Bamboo

Where I rant and theorise about different MXTX's works to destress – Mainly into SVSSS and MDZS

[addierambles]

so i'm rereading TWST manga, and think back on B4 as a whole

and y'know, i have to wonder - does Kalim hold the highest rank in that dorm???

i mean sure, he's a housewarden, so his word is law as far as Scarabia is concerned. and in B4 in particular, Jamil was using Kalim's position to make him into a tyrant and a despot

but i mean like, outside of the hierarchy of NRC, does Kalim the Asim heir hold the highest rank in his dorm.

i'm just looking at the depiction of the parade training, looking at all those NPCs carrying umbrellas, and i can't help but wonder: which families do these kids come from? are there any other merchant heirs? sons of bankers or business owners or celebrities? scions of distinguished families that come from old money? like yeah NRC isn't full of princes and other members of peerage, but???

i just think about politics in general, you know. these guys are cream of the crop as far as magic population is concerned, and there are non-zero chances there are other big names in the Scarabia dorm beside the Asim family.

so like, y'know. did anyone phone or text their family about being forced into a lengthy parade, carrying an umbrella like a servant. would it be considered an offence. or would it be just normal social roleplay, because they're at school as normal students, so they have to obey whatever their housewarden demands of them.

[bambooswordwielder]

Personally always saw it as:

1) NRC being a prestigious arcane school that focuses on merit (reference from Book-4 when the NPCS were calling for Jamil to become Housewarden over Kalim)

2) The students all being there for ‘training’ after the entire dorm scored at the bottom for both academics and sports. I know quite a few well-off parents who would accept their children staying longer if said children were behind in studies,

3) The students genuinely appeared to like Kalim pre-Book 4 hypnotism. It’s likely a few of the students would hold back on heavily slandering Kalim since he was a pretty chill guy before (plus he technically in of all their minds as a reason because once again they were all behind on academics). Of course there is 4) Kalim being Al-Asim, stated by Leona in one voice line to have wealth equivalent or even more to most royal families (his included). Overall, I think it’s just a case of “He’s rich and powerful, so we can’t really be too mean, but also he was a pretty chill guy before so how can we be too mean?”

[bambooswordwielder]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Huan | Lan Xichen & Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Lan Qiren & Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Rumoured Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Characters: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Lan Huan | Lan Xichen, Nie Huaisang Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Gender or Sex, Female Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Female Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Female Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Female Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Role Reversal, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Yiling Laozu Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, POV Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Cloud Recesses Study Arc (Modao Zushi), Character is slightly sexist due to upbringing, Not explicit but still there, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe, Author has realised men as a concept are not real, Trust, No beta we die like wei wuxian, Gusu Lan Sect Rules (Modao Zushi), Gusu Lan Sect Bashing (Modao Zushi), Period-Typical Sexism Series: Part 2 of The Yiling Matriarch and The Madam Jiang Summary:

 The group of ladies invited her into their group and they all sat at the bench, their hands placed on their laps as they talked, hiding their faces with fans and sleeves. The girl did the same as they did, blending in perfectly. Lan Wangji’s blood boiled. This was outrageous. This was disrespectful. This was wrong. The girl was lying at that very moment and no one else knew it. However, her rightful displeasure at the blatant fraud was halted by the eyes that met hers. Silver clashed with gold, the moon’s ice opposed the warmth of the sun, and a poised expression faced with a grinning challenge. Her arm was drawn up like a puppet’s limb.

“Lan-Guniang, pleasure seeing you!”

The YunmengJiang’s Head disciple, Wei Wuxian, was a liar and no one else knew it.

The Year Lan Wangji, revered lady of the GusuLan Sect, meets Wei Wuxian, Head disciple of the YunmengJiang Sect, and how it permanently changed the course of both their fates and lives

[linghxr]

Chinese Names + Naming Resources

Some of my most popular posts on this blog have to do with Chinese names. It seems like a lot of people who reblog those posts enjoy writing and are saving the posts as resources for naming their characters. So, I wanted to share some additional resources that I’ve found and used.

Resource #1: Name104

This site reflects names from Taiwan. It has quite a few different pages/features to explore. Just make sure you only enter in traditional characters–it won’t work properly with simplified characters.

First is the name generating tool (線上取名工具軟體).

You can specify the surname, if you want a one character given name, the second character of the name (aka first character of the given name), number of strokes, and things relating to luck. The specify second character feature is really useful for if you want a common 字辈 across names. The site will generate a bunch of names, and you can click each to learn more.

