#shen-shi's creation

[dark-twist-fairytales]

Honestly, I wish I had more of a summery to give, but have my origin story interpretation of "Of Heart and Harvest" Taishen Fireblossom being a badass and getting to Breeg while also fighting his faith and deity to favor a new one.

[chryso-chryso]

光亮 / light 

(spotify / youtube)

singer: Zhou Shen 周深 lyrics: Gou Lin 苟璘 (+ Su Shi 苏轼) score + arrangement: Qian Lei 钱雷

back to zhou shen songs after a quick deviation into 王子 zione territory!

海上 一阵风吹起

on the sea, / a brief wind arises  

白云涌向陆地

white clouds surge towards dry land

季风带走沙粒

the monsoon carries away grains of sand 

四季 冷暖的交替

four seasons / take turns in contrary temperatures

多鲜活的生命 又枯萎的痕迹 

countless vibrant lives, countless withered outlines 

是奔跑中突然袭来的风雨

in the running, sudden wind and rain charge forth

是黑暗中一根火柴燃烧的光明

in the dark, a single match burns with light 

也许你猜不透未知的宿命

maybe you can’t guess an unknown fate

像流星飞翔着它却不知目的

like the flight of a shooting star, it merely does not know its purpose

可是啊 我却 

but, oh, i am only 

却愿意相信

i am only willing to believe 

最渺小最微弱最柔软最无畏的你

the smallest, the faintest, the softest, the most fearless you

用尽了全力 努力地回应

exhausting all strength / a diligent answer

再无边再无尽再无解总有一线生机

still boundless, still endless, still answerless / but there will be a gleam of life 

光亮你自己

to set you alight

(Xiqiang:)

莫听穿林打叶声

nothing hears the creation of leaves through the wood

一蓑烟雨任平生

a cloak of mist and rain loosens all life 

畅音阁里终一叙

unbridled sounds finish a narration in the pavilion

六百年一粟 沧海一梦

six hundred years, a grain / the ocean, a dream

可是啊 我却 

but, oh, i am only 

却愿意相信

i am only willing to believe 

最渺小最微弱最柔软最无畏的你

the smallest, the faintest, the softest, the most fearless you

用尽了全力 努力地回应

exhausting all strength / a diligent answer

再无边再无尽再无解 总有一线生机

still boundless, still endless, still answerless / but there will be a gleam of life 

光亮你自己

to set you alight

(Xiqiang:)

莫听穿林打叶声

nothing hears the creation of leaves through the wood

一蓑烟雨任平生

a cloak of mist and rain loosens all life

畅音阁里终一叙

unbridled sounds finish a narration in the pavilion 

六百年一粟 沧海一梦

six hundred years, a grain / the ocean, a dream

无论目的 最无畏的你

regardless of purpose / the most fearless you 

不问宿命 最无畏的你

regardless of fate / the most fearless you

[forerussake]

Pleased to show off my finished card and badges for the @guardianbingo! Thank you so much for organizing this. I had an absolute blast coming up with ways to fill all the prompts. I don't think I have ever been as productive in fandom as I have been in the past year, and it's all thanks to you and this wonderful event ❤️❤️❤️ I'm sad it's over, but I am so so happy that I got to participate!

The story will keep on going indeed.

List of all my creations, with links and descriptions, under the cut:

B1 – Bears Art of bear!Shen Wei napping on the couch with his head in Zhao Yunlan's lap.

B2 – Role reversal Raw: novel-canon fic in which the Ghost Slayer's ghostly side comes out, and Zhao Yunlan takes care of him for once.

B3 – Alternate first meetings Exchange: fic in which a young Zhao Yunlan approaches Hei Pao Shi with an impossible request.

B4 – Powers Reconnections: fic in which Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei struggle with the trauma of returning to life after canon, and a desperate Dixingren takes matters into her own hands.

I2 – One bed Art of Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing curled up in bed.

I4 – Guo Changcheng Learning curve: fic in which Guo Changcheng struggles with his new job, and professor Shen gives unexpected advice.

I5 – Cooking Art of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan preparing for an SID team dinner.

N1 – Alliance Reconnections chapter 5.

N2 – Summer to bring the sun down to his knees and have him taste the rainbow: Zhubai RPF fic that is an hommage to the sun and to love.

N3 – Free square Art of Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi wrapped in Christmas lights.

N4 – Students The grace of care: fic in which Shen Wei isn't coping, and neither is Jiajia, but they figure things out together.

G1 – Revelations The shared art of drowning: Zhubai RPF fic in which I wax poetic about Zhu Yilong from Bai Yu's perspective.

G2 – Saving the world Reconnections, chapter 6.

G3 – Sofa The starlight after rain: fic in which Cheng Xinyan takes care of Shen Wei after the infamous rain scene.

G4 – Kitchen The easy part: fic in which Zhao Yunlan cleans the kitchen after the equally infamous kitchen scene.

O1 – Alternate Universe Art of a verse in which everything is the same, except Shen Wei wears heart-shaped glasses.

O2 – Interrogation Art of Da Qing who definitely doesn't know where all the fish snacks went.

O3 – Flirt Petrichor: fic in which Da Qing is witness to Zhao Yunlan flirting with Hei Pao Shi.

O4 – Betrayal Art of the bag of sugar-free lollipops that is the reason why Shen Wei is not allowed to do the shopping alone anymore.

O5 – Light Twi(n)light: fic in which Shen Wei and Chu Shuzhi get to know each other, and come to an agreement.

Bonus Prompts

March – Take a leap A painted face, a window to the soul: Zhubai RPF in which they meet Ni Ni, and an experiment takes place.

May – Acceptance Art of Weilan's final promise in the void.

June – Twins Art of Shen Wei definitely coping with his brother's death just fine.

August – Constellations Measured, charted, seen: sequel to the starlight after rain, in which Shen Wei learns and teaches about stars, and Cheng Xinyan goes on that camping trip anyway.

September – Moon Art of Kunlun and Shen Wei on the cliff under the moonlight.

October – Disguise Art of novel!Shen Wei showing Zhao Yunlan his real face.

December – Renewal The light of new beginnings: fic in which Zhao Yunlan watches Shen Wei sunbathe, reflects on the meaning of light, and they make a promise to step into a bright new future, together.

[booloocrew-blog]

i caved and made a spidersona! meet spider-ai!

For more information: So I saw the new Spider-Man spiderverse movie and

Across the Spider verse spoilers below!

*** Name: Kokoro Kumomoto/Spider-Ai Age: 24 Universe: Earth-4649 (or yo-ro-shi-ku, meaning thank you in the Goroawase word play) Spider-man powers: She can "purify" bad guys with her sparkly "venom magic" temporarily, as well as construct barriers and use happiness-charge precure-styled sub attacks. Catchphrase: Kumo-Kawaii! (Spider-Cute!!)

Likes: Her GF Midori Tategami (before she died), dogs, cute things, sparkly things Dislikes: Green peppers, people who decide to hurt others, being taken advantage of, getting dirty

Postive traits: Kind-hearted, plucky, brave, determined. Negative Traits: Ditsy, easily tricked, naive, stubborn.

