#The Unclean Realm

[tavina-writes]

Why Is the Unclean Realm Called That?

Okay so, I was salty yesterday but I am calm! Today!

Let's talk about the name of the Qinghe Nie Sect Seat and why it's translated as "The Unclean Realm" and what thematic implications this name ties into.

The Chinese characters for Unclean Realm is 不净世 (bujingshi), and translating this as "unclean realm" is not inherently a bad translation at all! It gets the idea across and it's short and pity, like Nightless City for 不夜天城 (Buyetiancheng) or Cloud Recesses for 云深不知处 (yunshenbuzhichu). Unfortunately English words tend to have more syllables in them than Chinese words and the other unfortunate thing about like, translation especially for subtitles is that you have to get the translation across in the same amount as it takes for the characters to talk because most casual viewers are not pausing their screens to read translator notes especially when the thing in question is actually just, far more complicated to explain than just a sentence.

Now, to get into 不净世 (bujingshi) and what it actually means, we do have to look at the concept it comes from: 不净观(bujingguan)/asubhabhāvanā, which is a Theravāda Buddhism concept that focuses on the contemplation of defects (also on occasion translated as the contemplation of the foul/decay) especially in the sense of contemplating one's own physical decay as a meditative exercise that reminds practioners to let go of the world/worldly desires bc of the commonality of like "yeah all life in the world will eventually become a corpse and decay, so while we're here don't be too fussed about wealth and glory and power and having objects"

So, in that sense, the Bujingshi is "the realm where we let go of physical desires because eventually we all become one with the world through decay and there is no reason to contemplate wealth and material objects." Does this. Sound like someone's philosophy. Does this remind you of that line from the book that says Nie Mingjue does not care for money, women, wine, or glory.

Does it perhaps also ironically tie into his fierce corpse or Nie Huaisang contemplating decay as a state of being throughout the second life? Perhaps!

But really this is a very clever and philosophical name that ties into so much of the Nie Sect's whole deal, and seeing it being treated as kind of a haha funny thing or a totally mysterious weird thing to be called is kind of. Depressing at times.

[otgo-brooklyn]

Nie Xiaohui

The mother of Nie Huaisang, Nie Xiaohui was an artisian that caught Sect Leader Nie's eye one day.

[emrinalex]

It's really a vacation paradise, it's just Nie Mingjue's ancestirs didn't want word to get oyt

I still so wish they never went in there, it all went downhill from the moment they set their foot in the place! Like, why would you want to visit a place called Unclean Realm?

Couldn't you two smart guys go and find some Clean Realm instead?

Haha, poor elegant babie NHS takes a look at the place and be like "This is not the Unclean Realm I know and love!"

[korpikorppi]

THE SEATS OF THE FIVE GREAT SECTS - and one small non-sect

不夜天 Búyè Tiān - Nightless City - of the Qishan Wen

金麟台 Jīn Lín Tái - Golden Carp Tower - of the Lanling Jin

不净世 Bùjìng Shì - Unclean Realm - of the Qinghe Nie

云深不知处 Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù - Cloud Recesses - of the Gusu Lan

莲花坞 Liánhuā Wù - Lotus Pier - of the Junmeng Jiang

乱葬岗 Luànzàng Gǎng - Burial Mounds - of the very unofficial Yiling Wei

[guqin-and-flute]

More Nie riding Yao/spiritual animal!Mountain Goats. For fun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[stiltonbasket]

in a nielan verse, nmj has a little posse of baos following him around in full baby-sized chifeng-zun cosplay? little play swords, little moustaches, etc. nmj is doing bao-friendly "training" with the kids.

I'm imagining Lan Xichen dressed in loose night robes, carefully painting eyeliner moustaches on his babies each morning before he sends them to the Baoshi...

[gravitywonagain]

another 400 word “drabble” on new information

.👀.

He knew. He’d known. He’s very good at his job -- gathering gossip and keeping the Jianghu rumor mills grinding and in check. Moreover, he’s not blind, and Da-ge has all the subtlety of a bear yaoguai crashing through an autumn-dry forest. So of course Nie Huaisang had been aware, in the abstract way of gleaned knowledge, that Da-ge and Lan Xichen were more than “close friends,” “strengthening sect ties” with frequent visits and joint nighthunts.

