#writing wuxia

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

I sometimes see the opinion that MXTX took the clichéd tropes she'd critiqued in Scum Villain, and played them straight in MDZS. But though a lot of them appear in MDZS, I'd argue that none are actually played straight at all!

The main point of MDZS's tropes is subversion. Yes, WWX has a 'tragic backstory', even an arguably overused one (orphaned by his parents at a young age, forced to live on the streets with nobody to rely on, etc) – but how things differ in how it's used. Tragic backstories are normally used to build sympathy for a character, to make us care and get invested in them. But... we're never actually shown any of those street days, we're never shown and never dwell upon how much he suffered during them. They're only really mentioned in passing and whenever dogs come up! If the goal was to make us feel bad for WWX, this would be very ineffective writing. But what's actually important here isn't that WWX went through tragedies – it's how he doesn't let the tragedies he went through define him. He doesn't dwell on them, the narrative doesn't dwell on them, it's never used to earn sympathy points... because what defines WWX is his choices and how he chooses to act, not a backstory completely out of his control. What gets us invested in him is his personality and the character writing of MXTX, not tragic events used as a substitute for identity.

And this trope treatment fits extremely well with WWX's personality itself – he's someone who 'forgets the pain as soon as the wound has healed'*, but also who actively chooses to focus on the present because you can't change the past; someone who holds the belief that 'gains and losses [should] remain uncommented on' when choosing what to do.

The use of the tragic backstory isn't the only thing that's subverted, either – the other main thing is the 'blackening' of the protagonist, and its impact on the protagonist's fall. After being thrown into the Burial Mounds, on a surface level it does seem like this blackening has occurred: the first thing we see when he returns is his gruesome torture of the Wen cultivators; he's 'forsaken' traditional cultivation in favour of an 'evil but more powerful' path; and frankly, Sunshot-era WWX is terrifying. But MDZS is not a blackening story, and so the events of the Burial Mounds aren't used as a catalyst for that purpose. Though it's true that WWX's not entirely the same person he was before (because how could be be?), underneath it all, his morals, worldview and core** stay the same. Though gruesome, his revenge is directed towards the ones who wronged him, not those past that and certainly not the entire world. His experience in the Burial Mounds doesn't lead to him being some evil, blackened overlord... like everyone says he is at the start! That's subverted, because again, WWX's values and choices are more important to the story than genre conventions.

But the most crucial thing? What leads to WWX's downfall isn't any blackening! It isn't any vengeance or morally dubious actions***– he was praised for those things during the Sunshot Campaign! No, what leads to his downfall is something completely unrelated to that, something which would've disappeared had the trope been played straight. It's him doing what's right by defending the Wens, it's him following his moral code when it opposes the world's, it's him standing up to the injustice of others – not others standing up to the injustice of him. That's the subversion here.

(Also, once again, the fall of Lotus Pier, the Burial Mound, etc, aren't used for sympathy points – and if it was relevant, they wouldn't have been used to excuse any actions, either. Using tragic events as an excuse for doing bad things is critiqued many times in MDZS, through characters like Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao. And that's not exactly a trope subversion, but it is a critique of badly handled 'excuses'.)

These are by no means all the tropes MDZS subverts – the nature of guidao vs the usual nature of modao being another very major one – but they're the main ones that feature in Scum Villain.

So, though at first glance MDZS seems to play the tropes MXTX critiqued there straighter, it's not a simple case of using them as cliches, and we see that by how they're used to impact the narrative, and how that differs from what they're traditionally used for. MDZS doesn't fall back into clichés Scum Villain satirised – it's the subversion to Scum Villain's exploration and critique.

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*Which I know is generally used negatively, to describe someone not learning a lesson from a punishment, but it really describes WWX in general, too. He doesn't dwell on that pain, he does his best to move on from it.

**...heh

***And, because it's often debated – whatever the morality/culpability of Nightless City is doesn't even matter! The events happened at a pledge conference against him that was already taking place. WWX's actions there didn't make people want to kill him because that was explicitly happening beforehand.

