#cultivation of the capybara | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

evilminji · 5 days ago

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Exactly! I could see high lvl demons? Rocking up? FULLY expecting this to be the part where she jumps up and pulls her sword? They fight etc? Except she just... *looks up from her bowl of soup* *sluuuuurps the rest of her noodle* oh? Were you hungry? I have more...

And like.... you know what? Yeah. Yeah, he could stand to eat. What we having?

The ONLY people who bother her are DICKS. Cause like? Everyone else? They do what they feel like they gotta do. Nothing personal. But! They match the energy. And for ONCE? The energy is "calm". So for ONCE, no fighting happens.

Whole lot of "you know what? I WAS gonna kill EVERYBODY... but maybe not you. You seem chill. Have a nice evening!" Happens to her. It stresses the FUCK out of her Sect mates. Capy-oc! Capy-oc, that was the Thousand Death Demon Lord of BLOOD! Why was he chilling in a hot spring with you!? Did he HURT YOU?!

Nah. We shared a basket of oranges. Enjoyed the snow.

Shes very -> __(🌸—ᴗ—)__ *is relaxing*

And Spiritual Beasts like the "not gonna grind you up into pills" vibe. VERY grade A lack of covetous crazy eyes! They approve! Wanna pet the fluff? *happy content vibe increases* yes she very much WOULD.

It's a feed back loop.

She's happy, they're happy, everybody's chill. Why would you ruin that? What sort of absolute DICK would ruin that? All these lovely, DEADLY creatures. Enjoying the relaxing Cultivation Vibes and nice clean Qi. It's the way of the Capybara! YOU don't have to do shit! You just have to be so pleasant to vibe near? That everyone ELSE will SUPER MURDER if anyone fucks with their Vibin Spot.

Actually? You know what we don't see enough?

People who get isekai'd, go "sure I'll Change The Plot" but then... just kinda get swept up in the local power system/a hyperfixation and forget. (Or like, lose the desire too)

Cause like... do any of YOU know what Cultivation feels like? Physically? Can any of US really tell how we'd react to sitting down, trying this whole "gotta stay under the radar, act like everyone else" thing... only... ONLY?? To have our SOUL go Brrrr~☆

Have all our insides get filled with sunlight. Our veins, sigh like they just stepped into a hot shower after weeks rolling in questionable mud. Feel... clean. Calm. Filled with light. Just a good ol... no thoughts, head empty, vibe session. With the UNIVERSE. Breathing it in... breathing it out... breathing it IN... breathing it-

Wait...

HOW MANY DAYS HAS IT BEEN?!

And like? The great irony? Being that they ARENT TRYING. There is no Challenging The Heavens or Ten Thousand Dragon Dist Of Doom Sword nonsense. No drama with face slapping or inner/inter Sect politics. Just? The slow but creeping realization that this is the calmest they have ever felt in their life.

No rent. No capitalistic hellscape. No riots or genocides she can't go stab, due to complexe economic and sociopolitical reasons, firstly being it wouldn't solve shit. It's? So calming? She can just sit under a waterfall. Or under a tree. In a garden! People leave her alone!

Ha...ha ha...aha Ha HA!

*vaguely deranged hysterical laughter* She FREE!!! AaaaaaAAAAAAA-!!!!!!!

Do they have to sedate her? Yeah. That was a pretty big Qi Deviation. She may have hulked out a bit. Bit people. But heart demons get to the best of us, man. She hasn't felt this chill in her LIFE.

Fffffuck the plot. *cheers her tea cup* you do you, boo! Go get um, honey! Aim for the eyes!! *siiiiip*

She? Would ironicly? Be the most advanced Cultivator in her generation? Solely by virtue of just really, REALLY enjoying Cultivating. By, ironically, not CARING and simply doing? By accepting who she is and as she is? Drifting gently upwards like a feather on a warm breeze? The universe would reward.

She would be grasping the meaning of the project, where others fail.

Not demanding power. Not striving to break the game. Not DEFYING Fate...

Just? Gently setting Fate aside. Setting everything aside. And sinking into starlight. Cause positive reinforcement go Brrr. Why all these arguments? This drama? Have a steamed bun. You should go meditate. *sedated grin with flower background*

Is she high? Fucking with people? No one knooooows.

But she's the Sect Leader's and various Shizun's FAVORITE. Like a human Capybara. Immaculate Vibes, OC. Keep up the good work! (She's so low maintenance! Never causes trouble with other Sects! No drinking, no whoring around in the mortal villages, and best of all? She'll help with paperwork then stay for tea! Listen to you ramble! It's like the daughter you never had.)

@legitimatesatanspawn @babbling-babull @fangirlingpuggle @mayfay @hdgnj

#cultivation #xanxia #dao of the capybara #cultivation of the capybara #minji's writing

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ranafamily7 · 6 months ago

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🚨Urgent 🚨

It's very cold here and we are suffering. We are suffering from hunger, fear and cold.

Don't leave us alone and help us

My campaign is verified.

My number on the list is 250.

Save us even if it's $5

@something-perpendicular @donsofwaste @gvnsey@inkxplashes@snowflakesincalifornia

@4rthstandbreak@lyriumrain@lunaragk

@riottalker @schrodingers-tribble

@macheriegrove @sparvverius @sweetenberries @mischiefmagpie @violet-2084-turkish-warrior@cyberoticism @televy @karineverse @electricseraphimdiaries @skybluethunderhead @lasbrumas @dhmis55-blog. @frogncranberries

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@gridelincarver

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#evening post #vetted by association

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@whatyouvegotunderyourskirt @kurtle@rabidkermit@splend-42@dustywarbler@moonrisemoonchild @senlinstudies@birdmenmanga @rabbithaver @jolyne-best-jojo @just-a-mod @officialgleamstar @ehjane @cosmicsymbols @treeen @spunkfunkyzzz @fairedoll @trashrunes@skiddlecat@tim-the-rat@pegglefan69 @writing-is-a-martial-art @ohmerricat @mildmayfoxe @sunnyartistwriter

@rabidkermit@splend-42@dustywarbler@honeybeeffdrawshere @jayskai@astronnonyy@400terahertz @poltiddies@yourlocaleccentricscientist@whatyouvegotunderyourskirt @kurtle

#gaza free #gaza gaza #free palestine #christmas gift #merry christmas #christmas

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letmetellyouaboutmyfeels · 9 months ago

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LIES! LIES AND SLANDER!

YOU ARE AN EXTROVERT ADOPTING PEOPLE LIKE A MAMA DUCK CULTIVATING A LINE OF DUCKLINGS. YOU ARE A CAPYBARA. YOU ARE NOT THE STEP-CAT-MOM, YOU'RE THE CAT MOM WHO STEPPED UP (TO RAISE KITTENS THAT ARE NOT YOUR OWN).

#lincoln answers things #mistchievous #one day Jess appears in your DMs and then she never leaves

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lolliphobe · 11 months ago

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guh,, capybara mood board my friend Alex requested!! :3 (Theme ; capybara food)

Capybaras are herbivores that eat a variety of plants, including grasses, aquatic plants, and cultivated field plants (info from google!)

⋆｡𖦹°⭒˚｡⋆

#capybara #capybara mood board #moodboard #mood board #this is also for the capybara therians #i love you capybara therians

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rarepears · 2 years ago

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Nov 2023 Masterpost

shen yuan enters shen qingqiu's body in a different way AU ft. giving birth

Yue Qingyuan turns into capybara because of a curse AU

Sung Jinwoo is Jinah's maternal grandfather who reawakens as S ranked hunter au

sung jinwoo treats couponing as an extreme sport that he places gold in every time AU

Shen Yuan is born as Tywin Lannister's eldest son AU

Reincarnated Vader X Todoroki Enji AU

sung jinwoo explores european catacombs as a hobby AU

where in Batman stumbles upon a universe where Sung Jinwoo adopted his kids AU

If Sung Jinwoo and Sung Jinah flipped genders in Solo Leveling AU

Endeavor is married to the Prime Minister of Japan - surprisingly not a malewife AU idea

Tim Drake becomes Sung Jinwoo's son instead of Robin AU

shen jiu transmigrates into su she au

Luo Binghe is the Bai Zhan peak lord AU

lan qiren has a foriegn lover AU

Harry Potter's muggle teacher POV fanfic idea

transmigrated Shen Yuan marries courtesan!Shen Jiu as a concubine AU

sung jinwoo and lex luthor coparent connor kent AU

Shen Yuan replaces Tyrion Lannister AU

Xin Mo transmigrates into PIDW and decides to make BingJiu canon AU

Xin Mo the evil sword gets a human form and traumatizes Binghe further by stealing his Shizun from him AU

Sung Jinwoo is seen as a deity in the naruto universe AU

tell me that jedi masters are not just noisy asian aunties ready to impart all their wisdoms to you unwanted or not AU

wei wuxian and the wen grow a radish body... named Shen Yuan AU

liu qingge and Shang Qinghua have a baby together AU

Lan Wangji's mom was a Qing Jing peak disciple AU

shen yuan's wifebeam hits the entire imperial city and there are Consequences AU

Luo Bingge finds a world where Shen Yuan has a THING for Meng Mo instead AU

Shen Jiu the sun and moon flower seed farmer AU

if wei wuxian was shen jiu's demonic cultivator teacher au

Shang qinghua is actually an imperial prince AU

wondering about cho chang's backstory

#masterpost #fanfiction ideas #fanfic idea

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ranagazafamily · 27 days ago

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I urgently appeal 😭💔

to donors and people of compassion to save our lives from the hunger and bombing that threatens our lives in Gaza. Every bit of help makes a difference, so let us all unite to lend a helping hand in these difficult times.

@something-perpendicular @donsofwaste @gvnsey@inkxplashes@snowflakesincalifornia

@4rthstandbreak@lyriumrain@lunaragk

@riottalker @schrodingers-tribble

@awhimsyreader901 @penwrythe

@absoloutenonsense @envytheroost @pantropikos @little-sunflower-bug

@gridelincarver

@gummy-sharks666 @ohgirliepleasee @jumping= jackalope @electricpterodactyl @let-us-cultivate-our-garden

#evening post #vetted by association

@sunboxinsignia @leeblissy @kidtested-fangirlapproved @1nky-quill @marcillemon

@hiiamredacted @teaspoon-of-salt @merps @gaylobsterd @purplespacekitty

@space-specs @thesubwaymp3 @inky-goddess @itsnotalemon @badolmen

@cannibalistic-vampirefag @cow-stealin-gal @lanliingwang @nov1963 @starfallen-tears

@opalbestcharacter @bruce-greenwood

@viiridiangreen @mimogutz @seaslug24

@rabidkermit@splend-42@dustywarbler@honeybeeffdrawshere @jayskai@astronnonyy@400terahertz @poltiddies@yourlocaleccentricscientist@whatyouvegotunderyourskirt @kurtle

#free gaza #famine #gaza #gaza genocide

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more-better-words · 4 months ago

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GET TO KNOW YOUR MUTUALS ✨

Tagged by the indefatigable @deadheaddaisy! 🥰

what's the origin of your blog title?

Well, I am just looking, so it felt truthful. 😄

otp(s) + shipname(s):

I love a lot of fictional pairings, though I tend to be more drawn to platonic ones than romantic. But when those romantic ones get me, they go for the throat!

