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endless-bunny · 8 months

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Pathfinder Iconics Comparison Part 3: The Remaining PF2 Classes

[Part 1: Classes with Different Iconics] [Part 2: The Remaining PF2 Core Classes] [Part 4: Classes Who Got Demoted] [Part 5: Prestige Classes] [Part 6: Who's left?]

We've seen the classes whose Iconics changed between editions. We've looked at all the Core classes. Now let's look at the remaining classes in PF2 and how they stack up. Two of these are brand new for the edition (although one is sort of a successor to a class in PF1, I'll talk about that when it comes up).

Investigator

Quinn (he/him, Human [Garundi])

Quinn is the first of the two Hybrid classes from PF1 to be represented* in PF2. The Hybrid classes, originally found in the Advanced Class Guide, have two "parent" classes and take some of the features from both, but putting a little twist on it. It's not just like multiclassing, the Hybrid classes do play differently from either of their parents, or a multiclass character of both. In the case of the Investigator, its parents are the Alchemist and the Rogue. Most of the Alchemist features have been removed from the Investigator in PF2, leaving them a more specialised skill monkey character that hews closer to the Rogue, but with a bit more of a sleuth-y flair. * As full classes in their own right, more on that later.

Quinn's design is pretty much identical between the two editions. He just got an extra splash of colour and swapped his stripped undershirt for a bright red cummerbund.

Interestingly, all PF2 classes in every book feature two illustrations, one close-up action shot for the splash page and a more neutral full-body illustration used alongside the text. Archives of Nethys, the official online database of all first-party PF2 content, uses the full-body illustrations for all classes except those found in the Advanced Player's Guide, for which it uses the splash page action shots.

As far as I can tell, Archives of Nethys the only place that full versions of these splash page illustrations appear in official media.

The Investigator appears in the Advanced Class Guide for PF1, and in the Advanced Player's Guide for PF2.

Swashbuckler

Jirelle (she/her, Half-Elf)

The Swashbuckler is the second of the Hybrid classes to make an appearance. This time, the parent classes are Fighter and Gunslinger. While the PF1 Gunslinger gained "Grit" that they could use to perform "Deeds", the Swashbuckler gained "Panache". They changed how panache works in PF2 but the class is still built around flashy swordplay and taking risks in combat.

I love Jirelle's massive cape and her oversized boots, she has such presence. I prefer her expression in her PF1 art, that cocky, self-assured smirk and the open stance, as if inviting her foes to come and take the first swing.

The splash art brings back that smirk and like the other PF2 art of Jirelle, has a great sense of motion. The big cape, her long hair and the other belts and ribbons are great, because you can imagine her almost dancing about the battlefield.

The Swashbuckler appears in the Advanced Class Guide for PF1, and in the Advanced Player's Guide for PF2.

Witch

Feiya & Daji (she/her, Human [Tian-Min])

The biggest change to Feiya between editions was that her familiar, Daji, got a glow-up. While many classes can gain a familiar, the Witch class has more abilities that interact with it than any other, so they made Daji a kitsune rather than a regular ol' red fox to emphasise its importance.

I love the new design for her staff, it has a wild look to it, almost like a deer's antlers, and the magical energy she's wielding reminds me of brambles and thorns.

The Witch in PF2 essentially has three "things" going for it: the familiar, the patron (a mysterious entity who gives the Witch her powers), and hex magic (bizarre spells that are unlike anything other magic-users can call upon). The designers at Paizo are a bit unhappy with how disparate these three elements are, so the Witch is going to be getting the biggest overhaul of any of the classes in the upcoming Pathfinder: Remastered project.

And here's her splash artwork, you can see more clearly the crown-of-thorns motif for her magic, and Daji leaping dynamically into action (note, familiars are not good in combat in PF2, keep your pets away from the battlefield!)

The Witch appears in the Advanced Player's Guide for PF1, and in the Advanced Player's Guide for PF2.

Magus

Seltyiel (he/him, Half-Elf)

Like Sajan, Seltyiel put a shirt on between editions. But he also, as my friend put it, "overcome his tragic goth phase". In PF1, he appears to be using the spell shocking grasp, which is the definitive Magus spell. In PF2, shocking grasp was nerfed somewhat so while it's still really powerful, it's not always the best option for the Magus.

Seltyiel is a very interesting case. Like Valeros, Kyra, Merisiel and Seoni, Seltyiel made his first appearance as a pregenerated character when Paizo was making adventures for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. His design predates the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. His first appearance in the PFRPG was in the Core Rulebook, where he was used for the Eldritch Knight prestige class. Thematically, the two classes (Magus and Eldritch Knight) are similar, but mechanically they're pretty distinct.

When Ultimate Magic came out in 2011, Seltyiel got promoted, and he's canonically been a Magus in official media ever since.

We will look at the remaining prestige classes in future but from what I can find, they're not characters in the same way. Seltyiel is sort of an outlier.

