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#wuji reference
katoye · 1 year
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Episode 14.
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zeravmeta · 4 months
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We are two days before the Pokemon DLC and although i will not buy it i also do enjoy the Pokemon worldbuilding/lore so my big hot theory on Terapagos is that it and the Tera Phenomenon specifically manifests dreams and turns them into reality.
We already have all the implications from the Paradox Pokemon being born from the professors dreams of an ancient/future world, but also I want to look at a bunch of the promo materials/events surrounding it: Gen 5 has been weirdly hinted at a bunch of times throughout Scarlet/Violets lifespan so far, with things like Ingo in Legends Arceus (as well as a bunch of the ancestors + the portrait of ancient Alder), the focus on the Tao Trio in the DLC trailer showing off past Legendaries & the DLC itself having us actually go to Unova, the introduction of the Treasures Of Ruin as the rivals to the Forces Of Nature genies, and the hinting of a new Pokemon mainline game coming in early 2024 (dear god Nintendo just let Gamefreak rest) supposedly being a Legends Unova game, there's been a whole bunch of Gen 5 hints scattered throughout.
The main story behind the Tao Trio is that there was once an Original Dragon who shared its power with two brothers, but when the two brothers clashed between their truth and ideals, the dragon could not decide and split itself in two, becoming Zekrom and Reshiram and leaving behind Kyurem as the empty husk that was once their body.
I think Terapagos is another fraction of this equation, specifically the dream of the Original Dragon itself to have truth and ideals (the two brothers) reconcile and coexist once more, because while truth and ideals are fundamentally incompatible, dreams can make the impossible happen. It can make a paradox exist. This would also work thematically: Zekrom and Reshiram, of course, represent the Yin and Yang, the literal black and white of their namesakes. Kyurem, however, isn't representative of the balance between the two, but actually gray, the concept of Wuji, which represents both infinity and nothingness, the absence of yin and yang and equally the limitless infinite potential born from it, the way that Kyurem is constantly freezing itself because its genetics are incredibly volatile and constantly evolving, especially when it absorbs one of its fragments. I think Terapagos is representative of Taiji, the idea of balance between Yin and Yang.
Yin and Yang originate from Wuji (infinite nothingness) and become Taiji (supreme ultimateness). So, Kyurem is the "nothing" left behind by the Original Dragon, which, when combined with Zekrom and Kyurem (Yin and Yang), would then achieve their supreme/original form, representative of Terapagos (ultimateness).
These Chinese inspirations would line up actually, since the Forces Of Nature and the Treasures Of Ruin are also references to Chinese mythology, specifically The Four Symbols and The Four Perils.
Terapagos and Kyurem also share a very weird similarity: they're both vessels for a greater power with the implication that they themselves are not truly alive (Terapagos' baby form enhanced by Terastalization + the Area 0 note and Kyurem being a literal frozen corpse, an empty shell of great potential for Zekrom/Reshiram's power).
There's also another dimension to this (literally): the fucked up crystal monsters from space and how they relate to the Pokemon world
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The Original Dragon which split into Zekrom, Reshiram and Kyurem was also originally from a meteorite which came from space, so I believe that Terapagos, being part of it, was also from space (esp given its depiction in the Scarlet/Violet book as being among space and the stars).
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Now you may be wondering "hey dude why is Zygarde up there, it isn't from space, what gives?" well I have an answer for that and why it's related.
Zygarde is the Pokemon planet's own natural born giant crystal guardian monster.
The same way that Necromza was once the god of Ultra Megalopolis and shared its light before being drained, Zygarde is a similar entity born on the Pokemon planet made to protect it. They're all, after all, composed of interlocking crystal parts and are essentially incomplete beings reshaping themselves when in their baser forms, with Terapagos also being composed of interlocking hexagonal parts in a similar manner as Zygarde.
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Alright, so we've established a whole bunch of world building lore, but what's the big deal about it? Well, let's talk about Eternatus, The Darkest Day, and Infinity Energy next.
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The Darkest Day is an event where Eternatus came to Galar from a meteorite in order to steal all of its energy. However, Zacian and Zamazenta appeared to protect Galar and were able to defeat it, sealing it away before Rose awakened it to try and bring about another Darkest Day to resolve Galar's future energy crisis. However, a key point to this is that the reason WHY Eternatus was stealing energy is because it was trying to keep itself alive after having LOST all of its energy, with its Eternamax form being closer to what Eternatus' actual form should be compared to the skeleton dragon we see.
And the Wishing Stones and Power Spots, which are what allow Pokemon to Dynamax, are incredibly similar to both the Mega Evolution stones and the Z-Crystals, which in themselves are fragments of The Ultimate Weapon and Ultra Necrozma respectively: Fragments of incredible power which are the building blocks to a space-originating Pokemon's original form. When Ultra Necrozma had its original light stolen by the ancestors of the Ultra Recon Squad, it shattered, opening Ultra Wormholes which spread the Z-Crystals (fragments of its original body) across Alola and allowing people to tap into Z-Power. Similarly, the Mega Stones were made after The Ultimate Weapon was fired and spread the life energy (Xernas/Yveltal/Zygardes powers) across Kalos, which mutated the landscape and developed Mega Stones. And in ORAS, The Devon Corporation specifically calls out this phenomenon from Kalos as the origin of Infinity Energy, the literal life energy of Pokemon.
Another key aspect to this is that this extreme level of energy, as well as Eternatus' own Pokedex entry, make note that this can even warp space-time as a consequence, which is likely why Ultra Wormholes are so common in Alola despite being a miracle occurrence: The fragments of Necrozma's body are constantly exuding this energy, which makes space-time unstable. It's also likely the reason as to why the Hoopa portals and Mirage Islands appear in ORAS, with Devon's use of Infinity Energy being the cause for these distortions to appear.
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Alright, so what does any and all of this have to do with Terapagos?
Well, I think Terapagos is one of these crystal energy repository Pokemon, specifically the infinite energy source for the Original Dragon that all of these space crystal Pokemon also utilize. As well, the splitting of the Original Dragon caused the Terastal Phenomenon to occur, spreading across Paldea in the distant past as Terapagos laid dormant in the deepest recesses of Area 0. We know that Paldea is directly connected to Kalos, and us going to Unova likely means that it's close by as well, especially when Zekrom/Reshiram on their own are described to have enough power to cover the entire globe.
The Terastal Phenomenon wasn't really able to make the professor's time machine work, because while the high amounts of energy can warp spacetime, the professor misunderstood how to use it: Rather, because the professor dreamed of a world of ancient/future Pokemon, the Terastal Phenomenon made the Paradox Pokemon by channeling the energy into the professor's machine. As well, the Terastal Phenomenon works by manifesting dreams with the use of Tera Crystals, which envelop the Pokemon/Person who uses it, so a Pokemon, which is composed of Infinity Energy and controls the typing/energy of its moves, can alter their type in this way with an appropriate amount of Tera Shards of a different type.