But, while Nie Huaisang would call himself a connoisseur of erotic works, written and illustrated, he had never -- never -- wanted to see his own brother sweaty and flushed and pounding away into their “closest ally.”

Nie Huaisang slams the door shut, more grateful than he’s ever been for anything in his life when the silencing talisman reactivates, cutting off Lan Xichen’s voice mid throaty moan. He whips his fan out from his belt, waving it furiously, attempting to redirect his mind elsewhere.

He’d had a question when he sought out his brother, he’s sure of it. Something important.

He turns on his heel only to find Lan Wangji standing there, still as a stone carving.

The younger Jade’s face is as unreadable as ever. No creases or tightness to be found. His gold eyes continue staring impassively into the middle distance like nothing in this world could possibly interest him. Like he hasn’t just witnessed his brother being absolutely railed by the heir to the Nie Sect.

For a moment Nie Huaisang considers the possibility that he hasn’t. That the door had shut quickly enough to spare him, or even that he simply doesn’t understand what it is he might have seen.

But there, just there, at the tips of Lan Wangji’s ears, Nie Huasiang spots a touch of color. A camellia petal pink that deepens with every passing second until it is as red as a fairy crane’s crown. Nie Huaisang watches the blush seep down the curve of his ears to the bottoms of his lobes.

He hides a grin behind the leaves of his fan -- though Lan Wangji’s eyes are still distant and unfocused, and Nie Huaisang is starting to think that might be entirely on purpose.

Nie Huaisang lets his eyes flick between the jade-carved features of Lan Wangji’s face and the now virulent color painting his ears -- only his ears -- and thinks, perhaps, he’s learned something new today after all.

[odetoviscera]

Title: as certain obscure things

Chapter: 6 of 18

Fandom: MDZS/The Untamed

Relationships: Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo & Niè Huáisāng, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén & Niè Míngjué, Niè Huáisāng & Niè Míngjué

Major Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply

Summary:

The jianghu grapples with the consequences of a sect leader's murder, and the circumstances that led to it.

No one wants another war.

Chapter Excerpt:

Their faces harden, and for a vertiginous moment Lan Xichen thinks he’ll need his xiao after all, is already flicking through compositions in his head, discarding Severing and Repulsion and most of the other war-songs, he can’t hurt them for doing their duty to their sect. Perhaps Slumber or Distraction…

“How fortunate is Qinghe, to have such loyal and filial friends.”

[tavina-writes]

I'm sure better people than I have made a post about this, but just saw someone else get confused about the name of the Unclean Realm/think it's a bad translation of something else and I'm not. I'm not sure what to say exactly except perhaps that while I know it's a joke it's kind of irritating.

(On the face of it, Unclean Realm is not a bad translation, but the connection between 不净世 (bujingshi) and 不净观(bujingguan)/asubhabhāvanā, the contemplation of defects in order to rid oneself of desires, etc, cannot! actually! be denied!)

Anyway. This is just a mild rant I can expound on this more/discuss what asubhabhāvanā/bujingguan actually is, and how that's thematic to the Nie and also NMJ and NHS but like just! mayhaps! your jokes are damaging and also not very funny.

[cuckoo-among-beasts]

A-Sang's Big Adventure || Open

Huaisang never got to go anywhere. It is safest that way, his father said, but then he had been taken to Cloud Recesses when he was sick. Having seen some of the world outside the gates of the Unclean Realm and Qinghe, Huaisang wanted more, but no matter how he begged and pleaded, his father, for once, said no. It's too dangerous, A-Sang. You've just gotten rid of that cough, A-Sang. You're not strong enough yet, A-Sang. All sounded like stupid reasons to Huaisang. He could get hurt in the Unclean Realms too and the cough was gone, so why worry about that? And yes, he still didn't fully have the same amount of energy as before, but his appetite is back, so he will get stronger. He's not a frail little butterfly!

So, he made a plan. He knew where he could sneak out and when ready, he packs a qiankun pouch with a few things and sneaks out. The weather is great and unusually mild for the season as Huaisang wanders along a mountain path, with the intention of returning before nightfall. Unfortunately, as he wanders, he gets distracted and walks off the path. Once he realises he is lost, the sun is already past its highest point and Huaisang is getting tired. Pouting, tears forming in his eyes, he sits down on a rock, starting to regret the choices he's made, even if he's seen some pretty birds.