But asking me to make a list will never go well, because I will inevitably forget something and feel foolish.

(Also, I come from the internet generation that preceded smushed together shipnames, so it feels very foreign to me)

favorite color:

Jewel and earth tones

song stuck in your head:

That depends. But wanna know my trick for getting a song unstuck? Start consciously thinking about Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Never fails.

weirdest habit/trait:

Do you honestly expect me to be subjective about my weirdness? 😂 I have no idea - somebody else would have tell me.

hobbies:

Reading, writing, farting around on the parts of the internet that aren't complete trash.

if you work, what's your profession?

Cultivating an air of mystery 😶‍🌫️

if you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Doing what I do but getting paid much better for it.

something you're good at:

Explaining things in a pithy and moderately entertaining way.

something you hate:

Meanness.

something you collect:

I don't really collect stuff

something you forget:

everything 😅

what's your love language:

Caregiving

favorite movie/show:

Depends on my mood.

favorite food:

See above

favorite animal:

Cats, horses, capybaras, giraffes, arctic foxes

what were you like as a child:

Talkative and self-confident. Then puberty happened. 😞

favorite subject at school:

History, English, anything humanities related

least favorite subject:

anything not humanities

what's your best character trait?

Um… again, I don't think I'm best placed to answer this about myself, but… I guess I'm pretty empathic?

what's your worst character trait?

Hideously self-conscious and certain I'm a terrible bore

if you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

My country would have a different government.

if you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

Ida B. Wells. Look her up, y'all, she was a badass.

Tagging @1lostsoul0fishbowl, @shadowinthefire, @pajamasecrets, @indignantlemur, @phoenixflames12 @gaitwae, @mytardisisparked

GET TO KNOW YOUR MUTUALS ✨

Thank you so much for tagging me @starrybouquet! ❤️

what's the origin of your blog title?

I don’t really have a blog title. 🙈 I should probably give that some thought.

otp(s) + shipname(s):

If we mean “OTP: they can only be happy with each other, no one else could ever possibly fulfill either of them,” then I don’t believe in that. But if we mean “OTP: interesting shippy dynamic but other people could also or alternatively make them happy, no gatekeeping here,” then:

Kathryn Janeway/Tom Paris, J/P

Number One | Una Chin-Riley/Christopher Pike, Pikeone or Pikeuna

Seven of Nine/Anyone I Find Interesting

favorite color:

Green and purple.

song stuck in your head:

Trustfall, P!nk

weirdest habit/trait:

I go to bed super-duper early.

hobbies:

Writing. Exercise. Socializing.

if you work, what's your profession?

My goodness, I do not want to talk about my job on Tumblr dot com.

if you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

That’s complicated.

something you're good at:

Organization.

something you hate:

Violence and people who glorify violence.

something you collect:

N/A

something you forget:

I often forget what I’ve bought through online shopping. Then the box arrives and I’m curious as to what’s in it.

what's your love language:

Conversation.

favorite movie/show:

Saving Mr. Banks

favorite food:

I don’t know.

favorite animal:

I don’t know.

what were you like as a child:

Bookish. Social.

favorite subject at school:

English or civics.

least favorite subject:

Math or science.

what's your best character trait?

When I love, I love with my whole heart.

what's your worst character trait?

Hesitancy to reach out or open up.

if you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

The answer is too complicated to type out.

if you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

Relatives who passed away before I was born and were deeply meaningful to people I love.

No-pressure tagging: @deadheaddaisy, @grissomesque, @regionalpancake, @procrastinatorproject, @emilie786, @pc-corner, @coffee-in-that-nebula, @elephant-in-the-pride-parade, @cnroth, @fiadorable, @lorcaswhisky, @the-lady-general, @cicaklah, @caladeniablue, @enterprise-come-in, @theredheadedcaptain, and anyone else I forgot to tag. 💞

#thanks for the tag!

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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years ago

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There was a comment a while back about NMJ having capybara energy. So have a cracky prompt of some strategists in the Sunshot Campaign deciding how this could be weaponized, or used as an interrogation technique. If they give cooperate and give information, they can be in a cuddle pile with NMJ.

ao3

The worst part about war was, unquestionably, the war itself.

The loss of life, the injuries, the stress – the agonizing terror of knowing that each moment might be your last, the painful boredom of waiting for something to happen, the shaking anxiety of never knowing which one the day would bring. Watching your friends and family suffer, watching innocent people suffer…it was grotesquely awful in ways Lan Xichen had never even dreamed of it being.

And yet, as if war wasn’t bad enough by itself, it also had – side effects.

Evil creatures thrived on resentful energy, their own or others’, gathered at sites of death or violence, and there was nothing that they liked better than the wasted spiritual energy that accompanied the untimely death of cultivators. This war, sect against sect, was a breeding ground for all the creatures that they ought to be night-hunting, not encouraging.

Led by Nie Mingjue, who never forgot his obligations, their side – the Four Great Sects, that was – took care of the innocent people who were being harmed by their war, protecting them from the immediate aftereffects, settling them in new places if their homes were damaged, making sure they weren’t caught in the middle of ongoing battle. Sects that skimped on their duties to the common people were mercilessly cut off in turn, where necessary, and Nie Mingjue had even demanded that Lanling Jin personally recompense an entire village that had lost their homes due to their negligence or else face the next Wen attack without his aid – the cost of doing so was negligible for them, but the humiliating loss of face among the rest of the sects that he had even had felt the need to make the threat, coupled with the fact that they really did need his help, served as an extremely potent reminder for everyone else.

When possible, the sects devoted some resources to night-hunting, trying to restrain the effects of their war, but it was like trying to hold back an avalanche that had already started: they could mitigate some of the damage, but until the war was over, it would only get worse and worse.

It didn’t help, naturally, that the Wen sect’s leaders didn’t care one whit about the effects of their actions.

Wen Ruohan loudly blamed the other Great Sects for it, claiming that they were ‘rebelling’ against him – as if they hadn’t all been equal just before – and that the heavens were punishing them for their violation of the natural order; his commanders followed suit, disdaining even the distraction of night-hunting and making dismissive promises that it would all be resolved when the war was won.

Still, however Wen Ruohan felt, however his generals and commanders felt, even they couldn’t ignore all the effects.

Especially not the ones that hit everyone equally.

“More nightmares?” Lan Xichen asked Jiang Cheng as he came into the command tent, rubbing his red eyes and looking awful. They all looked awful, but the recent affliction of dream-eaters that had swept through their camp and the enemy’s was especially vicious - particularly on those like Jiang Cheng, who had already existing trauma and were already burdened by nightmares. They were killing the creatures that generated the nightmares as quickly as possible, but there was only so much they could do with the encampment of the Wen sect not far away, waiting for a display of weakness that would give them the opportunity to attack.

The Wen sect were afflicted by the dream-eaters, too, and under any other circumstances Lan Xichen would propose that they raise the flag of truce long enough to eradicate the menace. Unfortunately, the Wen sect had proved themselves fundamentally untrustworthy – Jiang Cheng’s own family situation told the story quite vividly, even if Lan Xichen didn’t have to only close his eyes to see the burning of the Cloud Recesses – and so they all just suffered, instead.

“Bad ones,” Jiang Cheng said grimly, and nodded at Wei Wuxian, who had followed him into the tent looking, somehow, even worse. Not a great surprise, given that he’d been trapped in the Burial Mounds and now utilized resentful energy as a weapon – he had to be even more susceptible to the nightmares than the rest of them, but there was nothing to be done about it; his new cultivation style was too valuable for him to stop now. If Lan Xichen had to guess, Wei Wuxian was working himself to the bone and collapsing into nightmares, never getting any rest; his eyes were bloodshot, his face haggard, his waist too thin.

When Lan Wangji entered the tent next and saw Wei Wuxian there, looking half-dead, his face immediately twisted in what Lan Xichen recognized as clear concern. Poor Lan Wangji was suffering, too, although perhaps Lan Xichen was the only one who could tell.

Lan Xichen felt a stab of pain on all their behalf, all of them, and handed out tea to strengthen their spirits. He’d selected the most energizing blend he could find in preparation for this meeting, their first in several weeks – they were all fighting their own fronts, Lanling Jin in Langya, Qinghe Nie in Hejian, so on and so forth, but they needed to coordinate, and these in-person meetings were the best option for it.

And they really needed to discuss what to do about this new nightmare scourge.

“I think it’s like this for everyone,” Jiang Cheng said, accepting the tea, and Lan Xichen was just in the middle of nodding when he heard a strange sound – laughter, of all things.

They all turned to stare at the door, where Nie Huaisang was walking in, followed by an exhausted-looking Jin Zixuan as his father’s representative. It had been Lan Xichen who had asked for Nie Huaisang to be brought here from his refuge at the Cloud Recesses, thinking that this highly protected meeting was as close to safety on the battlefield as they could get and that it would be good for Nie Mingjue to see his little brother safe and sound.

Of all of them, they needed Nie Mingjue to remain strong. He was the Great Sects’ most effective general, their most terrifying war god; he was as viciously effective a general as he was a frontline fighter, designing many of the strategies they all used and providing many of their sects with critical assistance even though his Nie sect and its affiliated sects were the least numerous of the Great Sects, excluding only the significantly diminished forces of the Jiang sect.

More than his personal contribution, though, he’d become something of a lucky talisman for the rest of them. Lan Xichen had heard all sorts of stories about each and every one of them - Jiang Cheng as the resurrected phoenix, unkillable; Wei Wuxian as a demon barely leashed and used for their own purposes; Lan Xichen himself as a beacon of light bringing hope to those who needed it most - but that was nothing compared to what was said and believed about Nie Mingjue: that as long as Chifeng-zun was there, inexorable and inviolable, the unquestioned king of Hejian, the Wen sect’s eventual defeat was inevitable.

Even Lan Xichen found himself thinking it, reassuring himself late at night that all their efforts were not for nothing, that it would all end well in the end.

It wasn’t a healthy way of thinking, not for them and least of all for Nie Mingjue himself, who had to live up to that terrible reputation, but it was what was getting them through each day of this terrible war. So if there was something within Lan Xichen’s power to help Nie Mingjue keep himself together, he would do it, no matter the risk.

Nie Huaisang had arrived at their encampment the day before, with Nie Mingjue himself arriving even later, coming very late at night, and now it was morning and Nie Huaisang was laughing.

Laughing free and easy as if he didn’t have a care in the world, no less, and probably at one of his own jokes; Jin Zixuan was looking at him as if he’d never seen such a strange and wonderous thing in his life, and Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian and…well, everyone, really, were all following suit. They’d all laughed in recent days, of course, war lending itself to black humor, but Nie Huaisang looked so light-hearted.

So…well-rested.

“Huaisang,” Lan Xichen said, blinking owlishly at him. ��You look…good.” No, that wasn’t the word he was looking for. “Healthy.”

Not in need of sleep, he meant.

“Oh, well, you know,” Nie Huaisang demurred, hiding his face behind his fan. “I’m happy to see da-ge, that’s all. I get to comfort myself that he’s well and get a good night’s sleep for once; why wouldn’t I be well? Nothing much to it.”

