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[wuxiaphoenix]

New Hanfu - Cool Tang dynasty robe

#costume inspo #chinese hanfu

[wuxiaphoenix]

Would read!

Spending years toiling at wizard school in the notoriously elitist necromancy department, barely scraping by for several years before they begrudgingly give me my necromancer degree, all so that I can go sit on the beach and revive ediacaran fossils on the beach and look at the creatures.

#story ideas

[wuxiaphoenix]

[Hanfu · 漢服]Chinese Ming Dynasty(1368-1644 AD) Emperor Hanfu Based On Ming Dynasty Emperor Portrait

【China Ming Dynasty Emperor Portrait Reference】

Palace Portrait of Hongzhi Emperor (30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505)

Posthumous Portrait of Ruizong Emperor （22 July 1476 – 13 July 1519)

Palace Portrait of Jiajing Emperor (16 September 1507 – 23 January 1567)

十二章纹衮服圆领袍 (The Twelve Ornaments Round collar robe)：

The Twelve Ornaments (Chinese: 十二章; pinyin: Shí'èr zhāng) are a group of ancient Chinese symbols and designs that are considered highly auspicious. They were employed in the decoration of textile fabrics in ancient China, which signified authority and power, and were embroidered on china emperor’s robe.

【On the upper Robe】

The sun (日, rì) with the three-legged crow

The moon (月, yuè) with the moon rabbit in it, who is constantly pounding the elixir of life

The Three Stars (星辰, xīngchén), which could also be the Fu Lu Shou stars, which symbolise happiness, prosperity, and longevity

The Sacred Mountains (山, shān), which symbolize stability and tranquility

The Dragon (龍, lóng), symbol of adaptability and strength

The Pheasant (華蟲), which is however the phoenix (鳳凰, fenghuang), symbol of peace and refinement

The dragon and phoenix represent the natural world. In yin and yang terminology, a dragon is male yang and the phoenix a female yin.Therefore, the emperor was often identified as the dragon, while the empress was the phoenix. This was also reflected in the robes they wore.

—-

【On the lower robe】

Two Cups (宗彝, zōng yí), which are a sacrificial utensil, sometimes feature patterns containing each a tiger and a monkey, and symbolize faithfulness and respect

A Spray Of Pondweed Or Algae (藻, zǎo), a symbol of brightness and purity

Fire (火, huǒ), which symbolises brightness.

Grains Of Rice (粉米, fěn mǐ), which symbolises nourishment and the country’s agriculture, but also wealth

An Axe (黼, fǔ), symbol of courage and resolution, but also executive justice.

The figure 亞 (黻, fú) underneath the axe represents two animals with their backside together. This symbolises the capability to make a clear distinction between right and wrong. —————————–

📝Recreation Work：@穿汉服的万师傅

📸Photo：@华裳摄影

🔗Weibo：http://xhslink.com/x0DxJu —————————–

#chinese hanfu #Ming Dynasty(1368-1644 AD) #hanfu #hanfu accessories #chinese traditional clothing #chinese fashion history #Chinese Culture #Chinese Style #Chinese Costume #The Twelve Ornaments Round collar robe #Ming Dynasty Emperor #writing reference

[wuxiaphoenix]

Yeah, this....

[wuxiaphoenix]

you ever get tired of living but in a non-suicidal way

[wuxiaphoenix]

*NOM*

Whittled Vittles: Realistic Foods Carved from Wood by Seiji Kawasaki 

#unexpected humor

[wuxiaphoenix]

Hey man stories where the mc wishes someone will save them and then someone does are/were the standard for escapist fantasy. No one who’s been abused sincerely believes they can twiddle their thumbs and wait to be saved, but wouldn’t it be nice if they could? Wouldn’t it be nice if they handle their situation with grace, kindness, and compassion that someday they’ll be taken somewhere safe and loved forever? (Cinderella) Wouldn’t it be nice if someone might hear your darkest thoughts about needing to be rescued and not even death could stop them from loving you? (Snow White) Wouldn’t it be nice if the real world was even better than you imagined and your real family who loves you has been waiting for you all your life? (Rapunzel)

We know. No childhood victim of abuse watched a children’s film and thought that’s how real life worked, because the real world already sucked. We knew. It was comforting. Even if they’re being mean, I can be nice like Cinderella. Some day my prince will come. I am what I love, not who loves me. That’s why it’s called escapist fantasy.

