just because we can't afford it, and I'm stressed every day that I might lose them because of this. They are my literal lifeline.

To cover my own expenses, I need a bare minimum of $600 USD a month, broken down as follows:

Medication: $100

Medical Debt Bills: $300 (total $6000)

Credit Card Bills: $100 (total $3500)

Utility Bills: $100

This is just literally what I can't afford to stop paying no matter what, it doesn't cover groceries or gas, and I also need an additional one-time $500 to take my cats to the vet.

Any percentage of this that I can make through ko-fi tips, donations, requests, and patreon pledges is more time I don't have to spend forcing myself through panic attacks and hallucinations to work an outside job.

I'm hoping to get to a more stable place both mentally and financially eventually, but for now... I'm stuck. I'm stuck and it scares me. I want to heal, but right now it's like all the work I've already done and the progress I've made is evaporating. I'm struggling to keep up with even the most basic daily tasks, let alone my creativity and emotional well-being.

If you can help support me, I'm really, really grateful. The best way to do so would be through joining my Patreon, but really anything helps. I have some requests open on my ko-fi if you'd like to get something out of it, and here is a link to donate directly to my Paypal if you'd prefer that. I'm not really in a stable-enough place to make a full commitment right now, but if you leave a note with your donation that includes your url and a character name (or just a character on ko-fi), then I'll do a little doodle for you as thanks once I... am not struggling so much with the urge to delete myself from existing.

Thank you.

…this explains so much

love how "secret third thing" is genuinely the best way to describe whatever tf teenxian's feelings for teenji were

yes he had a crush and was helplessly infatuated, though not in a romantic way and also not in an entirely platonic way. it's all a secret third thing

I love you dumplings I love you gyoza I love you xiaolongbao I love you wonton I love you baozi I love you mandu and yes even you, ravioli