#Me: OK Xichen how are you processing this

[adhdo5]

Gpt another fic idea and I wanted it to be in first person and then Lan Xichen muse just referred to himself in third person the whole time. OK

[purplephloxpress]

Another year, another Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day!!!! If you are a writer of fanfic, please know just how appreciated you are!! Fandom would be such a different space without your creativity and labors of love. 💜

Holidays are all about making traditions, and the bookbinding friends with @renegadeguild once again came together to bind copies of fics for their authors as a show of our appreciation. This year I had the absolute joy of binding Emergency Help Wanted by the wonderful @piyo-13 and even got to collaborate with her on some of the design elements! It's a Modern AU Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen fic that starts with a "help wanted" ad.

EMERGENCY HELP WANTED

I lied when I got my job. I told them I had a kid so I could leave early from work to pick him up from daycare, take him to doctor's appointments, and occasionally miss a day when he's sick. Long story short, I'm in too deep. I didn't think it through. Looking to rent a kid for bring your child to work day. Must be a boy ages four to six, longish dark hair, likes soccer. Must also be artistic as the macaroni noodle paintings I made seem a little advanced for his age. Also, I will pay extra for someone willing to play the role of husband when dropping him off. He's a prosecuting attorney who often brings his work home. Message me for further details. Serious inquiries only.

Ok. So. I may have gone a little feral with this one. Online "help wanted" ad spiraled into loading wheel scene dividers, spiraled into fake Google search result headers, spiraled into FULLY committing to those authentic looking text messages. In full color. (There are so many. I typeset in MS Word. It was SO worth it, but god what a struggle at some points.) And don't forget the "recent searches" title page! Or the computer cutout on the cover! (It's bluescreening, just like Lan Xichen through this entire fic!) Also that cover/title page image that I just kept adding details to. (It's supposed to be Lan Xichen's desk, so it simply didn't feel right until it had sticky notes on the computer, #1 dad on the mug, scissors and measuring tape, scribbles on the sticky notes) Did I have a ton of fun designing this one? Perhaps. Couldn't say. Maybe just a tad. (This is a lie I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST!)

Historically, I've waited until I finish at least the typeset before reaching out to the author, but not so with this one! I got the idea for the fake google search results from Piyo's authors notes, teasing the contents of the next chapter. But! Those didn't start until about chapter 4! So I reached out and asked if we could collaborate and I'm forever glad I did! Not only does this have teasers for each chapter, I also got to bounce design ideas off of her, including what shade of blue and purple for the text messages. Because my friends, that is a serious matter and changed SEVERAL times throughout the process.

Also shoutout to all my Renegade friends who gave input and encouragement over the past year while I worked on this (what endpages to use? how to make this shade of green perfectly Nie Huaisang? how do we feel about this text message design? or how about this one?) - I love you all dearly and appreciate you so much for putting up with my nonsense at all times.

Binding details below the cut!

Fandom: The Untamed/Mo Dao Zu Shi

Pairing: Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin / Lan Huan | Lan Xichen

Bookcloth: Aqua/Purple Dubletta from Colophon Book Arts

Endpapers: Craft Consortium Ink Drops - Ocean pack

Textblock paper: short grain cream from Church Paper

Titling: We R Memory Keepers foil quill

Endbands: leather cording core, DMC embroidery floss for the bands

Body Font: EB Garamond

Title Font: Berlin Sans FB

Text Messages: Roboto

Additional fonts: Times New Roman, Kunstler Script, Magis Authentic

Title page image from Rawpixel and designed in Canva

Various computer graphics from The Noun Project

Tumblr insists on eating and doubling text in this section at its own whim, so if there's something missing that you're curious about, feel free to DM me an ask!

[evilhasnever]

the thought recently came to my mind and stayed there since so I really need to share it with someone. do you think in case jgy and/or nmj get resurrected/reborn with their memories intact post-canon, they would hold some kind of resentment towards lxc? for jgy, I think it's pretty in-character for him to disregard his part in ruining lxc's trust and lying and inadvertently using him in killing nmj, and simply be upset with the stabbing. and for nmj it's too pretty obvious of a moment of 'I told you so!', and lxc not listening to his warnings eventually got him killed. on the other hand, lxc has plenty of time to reflect on everything that has happened, and I doubt fierce corpses have any sense of time and space in order to process everything. I've just never seen this aspect in any of the post-canon fix-its I've read

Oh yay I love getting anons! I hope it’s ok if I tl;dr disagree with some of these ideas and give you my own :’) Let me start with: jgy and nmj at the end of the story are non-sentient fierce corpses (or, in jgy’s case, just a corpse that has not turned yet) so there won’t be any talking or processing anything at all. So, let us assume they are brought back in the exact same mental state they were at when they died.

I’m no NMJ scholar, mind you, but - while I think he would absolutely be angry when he comes back, I also think he would not be justified in being angry.  Certainly not at LXC! He’d likely be mad at LXC, JGY, NHS, and basically everyone but himself... but he is at least partially responsible for the situation that led to his own death. (Remember, he tried to kill JGY three times before JGY retaliated, and he never once stopped pressuring him to go against his father, which JGY genuinely could not do without being exiled or worse.) JGY would likely not have killed him had he not become a threat to his life first. Would NMJ still tell LXC “I told you so”? Probably. But LXC is absolutely not responsible for his death in any way, and absolutely does not deserve that anger. NMJ’s warnings that JGY would “be a danger to the world” were unfounded paranoia, entirely unrelated to the reasons for his eventual murder. Whether NMJ comes to term with that fact, though, I don’t really know. I have a rather uncharitable view of his canonical beliefs and his way of handling just about any situation that involved JGY, so... unless death changes him as a person, I am skeptical. Now for the xiyao part of the deal (you asked me, you had to be expecting this to be mainly about xiyao!)

I have given this one some thought previously, contemplating various postcanon AUs and things I wanted to write. I think it could go both ways... JGY would be justified in being angry with Lan Xichen, that is what his epic final speech seems to imply - he has always protected LXC (from hurt, from involvement, from horrible truths) and in return, he gets stabbed! But canonically we know that, even at his angriest, he still pushed LXC away to save his life. So was he still angry at him? Would he be angry at him after he comes back? Of course it’s complicated, but I’m leaning towards no. Especially when he knows that Huaisang tricked LXC, and he knows it was likely the accumulation of his revealed deeds that had shaken LXC’s faith in the first place. I think eventually he’d blame himself for it, rather than Lan Xichen.

There is a quote that stuck with me from one of the very first fics I read in this fandom years ago, from JGY to LXC;

“I forgive you,” he says roughly. “I forgave you before I was even dead[...]”

(from Grief Negotiations by Nomette)

I think, ultimately, that’s how I see it. Whether LXC forgives himself, that’s another story entirely.

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

Rules: you will be given a word. then you share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that starts with each letter of your word. I was tagged by @materassassino who gave me ADRENAL. Good lord, this has more letters than I have current WIPs. Ok, let's do this.

A - At the time Xichen had heard it and worried briefly that he was talking to the ghost of a teenager, but now, looking at this picture, he had the much more painful revelation of a boy sitting at a dying woman's bedside while his classmates went to a party. (working title Journeys End in Lovers Meeting)

D - "Don't bring anyone home with you, don't let anyone else kiss you. If you do, I'll. I'll kill them, anyone else who touches you. You have to wait for me, if I'm waiting for you." "Terrifying," Beiyuan said, out of breath, "very Heathcliff of you, no one's ever wanted to kill for me before. I accept. As long as if I fuck up and you do have to kill someone you tell me how you did it, because I have to know, I'm so curious." (working title more things in heaven and earth)

R - “Report to me tomorrow half a shi after the midday meal and wear something light, I’m going to throw you in the lake.” “I, wait, zongzhu, why?” “Because half of the sect compound extends onto the lake, idiot, one false step in the night and you’ll be dead and then who’s going to deal with all of Yao-zongzhu’s endless letters for me? What possessed you to seek employment in an area famous for its rivers, lakes, and water demons when you don't know how to swim? It's a wonder you haven't drowned already! Either you learn to swim or you're fired, your choice.” Jiang Cheng turned on his heel and stalked off, only pausing for a moment to turn and say, “And I’d better see you at the evening meal.” (working title Little Shadow, or, Modern Methods in Demonic Cultivator Reform)

E - “Every time you call me shifu while we're making love I feel like a terrible pervert.” Xiangyi snorts. “That’s cap, Xiaobao, you look me right in the fucking eyes and tell me you never imagined calling him that in bed.” (working title Shifu)

N - "No, that one's paint water, where's the—" "The one that says 'paint water' on it." Hua Cheng's voice was very hoarse. "It's the—babe, why is the mug that says 'paint water' the one you drink out of?" (working title Graven Images)

A - And it did get him to stop walking away, while Mobei Jun said, slowly, "For you," as if he was finally processing what that meant. (working title Be Honest With Me)

L - “Lan Zhan! Did you know about this? A-Yu, what are you doing here?” “Gege, I live here.” “You live–wait, how did that happen?” “Secretary Mo, obviously you know my guests, find them a room so they can stop making a scene in the courtyard,” Jiang Cheng said, feeling rather smugly amused at the astonished look on Wei Wuxian’s face. (also from Little Shadow, or, Modern Methods in Demonic Cultivator Reform)

I have completely worn myself out just from hunting those down so I am not tagging anyone but if someone wants to do this and blame me, your word is GHOUL.