[guzhufuren]

Stills of upcoming extra episodes of uncensored wuxia BL Meet You At The Blossom

[areuils]

It’s interesting that Lan Wangji is often said to be the bigger simp while he’s just following the wuxia/xianxia best bromance tropes meanwhile Wei Wuxian is singing about how beautiful and good and smelling Lan Wangji all the time

[misfitreferences]

AMAZING RESOURCE for ancient Chinese ranks & titles!!!! Everyone say thank you NYANOVELS!

[selkiehello]

Wangxian Isekai AU where Modern!WWW gets isekai’d into like a Wuxia novel or smth as the villain Yiling Laozu and the villain gets killed by the hero of the story Hangaung Jun

WWW is like nope to getting killed and just tries to wingman in getting Hangaung Jun and Mianmian together. Except, why does Hangaung Jun look at him like that? He’s not plotting anything evil. He’s trying to be a good wingman to make the romance of this novel happen.

[bonegiant]

I love Chinese cultivation novels

Most of the are power fantasy nonsense where a generic mc with generic features goes from being the scorned trash to the ever victorious demigod

Those are fine and some of them are even good.

This is not about those

This is about the philosophy of it all

OH HOW I ADORE IT

You cultivated a martial art based on how rivers flow and now your attacks cannot miss since "the river always finds the sea"?

Absolute storytelling gold

Consider this however my nameless shadow movement technique evades your inescapable strike since I am nothing and I have no name. My belief in this is so strong that I have cut off all emotion and even the memories of my past just to gain a greater edge in the endless race towards divinity.

Have I sacrificed everything but my body in this never ending competition? Some would say yes but I have sacrificed so much in the pursuit of power that my very identity and humanity seemed like a small price to pay in return for this power.

The sentence "the river always finds the sea" contains many more truths than just "I can't miss". You could interpret many truths from it. It could also mean that I will always achieve my goal or that life always ends up where it is supposed to.

The whole letting go of who you are could be used to "heal" injuries by disassociating so hard the injuries have nothing to stick to anymore.

You could cultivate the dao of destruction and instead of destroying your enemies you destroy the path their weapon takes to hit you to become the ultimate defender.

My point being that combat isn't about how hard I hit but rather how hard the truth I believe hits or how I approach battles philosophically

I love that shit

[you-are-my-neverland]

GODHOOD >> A COMIC SANS INTRODUCTION

welcome to the wip that's been eating my brain for more than six months. i recently started draft one, and having the time to explore writeblr more inspired me to do one of these! image description can be found in the alt text (hopefully it looks ok).

i have no official taglist yet, but if anyone is interested, please just let me know. all interaction is appreciated.

[makapatag]

got a new update up on my slick bladepunk dharmacore progression fantasy web serial.

THE KNIGHT VAGRANT is like if Dragonball had Maritime Asian aesthetics and overtly Buddhist themes.

maritime asia? think the Maritime Silk Road/Nirvana Route: from parts of South Arabia to India to SEAsia to South and East China to Japan to Korea,, the whole shebang of buddhism's extent. keep in mind its only really inspired by maritime asia: it's still a progression fantasy at its core. eventual god killing will ensue, but a god killing guided by enlightened compassion.

imagine if breath of the wild was built ground up from southeast asian aesthetics, ethics, and traditions. xianxia by way of southeast asian hindu-buddhist-animist esotery instead of only daoism

writing progression fantasy (think shonen anime, growing in power is the point) feels like home to me.

blurbs and shit ya'll:

[helenkordart]

Recently the 4th volume of the english Thousand Autumns came out and when I saw Mimo′s design of beloved old fart Guang Lingsan, all I could say was "awooga humina humina humina", so like

[themundanedumpling]

now that myab is airing i have the urge to read the source danmei novel but everytime i try to read a sqc novel it reminds me of utter trauma and devastation i went through when i read sqc's wu chang jie

