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celestial-altair101 · 2 years

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Nie Huaisang’s Revenge Plan( More towards “The Untamed” universe)

Warning: This is very long. It includes spoilers and some sensitive topics.

Source: https://hishoukoku.tumblr.com/post/661223468299419648/nie-huaisangs-master-plan-ive-seen-a-few#:~:text=Nie%20Huaisang%20seeks%20out%20the,Wuxian%20back%20from%20the%20dead.

After Nie Mingjue died, Nie Huaisang was incredibly heartbroken. In his grief, he would hear Nie Mingjue’s voice. However, Nie Huaisang noticed a book flipping and turned his attention to it. Within the contents of the book, he found out that Jin Guangyao had altered the Cleansing Music. He realized that Jin Guangyao had used him to sabotage the mission and in doing so, killed most of the Nie disciples and his cousin Nie Zhonghui. Nie Huaisang began suspecting that his older brother’s death is in fact a murder and that Jin Guangyao is behind it. Soon enough, Jin Guangyao came in and told Nie Huaisang to restrain his grief. Nie Huaisang did not trust Jin Guangyao but still bowed to him. (Symbolism that connects this bow to Jin Guangyao’s bow for Jin Guangshan.) When Nie Huaisang found out his brother’s corpse went missing, he began to search for them.

When Jin Guangyao and Qin Su got married, he eavesdrops on Madam Qin telling Bi Cao about the fact that Qin Su is Jin Guangyao’s half-sister. Nie Huaisang was shocked at this revelation and decided he should investigate Jin Guangyao’s personal life, especially his crimes. He visited Carp Tower more often and was perplexed when Jin Guangshan made Mo Xuanyu a Jin disciple. He also found out that Jin Guangyao is acquainted with Xue yang. Nie Huaisang’s time in Carp Tower made him realize that Mo Xuanyu is very disliked among the Jin disciples. Of course, he went the extra mile and learned that Mo Xuanyu’s life is full of abuse and hate.

After Xue Yang witnessed Xiao Xingchen’s suicide, decided to work with Jin Guangyao, the Nie Huaisang. Nie Huaisang read the book Wei Wuxian had written about demonic cultivation and figured out a sacrificial summoning ritual. In Lanling, Nie Huaisang began to hear the rumors going around the Jin sect that Mo Xuanyu had forced himself on Jin Guangyao. Due to that, Mo Xuanyu is kicked from the Jin sect. Nie Huaisang knew how mentally ill Mo Xuanyu is and decided that this is his chance to use the sacrificial summoning ritual. Nie Huaisang then coerced the mentally ill Mo Xuanyu to do the sacrificial summoning to bring back his old friend, the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian. Then he convinced an old man to tell the story of Wei Wuxian, by promising him some gold.

But even after all these years of searching for his brother’s corpse, he only managed to find an arm. Nie Huaisang decided to let the fierce arm loose on the Mo village where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are. This only prompted Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian to investigate. However, when Nie Huaisang is running away, Lan Wangji manages to cut a piece of his robe off. Lan Wangji’s sac then led them to the Man-Eating castle. After Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji freed Jin Ling from the walls of the Man-Eating castle, they confronted Nie Huaisang about what had happened. Nie Huaisang claimed that it is just an ancestral tomb for the blade spirits. He explained that the whole idea of the cave eating men alive is just a false rumor that he made up to prevent people from entering the tomb and dying to the angry spirits. Nie Huaisang was lying to an extent throughout the entire confrontation though as the walls of the tomb are indeed made from humans.

Nie Huaisang then lures the junior disciples into Yi City. He nailed a dead black cat to the door of Jin Ling’s room and make a pool of blood outside as Jin Ling woke up. This happens night after night despite Jin Ling switching inns. Which eventually prompts him to investigate. Meanwhile, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a few other juniors doing a night hunt in Langya. They first find the head of a cat in their soup, and then the corpse of a cat in their beds. This prompts them as well to investigate, ultimately meeting up with Jin Ling. When they all met, Nie Huaisang disguises himself as a hunter from a nearby village and point them directly toward Yi City. Nie Huaisang managed to get into the dungeons of the Jin sect and found a former prostitute Sisi. Hiding his identity, he asked her what she did to land herself here, but Sisi is hesitant to say anything. Nie Huaisang prompts her that he means no harm and that he’s trying to help her as he is trying to uncover Jin Guangyao’s crime to the world. Hearing this, Sisi reluctantly told him how Jin Guangyao had killed his father by hiring a bunch of prostitutes to force themselves on him. Nie Huaisang then frees Sisi. He then convinced Bicao to send Qin Su a letter about Jin Guangyao’s misdeeds.