Backstory:

Kokoro Kumomoto was chosen by a spider guardian robot, named Ai, back when she was about to take her entrance exams for high school. Being the bubbly girl that she was, Kokoro used her inate connection with the robot to fight Dr. TakoHachi (surname literally meaning Octopus Eight) and his evil magical girl monster creations. She became marketable, her likeness showing up in toys, towels, even...some less than savory stuff. But being the "Kumo-Kawaii" girl that she was, she managed to perfectly balance her schoolwork and hero work, even graduating at the top of her class. She was over the moon, and her life was perfect.

But that was 8 years ago. Now she works as an accountant, and has to increasingly hide her silliness, Himoto Umaru Chan style. Her girlfriend became a police chief...and died. Her dog, Ame, was killed by a freak accident during her patrols, and the shock of being the monster of the week gave poor Uncle Shen a heart attack. Even her plucky, quippy self was becoming less marketable, as much like teen idols of the time, nobody liked it when a young adult japanese buisness woman acted like she did back then...

Luckilly, she was chosen by the Spider Society. Unluckily, it was after Gwen gathered a rebel faction to help save Miles, and a desprate Miguel wanted to stop them, as well as keep his society in line with the "canon event" theory.

Even if it meant using a magical spider girl's powers to change their minds...

[lingzhu]

ok sorry to bother you, maybe it's just an inside joke but. i can't stop thinking about the guardian iceberg, it's just hilarious 😭 what do you mean the regent's fruit crimes. is the worm a star trek ds9 crossover. why did shen wei commit multiple acts of mass destruction throughout history. also yeah i can see shen wei just wanting to die in drama canon, that makes sense actually, just alongside zyl's earrings and weilan's finance management habits

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT A BOTHER. please ask about the iceberg its my best creation let me explain

1. the fruit crimes. i said the regent aged bad. like a fruit. so @supernovasimplicity started bullying me for calling the regent a fruit, which is commonly used different yknow

2. the worm is from a very recent post where @mejomonster reblogged one of boots' posts and called zhang shi "the worm possessing zyl at the end" and i laufhed for 5min so. yea

3. the mass destruction.. idk like we figured he hates paris and then the rest just happened? its what i'd do if i was in his position after the whole kunlun ordeal

the rest just makes sense yknow. does zyl pay taxes obviously not but he has earrings. does shen wei know money? no ehy would he hes not even human and never had to pay for anything probably because of magic

[namelessexistence]

Someone send me an ask about my top 10 favorite books. For reasons that I do not want to explain right now (Tumblr being a bitch, in short) the ask got deletes, so I'm posting as a normal post

10 - Rebel of The Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton

It could be in a highter position, but it’s been a while I read and I don’t remeber it very well, but I remember really liking it.

9 - Deadly Sins of Evil: The Tailor of Enbizaka, by Akuno-P

Is it my favorite arc in Evillious? No. Is she my favorite character, or even my favorite sinner? Also no. But it gives a feeling that’s diferente from the rest of Evillious. Killing four people may feel very tame in comparasion with the other sinners, but it is kinda what makes me like it. It feels quiet, in comparasion with the rest of the universe in wich it takes place. It’s not na evil in the same scale as the rest, but it is an evil that slowly build itself. Also, Kayo always feels more deliberated than the other six, if that makes any sense.

8 - Auto Da Compadecida (A Dog’s Will), by Ariano Suassuna

A stage play that also got a movie adaptation. When I was younger, I casually said I never watched a play and I would like to. My father bought us tickets to that. I don’t have a lot of exemples of my father doing something for me, so it was pretty meaningful. Later, he bought me the “book”, that’s just the script of the play, but I love it anyway.

7 - The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

I really liked the narrator’s voice. Also, When I read, I was not having a good week and had no acess to internet or to my other books, so this book was my blanket, my confort.

6 - Daughter of Evil books (Clôture of Yellow, Wiegenlied of Green, Praeludium of Red and Praefacio of Blue), by Akuno-P

Riliane may not be my favorite sinner, but this is without a doubt my favorite arc in the Evillious Chronicles.

5 - Percy Jackson, by Rick Riordan

I mostly like Percy hilself.

4 - Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao

I love the relationship between the three main characters

3 - Scum Villain Self Saving System, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Itmay not be rational to put a book that flawed in such high position in my personal list, but love is not rational. Is bingqiu na exemple of healthy relationships? No, but it is one of my favorite fictional couples, I love them, I love Luo Binghe, as fucked up as he is, I love to compare him to his original self and think about the future Shen Yuan (acidentally) saved him from. I love how tragic Heterosexual Male Power Fantasy Original Luo Binghe actually is. I could go on, but I’ll move foward.

2 -Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

I like it as a tragedy rather than an horror story. The Creature was a monster, but he wasn’t born a monster. Victor is worst than his creations and doesn’t even realize. It is tragic, and, being a classic, it feels inevitable to me, someone who read it When it was already wildly known, and “inevitable” is the best kind of tragedy. Also, there’s some aspects that are really funny to me, like ehen we reach the point in the story where we’re reading about that family inside the Creature’s narrative inside Victor’s narrative inside the letter Waton is writing to his sister, I can’t tell what she felt reading that.

1 - Mo Dao Zu Shi, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

My favorite story of all times, with a protagonista that is my favorite character from all times

[fgodump]

Connections to “The Poppy War”

The setting and characters to The Poppy War has derived a lot of inspiration from historical events and myths alike. This is meant to discuss which characters have a relation to those preexisting. Of course, you do not need to know this information to enjoy the books, but I think knowing them will elevate your reading experience. None of this information is official. This is just the conclusions I came to while reading. Feel free to make comments

MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL BOOKS

Locations

Nikara: Qing Dynasty. 

Mugen: Japan (Meiji Period)

Hesperia: Britain

The Hinterlands: Mongolia (unsure)

Murui: Yellow River

Tianshan: Kunlun

The different provinces were based off the Chinese Zodiac

The Poppy Wars: the Opium wars, as they have the heavy involvement of foreign invaders

Fang Runin: Rin’s character does not seem to take from a specific person, however the wiki stats that she was inspired by multiple people, such as Azula from ATLA and Mao Zedong

Chen Kitay: It's pretty obvious his character is inspired by Zhuge Liang in Romance of the Three kingdoms. In actual history, he wasn't that much, but in the book, Zhuge was a monster at strategy. 

In the first book, Irjah proposes a question, which Kitay replies “to bait the enemy into giving them arrows by rolling out a boat of strawmen”. This is something that Zhuge did as well.

Sring Venka: Honestly I'm blanking on Venka. I think perhaps Venka isnt supposed to represent a character at all, but instead all the comfort women and victims of the Rape of Nanking, based on what happened to her during Golyn niis. 

Yang Souji: He and his group the “Iron Wolves” remind me so much of the Shinsengumi. He even shares a name with Okita Souji, the captain of the first unit. 

The Shinsungumi were also nicknamed “The wolves of Mibu”

I know the glaring problem with this is that the Shisungumi are Japanese, and should have been Mugini in this book, but I think these parallels are pretty cool in any case.