“Good night’s sleep?” Jiang Cheng echoed, looking disbelieving – as well he should, too. Their current encampent was right next to one of the worst collections of nightmare afflicting creatures, the vicious dream-eaters that confused the mind and injured the spirit. “You got a good night’s sleep?”

“Better here than in the Cloud Recesses?” Wei Wuxian asked, rubbing his eyes. “Really?”

“Uh, yes?” Nie Huaisang said, and now it was his turn to blink at them. “My da-ge is here. I slept well and untroubled for the first time in ages.”

“That sounds...nice,” Jin Zixuan said, rubbing his eyes as well – probably inspired by Wei Wuxian. Such things were communicative. “You must have been worried about him.”

“Oh, da-ge will be fine, I’m sure,” Nie Huaisang said blithely, and Lan Xichen suppressed the abrupt and overwhelming desire to punch him. “But I have nightmares sometimes, you know, and there’s no reason not to use medicine if it’s available, right?”

“Medicine?” Lan Wangji asked, voice intent, and Lan Xichen went from mild irritation to sadness at once: for Lan Wangji to ask such a thing, to show such weakness, the nightmares must be very bad indeed.

“Yes, my da-ge,” Nie Huaisang said. “He’s nightmare-proof.”

“I’m glad that that works for you,” Jiang Cheng said snippily. “Pity about the rest of us.”

Nie Huaisang frowned at him. “It’s not just me,” he said. “It’s just how he is. Don’t you know?”

Lan Xichen was going to intervene and settle them down – their tempers were all unduly short, given the nightmare situation, and he really didn’t want to have to deal with that before having to cope with the same from Nie Mingjue, whose temper was extremely short at the best of times – but then just as he was opening his mouth to say something he was suddenly hit by an overwhelming feeling of sudden calm, the same sort of pleasant languor that came in the early morning of a calm rest day where you didn’t need to get out of bed, or perhaps in a warm and lazy afternoon when you had nothing to do and were considering a nap.

It was amazing.

Lan Xichen could see the same effect taking hold of the others, too: Jin Zixuan let out a little sigh, Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji both rocked back a little on their heels, eyes sliding closed in pleasure, Wei Wuxian actually let out a near-audible whimper of relief –

And then Nie Mingjue walked into the command tent.

“Good morning,” he said. He looked as steady as always, a tall and unshakable mountain; his brow was creased in his usual expression of neutral ill-humor and one could arguably feel the heat of his always simmering temper, but at the moment it just felt like warmth. “It’s good to see you all.”

They all murmured greetings in return, watching as Nie Mingjue – and the aura of calm relaxation that, apparently, accompanied him – passed them by and went towards the table where they had laid out all their plans. Unconsciously, they followed after him, drifting in his wake, each of them edging closer to him without ever having made a decision on it; as the other sect leaders who were leading the war showed up, they did the same, and by the time the usual pleasantries had concluded and the meeting was about to start, Nie Mingjue could barely turn around without nearly bumping into someone who had drifted too close.

Lan Xichen really ought to tell them to stop – he was the courier, the connection between the sects, familiar with each and every one of them – but he found himself instead abusing his position and his history as Nie Mingjue’s old friend to finagle a place at his right side, just behind his shoulder, and just stood there, his eyes half-lidded as he basked in the feeling. It was a little like really good meditation, he thought, the type that centered you and grounded you, let you be steady and hold your ground, come what may.

As the general, Nie Mingjue opened the meeting, running through the usual updates – he was short and to the point as always, which invariably made these meetings run significantly better because after a start like that even the most long-winded and shameless of old men felt a bit constrained to keep their words within the realm of the reasonable. After he finished detailing their current positions, the Wen sect’s latest moves and his predictions on their next, certain counters he planned to use – all at a very high level of generality, of course, in the event of spies – Nie Mingjue looked around, frowning a little: they had been all listening with surprising quietude, not a single objection or comment among them the way there usually was.

“Is there any other business?” he asked.

One of the leaders of a smaller sect – Sect Leader Ouyang – visibly shook himself and coughed. “The…scourge?”

“Scourge?” Nie Mingjue scowled. “What scourge? Has there been a greater than usual resurgence of evil creatures? What type? Why was I not informed?”

Lan Xichen looked at his old friend as though seeing him for the first time, as though abruptly realizing that your old familiar pillow was in fact a wonderous treasured pearl to be held carefully in one’s hand.

“It’s dream-eaters,” Jiang Cheng said, sounding blank and surprised. “The sort that cause nightmares...you know the type, surely? Common enough and usually fairly harmless, but there’s a whole lot of them and they’re breeding faster than we can kill them – not unless we devote ourselves just to the task, which we can’t do. Has - has the Nie sect not suffered from this affliction?”

“No,” Nie Mingjue said, frowning, and he seemed oddly discomforted, the reason for which he immediately revealed: “In fact, I’ve never seen a dream-eater. They’re not common in Qinghe, I think.”

That was impossible, of course – dream-eaters were notorious for being a pest that could be found anywhere, no matter what the climate or terrain; it was a little like saying that your household had never known a rat.

Although, Lan Xichen supposed, one could see such a statement being made by the single household in the village possessed of a cat…

“That was one of the main reasons I wanted to have this meeting,” he said, clearing his throat. He had told most of the sect leaders that it would be on the agenda, but he hadn’t had time to meet with Nie Mingjue, nor had he needed to – as the general, Nie Mingjue’s presence was a necessity, and so Lan Xichen had known that he would be there and had assumed (incorrectly, it seemed) that he would obviously want to devote some time to the issue. “It has been a rise in the number of such creatures, and yet we cannot divert attention from our frontline. Surely there must be some solution?”

“If it’s so severe, then we could strike a balance,” Nie Mingjue said, looking relieved at the possibility of turning the discussion onto the practical. “Those sects in regions with less ongoing strife could send teams to other fronts specifically to aid in eliminating the dream-eaters –”

“How has Qinghe Nie not suffered from the affliction?” The person interrupting was one of the sect leaders affiliated with Lanling Jin, even though Jin Zixuan turned and glared death at him. “Whatever can be said about dream-eaters in Qinghe, Hejian certainly doesn’t lack them, or at least it never has before. If there is some means of resisting them, it ought to be shared.”

That particular sect leader had arrived late and was seated relatively far back; perhaps he was out of range of Nie Mingjue, and hadn’t noticed – or perhaps, and more likely, he was simply being obnoxious and looking for an opportunity to snatch up whatever talisman Nie Mingjue was using to relieve the effects of the dream-eaters for Lanling Jin’s benefit. As if they had some greater claim to it, when they were doing the least of the fighting..!

“I haven’t seen them,” Nie Mingjue said, his face black with annoyance that Lan Xichen knew was merely a cover for embarrassment. “Not even in Hejian.”

Nie Huaisang giggled behind his fan. “That’s not your fault, da-ge,” he said. “They run away when they see you coming. Isn’t that right, Xiaochun-shushu?”

Eyes turned to the man standing by Nie Mingjue’s side – one of the Nie sect commanders – who looked a little awkward to be put on the spot, shifting his weight and clearing his throat. “To the extent it has been an issue at any of our outposts, we usually ask the Sect Leader to check in on morale, which generally resolves the issue,” he said circumspectly, and Nie Mingjue looked minorly outraged at the suggestion that his entire sect apparently used him as a way to ward off a creature usually classified as a minor pest. Without telling him, no less.

“So the effect is not caused by a talisman or spiritual instrument?” Sect Leader Yao asked, looking disappointed. “Nothing that can be duplicated?”

“What effect?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“Perhaps we could ask Sect Leader Nie to visit some of the other territories?” another sect leader suggested.

“And risk Hejian? Don’t be ridiculous,” Jiang Cheng said, though he looked sorely tempted.

“What effect?” Nie Mingjue asked again.

“I wonder if the Wen sect is suffering to the extent we are,” Wei Wuxian said thoughtfully, spinning his flute in his hand. “We have some prisoners of war, don’t we? They might be inclined to share more information if they were a little more relaxed. Don’t you think?”

“Especially following a state of heightened distress,” Jin Zixuan said, nodding. “The relief will be much more pronounced, which could lower their defenses –”

“Maybe we could even get –”

“Xichen,” Nie Mingjue hissed in his ear as the debate began in earnest, each sect leader rushing forward to add in their views. “What are they talking about?”

Lan Xichen looked helplessly at Nie Huaisang who scuttled over. “It’s the dream-eaters, da-ge,” he said in an undertone. “Sustained exposure. People get tired, cranky, irritable; their cultivation is weakened, their focus impaired…they become simultaneously less sensitive to certain things, like social niceties, and more sensitive to other things. Like a feeling of steadiness and reliability.”

“…so?” Nie Mingjue said.

“So a lot of people are noticing for the first time that you’re very – uh – grounding.”

“Grounding,” Nie Mingjue said skeptically. “Like…a lightning rod?”

It wasn’t quite the metaphor Lan Xichen would have gone with.

“It’s always like this?” he asked Nie Huaisang, fascinated, and Nie Huaisang nodded. “Why didn’t I notice?”

“You probably noticed subconsciously?” Nie Huaisang guessed. “People like being around da-ge, even when they don’t like him. Anyway, you’re usually very steady yourself, Xichen-gege –” Nie Mingjue sighed at his brother’s rudeness. “– so you probably didn’t notice that you were feeling even more so. In our sect, you’ll find parents coming by to drop off their kids next to da-ge; they follow him like a flock of ducklings, it’s the only thing that keeps them quiet…”

“I thought they just liked watching me train?”

“I mean, they like that, too, da-ge, I’m sure. But mostly people just feel safe when you’re around.”

Safe. Yes, that was what it felt like, calm and safe and secure, like there was a rock-solid foundation to the world that nothing could tear down; like even if Nie Mingjue were at the end of his rope, he would still do everything he could not to let you down.

“It’s very nice,” Lan Xichen said.

Nie Mingjue was pinching the bridge of his nose. “Huaisang,” he said. “If this is such a common phenomenon, why didn’t anyone tell me about it?”

“To be honest, we were a little worried that it’d go away if anyone pointed it out to you,” Nie Huaisang said. “Apparently not. Good!”

“This is ridiculous. I’m a sect leader, a front-line fighter, a general…I can’t go traipsing around fighting dream-eaters. We have a war to fight!”

“People fight better if they can sleep,” Nie Huaisang said wisely, and Lan Xichen nodded in firm support. Lan Wanji had drifted over at some point and looked to now be sleeping standing up, which was practically an endorsement as well. “Anyway, I think the idea of gathering people up to go deal with the problem is a good one, and anyone who’s really desperate for a good night’s rest can trade over to fight in Hejian for a while. That’ll keep your forces fresh, encourage the circulation of people and the development of relationships between the various sects, and you’ll have the chance to get a good look at who’s actually competent or not while they fight directly under you.”

“Hmm, true,” Nie Mingjue said, and Lan Xichen had to agree – it wasn’t a bad idea at all. Maybe it was the fact that Nie Huaisang was the only one of them who’d gotten any sleep that had allowed him to be the one to suggest it.

“And of course, best of all, as long as our side is getting relief and the Wen sect isn’t…”

“Oh, all right,” Nie Mingjue said. “I still think this is ridiculous, and I’m having some difficulty believing that I really give off some sort of – sleep field, or whatever.”