All the while, Lan Wanji and Wei Wuxian found all of Nie Mingjue’s body parts, but they are still missing the head. Nie Huaisang because of this managed to get all of his brother’s body parts back, besides the head of course, and is now beginning to sew them together.

Wei Wuxian of course managed to sneak into the Fragrant Palace and found Nie Mingjue’s severed head. Wei Wuxian is then able to tap into Nie Mingjue’s past and saw how Nie Mingjue truly died. He also saw Qin Su being distraught and upset. She confronted Jin Guangyao about the information, but Jin Guangyao denies it. Of course, this was because she had received the letter Bicao had written to her. Afterward, Wei Wuxian told Lan Wangji about this, all the while, Nie Huaisang is listening to their conversation. He then went to Fragrant Palace to retrieve the head of his brother.

Wei Wuxian then convinces Jin Guangyao to let him enter Fragrant Palace and then attempts to rat Jin Guangyao out. Nie Huaisang deliberately fainted in the middle of the confrontation to make himself look weak. Wei Wuxian’s identity is then revealed, but Nie Huaisang had to pretend to be surprised so as to not draw suspicion. While Wei Wuxian left with Lan Wangji due to Wei Wuxian being stabbed by Jin Ling, Nie Huaisang decided he needs to execute the next part of his plan. Nie Huaisang went to the Guanyin Temple to replace Meng Shi’s body (via digging from outside of the wall) with his dead brother’s corpse all sewn up. He then placed a poisonous trap in it. Nie Huiasang afterward sends Jin Guangyao a letter warning him that he will expose all his secrets in seven days.

This caused the Second Siege of the Burial Mounds. Su She under Jin Guangyao’s guidance uses the Stygian Tiger seal to control the corpses and seals the cultivators’ spiritual power. Nie Huaisang beforehand had led the disciples of various sects to a cave and probably hired someone to tie them up. Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Wen Ning managed to find them and set them free which ended up with the sects (including his) meeting up with Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Wen Ning. The corpses caught up to them eventually and they all ended up in a cave. Wei Wuxian began to talk about his theories and analysis which resulted in Su She revealing that he is Jin Guangyao’s accomplice.

After escaping the corpses, all the sects go to Yunmeng, at Lotus Pier. Bicao and Sisi (as instructed by Nie Huaisang) arrive to tell their stories. Sisi talks about how Jin Guangyao murdered Jin Guangshan and Bicao talks about the fact that Jin Guangyao’s wife Qin Su was his own half-sister. Hearing this, all the sects are now against Jin Guangyao and are plotting to storm Karp Tower.

Nie Huaisang then went to Yunping City and was most likely willingly captured by Su She to see his plans coming to fruition. He woke up when the “monks” screamed after activating the trap. When the coffin got opened, he again pretended to be shocked at the matter. Later on, he deliberately allowed Su She to cut his leg. Nie Mingjue’s spirit, sensing that his brother is hurt, stabbed Su She killing him. After everything is settled, Lan Xichen asked Nie Huaisang for the medicine. Nie Huaisang then exclaimed that Jin Gungyao was about to do something and that resulted in Lan Xinchen stabbing Jin Guangyao. The blood from the stab wound got on the Stygian Amulet and the coffin causing Nie Mingjue’s spirit to be re-released. Jin Guangyao stayed behind in the collapsing building after pushing Lan Xichen away, which ultimately caused his death.

In the end, Wei Wuxian pieces it all together and suspected that Nie Huaisang was behind everything, but he has no evidence to support it.

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celestial-altair101 · 2 years

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Misconceptions About Tommyinnit’s Character That Genuinely INFURIATE Me

Since the recent events following the second L’Manburg Festival and subsequent war, I’ve seen many, many hot takes surrounding the nature of Tommyinnit’s character on the SMP. Some of which annoyed me to the point where I felt compelled to sit down and actually write this. I’m going to only be highlighting the most common complaints or questions I’ve seen, one by one, in hopes of providing a better understanding of Tommy’s character for anyone interested. (I also briefly discuss Techno and Tubbo’s characters as well.)

If you’ve said similar things to what I’m going to be discussing below, please know that it’s perfectly understandable how you’d come to these conclusions. Some of these aspects of Tommy’s character are not always obvious; especially if being watched from another streamer’s POV. This may become quite lengthy, so bear with me for now.

“Tommy’s motives are all over the place. He can’t decide whether he wants the discs back or not.”