Chiang Moag- Ching Shih. Woah, as soon as I heard Lady Pirate, it was undeniable who Moag is. Ching Shih, the most famous pirate in China perhaps, and she was a woman.

Their backstories share similarities too. Ching shih was a prostitute, just like rumors around Moag. 

The Cike: During the Zhou Dynasty, Wu Zetian (China’s only female emperor) had a secret police force that assassinated everyone she needed. This sounds incredibly similar to the way Daji used the Cike. 

Altan Trengsin: I believe that Altan is like Rin; either an amalgamation of many characters or simply someone Kuang made for the sake of the story.

Ramsa: I believe him to be Nikara’s representation of the creation of fireworks. Not based off a person, but instead one of the Four great inventions of China. Or maybe I’m looking too far into it lol, since he doesn't strike me as being inspired from a myth, since he is not a shaman

Baji: Zhu Bajie of Journey to the West. Based on his description and his name, I had him guessed before they even said anything about pig.

His weapon is even the same as Bajie’s, a nine-toothed rake. 

He also shares his desires, both of them being lusty for beautiful women

Suni: Sun Wukong. I had him guessed by his name as well. Although I believe the connection to be true, I cannot help but feel disappointed that the avatar of Sun Wukong was killed off so easily

The traits that these two characters share are pretty different, much more different than Baji had Bajie. 

For one, Suni is generally calm when he is not being taken over by his god, and is pretty gentle and nice actually. This is very unlike Sun Wukong, and also the reason why I think Suni was a bad body for Wukong to take over, since I think their desires do not match up like Rin and Phoenix

Aratasha: The last in the trio, Sha Wujing. I was confused at first, since Aratasha is no fighter, but I realized his name sounds incredibly similar to Sha Wujing. Wujing was a sand river demon in JTTW, so I don’t think it was a stretch to believe that Aratasha was based off of him (his god is a river god, after all)

Plus, Aratasha died before Baji and Suni did. Wujing in JTTW was weaker than both of his companions. 

Chaghan and Qara Suren: This may be a stretch, but I think Chaghan was inspired from Genghis khan. Gengis Kahn united the Mongols, like Chaghan united the Ketreids and Naimads. Even though the time period would be centuries apart (Genghis 1206, Qing Dynasty 1644-1912), it is the most likely option. It is unrecorded whether Gengis had any sisters, so I believe that Qara was made for the sake of plot (anchor). 

Yin Family: The entire Yin family was taken from the story of Nezha. You can read more about the original story by searching his name in Wikipedia. R F Kuang kept a lot of things from the original tale, and these notes are what I have noticed

Yin Vaisra- Li Jing. Li Jing was also a great general, and in other stories, he was the head general in the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Army. If you know about “Journey to the West”, it was him who attempted to subdue Sun Wukong. 

Yin Saikhara- Lady Yin

*its interesting how Kuang decided to make the mother’s name the family name for the Yins. Originally, I would have thought it was Li instead.

Muzha and Jinzha’s name were lifted directly from the source material

Mingzha is a character Kuang added, for Li Jing only had three sons (or 2 sons and a daughter in this case). There is no source material for how Muzha and Jinzha’s characters are; even in adaptations we rarely get to see any exploration of them.

Yin Nezha- Nezha:

Yin Nezha, like his original counterpart, was the third child of his father. Since Muzha was changed to a female, he is actually the second son. 

He has the powers of the Dragon of the Western river (TBG 392), likely referring to the White Dragon in myths, who is the dragon ruler of the western sea. 

Like the Nezha in the myth, Yin Nezha had an occurrence with a dragon that changed his life. 

At the first battle between Nezha and Rin in TBG, it is stated he wears golden rings around his wrists and ankles. Guanyin bodhisattva did this to Nezha in Journey to the West, in order to placate him. 

The Trifecta: All of the figures in the Trifecta were based on the Fengshen Yanyi (AKA the Investire of the Gods).

Jiang Ziya: His name was directly taken from the novel. 

Su Daji: Her name was directly taken from the novel, as well as some of her penchants for murder. Daji, in both history and the novel, was infamous for her torture methods. 

Jingzha being delivered back to his father in a dumpling holder would qualify as a toruture method. I applaud Kaung for being creative.

Yin Riga: I do not know if Riga is meant to be King Zhou or Ji Fa (the man who overthrew Zhou). Perhaps he was inspired by both of them, or neither. 

Since Kuang did not go into depth into which gods were in the pantheon, I will make a list to who I think is there

Gods mentioned in the books:

Erlang Shen

Sanshengmu 

Sun Wukong *implied through Suni

Zhu Bajie *implied through Baji

Huxian *implied through Unegen, and also Daji

Phoenix

Nuwa

Fuxi

The Four Dragon Kings (Yin Riga was likely the Dragon of the East) *There is no confirmation that there are multiple dragons, but I believe it was strongly implied

Chang’e

Xi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West

Zhenniao *implied through Pipaji

The Four Guardians (Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise) *implied through Dulin, who summoned the Black Tortoise

Wong Tai sen *implied through Lianhua (Actually I am not sure, but I could not think of any other healer god in Chinese myths)

Gods not mentioned but I believe are in the Pantheon: 

Yudi: Usually depicted as the husband of Xiwangmu

Hou Yi (Since Chang’e is there. However, there is a possibility that he is in Chuulu Korikh as punishment for killing the sons of Yudi)

Shennong: He exists between Nuwa and Fuxi as the “human”

The Eight Deities

Guanyin: (Since Wukong is implied to be a god) showed up in JTTW

Yanwang: (Since Wukong is implied to be a god) showed up in JTTW

Other tidbits:

Arlong’s name may have been the combination of “Azure” and the chinese word for dragon “Long”. 

Aquebus are guns, but they shoot very slow. This aint a AK 47

The Red emperor could have been based off of Qin Shi Huang, or even the Jade Emperor himself.

Chuulu Korikh’s origin, although explained, has ties in Chinese myths. It was the mountain that encased Sun Wukong before he was broken out by Xuanzang. This means that the mountain was put there by the big B, Buddha. (Actually I can't remember if Kuang said who put the mountain down, but if she didnt specify this is what I think happened) 

I am more familiar with Chinese history and myths, rather than Japanese ones, so if im missing something feel free to correct

[tgcfartreblogs]

TGCF Art Reblogs!

Welcome to the TGCF Art Reblogs tumblr, a sideblog by @unforth​. I reblog any and all art content I can find for the fandom. (two exceptions: I will not reblog explicit content depicting underage characters, and I will not reblog works depicting a relationship between people who are, in canon, related by blood.)

If you see me reblog a repost, please let me know so I can delete it - reposts are never okay! I do reblog “reposted with permission” posts of artists on other platforms. I have made a good faith effort to not reblog reposts, but obviously mistakes happen - when they do, let me know, and I will correct the mistake by deleting the reblog in question.

You can view the spreadsheet I use to organize this blog here.

Feel free to ping me in your creations so I can reblog them!

-unforth

Love other MXTX works? I also moderate @mdzsartreblogs​ and @svsssartreblogs​!