[renshengs]

mlc ep 31 is like being gutted with a blunt knife. i keep thinking about li lianhua vomiting blood everywhere and collapsing and struggling with a poison that has only one virtually unattainable antidote, grabbing on to fang duobing and apologetically going "haha this must be scaring you" and fang duobing just. rolling his eyes and making him lie down. like, shut up. drop the act. let me take care of you.

and li lianhua has never let himself be taken care of. the burden of it, he thinks, is one no one is willing to take on. not qiao wanmian, who loves him but thoroughly exhausted herself trying to chase after the flicker of his shadow. not anyone. and then, after ten years of solitude, comes fang duobing, who will be angry with him but won't leave. who receives the burden of him with both hands. with complaint, which is so important! fang duobing will be furious and hurt with him for lying, for making weight-of-the-world decisions all on his own, but for all that he runs his mouth he would never blame li lianhua for being burdensome.

it's rotten work. it is. there's no denying it, but why should fang duobing care? he loves this man, rotten work or not. and isn't that a wonder, to have someone love li lianhua like that? truly fang duobing invented "i'll follow you to the ends of the earth with only mild complaining".

[mykingdomforapen]

the boy in the sorghum field | Link Click (时光代理人）

“A Ling,” Diē’s voice interrupted her anxiety. “You can come out now.” Qiao Ling wriggled her way out from beneath the logs. She brushed the snow from her pao and looked up to her father, whose square face was sodden with solemnity. Then, her gaze followed his down to the boy in his arms, wrapped in her father’s cloak with his head resting against Diē’s chest. He was smaller than Qiao Ling, no older than six or seven years old, and his black hair was dusted with snow. His clothes were torn, and his face was frightfully white from the cold. There was blood smeared over his cheeks and clothes, but miraculously no sign of a wound. He slept in Diē’s arms, if sleep was the right word for it as Diē carried him carefully to not jostle him. “Who is he?” she asked.

In which Qiao Ling will always protect her brother.

(My SGDLR Gotcha for Gaza prompt fill for Blepps!)

-

Rating: G

Characters: Cheng Xiaoshi, Qiao Ling, Qiao Ling's Father

Tags: Family, Friendship, Siblings, Wuxia, Alternate Universe - Historical, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort and Fluff

Excerpt:

Qiao Ling first met Cheng Xiaoshi in the sorghum field.

The snow blanketed the harvested field, outstretched behind the line of trees hibernating for the winter. Qiao Ling, bundled up in her winter pao, squealed as she clung to the oxen’s back which pulled her family’s cart. They were returning from town to their estate, and Diē had taken Qiao Ling along to live up to a promise he made her. Her cheeks were pink from the winter chill and the excitement of new shoes, silken and embroidered.

“Diē, look!” she gasped. She bounced up and down on the faithful oxen’s back as she pointed beyond the treeline. “Look at all those cranes!”

Diē leaned forward in his cart, following her gaze. A flurry of elegant red-crowned cranes gathered upon the snow–their ink-tipped wings outstretched and their ruby red heads thrown back as they crooned. Qiao Ling’s eyes were wide as coins as she marveled at the distant, calling cranes.

“They’re so beautiful!” Qiao Ling whispered.

“Indeed,” Diē murmured. “What a lucky sight to see, isn’t it, Lingling? Heaven’s birds.”

“What makes them heaven’s birds, Diē?” Qiao Ling asked.

“They carry the souls to heaven,” Diē said. His voice dipped into its mythical quality, a gentle sotto voce that made complete his enchantment. “So when you see red-crowned cranes taking flight, a soul is blessed to eternal rest.”

Qiao Ling hugged the neck of the oxen as it ambled trustily down the stone path. The cranes called out noisily from their snowy field, flapping their wings in a fervent dance. Diē hummed to himself as the cart’s wheels turned.

She tilted her head and squinted as they drew inch by inch closer to the cranes.

“Diē,” she said. “What color is sorghum?”