“You do,” Lan Xichen said. “In fact, I may propose that we break up the meeting temporarily to allow everyone to take a brief nap.”

“We are not doing that,” Nie Mingjue said. “We’re not toddlers.”

“We should do that,” Lan Wangji said, opening his eyes.

Wei Wuxian’s head turned at the sound of Lan Wangji’s voice. “Do what?”

“Break up the meeting for everyone to take a nap and return with steadied nerves and calmer minds,” Nie Huaisang said.

“We should definitely do that,” Wei Wuxian said, and nudged Jiang Cheng. “Hey, Jiang Cheng, how do you feel about everyone in the room taking a nap before we continue discussing the war?”

“That is the best idea I’ve ever heard,” Jiang Cheng said.

“You’re not serious,” Nie Mingjue said. “You cannot be serious right now.”

“Oh, we are very serious,” Lan Xichen said, and cleared his throat, waving for people’s attention. “Everyone, in light of the scourge of dream-eaters we’ve all been struggling with over the past few weeks, I have a suggestion…”

#mdzs #nie mingjue #lan xichen #lan wangji #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #my fic #my fics #dream-eaters #ebonykain

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ibijau · 5 years ago

Note

firstly, i would like to apologize for the way that i saw the words “any ship” and instantly took them as a challenge to create new, bad ships. secondly, i am suggesting number 7 with lan xichen/wen xu. no, you did not misread that; mr capybara can get along with everyone so well that i’m assigning him an entirely new evil boyfriend. bonus points if you actually find a way to make this work in a canon or pre-canon universe, bc i sure can’t see one!

Holding their hair back as they vomit into the toilet

See, this is the one that got me in trouble. Because actually, that ship isn’t even that bad to me. I’m pretty sure it has been discussed several times on the xisang discord. And so I stupidly commented on tumblr that well, y’all think you’re giving bad ships but it’s not that awful. And boy oh boy, do I regret that now (not really, it’s gonna be fun)

warning for mentions of violence against a corpse, and for vomiting :)

The nausea hits Wen Xu when they pass through Qinghe, and doesn’t leave from that point on. It goes ever stronger as the cart gets closer to the Unclean Realm. If not for the man sitting next to him and throwing him weak smiles, Wen Xu would have jumped on his sword and ran away. This is a terrible, terrible plan, and he should have known better than to let Lan Xichen get plotting, and yet…

And yet, what choice did he have? Wen Xu doesn’t have his father and brother’s blind faith in Qishan Wen’s power. He understands the power of numbers, of good position, of sheer rage too. The instant Lotus Piers burned, he sent a letter to Lan Xichen, begging for his help. A desperate move after what happened with Qingheng-Jun, but Lan Xichen knows it was an accident. Back then too, they had a plan.

Hopefully, this one will work better.

As they fall into the shadows of the Unclean Realm’s high walls, Wen Xu starts fidgeting with the bandages on his face. If too much of his features show, if he is recognised… Nie Mingjue is on the frontlines, his little brother hidden far away in the Cloud Recesses, but Wen Xu’s face is one even lesser Nie cultivator will have seen at conferences. If he is seen, if he is spotted… this isn’t just about him, Lan Xichen too would…

“Calm down,” Lan Xichen whispers, taking his hands and forcing them away from his face. “I am well liked and well trusted here. And it’s only for a day or two, to avoid arousing suspicions. I always stop here when I’m in the area.”

Wen Xu, growing more nervous with every passing moment, grasps one of Lan Xichen’s wrists. Lan Xichen smiles as best as he can, and struggles against that grasp until they’re holding hands instead, their fingers tightly linked together. It feels more comforting that it should. Wen Xu has no faith in his father and brother, but he would follow Lan Xichen to the end of the world if the other man asked him too.

After a last squeeze, Lan Xichen lets go of Wen Xu’s hand and turns his gaze back to the doors of the Unclean Realm. He frowns and narrows his eyes, as if trying to see something, then turns deathly pale.

“Oh no,” he gasps.

That’s all the warning Wen Xu gets before he hears Nie Mingjue’s booming voice coming their way.

“Xichen! What are you doing here?”

Wen Xu shrinks on himself. He wants to take Lan Xichen’s hand again, to have the other man smile at him, look at him. He resists the impulse, fearful of attracting attention on himself, and watches instead as Lan Xichen smiles peacefully at the man who presents such danger to both of them.

“Mingjue-xiong, this is a surprise,” Lan Xichen says, sounding quite delighted to meet his friend. “I thought you’d be on the front.”

“I’ve just returned to do some decorating,” Nie Mingjue announces, leaning on the side of the cart. Wen Xu doesn’t look, but feels his gaze on him. “Who’s that with you, Xichen?”

“The heir of a small sect attached to Gusu Lan by marriage,” Lan Xichen flawlessly lies. “He was captured and wounded, but I freed him and I’m taking him to safety.”

The intensity of Nie Mingjue’s eyes on Wen Xu grows. They’re going to die, Wen Xu is certain of it. All these efforts, and they’re going to die, both of them.

They’re going to die, they’re going to die, they’re going to…

“Well, I’ve got good news for him then!” Nie Mingjue announces smugly. “The war is going well. Help the man sit up, Xichen. I’ve got something to show that will please both of you.”

“Mingjue-xiong, it’s been a long day, I’d rather…”

“It’s on the way in,” Nie Mingjue explains. “Just sit him up so he doesn’t miss it.”

Lan Xichen’s face remains calm, but his hands are shaking as he helps Wen Xu sit up. In turn, Wen Xu doesn’t have to pretend too much when he leans against Lan Xichen’s side. His nausea is still there, stronger than ever. He must stink of fear so badly it’s a surprise that Nie Mingjue can’t smell it, when everyone knows the Nie are more beasts than humans.

As the cart starts moving, Wen Xu wonders what, exactly, he’s supposed to be seeing on his way in. There’s just not much around, and the bandages on his face do limit his field of vision.

Lan Xichen spots it before him.

Lan Xichen whose body turns to stone, and his grip on Wen Xu to iron.

There, right in the middle of the main yard of the Unclean Realm, there’s a high pike with a head on it. A head that Wen Xu knows too well, because it’s one he sees in every mirror, every puddle of water.

Bile hits the back of his throat, and he has to clench his teeth to avoid puking in public.

“We got him trying to retreat during our last battle,” Nie Mingjue explains proudly, mistaking their horrified silence for admiration perhaps. “He begged for his life like a dog and tried to pretend he wasn’t who we thought. Pathetic.”

In spite of the danger, Wen Xu blindly grasps Lan Xichen’s hand, desperately needing to ground himself.

That wasn’t the plan.

The plan, Wen Xu told his cousin a week ago, was for said cousin to disguise as him, mess up a battle, fake his suicide after that dishonour so nobody would look for Wen Xu, and then run back to his family and take them very far away from this war. Wen Xu gave the man gold, letters to guarantee his passage to safety, and placed his wife and children with Wen Qing’s people since nobody would dare to cross her.

Wen Xu’s cousin had just had his first son less than a year ago. Now little Wen Yuan and his sisters are orphans, and their mother will never know what became of her husband.

“Isn’t it a bit morbid?” Lan Xichen asks in a trembling voice.

“He killed your father,” Nie Mingjue reminds him.

And it’s true, of course, but it was an accident. Lan Xichen agreed that it was an accident. They’d had a plan. How were they supposed to guess that Qingheng-Jun, who hadn’t been seen in over a decade, would finally remember he was sect leader? Wen Xu hadn’t meant to kill him, and Lan Xichen had forgiven him, saying his father had likely just seen a chance to end his life without causing more dishonour to their family.

“It was Huaisang’s idea,” Nie Mingjue continues. “Well, he asked me to do that with Wen Ruohan’s head and to keep it there until he returns, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind seeing the full set.”

“I see,” Lan Xichen whispers. “Let’s hope the war is over quickly then. The smell is going to get terrible if that stays here all summer.”

“I’ve put a spell on it to…”

“Mingjue-xiong, I’ve had a really long day,” Lan Xichen interrupts, struggling to maintain his usual polite warmth. “I know we have talked in a while, but I really would like to rest a moment. May we be given a room for the night? And something to eat as well. I am very sorry, but my plan was to leave early tomorrow morning so I can go back to the frontlines quickly once I have delivered this man to safety.”

Nie Mingjue seems surprised by that demand. He grumbles, and offers to have his healers look at Wen Xu, to have his men deliver him back to his sect. Lan Xichen politely refuses all of that, claiming some vague oath to do this in person, and Nie Mingjue gives up.

Wen Ruohan needs armies to be respected and obeyed, while Lan Xichen needs only to smile.

Terrified beyond words, Wen Xu leans heavily against Lan Xichen as they are walked to their room for the night. He doesn’t need to pretend weakness. Every time he looks around and sees a Nie crest, every time he hears Nie Mingjue’s voice, his legs buckle under him.

As soon as the door closes behind them, as soon as he’s alone with Lan Xichen and safely out of view, Wen Xu falls to his knees.

“I’m going to be sick,” he gasps.

Lan Xichen barely has time to put a basin in front of him before Wen Xu starts heaving, and before long his last meal makes a return.

It lasts too long. Even when there’s nothing left to puke, Wen Xu’s body is rocked by dry hiccups that make it near impossible to breathe. He can’t stop thinking of that head on a pike, a head that should have been his.

“I’m sorry,” Lan Xichen whispers, holding his hair out of the way with one hand, rubbing comforting circles on his back with the others. “I’m so sorry. I never thought he would be there and… well. You know Mingjue.”

Wen Xu nods, a nearly hysterical giggle escaping him before he finds that though he’s empty of food, he can still vomit bile.

He knows Mingjue indeed, the man who has sworn he would avenge his father, who has looked at Wen Xu as if he wants to cut him in pieces since the day he became sect leader. Him and that sneaky brother of his have always scared Wen Xu, something for which his brother and father have mocked him sometimes.

Wen Ruohan probably isn’t laughing anymore. Or if he is, if he thinks he’s just rid of the weaker of his two sons at last, that only proud and devoted Wen Chao remains… then he’s a bigger fool than Wen Xu ever thought him to be, and he won’t be missed by his eldest son.

Between Wen Ruohan and Lan Xichen, the choice was always an easy one.

#lan xichen #wen xu #xuchen #chenxu #nie mingjue #mdzs #wtf is the ship name for this though???#jau writes #Anonymous #bad ship prompts

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unfried-mouth-wheat · 4 years ago

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Wow I really managed to cultivate the most immaculate vibes I am like so vibey I am truly the capybara of people

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ranafamily7 · 7 months ago

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Very urgent 🚨

🌧️ In the midst of the biting cold that gnaws at our bodies in Gaza, my father stands in southern Gaza, alone and without a provider, challenging the harshness of the circumstances. Every day that passes becomes a heavy burden for him, as his daily expenses reach $100, an amount he cannot secure.

💔 My father needs a tent to protect him from the winter storms and a warm blanket to shield him from the harsh cold. However, the price of the tent is $2000, a sum that is out of reach for us.

🙏🏻 At this moment, you may be the hope we need. Your donation today could change my father's life and give him the warmth of hope. Don't let the cold take away what little strength he has left. Be part of the change and give a father in Gaza a chance to survive.

