Fan Pride

its a subtle thing

boi 

Hmm… I’m not sure what you want me to elaborate on exactly. It’s a lot of materials to cover. Dry materials at that.

In any case, Guidao 鬼道 (Path of the Dead, Ghost Path) is a real-life orthodox cultivation. WWX’s Ghost Path, aside from sharing the name, has two main aspects that draw directly from real-life basis: 1/ the summoning, nurturing, and utilizing of ghosts or wraiths (in the novel, those would be the ghost lady and the ghost child that killed Wang Lingjiao and Wen Zhuliu. In the Donghua, they are represented as ghost brides), and 2/ commanding fierce corpses.

These two aspects are drawn from two different sources.

Am I resurrecting this long dead blog just to shout my love for The Untamed?

Yes, yes I am.

Wwx’s painting is totally inspired by ep.36. I don’t know, there is such a peculiar vibe here when he goes outside to call for Wen Ning that the drawing just popped into my mind and I HAD to get it out.

Luke and I were looking at Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of Earthly Delights and discovered, much to our amusement, music written upon the posterior of one of the many tortured denizens of the rightmost panel of the painting which is intended to represent Hell. I decided to transcribe it into modern notation, assuming the second line of the staff is C, as is common for chants of this era.

so yes this is LITERALLY the 600-years-old butt song from hell

EDIT: I still can’t believe this took off like it did this is crazy??? Just wanted to let people know that there are indeed errors in the transcription and this is indeed not a very good recording (I threw this together in like 30 minutes at 1 in the morning,) but I’m working with the music department at my college to get the transcription more accurate!

so for the purposes of my own writing, and also just because a bitch loves maps, i made this worldmap of the mdzs universe and figured i’d share with the class! ✨

some details / under the hood stuff under the cut

Creative Process: 

Risa: “Mo Dao Zu Shi” has not only sweet scenes but also painful scenes. After scenes of brutality, violence, and death, the characters might carefreely chat about nothing and everything, or there might be some lovey-dovey scenes. This is like treating readers with alternating pleasure and torture. Did you do this intentionally during your creative process? 

Moxiang: If I only write about sad, painful story elements, my readers will inevitably leg it. From the other perspective, joy and happiness are comparatively fleeting emotions. If I only write joyful, happy stuff, I would not be able to touch and move my readers to any significant depth. Therefore, I paid special attention to balancing both sides during my creative process. 

Kuohao: If you keep the same kind of tone throughout the story, the evocative effect will inevitably decrease. Readers will eventually become bored of it. But if you time it right, readers (listeners in the case of audio drama)’s emotions will go up and down along with the flow of the story. The pacing and structure of “Mo Dao Zu Shi” are incredibly well-timed. As a result, the audio drama script was not changed in any significant way and stayed loyal to the source materials’ strength. 

Risa: Do you feel pain when you write sad parts, and joy when you write happy parts? 

Moxiang: In the case of “Mo Dao Zu Shi”, I put myself in the position of an observer when writing sad parts, and focus on the development of the narrative. In the happy parts, I put myself among the characters and indulge in their shared joy. 

Risa: That’s so clever of you. There are so many ‘torturous’ (*) parts in the novel, so I thought perhaps it was very difficult. When reading “Mo Dao Zu Shi,” I feel that there’s a vast world populated by many people in Ms. Moxiang’s mind. Where does Ms. Moxiang’s immense imagination come from? 

(*: literally 'reverse/mistreat/torture.’ It’s a modern Chinese slang denoting sad story elements designed to 'emotionally damage’ the readers. Please check the note for the same word in part 3 of this translation)

Moxiang: If we are speaking of imagination, I feel that it’s important to visit many places and meet vastly different people. In other words, step out of the house a bit more. But in terms of building characters, observing people is of great importance, even more important is… to dig deep into your own heart. 

Before, when I was a young child, I read stories by Alexandre Dumas, Hugo, Balzac, and other world-famous authors. A writer staying in his room alone, talking to himself, laughing, and crying. A friend visiting him saw him in this state and became worried: “Is your mind alright?” But when the friend was about to leave, the author said: “Don’t worry about me. I’m just writing a story." 

Risa: The excitement of unraveling mysteries starting from the introduction of the story is a pleasure when reading Ms. Moxiang’s novel. The introduction carries details that, sometimes later on, become a key point in the second half of the story in unimaginable ways. There’s also a feeling of picking up hints and information purposefully left behind by the author. Is this a careful deliberation on your part during the writing process? 

Moxiang: As I said, I only start to truly write once I have completed the outline of the story. About 80% of the story is planned. 20% is inspiration that came up during the writing. I think that the story structure is immensely important.

..

Translator’s Note: In this part is a section concerning the audio drama by Mimi. Risa talked mostly to Kuohao. Moxiang only chimed in at the last bit to say the production quality was very high and she was very happy with it. So, for now, I’m not including that part here. Once I have completed the translation, I will reorganize everything into a single file, proofread, edit, and host it on google drive so that it can be shared with the community. 

..

Before writing "Mo Dao Zu Shi" 

Risa: Ms. Moxiang, please tell us how you started writing stories. What kind of stories did you write when you first started? 