[wifiwuxians]

ship game ship game⛵️

ok,first I want to say that xuechao makes a lot of sense,actually. jiaojiao and xue yang are actually a bit similar,if you think about it. true,we don't know about wang lingjiao's past,and I guess she at least did not grow up on the street. but both of them are pretty and love torturing people and are quite overdoing it on the revenge front.

now,since that one got asked already,pick whichever you feel like🍉:

-xuexiao💀 if you want to and you won't be getting haters on here from answering that

-sorry,I'm basic,but,songxiao🌟 I just want to read a love letter to my fav ship and who better to ask than my fav shipper of my ship

-lanlan! (at first I was like,no! song lan would not move on even after 800 years! but then I read some fics and it made sense for lan xichen and song lan to at least become close as friends)(but I want to know what YOU think so don't worry about disagreeing)

omg okay first of all THANK YOU SO MUCH for your compliments!! I am really thrilled I am your favorite songxiaoist lol 😳 Second! You are so big brained actually! Jiaojiao and Xue Yang both have come from bleak backgrounds and are trying to cling to what little they have! I believe Jiaojiao was just about sold by her family lol and she is illiterate 💔 And they are both petty batshit revenge machines! I've actually briefly considered xuechaojiao LOLLL... HMM... but okay, onwards to the

GAME

I'll give you my love letter to Songxiao first so you don't need to go digging for it hehe

I hope I won't get hate for playing the game jhdgjsg I hope everyone will be a little more mature than that

Xuexiao

Do I ship it: I do not. (Tim Allen AHUUUAHH?) But on a single day of the year my aversion to it lessens and I'm able to retweet art of them kinda smooching so my tolerance is overall getting better, maybe? lol

Why don't I: There are many factors... I like mutually destructive toxic mess ships, right? We've established that. But I don't like ships in which one person is doing all the hurting and the other person ends up, uh. Like XXC did. "But DJ I thought you were the fixit king" I am! It's just not exactly appealing to me, and the other big factor as to why is that I just... Never really saw them that way. Like even removing their canon storyline and only leaving their dynamic, which removed from context is lovely don't get me wrong, it never registered as romantic. It registered as XXC looking out for his goofy little brother, you know? I dunno. There's nothing there for me, sorry. "But DJ the devotion" yeah. There are many ways to love someone. Even if that were romantic, it's too onesided for me.

What would have made me like it: If they actually liked each other LMAO I have no issue with the thought of them loving each other, just not romantically! Outside of canon they're pretty much cemented as family in my brain, though very rarely I'll maybe entertain the idea of some sort of QPP dynamic but then it slingshots right back into family again. Just friends who really love each other and tried to do the do only to find out they don't see each other that way is the furthest I'm willing to go for them and this is a HUGE leap from where I was a year ago LOL

A positive: I appreciate that a lot of people just really want them to love each other. Maybe try and find some healing in all the mess. I get what that's like.

Please whoever reads this don't take this as an invitation to start talking to me about it though as it still does cause me to react negatively 💀 some days I really cannot stand it at all, I'm just mature enough to not be a hater 100%

Lanlan

Do I ship it: I'm in the process of being converted, we will see how it goes! Kind of sucks this game doesn't have a maybe option so I'll make up the questions myself

What's drawing me to it: I, like you, was originally like "naur Song Lan has his man already thanks, and after he fixes him he's going to bed", but one of my close friends made the very good point that just because he's on a quest doesn't mean he can't be loved on the side, too! So I'd like to see Song Lan get loved on, and Lan Xichen deserves this, too, and I think stories about processing grief are very potent

Things I like about it: It seems this ship is about healing oneself and each other, and I'm a big fan of that! Both characters also complement each other well, with each having characteristics of someone the other has loved before (i.e. NMJ's righteousness, XXC's gentle energy). I also think canon gave them really sad endings, and in LXC's case it's a bit of a bitter one, too. SL's is at least bittersweet so sharing the joy is nice 🥺

What would seal the deal: Strong characterization aligned with my view of the characters! Being in character goes a long way for me, so if you've got them down pat, then I'll be more likely to give it a chance. If you add that they've both been in love before and that they're not looking for a replacement then we're set! (:

[tangledinmdzs]

Your writing is a blessing and it's addicting! It's ok if you ignore this so what do the Lan Bros and/or Nie Bros think of an s/o with animal ears and tail?

hi hi

is this like a hybrid au? hm i've never written something like this before but i'm very intrigued; i've played around with your request just a little bit, going for more platonic vibes~

here's to you!

° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 °

Lan Xichen & Lan Wangji

it’s the endearing habit that had first gotten Lan Xichen’s attention,

the way that you wrinkle your nose whenever you have a query or when you’re thinking hard about something

add that with your big doe eyes

and it’s not too hard for his heart to combust at the sight,

Lan Wangji, not as easily swooned by your cute antics

is a bit more intrigued by the way that you act

from nibbling your food,

to skipping (nearly hopping) everywhere rather than walking

and the way that you tend to thump your left foot whenever you were impatient

small tiny things, that would seem normal to anyone, was making Lan Wangji suspicious

because there were times when you acted way more like a bunny than a human

it had always been a question in the back of Lan Wangji’s mind, were you really human? 

now, sat at the floor of the Hanshi, with your fluffy floppy bunny ears on your head and a definite puff of tail to match

Lan Wangji can’t believe that he’d been right

Lan Xichen standing beside him, seems to be having a hard time processing (and holding himself back from pinching your cheeks)

“you can pat them, if you want,” 

Lan Xichen startles and you smile with your eyes, mimicking patting your own ears,

Lan Xichen is the first to approach you, kneels in front of you and stares at the way the white fur of your ears stands out from your dark hair,

his hand reaches out, gentle hands on your ears

Lan Xichen beams, smiles as you relax under his touch

“are you... a spirit of some sort?” Lan Wangji questions you, while you’re sat in this half bunny state that you’re in you play with the sleeves of your robes, shrugging

“i’ve always been able to go back and forth between a bunny and a human but never half like this...” 

and this was a new experience for everyone,

but with how soft and cute your ears were on your head, Lan Xichen can’t bring it in himself to worry too much

Nie Mingjue & Nie Huaisang

you’ve always had a really interesting temperament,

ever since you had shown up to the Unclean Realm

you acted exactly like the cat that used to roam the training grounds before your arrival,

a calico cat

Mingjue chalks it up to coincidence that your appearance matched the disappearance of their fluffy friend

Huaisang was on a different wavelength entirely,

he’d thought that it was bad luck that you had arrived, since the calico cat, whom he’d dearly named Love had suddenly disappeared

but little did the brothers know

that you and the calico cat were one and the same

you’d planned to keep this little secret to yourself,

but alas, 

you’d woken up one day in a hybrid state from the stress of the secret 

and your suddenly take to hiding had caused a worried Mingjue and a curious Huaisang to come and find you,

“y-you...” Huaisang stutters out as Mingjue crosses his arms and stares quizzically at the ears on your head and the way your tail was swishing back and forth anxiously behind you

“i’m sorry... i’ve kept such an important secret from you... i’ve over extended my stay...” you apologize making to leave as you usually had to once your secret was found out

“where do you think you’re going?” Mingjue questions when you drop your feet to the floor,

you look up in surprise, 

“you’re welcomed here, y/n. your appearance or what you are doesn’t change that,” Mingjue reassures you and you can’t help but let a relieved tear fall out of your eyes

you’re even more surprised when you get your first hug from Huaisang, who smiles against your hair,

“you should have told me your were Love all along,” 

“well now you know,” you say smiling up at him

[songofclarity]

when you said "[Huaisang] took taking down jgy so seriously and so professionally; he has no cheering moment or hail of victory" I was reminded of another post I saw about the moment at the beginning of NMJ's Empathy flashback where the disciples are celebrating the victory over the puppets but NMJ only looks grim. It's something the Nie bros have in common: both consider violence and killing to be necessary and justified— but it's a grim duty, to be undertaken with seriousness, not satisfaction

Yes, that comparison is exactly it, Anon! I do appreciate how CQL ensured Nie MingJue was all business during his fights. Even at the banquet when the Sunshot Campaign was over and done with, his group arrived late (‘Sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to come’) and he looked miserable. Not even an official victory party could put a smile on his face, much less encourage him to celebrate three years of hard work!

I would hesitate, however, before accusing the Nie brothers of finding violence and/or killing as necessary. Those are just tools in the tool box and they could be taken out as needed but they weren’t always needed, much less required. We see time and time again how the Nie brothers pick non-violent options when violence and murder would make their lives so much easier. And this choice between violence and non-violence is important. This is the choice that separates them both from Jin GuangYao. Because when it comes down to it, what was the point of having fought against the Wen Sect if they were all just to become violent and murderous themselves?

For convenience, I have outlined Nie MingJue’s 5 year plan here:

Fight a war against a violent sect

Win even if it might cost him his own life

Go home and live in peace

Nie MingJue stayed his hand from murder not once, not twice, but three times when confronted directly with a cold-blooded murderer. He picked suffering Meng Yao/Jin GuangYao to live over easily justifiable back-alley execution. He banged on the doors of Koi Tower demanding Xue Yang be turned over to him, but never used violence to take matters into his own hands, not even when he held Baxia at Xue Yang’s throat and could have ended the discussion right then and there.

The only people Nie MingJue ever killed were nameless cultivators on the battlefield; nameless cultivators when he was being held prisoner in the Sun Palace; and Wen Xu, a declared enemy met on the battlefield. There is no evidence or accusations that he ever killed anyone after the Sunshot Campaign, not at the Burial Mounds and not when he had his qi deviation.

Nie HuaiSang, for his part, could have just stabbed Jin GuangYao in the chest when he was crying on him and be done with it. Violence is easy. Murder is easy.

For the Nie brothers, violence was never necessary, but justice was. And there is no justice if you just become the beast you fought to defeat, so rules and morals must be taken into account.

Nie MingJue decided, on his own, to send Meng Yao back to his father to face justice after the murder of the Jin disciple. Nie HuaiSang worked to expose Jin GuangYao’s crimes and let the world decide on their own whether or not Jin GuangYao’s crimes deserved punishment.