In our hypothetical Legends Unova game, I bet that we'll see the Original Dragon, which wields so much energy that when it splits, it'll create the Tera Phenomenon. Given that the Treasures Of Ruin are not originally from Paldea (they may have been brought there by Volo, but all we know is that it was a travelling merchant), and that Paldea itself was under the control of the Paldean Empire (which is why it has that name in the modern day), it's even possible that the kingdom that Team Plasma tried to establish may have been inspired by/are the remnants of this original Paldean Kingdom, with N being the new modern day king chosen by Ghetsis, who was actually part of this ancient lineage. It's very likely that Terapagos is not originally from Paldea.
Paldea, connected to Kalos and Unova, could have even been the battleground of the two brothers when the Original Dragon split, creating the Great Crater and leaving Terapagos there, the remnants of the dream of the Original Dragon for the two brothers to reconcile.
I think a very interesting little promotion for the lead up to Part 2 of the DLC is that players, via Mystery Gift, were randomly given a Darkrai, a Pokemon meant to embody nightmares. I think that this is a little teaser hint to Terapagos, and the Terastal Phenomenon as a whole, being able to control and manifest dreams.
And that dreams coming true aren't always a good thing. They may even spell disaster if the infinite energy they possess goes out of control and envelopes the world. If Zekrom can envelop the world in an ultimate truth and Reshiram can envelop it with an ultimate ideal, both of them scorching it to ashes, then perhaps Terapagos can envelop it in an eternal dream, an eternally frozen crystal, similar to how Kyurem can cover an entire region and potentially the planet in an eternal blizzard.
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So basically. This is what's going down in the grand scheme of things
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rainbowsky · 1 year
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A follow-up to a previous post about the recording of Wuji.
Fake, fan fiction, CPN.
Cheng Yi has posted a comic strip she commissioned, and in the comments said that the confidentiality agreement has expired and she is now free to reveal that the comic accurately illustrates what she witnessed during the recording of Wuji.
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I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I'm not at all surprised. I think we all suspected that they had a brief moment of holding hands during recording. It seemed pretty obvious given their facial expressions and demeanor.
On the other hand, the way she confirmed it so openly and referred to the expiration of the confidentiality agreement left the whole thing feeling a little awkward. It makes it clear that she is sharing something she would have otherwise been unable to share, and that begs the question of whether or not GG and DD would approve of her sharing this information.
So this isn't as exciting a candy as I would have expected it to be for me. No shade on anyone who gets excited about it, but it gives me more questions than it answers.
Of course everything could be totally aboveboard, and anyway it's not something that has much risk of harming GG and DD. I was just a bit surprised by how her confirmation made me feel less excited about the candy than before it was confirmed by her. 😅
I'm going to add a few points I made in the comments so that people can get a better sense of how I feel about some aspects of this revelation:
Remember they're not really at liberty to share anything about their private life, at least not directly. Anything that is shared about things like this is going to come from other people, or is going to come from an oblique angle.
They were also in a room full of cameras. You can see multiple cameras in the shot of the video of them recording. Even with confidentiality agreements, they know all such agreements expire. They likely knew that the recording could come out eventually. That is likely why it was such a brief handhold.
And it is also worth remembering that GG and DD have plausible deniability, because they were recording a song for the soundtrack of a drama they did together. There's nothing directly romantic or sexual about what's happening there. They could just be good friends holding hands. I don't think this poses any risk to them, not even if the actual video came out.
Ultimately all of this could be very easily dismissed as fan service, so I don't think it's anything to get too worried about on their behalf. Her choice of words just dampened my enjoyment of this a bit. ☺️
Engaging discussion happening in the comments of this post for those who are interested.
Edit: more on this here.
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asksythe · 11 months
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Wei Ying might actually be long-lost royalty (mark 3) but it doesn’t actually mean all that much. Historical tragic, super spicy gay drama! - An Essay (1)
So I’ve been asked: now that we know MDZS happened during Wei Jin Northern and Southern Dynasty era and that the name of one of the dynasties (Northern Wei 北魏) is the same Wei in Wei Ying Wei Wuxian (魏). How come nobody in MDZS ever remarked on Wei Ying having the same surname as the royal family? 
There are three reasons for this: 
1. The royal house name of Northern Wei was not Wei. It was Yuan… and Tuoba before that. 
Yeah… 
Northern Wei eventually fractured into East and West Wei, with each branch of the royal family (Yuan and Tuoba branches) taking power on each side. 
The other Wei state in the same Six Dynasties Period was Cao Wei. The ruling house name was Cao… as in … Cao Cao… of the Romance of The Three Kingdoms fame… Yeah…   
The actual royal house with the Wei surname that you are looking for came from the Wei Kingdom during Warring States (4BCE to 2BCE), i.e., the period of chaos and war right before unification by Qin Shi Huang. I.e., over half a millennium before MDZS timeline (Although this is probably the era when the great Houses were founded: Wen, Jiang, Jin, Nie, and Lan. The book did mention the time before Wen Mao, the founder of House Wen, brought about the fall of the sect system to be a time of wars and chaos and that the Burial Mound was a Holy Mountain that was corrupted due to the countless dead well before Wen Mao’s time). 
Wei Kingdom 魏国 started out as a vassal state (called the State of Wei). Through generations of achievements and war alliances, this state evolved to become a Kingdom. The first Wei King was Wei Ying (魏嬰). Yes. That Wei Ying. Although the Ying here is a variation of the way Wei Ying’s birthname is spelled in canon with the meaning remaining the exact same. His posthumous title is Wei Hue Wang (King Wei Hue).
Although if you are looking for the historical counterpart of Wei Ying (and Jiang Cheng), you will have to look three generations down at his great-great-grandson Wei Wuji (Wuji being another way to write Wuxian), also known as Lord Xinling (Xinling Jun). Wei Wuji and his elder brother’s life is more or less what happened to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng Jiang Wangyin in MDZS. Except in the real world, it’s Jiang Cheng who is gay (Bi, really) and whose lover’s title (Lungyang Jun) is used as a way to refer to gay porn for 2000 years after his death. Historical Wei Wuxian still died of a broken heart because his brother betrayed him though. Unlike novel Jiang Cheng, however, historical Jiang Cheng (King Wei Anli, elder brother to Wei Wuji) was said to have died of an illness supposedly caused by hearing his younger brother had died of a broken heart. Fans of tragic, complicated, highly spicy gay romance, eat your heart out. 
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Ladies and gentlemen: the historical Jiang Cheng, King Wei Anli (in modern Chinese cinema), also the man who introduced gay porn into Chinese literary history.
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(Modern Chinese cinema representation of Lungyan Jun: historical Jiang Cheng’s beau and the man whose title became synonymous with gay porn for literally two thousand years and counting) 
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(Ancient gay porn featuring not-historical-Jiang-Cheng and not-Lungyang-jun. In ancient China, novels were written based on real concurrent events with names switched out. Pay close attention to the hair ornaments of our actors here! The one on the left is wearing a hair crown typically reserved for royal men, whereas the one on the right is wearing a cap reserved for male court officials)
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Historical Wei Ying! By which I mean Lord Xinling Wei Wuji (modern Chinese game), the war hero who died of a broken heart because his big brother don’t wanna play with him no more. 