The tool I find most useful is the name similarity tool (名字相似度查詢). You enter a given name, and it will show a popularity score as well as lists of common names with the characters you included. The score is people/million, taken from college (I think) entrance exam takers over a 15 year period.

The default name when you click on the page is 心怡. This one is pretty popular. If you know you really want a name with the character 怡, you can enter in 怡怡 so it will show all the most popular names with this character (both in the first or second position), like below:

Keep reading

[its-aighost]

May i use the fact that Cloudflare is down to remind my fellow mutuals that ChatGPT, Oepn Ai, Twitter, other online sights are not forever. They are on server boxes that could one day become broken thanks to simple coding errors or full on natural disasters. (That being said, AO3 no!!!!!!!!)

[bambooswordwielder]

SPOILERS FOR END OF VAMPIRES SMP

Forever love that Scott and Shelby are living happy lives being forever roommates

[mooonlitsun]

// vampires smp spoilers

I’m choosing to believe that when 9/11 happened abolish booked it to nyc to make sure Scott Shelby and drift had nothing to do with it.

[tals-tower]

is this a scott goldsmith character analysis??

Scott goldsmith was a bad person. Scott goldsmith was never going to be a good person, not when all he's known how to do for the past 1400 years was lie and manipulate to get his way. Scott Goldsmith, understand, was a husk of a person, living for base pleasures but not truly feeling because he couldn't. He loved life and he loved living but at some point it lost its luster and the infinite made atrocities not seem so bad.

The point of the story is not that Scott Goldsmith became a good person, the point of the story is that Scott Goldsmith is trying. The point of the story is that if you connect with people, if you don't look at the world in black and white you can heal and become a better person than you were yesterday

That's why its important that Scott was redeemed. Because otherwise it's a black and white story. The big evil bad guys (Scott, Owen, and Pyro) are dead and everyone else gets their happy end or dies as recompense for their sins (Legundo). That's why it's just as important that Ren and Martyn died. Because this isn't a black and white story, the heroes don't always get what they want. Because they're human, because they make mistakes.

The point of the story is that Scott's death would be the easy way out. He wouldn't have to make ammends, or try to be better. He'd be dead and the story would be over and everyone would be happy. It's why Owen chose to die, because he was tired and the weight of his sins was too much to face as a human. Death is the easy way out and Scott Goldsmith doesn't deserve to take the easy way out.

Scott Goldsmith was never going to apologize because he still hasn't processed what he did wrong. Because it's been a few days in the face of 1400 years of unrepentant evil. Because he's new to this whole caring thing. He will probably apologize eventually, as long as he has people by him to support him in his redemption. People don't become good in a single day, it's a messy process. Legs and Scott both showed that.

There's relapses, there's going to be days he says or does something that hurts someone and acts like nothings wrong. Tehere's going to be days he manipulates and gaslights because that's who he was for 1400 years. That's how he survived the Oakhurst massacre. At his core Scott Goldsmith is Legundo's parallel. He is a man who wants to live, and he will do anything to get that.

I have said from the beginning that if push comes to shove and the vamps are losing, Scott would join the town. It was not an out of character decision and it was a decision made from a place of selfishness. But that promise he made to Legundo to be better? The promise he made to Abolish? Those are what's shown he's changed.

Scott Goldsmith knows who he is more than he knows anything else and he fears (just like Legundo) that some day he'll go too far again. So he, because he loves his fledglings and wants them to be happy, is trying to change. He is trying to be human in a way he has not in a long time. He doesn't get morality, he's low-empathy, he doesn't understand people. Maybe he could. Maybe he will. Scott Goldsmith is trying.

That's the core of this story. It's that everyone deserves redemption, everyone deserves tht chance to become a better person and maybe you'll never make up for your sins, because they run too deep, but you can be a better person than you were yesterday.

[fuckyeahchinesegarden]

lingyansi灵岩寺, guanxian, sichuan province in china (photo by 物外之趣)

[bambooswordwielder]

FINAL VAMPIRES SMPS SPOILERS

Just finished watching half of the POVs and their endings and just wanna say

LIFE IS GOOD! Shelby got her revenge on Pyro and is now happily living with her roommate Scott and gets to visit Drift every once in a while, Cleo and Pearl are living their cottage core vibes filled lives in the castle, Abolish is possibly a half-hybrid vampire, we are winning!

Let’s just ignore everything else please!