Moxiang: The first time I started writing stories was probably while I was in elementary school. Along the way to my school was a bookstore selling books as big as a hand. I love buying the ghost story magazines there. Because of this influence, I remember writing lots of horror stories while in elementary school. Although most of them were just short parts and scenes and weren’t complete stories. The first story I completed was 'Tian Shi’ (lit. Celestial Master), a schoolyard romance story, during my secondary school. Even though it was just a WIP draft, it still got some of my classmates really riled up. "I also want to be a character in this story.” “I want to be in the same team as this heroine.” I got a lot of requests like this. 

Risa: Woa, I so want to read that story! 

Moxiang: the heroine, the heroine’s childhood male friend (let’s call him A), and a male classmate that suddenly appears (let’s call him B). This story is about these three. The thing I remember most about this story is: when I asked my classmates, who were my first readers, for their opinions (I still keep the draft now. Even though now it’s old and yellow); around that time, I wrote a romance between the heroine and B, but the result from all of my readers was: everyone liked A instead! I was so shocked! Everyone commented: “B’s love is so whatever! (*) We want to see A and heroine together!” (laugh). I could not understand it at the time, but now that I think about it, A certainly does have a charm of his own. Even though I wrote without any kind of plans or forethought at the time, after that, I started to realize: “The main character must be a person I love the most and has the most charm.” At the time, I looked at my classmates’ excitement and admiration for my story and felt so happy. As a result, my old notes are filled with old, incomplete stories. If I have a chance in the future, I would like to complete them. 

(*: Northeastern Mandarin slang 爱咋样咋样. A combination of Heibei-Shandong and Jiao-Liao Mandarin. It means 'whatever’ / 'don’t care’/ 'indifferent’)

Risa: To be honest, I have the same experience as Ms. Moxiang. I drew manga while in secondary school. My classmate said after reading: “I hope you can continue to draw.” I was overjoyed. Perhaps it is because of this kind of experience that I became a novelist. 

Moxiang: Me too. From the start, I also wanted to become a Manhua artist! Perhaps this is normal for people who want to become novelists. Because I never had the chance to learn how to draw, the result is that I chose to become a novelist. 

Risa: A, I feel the same! Ms. Moxiang, where do you get your ideas?

Moxiang: To put it simply, it starts from 'fulfilling a personal desire.’ For example, if it’s a detective or mystery story, then I want to fulfill my curiosity and solve puzzles. If it’s a romance story, then I want to love and be loved. If it’s a survival story, then I want to see survival in extreme conditions. To fulfill these desires, I think of how to best tell stories. To write a great story, one must have a foundation of intense desire. Of course, the amalgamation of multiple desires also works. In fact, 'desire’ is a 'thread.’ The story is the pursuit of this 'thread’ to the very end. Once you have found a strong desire, disregard everything else, the story starts there.   

Risa: So that’s how it is. 

Moxiang: I think that each author has different ideas. I personally build the characters first. Their personality, their destiny, and their emotions. Once a character with irresistible charisma appears and makes people fall in love with him (her), then they will surely love his (her) story too. Therefore, build the characters first, then weave the story. That is my process. Until now, I’ve only produced three novels. So I still find the process of structuring a story to be complicated. In terms of the structure and pacing of stories, I strongly recommend Robert McKee’s “Story”! You can learn the theory of writing craft.  

To Be Continued

no one really talks about her fascination with the descent to madness and the morals surrounding humanity. at least one main character of each book goes through it. for lbh, it stemmed from the fear of abandonment and the emptiness that follows when the people you care most about decide you aren’t worth being chosen. for wwx, it was the outside in. society deemed him a monster so he had no other option available to him. no way to prove them wrong, and no way to convince himself he’s not either. anything he would do, despite his most well meaning, sincere, and self sacrificing motives, will always be twisted by the world who likes to paint others the devil. for xl…it was such a defeating combination of the two that it was near impossible for him find a way out. no family nor friend to turn to, no place to hide or run away, continuously forced to confront dilemmas beyond anyone’s capacity that sawed away at his already frayed sanity. worse was him having to confront godhood doesn’t mean omnipotent, nor does ascension mean free of suffering.

the way i choose to see it as this is her commentary on human nature, in both freedom and fallibility. ascend to heaven as a human, yet those in heaven are still human. wants, desires, fears, traumas, love, hate, selfishness, self-lessness, kindness, compassion, sacrifice, loss, hubris, duty, family, friends, hierarchy, power, and, above all, free will are all things that make humans what they are. are we wwx and xl? sacrificing ourselves time and time again only to have it all thrown back at our face? never once chosen or understood unless when it’s something short of a miracle? or are we the masses? afraid of the sinister, the disease, the wars? afraid for our young and old, for the talented and lame? for our lives and legacy? what are we, if not forever doomed to be helplessly flawed and hopelessly human?

the way she sees it, we have always been, and always be, both sides. because to her, they aren’t mutually exclusive, but rather each reflections of the other. both never wrong, but never quite right either. convoluted and confusing, mundane yet a tale as old as time.

its a subtle thing