The Magus appears in Ultimate Magic for PF1 and Secrets of Magic for PF2. The Eldritch Knight appears in the Core Rulebook for PF1.

Kineticist

Yoon (she/her, Human [Tian-Hwan]) (PF1 vs. PF2)

In the Pathfinder Society, the official organised play of the game, time moves forward as players complete adventures and play through quests. Roughly speaking, years passing in game are one-to-one with years out-of-game, so Yoon was roughly eight years old when Occult Adventures came out in 2015, and is roughly 16 in Rage of Elements.

I really like Yoon's original design, but I also like seeing how much she's grown up. Rather than shapeless fire, she now has such fine control over her powers that she can shape it into birds. There are a lot of elements of her outfit that have been translated over really well, and of course she still has her stuffed owlbear, Gom-Gom!

The Kineticist appears in Occult Adventures for PF1 and in Rage of Elements for PF2.

Thaumaturge

Mios (they/them, Human)

The Thaumaturge is one of my favourite classes and Mios is such a great Iconic for showing off exactly what the class is about. In their backstory, Mios was bitten by a werewolf. They tried every folk remedy they could find... and one of them worked. They're still not entirely sure which one.

The Thaumaturge is a class built around collecting bits and pieces of pocket litter in the hopes that something will be the one specific weakness of any given monster, and usually they're right. They also wield implements, objects imbued with supernatural (though not necessarily magical) properties.

The Thaumaturge is one of two classes in PF2 that don't have a direct analogue in PF1 but in a way, it's a successor to the Occultist. In fact, "Thaumaturge" was a term used in PF1 to refer to Occultists of mythic rank. The two classes both make use of implements, although the Occultist is able to cast psychic spells ,which the Thaumaturge cannot.

Mavaro (he/him, Human) PF1 Iconic Occultist

The Thaumaturge appears in Dark Archive for PF2. The Occultist appears in Occult Adventures for PF1.

Inventor

Droven & Whirp (he/him, Half-Orc)

The Inventor represents the "gears" part of Guns & Gears. Droven has a little friend named Whirp, which is one of three options for an Inventor's inventions. You can make a little friend, a weapon, or a suit of armour. I love that Whirp is carrying Droven's tools, what a helpful little friend. Now that I look at it more closely, it does seem like Whirp is stepping on Droven's foot.

Notice as well that one of Droven's arms is mechanical. To make the game more inclusive, Pathfinder has mobility aids and assistive devices so that players can create differently-abled characters as they like. They were introduced in the setting book Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar, but they made their debut in a core product in Guns & Gears.

The Inventor is the second of the two PF2 classes that doesn't have a PF1 equivalent, but unlike the Thaumaturge, there isn't even a class that is sort of similar. The Inventor is unique, it stands alone.

The Inventor appears in Guns & Gears for PF2.

And with that, we've covered all of the full classes in PF2. There are still 17 classes from PF1 remaining. We'll take a look at 5 of them next time, and the remaining 12 later.

#pathfinder #pathfinder 2e #pf2e #ttrpg #role playing games #tabletop

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foxghost · 2 years

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Joyful Reunion

Translator: foxghost @foxghost tumblr/ko-fi1 Beta: meet-me-in-oblivion @meet-me-in-oblivion tumblr Original by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang Masterpost | Characters, Maps & Other Reference Index

Book 5, Chapter 48 (Part 2)

Since Duan Ling came to Jiangzhou, Li Yanqiu genuinely mastered the art of ruling by inaction. Outside of feigning his death, he’s kept himself almost completely out of every decision made since then, letting Mu Kuangda and Han Bin do whatever they want. Duan Ling is always worrying about disrupting Li Yanqiu’s plans, thus he remains apprehensive about his own.

“You’re doing great. I never thought things would turn out like this either. At first, I only planned to find out how many sharp rocks are under these turbulent waters, which would be revealed when the flood subsides.”

Duan Ling remains silent, listening to Li Yanqiu.

“When your dad was still around, he said that Great Chen is rotting. Whether it’s the secretariat, the imperial court, or the army, they all gave off the stench of decay. There’s no room for new blood to get promoted, and old men dominate politics. Power is taking ages to return to the central government.”

Duan Ling can sense the danger lurking in Li Yanqiu’s impassive tone, but he does not interrupt.

“The imperial court of Great Chen needs to go through a transition. Take the old factions and wipe them all away. Let young people with their fresh strength take over the established positions.”

“But even now,” Duan Ling says, “a lot of things are still firmly in the grasp of the old officials. If we swap out everyone in the Secretariat, a lot of procedures in the south will stop working.”

"My son, do you really think that? Allow me to ask you one question: when the flood hit Jiangzhou and Jiangnan last year, who were the ones that travelled to each region of the south and saved the people from disaster? Was it the imperial court, or was it the young officials? The secretariat oversees the imperial court, and they could direct things, but what practical purpose did they really serve?