No, but seeing Owen’s ending made me break down because it feels so fitting yet is so tragic like 😭 The only way he could’ve lived was to accept his wrongs and try to make amends with everyone but it was far too late

And it’s ironic that Pyro died to the hands of the same person who he somewhat playfully threatened Scott with murdering. Like he was expecting maybe Scott or Owen to try and kill him, but he never truly expected Shelby to the same extent 🥹 Felt good despite still being so angsty

Legundo, we love you. We always have.

Martyn and Ren, so close to the end 😭 It’s reminding me of Train to Busan like THEY WERE LITERALLY AT THE DOORSTEP TO FREEDOM AHHHHHHHHHHHH

Anyway, love Cleo and Pearl living their best cottage core still and I hope the AO3 writers are having a field day with this

[cyberpunkerguy-deactivated20260]

most controversial take in the grandmaster of demonic cultivation fandom: jiang cheng was right for resenting wei wuxian.

most controversial take in the heaven official's blessing fandom: junlian is a much more interesting ship than hualian.

most controversial take in the scum villain fandom: mu qingfang looks fucking ugly in the donghua

[bambooswordwielder]

How could you say that about Mu Qingfang 😭 /j

[terrible-leviathan]

WE FINALLY FOUND OUT SQH'S NAME IN THE SVSSS EXTRAS AND ITS XIANG FEI?????

[hysteriawysteria]

I actually really love zixuan and yanli, I know some people think that yanli deserves better than him and I am not disagreeing with that at all but i just think that their relationship feels so genuine, I originally thought I would hate Jin zixuan so much but he really grew on me and I really love him (not to the extent in which I love wei wuxian, wen ning, and lan wangji but you get what I mean) I think his development as a character is entirely plausible and really shows how being around the right people can bring out the good in someone. I know people hate the whole soup situation and Jin zixuan definitely deserved to be punched for that but I think that situation says alot about his character. He was under the impression that yanli was taking credit for someone else's hard work and defended said person even if they were just a servant, I think this shows how he does have a strong sense of justice and feels the need to defend people he sees being wronged. In hindsight he probably should've known it was yanli making the soup on the first place since it's no secret that soup and cooking is her secret power but then again he was making an active effort to avoid her and anything surrounding her so I guess it's plausible that he wouldn't know. I also think their relationship shows how good of a judge of character yanli is and further proves just how important she was, Jin zixuan never made any efforts to have a civil relationship with her, but yanli fell for him not because of what he showed her but because of what she saw on the inside, she saw an emotionally neglected and repressed boy who didn't know how to express himself due to his upbringing, she saw a kid who was suspicious of people who showed him kindness because hes likely never been around people who genuinely cared for his well being or him as a person, she saw this fell in love with him because she saw that despite what he was taught he was trying not to be like his father or predecessors, the whole reason why he apposed their arranged marriage is because he didn't want to end up like his parents. Yanli Is so perceptive and emotionally intelligent it's scary to think what she could do had she been allowed to be clan leader or had the ability to cultivate better. Eventually she saw this man successfully break free from cycle of generational trauma, she saw her husband who loved her and fought to prove himself worthy of her love

(I STILL HATE THE SOUP SCENE THO ITS RELEVENCE TO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT DOWA NOT EXCUSE JZX ACTIONS)

(ME WHEN WWX PUNCHES JZX:

GET HIM AGAIN GET HIM FOR ME (AND FOR YANLI)

(*sigh* I wish jiang cheng got to punch him at least once it would do him good to take out his anger on someone other than wei wuxian)

[bambooswordwielder]

New Vampire’s new fangs!

[chayssakharom]

A Couple of Helpful Resources for making Scum Villain Fanworks All in one Spot

Disclaimers - If your resource is here and you would like for me to remove it or change something related to it, just lmk and I will do so as soon as possible! I did as well as I could to make sure these resources are reliable, but if you notice something is off, please lmk! Feel free to add other resources in the reblogs :)

1. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Timeline by VagabondDawn on ao3

2. svsss canon log by allpiesforourown on Tumblr/Google Doc

3. [Guide] The Scum Villain's Self Saving System by Jin_Mitel on ao3

(^^ An Index of Jin_Mitel's other guides, many look useful for this purpose/others are scum villain focused! Find them at A Guide to Fictions)

4. Guide of Locations in Scum Villain Self-Saving System by misfitmonarchy and stardust_falling on ao3

5. A Partial Beastiary for Chinese Mythology and Folklore by PyrrhaIphis on ao3

6. Guide to Writing Scum Villain (or XianXia and XuanHuan in general) by velveteentuzhi on ao3

7. Stallion Novels: A Guide by ibex_ascendant on ao3

8. Chinese Names + Naming Resources by lingxhr on Tumblr (Useful for OCs!)

9. Chinese Naming Basics for Fanfiction Writers by miqqumi on ao3 (Danmei/SVSSS Specific! Useful for honorifics! Contains a long list of resources for this subject)