Incidentally, Wei Wuji and his brother King Wei Anli were the first people in recorded history to own Tiger Tally (Hufu).
But I shall talk about all this ancient gay drama and the OG tiger tally another day (So long, historical Jiang Cheng! You are still a horrible brother, you little shit!).    
2. Slavery System of Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties Era. Wei Jin Era really is just Warring States Era Mark 2. War Harder! 
That is to say, being of royal blood is not what it’s cracked up to be during this specific era. Wei Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties Era (also called the Six Dynasties Era) is kinda a special case in post-Qin-unification Chinese history for the simple fact that China was anything but unified during this period. 
To understand this period, you have to look at the sheer brutality and the miraculous nature of Qin unification. Qin Shi Huang did something that nobody before him had ever done. He united hundreds of different ethnic groups through murder, violence, and a case of genocide here and there. He forced enemies that had been feuding against each other for literal centuries to become fellow countrymen. He razed temples to the ground. He tore down capitals. He burned books and then burned the men who read such books beside them. He erased entire languages and cultures and forged a single, united country out of all that. For all that he contributed to China, the title tyrant is not wrongly awarded to him. 
But with such a strong, charismatic, forceful leader, you eventually have to face the big problem: their death. The Qin Dynasty really didn’t last long after Qin Shi Huang’s passing. The Han dynasty right after was even more short-lived. Some historians even called that dynasty a stillbirth. The thing that followed was a period of pure chaos and violence where differences and ethnic tension that had brewed throughout Qin and Han dynasties finally exploded. 
Thus, was born the Wei Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties, where the previously united Empire fractured into various petty kingdoms warring against each other. At one point, there were sixteen petty kingdoms where a united empire once was. What followed were approximately three centuries of various ancient states, petty kingdoms, cultures, and ethnic groups killing, fucking, cannibalizing, marrying into each other, massacring each other, tearing, and mushing apart and into each other until they eventually became a much more homogenized cultural and racial amalgamation and arrived (with a minor hiccup at the Song dynasty, another very short-lived dynasty) at the Tang Dynasty, which was considered a golden age in Chinese history and lasted for four centuries.
So then, in an era like this, being a reigning royal is not that big of a deal as you may think it is. In fact, this specific era was known as the era where the Noble Houses and not Kings were the ones who held the real power. Yes, noble houses like the Wen, the Jiang, the Jin, the Nie, and the Lan. Because there was no effective central power, the historical counterparts of the Houses in MDZS held power that they wouldn’t in other dynasties. Not only did they own vast territories and held legal power over them, but they also charged tax brackets that were previously only charged by Emperors or Kings. They could gather army conscripts and organize their own armed forces. 
In the novel MDZS, the cultivator Houses acted exactly like the historical Noble Houses during the real Wei Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties. They held massive territories and could exert certain levels of administrative and legal power over them. They held hunting rights, tax rights. In the novel, during the Sunshot campaigns, all cultivator houses started gathering conscripts and volunteers for their Sunshot war. And finally, under Jin Guangyao’s reign, they built massive military structures. This would be unthinkable in both the era before and after this one specific era. 
Ah… going too far off the topic. I digress. The point is, being actual reigning kings during this era is really not what it seems, let alone being long-lost royals. Because being long-lost royals means your royal family probably already kicked the bucket in historical Chinese Game of Thrones… and that means… you are a slave. 
Yep, slavery. During this time in ancient China, society was separated into a strict nine-ranked caste system. Depending on which rank a person was, they might have certain rights (and duties) and could do certain jobs, and enjoy some level of protection from the provincial government. But if you are low on this ranking scale, you are effectively… not a human at all, not in the eye of the law. 
Indeed, the lower ranks of this caste system were effectively serfs, who, if they dared leave the territory of their lord, would open themselves up to slave cartels. For example: Jin Guangyao’s mom, Meng Si, during this era would be categorized as Jianren (賤人, lit: petty person, this is the insult Madam Yu used against Wang Lingjiao), an owned Jianren at that. This means that even if she quit the brothel and took young Meng Yao with her, her caste as Jianren would still remain… which means she and her son Meng Yao would be forbidden from official examinations, would not enjoy protection from the law, would not be able to own particular business, would not be able to buy and own properties, and could only do lowly, menial jobs reserved for Jianren… unless she could pay an exorbitant amount of money and favor to a local magistrate to have him create new documentations for her and push her up on the caste system. Should she run and leave the city where she was based in, without the right documentation, she would open herself and her son up to roving slave cartels in the unprotected territory between city-states. Once she fell into slavery, her status as a slave, alongside her son, would be effectively legal in the eyes of the law (what passed for it) at that time. 
Slavery is legal during Wei Jin era. In fact, slavery in China was legal up until very recently, in the last century. It was accepted and practiced wide-spread. 
By that same system, if you were a citizen of a city-state on the losing side of a war, you would also be effectively a slave. Under this sytem, entire cities and small kingdoms of people were enslaved. Indeed, this is how Qi Huang Wen branch including Wen Qing and Wen Ning were treated in the novel: as slaves of the losing side. Originally they were stationed at Ganquan 甘泉 until Jin Zixun came and forced Wen Ning and other Wen people to Qiongqi Path, which was owned by the Jin. Because they were effectively slaves, even when they did nothing wrong, no one stood up for them. No one but Wei Ying.    
This is even pointed out when Wei Ying said in the novel that because they are Wen, so they are not humans. Is that what you mean? When he went to Qiongqi Path the first time. In the eye of Chinese society of that time, the Wen... really weren’t considered humans at all.
So the point is, even if Wei Ying is long-lost royalty, in the eyes of the people in MDZS, he would be effectively a slave or from slave blood. So, Madam Yu did actually have a point when she repeatedly insulted Wei Ying (and his father) and treated them as she would a slave. Because in the eye of society of that time, they were slaves. It didn’t matter how talented Wei Changzhe was or that he was married to the disciple of Baoshan Sanren, a peer of the founders of all 5 great houses, he was still a slave. It didn’t matter how talented Wei Ying was or that he was a war hero or that he spoke truth, because he came from lowly blood, because he had no House and no Clan behind them, anyone at all (Jin Zixun, Jin Zixuan, Jiang Cheng, effectively the entire cultivator world) would feel like they could push him around and insult him without fearing retaliations. In an era without law, if you are alone, then you are automatically guilty. 
 3. Real-life cultivators are actually super anti-authority anarchist hippies. Also, MDZS world is probably heading for cultivator’s Armageddon. Also, Lan Qiren is full of shit. Two of the three Founding Sages of Daoism (real-life basis of cultivation and xianxia) say so.  
-To Be Continued (I’m tired. This is longer than I thought. I’ll complete this another day)- 
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accio-victuuri · 1 year
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CHENGYI’S CUTE COMIC strikes again. This one is really more of a cute story and is leaning towards the fake rumor territory. at least for me. This is the original link and the caption is Thursday is a good day to see you, which is a reference to this CPN. So the whole comic is about them getting ready to see each other for the legendary Wuji recording. In particular, ZZ wanted to get a haircut.