Love other danmei? I also, ALSO moderate @erhaartreblogs​, @zhenhunartreblogs​, @dmbjartreblogs​, @tykartreblogs​ and @cnovelartreblogs​

Looking for a wider range of TGCF content, like gifsets, writing, and news about the live action in production? Consider following our affiliate, @tgcfnet​!!

They’re really excellent.

I tag the following warnings: blood tw, body horror tw, cannibalism tw, child abuse tw, drowning tw, dubious consent, harm to animals tw, homophobia tw, lemon (for NSFW), MCD/implied MCD, mpreg, selfcest, self harm tw, starvation tw, strangulation tw, suicide tw, and vomiting.

In addition, I also tag...

Tag list:

(read more)

You can see a list of all artists included in my three art blogs here. Check out the “tgcf tag wrangling” sheet for those specifically on this blog.

This list includes: all characters tagged; all ships tagged; and all other tags used at least 6 times.

Characters

Romantic Relationships

anqiu (an le/lang qianqiu)

bai wuxiang/qi rong

bansu (banyue/pei su)

banwu (banyue/jun wu)

beefleaf (he xuan/shi qingxuan)

implied beefleaf

binghualian (luo binghe/hua cheng/xie lian)

fenglian (feng xin/xie lian)

fengqing (feng xin/mu qing)

implied fengqing

guzi/cuo cuo

hehualian (he xuan/hua cheng/xie lian)

heyin (he xuan/yin yu)

hua cheng/shen qingqiu

hualan (hua cheng/lan wangji)

hualian (hua cheng/xie lian) 

implied hualian

hualian wedding

hualianbeefleaf (hua cheng/xie lian/he xuan/shi qingxuan)

huangqing (yushi huang/mu qing)

huaqing (hua cheng/mu qing)

huaxuan (hua cheng/he xuan)

huayin (hua cheng/yin yu)

huayinxuan (hua cheng/yin yu/he xuan)

jianxuan (jian lan/xuan ji)

junlian (jun wu/xie lian)

junmei (jun wu/mei nianqing)

langlian (lang qianqiu/xie lian)

lingxuan (ling wen/he xuan)

liu qingge/he xuan

mingguang (pei ming/rong guang)

minghuang (pei ming/yushi huang)

mulian (mu qing/xie lian)

mingqing (pei ming/mu qing)

peidu (pei ming/shi wudu)

peifengqing (pei ming/feng xin/mu qing)

peilian (pei ming/xie lian)

peiquan (pei ming/quan yizhen)

peiquanyin (pei ming/quan yizhen/yin yu)

peixuan (pei ming/he xuan)

peiyin (pei ming/yin yu)

qingqing (mu qing/shi qingxuan)

qiqing (qi rong/mu qing)

qiurong (lang qianqiu/qi rong)

quancheng (quan yizhen/hua cheng)

quanyin (quan yizhen/yu yin)

shiwen (shi wudu/ling wen)

shuangshui (he xuan/shi wudu)

sulian (pei su/xie lian)

the three tumors ot3 (shi wudu/pei ming/ling wen)

xianle ot3 (feng xin/mu qing/xie lian)

xianle ot4 (feng xin/mu qing/xie lian/hua cheng)

xie lian/lan xichen

xie lian/wen chao

xieyin (xie lian/yin yu)

xuanhuang (he xuan/yushi huang)

wei wuxian/hua cheng

wen chao/qi rong

wenhuang (ling wen/yushi huang)

xinlan (feng xin/jian lan)

xuanlian (shi qingxuan/xie lian)

yinqing (yin yu/mu qing)

yinwu (yin yu/jun wu)

yinwudu (yin yu/shi wudu)

yinxin (yin yu/feng xin)

yushi huang/wen qing

Platonic Relationships

four great calamities (qi rong, hua cheng, bai wuxiang, and he xuan)

hualian are dads (any au were hualian adopt or birth children)

qi rong is a dad (qi rong and guzi)

qiurong are dads (qi rong, lang qianqiu, and guzi)

shi siblings

the three tumors (ling wen, shi wudu and pei ming)

xianle cousins (xie lian and qi rong)

xianle trio (xie lian, feng xin, and mu qing)

Alternate Universes

Creature AUs:

angel

bird person

bunny person

cat person

demon

dog person

dragon

fairy

ferret person

fox person

merperson

vampire

fantasy au

animal transformation au

deaging

greek mythology au

historical au

modern au

reincarnation au

technological anachronism

role reversal au

science fiction au

video game au

Fusions/Crossovers:

disney au

genshin impact au

pokemon au

studio ghibli au

Objects and Motifs

alcohol

autumn

bamboo hat

blood rain

dice

eye patch

fire

flowers

food

frogs

green ghosts

hua cheng’s ring

human face disease

lanterns

mask

the moon

neck wrappings

power binding mark

rain

red pearl earrings

red string of fate

smoking

snow

stars

the sun

umbrella

the undead

winter

xie lian sculpture

Animals

birds

bunnies

butterflies

cats

dogs

ferrets

fish

foxes

horses

oxen

snakes

tigers

Media Types

animated gif

bookbinding

chibi

comic

fan animation

jewelry

laughs

Other Fandoms included in TGCF works:

the husky and his white cat shizun

mo dao zu shi

ren zha fanpai zijiu xitong

thousand autumns

word of honor

[svsssartreblogs]

1,000 Post Tag Round Up!

Phew, it’s taken me about 2 months to get to 1,000 posts on this art blog, but we’re finally there! If you follow either mdzsartreblogs or tgcfartreblogs, you’ve probably seen my round up posts there - I do a round up every 1,000 posts as a way to fix any tagging mistakes I’ve made and because I like playing with data. :D This is the first of these posts for SVSSS, and it’s ABOUT DAMN TIME!

Some bookkeeping...

This blog as 288 followers, which is awesome. SVSSS is the smallest of the MXTX fandoms, and I’m so happy that this blog is starting to serve as a way for people who create art and share it on Tumblr can connect with fans of the series and help spread their work around - building up a core of people in a smaller fandom can be so so hard, ya know? Please do keep spreading the word!

Need anything specific tagged? Trigger warnings, squicks, preferences, just something you’re curious about, anything? Please feel free to let me know! You can see a list of which tags I currently use, as always, in the pinned post.

If you’re an artist in the fandom, and you want to make sure I see your work, note that I check the #svsss tag daily (but not any of the other many tags people use for this fandom...stuff is just way too scattered) for new works, or you can contact me directly either by @ my personal account (unforth - tags to this account don’t register, sigh) or by dming me the new work, and I’ll add it to the queue.

Thank you everyone for following this blog, and artists, thank you so much for your creations! <3

-unforth

And now, let’s see some breakdowns on tag usage! This is my least heavily moderated blog, which means it has the fewest tags, but I still have a few things I keep track of...

(read more)

Ten Most Commonly Reblogged Characters: there’s art of 24 different characters on this blog so far, though tagging can get a little funny cause I consider different versions of the same character (ie, Shen Qingqiu vs. Shen Jiu vs. Shen Yuan) as one character - I tag Shen Qingqiu, the others are “character attributes” instead of “characters.” In a fandom where, say, Shen Jiu is definitely distinct from Shen Yuan, that can get a little muddled, but it’s the choice I made. Anyway, characters!