Nie MingJue followed the rules. He played fair. He asked for permission. He talked in private. He made his demands. He was aggressive, but he never killed to get his way. How easy it would have been if he killed to get his way like Jin GuangYao did! But he didn’t. Nie MingJue was good. Nie MingJue died.

Nie HuaiSang picked up where Nie MingJue left off. The letter to Qin Su was just a letter to Qin Su revealing some of Jin GuangYao’s crimes. Jin GuangYao got away with murdering the Jin disciple all those years ago, and now he’s going to get away with direct involvement in the murder of his own child? Or baby-trapping and then marrying his own sister? No, no he is not. And he’s absolutely not getting away with Nie MingJue’s murder or dismemberment.

Nie HuaiSang still never picked violence. He never picked murder. He never told people what to do or how to do it, and he certainly never held a weapon in his hand. That’s the beauty of his revenge.

As the saying goes: the pen is mightier than the sword. He picked letting the information speak for itself and giving other people the option to use violence, but that was never their only option. Sadly, no revenge plan, no matter one taken as seriously as this one, is foolproof when other people are involved. Qin Su and the letter were discovered by Jin GuangYao, who then blackmailed her, imprisoned her, and then pushed her to suicide. This shows the depth of Jin GuangYao’s cruelty. Jin GuangYao reacting in violence is a Jin GuangYao problem.

As another saying goes: do not shoot the messenger. We already saw how the Jin Sect protected and absolved Xue Yang of his well-documented mass murder. Nie HuaiSang would have heard about how Jin GuangYao, Jiang Cheng, and Lan XiChen were all OK with the Jin protecting Xue Yang while Nie MingJue and popular rogue cultivator Xiao XingChen were very much not. In order to make Jin GuangYao face justice, the one choice Nie HuaiSang never had was to stand up and speak out and expose Jin GuangYao’s crimes. Xiao XingChen tried that with Xue Yang and it got him a fate worse than death. Nie MingJue tried to stand up to the Jin Sect and it got him betrayed and his death to look like an unfortunate event, not even a murder. So instead, Nie HuaiSang got the information out there as secretly as possible and let everyone else decide on what to do with it.

And thankfully everyone agreed with him that Jin GuangYao was trash. No violence was needed to help them see the light. Jin GuangYao made his bed and now he has to sleep in it.

Violence is only a Nie brother final resort when justice is about to be evaded. Nie MingJue is so horrified after the Sun Palace that he’s willing to kill Meng Yao and then himself over the murder of his subordinates. Meng Yao uses the “I saved your life” get-out-of-jail free card, which not only threatens to hold Nie MingJue hostage to a life debt but also means at least two cultivators where killed to save Nie MingJue’s one life. That’s terrible math! Where is the justice in this?? But in case he is in the wrong, Nie MingJue agrees to kill himself too, so justice WILL be served one way or another before Meng Yao runs away again.

Violence and murder are indeed grim tools for a serious duty and they need to be handled respectfully and with resolve! Note how Nie HuaiSang at no point lies and says, “I had no choice.” It was his choice to send the letters, it was his choice to put himself in danger at the Second Burial Mounds Siege and at Guanyin Temple, and it was his choice to save Sisi from her unlawful imprisonment and let her speak on her own behalf. This boy had choices, choices other than violence and murder, and he never victimized himself by claiming otherwise. He never pleaded innocence or passed the blame. He simply dodged the discussion entirely, but the ending shows he knows what he did and why.

Nie HuaiSang, "Wei-xiong, why do you keep on asking me? No matter how much you ask, I don't know anything." With a pause, he continued, "But..." Slowly, Nie HuaiSang brushed together his storm-drenched hair. "I think that if this person hates Jin GuangYao so much, they'd probably be entirely merciless towards something he cherishes more than his life." (Ch. 109, ERS)

Nie HuaiSang has so much conviction that his cavalier attitude after Jin GuangYao's death is so cold that if anyone touched him they would probably be burned. When Nie HuaiSang lies, he says, “I don’t know.” He knows the importance of information and he’s not about to expose himself for having any that might get him killed. Nie HuaiSang’s fight was different than Nie MingJue’s in tone and shape, but Nie HuaiSang kept the same agenda and, frankly, played by the same rules as his Nie MingJue.

Some rules Nie MingJue lives by:

Outside input is important

Don't kill people for the rewards

Have conviction in your choices

Jin GuangYao was in the process of fleeing justice at Guanyin Temple just like he fled justice at Langya. Jin GuangYao laid a trap for Nie MIngJue at Langya and there was no doubt going to be a trap at Guanyin Temple--so Nie HuaiSang sprung one on him first.

“Brother XiChen, behind you!!!” (Ch. 108, ERS)

And the choice to stab Jin GuangYao was Lan XiChen’s, not Nie HuaiSang’s, although Nie HuaiSang was determined to see justice prevail and that treacherous Third Brother brought down.

Of interest, Nie HuaiSang’s ten year agenda:

Expose Jin GuangYao’s violent crimes

Win even if it might cost him his own life

Go home and live in peace

Violence and murder were never on the agenda. They aren’t necessary. They were never necessary. The tragedy is thinking that they might be, and that’s Jin GuangYao’s tragedy, not the Nie brothers. Nie MingJue’s behavior shows a man who thought if he fought hard enough, pushed hard enough, allowed redemption arcs to a murderer, tried to work with people who didn’t want to work with him, peace might find a way.

Violence was only needed because Jin GuangYao could not be stopped in any other way. He burned the brothel down with all the women inside it to hide his past and he tried to massacre the whole cultivation world to hide his crimes. Considering the amount of death the Nie brothers have faced, from family dead from qi deviations to piles of bodies on the battlefield to allies killed to save their lives, I dare say the Nie brothers had a respectful relationship with violence and murder because they wanted to escape the cycle the most.

[chalkrevelations]

SO. Back to the beginning, Episode 1 of Word of Honor. This is likely to be a little bit different experience than the prior posts, when I was watching the eps as they aired, compared to now approaching the show as whole and complete. May be rummaging around for things I missed the first time through, stuff that takes on new meaning set in additional context – we’ll see how it goes.

With that in mind, spoilers for not just this ep but possibly for the entire series. Get out of the car now and come back later, if you haven’t seen all 36.5 eps and want to watch it unspoiled.

First thing to strike me, right up front: You know, I think we tend to lose sight in later parts of the show – when we’re getting Laopo!Zhou Zishu pouting so he doesn’t have to cook dinner - how terrifying ZZS is in his own right (and by “we,” I actually mean the show, too). One of the things the first few episodes gets right, I think, is the sense of eerie inevitability and dread created by both the falling lanterns of Tian Chuang and the blowing paper figures of the Ghost Valley, and how similar they are. I think it’s easy to lose that - when the lanterns and the paper figures are gone and our charming and adorable couple are busy being charming and adorable at each other, in between varying rounds of being wracked by guilt and PTSD – easy to lose that this is there too, part of them – both of them - under the skin. I think it’s particularly easy to lose that for ZZS, when he’s already done a lot of work, off-screen, pre-Episode 1, during the 18 months he was putting in those first six Nails, to come to some kind of equilibrium, and meanwhile we watch Wen Kexing’s entire torturous process play out on-screen. Wen Kexing’s story is one of reaching an equilibrium, but Zhou Zishu’s story is one of maintaining it, which I think may be less showy, but is equally valuable, just as I value the Four Seasons Manor arc, especially, for giving us a vibe of two adults comfortable in an already intimate relationship, as opposed to the veritable sea of will-they-won’t-they tug-of-war coming-together-for-the-first-time-as-emotional-AND-plot climax relationships that we’re usually awash in.

Anyway, straight up we’re introduced to an assassin who, we discover, doesn’t like to get blood on himself. It looks like metaphorical blood is fine, just not actual blood, but then we discover, well, maybe he’s not as OK with metaphorical blood as he schools himself to look. Also that conversation with Li Jingan about her dad having to die because he’s a traitor to the country – I now wonder how much of that particular conversation Zhou Zishu mentally brings to the table in later conversations about his own father being executed for the same reason. Also, wait wait wait. Zhou Zishu tells Jingan that he took Jiuxiao’s body back to Four Seasons Manor and buried him next to their shifu, but I don’t remember seeing another grave there, other than Qin Huaizhang’s and his wife’s. Script inconsistency, or are you supposed to be lying, ZZS? I mean, would you be so downcast at the state of Four Seasons Manor when you arrive with your husband and son for your honeymoon, if you’d actually been there only a couple of years before? It didn’t fall to pieces overnight. Also, HAIRPIN FORESHADOWING ALERT. Our first sign of how important the hairpin is, the way ZZS’s impassive face cracks wide open when he sees the hairpin that Jiuxiao made and realizes he must have given it to Jingan. Clearly important!

Mmm. Here’s a point for the “Prince Jin is a f’kn asshole” list – Prince Jin wants ZZS to deal with Bi Changfeng personally when Bi Changfeng requests to leave Tian Chuang. And OK, ZZS is the leader of Tian Chuang. But you’re never going to convince me Prince Jin wants ZZS to deal with it personally because Prince Jin is actually so very furious that Bi Changfeng made a mistake. You will never convince me this isn’t a … it’s not even a test of loyalty, at this point, because Prince Jin has no reason to think yet that ZZS is anything other than the faithful hunting dog on a leash that he’s been, lo, these many years. Putting ZZS in a position where not only is he losing the last of the direct disciples of Four Seasons Manor, but he’s being asked to (as good as) kill him with his own hands - it’s just cruelty for the proof of your power and influence over someone. Also, given Prince Jin’s later diatribe about how everyone leaves him OMG (have you considered it’s your personality?) (But also Beiyuan! I know who you are now, and yeah, I would have let Wu Xi bride-kidnap me away from this jerk, too), I have to wonder if Prince Jin isn’t trying to make ZZS feel exactly as isolated as he, himself, feels, as part of his overall desire to make sure that ZZS has no one other than Prince Jin so that their positions are parallel – only having each other in the whole world. I also have to wonder if he’s not hoping for precisely the reaction ZZS has to Bi Changfeng – you’d rather be dead than be with me? Because that hurts, you can see it on ZZS’s face (thanks already, Zhang Zhehan), and I rather suspect Prince Jin wants it to hurt. I notice we get an echo of this later in the ep, with Prince Jin saying pretty much the same thing when ZZS asks for the final Nail. GOOD. I hope it hurts you just as much. I wonder if ZZS realizes this while he’s kneeling there in the throne room. It’s probably too late for him to get any satisfaction out of it.