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based on the drawing, fans pointed to ZZ’s oasis post back in 3/24 where he had really long hair. and then come 3/28, it was trimmed down. you also see him trying to fix his hair and was often touching it during the Wuji recording. i just love idea of him getting a haircut and wanting to look his best because he knows he will be meeting up with yibo. 😭😭😭
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there is also a part here where yibo is ready with his chanel perfume but that’s a well known cpn already so it’s not exactly a new tidbit. but still a nice addition.
that’s all. this is clowning. fake. 💯
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resonancewitness · 23 days
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in regard to “Bystander” and “Everything is Lovely” (post 1, my backstory) 
i need to put a disclaimer here: first of all, unfortunately, i am in no way near as profound, subtle and educated a commentator as @potteresque-ire, so my thoughts on the topic of some examples of modern chinese lyrical poetry will be shallow, blunt and naïve
but writing is what i use to make sense from experience, so here i go, bravely and imperfectly
the backstory of encountering “Bystander” and “Everything is Lovely” for me is that some weeks before that I had finished watching The Untamed for the first time, read the books, and then watched some episodes again to appreciate the work of the scriptwriters and lin hai laoshi more. 
what stood out for me was, first, how the theme of “confessions unfulfilled” in the movie is represented by the use of Wuji theme in every place where the characters felt love — and would have had a chance to say something to each other, but didn’t
second, the creative way of making some music magical (here we learn something good and useful from jin guangyao, worthy of his title): you put your cultivation energy in whatever passages you want to have impact, and don’t put it in the other ones that serve as camouflage 
in my sociopolitical environment at the same time very strong restrictions were put on open support for queer people, and I have been thinking about silencing, stealing the voice, and other forms of oppression, and about the ways people always “fly” from being “trapped”, if we reference Gilles Deleuze here. I was thinking about the songs as such "lines of flight"
i did not know about the story of gg and dd at the time, so I had a “thematic conflict story development bunny” (…bite me in the ass…:)): what if irl their direct digital communication would be very much monitored, even privately, not to mention their public conversations? would they pull the “musical theme” card here? amongst other things?
i was somewhat off the mark there, i guess, but not off the mark where “public conversations” are concerned. 
I did not know about the turtles then and the assumed communication between them two and the community, via the language of candies
so my first premise was “publicly, they may use the songs that they have a say in choosing, to communicate with each other, leaving gifts-that-keep-on-giving”. 
“what permanent message do I want to leave in your playlist at this time?” 
my second premise was “when they put heart, in a very special way, in what they sing, the singing sounds different than when they don’t do it to the same extent”.
I started with “Like the Sunshine”, which spoke to me in a very soothing way, as I know the experience of being in a long-distance relationship for years
then I found “Walking through the Coffee Shop/ The Only One I Love Is You” and “Made to Love”
then the “Bystander” and “Everything is Lovely” were released, and I could see the recurrent metaphors and images
I asked myself: “if it was poetic dialogue, what would be the questions these songs serve as answers to?” and went back into retracing the songline back in time, all the way to “Satisfied” (I am sure I have missed a lot of songs, though, so this project of re-creating a songline of these years is ongoing)
...the benefits of entering the fandom so late with the beginner's mind: there are already so many dots waiting to be connected :)
this is totally a fanfiction, clownery and brain rot :) as you know such things always are
(to be continued) 
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the-monkey-ruler · 2 months
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I am a little confused. Someone on twt says that the lion that takes the place of King Wuji and the Azure Lion that is with his sworn brothers are two different lions and are not the same, however, some articles say that they are the same.
I’ve seen that as well! I personally never heard of this take before but I asked a friend and they told me that this is a real theory. I'm not sure how popular the two-lion theory is since I've never seen anyone else ever talk about it but I'll explain it here.
Two Lions theory - Wukong didn’t mention anything to Azure Lion when they met in the Camel Ridge arc. He mentioned nothing of their first fight in the Wuji Kingdom and this makes it strange he wouldn’t at least reference this. The master also says nothing of his Lion running away in the few short years that he was the one to release him from the Wuji kingdom. Never referenced in the book and thus it didn't happen.
Same Lion theory - Bodhisattva are only known for having a single beast they ride or their Diting and it would be strange that Manjushri has two of the exact same Lion. While other Bodhisattvas like GuanYin are connected to multiple animals (she has a pet goldfish and her Diting is a wolf) but only Manjushri has the same animal. He is never mentioned on having different animals and thus it is the same animal but he ran away the second time and that is why it wasn't mentioned.
In the most likely case, you have to think of it as a more out-of-story reason as to why there were multiple stories of Manjushri's animal companion in the story and they are both meant to be based on the same animal. Wu Cheng'en didn't write Xiyouji himself, he took what existing stories that were already there and was the man to make it into a single-story compilation. The stories most likely used the same Lion since Manjushri is an old and well-known figure but Wu Cheng'en still added both since it could work. Wu Cheng’en most likely didn’t bother to add any acknowledgment that these were the same beast within the story because it wasn't contradicting anything in the story for having this animal commit two crimes there would be no reason to not add both stories.
That being said I personally believe they are the same Lion even if it was overlooked to acknowledge how the same beast commits two different crimes. I think that plot wise it doesn’t disqualify that this Lion could have done both as unlikely as it is. The first time being out of his master's wish and the second time being of his own volition. I never heard of the Two Lion Theory being a popular thing and not sure if other people even heard about it but maybe @journeytothewestresearch knows something.
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minsarasarahair · 1 year
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Okay! Here’s my thoughts after watching the episode 1 of The Blood of Youth drama.
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Known as Shao Nian Ge Xing and its based from the novel with the same title. The donghua adaptation (Great Journey of Teenagers or Youth and the Golden Coffin) is quite popular. It already has two seasons, a prequel(still airing) and a spinoff about the assassins soon. I just realized that the donghua and drama are all under Youku. Since I’m very familiar with the donghua, I’ll use it as reference.
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Believe it or not, the drama is very similar to the donghua adaption! I’m also surprised! As in they have the donghua theme songs, donghua voice actors, donghua character designs(kinda? except for Lei Wujie), and the donghua flow of the story. Its a very weird experience LOL. The scenario execution and shots they used are very similar too. I guess you’ll love the drama if you love the donghua adaptation and you want it to be similar as possible. I just hope they credited the people behind the donghua because I really felt like the donghua and drama used the same storyboard. AT LEAST THE BEGINNING! They will cover more of the story than the donghua so let’s see. 
The drama is heavy visual effects. Looks like they have budget for it? If you love that, you’ll like it. I don’t mind it but I’m used to Word of Honor where I can see the character’s movement when they fight. Because of the effects, I can’t appreciate the actor’s fighting movement that much. 
It has decent cinematography. If you watched donghua, that’s what you’ll get. Funny thing is I find myself looking for what’s the difference between the donghua and drama bc of too much similarities.
I think in the drama, they introduced early the story of the Prince Xiao Chuhe than the donghua tho. That he was exiled and such. 
