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The mashup you never thought would work

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Oh my god, anyone realise that for Jiang Cheng to have had the comb to give to Wen Qing after Lotus Pier fell, he must have had it on him on the day which means...he regularly carried it around. This teenage boy who knew full well after the Qishan Indoctrination that the Wen were The Enemy and he wouldn't ever be allowed to be with Wen Qing carried that comb around with him because he presumably couldn't bear to put aside that symbol of his feelings. Remember the day Lotus Pier was sacked started out the same as any other day - even if Jiang Cheng anticipated trouble from the Wen at some point following the fiasco in the Xuanwu Cave, there's no way he could have known that by nightfall he would have lost his home, his parents and his sect and be on the run with his siblings with nothing but the clothes on their backs and whatever they carried with them. And so he carried that comb around next to his heart everyday, just like afterwards he would carry his love for Wen Qing despite her clan massacring his, despite being so traumatised he flinched from her in the supervisory office. He carried that love through the months after the sacking until he offered it to her along with the comb when he found her in that cell. And much later, when she followed him down from the Burial Mounds and returned it to him because she couldn't accept his love and his protection, not when she would have to leave her family behind, the freaking devastation on his face as she gave it back and the way he took it so reluctantly as if it physically pained him because his feelings hadn't ebbed at all...man, that comb encompassed so much. And it was a crying shame that they couldn't be together, that the world wouldn't let them.

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Me with Mr. Darcy

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Did this story as a play in high school, so when I saw this I fucking died🤣

Do we think there was no mention of baby Jiang Disciples at the Burial Mounds Round Two because:

1. They weren’t plot relevant at that specific moment so MXTX didn’t mention them even though they were there

2. Jin Guangyao knew Jiang Cheng would show up for Jin Ling, making kidnapping Jiang juniors superfluous

3. Jiang Cheng is so paranoid after what Jiaojiao did to littlest shidi and the massacre more generally that the Jiang babies have Jianghu stranger danger drilled into their very souls and it simply was not worth it.

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My heart breaks a little for Jin Ling as he desperately tries to find a reason why Wei Wuxian isn’t really Wei Wuxian…as much as I’m proud of him a well

He’s grown up with so much hatred for Wei Wuxian, believes that Wei Wuxian is most monstrous of unforgivable monsters. He can’t just accept that someone he’s grown to like, someone who’s protected him several times over, someone who actually apologized for hurting him, someone who just a few hours ago taught him how to defend himself against bullies, is that same Wei Wuxian. 

He can’t reconcile the “Mo Xuanyu” he’s gotten to know with the evils of Wei Wuxian he thought he knew as the truth.

So even when Jin Guangyao tricks Wei Wuxian into revealing his identity to the room (which everyone except Jin Ling and some extras knew anyway), Jin Ling is grasping for any straw to the contrary while he perfunctorily points his sword at Wei Wuxian. He and Nie Huaisang are the only ones who question Jin Guangyao’s claim, and while Nie Huaisang has several reasons and agendas for trying to cover up Wei Wuxian’s identity, Jin Ling’s defense is utterly without guile.

And even after Jin Guangyao “soothes” Jin Ling with how much he got “duped” by Wei Wuxian (how much of that is manipulation to better set Jin Ling against Wei Wuxian and how much, if any, is real sympathy…well, it’s hard to tell with Jin Guangyao), Jin Ling still isn’t fully turned against Wei Wuxian

Like, yes, he definitely stabs Wei Wuxian. But afterward…he can’t pursue him. His hand shakes on Suihua, his father’s sword – the father he believes Wei Wuxian murdered – before he drops it.

He’s wanted vengeance all his life, been told he wants it all his life, and when he finally gets a smidgeon of it…

It just hurts him.

What he’s been told all his life and what he’s learned for himself in the past few weeks are colliding, and what seemed so clearly black and white…is no longer quite so clear.

But whatever thinking he does between now and being kidnapped to the Burial Mounds, the next time he sees Wei Wuxian, it’s his experience of the truth – of the way Wei Wuxian cares about him, genuinely – that wins out in the end

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When you realise that Jiang Cheng's home is Wei Wuxian 🥺

insp.

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Oh my god, anyone realise that for Jiang Cheng to have had the comb to give to Wen Qing after Lotus Pier fell, he must have had it on him on the day which means...he regularly carried it around. This teenage boy who knew full well after the Qishan Indoctrination that the Wen were The Enemy and he wouldn't ever be allowed to be with Wen Qing carried that comb around with him because he presumably couldn't bear to put aside that symbol of his feelings. Remember the day Lotus Pier was sacked started out the same as any other day - even if Jiang Cheng anticipated trouble from the Wen at some point following the fiasco in the Xuanwu Cave, there's no way he could have known that by nightfall he would have lost his home, his parents and his sect and be on the run with his siblings with nothing but the clothes on their backs and whatever they carried with them. And so he carried that comb around next to his heart everyday, just like afterwards he would carry his love for Wen Qing despite her clan massacring his, despite being so traumatised he flinched from her in the supervisory office. He carried that love through the months after the sacking until he offered it to her along with the comb when he found her in that cell. And much later, when she followed him down from the Burial Mounds and returned it to him because she couldn't accept his love and his protection, not when she would have to leave her family behind, the freaking devastation on his face as she gave it back and the way he took it so reluctantly as if it physically pained him because his feelings hadn't ebbed at all...man, that comb encompassed so much. And it was a crying shame that they couldn't be together, that the world wouldn't let them.