“All their decisions stemmed from the gentry’s interests.” Before Duan Ling can answer him, Li Yanqiu continues, “Complex bureaucracy and red tape hold back all progress. Whether it’s disaster relief or rebuilding, all their decisions are based on ‘lessening damage to the clan’. In the end, it is Heibei, under your governance, without receiving much help from the south, and facing a war with the north besides, that has gradually come up in the world.”

“And so?” Duan Ling says. “Uncle, do you mean to say that, with this unforeseen catastrophe, you were to take the imperial court and …”

“Those who pledged allegiance to Mu Kuangda must die,” Li Yanqiu says. “That was indeed the initial plan. I don’t really care how much evidence there is on any of them — I just wanted to charge them all with being his accomplice.”

Duan Ling can’t help the shudder that runs through his chest — Li Yanqiu was planning to kill off Su Fa, Mu Kuangda, and most major officials of the court, then search their properties and seize all of their assets. But this must come at the cost of another catastrophe — the south will go through a drastic transition as everyone old is replaced with new, and the nation will fall into violent upheaval.

Finally, what may happen boils down to two possibilities: one, the empire will be annihilated by a foreign invasion, and two, all the forces within the imperial court will be reshuffled. Young officials promoted through the civil exams over the past several years will replace the old officials and become the imperial court’s new backbone.

“It’s something we’ve been preparing to do since we relocated the capital,” Li Yanqiu says. “But as we’re new arrivals in Jiangzhou, it would have been unwise to act too rashly. That’s why it’s taken me so long to begin. Take a step back and look at the big picture — we can even say that this is something we’ve been planning to get done since before your grandpa passed away.”

“But …” Duan Ling murmurs, “It’s far too risky.”

“That’s why your real challenge isn’t regaining your identity and returning to the place where you belong, but to return and face an entirely different imperial court, set out to organise it, stabilise it, and centralise power once more so that all authority return to the imperial family.”

That hasn’t been a part of Duan Ling’s thinking at all. Now that he’s considering it carefully, he realises that in Li Yanqiu’s plans, everyone who wasn’t informed of his false death fell within the purview of his “purge” — even Yao Fu, and even Xie You, had not been excluded.

“But if we lose Xie You’s support it would be very difficult for us to stabilise Jiangzhou,” Duan Ling says.

“The Black Armours listens to orders from the Son of Heaven, not Xie You’s. Let’s say you bet all of your stakes on Xie You. If one day even he turns on you, what will you do then? Of course, if we can leave him be, I would much rather leave him be. If he’s willing to protect you for the rest of his life, that would be the best scenario. If he isn’t, then you’re destined to fight him someday.”

But his plan’s been thoroughly smashed by Duan Ling. On his road to regaining his rightful place, he’s tried to keep too many people alive.

“Of course, it’s a risky move from my perspective as well.” Li Yanqiu says impassively, "That night, when you told me that you were planning to find evidence of collusion between Mu Kuangda and Han Bin, I became aware that this whole business was already out of my control.

“It’s just like what your dad once said — whether this empire is a good one or a bad one, ultimately it’s yours.” Li Yanqiu smiles lightly. “You chose a different path. The heavens have plans that man cannot predict, so just keep walking on this path, and follow it according to your thinking.”

Duan Ling cannot help but reconsider what Li Yanqiu has told him. A single massacre could bring about an unprecedented transformation, scattering and redistributing all forces in the imperial court.

“Go on. Your dad is watching over you from up above. But no matter how this is going to end, you must figure out how you’re going to face it.”

The stars above him are as densely distributed as droplets of water in a waterfall. Autumnal stars shimmer and spread across the night sky, a reflection of the ever-flowing Yangtze, illuminating the earth.

It is nighttime. Cai Yan has already gone days without sleep, and now he’s abruptly startled awake by footsteps.

When he was attending school in Shangjing, he’d gleaned plenty of the last days of the rulers of vanquished kingdoms from the histories. The sound of soldiers picking up their blades, scales rubbing against scales on their armour, footsteps, coughing — they all signal an inauspicious yet inevitable ending: death.

He used to not fear death, but later, he slowly started to grow fearful of death. While hiding in this palace chamber, he can feel his life ebbing away, dripping through this cage one drop at a time, as though a monster is sucking away his life force. There’s nothing he can do except wait in the Eastern Palace for death to come to him.

He’s resigned to his fate, counting down the days until he dies, fear shadowing him all the while.

When things were going his way, he even thought that the lie could last a lifetime, with no one the wiser regarding this meticulously premeditated scheme. On the rare occasion that he thought of it when the night was dark and deep, spurred on by fear, he would think of escaping from the palace, running as far as he could.

It’s like when a thief steals something that doesn’t belong to him. Stolen goods scald him like a hot yam, but he can’t get rid of it.

Ever since that day, Feng Duo had been taken away, and Cai Yan has no idea where they are keeping him. Lang Junxia is still missing, leaving Cai Yan completely abandoned — he can’t do anything at all.