🤝 Your donation is a humanitarian gesture that will remain in my father's memory and in all our hearts. Let’s stand together for our humanity!

@something-perpendicular @donsofwaste @gvnsey@inkxplashes@snowflakesincalifornia

@4rthstandbreak@lyriumrain@lunaragk

@riottalker @schrodingers-tribble

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@gridelincarver

@gummy-sharks666 @ohgirliepleasee @jumping= jackalope @electricpterodactyl @let-us-cultivate-our-garden

#evening post #vetted by association

@sunboxinsignia @leeblissy @kidtested-fangirlapproved @1nky-quill @marcillemon

@hiiamredacted @teaspoon-of-salt @merps @gaylobsterd @purplespacekitty

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#gaza gaza #gaza genocide #free gaza #gaza strip #gazaunderattack #free palestine #gaza fights for freedom #gaza free

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chnqin · 5 years ago

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My Epic MDZS/The Untamed Daemon AU

I’m sure other people have already done Daemon AUs, but this idea wouldn’t leave me alone. I have been working on this for like three weeks now.

I just wrote down my first instinctive thought for most characters, and then researched* further into subspecies etc. What I found for a lot of the animals made me agree with my first opinion even more, although all of these are obviously just my own opinions. I also decided to stick to non-mythological animals. (some characters have been given a lot more consideration than others, I’m sorry)

Wei Wuxian: beech marten Beech martens are quick and clever. The are nocturnal, omnivores, and skilled swimmers. They move through paths made by larger animals such as hares in the snow. {further notes under read more}

Lan Wangji: white hare More solitary animals. They have an association with the moon, which I tend to associate LWJ with. {f/n}

Jiang Cheng: osprey Aquatic birds; good hunters. {f/n}

Lan Xichen: white stag {f/n}

Jiang Yanli: asian black bear {explained in detail under the read more}

Jin Zixuan: lion Ngl it’s probably because the Persian pokemon reminds me of him

Jin Guangyao: domestic cat {f/n}

Nie Huiasang: pangolin {f/n}

Nie Mingju: wolf {f/n}

Wen Qing: Chinese sparrowhawk {f/n}

Wen Ning: black Formosan mountain dog (tuguo) {f/n}

Lan Sizhui: Xiasi Quan dog or red panda or badger {f/n}

Jin Ling: lion {f/n}

Lan Jingi: monkey They’re respected animals but also have a mischievous side

Ouyen Zihzen: capybara No, they’re not native to China, but this is what I imagined him as and I couldn’t get it out of my head or find a perfect substitute

Xiao Xinchen: swan He just gives me major swan vibes, possibly something to do with Swan Lake (as do some Lans but they’re not graceful in the same way or tragic in the same way)

Song Lan: oriental hobby falcon or black horse He struck me as some sort of raptor, but I also liked a horse for him

Luo Qingyang/Mianmian: lynx

Lan Qiren: sheep Symbolise filial piety. Also follow other people without question (*cough* the Lan Sect elders)

Jiang Fengiman: otter Spends a lot of time around the water, just what popped into my head

Yu Ziyuan: snake Because Zidian

The Jiang Sect favour animals who live near or on the water, some even possessing daemons which are fully aquatic, and thus are unable to leave Lotus Pier

The Lan Sect usually have herbivore animals for daemons and favour swift, elegant animals.

The Jins tend towards lions and panthers, but also flashy, rich birds like pheasants and peacocks (which makes WWX’s nickname for JZX even more funny).

The Nies often have pack or herd animals. Wolves and mountain lions are very common, but also a lot of horned animals like oxen, mountain goats and sheep (bighorn sheep and ibex are common), and also wild boar.

The Wens were typically birds of prey (the Dire Owl becomes Wen Chao’s daemon) or mountain cats.

The Yus often have daemons which take reptile form. Wildcats also common. I quite like the idea that the Yus are a sect which has cultivated the ability to separate themselves from their daemons.

~Further notes on why I picked these animals, Daemon settling, angsty AUs of my AU, and research disclaimer under the cut~

Story & Research Notes:

(I’m going with the idea that trauma can make a daemon settle into a particular form)

WWX A marten was the first thing to come to mind for WWX, I have no idea why, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. They’re really inquisitive, playful, and cute, but are also predators and will fuck you up if necessary. A crow was another obvious choice because they’re curious and inventive, but with a bit of a dark connotation. However, in my version at least (I’m not great on His Dark Materials canon), Daemons usually settle in the early teens, and at that point WWX really didn’t have as much darkness in him as he develops later.

I think WWX was one of those people whose daemon changed with every thought and feeling of his, whose daemon changed so rapidly and so repeatedly that people would complain of motion sickness watching it. His daemon’s most common forms were a martin, a magpie, an otter (which drove Madam Yu nuts), and (after JYL’s settled) very occasionally a bear.

When WWX comes back most people don’t realise anything is wrong because Mo Xuanyu always hid his daemon (I think it was probably something like a field mouse although how funny would it be if Little Apple was actually his daemon and WWX unknowingly inherited her along with the body), so they just think his has settled into something too big to hide now. However, his beech martin is the other reason Lan Wangji knows who Wei Wuxian is (WWX’s daemon hides from Jiang Cheng at Dafan Mountain, so JC only suspects it’s WWX). (Angsty AU further down)

LWJ I know that arctic hares aren’t native to China, but I want you to pretend that something like that does exist because I need lwj to have a white hare daemon. They are also bigger than other hares and cuter (they look slightly less cursed than some hares do). I’m imagining a lot of the daemons being slightly bigger than their real-life animal counterparts would be, so imagine the ears coming up to a normal person’s hip-height when the daemon is sitting. Rabbits can also apparently symbolise hope, and that suits someone who is known to go where the chaos is, bringing hope and light in the darkness.

As a child, LWJ’s daemon was expressive in a way he never could be. It liked to take snow leopard form a lot, which was seen as excessively violent to the Lan sect, who preferred non-carnivorous animals, and often snarled at people. His daemon always took snow leopard form when visiting his mother so it could curl up with her tiger daemon.

LWJ’s daemon settled exceptionally early, shortly after his mother’s death, into an acceptable hare form. Lan Xichen always wondered if LWJ himself made his daemon settle, if she was not supposed to have been a snow leopard all along, and so always looks upon LWJ’s daemon with a bit of sadness because he feels like it was LWJ stifling - almost killing off - a part of his personality (spoiler: it was) in order to fit into the Lan sect.

(More on that in an angsty AU below)

JC Ngl, I wanted to make Jiang Cheng a goose because they’re always angry but I didn’t. Jiang Cheng shifted mostly between a hunting dog and a mouse as a child, both of which infuriated Yu Ziyuan (honestly what she wanted her children’s daemons to be even I don’t know). Jiang Cheng’s daemon settled very late (another thing his mother wasn’t happy with). In fact, it didn’t settle till the attack on Lotus Pier and the death of his parents, when it took the shape of an osprey (because he wanted to be able to fly away and pretend none of it ever happened).

Even more angsty: One Chinese poem has the Osprey as a symbol of marital harmony and fidelity. Upon seeing his parents death, finally united in a way they hadn’t been in life, JC’s constant wish for his parents to love each other (and, by extension, him) physically manifests itself in his daemon.

JYL I know what you’re thinking. Why the hell did you give Jiang Yanli a bear of all people. Well I’ll tell you. For two reasons: one, because I can do what I want, and two, because I would say one of JYL’s most central characteristics is her wish to look after people. She’s not physically strong in the way most other cultivators are, however, and she’s always having to keep the peace at home - and so I can see her daemon becoming a physical manifestation of that need to protect (bears are known to be protective, particularly mothers), and a physical example of her inner strength which is so often overlooked.

Yanli shifted between a dove, a crane, and a maritime striped squirrel for most of her childhood. She favoured the squirrel and dove (incredibly mild animals) over the crane, which disappointed Madam Yu. It’s one of the reasons Jin Zixuan never saw her as a potential match, her daemon too small and docile to match his almost constant lion daemon.

When Jiang Yanli was around fourteen Madam Yu took things with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng too far one day, and Yanli saw it. Her daemon suddenly shifted into a bear, a form it had never taken up to that point, and jumped on Yu Ziyuan’s snake daemon. WWX and JC always remembered Yanli standing in the doorway, her expression placid while her huge bear daemon growled with absolute fury and menace. Everyone expected Yanli’s daemon to go back to its usual squirrel or dove form, but it never did. It remained a bear, and remained the biggest daemon of pretty much anyone in any of the sects.

I had already picked a crane as one of JYL’s potential daemons because of its connection to water and positive symbolism in China. Upon further (hopefully accurate) research, I saw that cranes depicted with lotuses in Chinese art symbolise purity and longevity, and I liked making her daemon a bear even more, because her daemon took that form to protect WWX and JC - years after her death, they both wondered if, had her daemon had taken crane form, maybe she wouldn’t have died. From what I found, “crane” is also a homophone for 合 hé “peace, harmony”, which is a quality Jiang Yanli had much of, and tried to inspire in others.

LXC I think its LXC’s hairpiece which always makes me think of deer antlers (even though it’s a dragon?), so that’s probably why I immediately thought of a stag for him. But stags are also very noble and refined looking animals which don’t tend towards violence, but also have horns for a reason. Obviously, like with LWJ, it’s a white stag because aesthetique. Upon further research, I discovered a (hopefully correct) source which says 鹿 lù (deer) is a homonym with 璐 lù (precious jade), and the character for deer is used within the character 丽 lì ‘beautiful; elegant’ - both fit LXC very well.

JGY Cats are sneaky little fuckers (I say this with love). The ultimate predator in small unassuming form. Many of the main Jin family have big cat daemons so this is kind of another smack in the face for JGY - so close to being a real part of the Jin family, but still kept apart from them - and something people like to bring up along with his mother. However, many Jins are also birds (including JGS), and cats prey on birds.

NHS I thought a fox was a bit on the nose. Also I like the way pangolin’s just drop and curl up in defence - it’s a viable form of protection, but to the outside appears cowardly. However, their scales are sharp and can cut predators who come after them. Also I didn’t want him to fit into any of his sect’s typical animals. Also also imagine how cute it would look being carried around everywhere by NHS because it’s too lazy to walk, absolutely adorable.

NMJ A wolf was what immediately came to mind for Nie Mingjue. Wolves are apparently sometimes associated with greed, self-interest, and lechery, but I think the pack elements and the carnivore/hunting nature of the wolf really suits NMJ and the Nie clan in general, so I decided to overlook that aspect (although I did briefly consider making JGS a wolf, but I like them as animals too much in real life to do that to them and also he doesn’t have a soul, so he doesn’t get a daemon).

WQ I always saw Wen Qing as some sort of hawk, I just think it suits her very well. The Chinese sparrowhawk is quite small and very beautiful. It has white, red and grey colours. They are good hunters and swift flyers.

WN I knew I wanted Wen Ning to be some sort of dog because he’s very loyal, and also (angsty) when the Jins call the Wens dogs I wanted that to hurt even more. He’s very unusual for a Wen, none of the main sect have dog daemons - it is very much a thing that is specific to their branch of the Wen family. The mountain dog I picked for him is an endangered breed, which I also felt fitted WN well. From what I found, dogs symbolise watchful wisdom, honesty, and loyalty, which all fit Wen Ning.