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That quote about him being incapable of love is specifically from the scene where A-Yuan latches on to his leg and looks at him with his big puppy eyes. Yeah, novel Jiang Cheng couldn't muster up an ounce of empathy for a toddler. At least drama Jiang Cheng has more of a heart than that.

“Unfortunately, Jiang Cheng had no love in him at all.”

bonus:

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That explains the gorgeous set of white and black robes that Jiang Cheng wears to the core transfer too! I always wondered where such a nice outfit came from if they had lost everything. And the symbolism of Wei Wuxian giving up his core for his brother in the clothes of the man who took that core, while combining it with his brother's clothes, is just *chef's kiss* 

The Untamed costumes extra:

Someone else's clothes

Ok. I will be making a proper costume post at some point for these robes, but something just clicked and got stuck in my head so I had to get it out.

What I'm talking about is this set of robes Wei Wuxian wears during the time he and the Jiang siblings are hiding in the Yiling Supervisory Office after the massacre of Lotus Pier:

This outfit has been bugging me for some time, because it seems... off. Firstly, this is the only time we see Wei Wuxian wearing the Jiang purple. Purple that does not really sit very well with the rest of the outfit. Secondly, despite the colour of the robes (black with some red accents), the outfit is Definitely Not Wei Wuxian in style. I mean, the cape? The heavy pleating and the sheer excess of fabric? It doesn't sit right with what Wei Wuxian typically wears. He might wear many layers, but they are always more sleek in style than this. And thirdly, talking about sitting right, the robes do not somehow sit right on him, they more like just hang on him (off him?), like they would be somewhat too large, too wide for him and had just been gathered in with the belt:

So, I'm pretty sure Wei Wuxian is wearing someone else's clothes, but whose? Wen Ning would be the most likely one, but this set does not seem like something he would have, not even for formal occasions.

But today while making the latest collage post it just clicked. Who is the other person who typically wears black (and red) and who seems to like wearing capes? Yes. This guy:

The robes Wei Wuxian is wearing, or at least the outermost vest and cape combo, are pretty much exactly in Wen Zhuliu's style! I mean, just look:

And considering the difference in Wei Wuxian's and Wen Zhuliu's build, that is how Wen Zhuliu's robes would sit on Wei Wuxian. Wouldn't it?

But how in hell would Wei Wuxian end up wearing Wen Zhuliu's robes? It's not likely that Wen Zhuliu just decided to stash his spare robes in Yiling, after all. I think the answer is here:

Jiang Cheng's robes were pretty much ruined during his captivity, and by the time Wei Wuxian arrived at Lotus Pier to rescue Jiang Cheng, his clothes must have been pretty ripe after everything he'd gone through while wearing them.

So I can well see Wen Ning, being the considerate and capable cinnamon roll that he is, going to look for and pack some clothes for them while waiting for the drugged wine to take effect. Finding clothes for Jiang Cheng, including some sets of purple underwear, but failing to find clothes for Wei Wuxian. And then, knowing where Wen Zhuliu was bunking, going and raiding his wardrobe to get Wei Wuxian something in black (because of course Wei Wuxian needs something in black!).

So now I'm stuck with the headcanon that the outfit Wei Wuxian wears in Yiling (and when he goes to the golden core transfer!) is a mishmash of Jiang underwear and sash (Jiang Cheng's underwear?) and Wen Zhuliu's Sunday robes. Help. Though there is a kind of weird poetry to that...

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And then there’s the other end of the spectrum where said local does speak English but it comes as a total shock to the white tourists. 

To set the stage: I am a brown-skinned South Asian who did not live outside my country of origin until I was 19 and left for uni. Due to Reasons (i.e. British colonisation) there is a minority community here concentrated in the urban centers who speak very fluent English and imbibe Western pop culture. Many of the people I grew up with speak English far better than our native language and could name all the One Direction boys but be unable to name a single musician from within our local music industry, that’s how far removed we are from our own culture. So whenever I bumped into tourists as a kid or teen, I could converse with them in fluent English, no problem. 

And inevitably, at some point in the conversation I would hear these words: “Your English is so good.”

Every. Single. Time. 

And it wasn’t just me either. Plenty of people I know from within my community have seen the same surprise from white tourists. And it always annoyed me to no end because hey, it is my mother tongue just as much as it theirs. No need to be so surprised that a brown person from a third-world nation can speak English, Barbara. Your racialised elitism is showing. 

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The one who posted the lemon picture is Diogenes

Shocking how many people don’t know that hens lay non-fertilized eggs and think the yolk they’re eating is a baby chicken

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Reblog this to prove your blog was made before the February 2022 tumblr resurgence

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WARNING!!!!

People, please be careful. There are also people tracking children and people and putting bids on them based on their profile pictures on whatsapp, tracking and kidnapping them. Especially young children, so please be cautious, especially parents who have their children as their profile pictures.

Please pass this on to everyone so that they are aware of the danger. I don’t how it is all around the world but I know it can’t just be here so please please spread the word. Thank you.