Shen Qingqiu (583 works)

Luo Binghe (457 works)

Shang Qinghua (241 works)

Mobei Jun (235 works)

Liu Qingge (154 works)

Yue Qingyuan (57 works)

Sha Hualing (29 works)

The System (18 works)

Liu Mingyan (18 works)

Zhuzhi Lang (15 works)

Ning Yingying (15 works)

Five Most Commonly Reblogged Ships and Platonic Relationships: this fandom doesn’t seem too big on multishipping - the two canon ships are by far the most popular - but there are still a few other ships out there, most with only one or two works. I did make exceptions to the “versions of characters” thing that I described in the previous list - if an artist has specified Bingjiu as opposed to Bingqiu, or Yueshen as opposed to Qijiu, etc., I’ve tagged appropriately.

Bingqiu (320 works)

Moshang (197 works)

Liushen (74 works)

Mingling (8 works)

Shen Qingqiu and Shen Jiu are Brothers (6 works)

Ten Most Commonly Reblogged Artists: finding artists who focus on this fandom has been a challenge but I’ve finally gotten a solid few and it’s definitely helping me keep the queue stocked. So far, 366 artists have at least one work reblogged to this blog. Note that the below list isn’t a popularity ranking, it’s simply an indicator of prolificness and frequency of reblogging.

tossawary (18 works)

teiichans (18 works)

gothariete (18 works)

epsea (18 works)

selpuku (15 works)

hijohshiki-roc (15 works)

saysong91 (14 works)

ineffableboyfriends (14 works)

nicht-vobla (13 works)

agexp (12 works)

Ten Most Commonly Used Other Tags: as I mentioned, this blog is pretty lightly moderated so there’s not too many other things I tag. Here are few, though...

comic (219 works)

laughs (174 works)

chibi (77 works)

mo dao zu shi (71 works)

tian guan ci fu (61 works)

shen jiu (59 works)

wei wuxian (57 works)

modern au (57 works)

lemon (56 works)

fantasy au (53 works)

[hils79]

Monday Fic Recs

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji (The Untamed/Mo Dao Zu Shi)

hope dangling by a string by kouriarashi

Lan Wangji had never had call to perform the spell of silent communication before he and Wei Wuxian joined together to fight Xuanwu. He figured it was temporary. Spoiler alert: it wasn't.

Or: the AU in which Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian psychically bond in the cave, Wei Wuxian overhears Lan Wangji thinking about the fact that he actually likes him, and after several minutes of confusion, is fully on board with this.

This is such an interesting idea executed beautifully. I was absolutely hooked while I was reading this

your refuge in the bitter cold by foreverkneeld

After the events in the Cave, Lan Wangji goes back with Jiang Cheng to Lotus Pier.

It’s amazing how one small change affects the rest of the story entirely. This was an absolutely fascinating and riveting read.

grow by cafecliche

“Okay,” Jingyi says, as Sizhui puzzles this out aloud. “Okay! So the demon has been turning its victims into children.”

“I think so,” Sizhui says.

“To make them easier prey,” Jingyi says.

“Yes,” Sizhui says.

“So—” Jingyi’s voice cracks here, “this kid is Senior Wei.”

Wei Wuxian, still tangled in his own massive robes, blinks politely at them.

(Or: Wei Wuxian is cursed on a night-hunt, and the junior quartet rapidly finds themselves in over their heads.)

I love a de-aged fic and this was so sweet and gave me a lot of feelings

dream of a funeral; hear of a marriage by defractum

The news spread around the cultivation world quickly: Hanguang-jun would take whomever was skilled enough to take the Gusu Jade Token from around his neck as his cultivation partner and spouse.

Ten years later, Wei Wuxian is brought back into Mo Xuanyu's body, and he is awfully confused as to why random cultivators keep trying to attack Lan Wangji.

This is a really fun idea, but there’s actually a lot of feelings packed into this fic as well

hunters seeking solid ground by attila

“Hanguang-jun,” Wei Wuxian repeats. His heart clenches. He wants—but he’d really meant to have this nightmare stuff down before they met again, so he wouldn’t find himself relying on Lan Wangji’s nearness. He’s not supposed to go back yet. But he’s so tired, and his will crumbles. “Yeah,” he says. “All right. Take me back to Gusu with you.”

This is just 24k of hurt/comfort and it’s beautifully written

your heart, two doors down by ficklish

It begins with a stray clementine, half-peeled and trailing rind, rounding the corner and rolling down the hallway. Lan Zhan has just stepped into the lobby of the apartment complex, grateful for the reprieve from the heat. He blinks, bemused, and watches as the clementine rolls to a stop just behind him.

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying start off as neighbours but soon find themselves fitting into the spaces in each other's lives like they were meant to be there all along.

This is just so sweet and adorable

Content Warning: Romance by ariaste

Wei Wuxian just wants a little warning before Lan Wangji says nice things. Lan Wangji just wants to love on his husband, thanks.

Kink can be soft, and this is so very soft. 

something wild calls you home by fleetling

The innkeeper looked at them all, and then turned to Lan Wangji, clearly noting his robes, headpiece, and sword. “Chief Cultivator,” he said, stammering slightly. Lan Wangji didn’t sigh as he sheathed Bichen, but it was a near thing.

Jiang Wanyin scoffed as he watched. “Take us to his room,” he snapped at the innkeeper, and the man led the sect leaders and their first disciples to the room that had been Wei Wuxian’s.

The first thing Lan Wangji noticed was the red-black blood smeared on the floorboards, and then the black flute sitting in the centre of the room, innocuously still and plain.

(OR: Wei Wuxian is kidnapped. Somehow, this leads to Lan Wangji playing Chenqing, Jiang Wanyin revealing he thought they were already married, and a few love confessions.)

I really love the idea of LWJ getting to play Chenqing

Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei (Guardian)

like the deserts by yantantether

Somewhere far below, Shen Wei is counting on him, and Zhao Yunlan is so fucking useless he can't even find a way to help him. He imagines a future without Shen Wei around to complain about the state of his fridge, bully him into eating vegetables, provide his effortlessly startling insights into SID's cases, and kiss him until he's nothing but a mass of nerve endings, and the thought makes the emptiness inside expand until it begins to swallow him.

Oh god the worry and yearning was so palpable in this I felt like I was going through it myself

家教 - or - Domestic Education by rageprufrock

Shen Wei is the Ghost King, born out of the unyielding chaos of entropy that had consumed the underworld before the creation of the wheel of reincarnation. He's the cosmic guardian of death and all her darlings, and the universe through the lens of his eye is rife with demons, hungry ghosts, and shadows creeping out of their places. So there is absolutely no way he is getting sick.

This is so sweet and domestic and touching. I love getting to see more of Zhao Yunlan’s family

You Had One Job (take off your mask and smile) by starandrea

Allied Dixing turned a blind eye to any and all indiscretions committed by the foreign General Kunlun. The Black Robed Envoy owed Kunlun his life, so the Dixing forces would never speak against him. The Envoy defended his people with every power he had, and they followed without question.

