#Core Format

[out-on-the-road]

Jemez Soda Dam

[slushie-slam]

more modern daarin + day 31 (kiss)

I’ve only drawn them kissing one (?) other time and it was partially a joke T___T

thoughts to follow

sooo I’ve gotten really into this AU LOL and have been thinking about how different Daan and Karin’s traits would manifest under modern circumstances.

Karin in particular I feel wouldn’t afraid to be clickbaity if it means more eyes are on things she believes are important, playing into the vulture-like nature of her profession to get a message across. She’s not a bonafide journalist yet since she’s taking the education-based path to journalism, I think that would be a pain point for her with her work. Doesn’t like people pointing out she’s not a “real” journalist yet despite all the effort she puts in to her independent coverage. She easily dishes it out but struggles to take it (like in the forest convo b/t her and Daan)

Modern Daan being an actual medical resident as opposed to a doctor’s apprentice turned military medic makes a bit more sense to me as medical school would be more accessible to him, especially if his in-law was bankrolling his education (not that he was particularly drawn to the profession for any other reason than survival, but was encouraged by his fil and his desire to maintain his engagement to Elise)

both have insecurities about their professions and I like how that gives way to their push-and-pull dynamic. they’re always testing each other lol

[1000dactyls]

Waiter! more hiccup hcs please they way you draw him is phenomenal

you asked & i delivered 🫡 even more hiccup headcanons and stylization thoughts… with an extra helping of the haddocks!!! hiccup is a fun exercise in thinking how does a neurodivergent norse teenager save the world. astrid’s line in DoB’s episode ‘fright of passage’ still sticks with me. paraphrasing a bit, it’s something like this:

ASTRID: come ON hiccup. don’t tell me you haven’t been dreaming about going after the Flightmare — learning about it, riding it, training it… HICCUP: i don’t spend all my time thinking about dragons! ASTRID: are you seriously saying that to me with a straight face right now?

Like why did you clock him like that .

[theladysunami]

I have two notes about common Xianxia lore for folks who (like me) came to read Scum Villain’s Self Saving System after reading Modao Zushi or watching one of its adaptations.

1: Core Formation is (usually) a Middle to Late Stage of Cultivation

MDZS simplifies things and puts all its emphasis on golden cores for obvious reasons (*cough*the-core-transfer*cough*), but in most Xianxia works a golden core is not something obtained early on in the cultivation process.

The four most common cultivation stages, in order, are:

Qi Refining (练气)

Foundation Establishment (筑基)

Core Formation (结丹)

Nascent Soul (元婴)

Now a lot of Xianxia novels do add on to these¹, which can shift core formation earlier or later in the cultivation journey, but these four are rarely omitted.

While SVSSS doesn’t give us all the details, we can be fairly confident PIDW hasn’t paired down cultivation just to golden cores for a few reasons:

First, Shen Yuan complains about Airplane confusing ‘Foundation Establishment’ and ‘Nascent Soul’:

What kind of cultivation world had an author who occasionally mixed up even the stages of Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul?

SVSSS Volume 1, Chapter 1

This would be a very strange complaint if neither ‘Foundation Establishment’ nor ‘Nascent Soul’ were cultivation stages included in PIDW.

Second, we know Shen Qingqiu didn't reach core formation until after he became a peak lord and accepted Binghe onto his peak.

Luo Binghe was using the incorrect cultivation manual that Shen Qingqiu had handed him; he should have long since died bleeding from the seven apertures, his body rupturing down to his bones, skin, meridians, tendons, and flesh. But not only had this failed to come to pass, Luo Binghe’s cultivation was steadily improving.

Furthermore, Shen Qingqiu had told Ning Yingying thousands of times to stay far away from Luo Binghe and that she wasn’t allowed to get involved with him. So why did he see them every day, whispering together before his eyes?

Shen Qingqiu was filled with paranoia; he forever felt like everyone was secretly talking behind his back, discussing how he’d been unable to attain Core Formation even after this long. That it was unbecoming for one in his position. That they hoped to secretly finish him off and replace him.

SVSSS Volume 4, Chapter 24, Part 5

Putting Shen Qingqiu's paranoia aside, there is no way he would have been named Qing Jing's succeeding disciple without a golden core if the PIDW world operated like the one in MDZS.

‘Foundation Establishment’ is on the weaker end for the various sect leaders and peak lords I've read about in Xianxia works, but far from impossible.

(The most common stage for sect leaders and peak lords —in works without post-Nascent Soul additions— seems to be ‘Core Formation.’ Those in the ‘Nascent Soul’ stage seem to spend most of their time in seclusion, which is probably why they don’t usually have roles in sect management).