As for the actors, I’m only in episode 1 so I can’t say much but Li Hongyi’s portrayal of Xiao Se reminds me of The Untamed’s Lan Wangji. Donghua Xiao Se is more expressive. Maybe he’ll improve more as the story goes but that’s just my first impression. Li Hongyi was casted as Shen Yi for the drama adaptation of Sha Po Lang so I assumed he’ll be expressive. Maybe that’s why I’m a bit disappointed. Or maybe I’m just attached to the donghua Xiao Se which is more sassy. 
Also! The actors of Qianqiao, Da Wu from Word of Honor and actor of Jin Zixuan from The Untamed are here. 
Don’t worry I’ll finish the drama. I just want to take my time but I do like the drama. I'm not just super obsessed. I love more content from the Shao Nian series. I hope Drama enjoyers will check out the Donghua too. It’s gayer. It’s worth it.
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Text
On 2011 March 6, Pokémon Black and White were released in North America. The in-game history of these games features the Twin Heroes who founded the Unova region and once controlled the cover legendaries - one who held Reshiram and treasured Truth and the other who held Zekrom and idolized Ideals. They conflicted over whether Truth or Ideals was superior, clashing their dragons against each other, but neither could defeat the other. This balance between Ideals and Truth is an example of the Taoist principles of Yin and Yang, emphasized by details such as Zekrom and Reshiram's black and white coloring, which has led to the two dragons (along with Kyurem, representing wuji, the absence of yin and yang) to be referred to as the Tao trio.
A similar yin-yang balance seems to be present in the setting of Deltarune, where Ralsei claims that light and darkness must be balanced or the world will be destroyed. Neither darkness nor light is necessarily evil nor good - both Lightners and Darkners show friendliness and hostility to each other in varying measures. The similarity goes deeper, however, with the philosophical nature of light and darkness in Deltarune.
The Dark Worlds are full of fun, fantasy, and adventure. Many of the Darkners are literally personified toys and game pieces, and the Lightners enjoy many escapist power fantasies of magic, freedom, and quick, easy friendship. Meanwhile, the Light World is the mundane reality where the Lightner heroes go to school, stress out about projects, and endure their family situations. There are plenty of zany characters to enjoy, but everyone has something to worry about between work, finances, self-esteem, relationships, sickness, and loss of loved ones.
During the climax of chapter 2, Susie, Noelle, and Berdly come to the conclusion that the Dark World is "just better" and begin executing Queen's plan to expand the darkness. To stop them, Ralsei then elaborates on the Roaring, in which the overwhelming darkness leads to chaos and destruction. We've yet to learn the nature of this destruction, but it's easy to imagine consequences from excessive revelry while ignoring reality - missed bills, hurt feelings, things falling apart that one was supposed to maintain, etc. And yet, the last point of Ralsei's Chapter 2 Roaring monologue is how the surviving Lightners will suffer without the Darkners. Darkness and light, fantasy and reality, ideal and truth, yin and yang - they all must be balanced.
But why am I drawing parallels between Deltarune and the backstory of a mainline Pokémon game that I didn't remember before seeing mention of the "Tao trio," especially when it could all be explained with classic yin and yang? Well, Toby Fox mentioned in an interview that he came up with the Deltarune's ending during a fever dream in 2011, the year of Pokémon Black and White's release.
I don't have any particular evidence that he played one of these games on release and got invested in the lore, but he has been working on music tracks for recent Pokémon games. Furthermore, he's exclaimed the honor of working with Hitomi Satō and specifically mentioned her work on Black and White, even though she's worked on Pokémon music since Emerald and has been a main contributor to the soundtracks since Diamond and Pearl.
I also don't have very good ideas on what a connection with Pokémon Black and White could possibly mean for Deltarune and its ending beyond the yin-yang stuff. Maybe the "Darkners exist to serve Lightners" thing could have something to do with Team Plasma's philosophy of Pokémon liberation? Maybe a future chapter will feature someone's castle erupting from the ground to hijack the climax? Maybe Toby just had too many thoughts on yin and yang and too much time sick in his dorm? I just want to get the word out about this. Also, maybe the D in W. D. Gaster stands for Dennis.
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qiyansluvr · 2 years
Text
Just finished The Story of Minglan
So I just finished the Song Dynasty drama The Story of Minglan with Zhao Liying and Feng Shaofeng in the main roles after binge watching it for a little under a week now. I actually had started it months and months ago but after watching the first few episodes, I noticed immediately that it was going to be a heavy and serious drama and i wasn’t in the right place of mind at the time to deal with it.
But here we are now, after having watched all 73 episodes of this masterpiece. Because that’s my main take away after finishing it : a masterpiece. 
There’s a few things that i could nitpick if i really wanted to go into details, but most of them are just scenes i wish we saw more of, and nothing that really changed how the story was told. 
First I’ll begin to say that it’s evident this drama was written by women. The harshness of what it means to be a woman in a patriarcal society is depicted so well. And all the women characters are complex and vivid and absent of stereotypes and archetypes. Yes you hate some of them for their actions, and behaviours, but you also understand how they came to become what they are. The stories around divorce and dowry and marriage but also jealousy and ambition and women’s relationship to one another is so central and so vivid, it makes me ache for every single one of them.
Less obvious but to me very much present and commented upon is the treatment of slaves vs the aristocracy, and mroe generally, the way class intersects with women circumstances, even within the lower gentry. I feel like that’s a subject that’s not often touched with historical dramas and here it definitely felt lke the scriptwriters thought about it.
I’ll also point out how fleshed out the relationships between the characters are, all of them. There are no relationships that are just flat and dont make sense or are ignored for the sake of the story. No, everything, every relations is accouted for and you understand how these relations shape the characters.
The male characters are also incredibly well written. Many of them misogynistic, as you’ll expect men from this era to be, but it never feels as if it’s put there just for the plot to advance. No, it makes sense, and each men has its own flavor of it, even the good ones. 
The relationship between the man lead and the woman lead is so delectable. At first i didnt really ship them, as we had anoher love interest for Minglan, but Gu Tingye grew on me, just as he grew on Minglan, and I understood why she would love him so. I like that they have a relationships of equals and that despite his scheming, she is his match. In my memory, the only other relationship that grew on me like that in cdramas is Fuyao and Wuji from Legend of Fuyao, where at first I didnt like the ML, but he grew on me. 
Which leads me to the acting, which is just so excellent. Zhao Liying is incredible, as she always is, but it’s also really nice to see how she changes Minglan’s posture and facial expressions as she grows. The chemistry between the two lead is just amazing, but so is the entire cast. The Sheng family dynamic is so realistic, you can always feel the tension. Special mention to Zhu Yilong and his gorgeous smile and puppy eyes. 
I need to give extra props to the set designing team, and especially the lighting team. I read that they tried to use as many candles as possible to avoid using too much modern lighting, and it’s really appreciated, bc the scenes that happened at night indoors are always well lit (especially in contrast to GoT which is my reference in terms of low-use of modern lighting). In general the sets are very colourful and distinctive, and you can feel the changing atmosphere in the different houses and rooms reflecting the nature of the characters occupying them.
That brings me to the costuming, which I admit i have very little knowledge on Song Dynasty fashion, but I like that it was colourful, that they used the costume to describe the passing of seasons and that each character had their own distinct styles, colours and evolutions. 