Tommy is actually one of the most motivationally consistent characters on the entire Dream SMP. Even Techno, someone completely confident in their ideals, does more motivational flipping than Tommy. From the very start of the story, Tommy has always cared for three things; L’Manburg, Tubbo, and his music discs. However, him caring for something is not itself a motivation.

Surprisingly enough, his motivation isn’t even just, ‘Get my discs back,’ like many assume it is. Tommy’s one true motivation, since the end of the Independence War, has always been, ‘Keep things the way they are now.’

Tommy’s one fatal flaw is that he is resistant to change and refuses to let go of the past. This is seen through all of his actions and words; in all conflicts involving him. This flaw is the drive to all of Tommy’s mistakes. Burning down George’s house, an action which resulted in him getting exiled, was done out of a desire to pull pranks the way he used to before the first war. His friendship with Ranboo started because Tommy said he reminded him of Tubbo, back before he was President.

Tommy still talks highly of Wilbur because he chooses to remember him as the wise, kind mentor who cared for him. This motive is the reason he defends L’Manburg so fiercely; it’s his memory of a better past. This is why he holds grudges more often than any other character; especially refusing to forgive Techno after he killed Tubbo during the Manburg Massacre.

It’s why Tommy falls under extreme distress whenever Tubbo or Quackity tell him that something will never be the same again. This motivation is entirely formed from an underlying desire for peace and comfort, something Tommy has been denied since being forced into a life wrought with war and death. To accept change, to Tommy, is painful and terrifying. But he will only ever truly be happy when he finally learns to let go.

“Why do the discs matter so much to Tommy? They’re not actually worth anything.”

Tommy’s discs are much more than just any ordinary pair of music discs. They were never important for their material worth, but for what Tommy was willing to sacrifice in order to keep them. Tommy is entirely what gives the discs their value.

Tommy also commonly operates under the Sunk-Cost Fallacy, wherein he’s invested too much of himself into something to just abandon it, even if it’s causing him problems. This mentality is a huge piece of what keeps him tied to both L’Manburg and to his discs. He’s sacrificed too much at this point to simply let them go. If he admits the discs are worthless, then he’s admitting that he wasted all this time and effort, just to keep them.

The discs also act as a constant source of hope for Tommy because they are directly tied with his motivations as a character. They’re something he’s had since the very beginning. They’re something he used to listen to with Tubbo on their shared bench.

To Tommy, they symbolize a life before war, filled with comfort and peace. They are a love letter to his country and his late mentor Wilbur. They are a physical representation of Tubbo’s companionship. They are the only thing, besides L’Manburg and his best friend, that gives him the hope that he can one day return things to the way they used to be.

This ideal, paired with Tommy’s refusal to let go, has left him ruthlessly pursuing the things he’s lost. Not his music discs, but his peace and comfort, his friendship, his country, his mentor Wilbur, and his life before war.

In his desperation to hold onto his prized possession, it has only hurt and pushed away the people that love him. If Tommy continues to ignore this reality, while still refusing to resolve his major flaw entwined with it, he will lose all that the discs had once stood for. He will lose his country, then his friend Tubbo, and then he will lose himself.

“Tommy never grows or learns from his mistakes. This makes him a badly written character.”

Characters do not have to constantly learn from their actions to be well-written. Tommy is one of the best examples of this. The fact that his growth is infrequent is the entire point of his character; it’s completely stemmed from his fatal flaw.

By addressing himself, he would be accepting change, something that terrifies him; something he stubbornly resists until he is absolutely forced to confront it. Contrary to popular belief, Tommy knows when he makes mistakes, but he pretends to be ignorant as to avoid facing reality. He digs his head in the sand despite knowing better, puppeteering the person he used to be during happier times, now gone.

In spite of his infrequent growth, the idea that Tommy still hasn’t learned anything isn’t quite correct either. Tommy, as of the last three plot streams, has shown incredible character development. By giving up his discs again, he had finally demonstrated that Tubbo is more important to him than his possessions. Speaking as a makeshift leader, he put aside his issues with others to rally them together against a common threat, something which Tommy had never been able to do before. He owned up to all of his mistakes openly, apologizing to everyone he’s ever hurt in one place.

He apologized to Tubbo after they were reunited and came to terms with the fact that Tubbo was forced to exile him without choice, finally forgiving him. He was kind to Sapnap and learned how to be his friend after months of bitter rivalry. And these are only a few examples. This isn’t to say Tommy has overcome/fixed everything because he clearly hasn’t. There are still major things Tommy needs to work through that remain unaddressed, the biggest being his complicated relationship with Technoblade.