2: Demonic Qi is NOT Resentment

With both in-universe detractors and the 7seas translation calling Wei Wuxian’s resentment manipulation ‘demonic,’ it is understandable that many people mistake ‘Demonic Qi’ and ‘Resentment’ as the same thing. They are not.

Based on the works I’ve read, ‘Demonic Qi’ is essentially a different flavor or ‘polarity’ of ‘Spiritual Qi’. It’s not the same as spiritual qi, but it’s the same kind of energy, just twisted or tainted in some manner, and often favoring yin over yang.

(It may help to think of them as similar to the 'Light Side' and the ‘Dark Side’ of the Force. No matter how diametrically opposed the philosophies and the techniques of their users, they are still both ‘the Force’).

Precisely how different ‘demonic’ and ‘spiritual’ qi are from one another, and how easy it is to distinguish between them, depends on the particular Xianxia work you are reading. In some the difference is really obvious, while in others you may need a higher cultivation level, a special technique, or a spiritual tool to tell. In many works ‘demonic’ vs ‘spiritual’ seems more like a gradient than a strict ‘either or’.

In SVSSS, the difference between demonic qi and spiritual qi is more on the obvious end, with traces of demonic qi detectible by basic talismans, and demonic qi itself often described as ‘black’ or ‘purple-black’, compared to spiritual qi which is most often described as ‘white’.

With that in mind, it should be noted Yue Qingyuan’s spiritual qi actually takes a temporary shift towards the demonic at one point, presumably due to his heart demons:

He’d barely done so when, next to him, Mu Qingfang anxiously said, “Zhangmen-shixiong, you were in secluded cultivation and forcefully interrupted your training, then faced these strong foes. It was already terribly hard on you. By pushing yourself to draw your sword now, I’m afraid your body will really…”

A burst of black qi rose from Yue Qingyuan’s face, but he forced it back down. “Even if I can’t, I must,” he said in a strained voice. “Shidi has already died once, and at that moment, I was unable to protect him. How can I watch him go to his death a second time?

SVSSS Volume 2, Chapter 13

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, this really is a matter of heart demons tainting his qi, not him suddenly generating or gathering resentment.

Now Resentment is a form of energy that belongs exclusively to the dead. Unlike spiritual and demonic qi, it doesn’t appear to have any use in progressing through the typical ‘stages’ of cultivation.¹

(Even in works that include ghosts who are able to cultivate, I’ve yet to see mention of them cultivating directly with resentment, despite being empowered by it).

To be clear, this doesn’t mean demons and demonic cultivators can’t use resentment² (demons and demonic cultivators are notorious for gaining power by any means necessary, and with how often demonic cultivators kill people horribly resentment is a prevalent resource), it just means that demonic qi and resentment are different from one another.

If anyone with more knowledge on the subject finds fault with my explanations, please let me know! Since I do read translations, and I certainly haven’t read every Xianxia work in existence, there is always the possibility I’ve developed misunderstandings of my own.

1.1: Just for fun, here are some examples of additional cultivation stages I’ve seen:

‘Qi Gathering’ before ‘Qi Refining’

‘Qi Condensation’ between ‘Qi Refining’ and ‘Foundation Establishment’

‘Core Formation’ as a separate step before ‘Golden Core’

So many different additions after ‘Nascent Soul’ 😵‍💫 (said additions often make Nascent Soul the midpoint in that particular setting)

If anyone wants a specific example of a more extended set of cultivation stages, here are the nine stages from “Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know”:

Qi Gathering

Qi Refining

Foundation Establishment

Core Formation

Nascent Soul

Deity Transformation

Body Unity

Void Boundary

Mahayana

2.1: In works where ghosts can cultivate, human ghosts seem to form golden cores (金丹 jīndān) same as living humans, not ‘resentful’ cores.

The only alternative core types I’ve seen mentioned (in works that actually do have different core varieties) are demon cores (魔核 móhé) and yao cores (妖核 yāohé).

2.2: If you want to read a work with ‘demons’ that do use resentment, I recommend the Wuxia novel “Dinghai Fusheng Records.”

In said novel, the Spiritual Qi of the Heavens and Earth disappeared three hundred years ago, so the ‘Devil God’ and his followers have adapted to use resentment instead.

[contamination-zone]

Comic ah, taking some place near the end of the Fresh and CB plotline in Foretale :-]

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

what do u MEAN no one on here is blogging about ds janie mallowan from death valley!??! like

she's so adorable!!!!!!!! she's welsh, she lives with her mum (ayy represent), she has trauma, she's awkward, her best friend is a fictional detective (& the actor who plays him lol)

she wears the CUTEST outfits in the world and is incapable of sitting on chairs properly she is EVERYTHINGGGG <3 <3

[voidmetal-alloy]

Some very rough concepts for soul core Bass and Proto, with some extra things under the cut like how Bass' buster works and some helmetless ideas for the two of them.