“Sorghum can be green,” Diē said. “It can be a light yellow, and it can be red.”

“How red?” she asked.

“Red as a jujube. Red like a sunset.”

“How about red as vermilion?”

Diē chuckled softly, but Qiao Ling wasn’t trying to be funny.

“Diē,” she said. “The snow is so red.”

Diē’s chuckles immediately cut short. He stretched his neck to watch the cranes that huddled in a ring, and only then did he see what Qiao Ling questioned–dark splotches of red upon the crystalline snow.

“A Ling,” he said in a suddenly calm voice. “Get off the ox.”

Read more!

[oh-no-its-bird]

I have an idea for a sort of silly light novel writing project I'll probably never actually write but is fun to just think about

But like. Cultivator set up, wuxia world w a slight blending of different cultivation genres, a guy wakes up in a forest with amnesia. (Wow classic I know)

So the first few chapters he's hearing about all these big famous people who have gone missing over the years, right? And he (along with probably the reader) is like, "Heh. That could be me,,," (smugly)

But the names keep piling on, and he comes to a realization: important and unimportant cultivators alike go missing and lose their memories or whatever else at an alarming rate. He is not special. (Coughs up blood)

He probably runs into other amnesiacs more than once, and I'd have a running theme of like, he keeps bumping into main character coded characters just left and right. There's so much happening in this world, so many stories being told, he's really not special. But also he is bc hes our main character

But just like silly mostly self contained stories told from this guy just wandering around this absoloute cluster fuck of a world, often running head first into really interesting stories that are clearly like in the middle of a 5 arc novel their own

It'd probably gain a real central narrative along the way like all things inevitably do (the mystery of how he lost his memories and the fall out of what happens when he learns the truth) but for now I have fun just thinking ab his dumb adventures

As for the character himself, hes is like, obnoxiously laid back. SUPER chill, takes everything with a sigh and a smile, very lazy, takes a lot of shortcuts and goes "Ah but that's fine, right?" As everything explodes around him. If he's alive, then all is well in the world 👍

He'd cause so many problems just because and also probably have absolutely shit luck that gets him into even more problems (my favorite genre of character)

I also have like. A slowly but surley growing list of characters he'd run into like uhh [checks notes] evil lesbian mirror demon and the very angry woman she trapped in a mirror and stole the face and life of (the demon hate sex goes crazy).

And also ofc, "person trapped in a cycle of reincarnation with a curse that no matter how hard they try to be good, they will inevitably cause some great destruction or evil or plague of some kind." And just them very very desperately trying to be good even though they know it's futile

Yay!! Fun stuff

[briar-wildheart]

New Plum Blossoms chapter is out 👀

Black cloth flew as the mysterious cultivator danced around her opponent’s blades. She wore a straw hat with a black veil, hiding her identity. Her robes were a simple black with white undergarments showing whenever she twirled to dodge the incoming assault. Li Mei tried to catch glimpses of the face but could not make out any features in the dark. The sword in the cultivator’s hand was pitch black in its entirety. The dark blade was barely visible, only the moonlight reflected off the glistening metal showed an intricate pattern on it. That was when Li Mei recognized the mysterious figure.

“Siyu?”

In that moment she jumped up high, fabric whipping behind her as she flew. At the sound of her name, Siyu turned, shooting Li Mei a deadly smile.

https://www.wattpad.com/1471602658-plum-blossoms-fate-let-us-meet-again

[mejomonster]

On a serious note, I do feel mysterious case lotusbook has a lot of sincere themes about getting older, realities of responsibility and dreams realized, how it's difficult to succeed and not always the direct path one expects, how there's value in little aspects of life. Almost every li lianhua scene seems to be about that to some degree. The murder cases aren't particularly deep as far as super complicated to figure out or Able to be predicted super well (since they don't always give all the details in the initial setup), but the themes about who was killed and why do connect to li lianhuas situation.

[misfitreferences]

Some wonderful references for historical hairstyles in different asian dynasties!