OH, HEY. That’s HAN YING already, one of the two people accompanying ZZS to put down Bi Changfeng, looking super-pained like he knows what this is all costing his beloved. Han Ying, I really hope you got to tap that at least a few times before ZZS made his break for it. Is that one of the reasons Prince Jin seems to have such antipathy for you, or is it really just that he can’t stand the idea of someone whose loyalty to ZZS is greater than their loyalty to Prince Jin, himself? (Seriously, y’all, why is there not much much more Han Ying/ZZS fic?) Meanwhile Duan Pengju, omg, this asshole, is already looking smug and punchable. Really, he’s kind of enjoying the Seven Nails placement a little too much. Showing your hand pretty fast on the petty evil thing, show.

So, one thing I didn’t catch the first time around, is that ZZS isn’t just self-injuring to punish himself when he takes the knife to his chest – he re-opens wounds on all the places where the first six Nails have already been placed, so it will look like the placement is fresh. If you can’t tell he hasn’t just put them in, there’s no reason for anyone else (read: Prince Jin) to suspect he’s bought himself some time before he loses his senses. As far as anyone knows, he’s going to fall over with locked-in syndrome any day now. Which just makes the implications of Prince Jin vowing that he’s only letting him go for now EVEN ICKIER. For all Prince Jin knows, what he’s going to get back is a flesh doll that will just lie there, although I guess on the plus side, ZZS would never leave him again. Thanks, show, I need a shower, now.

ZZS says all the right things to argue his case to Prince Jin – he’s only good as a weapon, he has no skills nor utility for building and governing the country – and I think partly this is because he just knows the right things to say. I mean, you don’t become the Number Two guy in the country, with thousands under you and only one above you, if you can’t play imperial politics. But I also wonder if deep down he doesn’t actually believe it – he was successful at building Tian Chuang, but he couldn’t maintain Four Seasons Manor and even drove it to ruin. So, I’ll just be over here, clutching my chest, over my heart. Fortunately, Zhang Zhehan provides quick distraction from this pain, and I … Y’all. I can’t. I just. I CANNOT. When ZZS drops to his knees and starts stripping in the throne room. Just. Mmmmmrgh. THIS VISUAL. Although, you want to know what one of the hottest parts actually is? That pair of leather bracers hitting the floor on top of his belt, and ZZS isn’t even in the shot at that point. OK, fine, I am willing to read some dirtybadwrong fic with this whole scene premise at its heart, even if it does include Prince Jin. Zhang Zhehan, you are KILLING ME. I might have rewound this part. More than once. You can’t prove anything.

Aaaand then we get that gorgeous, painful shot of ZZS riding out into the snow that I know I’ve talked about before (including the way I get an odd echo of Lan Xichen off of it). There are several places in this ep where the cinematography is to die for, and this is one of them, the bleakness of the landscape and Zhang Zhehan (and his FACE) deep in that shadowing cloak against the stark snow as he rides out into freedom and the unknown. Then cut to somewhere green and forested. Interesting that the show starts with snow and ends with snow. That parallel with the imperial cage says some things about immortality that could stand to be unpacked – but later. Because ZZS is putting his face on – literally – and I am once again in pain, only it’s not the good kind of pain. It’s caused by that dreadful fake facial hair. There are some things that could be unpacked here, as well, about the fact that making ZZS supposedly unattractive involves a clearly fake goatee, a single aesthetically placed scar, and darkening his skin. I’m going to try to step carefully here, because this is kind of out of my lane, but it is … a noticeable thing. That probably ought to be noted.

So, ZZS takes just a moment to turn his (fake) face up to the sun and feel the warmth on it … and then with 10 minutes left, we’re on our way to Ghost Valley, where there’s some chaos and then Hanging Ghost gets got by a Mysterious Stranger To Be Revealed Later, who chokes him out (remember this). The Mysterious Master of Ghost Valley appears dramatically on his High Ledge to Make Some Pronouncements while playing with some walnuts omg (rolling two of them in one hand – remember this), and we see his eyes, which are partially obscured by chunky sidebangs, which are farther forward on his forehead than we’re going to see later, not only hiding some of his face but making it look more angular. The troops get berated, shit rolls downhill, and another dude gets choked (remember this) as Ghost Valley Master’s hair continues to artfully hide most of his face and he worries about his manicure post-kill (remember this). War is declared on Hanging Ghost for stealing the Glazed Armor, and more chaos is set into motion.

All of that takes literally two minutes, and then we cut to three months later, and no one realizes it yet, but the fam is getting together. ZZS is tits out in the gutter - only beginning his career of being a minx who flashes his collarbones an awful lot for someone who has Very Secret Scars He’s Hiding On His Chest - happily drinking himself to death in the sun (we really need to talk about this correlation of snow and immortality vs. sun and happiness …). Meanwhile, slo-mo shot of Wen Kexing looking precious and perfect, with delicate pink lips and dove-grey robes, as he checks out the rough trade in the gutter. Oh, the expectations this show is getting ready to smash. We cut from a shot of pristine precious WKX to ZZS holding up his hand, and we get a shot of the sun through ZZS’s fingers looking an awful lot like some shots of characters halo’d in light that we’ll get back to much much later in the show. Chengling appears out of nowhere to be Best Boy. A-Xiang is purple and smol and ready to brawl, and I already love her. I already love them all!  So much! Here are my delicate and precious feelings, show, go ahead and stomp all over them!

[justkeeptrekkin]

Object Permanence prompt idea: Jin Ling and A-Xing's first playdate and the chaos that ensues

@madamelapin I’m going to conflate these two to cause the most chaos. 

***

Shopping with baby goes very wrong

“What do we need to get next, A-Xing?”

Meng Yao looks at his post-it note shopping list. He shows it to A-Xing, who sits in the little chair at the front of the trolley. A-Xing takes it as a personal affront if his parents don’t take him with them to the grocers. He is three and a half years old, and therefore believes that his opinion on their dinner plans should be held in high enough regard that he is allowed some input.

Today, it’s just Meng Yao pushing the trolley and subtly elbowing to the front of the clearance aisle. He points his finger at the post-it note. “We need apples.”

“We need apples! We need apples!”

“We need apples,” Meng Yao confirms. “Do you want to pick six apples out for me? I’ll hold the bag and you can put them in.”

This has become somewhat of a routine. Shopping with A-Xing does, naturally, slow the process down, but in many ways it’s quite helpful. Not only does it mean that Meng Yao has a very demanding little someone to alert him when ‘that’s too much, baba, put some back’ or ‘that’s not enough, baba, more please’-- it also helps with A-Xing’s counting skills. It makes food shopping suddenly a far less mundane experience.

Meng Yao picks A-Xing up by the armpits and puts him down on the floor. This is a zero-waste store, because yes, Meng Yao is just that bougie, and yes, it is the closest shop to them, and yes, it is a lot quieter than the giant supermarket that’s a fifteen minute drive away. It means that the fruit and veg all comes loose rather than in plastic wrapping, and A-Xing gets to peer inside the crate and select the food he likes.

Poking his nose over the edge of the wooden crate, A-Xing reaches inside on his tip-toes. Meng Yao bends down beside him and holds out a bag for the apples.

“One,” A-Xing announces.

“One,” Meng Yao confirms.

He reaches for another. A-Xing examines it with a very critical eye, seems to turn his nose up at it. “Bleurgh.”

“Did it have a bruise?” “Mm.”

“Found one!”

“Ok, put it in the bag for me. What number are we up to now?”

A-Xing considers this with a cool look of contemplation that is remarkably like Lan Xichen’s. “Two,” he says with hesitancy.

“Two,” he confirms. “We want six.”

“One, two… three!” “Three.”

“Four…”

“Four.”

“F…”

Meng Yao opens the bag and they peer inside. He points his finger to each apple. “One, two, three, four…” “Five!” “Five.”

“Six!” he squeals. “Six apples. Six apples six apples six apples six apples six apples six apples, six apples for me, six apples for baba, sitting on a tree, eating some peas, dabadadee, beebeebadee--”

A-Xing starts laughing at his song. Meng Yao smiles.

“Meng Yao.”

My word. It can’t be. Meng Yao turns and sees none other but his half-brother, standing with a paper bag of turnips and A-Ling running in circles around his legs. He looks harrowed. Meanwhile, A-Xing continues to sing his song of nonsense words, holding Meng Yao’s hand and giggling.

“Jin Zixuan,” he says with some surprise.

“Yanli had to work, and we needed to do a shop,” he explains. “Do you know where the cereals are?”

Ah. It would be so much fun to lie and say he doesn’t know. Meng Yao does not subscribe to the gender normative nonsense of a man who doesn’t know how to do a food shop and look after his child. He thinks Jin Zixuan could learn these important lessons in fatherhood the proper way, the hard way. But then, Meng Yao is a merciful soul.

“At the back of the third aisle,” Meng Yao explains.

“Thank you.”

Jin Zixuan looks down at A-Ling, who is now sitting on the floor and looking like he might begin crying ugly tears at any moment.

“So.” Jin Zixuan clears his throat. “How… how are you?”

“We’re all doing fine, thank you.”