[piosplayhouse]

Well to be fair the last time Jiang Cheng had friends they were all killed in one fell swoop so

i cannot say this lovingly enough, but i just don’t think the mdzs characters have any friends. like of course they have the various relationships mentioned in the text but like casual friendships? acquaintances? i think not

[shanastoryteller]

Be my valentine Shana!!

I love love love your writing. Thank you for blessing us with it. <3

I am invested in all your prompts at this point but, could you do some time travel JC? Thanks!

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

He avoids the wider cultivation world for a long time.

Even once he marries into the Nie, he manages to avoid it by staying behind to run the Unclean Realms for every conference or meeting. Haoyu doesn't like it, but eventually gives into his request every time. It's working fine up they return from Koi Tower and Haoyu locks himself in his office.

Jiang Cheng considers just breaking down the door, but he is a master strategist and sometimes he even acts like it.

He grabs Zhonghui by the back of the robe and shakes him. "What the hell happened?"

"Hello Master Wei," he says, hanging limply. "Sect Leader Nie overheard several high level cultivators discussing the fact that you're a common street whore with delusions of importance and relevance, but at the very least he had the decency to keep you tucked away out of common sight, unlike Sect Leader Jin's sluts."

Jiang Cheng groans.

He couldn't care less what people say about him.

Unfortunately, he knows the man he married doesn't feel the same way.

[batbusiness-schooldropout]

Au where Nie Huaisang invites Mianmian to live in the Unclean Realms after she defects from the Jin. Later, he has an idea. She's not the only woman being snubbed and not appreciated. How many of those women could he convince to work for him?

So when Wei Wuxian comes back, Nie Huaisang is surrounded by women? For some reason? He claims they're there for him to look at, but he hasn't even looked at them? Does he even like women?

[blasphemousclaw]

Are the omens and hornsent the same?

short answer: no

so to explain why the omen and the hornsent are different, we first have to understand what it means to be hornsent… the hornsent aren’t a species, they’re a civilization of humans defined by the horns that grow on their bodies:

“Hornsent view the Crucible as sacred for the refinement wrought through its evolutionary gifts. Most prominently, their tangled horns.”

“Horns are sublime artifacts to hornsent, and their presence confirms the belief that they are a chosen people. Only the repeated sprouting of fresh horns can create a tangled horn, which is viewed as an irrefutable symbol of primacy.”

“The Crucible has a particularly strong influence on the beasts of the realm of shadow, causing many to grow horns despite the characteristics of their species.”

the hornsent sprout horns because the Crucible has a strong presence in the land of shadow and causes horns to sprout on creatures who don’t normally have horns… the hornsent, who revere the Crucible and its “spiral current,” saw this as a blessing and as proof that they were “a chosen people,” so they cultivated this trait. in hornsent society, the larger and more tangled your horns are, the more awesome and cool and holy you are. this is why Jori, the leader of the theocratic hornsent inquisition, has the largest, most tangled horns of all:

however, hornsent can also be born with no horns at all. this means that they'd be seen as sad and cringe. you can find hornless hornsent bound in chains, which means they might have even been a sort of slave caste... which, given what their society is like, wouldn't surprise me if that were the case:

(source: Zullie the Witch)

the omen, on paper, are the same as the hornsent — humans who were influenced by the Crucible, which caused horns to grow on their bodies. but the reason why they aren’t actually the same is because simply having horns doesn't make you hornsent. again, the hornsent are not a species, and “hornsent” isn’t a generic term for people with horns… the hornsent are a culture, a culture which the omen were very much not born into! unlike the hornsent, the omen were born into a society that sees their horns as impurities:

"A vestige of the crucible of primordial life. Born partially of devolution, it was considered a signifier of the divine in ancient times, but is now increasingly disdained as an impurity as civilization has advanced."

traits associated with the Crucible, including horns, became less and less accepted under the Golden Order as time went on... basically, the omen were seen as impure and unclean, unfit for the Erdtree's grace and excluded from society.

but there's actually something else that makes the omen fundamentally different from the hornsent... they're referred to as having "accursed blood"?

"Warped blade of shifting hue used by Morgott, the Omen King. The accursed blood that Morgott recanted and sealed away reformed into this blade."