This was all perfect till I remembered WWX’s all-consuming fear of dogs. I decided to get round this by cheating and saying that for some reason daemons are different and he’s not scared of them (because they represent a part of someone’s soul, rather than being a real animal? I guess?? Please do not look too hard at this delicately constructed card tower)

Angsty version: when Wen Ning becomes a fierce corpse he loses his daemon, another reason people are unsettled by him and another thing WWX feels guilty about.

LSZ I think Lan Sizhui was the hardest to pick. I couldn’t decide which way to go: should he follow a “Lan approved” daemon pattern; should he have a bird like Wen Qing and a lot of other Wens? Then I saw the Xiasi Quan and it’s white and fluffy and cute but it was also a hunting and a guard dog, which seemed right for him. And I liked that it gave LSZ and WN this one very tangible connection. It is also endangered. However, I also liked a red panda and a badger for Lan Sizhui too. I really couldn’t decide between the three. I like them all, why is he the hardest to choose for? (I’m still not 100% happy with this, let me know if you have any alternative suggestions)

Again, please suspend your disbelief at the fact that WWX’s child has a dog daemon and he’s fine with this (it would have looked so cute as a little puppy running around the Burial Mounds though).

When he was younger his daemon liked to take on the forms of those closest to him. So you’d often see a bby marten running after WWX’s daemon, a tiny bird perched with Wen Qing’s sparrow-hawk, a puppy following Wen Ning’s dog around, and a tiny bby rabbit in Cloud Recesses. As he got older it shifted between the dog, a red panda, and a badger. (maybe I’ll just say his hasn’t settled yet and that’s why I can’t decide)

JL Jin Ling definitely also had a daemon which shifted because of a) his loved ones and b) his mood, and he hated it. As if his own explosive temper didn’t give him away enough, his daemon always showed his exact feelings. When he wanted nothing more than his mother to be there it would be a bear. When he was feeling defensive about his parents it would turn into a lion (this happens when he and WWX first meet and any time people talk about his parents’ deaths). When he was younger his daemon spent a lot of time as a cat and a bird, although different types to what his uncles had.

Jin Ling’s daemon still hasn’t settled when WWX is resurrected, and he is absolutely mortified the one time it decides to turn into a beech marten like WWX’s. Eventually it will settle into a lion, and WWX will pretend to be grumpy that it didn’t choose a bear instead.

Angsty AUs:

Daemons are linked to golden cores Jiang Cheng loses his daemon along with his core. When Wei Wuxian’s core is removed it’s more like when daemons and humans are separated in the books. His daemon stays with him, but can move about freely - this is part of what causes WWX to rapidly destabilise, not just resentful energy. Jiang Cheng always feels weirdly aware of WWX’s daemon after that but doesn’t know why. WWX’s daemon is technically connected to JC too, and also finds this weird. JC also can’t work out why his daemon never came back with his golden core, and that loss is part of why he’s so angry and isolated.

The effect of trauma on Daemons Another angsty au is based on the idea that, if trauma can make your daemon settle early, then trauma can also make it change.

When Wei Wuxian is thrown into the Burial Mounds, he wishes so hard to be able to fly that his beech marten turns into a crow (because I do love a crow for him too). I kind of like the idea that after the Burial Mounds WWX’s daemon almost un-settles itself, and can change between a marten and a crow. This really freaks people out and is another reason people say he’s dangerous.

Similarly, after Wei Ying’s death and the Lan sect’s punishment, Lan Wangji wakes up to find his daemon has shifted from its hare to snow leopard form. In his soul, LWJ feels like if he had been less passive and actually stood with WWX then his soulmate would still be alive. His daemon changes from a more passive hare to the more aggressive snow leopard.

He’s criticised by the elders for it, but they shut up when his daemon flattens theirs, while LWJ’s face remains an impassive mask but his eyes promise murder. WWX is really sad when he comes back to see LWJ’s hare gone and blames himself for causing LWJ so much trauma his daemon changed. (personally if I were writing a Daemon AU this is what I would have happen, because I love LWJ with a snow leopard daemon - they symbolise bravery and martial ferocity, while rabbits are virtue and gentleness, and I feel like these two both accurately represent the two sides of LWJ. I really feel like LWJ has a huge shift in himself after WWX’s death which would be represented in his daemon. It also is, in a way, a return of a core part of himself which was lost after his mother’s death)

Sword/Instrument substitute Mixing Daemons with sword sprits - the animal becomes a physical representation of the spiritual tool. Some people could therefore have more than one daemon (for example, LWJ could have Bichen - his rabbit sword daemon - and Wangji - his snow leopard guqin daemon)

Angsty version: WWX actually does die in the burial mounds and Suibian, his beech martin, dies/changes into Chenqing, a raven/crow.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

If you are reading this you have made it to the end of this post, well done.

I wanted to make it shorter but I had too many ideas and wanted to explain my reasoning for my choices and decided just to put it all in one post rather than lots of little ones.

*Disclaimer: I know only the smallest amount of Chinese, and have taken all my information about imagery, word meanings, and homophones etc from web-sources, and so it is very possible I have made mistakes. Though I have, to the best of my abilities, attempted to check on the cultural/artistic meaning, if any, that certain animals have in Chinese culture, the internet lies and I can’t get any decent books on it atm as the libraries are closed, so I’m really sorry if there are errors and I hope people will forgive any mistakes or blunders I might have made.

#mdzs #the untamed #cql #daemon au #mdzs daemon au #mine #guys i have spent a stupid amount of time on this #myau

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valhahazred · 5 years ago

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Cryptid Mythos - Strange Saurians

Living fossils and dinosaur-like monsters are a popular subject of cryptozoology. What sothic truths might an Investigator uncover when looking into such beasts?

6th in a series comparing the monsters of modern folklore to the creatures of the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Telepathic Thing

Two boys from Villa San Rafael in Calama, Chile had a very strange encounter with a seemingly unique creature while searching for a missing pet snake in 2002. While they first thought it to be a stray dog and armed themselves with rocks to drive it away, it proved to be a bizarre monster with an array of seemingly psychic powers! First the boys began to feel sick, as though they had been struck in the stomach by an electric bolt. While one boy immediately started to retreat, the other claimed he felt unnaturally compelled to approach the creature. When he came within six feet it lit up with a luminous aura and he felt a telepathic voice demand, “don’t stare, just run away”. He felt an immediate and inexplicable bone-chilling cold and both boys decided it was time to run.

While it is not explicitly described as a dinosaur I am interpreting it here as a highly evolved theropod, with a covering of grey fur-like feathers and a bony crest it uses to focus its psychic power.

Stoa

This dinosaur-like animal was one of the many south american cryptids reported by english explorer Percy Fawcett before he went missing on an expedition to the Lost City of Z. The legend goes that he even described his encounters with it to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, inspiring him to write The Lost World. The other main source of information on the Stoa comes from a Scottish gold prospector who goes by the pseudonym 'Reginald Riggs' and relayed it to Czech cryptozoologist Jaroslav Mareš. The Stoa is said to look something like a bipedal caiman, with nearly non-existent forelimbs and a head like a horned frog. It lives exclusively on the plateaus around Mt Kurupira, where it hunts Tapir, Capybara and the local Waiká people.

4 Corners River Dinos

Investigator Nick Sucik has compiled a surprisingly large number of sightings of small, fast bipedal reptiles in the area of the San Juan River Basin. They are described as looking like a “living dinosaur toy” or like “a Jurassic Park flashback”. Their environment seems to be wet environments and riverbanks in particular, hence “River Dinos”.

The sceptical view is fairly simple, that people are seeing ordinary lizards running on their hind legs.

Van Meter Visitor

In 1903 Van Meter was visited by what was called at the time, an “antediluvian devil”. The being was first witnessed roosting on an electrical pole, where it was mistaken for a spotlight on account of its brightly glowing head. Although it’s usually depicted as a pterosaur, some of the witnesses implied that it had four limbs in addition to its wings. If that is accurate it may have actually had a more gargoyle-like body, ruling out any form of terrestrial life. This poor creature was met with extreme hostility at every turn, as the inhabitants of Van Meter opened fire at nearly every sighting and its only recourse was flashing lights and an overwhelming stink. Thankfully it seemed to be unbothered by the gunfire. An armed posse even tracked the Visitor to the local coal mine and confronted a pair of the beings, showering them in lead to no effect as they slowly retreated back into the mine. They were never seen again. Were they surviving dinosaurs that simply moved into the caves to die? Or had the coal miners dug too deep and unleashed paranormal entities from an ultraterrestrial hollow earth realm? There was an alleged plaster cast made of the Visitor’s three toed prints but it does not appear to have survived to be documented.

The Mokele Mbembe

Not only is the Mokele Mbembe the best known of the “living fossil” type of cryptid, it’s one of the most famous cryptids of all. Modern witnesses describe a pygmy semi-aquatic sauropod straight out of a slightly outdated paleoart reconstruction but it was once a slightly stranger beast. The first western account claimed that it had a horn and some other descriptions have thick overlapping scales, dragon-like frills or the whattles of a chicken. While it is a herbivore, it is also supposed to be violently territorial and kills any hippos, elephants or humans that cross its path. Its flesh is very poisonous and anyone who tries the flesh of the Mokele Mbembe dies. While it is widely accepted to be a relic saurian there are various theories otherwise, such as the Mokele Mbembe being a large snake, a long necked relative of the hippo or even a large species of pangolin.

The Ropen

The Ropen is described as a massive flying creature similar to a chimerical pterosaur, with tight reptilian skin, boney wings and a long tail ending in a diamond shaped fin. It’s most recognizable feature is glowing spots on its belly and wings. Supposedly they use the lights to attract fish as they skim overhead. Fish isn’t their only food source as they are also frequent scavengers and even dig up cemeteries for human corpses. Ropen are not the only pterosaur like creatures claimed to live in the area. There are also the Kor, cave dwellers that use their long tails as maces and the Solomon Islands Dragon Snakes, that reportedly spit searing lights! There is even some confusion on the Ropen’s exact identity, with the massive 20 foot wingspan and bony crest possibly belonging to a creature called the Duah, while the Ropen itself would be a much more modest 3 foot Rhamphyrincus like animal. It’s worth mentioning that most Ropen sightings are of unusual lights in the sky and not of any visible creature. Even the original sighting by entomologist Evelyn Cheesman in the 1930s only described the lights and lasted for a short 4 or 5 seconds. It was not until much later that the lights were connected to any sort of pterosaur.

In the Mythos

Thanks to Yith stasis vaults and domesticated populations sheltered by ancient species, pre-KPG-extinction megafauna survived much closer to the modern day than they would have otherwise. To the Empires of Valusia they were the Xinli, serving as mounts and hunting companions. Dinosaurs were also known to the ancient people of Mhu Thulan until the Greenland Ice sheet wiped them from the surface of the Earth. But beneath, in the depths of Voormithadreth the Root Archtypes still mimic Saurian forms. Our best bet for living dinosaurs are the dragons of Thuria and they may have even survived into the days where it was called Africa. But that would be too easy for our poor cryptozoologist Investigators.