Social interaction still remains a struggle for his brother, especially if it is unexpected. Especially when he has A-Ling running riot around a very middle-upper class zero-waste food store. A-Ling is a good boy, but he is also very emotionally volatile. A dangerous mix of Jin-Jiang-genes means that at almost four years old, he is desperate to demonstrate how horrified he is with the world, and the only way he can express this is by wailing in outrage. Currently, Meng Yao and Jin Zixuan watch as A-Ling sits cross-legged under a table of oranges, arms folded and a stormy frown.

It’s not without some smugness that Meng Yao turns and views his son: A-Xing is staring in quiet awe at the containers of rice and lentils. His son is far better behaved. Ha-ha.

“How is Yanli? Is her new boss still overworking her?”

“Yes. I’m going to file a formal complaint.”

“Well if you ever need legal advice, you know that er-ge would be happy to--”

“Baba! Baba!”

“-- help. He’s quite busy at the moment, but if you email him, I’ll let him know--”

“Baba, look! Look! Look!”

“--to expect to hear from you and that Yanli is still struggling.” Meng Yao turns and smiles at A-Xing. “Yes, A-Xing?”

His son has procured a stool. He is standing on the stool, and he has his hand around the tap for a lentil container. A very full container, in a zero-waste food store.

“Lentils!” A-Xing exclaims with a grin.

And then he pulls the tap.

It’s a deluge. It’s Noah’s fucking ark. Lentils flood the floor, and Meng Yao’s shoulders rise in horror. An apocalyptic stream of orange, like the elevator scene in The Shining. A-Xing’s hand stays on the tap, looking down in bemusement at what he has achieved. The woman at the cashier yelps, and the adolescent store manager stares in boredom at the scene. Jin Zixuan appears to have gone catatonic with humiliation.

Jin Ling crawls out from under the table and grabs fistfuls of lentils. He throws them into the air like confetti and laughs. A-Xing smiles at his baba.

Meng Yao feels like his soul has been physically sucked out of him with a vacuum. He’s going to have to put their family into witness protection for this. They’re going to have to move house. 

How does A-Xing even know the word ‘lentils’?

***

Based on this post.

POV: You are A-Xing and you have released a sea of lentils onto the floor of a zero-waste food store in front of your father.

[i-like-plan-m]

I was thinking more about tatted lwj and your response and the tattoos are lwj’s way to feel more freedom outside of the rules and values that his family keeps. He gets to express himself and break the rules without it actually affecting his relationships with his family since his family isn’t ever going to see him shirtless or naked. Like you said it’s like a secret little rebellion!

He starts off with a small simple bunny in his ankle and it slowly spirals out of control as he ends up getting addicted to getting tattoos and soon he has a whole sleeve and tattoos curling around his sides and spreading across his chest and down his back.

He also has one that starts at his waist and spreads down his hip and below his jeans and wwx just wants to know how far down does it exactly go?

ok, loving these prompts, they’re making words work for me tonight and also they’ve all been fantastic prompts so thank you!! 

[Posted to Ao3] 

“So,” Wei Ying said, and promptly flushed to the roots of his hair when it came out as a squeak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “You have… tattoos.”

“I do,” Lan Zhan agreed, apparently unbothered by Wei Ying’s dumbfounded stare.

Really, this was too much. How could he be expected to function, knowing Lan Zhan had tattoos, like the delinquent Lan Qiren always accused Wei Ying of being.

Of course, there was nothing delinquent about these tattoos. No, these were lovely, graceful sweeps of color, a blooming vine curling its way down Lan Zhan’s spine, wrapping around his hip and disappearing beneath the waistband of his pants.

Wei Ying wanted to follow it with his mouth.

“When…?” he trailed off helplessly. They’d been friends for years, ever since high school, after an admittedly rough start wherein Wei Ying had done everything in his power to get Lan Zhan’s attention and Lan Zhan had been infuriated at the mere sight of him.

“I have had many sessions,” Lan Zhan said, and tugged a long sleeved shirt over his head. Wei Ying wanted to whine when the riot of color vanished from his sight, hidden beneath a blue sweater that he used to like, because it was soft and fitted and highlighted Lan Zhan’s extraordinary shoulder to waist ratio.

He did not like the stupid sweater anymore, Wei Ying thought grumpily. Now he knew it had been an accomplice, hiding Lan Zhan’s tattoos from him.

The audacity, he thought indignantly, fully aware that he was being irrational and not caring even a little. Fuck that sweater.

“Why’d you get them?” He asked when he finally remembered how talking worked. Mostly he was just grateful he hadn’t said, “Take it back off right this instant.” or, “Can I touch?”

Lan Zhan paused in the process of making tea— when had he gone into the kitchen? Wei Ying wondered in a daze— and glanced over at him.

“The first was a gentian flower, for my mother. I was eighteen. And… angry.”

Because he’d never been given the time and space to grieve, Wei Ying knew. They’d talked about it before, the restricting rules of Lan Zhan’s childhood. The way he’d been told how to feel, how to act, told to forget about his mother because she wasn’t coming back.

Wei Ying nodded to show he was listening, and took a step closer. Lan Zhan, busy running long fingers gently over his wrist, didn’t seem to notice. “The permanence of a tattoo appealed to me. Once I had it, no one could take it from me.”

No one could take her from me, Wei Ying heard.

“And then?” He asked softly, climbing onto one of the barstools to watch Lan Zhan move around the kitchen with a steady competence that Wei Ying watched with quiet interest disguised as attentiveness.

To his surprise, Lan Zhan’s ears flushed red. Wei Ying perked up, gleeful as always when Lan Zhan got embarrassed around him, the most shameless person on the planet, at least according to Jiang Cheng.

Because Lan Zhan was too good for him, he gave Wei Ying an honest (if reluctant) answer. “A rabbit on my ankle.”

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying gasped, delighted. “A bunny? You got a bunny tattoo?”

“I like rabbits,” Lan Zhan said mutinously.

“What next, what next?!”

“…Another rabbit, so the first wouldn’t be alone,” Lan Zhan admitted, ears positively on fire now.

He was so cute Wei Ying wanted to die. He settled for covering his face with his hands until he could control his expression again.

There was no way he could take more of this, so Wei Ying asked instead, “Does your family know?”

“My brother,” Lan Zhan said, and slid his left sleeve up to show the lovely blue flower decorating his wrist. “I showed him this after I had it done and he…”

Uh oh. “Was he mad?” Surely not; Lan Xichen’s only care in the world was for his little brother to be happy.

“No. He cried, a little, and then we spent the whole night talking about our mother. He remembers more than I do. He had many stories to tell me that were… different than what I’d been told growing up.”

“So he liked it? What about the rest?”

“Hm,” Lan Zhan hummed in agreement. “He got a matching one, on his hip. So he could hide it easily.”

Wei Ying leaned over the countertop, propping his chin on his hands and grinning at Lan Zhan. “What else do you have hidden under that sweater?” He asked, and then wondered what the hell was wrong with him. “I mean tattoos,” he added hastily.

Lan Zhan, though, just raised an eyebrow and leaned back against the kitchen island. “It would be easier to show you.”

Wei Ying’s brain promptly stalled out.

Lan Zhan sipped his tea and waited patiently.

“Show me?” He managed through a throat that was suddenly very dry. Lan Zhan made a low noise of acknowledgment. “Like… take your shirt off again?”

“It would be difficult otherwise,” Lan Zhan said, and the amused note in his voice made Wei Ying straighten, indignant. Lan Zhan was fucking with him. With him, Wei Ying.

Since when had his sense of humor included teasing Wei Ying? Well, he’d show Lan Zhan!

“Okay,” he said, so confident and assured it could be nothing but a lie. But Lan Zhan didn’t call him out on it, just raised a brow. Set aside his tea, and…

And took off his shirt. Slowly. Revealing an inch of skin at a time, soft pastel colors blurred into Lan Zhan’s stupid flawless skin, splashes of color that seemed so bright all of a sudden, the gravity of the room shifting to orbit around Lan Zhan.

Wei Ying’s breath caught. He hoped it wasn’t audible.

“You cannot see much from over there,” Lan Zhan observed. His arms were sculpted from years of handstands, the rest of his body lean and muscled from a religious running and swimming routine.

“No,” Wei Ying agreed faintly. He slid off his stool, encouraged when his knees didn’t give out, weak as they felt. He inched his way around the counter, eyes glued to the play of ink across muscle every time Lan Zhan shifted in place, every time he took a measured breath.

Wei Ying swallowed hard. Halted just within arm’s reach, and found himself unable to look Lan Zhan in the eye. The asshole had called his bluff, Wei Ying realized with some disbelief. He was having a hard time being annoyed about it, because… well, it got him within touching distance of his half-naked best friend.

His half-naked best friend who had miles of warm skin inked with soft colors and hopeful, blooming flowers. Little creatures— more bunnies, a small dragon with intricate blue scales, hints of claw and tooth and fang— were shrouded within a veritable garden lovingly carved into Lan Zhan’s body.

So many secrets hidden within. It felt like a metaphor for Lan Zhan, the little things Wei Ying had worked so hard to learn, to coax out of him, to wait patiently for Lan Zhan to come to him, all carefully wreathed in protective vines and a canopy of petals.

He reached out, unable to help himself. Lan Zhan stood very, very still as Wei Ying’s palm settled over his heart, measuring the beloved drum of his heartbeat. It was ceaseless. Reliable. As unwavering as everything else about Lan Zhan, someone so dependable and trustworthy that Wei Ying had lost some of his own sharp edges as a result.

He’d learned what it meant to have faith in someone, a conviction that was unshakeable and everlasting, and somewhere along the way he’d slipped right into love.

Lan Zhan’s hand came up to wrap gently around his wrist. Not to remove it, just to hold. “You’re quiet.”

“Your tattoos are giving me an existential crisis, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying admitted.