10. How to Name your Chinese Characters by drwcn on Tumblr (Useful for OCs!)

11. ziseviolet on Tumblr (For hanfu fashion history, explanations, and inspo! A lot of helpful history and cultural information/resources as well! Extremely helpful, see their masterposts on their blog to start)

Ziseviolet's masterposts one and two

12. peekofhistory on Tumblr (Really incredible history/arts/crafts/guqin making and lessons(!!)/culture resource! Highly recommend to check them out!)

(Guqin Masterpost from peekofhistory)

[bambooswordwielder]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN SVSSS GOT A NEW EXTRA???? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE SHANG QINGHUA’s ACTUAL NAME??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS ALL HAPPENING BEFORE MY ANNUALS 😭😭😭

Like happy for new content even if the new version is apparently censored but like??? The timing is not helping me

[bambooswordwielder]

The Monster behind the Mask

[bambooswordwielder]

V! Scott vs V! Owen in outward demeanour

V! Scott’s outward appearance and demeanour at least during the first few episodes is so different from V! Owen that it is actually so funny

Like the session where Owen is threatening to kill everyone in town in a slow, excruciating massacre can also be the same session as Scott saying that he dyed his hair blue once and now he’s stuck with it forever!

I at first, due to watching fully from Scott’s POV before switching to overs after finishing, just saw Scott as a somewhat goofy vampire who just wants to play around. After watching about four different POVS now, I have realised that was severely inaccurate.

The only reason Owen is outwardly more aggressive to humans than Scott is because Owen is still filled with resentment and anger from both when the former Oakhurst inhabitants isolated and ignored him for his appearance and when they killed Louis, his only companion. Despite Owen regularly claiming to be 200yrs old, he was in a coma-like state underground stuck in a haze of his anger for years and had only been awake at most for a few days to few weeks after killing everyone in Oakhurst. He mentally is still a freshly turned vampire who lost Louis a few weeks ago—the grief and pain is still fresh. He never grew or moved on, which is worsened when Legundo seems to resemble Louis in his way of seeing hope in Owen, yet strongly disagreeing with Owen’s actions. Pair this with the constant isolation and rejection he feels, from both humans and vampires whether accidentally or purposeful, it’s no wonder he is filled with bitter fury when he sees the townspeople not only accept the town vampires, but also that they still wish to save Shelby and Pyro, yet refuse to extend the same hand to him.

This highlights another feature about him. The way his jealousy and envy blinds him to his own hypocrisy.

Compare this to Scott, an elder vampire who had hundreds of years of ruling over his land before being forced to slumber for 600yrs. Scott is charming and polite, always joking and teasing the humans even if it is cruel. He rarely threatens outright violence and is more likely to charm his way in or out of a situation. He allows sanctuary to the other vampires he turned and even works to provide food for them all by creating a farm of chickens. This makes him appear like a good guy with grey morals due to living for so long, but in reality, V! Scott is manipulative and only uses his perceived friendliness as a way to get what he wants.

Each of his relationships with the vampires are unique and different:

Pyro is a master and his servant, a toxic imbalance of power where Scott constantly reminds them that was their ‘fault’ that they went with two random strangers in the middle of the night and he should be grateful it was Scott who got him instead of an actual killer. After finding them lying, Scott clearly reprimands and hold on to his annoyance, but he later states that it is more related to Pyro’s inability to stick to a side.

Owen himself to Scott is like having a teenager who lives alone as your next door neighbour, constantly brooding and threatening to hurt someone while you’re just trying to invite some people for tea. He mentions he does trust Owen, but it’s unclear to what extent. In the scene where he allows Owen to take the first sip of Pyro’s blood, I couldn’t help but be reminded of when people would split a piece of their food to feed strays.

Shelby to V! Scott is akin to a pet dog that you play with and let get away with the most ridiculous things just because they’re adorable. Out of all the vampires in the convent, Shelby is the one with the most positive and wholesome relationship with Scott, though it is telling that not even with her does Scott view her as an equal.

In fact, it’s clear that part of the reason Scott does act so carefree is simply because he does not view anyone as an equal or a peer, and Owen is stuck believing he doesn’t even have peers because of the constant rejection he views he has had his whole life.