Hagarg Ryonis

The Great Ones of the Dreamlands generally appear as beautiful humans but there are those known for stranger shapes. Hagarg Ryonis is one such Great One. She has few cults of her own and is usually depicted as a horrifying predatory reptilian monster called “The Lier-In-Wait”. Amongst the Great Ones she serves as the goddess of murder, hunting those who would show offence to the gods of the Dreamlands. The Great Ones rarely have any interest in the waking lands, where their powers wane. However, should a Dreamer earn their enmity the small gods might follow them to a world where their own powers of creation and dream-logic are likewise stunted. Investigators might be contacted by an old friend, sounding exhausted and desperate. They’re a Dreamer of course but lately Dreaming has become too dangerous after the Great Ones began to hound them. They’d been trying to stay awake to avoid them but obviously that can’t go on forever. Even worse, something seems to have followed them to the waking world. They’ve seen glimpses of something huge and scaley in the woods near their home. When they fled into the city it began to appear there too, lurking in alleys and perched on rooftops. Can the Investigators help their friend find a way to make recompense before the inevitable happens and they pass out and are forced to face the Great Ones? Or will a far grislier fate come to pass, as the Lier’s patience comes to an end?

Y’nathogguan Necrotech

The Y’nathogg were never the biggest players in Earth’s history. Always crowded by the Progenitors and pushed back by the paranoid Yith’s exclusion zones. While their necrobiology was robust and adaptable it could not stand up to the sheer power of the Shoggoth and the Star Spawn. They felt like their own planet had no place for them. Then came Quyagen. It wielded the Eye of Zyslm and promised them an opportunity to fight, to take what was rightfully theirs. The Eye brought ruin to their enemies, a mighty weapon and an amplifier for the abattoir foundries of necrotech. Cakatomia was theirs for the taking. But Quyagen underestimated the Yith and the future secrets they bore. The great Cyclopean was sealed away, just as the Polypous Ones were millenia ago. Without the Eye the war that followed was short and brutal. The remaining Y’nathogg retreated to the borehole prison of Quyagen. They cultivated the frozen god’s tissues and made themselves cocoons with which to wait out the aeons, until a time when they would be free to rule without competition. Now Quyagen stirs. The Y’nathogg awaken. The abattoirs pulse with unlife. The time of Quy has come at last!

Byakhee

It’s an interesting coincidence that many of the so-called living pterosaurs are said to produce light in various ways. The Ropen and its cousins glow with bioluminescence, the Van Meter Visitor shines its horn and the Thunderbird (if it is a giant pterosaur) might be able to flash like lightning. The humble Byakhee, with its boney body, leathery skin and bat-like wings, all shining with the light of Carcosa fits the description to a tittle!

Dragons of Yoth

The serpent diaspora started in Yoth. Deep beneath the earth they found Tsathoggua, the lord of N’kai and some of the serpents decided to follow his sorcerous tutelage instead of their maker’s. Yig grew jealous and with the cooperation of his faithful the followers of the bat-toad god were cursed to degeneration. They became worms of the earth, pitiable things that would never slither in the light of the sun again. However, before Tsathoggua left for Voormithadreth to visit revenge on Yig he offered a choice. The worms could continue as they were or they could bathe in the pools of Formless Spawn and be reborn in a greater form. Snake Handling has never been the most accepted religious practice but when six people, including the pastor, at the High-Way Gospel Church die of unusually potent snake venom during a ritual it tends to raise suspicion. When Old Woodrow claimed it was revenge for one of the deceased shooting at a “dinosaur” out in the desert it was laughed off. But now, three sightings and another horribly necrotized corpse later, maybe it isn’t so funny.

<コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡 <コ:彡

I have to admit that I think “Living Fossils” are among the least believable of all cryptids. They have all the usual problems while also being chimerical and inaccurate versions of things that we know existed. The african ones in particular have the stink of the Great White Hunter all over them, tall tales to sell books of derring-do in Darkest Africa. The Telepathic Thing is better known as the Telepathic Football but that name is dumb and I’m changing it

#call of cthulhu campaign ideas #cryptozoology #cryptid mythos #my art #the telepathic football #stoa #four corners river dinos #Van meter visitor #mokele mbembe #ropen #hagarg ryonis #y'nathogguan #serpent men #yoth #cthulhu mythos #eldritch

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rarepears · 1 year ago

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#considering nyy's age sj was already a disciple#since yqq was head disciple when lbh was born#meaning sj wasn't peak lord yet#i vote he was experimenting trying to improve his cultivation#maybe fought with lqq or yqq#and boom cultivation baby#mpreg or plant#i just have a hard time seeing sj into women#his complicated relationship with men makes him being gay more interesting to me lol#so anyway plant nyy or mpreg baby nyy#and no one knows the other parent is either lqq or yqy#sj is just like asexual reproduction as expected of me#and everyone buys it#not sure why she is called ning instead of shen#in this version there is no grave of another parent unless sj lied to nyy about it#so sy finds out from yqy being like nyy looks just like xiao jiu when he was young as expected#also if it's asexual reproduction it's funnier cause sy would never believe it#scum villain must have gotten a sex worker preggers!#also how does sy reconcile the fact that lbh accused sj of perving on nyy when he was her dad?#does he think even worse of him when he thought he was her adoptive father? like he was grooming her?#or does he start to doubt some of the scum villains scummyness#i slept 2 hours can you tell? @caranmerya

I think it would be fucking hilarious if Shen Jiu fulfilled this absolutely wild chain of improbably events (like it's some NPC-given quest in a video game) that allows him to get a plant-baby. I say plant baby because asexual reproduction would imply that Ning Yingying is MTF trans since how else would the chromosomes for gender change.

Then again, MTF Ning Yingying would be fascinating... Actually I do want MTF Ning Yingying...

Anyways back to my main point. Shen Jiu completes an impossible chain of events (worthy of a protagonist's luck TBH) to get plant baby. The Plant is called "Ning". No one ever thinks that Shen Jiu could have done such a thing, so they all assume that Shen Jiu got a prostitute pregnant or something like that and is claiming it's a plant baby to hide his misdeeds. Yeah sure. Just like how that An Ding disciple "accidentally" fell down and got a cucumber up his ass.

So that's misunderstanding 1.

When people find out that yes, Shen Jiu did eat this particular type of spider deep fried in duck fat with paprika flakes and rice flour but no salt, then went to bath in a crystal blue lake in full moon with a capybara that has cultivated to foundational stage and did [insert a whole list of the most random requirements]... Yeah no, how can someone do all of that accidentally? They all assume then and there that this was planned and Shen Jiu was feeling baby fever.

That's a second misunderstanding.

What's a third misunderstanding that can be thrown into this? Oh I know! The reason why Ning Yingying is such a naive (and dumb) kid is because she's a plant baby. This particular plant at least doesn't grow and mature at the same rate as humans! She might look like a 12 year old kid, but she's mentally only 6! A brilliant 6 year old who has great talents in the arts, but still a 6 year old at heart.

It's no wonder that Shen Jiu doesn't disciple her - he can't really punish her for all her wrong doings if she doesn't have the maturity level to understand. Plus she probably has some plant instincts lol.

AU where SJ is Ning Yingying's biological father, but it was never said in the published version of PIDW, it was just in Airplane's notes. Only Yue Qingyuan & Mu Qingfang know. Flash to SY transmigrating into SJ's body and Ning Yingying slips up and says "Daddy, are you ok? You're acting weird". SY flips out in true Peerless Cucumber fashion.

Okay back up. How does Shen Jiu have a kid in the first place? Who is her mother?? A prostitute that he happens to develop feelings for after visiting the Red Pavilion so often? Perhaps in corresponding with his (annoying) disciples' parents, he meets a widowed aunt and they start up something special. Certainly, Shen Jiu never thought he would end up marrying a noble woman in this way, but his marriage is cut short with his wife dying in childbirth.

Or is it the other way where Shen Jiu gets the mpreg experience?

Maybe Ning Yingying is a plant baby.

But regardless of how it happens, Shen Yuan's first thought is probably that Shen Jiu is an adoptive parent, not a biological parent. And he does his very best to think in only that direction. It's pretty easy to do that all things considering until Ning Yingying asks Shen Yuan when the two are going to visit her other parent's grave-

#svsss #svsss ideas #svsss au #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #shen yuan #mxtx #scum villain's self saving system #AU where SJ is Ning Yingying's biological father

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ateanalenn · 5 years ago

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The Untamed / MDZS, resources post, stuff I needed as a writer

ORIGINAL POST AT DREAMWIDTH! (and updates will be there too and maybe on tumblr, if I remember)

(this is a copy paste, the formatting might not survive)

(also available on AO3)