They followed both the Black Robed Envoys, not that everyone believed there were two of them.

Oh I love the idea of Shen Wei and Ye Zun working together, and Zhao Yunlan being the only one who can tell them apart. 

Helpless by riventhorn

Usually Shen Wei is the one taking care of Zhao Yunlan when he's injured.

I will absolutely read any post-episode 33 fic and this is another lovely one

[rigelmejo]

im thinking about how i heard avenuex once say that mxtx writes a bit simpler than priest... like they said mo dao zu shi is like... easier to read (although not as ‘literary’ whether i guess that’s good or bad depends on tastes?)...

and i’m at a midpoint with this opinion cause on the one hand: i do think maybe the descriptions in modaozushi are a bit more straightforward. However, everything is xianxia genre (is that the right genre for mdzs? i get confused between xianxia and wuxia). And although I know some key noun words, the way people TALK in this genre is a different style... like the MDZS opening alone is like ‘people rejoice the evil is dead’ and ‘for a generation he’s presumed dead’ and ‘the jiang clan, lan clan, jin clan, wen clan, the sect leaders, the yiling patriarch’ and... so many of those words like sect and clan and the society type words are all really genre specific. So like yes, the descriptions are clear... but how people talk? Sort of??? Until I get used to the genre.

Whereas... like Guardian is an example. It has a few god-past scenes like the one with Shennong and Kunlun that I’ve read without help. The ‘fantasy’ and ‘past’ elements in Guardian are like... idk they feel almost like they create themselves, like their in-story contained mythology to some degree (even if some parts are taken or inspired from broader genre and mythology ideas). So its simple to follow: Kunlun is god of mountains, Shennong is dying, Shen Wei is a ghost king, Shen Wei loves Kunlun, Kunlun knows he’s going to die, Kunlun talks with Shennong about how everything eventually has to die including Kunlun, the world is old and this is the early days and its just gods and the world and the ghost monsters at first. It’s hard to explain but... in some ways I feel like a bit of the old-fantasy scenes in Guardian read like a creation story, so they introduce themselves more based on ‘assume reader doesn’t know what is what or how it works yet.’ And the words they use in the old-fantasy scenes are generally dialogues I find easily comprehensible. However... a lot of my comfort with Priest’s version of the genre, is I have a lot of familiarity with the story-specific vocab for Guardian, whereas in MDZS I have more general xianxia vocab and proper nouns vocab, but not necessarily familiarity with the speaking styles. 

Also... some of Priest’s novels, like Silent Reading, are modern. That story’s setting is just easier in general to follow with less context, since its all real life applicable words. Guardian, while fantasy, often has mundane real life applicable settings and words, which also helps with figuring out words and context - in a way mdzs has less of. 

However... I definitely think Priest’s writing is... complex. While there’s some context that gets easier... well...

The sheer number of adjectives I don’t know? The amount of descriptive lines? Some are chengyu, some are likely self created metaphors by the author, some are clearly lines that have like 3-5 layers of meaning and imply extra meaning from their extended context (like if I knew who Shennong was in actual mythology? If I had more background on the Kunlun mountains? I imagine the scenes I read would mean a LOT more in terms of depth of implications). Beyond simply comprehending the actual actions taking place in the story, and the barest guess at how characters are physically showing emotion - Priest is doing a hell of a lot more with the writing. 

I read the intro to Silent Reading yesterday. The first paragraph is literally just about the city - about how its split in half, east and west, and its like a beautiful picture masking a monster like a woman concealing with makeup. How the old part of the city is poorer, the newer part is the shopping district and is flourishing, and how developers are buying up the poorer parts and raising the value of the whole city but putting more pressure on the poor. And then it goes MORE in depth - this is just the parts I could comprehend. It took 2 readings of the paragraph for me to catch the second half - how the wealth is affecting the city and how business interests are affecting it. And you know damn well the societal implications of this unequally effected society are going to come up again and again in the novel, since hey it was mentioned LITERALLY IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. How is that for establishing a theme? Along with the intro paragraph establishing that this city has HISTORY, that its CHANGING, and that it contains monstrosities - precluding the buildup of the eventual murder cases that will make up the bulk of the future plot. On the surface, its just a physical description of location - and that physical description was the easiest part for me to catch. But if its read more in depth, its saying a ton of stuff with just a few physical description sentences. And this was just... stuff I could pick up on... I’m sure there’s more.

Priest’s novels are so chock full of this stuff its a bit daunting. Nevermind the fact that since EVERYTHING is interwoven into main details, its more of a struggle to comprehend the main gist of the plot since deeper more meaningful descriptors and metaphors and stylistic choices are intrinsic pieces of each sentence. 

I tried reading Tian Ya Ke the other day, and I only got through a few paragraphs. One of the hardest parts was just following who is who, since Priest likes not always giving names at first, so its a mystery of who someone is at first and you have to get to know them as mysterious people based on what they do. At least, sometimes. Random unnamed coffee buyer turns out to be main character in Silent Reading - and the deliveryman an important secondary. In Tian Ya Ke unnamed man who visits a secret prison has some ties to spy organizations and is presumably a main character. So I can’t just speed through an ‘unknown’ persons details - I might need to hold onto them later in case they turn out to be a named character later, where I need to remember what they did before they were named. Also on these unnamed - there’s galore descriptions of how they smile, their noses, their eyes, their hair lengths, their glasses, their style of clothes - get comfortable sifting through gratuitious physical descriptions which will ALSO be full of things with deeper meanings if you can catch them!

I’m not sure how much MDZS does this too, because I imagine it does all of this to some degree. And my impression is skewed, since I have a traditional copy of the first mdzs novel - so I’m mostly lost because of traditional characters, before I even get caught on the genre words. But I do think it... ramps up the plot a bit faster than Priest’s? If that makes sense. Like, plots in Priest are fast, but I feel like there’s also a lot of ‘what’s in this character’s head or perspective’ moments (which is a lot like I write so I love seeing it). And idk it can be harder to interpret that sometimes, since all narratives are biased and you get heavy details in one perspective narrative then fall into another one with new biases and details. 

Tamendegushi, meanwhile? By far the easiest writing style wise. I think that also makes the ‘depth’ of the writing easier to notice - you have to do less comprehension of the basics, so it takes less time to notice what the basics might be conveying beyond their exact details. Very beginner friendly... I recommend this baby FIRST if you’re a beginner like me. ToT

I do wonder if mdzs would be easier for me to read rn...

[dark-twist-fairytales]

Confirmation: The AU is now called "The Misadventures of the Mysterium Incorporated" and the series can be found here.

This is going to be fun chaos, to say the least.