The footsteps are coming closer and closer. A tall figure walks into the room. The guard outside closes the door.

“Let’s talk,” Han Bin says nonchalantly. He unties his cloak and tosses it aside. “For the past few days I’ve been so busy with other things that I actually haven’t had the time to deal with you.”

Cai Yan stares at Han Bin quietly.

Han Bin continues, “Xie You’s already fled. Give me some time, and both he and Yao Fu are going to meet a violent end. Nobody’s left to save you anymore.”

Han Bin looks Cai Yan up and down rather rudely. He’s already sent a message out today to inform the army garrisoned beneath Yubiguan to send reinforcements. As soon as his reinforcements arrive, he will open the inner city’s gates himself and stage a pincer attack, taking down the Black Armours in one fell swoop.

Soon as Xie You dies, taking care of what trouble that remains would be like sweeping up fallen leaves in autumn. He’ll set up negotiations with Yao Fu and tell him he won’t touch Huaiyin; Great Chen’s empire will thus fall into his hands.

Han Bin wonders what Li Jianhong and Li Yanqiu will think, from their residence in the underworld, if they ever find out that the Li empire will end this way.

“I’ve had enough,” Cai Yan says, his voice shaking, “just kill me.”

Han Bin seems a bit surprised. He considers Cai Yan.

“What do you mean by that?” Han Bin asks.

Cai Yan trembles, his breath coming in endless gasps. “I should never have been here in the first place. From the very start, it was a mistake that led me all the way here, and by now there’s nothing I want anymore. General Han, you are quite right — I’m not the crown prince of Great Chen. And there’s no way you can even imagine where the real crown prince is. Even Mu Kuangda has no way to know.”

“And who are you really?”

Cai Yan swallows. “Is who I really am at all important? My whole family is dead. Even if you want to sentence me to Nine Familial Exterminations, there’s nobody left to exterminate. But you, on the other hand, General Han, you have no idea, but you’re doomed. Xie You and Yao Fu are still holding back one last card, and all they’re waiting for is for you to announce to the world that I am not who I say I am.”

Han Bin’s eyes narrow slightly.

Cai Yan laughs. “Promise me that you’ll kill me before he comes back, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Go ahead.” Han Bin sits down nearby, still like a statue.

It is dawn. Duan Ling stands before the river alone. Today’s Jiangzhou is hung with dark clouds, and an element of restlessness pervades the atmosphere.

After Li Yanqiu told him all those things yesterday, Duan Ling has been feeling rather lost. He knows that the plan Li Yanqiu described to him in a few sentences is nothing more than an overview — if he really wanted to purge all of the old officials, naturally, he’d have plans in place for what to do afterwards. It’s just that the weight on his shoulder seems to have gotten a bit heavier.

Every dynasty had its precedents of a ruler killing off his powerful officials and subjects that had accomplished much for the empire. The emperor of Great Yu used a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet to burn the attending old officials to death; only this opportunity was taken advantage of by the empress, and the incident fermented into a coup that lasted for years. In the end, it was the exiled crown prince who returned with an army to recover the throne.2

And what would happen if he doesn’t kill them?

Wu Du approaches him against hazy morning light. “We should get going. Are you still thinking about what your uncle said?”

Duan Ling hums an affirmative response and turns back to look at Wu Du. They stand face to face, their eyes meeting in silence.

Wu Du studies Duan Ling carefully. “You’ve lost weight.”

“I’ll be fine once this is all over.”

“But you haven’t thought things through,” Wu Du says.

“You’re right. I’ve already stepped onto a path where no one can give me directions anymore. There are some things that even my dad didn’t manage to get done back then.”

“Sometimes I think you’re more like Chancellor Mu.” Wu Du suddenly smiles. “You seriously learned a lot from him.”

“He and my uncle had the same idea. They have different standpoints, but they ended up doing essentially the same thing. However, Chancellor Mu has a lot of patience, so everything was pushed along according to his plans. While my uncle and my dad’s ways are like a lightning strike — uncompromising, would lose eight hundred men to kill one thousand, Pyrrhic victories so be it.”

Meanwhile, Mu Kuangda’s methods are far more conciliatory. Very seldom does he resort to drastic measures to get rid of dissidents — aside from those of the Li clan and that hapless Bian Lingbai.

If it wasn’t for Han Weiyong’s downfall, he would never have fallen so low. Mu Kuangda has been steering his boat gingerly through the centres of countless vortexes since the beginning of the year, and the slightest error could send him crashing against the hidden rocks at the bottom of the river, leading to a gruesome death. If Han Weiyong was still around, Liao could have started putting pressure on the Chen border at the beginning of this year; even if Li Yanqiu wanted to get rid of him he wouldn’t have dared move so quickly.

And after Chang Pin’s death, his absence caused Mu Kuangda to misjudge the situation again and again. Now that Fei Hongde is here it seems like a good chance to gain back the advantage, but to his consternation Han Bin is moving ahead without consulting him, staging a coup ahead of schedule and ruining his plans.