Lan Zhan frowned, looking uncertain for the first time this evening. “Is that bad?”

“No.” His voice was hoarse. He cleared it, fingers tracing the lines of the ink, following the path as each shape faded into the next so seamlessly they appeared to be one.

Lan Zhan’s abdomen flexed in response to Wei Ying’s soft, trailing touch as it drifted down. And down. And down. He sucked in a breath, watching Wei Ying with so much intensity it burned.

“How far down does it go?” Wei Ying asked, tugging lightly on the edge of Lan Zhan’s pants.

“Find out for yourself,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Ying looked up, shocked, and bit his lip uncertainly. It was the tipping point; Lan Zhan surged forward, his giant hands coming up to cup Wei Ying’s face, to hold him still as he kissed Wei Ying until they were both breathless and dizzy with it.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying asked, too dazed to feel embarrassed by the way he was clinging to Lan Zhan to remain upright.

“You wanted to find out how far they go?” Lan Zhan asked against his mouth. Wei Ying made a helpless sound in response. “Mark your words,” Lan Zhan said, low and heated, and hauled him towards the bedroom.

Wei Ying was beginning to suspect he had been outplayed at his own game, but just then Lan Zhan dragged his mouth over the sensitive tendons of Wei Ying’s neck and suddenly he had more interesting things to occupy him.

He’d deal with everything else and all that it entailed later.

Much later.

[madtomedgar]

bare bones of an untamed locked tomb au, incredibly specific content for myself and like two mutual

yeah so idk anything about how like. plot. goes here. but.

So the most important parts of this for me are as follows:

1) The twin jades are both cavs. This is like. A problem, probably, but idc. Lan Xichen’s necromancer dies in the burning of Cloud Recesses. Lan Wangji’s official necromancer is Su She.

2) Meng Yao is a necromancer, untrained but incredibly powerful. Meng Yao saves Lan Xichen after Cloud Recesses is burnt. Lan Xichen becomes Meng Yao’s cav, but not officially for politics reasons.

3) Nie Huaisang is the Nie sect necromancer, Nie Mingjue is his cav. Something about the way the Nie sect uses cavaliers --> big sword brain disease/saber curse/qi deviation. No one should ever have to watch their cavalier die :) :) :)

4) The stab in the temple still happens. Jin Guangyao, instead of “stay and die with me,” initiates the lyctorhood process. Lan Xichen becomes the first cavalier in history to become a lyctor by stabbing and eating their necromancer. :)

5) Lan Xichen handles this about as well as Harrow :) :)

6) The reason that Jin Guangyao gets himself soul-cannibalized by Lan Xichen instead of just... dying? Other than that being mad romantic and fucked up and etc? Some sort of stoma/rb/revanant THING is in Nie Mingjue’s corpse causing havoc and must be stopped ok.

7) Wei Wuxian helps Lan Xichen lobotomize himself and (possibly??) Jin Guangyao’s soul attaches itself to Shuoyue.

The parts that are less important to me:

The Jiangs and the Wens and etc:

Wen Chao is a shitty necromancer and Wen Zhuliu is his very tired cav.

Xue Yang is a necromancer. Xue Yang has no cav. Xue Yang uh... gets Xiao Xingchen’s necromancer (Song Lan) out of the way and is like. Aw. Poor thing. Looking for a necromancer. Whadya know. I’m looking for a cav :D.

Now you might be thinking that Wen Ning is the necro and Wen Qing could go either way. Wen Ning is a cav in training and is like. A Nonnius fanboy extraordinaire. Wen Qing is a necro. She specializes in flesh magic but she also can do bones. 

Now the Jiangs: Officially, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are both necros, with Jiang Cheng as heir. They have their own Jiang disciple cav. Jiang Yanli is also a necromancer but she’s like... an academic one. Like Abigail. She isn’t very powerful and also isn’t what one expects of a necromancer. If only she’d been born on the Fifth...

Anyway. Jiang Cheng is actually not a necromancer at all, and wants nothing more than to be Wei Wuxian’s cav, a role he would ex-fucking-cel at. (Jiang Fengmian is a necromancer and married his cav secondary after his cav primary retired upon marriage and folks this was a mistake and he blames his wife/cav for the fact that their children aren’t Great Necromancers like his original cav primary’s wunderkind).

The Jiang cav dies in the sack of Lotus Pier. The Wen sibs rescue the Jiang sibs, Jiang Cheng is injured and mentally fucked up, Jiang Yanli is sick. Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning decide to attempt a lyctorhood (which Wei Wuxian has reverse-engineered/independently invented?) and become perfect lyctors together. Jiang Cheng never forgives Wei Wuxian for not eating him instead. 

Lan Wangji is fine with not having been eaten, actually. He is less fine with Wen Ning being a permanent part of his and Wei Wuxian’s relationship. He is the most fine with being Lan Sizhui’s cav primary until he feels like retiring and letting Lan Jingyi graduate from secondary to primary. 

Wen Ruohan is a traditional lyctor and lyctored himself like Ianthe did. In other words he just fucking stabbed his cav out of nowhere, ate them, laughed maniacally about phenomenal cosmic power, and never looked back. 

Jin Zixuan is a necro, Mianmian is his cav, Jin Zixun... idk and idc. 

Anyway. There are many other ways this could be done I’m sure. But this is my attemp.

[stiltonbasket]

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight wrap-up Q & A!

(brief note that this post does contain spoilers, so don’t click past the cut unless you’ve finished reading!)

__

1. Hi Stilton! I love you and TMAAF! The way you write the letters really feels organic and like people writing letters to other people in a time where communication wasn't instantaneous and thats a pet peeve I have with some fics that treat letters like text. I don't know if you've been asked this but what's your inspiration for the letters? Did you just make them up as they are? Did you look at old letters and studied the tone? @iwillbetrash4eva

I made the letters up as they are, but it was essential for me to keep in mind that the characters are all highly educated, and that Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, and Nie Huaisang in particular are very accomplished in the arts. Letters written by someone who composes music and poetry in their spare time aren’t going to be the same as emails and text messages written for the sake of raw information transfer, so I made sure to incorporate that into the letters; they’re written on pretty paper, usually in the sender’s best calligraphy, and it takes time to sit down and write them, so there’s an aspect of aesthetic reflection there that we rarely notice in modern communication.

I also felt that the characters would include snapshots of their lives and feelings while writing; this was more important with Wei Wuxian, since he throws himself so deeply into his daily life, but I also had to remember how important the past is to all of the characters and how enmeshed it is with their relevant current events. Ultimately, each letter serves as an extra look into the characters’ state of mind, which is something the narrative might not give us. 

2. What was your favorite scene in TMAAF, and which OC was the most fun to write? @keela1221

My favorite scene was Wei Wuxian’s departure from Lotus Pier in chapter 46, especially the part when everyone chased after him! I planned it several months in advance (sometime last summer, I think?) so finally getting to write it felt amazing.

Surprisingly, my favorite original characters to write (besides the main additions of Xiao-Yu, Yu Zhenhong, and Li Shuai) were the Jiang juniors. They love their Wei-zongzhu so much ;~;

3. What made you think of writing this fic? And would you consider a special epilogue because I don't think 50 chapters were nearly enough for me.❤ @avezevin

I think I just wanted to speculate about what cultivation politics might have been like after Jin Guangyao died, and TMAAF was born! And I most likely will be posting an epilogue, since I realized that the Zhenqing wedding works best as a coda instead of as a fic of its own.

4. what's your research process for tmaaf? the worldbuilding is so detailed!!

I read posts on tradition and culture and use them as sources if the chance ever comes along. A significant portion of the lore was entirely made up, but @light8828 helped me with some of the language, and offered so much guidance on cultivation worldbuilding <3

5. I really like the way you write the dynamic between Wei ying and lan zhan with their kids in all your stories. Xiao-Yu is a very lovable character and his relationship with his parents is something I go back to read many times. What do you use as inspiration when writing his, or any of his siblings, relationship with their parents?

Real life, I guess. Some of my older friends have recently had children, and they’re very good parents. :3

6. Where will you be going with the series? I need to prepare myself for heartbreak if the end is approaching, (its ok if you dont know tho! Idk is an optimistic answer, its just that you seem to have many things plotting away in that brain of yours)

Up next, I’m going to finish all the fics in the series that are still in progress, and then I’m going to write Lan Xichen’s fic, maybe a fic from Wen Qing’s point of view, a fic focusing on a reincarnated Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen, and a fic from Jin Yun’s POV focusing on his relationship with LXC and the latter’s death and ascension. This doesn’t count all the fluffy wangxian oneshots still bubbling on the back burner, so I expect this series to keep me busy well into 2022. *sweats*

7. TMAAF Q&A: when did you decide you were bringing wen qing back? what led you to making her return a result of the soul-summoning array, rather than having her have survived by some other method? @mischief7manager

I decided that Wen Qing would be returning sometime between chapters 12 and 15, since that was when I knew I wanted her to be the one to cure Wei Wuxian. And as much as I liked the idea of Wen Qing surviving, I didn’t want her to be imprisoned for the 16-year interim; it was important that she appear in TMAAF as she was before her death rather than having over a decade of character development off-screen. But she wasn’t a fierce corpse that could just be put to sleep for all that time, hence the soul-summoning.

8. For the Q&A: Stilton, how did you come up with such an adorable perfect little child like Xiao-Yu?? You write him so well it really does seem like it’s a child talking!! @whereisyourcahier​

He’s partly based on a real baby I know. :P It might sound impossible, but he’s even cuter than Xiao-Yu is.

9. Thank you for doing this Q&A! Was Xiao Yu always part of the story? (Ilhim so much!!)

He was! I always wanted Wangxian to experience parenthood together, so Xiao-Yu’s entry was planned long before he actually appeared in the fic.

10. how did you deal with any writers block that came up?

By reading comments!! I have all of you to thank for that <3<3!!!!!!