[xiiaoshuo]

1: Origins! How did you come up with the concept for your OC? - for radiael, rain & lark, and saint!

open: ᴀsᴋ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴄ

let’s get it

radiel

so one theme you will definitely realize as i write these out is that a lot of my muses come based on songs! it was over the summer that i remembered i was really into the band hurts && the song ready to go shuffled on && i was like ah this is a muse.

i think from there, i also remember seeing radiel’s fc in that halo thing && said that i wanted to make her an angel. add in some bare knowledge i have about the warring states period && the first chinese emperor qin shi huang ( with a little hero , the controversial wuxia movie, flare thrown in ) && badda bing badda boom, you have radiel!

rain & lark

i kind of joke about them coming in a set but they really. kind of do. like both bio-wise && creation wise, they were formed together.

part of it was definitely going back to my roots with mutant ocs, so rain is a re-work of an old fc that i had. the fundamental framework of her bio is the same as her first version, except she was trained through the organization ( apotheosis? maybe ;)) ) && paired off with lark. i also liked the duality concept of persephone && hades && playing up the dark side of her powers.

so lark came along to balance her out && nerve manipulation felt like a pretty good way to “ interrogate ” people && i had conceptually really liked the powers in an old muse. i then thought of ways that rain && lark could work as opposites. so it’s not an accident that rain is the calm, logical, && collected type while hades kind of is off his rails doing who knows what ( also why her profile is blue && his is orange ) .

lark was also somewhat inspired by thoughts of how kids will form their own kind of “ communities ” && inherently just want to bond && be happy, so that’s how the nicknames came about, too. kind of ran with that concept && not a very straightforward answer but here they are!

saint

so honestly! i’m not completely satisfied with his concept so i might even go back && re-work him again.

but, i originally started with the song selfish love by patrick stump ( when he was on his jazz solo ) && thought about a love god that encompassed all the love… things. like saint valentine, cupid, && tu’er shen. but i didn’t feel like there was a lot of wiggle room in terms of role-playability, so i went with my second concept that came up from this song, which was … kind of frankly speaking a stripper or escort who was an abandoned mutant && kind of jaded about the world

but that didn’t seem like much fun for me, so actually! returning to rain, i borrowed her original version’s story about the cult && expanded on that. there’s a lot unsaid in his bio, but there’s a cult that collects mutants for the end of the world && that’s how he ended up there. i tried to align myself back with the second concept i was running with && wanted to think about elements that are keeping him where he is && yeah. we have whatever saint is now.

[mossytreeelf-blog]

Chinese Deities

Part 7 // I could find very little on the Chinese Deities specifically. If you know any good places to find info please let me know.

Ba-Ja - Scarecrow deity of Defence

---

Cai-Shen - God of Wealth

Can-Nu - Goddess of Silkworms

Chang-E - Goddess of the Moon

Cheng-Huang - City God of Protection 

Chuang-Kong - Goddess of the Bedroom 

---

Di-Jun - Supreme God

Di-Kang-Wang - God of Ghosts and the Underworld

Du-Shi-Wang - God of the Underworld

---

Erh-Lang - God of Protection from Evil

Er-Lang-Shen - God of Truth

---

Fan-Kui - God of Butchers

Fei-Lian - God of the Wind

Fo-Hi - Supreme Ruler God

Fu-Xi - God of Invention and Creativity

Fu-Xing - God of Agriculture 

---

Gao-Yao - God of Justice

Gong-Detian - Goddess of Good Fortune 

Guan-Yin - Goddess of Mercy

Guan-Yu - God of Wealth

Gun - God of the Earth

Guo-Ziyi - God of Wealth and Happiness

---

He-Bo - God of the Yellow River

He-Xiangu - Goddess of Women and Femininity 

Hou-Ji - God of Abundant Harvest

Hsi-Wang-Mu - Great Shamanic Goddess

Huang-Di - Yellow God

Hu-Jingde - God of Doors and Security

Hun-Dun - God of Creation and Chaos

---

Jun-Di - Goddess of Light

---

Kuan-Ti - God of War and Divination

Kui-Xing - God of Literature

---

Lao-Jun - Supreme God

Lei-Gong - God of Thunder

Lei-Zu - Goddess of Silk

Ling-Bao-Tian-Song - Supreme God

Li-Jing - God of the Heavens and it’s Gates

Li-Tieguai - God of Sickness and Disease

Lu-Ban - God of Builders

Lu-Dongbin - God of Poetry and Education

Lui-Hai - God of Wealth

Lu-Xing - God of Wealth and Status

---

Meng-Po - Goddess of the Underworld and Reincarnation

Men-Shen - God Duo of Doors and Security

Mi-Lo-Fo - God of the Household and Prosperity

Monkey - God of Mischief

Mu-Gong - God of Immortality

---

Nezha - God of Protection

Nu-Gua - Creator Goddess of Mankind

---

Pan-Gu - Creator God

Ping-Deng-Wang - God of the Iron Web

---

Roustem - God of Silk

---

Sao-Ts'ing-Niang - Goddess of Clouds

San-Guan - Triple Gods of Heaven

San-Qing - Triple Supreme Gods

San-Xing - Triple Gods of Good Fortune

Shen-Nung - God of Medicine

Shou-Xing - God of Longevity

Sien-Tsang - Goddess of Silk

Song-Di-Wang - God of the Upside-Down Prison

Song-Jiang - God of Thieves

Sui-Ren - God of Cooking

Sun-Bin - Door God

---

Tai-Shan-Wang - God of the Dead

Tai-Sui-Xing - God of Time

Tai-Yi - God of the Skies

Tian-Mu - Goddess of Lightening

Tu-Di-Gong - God of Fortunes and Virtues

---

Qi-Gu - Goddess of the Toilet

Qin-Guang-Wang - God of the First Court of Feng-Du

Qin-Shubao - God of Doors

Qi-Yu - God of Rain

Qu-Jiang-Wang - Ruler of Hell 

---

Wei-Cheng - God of Security

Wen-Chang - God of Literature

Wu-Guan-Wang - Ruler of Lakes

---

Yen-Lo-Wang - God of the Dead 

Yi-Di - God of Wine

Yu-Qiang - God of the Seas and Ocean Winds

Yun-Dun - Weather God

Yu-Zu - God of the Rains

---

Xiao-Wu - God of Prisons

Xi-He - Goddess of Light

Xi-She - Goddess of Beauty

Xi-Wangmu - Great Shamanic Goddess

Xuan-Wenhua - God of Hair and Beauty

---

Yi - God of Archery

Yuan-Shi-Tian-Zong - God of the Universe 

Yu-Huang - Ruler of Heaven and Earth 

---

Zao-Jun - God of the Hearth

Zhang-Fei - God of Doors

Zhang-Xian - God of Unborn Infants and Male Children

Zhi-Nu - Goddess of Weaving

Zhi-Songzi - God of Rain

Zhou-Wang - God of Sodomy and Discord

Zhuang-Lun-Wang - God of the Underworld

Zhu-Rong - God of Fire

Zhu-Yi - God of Literature

Zi-Gu - Goddess of Toilets

---

Sources:

https://www.smitefire.com/smite/forum/god-item-ideas/list-of-egypt-greek-chinese-hindu-norse-mayan-amp-roman-deities-3332

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/chinese-mythology.php?list-gods-names

http://godfinder.org

http://Wikipedia.com

[damiencordle]

Joshua Damien Cordle. I Found This Interesting

Scientists take snapshots of ultrafast switching in a quantum electronic device

Electronic circuits that compute and store information contain millions of tiny switches that control the flow of electric current. A deeper understanding of how these tiny switches work could help researchers push the frontiers of modern computing.