“Are you feeling better, Chancellor Mu?” Fei Hongde says.

Since the attempt on his life that day, Mu Kuangda has been taken to the palace. The pretext Han Bin gave was to prevent another attempt at assassination, and to protect everyone in the Mu family, but in reality, he’s doing so to keep the Mu family under his control to prevent any unforeseen mishaps.

Mu Kuangda coughs a few times and struggles to sit up. He nods and says. “I’m feeling much better, and in a few days, I’ll be able to attend morning assembly as usual. I just never expected Wu Du and Wang Shan not to come to the palace with us, however.”

“Perhaps they’re moving around out there,” Fei Hongde says, “looking for the right chance to get you out of here, Chancellor Mu.”

Mu Kuangda heaves a sigh; he knows full well that this apprentice of his doesn’t get attached — like a snake in the dark, Wang Shan may turn on him and bite him any time.

“Do you have any news of their whereabouts?” Mu Kuangda asks. “And where did Chang Liujun go?”

Fei Hongde shakes his head. “I just asked General Han. He hasn’t heard anything at all.”

“And the crown prince?”

“He’s been locked away,” Fei Hongde replies.

Wuluohou Mu hasn’t come back either; all four great assassins are suddenly unaccounted for. Mu Kuangda is finally starting to get the feeling that something isn’t quite right — this current contingency can ultimately be traced back to that incident in the hidden chamber. He had thought the one giving Wang Shan pointers was Fei Hongde, but Fei Hongde really shouldn’t be privy to this much information.

“A lot of people’s arrived,” Fei Hongde says. “They’ve all come to give their condolences. Envoys from Yuan, Liao, Xiliang, and Tuyuhun are all waiting outside.”

“It’s about time for them to get here. Help me up so I can take a walk.”

With Fei Hongde’s help, Mu Kuangda stumbles to his feet. There are still bandages wrapped around his body; after the attack, he’s aged a lot overnight, looking shockingly like an old man with one foot in the grave.

“Chancellor, your wounds are not yet healed. Where would you like to go?”

“Let’s go check on the empress-dowager.” Mu Kuangda replies.

This translation is by foxghost, on tumblr and kofi. I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, it was reposted without permission. Do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎

Li Qingcheng from Yingnu did not do burn his officials to death, but his father did. Li Qingcheng did behead his chancellor/brother-in-law though, among other even (far) more sociopathic actions. (Please read Yingnu) ↩︎

#相見歡 #fei tian ye xiang #joyful reunion #xiang jian huan #fox translates things

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fourseasonsfigs · 2 years

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New Year Joint Special Project - Never Fail the Four Seasons

You can read about the other sets in this 6-set series here and here, but just to recap, this is one in a collaborative series of six designed among five fig makers for the Lunar New Year 2022.

This fig collaboration launched on February 22, 2022, and if you ordered during the early bird pre-order period (which I did), you would get a piece of a magnet which formed part of a larger piece of art. If you got all 6 magnets, you could complete the whole art piece.

The collaboration was 4 Wenzhou sets and 2 Junzhe. The 4 Wenzhou ones are below, and this set is of course the one in the bottom left, the walk to Siji Manor.

The name of this fig set comes from Word of Honor's main theme song, Tianyake, sung by Zhang Zhehan and Gong Jun. The lyric is quoted in the fig poster above:

相见恨晚幸未晚不再辜负四季花 Even if I met you too late, it’s not too late. Let’s not fail the Four Seasons’ flowers again.*

Here's the original picture in all its glory. This is of course the walk to Siji Manor in episode 24.

My husband, glancing at my screen, "Oh, they're on a picnic?"

Look at these two. A-Xu's face is so happy here, I love it.

Ah they're adorable. A-Xu of course isn't holding his drink gourd in the original picture, but why quibble details? He's probably just storing it in his robes, along with all his disguise gear, his changes of clothes, his various medicines, his moneybag (did he ever get it back from Lao Wen?) and some wrapped up bread for the road.

The fig maker even designed little feet for them:

I love little totally unnecessary details like this. We also have Lao Wen's hand behind his back here in his classic walking around pose. These figs stand securely thanks to their wide stable base.

Frankly it's good these two have solid stances, because they are sure sporting some luxurious flowing hair on their big ol' heads. You'd think such cranially-gifted disciples of Siji Manor would have a little more common sense stuffed somewhere in those gigantic melons, but, well, you've seen the subsequent episodes.

Here's a comparison of the Tofu official fig from the same scene with this one:

The official one is very authentic to the picture! I have to say, though, Big Headed A-Xu's enormous sparkly eyes and look of pure delight at being back in his old stomping grounds wins big with this fan.

The boxes are beautiful too.

Alright, it's magnet time! Here's the adorable magnet that came with this set:

Wait, they ARE having a picnic!