11. What was the process for plotting each arc of tmaaf? & when did you decide on what the storyline was going to be? Did you know when you started or did you incorporate stuff as you wrote?

I hashed out the whole plot at once sometime last May, and that was when I laid down the rough storyline. The overall plot was finalized by the time chapter 18 went up, though I did add further details as I went along. In particular, the mini-arc of Wei Wuxian investigating the Yangshuo plague was mostly written on the fly.

12. how long have you been planning the wen qing lang xiyan reveal? has it been something set in stone from the start?

I’ve been planning it since last April, though the exact circumstances weren’t clear until around August or September. Originally, Jiang Cheng was going to ask “Lang Xiyan” to marry him after her mourning period was over, only for her to reveal herself as Wen Qing before accepting, but I soon realized that this wouldn’t fit either of their characters. Wen Ning recognizing her was the only way the reveal made sense (both emotionally and logically) so I had to find a reason to bring him to Yunmeng at exactly the right time.

13. I just want to ask two little things (well three). Where we will be able to read the wedding of baby Zizhen and A-Qing? Will there be Chengqing? And with the last question, if it's yes, will you write a one shot, drabble or something like that?? 🥺🥺🥺

I’m going to post a 51st chapter to TMAAF with the Zhenqing wedding as an epilogue, and Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing are married by then! Wen Qing will most likely be getting a fic of her own, focusing on the time between her revival and her engagement to Jiang Cheng.

14. I just finished reading your fic and let me tell you it's one of the best I have ever had the pleasure to read :) For someone who wants to start writing, how did you start the story? Did you wrote everything with a little scheme or you just leave your brain to work in the document?

I wasn’t planning to write fic for MDZS/CQL at all, and then I randomly ended up outlining, drafting, and posting the first chapter of TMAAF within the span of around two hours. When starting a story, I think it works best for me to just let my brain work in the document without worrying too much about how it might turn out--outlines and schemes tend to come later, after I’ve gotten a feel for how the characters act and laid down some dead-basic worldbuilding.

If you’re just starting out, make sure you’re having fun and that everything you write is as self-indulgent as possible! Enjoying the process is the most important thing, worrying about all the specifics can come later. <3

[chnqin]

#showyourprocess

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES: When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

I was tagged by @wendashanren​ to show my process for two of my minimalist posters, thanks for the tag! (also I cannot believe how organised you are, all my ideas are scribbled in my notes app at speed before I forget them, and then I take ages to find what I'm looking for).

For the people I’m tagging please don’t feel any pressure (especially if you’ve already been tagged), but if you have time I’d love to see the process for:

This WOH post by @gusucloud because I’m honestly in awe of the layers, especially the first picture with the fan This lovely art of Wei Wuxian by @risoria because his face is amazing and the colours are so unusual but look so good This gifset by @mylastbraincql - the text effect looks so cool, and all the gifs are so crisp I want to know how you did it This TGCF post by @lan-xichens​ because the colouring is stunning And this post by @leonzhng​ because the amount of layers are amazing and it must have taken so long to make

sorry if you’ve already been asked to do any of these!

Process beneath the cut

Ok, so in some ways my minimalist posters are much easier to make than something involving pictures, where you have to locate good screencaps, remove backgrounds, smooth edges of pngs, correct the usually dreadful colour and brightness etc before you can even begin making something.

The first minimalist poster I made was the Sunshot Campaign trio. I don't really know what made me do it, the general idea just popped into my head to show a narrative through images only, and then I worked out shapes etc later. The subsequent posters have been framed from those original three.

The Yi City poster took the longest of all the minimalist posters because I struggled to decide how to represent the characters in it.

I tried out a lot of different things for the main three figures, but what I knew was that I wanted a cross for szc, a dash for xxc, and something to represent blood for xy.

I also liked the idea of the three characters literally standing in the shadow of the gate, and so gave them what cold be shadows, but could also be robes for the body depending on how you interpret it. In the end I went with the most simplified version - my only regret about that is that I lost the black/white sharing for szc and xxc, and therefore the sort of noughts and crosses idea I was going for.

^ Here are all the layers of different types of figure representation I tried - you can see how many different iterations it took to to become something so simple (each folder has at least two or three versions of that particular style). It took me so long to decide how to represent the three figures, so I'm actually really glad to be able to show people some of the earlier versions.

Most of the shapes I make using the lasso or pen tool. For the cross, dash, and tear/blood I used one of the brushes which comes with photoshop because I have never worked out how to get fancy new ones. The gate I sourced from a free png because I couldn't be bothered making something so ornate, and then I added "Yi City" on it.

I then had to decide how to represent A-Qing, and thought a white, bloodstained bird worked well for how we first see her in the series. The red went on her wings to represent them being clipped (removing her sight and ability to speak) - it also echoes the red of xy, who is the one who killed her.

For the Qiongqi path poster I knew I wanted a blue umbrella and thought a circle might represent it best, and then added the rain. I made the middle line bigger for no reason at all, I just liked the look of it. The umbrella made me think of Kandinsky paintings, which are all very minimalist with shapes and lines, so I added the two lines at the side in white (copied from the middle line of the umbrella). This immediately made me think of LWJ and WWX walking the main path together. WWX's line starts higher, because he's the main character and we are introduced to him first in the narrative. I also left it at the same height as the vertical line in the umbrella, which then echoes a) the downward motion of the umbrella as it is dropped to the ground (an action which is caused by wwx) and b) the literal falling of lwj for wwx ( if that makes sense).

I then struggled for ages over how to represent the Wens and WWX leaving. I was going to try and make silhouettes of them at the bottom on the horses, but nothing looked good - so I went with another line, this time in red, then connected it with his white line. The first wave is the beginning of his demonic cultivation (going by the book, rather than the drama), i.e. leaving the straight orthodox path. You can see that the white line could still turn around here and return back to its original trajectory. The break between the white and red lines which represent wwx is him falling into the burial mounds. The subsequent wave is the upheaval of the sunshot campaign and aftermath, but also can be interpreted a bit like those heartbeat machines in hospitals. The line going straight is when he takes the Wens - a path he cannot return from. His trajectory is now set.

If you've read all of this well done, it's super long, so I will give you an edits tip which helped me with these as a reward for making it this far: If you're ever unhappy with something you've made, take stuff away, don't add it. As can be seen with the minimalist posters, every time I wasn't sure something worked, I made it more simple and ultimately it looked a lot better for it.

[porcupine-girl]

Untamed Fic Rec List

Look, most of these are reasonably popular fics already, so if you’ve been in this fandom for a couple months you’ve likely read them. Which is not how I normally do rec lists, but I’m new enough to Untamed that I’m still reading through all the fics by authors I know from other fandoms plus ones that have been personally recced to me, so I haven’t made it into the deep dive of underappreciated fics that I normally like to rec.

It doesn’t help that one of these recs is 445K, so for like two weeks straight it was basically all I was reading.

BUT if, like me, you are rather new to this fandom and its fics, here are some good ones:

The Same Moon Shines Series by sami

This is the 445K behemoth, made up of 23 works, and is technically made up of three interrelated series. The first fic, which establishes the whole universe/multiverse, is 139K on its own. Basically, decades into the canon future, WWX invents time travel.

He goes back to being born, but is reborn with all his memories intact. And he fixes, like, fucking everything and it’s so, so fucking satisfying. Everything’s not perfect though - for example, he like lowkey (highkey?) traumatizes LXC by showing him his previous life via empathy and that has some consequences eventually. Featuring ace poly JC/LXC/WQ triad.

Then in a cracky subseries, appropriately called “ridiculous future bullshit”, we assume that the main six from this universe (WWX, LWJ, JC, WQ, LXC, JYL, & Lan Sizhui) all achieve immortality and find out what they’re up to in the modern day, where they’re revered in the Five Nations (this does a great job of staying in the canon world instead of ours) but of course white Western assholes do things like try and make a disney movie called Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch where they marry LWJ off to a girl.

And then in a third subseries, which so far has only one WIP fic, we go back to the canon universe, find out that JC and LWJ were stuck there watching WWX disappear in his time machine array (so WWX actually split off into another universe, he didn’t rewind his own), and so they get into the array having no idea what it will do but wanting to chase down the asshole they love. And so a third universe is born, where they are both born with their memories but WWX is not. I absolutely love seeing how different their priorities are from WWX’s in terms of what they want to change in their new life.

(Also: This is technically a MDZS fic that usually goes with novel canon over show canon if there’s a discrepancy, so if like me you haven’t read the whole novel you might need to look up some plot points now and then.)

The Vermillion Ribbon by @unforth

AU where Wei WuXian was taken in by Wen Qing and Wen Ning’s parents instead of the Jiangs. LWJ (who is the POV character) is a super DUPER dick to him at first, like even moreso than in canon, but the speed with which he regrets his choices is breathtaking and extremely satisfying.

LWJ is a VERY unreliable narrator. He has absolutely no idea what is going on with himself or anyone else at any point in time. Eventually he at least becomes self-aware of this fact, and can at least go wait am I missing something? I think I’m missing several somethings but fuck if I know what. Wei WuXian not understanding this about him leads to some miscommunication, because WWX doesn’t get that LWJ needs absolutely everything spelled out to him in single-syllable words with crayon drawings and y’know, WWX isn’t going to be straightforward anytime he can pretend he’s TOTALLY FINE :D :D :D instead.

LWJ’s friendship with NHS is magical, and NHS in general gets 810% more opportunity to scheme and plot pre-time-of-NMJ’s-canonical-death than in canon and is honestly living his best life. It’s also valuable for LWJ to have a scheming friend because, aside from realizing he misjudged WWX, this is how he starts to figure out that he’s a dumbass who has no idea what is going on ever. But he can count on NHS to always be ten steps ahead, so it’s okay.