Now scientists have made the first snapshots of atoms moving inside one of those switches as it turns on and off. Among other things, they discovered a short-lived state within the switch that might someday be exploited for faster and more energy-efficient computing devices.

The research team from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Hewlett Packard Labs, Penn State University and Purdue University described their work in a paper published in Science today.

"This research is a breakthrough in ultrafast technology and science," says SLAC scientist and collaborator Xijie Wang. "It marks the first time that researchers used ultrafast electron diffraction, which can detect tiny atomic movements in a material by scattering a powerful beam of electrons off a sample, to observe an electronic device as it operates."

Capturing the cycle

For this experiment, the team custom-designed miniature electronic switches made of vanadium dioxide, a prototypical quantum material whose ability to change back and forth between insulating and electrically conducting states near room temperature could be harnessed as a switch for future computing. The material also has applications in brain-inspired computing because of its ability to create electronic pulses that mimic the neural impulses fired in the human brain.

The researchers used electrical pulses to toggle these switches back and forth between the insulating and conducting states while taking snapshots that showed subtle changes in the arrangement of their atoms over billionths of a second. Those snapshots, taken with SLAC's ultrafast electron diffraction camera, MeV-UED, were strung together to create a molecular movie of the atomic motions.

"This ultrafast camera can actually look inside a material and take snapshots of how its atoms move in response to a sharp pulse of electrical excitation," said collaborator Aaron Lindenberg, an investigator with the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) at SLAC and a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. "At the same time, it also measures how the electronic properties of that material change over time."

With this camera, the team discovered a new, intermediate state within the material. It is created when the material responds to an electric pulse by switching from the insulating to the conducting state.

"The insulating and conducting states have slightly different atomic arrangements, and it usually takes energy to go from one to the other," said SLAC scientist and collaborator Xiaozhe Shen. "But when the transition takes place through this intermediate state, the switch can take place without any changes to the atomic arrangement."

Opening a window on atomic motion

Although the intermediate state exists for only a few millionths of a second, it is stabilized by defects in the material.

To follow up on this research, the team is investigating how to engineer these defects in materials to make this new state more stable and longer lasting. This will allow them to make devices in which electronic switching can occur without any atomic motion, which would operate faster and require less energy.

"The results demonstrate the robustness of the electrical switching over millions of cycles and identify possible limits to the switching speeds of such devices," said collaborator Shriram Ramanathan, a professor at Purdue. "The research provides invaluable data on microscopic phenomena that occur during device operations, which is crucial for designing circuit models in the future."

The research also offers a new way of synthesizing materials that do not exist under natural conditions, allowing scientists to observe them on ultrafast timescales and then potentially tune their properties.

"This method gives us a new way of watching devices as they function, opening a window to look at how the atoms move," said lead author and SIMES researcher Aditya Sood. "It is exciting to bring together ideas from the traditionally distinct fields of electrical engineering and ultrafast science. Our approach will enable the creation of next-generation electronic devices that can meet the world's growing needs for data-intensive, intelligent computing."

Story Source:

Materials provided by DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Original written by Ali Sundermier. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Aditya Sood, Xiaozhe Shen, Yin Shi, Suhas Kumar, Su Ji Park, Marc Zajac, Yifei Sun, Long-Qing Chen, Shriram Ramanathan, Xijie Wang, William C. Chueh, Aaron M. Lindenberg. Universal phase dynamics in VO2 switches revealed by ultrafast operando diffraction. Science, 2021; 373 (6552): 352 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc0652

[ajfanfic]

Guardian Impact - A Self Indulgent Guardian Genshin Impact AU

Shen Wei - Electro Polearm user

Shen Wei is the Electro Archon! Presumed dead since the Great War, he remerged recently but has chosen to keep his return a secret. Instead, he works in the shadows to drive out the corruption that has taken root in his absence and return his people to their ancient glory. He has posed as an archeologist, using this cover to share his knowledge of their lost past. Despite his attempts to keep his work under wraps, rumors are growing of a masked hero, Hei Pao Shi, on a quest to return order.

Ye Zun - Cryo Sword user

Ye Zun is the Cryo Archon. At the end of a long conflict between the archons which came to be known as the Great War, he was sealed in the Heaven Pillar. While it seems his prison still holds, icy tendrils have been spreading and new voices have begun to share the views he espoused thousands of years ago.

Chu Shizhui - Electro Catalyst user

Chu Shizhui fled from Dixing when the government began demanding vision users turn in their visions after his brother was arrested for refusing. He was nearly captured himself, but a masked man with an electric guandao saved him. Chu Shizhui joined the Knights of Ma Gui when asked by Hei Pao Shi. He hopes to eventually return to Dixing and free his brother.

Zhu Hong - Pyro Catalyst user

Zhu Hong is the High Chieftain of the Yashou, under the purview of the absent Pyro Archon, Fu You. She hopes to return them to the position of relevance they held when Fu You was High Chieftain. Zhu Hong often butts heads with Zhao Yunlan, but they two have a strong bond of respect for the other's no-nonsense attitude. Zhu Hong has an unusual combination abilities, having both a skill for healing and explosive pyro magic.

Da Qing - Dendro Sword user

Da Qing is the captain of the Knights of Ma Gui. Technically, he is a clan leader among the Yashou but maintains only loose ties to them politically, preferring to act as an independent agent. There are benefits, he says, to being a clan of one. Despite being the only Yashou among the knights he rose to prominence quickly for his regenerative abilities and skill at putting up with Grand Master Zhao's more pricky moods.

Zhao Yunlan - Geo Claymore user

Zhao Yunlan is the Grand Master of the Knights of Ma Gui. The Knights were established by the Geo Archon Ma Gui before he and Fu You removed themselves from mortal dealings. Zhao Yunlan is quite popular among his knights for his willingness to get his hands dirty, and quite unpopular among the politicians in Dragon City for the same.

Lin Jing - Alchemist

Lin Jing is an alchemist who works alongside Knights of Ma Gui. When he needs to be called from his laboratory, the other Knights make a point to only send Pyro users after a cloak, hat, and the ends of Shen Wei's hair got caught up in his explosive failed experiments. His creations often don't work but on occasion, he manages something completely brilliant.

Guo Changcheng - Archer

Guo Changcheng is of a minor noble family in Dragon City and was accepted into the knights to smooth ruffled feathers. Despite his lack of a vision and apprehension about combat, his stubborn desire to do good has made him popular among his peers. Chu Shizhui has become quite protective of Guo Changcheng, and the two are becoming known as a formidable pair.

Wang Zhen & Sang Zan - Ghosts

Wang Zhen and Sang Zan were vision users, Anemo and Hydro respectively, who were killed during the Great War. They died separately and their determination to find each other allowed them to linger on Haixing. Wang Zhen found her way to Zhao Yunlan and the Knights of Ma Gui, where she found a second purpose acting as their dispatcher. Eventually, the two were reunited and chose to remain in the service of the Knights, where Sang Zan became a librarian. They are dedicated to preventing their new family from having to experience a second Great War.