Cute little touches in the artwork here. The Tianchuang lantern, the juzipi in the tree, and the two rabbits who don't need to be exchanged for a piece of the glazed armor.

For the full set of magnets based on the posts to date, please be aware we're now moving into the portion of this program where we include a perhaps very mildly NSFW (spice ratio of like, well, something not very spicy at all, let's say a fast food jalapeno) piece of cute chibi artwork, so stop at the **** if today is not the day, and keep on going past it if it is!

Material: PVC

Fig Count: 47

Diorama Count: 4

Snowglobe Count: 1

Rating: A life of snow and frost melts away as I brew wine and make tea with you*

*Tian Ya Ke translation is from 青Cee, located here: https://youtu.be/UIgnDX5wcno Check it out, it's beautiful!

Ok!

Go no further if you don't want to see two zhiji entertaining themselves on a sunny summery afternoon.

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

*************************************************************

We're halfway through this piece of artwork! So cute!

#wenzhou #word of honor #shl #wen kexing #zhou zishu #figthusiast

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paganimagevault · 1 year

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Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, (259-210 BCE). An 1850 artwork by unknown artist. From Yuan, Zhongyi. China's terracotta army and the First Emperor's mausoleum: the art and culture of Qin Shihuang's underground palace. Paramus, New Jersey: Homa & Sekey Books, 2010. ISBN 978-1-931907-68-2 (p.140)

"Jia Yi, discussing the history of the Qin dynasty, has written as follows:

Duke Xiao of Qin [fourth century BC], relying upon the strength of the Hangu Pass and basing himself in the area of Yongzhou, with his ministers held fast to his land and eyed the house of Zhou, for he cherished a desire to roll up the empire like a mat, to bind into one the whole world, to bag all the land within the four seas; he had it in his heart to swallow up everything in the eight directions. At this time he was aided by the Legalist philosopher Lord Shang, who set up laws for him, encouraged agriculture and weaving, built up the instruments of war, contracted military alliances, and attacked the other feudal lords. Thus the men of Qin were able with ease to acquire territory east of the upper reaches of the Yellow River.

After the death of Duke Xiao, Kings Huiwen, Wu, and Zhao carried on the undertakings of their predecessor...then followed Kings Xiaowen and Zhuangxiang, whose reigns were short and uneventful. After this came the First Emperor who, carrying on the glorious spirit of his six predecessors, cracked his long whip and drove the universe before him, swallowed up the eastern and western Zhou, and overthrew the feudal lords. He ascended the throne of honor and ruled the six directions, scourging the world with his rod, and his might shook the four seas. In the south he seized the land of the hundred tribes of Yue and made of it Guilin and Xiang provinces, and the lords of the hundred Yue bowed their heads, hung halters from their necks, and pleaded for their lives with the lowest officials of Qin. Then he sent Meng Tian to build the Great Wall and defend the borders, driving back the Xiongnu over 700 li, so that the barbarians no longer ventured to come south to pasture their horses and their men dared not take up their bows to vent their hatred.

Thereupon he discarded the ways of the former kings and burned the books of the hundred schools of philosophy in order to make the people ignorant. He destroyed the walls of the great cities, assassinated the powerful leaders, and collected all the arms of the empire, which he had brought to his capital at Xianyang, where the spears and arrowheads were melted down and cast to make twelve human statues. All this he did in order to weaken the people of the empire".

-Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (translated by Burton Watson), page 10, book I

#qin shi huang #chinese history #history #ancient history #art #literature #classical literature #19th century art

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abigail-nicole · 1 year

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tgcf live read, part 5

in which the author moves her live-tweet of Heaven Official's Blessing, Tian Guan Ci Fu, all-around perfect novel and joy to everyone who reads it, from twitter (beta, qi rong, ruined by cryptobros and billionaires) to tumblr (alpha, hua cheng, shitposting for 10+ years and chaotic neutral). please buy officially licensed Heaven Official's Blessing translations from Seven Seas, enjoy the beautiful official donghua while we can get any smidge of gay representation out of mainland China, and enjoy!

initially live-tweeted 3/29/2020:

oh my god there’s a pregnancy episode. You know I’ve never counseled any of my patients on the grudge that could be left by an aborted fetus

Xie Lian faking pregnancy Im here for this

Oh!!!!! This is great!!!!!

Xie Lian has a ghost baby who’s waiting for him to transition & get pregnant CLEARLY THE ONLY EXPLANATION

I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING

I cannot wait to see the art for this??? It’s gonna be Exquisite

UNEXPECTED!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH SCREAMING SO LOUD I STARTLED THE CAT

Wasnt chapter 95 of mdzs ALSO A KISS CHAPTER

*incoherent noises* jgk fed gjbcgjkjfdhioollllojhghsadfsdff

(archivist note: my favorite fan cosplay photo art of this moment)

Oh my god xie lian REACTS SO POORLY WHAT A DUMBASS

The ghosts offering to help Hua Cheng rape someone is NOT funny but it made me laugh out loud

well now this is just

I’m gonna start counseling my pts on the spiritual strength of their fetuses. The strongest is clearly that lady who got shot in the uterus at 14 wks and made it to 28 weeks

Obstetric cultivation is my jam y’all

THEY'RE JUST HANGING OUT TOGETHER! BORROWING CLOTHES FROM EACH OTHER!! SOFT BOYFRIENDS!!!