Overall, I woulld 100% recommend this drama, it’s now definitely in my top 3 cdramas alongside Nirvana in Fire and Joy of Life (even if I cant give a ranking within those three). 
As for the few things I would nitpick, they would be 1) Rong’er relationship with her little brothers. How she dealt with the grief of Chang’er, and how she deals with Tuan and how that affects her relationship with Minglan. 2) The relationships with the Sheng sisters at the end. The ending scene seems to suggest that they made peace but I would have liked a scene before, with all three (Hualan wasn’t a part of their dispute) of them talking about how much of a shitty father they have. 3) More happy scenes with Gu Tingye & Sheng Minglan. Maybe it’s bc im a romantic at heart but I just wanted a little bit more scenes of them together, they spend so much time apart T.T
To end things, this drama needs more people to watch it and more people to write fanfiction for it! 
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harunur01780 · 2 months
Text
Regarding management , you can learn:
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Mr. Liang Ning who got the App’s HE Tuber and [Growth Thinking]: strategic choices of points, lines and surfaces, classic user portraits, scenarios and empathy, user experience maps and service design blueprints, three-stage rockets, etc.;
Jen Carlson’s [Critical Moments MOT] (can be paired with Wang Zhiqian’s [MOT Experience Design Course] in [Get App]): Based on customer orientation, complex business operations are broken down into critical moments one by one (similar to user experience Map), and ultimately realize the company's turnaround;
Meadows’s [The Beauty of Systems], [Loss of Control], Liu Run’s [30 Lectures on Business Insights], and Li Xigui’s [How Schools Work]: the core are all centered around systems theory, which can provide a solution when seeking solutions. methodology;
Regarding product principles , you can learn:
Redamio's [Principles]: such as embracing reality, dealing with reality, extreme truth-seeking and extreme transparency. What is more important is to learn its way of thinking, which is to simplify complex investment logic into clear principles and act according to the principles;
Xiaomi’s [Xiaomi ecological chain footprint notes]: 80%-80% principle, err on the side of reducing work and adding more, being right first before being surprising, doing less in order to be more precise, etc.;
Regarding work methodology , you can learn:
Stephen Covey’s [Seven Habits of Highly Effective People]: Be proactive, start with the end in mind, put first things first, win-win thinking, know your enemy and understand yourself, integrate synergy, and constantly update;
Atul Govender’s [List Revolution]: A small list can solve complex projects. For example, how to reduce patient mortality caused by improper operations;
Jack Welch's "Winning" and "The Nature of Business";
[The Effective Manager] by Peter Drucker;
Kazuo Inamori’s [Lifestyle], [Mindstyle] and [Management Philosophy]
Get App【Measurement·Team Management 20 Lectures】
Methodology is not omnipotent, nor is it 100% correct (Newton's three laws may also be invalid), let alone rigid copying (methodologies may be mutually exclusive).
This is just like when Zhang Sanfeng taught Tai Chi to Zhang Wuji, he asked him to forget all the moves and martial arts and he would learn it naturally. The methodology is like the [Nine Yang Divine Art], [Star Absorbing Technique], etc. that Zhang Wuji learned. In the end, if you want to become Zhang Sanfeng, you still have to forget them. You just need to focus on practicing, and you can use different tricks and mental methods. Maybe it will flow out naturally. This is the realm we should pursue.
In the book [Marketing Notes], marketing expert Xiao Ma Song has a point of view: The success of an enterprise is fundamentally the success of business logic (rather than the success of methodology) . For example, if Nancheng Xiang follows the [positioning theory] (use positioning to occupy the category and influence the user's mind), then it may not be established (it also sells soy milk and fried dough sticks, rice bowls, wontons and mutton skewers). If you follow the basic logic of business operations: improve efficiency and reduce costs, then it is established, because this model is based on [user needs] and increases the frequency of consumption to achieve an improvement in square footage.
To sum up: the basic logic of business operations is greater than methodology. In the same way, the practical logic of the product is greater than the methodology itself. This is like following the methodology of "stop on red light, go on green light". It is definitely good, but even if the light is green, you still have to look up and don't walk past if there is a car.
Finally, I will add a few existing cases (cases will continue to be updated in the future, but it may be slow) for reference:
columnist
Xing Xiaozuo, WeChat public account: Xing Xiaozuo’s home, everyone is a product manager columnist. An online education product that focuses on Internet education and likes to study user psychology.
0 notes
harunurrashid017 · 2 months
Text
Write at the end
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Mr. Liang Ning who got the App’s HE Tuber and [Growth Thinking]: strategic choices of points, lines and surfaces, classic user portraits, scenarios and empathy, user experience maps and service design blueprints, three-stage rockets, etc.;
Jen Carlson’s [Critical Moments MOT] (can be paired with Wang Zhiqian’s [MOT Experience Design Course] in [Get App]): Based on customer orientation, complex business operations are broken down into critical moments one by one (similar to user experience Map), and ultimately realize the company's turnaround;
Meadows’s [The Beauty of Systems], [Loss of Control], Liu Run’s [30 Lectures on Business Insights], and Li Xigui’s [How Schools Work]: the core are all centered around systems theory, which can provide a solution when seeking solutions. methodology;
Regarding product principles , you can learn:
Redamio's [Principles]: such as embracing reality, dealing with reality, extreme truth-seeking and extreme transparency. What is more important is to learn its way of thinking, which is to simplify complex investment logic into clear principles and act according to the principles;
Xiaomi’s [Xiaomi ecological chain footprint notes]: 80%-80% principle, err on the side of reducing work and adding more, being right first before being surprising, doing less in order to be more precise, etc.;
Regarding work methodology , you can learn:
Stephen Covey’s [Seven Habits of Highly Effective People]: Be proactive, start with the end in mind, put first things first, win-win thinking, know your enemy and understand yourself, integrate synergy, and constantly update;
Atul Govender’s [List Revolution]: A small list can solve complex projects. For example, how to reduce patient mortality caused by improper operations;
Regarding management , you can learn:
Jack Welch's "Winning" and "The Nature of Business";
[The Effective Manager] by Peter Drucker;
Kazuo Inamori’s [Lifestyle], [Mindstyle] and [Management Philosophy]
Get App【Measurement·Team Management 20 Lectures】
Methodology is not omnipotent, nor is it 100% correct (Newton's three laws may also be invalid), let alone rigid copying (methodologies may be mutually exclusive).
This is just like when Zhang Sanfeng taught Tai Chi to Zhang Wuji, he asked him to forget all the moves and martial arts and he would learn it naturally. The methodology is like the [Nine Yang Divine Art], [Star Absorbing Technique], etc. that Zhang Wuji learned. In the end, if you want to become Zhang Sanfeng, you still have to forget them. You just need to focus on practicing, and you can use different tricks and mental methods. Maybe it will flow out naturally. This is the realm we should pursue.
In the book [Marketing Notes], marketing expert Xiao Ma Song has a point of view: The success of an enterprise is fundamentally the success of business logic (rather than the success of methodology) . For example, if Nancheng Xiang follows the [positioning theory] (use positioning to occupy the category and influence the user's mind), then it may not be established (it also sells soy milk and fried dough sticks, rice bowls, wontons and mutton skewers). If you follow the basic logic of business operations: improve efficiency and reduce costs, then it is established, because this model is based on [user needs] and increases the frequency of consumption to achieve an improvement in square footage.