“Tommy only cares about himself. He does everything in his power to be the hero, always putting himself in the center of attention, especially during Doomsday.”

Tommy, since the start of the L’Manburg War for Independence, has never set out to be a hero. Not once. He may fall into the role of the protagonist, but his identity as a hero was pushed onto him by others. Giving up the discs was his only option during the Independence War.

So when Wilbur called him a hero for it, Tommy said he didn’t feel like he was. During the November 16th War, Tommy again said he didn’t feel like a hero because he had lost what he thought was everything at the time. During exile, Tommy certainly knew he was no hero. And upon reuniting with Tubbo, he admitted to feeling like the farthest thing from it. That he’d hurt everyone and all he wanted to do now was fix it.

The day before Doomsday, Tommy only took a leadership position because no one else was willing to, filling the role for Tubbo, who was crumbling under pressure. He had no choice but to try to bring everyone together, or fight alone. Most viewers never saw this during Doomsday, but before the battle, almost everyone who had vowed to fight alongside L’Manburg had abandoned them the very next day. They were convinced it was going to be destroyed either way, no matter what they did, so they chose not to see it through to the end; ultimately leaving Tommy and those who remained to fight a losing battle, alone.

After about a third of the way through the battle, it became clear to everyone that they could do nothing to win. One by one, everyone stopped fighting and stood by to watch their country go up in smoke. Tommy was the only person on the battlefield who refused to stand down and give up. And so he took over the role as leader again, trying his best to keep them alive, to keep Tubbo hopeful; to keep fighting, no matter what.

However, what most people don’t realize, is that this isn’t Tommy trying to be a hero or force himself into the spotlight. This is Tommy trying to convince himself to keep going. Because whenever things start to look hopeless, Tommy simply chooses to ignore them. He puts on a happy face and soldiers through it because that’s all he knows how to do. Tommy, at his core, is someone who wants peace through stagnation. He doesn’t want to fight, although causing the occasional friendly conflict is how he finds fun. He doesn’t set out to purposely hurt others.

Tommy may come across as self-centered, but this is because he is an extremely extroverted character. He finds energy and joy in the attention of others, both good and bad. It’s why he’s always seeking the approval of others and, oftentimes, will destructively insert himself into another person’s life in order to find it.

Out of every character in the story, Tommy is the most drawn to praise and positive reinforcement. He is constantly seeking out mentors and friends because Tommy needs someone else to help him feel confident in his own identity and abilities. It’s why Wilbur was such a positive influence on him. His boisterous confidence has always been a front because if anyone were to actually hurt him, he knows it will make his self-esteem crumble instantly.

This is part of why Dream’s manipulation was so effective against him. By isolating him, he’s left without energy and looking to another person’s guidance. Tommy outwardly may seem independent and rude, but just under the skin, he’s unconfident and lost when he’s by himself. Tommy will only grow from this flaw when he finds his own identity and inner confidence; when he finally learns to be okay with being alone.

“Tommy goes to the festival solely to get his disc back and then tells Tubbo to give it away immediately after. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Before the screaming match between the two friends during the second L’Manburg Festival, Tommy had been in exile, manipulated by Dream for long enough to lose his will to carry on. It is because of him that Tommy’s reality becomes distorted, long after fleeing from his abuser. This mangling of ideals leads Tommy to subconsciously believe that L’Manburg and Tubbo are unsalvageable.

Therefore, the only thing he has hopes of retrieving are his discs, which are easier to manage than the latter two things. And so Tommy does reprehensible things at the behest of Techno in a vain hope of getting them back, going so far as to kidnap and torture for them. This ultimately culminates in a confrontation between the ex-friends, quickly turning violent. It is in this violence that we see Tommy has sunk to his absolute lowest point in his journey.

Swinging his axe, he nearly kills his friend as he delivers a string of words that cause the room to silence instantly. He says the discs were always worth more than his friend. Within the quiet of the room, Tommy is forced to reflect on everything he’s done. How he kidnapped and tortured Connor. How he accidentally drowned Fundy. How he traumatized Ranboo.

And now he’s hurt Tubbo, the one person he has always sought to protect; someone he vowed to never hurt. This realization causes Tommy to break. He’s so ashamed of himself that he can’t look at anyone. Tommy knows now that he is worse than anyone he’s ever hated.

With pain in his voice, he tries and fails to apologize to Tubbo in the moment. The only way he knows to redeem himself now is to prove to Tubbo, after everything, that he can still put the discs aside. And so he does.

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