[princessbrunette]

How would the guys react to reader calling them “pookie” 😭😭

rafe:

because why would you say that. he feels emasculated. confused. unsure. scared.

jj:

turns around and just says it back to you. “pookie? that’s a new one, babe.”

pope:

doesn’t react. accepts his fate. just blinks at you like a cat.

john b:

“uhhh, pookie?” he just repeats it. but kinda doesn’t gaf cos he has bigger fish to fry .

[sunnysunnatko]

This tiny thought (/headcanon) about the Huxleys came to my mind..

· · ───────── ·𓇼.˚ 𓆝 𖦹 · ───────── · ·

Since Kindergarten (highly likely) takes place in Florida, USA during the 2010's, then the Huxleys might live in those tuscan or old money mansions instead of the 2020's nasty, minimalistic blocks🙏🤩 — this automatically makes them 100x more cooler to me icl. I can honestly see them living in such mansions instead of the very new and modern ones. I think it fits them and the place that they live in.

Winners (delusional me) keep winning🫶🫶

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 325

Danny, tiny from being physically de-aged more towards his ghost-age for his health, and slightly influenced by the fact that he currently has a tiny concussion, practically beaming at his current sort-of caretaker from the couch-bed: :D (They sort of got a choice in it, and they offered their home for the last few nights anyway!)

Charles “Chuck” Brown, freaking out more than a little bit after he woke up feeling like his back was being melted and decided to take a hot shower: Heey kid, is there a reason I am suddenly sprouting wings?!

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Stone Temple Pilots - Creep

[carrot-felisidad]

"Xianxia is only fictional. There's no such thing as cultivators. It's just world building for plot."

Then how come when I visualize a tiny spark of light in my dantian (lower abdomen), forming the seed of my golden core, I feel more aligned? Why do I feel present-minded, my mind breathing with my lungs, going silent enough that I hear my soul?

[sysig]

Do you remember? Nope! (Patreon)

[yikes-ajax-thats-sad]

Please, please I'm sorry, I said something wrong didn't I? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me, I didn't mean to, I'll take it back, please don't yell at me. I'll do anything, just please don't hate me, I didn't mean to make you mad. It's not my fault, it's not my fault I swear. I'll take the brunt of your anger, I'll take anything from you, your hatred and bitterness, but please don't break me too much. You know I'm fragile. You know that, right? I'll take it, I'll take it good and I won't complain but please don't make me cry too much, my head already hurts so much and I've already spent a morning dry heaving, and I can't keep finding excuses to tell people for my absence. I just want to be loved, not this, but if this is love I will take every bit of it, just please don't be mad at me. My heart can't take it, don't you know it's already broken? I know you're not him but I find myself doomsday planning anyway. Please don't be mad.

What I actually say: ahah hey look at this picture of a cat holding carrots btw isn't that so funny

[insleywinsley]

The Perch. 2024. ph. Insley Smullen.

[voidmetal-alloy]

Rock’s AU design is finished, he's got a profile under the cut :)

Rock Light / Mega Man:

Construction Purpose: Rock was built for housework and lab assistance after Light was severely injured in the 28/XX incident. After the first Wily Takeover, his fabricator was altered for combat, and his house duties fell to Roll.

Biggest Strength: He knows exactly what he fights for, and why.

Biggest Flaw: He tends to lose sight of himself in battle, focusing solely on his motivations regardless of what happens to him.

Weaknesses: His armour is built to withstand a variety of situations, but his Helper Unit origin makes him particularly susceptible to high voltage attacks.

Battle Style: Rock tries to be diplomatic and tactical about fighting, trying to talk his opponent down until the last possible moment. If talking isn’t an option, he likes to get things done as quickly and painlessly as he can. After all the battles he's fought, he's gotten quite good at spotting the weaknesses of Wily's robots.

Misc Notes:

Due to a malfunction in his colour changing software, the bottom of Rock’s hair has permanently turned blue-black.

He’s a very avid scrap-booker.

He stopped attending school in person after becoming Mega Man. Too much attention.

After Light became more self sufficient again, Rock started helping design the Robot Master’s cosmetics instead of helping to build them.

He gets along well with all the Light Numbers, but he’s closest with Cut Man.

The rollerblades aren’t retractable. He’s just that good on skates.

Despite insisting he doesn’t see any of the Wily bots as rivals, he actually does. It’s Top Man.

Even though he doesn’t really enjoy being Mega Man, he does like that people see him as a hero.

----

Rush Notes:

Roll built him, technically as a birthday present for Rock.

He’s a based on a border collie.

He was built from the broken pieces of item 1, 2 and 3, whilst Rock was recovering from his battles with Wily’s first numbers.

His serial number stands for Light Companion Number.