To sum up: the basic logic of business operations is greater than methodology. In the same way, the practical logic of the product is greater than the methodology itself. This is like following the methodology of "stop on red light, go on green light". It is definitely good, but even if the light is green, you still have to look up and don't walk past if there is a car.
Finally, I will add a few existing cases (cases will continue to be updated in the future, but it may be slow) for reference:
columnist
Xing Xiaozuo, WeChat public account: Xing Xiaozuo’s home, everyone is a product manager columnist. An online education product that focuses on Internet education and likes to study user psychology.
0 notes
rainbowsky · 2 years
Text
BXG Calendar
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There are a lot of dates that are significant to BXG, either for CPN reasons, because of their significance for GG and DD, or because of the GG and DD content we can expect to see at those times. There are also some Chinese festivals BXG might be interested in knowing about. I'll keep this updated as a handy reference.
Fake, fan fiction, CPN.
BXG Calendar
January
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Weibo Night - An annual awards show that generally takes place in early January, but COVID has interfered with that lately. This is one of the few events we can expect both GG and DD to attend.
Chūnjié (pronounced tchwun-jaih) - Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) - First day of the Lunisolar Calendar (usually sometime between Jan 20 and Feb 20). Often there is a gala or event where GG and/or DD perform. There will also usually be posts from them, photos etc. GG and DD likely get to spend time together and with family, eating a lot of good food.
23 January - Lan Wangji's birthday.
February
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14 February - Valentine's Day - Chinese people seem to love Valentine's Day, and they celebrate a few different ones throughout the year. The Western Valentine's Day is one of them. We will see some Valentine's themed ads from GG and DD around this time.
Spring Festival (see January for more info).
Yuanxiaojie (pronounced yuwen-shao-jiah) - Lantern Festival - On the first full moon after the new year, two weeks after Chinese New Year (usually in Feb). Lantern Festival marks the end of Spring Festival. GG and DD will sometimes post greetings or other content on this day.
March
14 March - 3/14 - The anniversary of the XNINE DDU episode where we first saw GG and DD together. A very special day for BXG, many of whom believe it's the day GG and DD first met.
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28 March - Anniversary of Wuji Recording - Wuji was recorded on this date in 2019, and is special to BXG in part because GG and DD were able to record together. Fans celebrate this day by sharing videos and fan art, and Lin Hai (the composer) will post something commemorating the date.
April
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4-6 April - Qingming (pronounced tching-mieng) - Chinese holiday where family tombs/graves are swept and fresh offerings laid out, paper money burned and firecrackers set off to scare away evil spirits. This festival marks beginning of spring and is associated with kite flying.
28 April - Anniversary of the BJYX supertopic, which opened on 28 April 2018.
May
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17th May - International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia - celebrating and advocating for queer rights worldwide.
20 May - 520 - One of the many Chinese Valentine's Days. Based on the kadian 520 for wo ai ni or, 'I love you'. We will usually see a lot of Valentine's themed ads from GGDD, they may even drop candies, and we get a lot of CPN from BXG.
June
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Pride Month
1 June - Children's Day - A government holiday that celebrates children. GG and DD always post for Children's Day, and we get to see cute pictures of them as children and sometimes hear cute stories about them as children.
Duanwujie (pronounced twan-woo-jiah) - Dragon Boat Festival - 5th day of the 5th Lunisolar month (otherwise known as Double 5th), which happens right around Summer Solstice (Solstice falls around 20-22 June). Zongzi are eaten, and GG and DD almost always post something around this time.
22 June - 622 - Widely believed to be GGDD's anniversary, or a date of similar special significance to them. There's always a lot of CPN, art and other content shared by BXG around this time.
27 June - 627 - CQL Anniversary - We see a lot of art and posts from BXG and sometimes posts from cast/crew at this time.
July
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Yuehua Family Concert - Yuehua is DD's management company. They hold an annual concert featuring stars signed to the company, usually in July. Unfortunately in 2022 COVID interfered with those plans.
August
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5 August - DD's Birthday - An incredibly special day. We'll usually get a lot of new content featuring DD, brands will post messages of celebration, BXG and other fans will go all out with posts and art, and often there will be candy dropped.
Qixi Festival (pronounced tchee-shee) - Chinese Valentine's Day - Another Valentine's day, taking place on the 7th day of 7th month of the Lunisolar calendar (usually sometime in August). GG and DD will usually be featured in a lot of Valentine's Day themed advertising around this time, and BXG post a lot of CPN, art and photos in celebration of the day.
September
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5 September - BXG Day - DD's birthday falls on the 5th of August, GG's on the 5th of October, so BXG day is in between on this date. 9/5 is also special to BXG because GG and DD are believed to be 95% compatible. Turtles will celebrate and GG and DD will often drop candies.
Zhongqiujie (pronounced jhong-choe-jiah) - Mid-Autumn Festival, Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival - Annual harvest festival similar to Western thanksgiving, celebrated on the full moon. People get together with family to eat and celebrate, and mooncakes are traditionally eaten. A gala event is aired on TV featuring performances and variety show elements. DD performed for the gala in 2022. Brands release a lot of interesting ads during this time of year. GG and DD post greetings as well.
15 September - DD's Debut Anniversary - DD debuted 15 September, 2014. Always a fun day. Yibo Official will post something honoring DD's years as a star, and fans and brands will post in celebration of the day.
28 September - GG's Debut Anniversary - GG debuted 28 September, 2016. GG's studio will post something in honor of GG's years as a star, and fans and brands will post celebrating the day.
29 September - Xiao Zhan Studio Anniversary - Xiao Zhan Studio was launched on 29 September 2019. GG's studio usually releases a video showing all the progress made in the previous years.
October
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5 October - GG's Birthday - An incredibly special day. We get a lot of new content from GG, usually multiple photo shoots with gorgeous photos and new looks, videos, art and other great content from him and from fans and brands. We'll usually get some good candy too.
31 October - Wei Wuxian's birthday.
November
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11 November - Singles Day aka Double 11 - The 11th day of the 11th month. A day for single people to treat themselves to gifts, and for people to get together or get engaged. This is a big shopping day in China (actually one of the biggest shopping days in the world). There is usually a gala or event where DD and/or GG may perform. We get a lot of new brand content from them as there is always a lot of advertising leading up to this date.
December
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Tencent Starlight Awards - Usually held sometime in late December, but COVID has interfered with that lately. One of the few events we can generally expect both GG and DD to attend.
25 December - Christmas - They'll be involved in a lot of advertising around Christmastime so they'll usually be pretty active and we get a lot of new brand content from them.
30 December - DD's Latest Song Release - DD releases a new song every year on 30 December and usually performs it on New Year's Eve. Promotional materials usually start appearing around Christmas.
31 December - New Year's Eve - GG and DD usually have NYE performances, so we'll get to see them sing, dance, etc. and they'll post a lot of photos of their outfits and New Year's wishes for their fans. They will do their customary chong ya pose as well.