[wuxiaphoenix]

The scale of baby hummingbirds vs a human hand

#video #has sound #just very faint background noise tho #hummingbird #i am in awe #of both the BABY #and the way the person isn't being STABBED by the parent hummingbird

[wuxiaphoenix]

chinese hanfu

#costume inspo #chinese hanfu

[wuxiaphoenix]

That's an image....

Black Water Sinking Ships

#oh that's really cool #heaven official's blessing #hob fanart

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Editing: Pen and Paper

One of my main editing tools is a printer.

Long story short - when you’re writing, you get wrapped up in your own head. This is, of course, necessary; in order to get the story out on the page, first you have to live it. Yes, in bits and pieces, sometimes more vague than others. But the people and the places and the action and villains and soaring skies - those all have to be in your head, before you can get them out as words.

It does make the inside of your brain a bit crowded.

So. Whether your chosen media to get the words down is pen and paper, speech to text, or typing directly into a file from phone or keyboard, you do your best to get the story down. Awesome. Go you. Exactly what you should be doing!

...Except now you have to figure out what you got down as words, and what’s still in your head.

I’m not sure how other people’s heads work, but for me, the best next step is to get a printout of what I typed. A physical printout. One I can take away from the computer and all its distractions - videos, email alerts, whirring fan noise, you get the idea. Printed words on paper that I can sit down with anywhere, preferably with a mug of something drinkable and a pen, and go through line by line to see what actually got into words.

(This also lets me get odd typos and continuity errors. Some very odd indeed. Along the lines of, “Wait, how many hands did I have in that scene again? And where did those feathers come from?”)

The printed page looks different from the typed words in your file. And that visual switch - that “doesn’t look like the last thing I typed” - lets you more easily catch what’s actually there. Instead of what you just think is there.

Some people go so far as to change font styles when they edit. Eh, I prefer Times New Roman - but my printed text is a different size from that in-file. Which puts the words in different places on the page, and that helps a lot.

So. Printout. Figure out what you’ve got. Make notes about what still needs to get in there. Type all that up, and fix the story as best you can at that point. Then, when your scribbled draft and notes are starting to get a little confusing... it’s time for a fresh printout. To find new errors and things you thought got typed in there, but didn’t.

(There’s always something!)

Yes, I end up with a lot of scrap paper. That’s what I scribble the next draft bits on. Makes it easier to jump the hurdle of “what if the story’s not good?” if I’m using scrap paper!

So what editing tricks work for you? 

#creative writing #writing reference #editing

[wuxiaphoenix]

I like this setup....

Mysterious Lotus Casebook - A Summary of Sorts

#mysterious lotus casebook

[wuxiaphoenix]

Mammals both produce milk and have hair. Ergo, a coconut is a mammal.

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Writing: Title, Summary, Augh

AKA you wrote it, now what do you call it? And how do you sum it up - whether for a book blurb or a fic-posting site?

...Yeah, no, I’m not good at this. I face Title and Summary boxes with a look of stunned, deer-in-headlights, “Now what?” I spent all this time and effort coming up with an Idea and getting it down in words, and you expect me to sum it up?

Alas, we must. I mean, you can’t title a book “Every Neat Fictional Trope Slammed into a Firecracker of a Story!”

...Well, you could, but fitting it on your cover is going to be a bear and a half.

Which is a good place to start if you’re absolutely stuck on a title. What would look good on the front cover?

Hopefully this narrows down the horde of possibilities to something more manageable. Three to five words is usually good; if you’re using a one-word title like Dracula, you’re going to need a really good back cover blurb. If you’re using a subtitle, people usually think nonfiction. Things like that.