Hua Cheng: i can cook for you

Xie Lian: no, let’s go out to eat

Hua Cheng: ......... you asked for this

oh to be Hua Cheng, smiling, watching your boyfriend eat

Xie “I JUST TELL THEM I’M IMPOTENT TO GET WOMEN TO LEAVE ME ALONE IM REALLY JUST GAY” Lian

Hua Cheng here like (smirking emoji x3)

Oh my god boyfriend calligraphy lessons SOFT...!!! SOFT!!!

I vehemently disagree with this “this father has to be included in the ghost fetus rights” case but that’s my own business

everyone: why the FUCK do you have this sword oh my god

The last time we saw e’ming it was shaking in sadness that it had hurt Xie Lian and I’ve cried in my heart every second from then until now

MY TWO FAVORITE WEAPONS ARE FIGHTING????? NO THEYRE BEST FRIENDS!! RUOYE & EMING OTP

YES PET THE SWORD ITS A GOOD SWORD GOOD SWORD

every time they hang out im just like......yes....pure oxygen, clean water, pollution disappearing from this earth....

Yes e’ming ruoye weapon pet otp

Oh my god this Which Weapon Pet Will Help More With Cooking is Exactly what my soul needs in these trying times.... I’m so blessed.....

Xie Lian - Wei Wuxian - being terrible at cooking

this is COMEDY GOLD

Hua Cheng: *doing dishes*

Shi Qingxuan: WHAT THE FUCK

Qi Rong: IM A FIERCE GHOST TOOOOOOOOO

Xie Lian: *hiding*

This is the best dinner party

This is the best fucking dinner party scene in any book I have ever read

Honestly the book could end right here. This scene is the Blessing in the title Heaven Official's Blessing

Shi Qingxuan is gonna go back & tell everyone they ate dinner with Hua Cheng and No One is gonna believe it

Poor Shi Qingxuan Lolololol

Awwwww theyre finally exchanging phone numbers!!!! also lol @ xie lian’s little joke here

can’t wait for the scene where they start flirting via communications array & shi qingxuan is staring back and forth at them & shouting at ming yi WHAT THE FUCK WE’RE RIGHT HERE WHAT ARE THEY DOING GET A GODDAMN ROOM

ugh I’m so happy to stop on this note & look forward to reading tomorrow & not having to pick up in the middle of Tragedy Book 2 (& apoarently also Tragedy Book 4). In conclusion Hualian is the Real Official Blessing We Made Along The Way

OMG I SAID THIS SCENE WOULD HAPPEN also i cant wait to find out hua cheng’s password (narrator voice: she would be disappointed)

Shi Qingxuan: i made them strip but oh god he just admitted he likes xie lian NOW its weird

Hahaha just wait till this is a sex thing (smirk emoji)

I also get bored and play dress up in the middle of hostage recovery

to be continued in part 6!

#tgcf #tgcf liveread

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xxladynenexx · 6 months

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Heaven Official's Blessing S2 Ep1

Why do I have to wait for episode 2 TT_TT

I want to have it all at once and then neglect every aspect of my life to watch it TT_TT

Spoilers for the ENTIRE story of Heaven Official's Blessing/Tian Guan Ci Fu below the cut!! Have my thoughts and excitement!

I will say, knowing what I do about Jun Wu and how close he was to Hua Cheng's ashes right then? Seeing it was so different to reading it. I unfortunately lack the ability to visualise things so reading, while fun for me, is quite difficult with character descriptions lol.

I did say that the idea for [Tenebrous] came to me in a dream, and that is true, but it's not the same way other people I know dream. I actually have a little thing I sent to friends to explain how I see things in my head, which I will paste here.

You are in a dark room. You can sort of see shapes of objects around you. There are no details on anything. You're pretty sure you saw a white cat. So you look for it. But you can never look at the cat and see it, you can only see it when you look anywhere but the cat. The cat is only ever very faintly visible. It's never clear, always blurry, and you can't see the whole cat. Only parts of it. You have to keep your eyes moving, because if you look at one spot too long the cat vanishes, and you have to look around for it again. There are never colours. The images are never sharp.

I also can never imagine things actively, I have to fully zone out or be asleep for anything to be 'seen' in my head. Also means when I get high I don't hallucinate lmao.

Back to TGCF spoilers.

I read some funny headcanons about how Hua Cheng probably had his little panic on "Shit, it's gege, how do I sit in this chair to look like the coolest Ghost King ever?" (Tbh I think he sits like that all the time because he gives off those vibes) and it gave me a giggle.