The Untamed / MDZS, resources post, stuff I needed as a writerApr. 11th, 2020 05:46 pm ateanalennFinding info for this show / how to write about / pitfalls to avoid was a pain :( I guess that's part of having fandom on Tumblr. Since Tumblr's search function only works by selling a kidney and sacrificing a goat, I had to rely on Google. Which, not great. Anyway, useful stuff I found to understand this fandom: • MDZS on Dreamwidth: theuntamed_mdzs (active) mxtx (community focused on all the works by the author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. Not active, but it's there) theyilingweisect (community sharing fics, meta, discussions. Not active either since jan 2020) • MDZS aka Mo Dao Zu Shi (book) aka Grandmaster of Demobnic Cultivation / The Untamed (drama) (there's also an audio drama, a manhua, a donghua, ...) - the novel's en glish fan translation at Exiled Rebels (complete ) As far as I know, this is the most popular translation, though I would like to know if anyone has another translation that they think fit best. - the drama is streaming on Netflix, Viki, WeTV & Youtube. From what I heard around, Netflix and Youtube are the most accessible, obviously, but Viki has the best subtitles (and a whole lot of annoying pubs though). I think that I heard somewhere that there are fan subtitles made, will update if I find the link again). • About names: • The Untamed: A Primer Basically an overview of what is this drama, a few spoilers (but under arrows to open so less risks to see something you didn't want to see). Useful list of titles for the main charas! (ex: Wei Wuxian: Young Master Wei Wei Ying (use of this name denotes “I feel affection for you”) The Yiling Patriarch (use of this name denotes “I think you are evil”) A-Xian / Xianxian (use of this name denotes “I am your loving older sister, have some soup”) Lan Wangji: Second Young Master Lan Lan Zhan (use of this name denotes “I feel affection for you”) Hanguang Jun (use of this name denotes “I respect you, and you are also famously very beautiful”) Wangji (use of this name denotes “I am your older brother and I wish you’d make a friend”) ) • Another primer tumblr by sonickitty with a few where-do-I-find links • Alexandra Rowland explains What Is The Untamed twitter (with pics) • How Ancient Chinese Names Work - Learn from The Untamed Detailed explanation of what's going on with the names (aka Lan Wangji, Lan Zhan, Hanguang-jun) • Dramatis Personae for Modao Zushi the book dw (another detailed who's who/names list) • Names again, Chinese/Mandarin conventions twitter (aka ex the accents aren't necessary, they're there for pronunciation and some explanation of who would use full name/shortened name) • Infographic: birth name vs courtesy name vs title vs respectful address twitter • Quick table / honorifics guide tumblr by cleyra • Mo Dao Zu Shi | 魔道祖师 The various adaptions tumblr by gravitydefyingtears • A list of MDZS FanFic Common Misleading tumblr by kazeki • A conversation about linguistic register, Lan Wangji, and I guess Wei Wuxian can come too tumblr (pretty important text to understand how lwj speaks) • Writing Lan Wangji's speech patterns (aka say the most in the least words) and the follow up Lan Wangji moving into the lowest, most vernacular linguistic register to try and get through to Wei Wuxian tumblr by hunxi-huilai • Using "You/I" vs "Title-as-you" tumblr by hunxi-guilai • Sword names tumblr by hunxi-guilai • Honorifics: jun vs zun tumblr by hunxi-guilai • THE spreadsheet: Mo Dao Zu Shi Character Name Chart, recced by flamebyrd (of who uses what for whom) • Misc Info: • 59 slides of awesomeness by chatcolat. Who's who, plot summary, humor. Beware, so full of spoilers you'll cry if you want to keep some mystery, but! concise recap of what happens in the show to keep the timeline in mind. • Everything about those cultivation sects in ‘The Untamed’ Quick who's who of the various sects (Gusu Lan, Lanling Jin, Yunmeng Jiang, Qishan Wen, Qinghe Nie. Protip: first word is basically the location, second is the sect/clan name). • Reference for Modao Zushi Writers: Chinese terms ao3. "This is to provide a reference for writers who are unfamiliar with Chinese literary conventions or terms used in canon." • Resource list dw: Libitina's twitter links for Meta, Linguistics, Costumes, Food, Edits, Art. • Actual drama title vs English drama title twitter • How "Mo Dao Zu Shi" became "Chen Qing Ling" became "The Untamed" tumblr by hunxi-guilai • Very necessary meta about why the novel/extras seems to have so many sex consent issues and how translating to English potentially gives a very different overall feel to the scene (ex: ExR = "you're too much, you're way too much" becomes chiaki_himura's "you're good, you're too good", becomes bigbadredpanda's "you're amazing, you're the best"). Also, Chinese language enables to shorten sentences which makes stuff implied, 's your job to see context clues.) • hunxi guilai's master list of various detailed topics re-Chinese language/customs tumblr • "Wangxian" is such a clever portemanteau tumblr by untamedconnotations • Song Lan didn’t just say that Xiao Xingchen was “nice-looking,” he basically said that Xiao Xingchen was smokin’ hot except like, in two characters and blanketed with literary respectability. tumblr by hunxi-guilai (this is only relevant because xxc IS the most beautiful person, really and needs to be protected at all cost) • The Unclean Realm isn't "unclean" has in dirty/bad, it's most probably to show the difference of way of cultivating vs the other sects tumblr by hunxi-guilai • WuJi, the love song's fan translation tumblr by iarrod • Timeline: • 59 slides of awesomeness by chatcolat. Who's who, plot summary, humor. Beware, so full of spoilers you'll cry if you want to keep some mystery, but! concise recap of what happens in the show to keep the timeline in mind. • A google spreadsheet, via mihanada's GoDC timeline wip (Year/Event/Notes/Ages/...) • MDZS Timeline, that meta AO3 post on speed by TheWickling. Useful if you want all the details, a bit difficult to navigate/understand when you just landed in the fandom. Still very useful. • And the sequel: On Character's Ages ao3 "A collection of meta on the possible ages for different characters in MDZS and what ages they would be during key events in the timeline." • Modao Zushi, birthdates/timeline dw Dirthdates starting with 0 = wwx's birth year. Succinct & useful. • Maps • Fan made mdzs / untamed worldmap twitter • Places of The Untamed - Where They Are in The Real World • IRL sect locations reddit • Google Map of clan locations in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation tumblr • Lotus Pier really is one of the most underrated but beautiful places. twitter • Gifsets and images: - Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Untamed drama character guide! deviantart picture = name, who's who in pics. - The Untamed sect sigils - In Which LWJ Gives Not A Single Shit, A Thread #LanWangji #WangXian #cql #TheUntamed SPOILERS for most of the show twitter - The various stages of hairstyles + accessories twitter - SongXiao are in love, got married, are living happily ever after,(FITE ME) twitter by shenweiss - Realizing that wwx is wearing lwj's silk undershirt and the follow up: Qiren's face when he notices xD twitter - gingersnapwolves's Untamed tumblr tag - thewickling's mdzs tumblr tag - hunxi-guilai's cql tumblr tag - compilation of wangxian just being gay and making everyone feel like a third wheel twitter by weiwxngji - wwx swoons a lot and he's gorgeous twitter - Alexandra Rowland explains What Is The Untamed twitter (with pics) - grinding ink requires great patience, often represents that one is willing to wait for another’s feelings twitter - sad compilation of wangxian gazing into each other’s eyes that no one asked for, you’re welcome twitter - This frontal view of Wei Wuxian laying on Lan Wangji’s lap is everything. twitter - Lotus Pier really is one of the most underrated but beautiful places. twitter - Sometimes you see something, a picture, a video, just a snippet of a short moment, and you SEE the love. twitter - CQL’s working title was hot murder husbands twitter (this is amazing) - Lan Wangji just looks a thousand times more intimidating with golden eyes twitter - #TheUntamed’s spinoff webmovie #FatalJourney posters twitter (yessss, nhs, one of my fav) - Don’t you love how exactly 0.5 seconds of this video is Lan Zhan explaining that only spouses are allowed to touch the headband and the rest of the entire 2(!) minutes is a complication of Wei Ying touching it anyways... he said I wanna marry you. twitter • Fic Recs: - DW guest Post: Untamed Fic Starter Pack (a few fics for each subject (ex post canon, juniors centric, ...) - Twitter thread starting with Alexandra Rowland asking for fluffy MDZS/Untamed fic recs. (good new-fandom starter too!) - That twitter thread collecting a list of lady-centric Untamed/MDZS fics Which, good, because as much as I love the fandom, once again women don't exactly come out on top. How many are still alive at the end? I can think of one previously Jin sect lady, but that's it on top of my head, soooo. - Libitina also has posted a lot of mdzs fic recs dw - A "they're students in lockdown and socially distancing" WangXian ficlet tumblr by besanii And bonus: a capybara enjoying a good scritch because I love those dog-sized guinea pigs, seriously, that twitter account is my daily dose of cuteness Also, have some guinea pig on a cutesy bridge PS: I thought that this would be fast because I didn't have that much info to collect at one place, buuuut. It's been 5 hours and it turns out that I did lol. Still, if you have anything else of potential interest, don't hesitate to leave a comment, please :D

#the untamed #resource #dreamwidth blog post #writer info #references

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thehikingviking · 3 years ago

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El Peñon de Comasagua & Cerro El Grito, Exploring the Bálsamo Range

El Peñon de Comasagua is a striking geological peculiarity that protrudes above the mostly featureless coastal range of El Salvador. After spending the past several days at the beach, I was eager to climb one more peak before my flight back to the United States.

Daryn, Kathy and Asaka were willing to join me. This would be an exploratory trip to a certain extent. There wasn’t much information online aside from some YouTube videos. I hired Augustine as our driver and we left El Zonte after breakfast. We drove through Tamanique and continued uphill to the top of the Bálsamo Range. We continued east along the rim, often getting great views of the major volcanoes of Izalco, Santa Ana, El Boqueron and El Picacho. We later turned south and descended toward the town of Comasagua. After the town, we followed dirt roads until reaching a small store and restaurant called Mirador El Peñon de Comasagua. Augustine paid $1.50 to park the car, and from there we started our short walk towards the rocky outcrop.

It was a breezy day which made for comfortable hiking conditions. Daryn and Kathy had climbed Chinchontepec the day before, and the large stratovolcano was visible to our east.

We stopped at a park entrance of sorts and paid the $1 per person entry fee. Then we continued up a road that followed the top of the ridgeline. Skinny cows grazed alongside the trail, and they didn’t seem to mind our presence.

The dirt road ended and we continued along a trail to the base of the large rock. There were other hikers that day resting in the shade, which was kind of funny and sad at the same time considering the hike was only about a kilometer each way.

A line of cement steps were built into the rock. Perhaps the peak could have been climbed via a class 3 approach if the staircase had not been built. The stairs were steep and I found myself out of breath while trying to keep up with Asaka.

A few moments later we reached the top. The peak had only about 200 vertical feet of prominence, but the views were great and I feel it was a worthy objective.

To the south was the Pacific Ocean.

To the north were El Boqueron and El Picacho.

To the northwest was the top of the Bálsamo Range. I decided that I wanted to explore this area and see if I could get to the highest point. A fire was burning down below, most likely for the purpose of sugar cane cultivation.

Augustine, Daryn and Kathy joined us a few minutes later. Daryn and I debated what kind of rock we were standing on. He thought it was a volcanic plug but I thought it was a type of sandstone formation. We passed around my binoculars, checked out some turkey vultures, then began our walk back to the car.

Once back at the car, I tried to purchase a Coke. I didn't have any small bills, but they accepted Bitcoin. I was really excited to make my first Bitcoin transaction, however my Strike App did not work with their Chivo wallet. I was very disappointed. I asked our driver Augustine if we could drive back through Chiltiupan before returning to El Zonte. He agreed, and by doing so, I could investigate the highest point of the Bálsamo Range. The maps I had didn't even have this highest point marked, let alone named. I had to carefully scan my global topo map layer to find the highest contour in the range. From satellite imagery, it looked to be on a private farm. I did not expect a high probability of success. On the drive along the top of the range, I saw a cotusa cross the road. This is also called an agouti, and looks like a tailless squirrel, capybara hybrid. I identified three roads that led to the top. The first two on the east side were gated and marked as private property, but the third and final gate on the west side was unmarked. Our driver Augustine told us that it was still most likely private property, and if we wanted to hike to the top, we were on our own from here on out. Both Kathy and Asaka were either asleep or half-asleep, so only Daryn agreed to join me for this attempt. We powerwalked up a cobblestone road all the way to the summit. When I was several meters from the summit structures, I yelled “Buenos Dias” so as not to surprise any possible armed military men. I instead found a lone, unarmed caretaker. I asked if we could walk around and he said sure. He reminded me of the nice yet lonely fire lookout caretakers that we have in California.

We identified three summit contenders, all of them outside of the gated complex, and settled on a mound of dirt piled up on a tree as the highest point.

There is also a cement benchmark of sorts which I stood on.

We took our time, walking to every potential high point, even the ones that appeared slightly lower. After learning that I may not have reached the highest point of El Picacho, I wanted to be exactly certain.

I then went back to talk to the caretaker. His name was Ysidrio and he stays up there twice a week. I asked if anyone ever comes up to the peak and he said only the workers on the farm. I asked him if this was the highest mountain around, which he confirmed. Then I asked what the name of the peak was. He called it El Grito, which means the scream. I asked if it was named El Grito due to El Griton de la Media Noche. He laughed and said yes, but I’m not sure if that’s really the reason. The radio towers and trees blocked much of the views, but we found gaps where Apaneca, Izalco, Santa Ana, El Boqueron and the Pacific Ocean are visible.

We then quickly jogged back down the cobblestone road where we met the others waiting in the van.

I still can't believe that worked out so well. We stopped in Chiltiupan on the drive back to take a photo of both El Peñon de Comasagua and Cerro El Grito.

The next day I had some Pollo Campero then flew back home to the United States.

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