Puns, now. People have widely differing opinions on those. I personally consider a punny title one of the factors that will make me stop and read the cover blurb, and maybe the sample. I like puns. That said, if you have a punny title you’re implying there will be wry humor in the book as well. This fits for cozy mysteries, lighter fantasy and SF, and any other work where the characters can see some humor in their own situation. It’s not the vibe you want if you’re doing Deadly Serious stuff. The Wheel of Time? Serious. Eric Flint’s Pyramid Schemes? Not so much.

Also, puns generally don’t translate well, as anyone who’s written in an anime or foreign drama fandom can attest. This may or may not be important to you, but if you are trying to market internationally... well, it’s something to think about.

Proverbs may translate a bit better. I’ve been known to snag a saying or two as a title inspirations. Combine the right saying with a good cover, and you can strongly hint at the conflict of the story before your readers even read the blurb.

Or the summary. The two are not the same thing! A summary should give a general idea of the whole story. A blurb, in contrast, should only cover maybe the first third of the book, up to the first Major Conflict. Blurbs need to be short! Just enough to hook your reader in for more.

Remember, you don’t need to get them right the first time. Just like your story, it’s okay to do multiple drafts of your title, blurb, and so on.

Though do try to have the title final before you publish. It’s so much simpler that way.....

#creative writing #writing inspiration #editing

[wuxiaphoenix]

It just kills me when writers create franchises where like 95% of the speaking roles are male, then get morally offended that all of the popular ships are gay. It’s like, what did they expect?

[wuxiaphoenix]

Must watch all of these....

Recent Chinese dramas with a nonchalant MC who just wants to slack off (but fails), gorgeous men being good bros, marvellous fighting scenes, and a heck lot of chaos: A comparison.

#nirvana in fire #word of honor #mysterious lotus casebook

[wuxiaphoenix]

Isekai Problems: Periodically

Sometimes we forget how many of the things we consider “old” when it comes to building our modern technology are actually very new, historically speaking. The periodic table is less than two centuries old; much less if you count from the time of some later revisions.

(I still side-eye berkelium and other short-lived radioactives. I can’t help but think that smashing things together that no sane man should smash contributed to some of the academic craziness from that direction.)

Face it. If you’re dealing with mostly natural materials and little to no access to electricity, some bits of the periodic table and its components make no sense. Consider common halite, NaCl, also known as table salt. Who in their right minds is going to believe that this pale crystal, absolutely necessary to human survival, is the product of a lethal greenish gas and a silvery metal that catches on fire in water?

Yeah, no. That makes about as much sense as mixing mercury and peach pits and coming up with an Elixir of Immortality.

Yes, I know people tried exactly that. It was a Very Bad Idea. The fact that one of these combos is valid and the other now considered base superstition is just the luck of how the physical world happens to actually work.

Sugar’s just as bad. Soot, a gas that burns, and another gas that keeps things burning, all combine to make a sweet white solid? Get outta here.

And what about air? Would any reasonable person believe that we only usefully breathe about 20% of it as oxygen; the rest (near 80% nitrogen, other trace gases) is just kind of there?

The periodic table is not intuitive. It’s the result of centuries of alchemy, chemistry, logic, the scientific method, and countless lives lost by experimenters accidentally poisoning themselves, blowing themselves up, or something else equally nasty.

(I had an Organic Chem professor who would gleefully recount how many people died from isolating fluorine gas. Organic Chem is insane.)

Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to reinvent the periodic table if they don’t have to. It’s too easy to kill yourself. Or somebody else. And yet, if you want a real Industrial Revolution, people are going to need it. So what do you do?

Well, honestly, in a lot of isekais it doesn’t come up. Worlds where magic and/or alchemy actually work already have interesting physical laws, and the modern imported character usually has to work on figuring out what they are to use them in ways the setting hasn’t thought of yet. Without killing themselves in the process.

On the other hand, if you want to write an isekai where real physics and chemistry exist, even if magic can modify them-

Then start by considering what your character might reasonably know about chemistry. And look up some compounds in history to start from. Zinc oxide as a sunscreen has been around a long time!

#creative writing #worldbuilding #chemistry #isekai