I love Shi Qingxuan's design. And I also really liked the animation/art style of the opening. I read a few people hated it but I quite like it. It's a unique style. A few angles may look awkward, but QI RONG?? DID YOU SEE THE INCREDIBLE TRANSITION FOR HIM? FAM.

It was so beautiful and I loved it.

Man even though I know what happens I am still so stressed about HOW CLOSE TO HUA CHENG'S ASHES JUN WU WAS!! Like, he didn't know they were there but I DID!!

#tgcf spoilers #heaven officials blessing s2

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baked-hylian · 1 year

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I started a little late on my new years resolution to read more (I started mid february to be specific,) but in no particular order here is my full list for 2022

Novels

Black Water Sister — Zen Cho

The Jasmine Throne — Tasha Suri

Gideon the Ninth — Tamsyn Muir

Harrow the Ninth — Tamsyn Muir

Nona the Ninth — Tamsyn Muir

Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official's Blessing) — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (volumes 1-4)

Mo Dao Zu Shi (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (volumes 1-3)

Iron Widow — Xiran Jay Xhao

The House of the Cerulean Sea — T.J. Klune

Under the Whispering Door — T.J. Klune

1984 — George Orwell

Among Thieves — M.J. Kuhn

Ishmael — Daniel Quinn

Shutter Island — Dennis Lehane

Frankenstein — Mary Shelley

Jurassic Park — Michael Crichton

The Hollow Ones — Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro

Good Omens — Terry Pratchet & Neil Gaiman

Howl's Moving Castle — Dianne Wynne Jones

Novellas/Short Stories

Animal Farm — George Orwell

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water — Zen Cho

Spirits Abound — Zen Cho

Manga

Cells at Work: Code Black — written by Shigemitsu Harada, art by Issei Hatsuyoshiya (volumes 1-4)

Chainsaw Man — Tatsuki Fujimoto (volumes 1-11)

Delicious in Dungeon — Ryoko Kui (volumes 1-11)

Jujutsu Kaisen — Gege Akutami (volumes 0-18)

Made in Abyss — Akihito Tsukushi (volumes 1-10, plus the 4 anthology volumes by multiple authors and artists)

My Dress-up Darling — Shinichi Fukuda (volumes 1-6)

Spy x Family — Tatsuya Endo (volumes 1-8)

Witch Hat Atelier — Kamome Shirahama (volumes 1-10)

Light Novels

Ascendance of a Bookworm — Miya Kazuki (part one: volumes 1, 2, 3)

The Faraway Paladin — Kanata Yanagino (books 1, 2, 3)

Re:Zero—Starting Life in Another World — Tappei Nagatsuki (volumes 16-19)

Re:Zero—Starting Life in Another world Extras — Tappei Nagatsuki (volume 1)

Further thoughts and comments on some things below the cut

I never thought I'd clear through this much in under a year? Especially considering the last couple months I've been a little lax in reading. Typically I read at work on break and before my shift starts if I'm early, but I've been hit or miss for that so it wound up taking nearly a month for me to finish Good Omens.

Some of the series above are definitely in the reread category, but there's others that left me a little disappointed. Like I had heard so much positive talk about Klune's works, but I was left kinda disappointed with Under the Whispering Door, however maybe it was the subject matter, because I did also enjoy The House on the Cerulean Sea from him. And others like some of the classics I've read through, Idk maybe I'm spoiled, but I like having frequent paragraph breaks? And at least with Orwell in particular, he seems to really enjoy going nearly a whole page without one break. Which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't nearly ever 5 or so pages.

Definitely going to be rereading The Locked Tomb series entirely once Alecto the Ninth is out, I love the batshit wild ride that series puts you on.

Anyone who is curious may have noticed that I started with volume 16 for Re:Zero—that series is long okay? I opted to start with the beginning of arc five, since the anime ends with the conclusion of arc four. I do however plan to go back and read the other arcs, however I'm not in a major rush to finish them off since I doubt season 3 is coming any time soon.

I've also discovered that I enjoy some movie/television adaptions of books, now that I've read multiple while having watched the movie back to back. Maybe it has to do with a more mature understanding of good and bad in everything. However that still isn't going to make me rewatch The Last Airbender anytime soon lol

It's also super true: anime is just a commercial for the manga. Seriously, nearly every new series I picked up and really enjoyed I picked up the manga. The quickest was Spy x Family, next Chainsaw Man but holy, I only have two manga series I've been reading that don't have an anime adaption (although Witch Hat Atelier has an anime announcement from last year, so probably only another couple until that happens.) Although I would love to see J.C. Staff animate a Dungeon Meshi anime.

I think going into 2023 I'm going to look for more non-fiction books to check out as that seems to be an area I'm greatly lacking in.

#me squinting at my bookshelf from across my room: who's the author again?#Also had to wait to post this to the last possible moment #as I hadn't actually finished 1984 #cause sir your paragraphs are ridiculous for me :(

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