"The mother of truth craves wounds. When Mohg stood before her, deep underground, his accursed blood erupted with fire, and he was besotted with the defilement that he was born into."

"Trident of Mohg, Lord of Blood. A sacred spear that will come to symbolize his dynasty. As well as serving as a weapon, it is an instrument of communion with an outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood." 

it seems that there is something inherently different about omen blood that doesn't seem to be the case with the hornsent? omen can also innately produce a black-brown flame, which we never see any hornsent enemies do (pretty sure the inquisitors' fire is just normal fire from their candles). INTERESTINGLY, there's two items from the base game, the Omen Bairn and the Regal Omen Bairn, that produce these brown-flame wraiths... but a similar item from the DLC, the Horned Bairn, produces "vengeful spirits" that are pale and colorless!!

it's almost like the wraiths produced by the omen are "unclean" compared to the hornsent ones!

so I think this pretty definitively proves there's something more going on with the omen? but why is this the case?? Dung Eater's ending makes me think that the omen might be "cursed" simply because their existence is incompatible with the Order under the Erdtree...

"Curse grown on a corpse killed and defiled by the Dung Eater. A tender pox afflicted with omen horns. The Dung Eater cultivates the seedbed curse on corpses. By doing so he prevents dead souls returning to the Erdtree, leaving them forever cursed."

"Loathsome rune gestated by the Dung Eater. Used to restore the fractured Elden Ring when brandished by the Elden Lord. The reviled curse will last eternally, and the world's children, grandchildren, and every generation hence, will be its pustules. If Order is defiled entirely, defilement is defilement no more, and for every curse, a cursed blessing."

but there's also the theory that the omen curse was actually created by the dying hornsent as revenge upon their attackers... Hornsent Grandam says this when attacked:

"A curse upon thee, rotten miscreant. A curse upon the strumpet's progeny, upon Marika's children each and all. The curse of the omen shall strike thee down... In the form of the sacred beast's ire. May the curse strike thee… To the very last..."

she specifically calls it the "curse of the omen!" the one thing that makes me question this theory though is that she also says "in the form of the sacred beast's ire," and we know the divine beast's ire takes the form of storms... nothing like anything the omen do. an interesting theory nonetheless!

anyway TL;DR, the hornsent and the omen are different because 1. the hornsent are a culture (not a generic name for horned people), and the omen were specifically born under the Erdtree's Order, and 2. the omen are tangibly "cursed," but the hornsent are not

[stiltonbasket]

honestly, the real reason Jin Ling and Nie Shiyong keep having babies is that Jin Ling loves to cuddle small kids/baby tigers and Nie Shiyong thinks that it's cute.

It's also because Nie Shiyong and Jin Ling are both orphans whose parents were murdered when they were babies. They were not expecting to deal with that past trauma all over again when Jin Hong was born; but eventually, they decided that they were going to have a large, loving, happy family at all costs. ;-;

[searchingforserendipity25]

as much as i love every variation of lan xichen & nie huaisang with nie huaisang resenting and blaming him. there's something very interesting in the idea of nie huaisang having tried to protect lan xichen. one interpretation does not erase the other, and i'd argue it enhances the whole thing.

nie huaisang, playing the fool for years and years to keep lan xichen in the dark. nie hauisang, sure to his bones jin guangyao will turn against his er-ge as he did against nie mingjue, if he begins to suspect him, if he thinks to turn against him. nie huaisang, projecting his lost innocence on lan xichen's ignorance, acting for his defense as much as for da-ge's revenge.

he is selfish, indulgent, more interested in vengeance than justice. he is lan xichen's brother's brother, the last person who remembers the young master lan that made nie mingjue smile in the months after their father's death, the only one who could do it despite all of nie huaisang's attempts. that is a debt, too. nie huaisang had felt it, even as a selfish and indulged child.

nie huaisang, who brought the enemy into the unclean realm, made ready jin gunagyao's old rooms to his liking. who joined forces with lan xichen to convince nie mingjue to let jin guangyao play cleansing for him.

nie huaisang, saying 'i don't know, i don't know' at the last, half-punishment and half-kindness. someone should go without knowing, without having to know. jin guangyao moved, jin guangyao did not move, jin guangyao would have moved, would have been willing to move, nie huaisang could not trust he would not move. it makes no difference.

lan xichen does not need to know that, but nie huaisang it sure enough for both of them.