I'm sure I've probably forgotten something, so if you think of anything that you believe should be on this list (or if you find an error), please let me know! 😊
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asksythe · 8 months
Note
We know Nie Mingjue died of qi deviation, but i quite often saw the fandom also called what happened to Lan Qiren inside mingshi and Wei Wuxian in the lotus pier's ancestral shrine was qi deviation as well.
Can you explain what qi deviation actually is?
Thank you 🙏
It's "magical psychosis".... caused by improper cultivation practice or a detrimental state of mind.
Psychosis in a regular person is scary enough. But what about when someone who has superhuman strength and an unthinkable degree of control over their own body starts undergoing violent psychosis? What about when this person can warp reality itself (as is often the case in high xianxia genre)?
That's the simple way to explain a qi deviation (or as Nie Huaissang refers to them in the book 走火入魔, this term can be understood as "to be so consumed by an obsession that one succumbs to madness"). To understand Qi deviation, you have to understand cultivation, though. And that's a fair bit harder to describe in simple terms without being stymied by the cultural barrier.
A simple way to describe cultivation is that it's the process where people slowly turn themselves into biological magic (qi) reactors (like a Mako reactor from FF7 + the Zerg Hive from Starcraft). This process takes years, decades, or even centuries, depending on the specific story. This process requires very careful conditioning of both the body and mind over the years (i.e. building the reactor).
Just like with building a reactor, if you use shoddy materials or if the blueprints are lacking, or if the reactor starts taking in questionable supplies, or if the environments are stressful, problems can happen. And problems can be anything from a minor hiccup, a pause in operation, the reactor failing to expand further and stagnating, or the reactor going kaboom (i.e. the Nie's terminal problem).
I can see why people call what Wei Wuxian experienced in Lotus Pier's ancestral shrine a qi deviation. He was in a heightened state of emotion. They just came back from the second Siege, so he was already exhausted both physically and mentally. Then he had that fairly onesided altercation with Jiang Cheng. He exhibited the classic symptom of bleeding from facial orifices. It does line up, doesn't it?
In the case of Lan Qiren, uh... I guess? So this is the passage concerning Lan Qiren in the book (Wuji, the first volume of MDZS simplified Mandarin):
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Lit (It's my translation. I never read any English translation, so it may be rough, but it should carry the meaning):
…Lan Qiren, who originally had lost consciousness, sat up straight. He was bleeding and smoking from the seven orifices on his face. His beard pointed up straight. His finger pointing at Wei Wuxian trembled. (He) hoarsely said: "Stop blowing! Scram! Scram right away! You can't--"
Before he could finish saying "can't" what, he spewed up blood and fell back down, once more deep in unconsciousness.
So it's the same physical symptom: bleeding (and smoking!) from the seven orifices. The prior stressor is the Lan failing the invoking ritual on Nie Mingjue's hand and were injured when the hand retaliated. So that's on par with Wei Wuxian after the second siege. It's not just Lan Qiren, but every other Lan in the chamber other than Lan Wangji and the Lan disciple who managed to escape. Lan Qiren also sat at one of the key positions in the array used to suppress the hand, so he would suffer a worse bounce-back attack.
And then Wei Wuxian entered the picture....
Are we to understand being in Wei Wuxian's presence and hearing his "atrocious" flute blowing to be such mental stress that it pushed Lan Qiren from 'wounded and unconscious' straight into 'qi deviation' territory (which is capital S serious for a cultivator) ??!! Is Lan Qiren that fragile, or does Wei Wuxian just have that much of an impact on him? 😦
I guess it is.... 😅 if we are meant to take it humorously.
In any case, there are actually resources in English if you want to dig deeper into this phenomenon/concept:
Although if you want to completely grasp qi deviation and such cultivation-related topics, I recommend you read mainstream xianxia books (as while they are amazing, MXTX's books are oft-criticized for being threadbare in regards to the cultivation aspect.) or play cultivation games (I play Overmortal. It's fairly easy and free to get into. It's pay to win though. If you only want to get a better idea on cultivation, it's a good option).
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abbyandhanako · 1 year
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My new profile pic for this RP account
References to muses in this:
The two flowers is a reference to the Japanese folk song Akai Hana, Shiroi Hana where Hana’s name comes from, Abby also sings this to Hana whenever having a psychic episode
The broken Poké Ball is a reference to Wesker’s destroyed Poké Ball, which was destroyed to signify Team Plasma “liberating him”
The top reads “Ghetsis Faction” and “N Faction” in Japanese, titles Abby calls Team Plasma
The Eevee symbol along with the Fire, Water, Electric, Dark, Psychic, Grass, Ice and Fairy symbols is a reference to Mark and his affinity for Eeveelutions
The Chinese word on the bottom read “Xiong”, T.K’s surname.
There is also a broken tooth, which is also a reference to T.K’s broken molar as a result of Hugh punching him.
The Yin-Yang or Onmyō symbol is a reference to Abby and Mark being a Wuji Couple and being in opposite Team Plasma factions.
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yuangler · 2 years
Text
Zodiac: Twelve Souls — 15
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< PREV | ARCHIVE | NEXT >
Spear of Salience, Arrows of Ambush
“Let’s see how well you dodge again!”
news
— New translated chapter posted.
— Next update target: July 26, 2022
notes
— Spear of salience, arrows of ambush:
From 明枪暗箭 (míng qiāng àn jiàn). A breakdown of this idiom:
明 (míng) - bright, clear; evident or easily observed
枪 (qiāng) - spear(s)
暗 (àn) - dark, hidden, secret
箭 (jiàn) - arrow(s)
明枪 refers to overt maneuvers. Direct confrontation via shining spear. Its neighbor 暗箭 refers to covert maneuvers. A stab in the back, from the shadows. 
In the context of this chapter, the idiom juxtaposes the assassin/sniper type attacks of Bai’e against the more in-the-open attacks of… well, everyone else involved, but in this specific chapter it’s mostly Niu Jingang. Bonus points to the unnamed pig soldiers for actually carrying spears, and to Quan Zhao for his hard work in all the previous chapters.
— Armored fists vs. iron fist:
Pertains to the panel where Zhu Wujie says:
安心安心,那家伙绝对抗不过老牛的铁拳
Relax, relax! That guy is no match for Elder Ox's iron fist!
The term in question is 铁拳 (tiě quán). The version I posted yesterday used armored fists instead of iron fist.
Why change from armored to iron? I felt it was a more accurate translation (铁 literally meaning iron) and also sounded a bit more natural. I, uh, honestly cannot remember why I picked armored in the first place.
Why change from fists to fist? Chinese doesn’t really have plurals in the same way English does, so the term 铁拳 is ambiguous in its numerical magnitude. It could be referring to one iron fist. It could be referring to a million iron fists. I carelessly applied “fists” as a knee-jerk translation, since fists typically come in pairs, but after posting the chapter I realized that “fist” makes more sense. Zhu Wujie is referencing the singular glove she made for Niu Jingang. She can’t be talking about multiple iron fists if there is only one iron glove.
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