(ETA: I’m sorry, I made unforth feel like maybe LWJ was too dense, and no, he’s very much not stupid in general. Like, honestly the fact that he becomes so self-aware of the things he’s bad at, and does things like trust NHS to always understand the stuff he’s missing, makes him come off as very intelligent. It’s just in the specific realm of understanding anything that people say or do that isn’t 100% honest and straightforward that he is just entirely hopeless in a rather relatable way, and like I said, WWX’s go-to is hiding any and all pain so that is a bad combo.)

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek by notevenyou

This diverges from canon when WWX is on his way to Jin Ling’s one month celebration, but doesn’t bring Wen Ning along. So when Jin Zixun attacks it goes very poorly for him, poorly enough that Jin Zixuan thinks he’s dead and it’s reported back at Carp Tower as such. Sending LWJ into a dissociative state. He manages to break through to reality just long enough to find out that Jin Zixuan took WWX’s body back to the burial mounds and left it with Wen Qing, and to get on his sword and go directly there. Thankfully, it turns out that WWX is not dead, but only just barely so.

So LWJ stays there, because now that he spent some amount of time (he isn’t really sure if it was like five minutes or two hours, because dissociation) thinking WWX was dead he now knows that he should never, ever be anywhere but with WWX.

Honestly, it almost feels like a spoiler to say WWX doesn’t die, but there’s no major character death warning while there IS one for graphic violence so it’s not a chose not to warn either, so that’s technically not a spoiler. But things are touch-and-go for him for a very, very long time. And the romance is a slow burn with pining galore. And you get to see LWJ teaching A-Yuan to play the guqin, so like imagine being WWX and you wake up from almost dying to see that going on in your cave.

Velle: to will, to wish by @aerlalaith

This one is actually canon-compliant, and as it’s both quite a bit shorter and more straightforward, plot-wise, than the others, my writeup will be short but that doesn’t mean I loved it any less. Basically, it’s the process of LWJ deciding to adopt A-Yuan in the aftermath of WWX’s death. It starts just after he’s been beaten for turning against the other cultivators, and at first it’s mostly his grief and both physical and emotional pain. A-Yuan starts slipping in to visit him. and LWJ isn’t sure if he’s really okay with that at first.

Of course he becomes very okay with it, but the Lan elders and Lan Qiren and all aren’t just going to be like “ok sure you can barely walk you should def adopt a four-year-old of unclear origins who may or may not have something to do with your demonic dead boyfriend and the evil people he helped, that’s cool,” so it’s not that simple.

There’s a followup fic where, years later, LWJ chooses the courtesy name Sizhui and Xichen gives him shit for it.

save a sword, ride a socialist by sysrae / @fozmeadows

Continuing on my grand tour of Untamed fics by my fave writers from other fandoms, I get to enjoy having overlapped with foz on a third straight fandom which is just fabulous. I totally thought I wasn’t gonna read AUs and then this asshole comes along and writes AUs, which is not playing fair.

I especially love this because it’s modern day but much like ridiculous future bullshit it’s modern day in (more or less) a canonish world, not our world. So like, they fly on swords, but not long distances because it’s easier to take a train or drive rather than use up all that spiritual energy.

Lan Qiren and Jin Guangshan miss the old ways, though, and they think the best ancient tradition to bring back is arranged marriage! Because that will go over well with today’s youth. They try to make LWJ marry Mianmian but he’s like “um I’m gay” and LQ throws a hissy fit about that so Jin Zixuan (who is LWJ’s bestie and is fucking hilarious) hatches a plot for LWJ to cause LQ to stroke out by bringing WWX to Lan Xichen’s birthday party as his fake date.

But when LWJ and WWX meet up to talk this over, LWJ is instantly fucked because WWX has a small child with him and it turns out that this small child is the orphan he adopted. He doesn’t notice he’s fucked until a few days later, though, when WWX comes over for “kissing practice” and they fuck and he calls Jin Zixuan all “I think I caught a feel, what do?” and JZX is like idk, you’re a moron, don’t ask me to clean up your moron messes. And the next day LWJ buys a car seat.

Lan Wangji heard about Jack 110% Zimmermann and said “challenge accepted,” is what I’m saying here. And now I’ve written as much about this 33k fic as I did about the 445k, so I’ll shut up before I just recount the entire plot.

[eldritch-elrics]

the untamed: i am going to scream

why is there like an earth-shaking reveal like every other episode i swear to god

uhhh let me see. i will try to keep some of this brief or else i would just be Yelling about events that everyone who’s seen the show has already seen and reacted to

actually nvm it’s gonna be long again sorry

i feel really bad for lan xichen? like what a breach of trust? and he’s been absent so wow man i reaaally hope he’s ok

lwj got quite the punishment when he protected wwx at nightless city D: fucked up

lwj bringing emperor’s smile for wwx? character development.

i am Very Happy that my ~big theory~ about jgy is shaping out to be probably correct

just gonna add a huge “gay rights” banner over this whole post because you can just tell how much lwj loves wwx throughout this entire time and it’s so good and wonderful

“lan zhan... sorry and thank you” - a line that will never not fuck me up

i wonder what the name of the song was, lan wangji :)

OH I WAS REALLY HAPPY TO SEE MIANMIAN I LOVE HER

wen ning: covers himself in mud and grass, follows wwx around, fights puppets, and scares off potential intruders

me, crying: i love you so much

literally wen ning was so good in these episodes!!!!! ugh what a friend

he’s so loyal to wwx they are FRIENDS i love them!!!

also i love how he’s so awkward and sweet but when he needs to be intimidating he’s like. actually good at it

to write these summaries i always look through my liveblogging to my friend and like. i literally forgot about the whole thing with su she. it was a good twist and made lots of sense given what we know about the ghost-faced man but like compared to everything else that came after it that part occupied like 2% of my mental space

su she is a little bitch and very forgettable i think. moving on

IN MORE IMPORTANT NEWS: LAN YUAN!!!!!!!

SCREAMING AND CRYING I LOVE HIM

WAS THINKING ABOUT HOW MUCH I LIKED SIZHUI AND WHAT DO YOU FUCKING KNOW.

every interaction between him and wen ning is UGH IT’S SO GOOD THEY’RE SO HAPPY....

the part where sizhui buys that little butterfly toy. i’m thinking about it. all the foreshadowing. the flashback to the spinny toy. hoooo boy

thinks about wwx being a dad to him in yi city..

poor jin ling though!!! man

he has no idea how to use his words :( just needs some time to process all this shit

THEN THE TONAL WHIPLASH IN THIS EPISODE???? IT GOES FROM SO HAPPY TO SO FUCKED UP...

not gonna discuss this part in detail because yeah. but. hmm i hate jin guangyao actually

and jin guangshan......

liveblogging to my friend i said “this is so fucked up” at LEAST 3 times

huge kudos that the tipping point of people turning against jgy is two women coming forward with their #metoo stories... wish the real world worked like that

anyway this was a tipping point for me too bc previously i’d been all like “jgy is very evil but i kinda sympathize bc i see why he did all this and why he would kill nmj” but now i’m just kind of filled with disgust? i still think he’s a very interesting and well-written villain but man i Do Not Like Him

(as opposed to xue yang who has done nothing right or sympathetic in his entire life and that makes him more fun because you’re not conflicted. he’s just evil! it’s great!)

i’m dying to know who’s leaking all this info about jgy though

EMOTIONAL ABOUT JIANG CHENG HOURS #2397274

the entirety of that scene. from the moment he enters the shrine. top notch

you can see how all of them have hurt each other so much and it’s just AAAAAA

wen ning!!!!!! bro he is the BEST

i actually lost it here. like what a god damn twist it makes TOTAL SENSE

THE REASON WHY WWX DID ALL OF THIS... THE REASON HE BECAME THE YILING PATRIARCH........ HIS SWORD........

i had been wondering for SO LONG what he was discussing with wen qing that one time and holy SHIT this entire scene just recontextualizes the hell out of it all and i’m just. man. fuck

i love how many lotuses they eat on the boat lol

again. gay rights

i’m still reeling a bit from these eps tbh

i can’t believe i’m gonna finish the series tomorrow...

[thoughtsofanunorganizedmind]

ok, so I’ve been re-watching The Untamed for quite sometime now. Original Version, Special Edition, and Behind The Scenes clips. I can’t get enough. hahaha.. I need another drama with Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan in the lead again. XD

Anyway, I’ve also tried watching the other dramas that the cast have made. I’m still on Xiao Zhan and Liu Haikuan. Wang Yibo, Qi Peixin, and Song Jiyang might be next.

Xiao Zhan

I haven’t finished watching the two seasons of Oh! My Emperor. XZ is the second male lead and he’s giving me a case of Second Lead Syndrome. I’m pissed that the girl chose the emperor and not the handsome Uncle, Bei Tang Moran. It hurts seeing him so heart broken. They said that in “The Wolf” Xiao Zhan is also a second lead. I’m gonna go through the process again of rooting for him and not the lead. Lol! I’ll be waiting for “Oath of Love” and Doulou Continent.

Liu Haikuan

Just finished watching “Medical Examiner Dr. Qin: The Survivor” Haikuan plays the role of a police officer Lin Tao. It was weird watching him act so dorky as Captain Lin because I got so used to seeing him as this graceful older twin jade of Gusu, Lan Xichen. His love interest in this drama also pisses me off. I hate how insensitive she was to Lin Tao’s feelings.

I also stumbled across LHK’s 2017 drama, “My Celestial College” It was a fantasy, romantic-comedy. My problem with this is that only the first episode have English subtitles. The rest of the episodes are in Chinese raw. And as much as I want to watch this, it’s difficult to watch when you can’t understand anything.

I got lots of c-drama on my watch list now.. Hahaha,, Should I watch “Gank Your Heart”? “Birth of a Drama King”? “The Chang’an Youth”? I don’t know anymore.. XD