randomness-is-my-order

[randomness-is-my-order]

the thing about weak hero class 1/2 is that it is ultimately the consequence of adults failing every single one of these kids at every single turn that basically makes this story possible. beomseok’s abusive adoptive dad, sieun’s differently negligent parents, the teachers at both the schools, yeongbin’s enabling parents, baku’s trash father, the lackadaisical policemen, the ceo, the teacher who didn’t bother investigating the truth behind things—all these different adults failing in various ways and making the system practically unlivable for the kids. none of them cared enough to put a stop to the mindless violence taking root all around them, some even actively aiding its progress with glee. they allowed such an environment to harbour where bullying was an expected reaction to weakness or timidness, where the hierarchy was ordered based on one’s ability to inflict violence. the grownups screwed up first, enabling the students to screw up later.

[randomness-is-my-order]

what gets me about baku is that he was THE strongest person in eunjang high and one of the strongest characters overall and yet he was so utterly defenceless against the vitriol of his father and the fractured relationship they shared and how it was sieun who was able to stand up to his trash dad and give him a piece of his mind and hearing this—this is what finally broke baku. we truly get to see how young he is when breaks down, when he realises his friends refused to give up on him, that sieun, this new, odd friend of his dared to go against the one person that had the ability to make him feel small.

[randomness-is-my-order]

can’t stop thinking about how sieun starts the season with this monologue: “what i have to do... i have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff. i mean if they’re running and don’t look where they’re going, i have to come out from somewhere and catch them” and it beautifully summarises what sieun ends up doing during the entire season. we get an impression at the start that sieun’s wading through the living world in a numb stupor but the moment the cracks show up, the moment someone is about to go over the line, sieun steps up and stops the violence before it can cross the point of no return. last season, we saw sieun exact his revenge but this season, sieun is avoidant of conflict and deadset on forgiving people if it can prevent further escalation (note that this isn’t even a new trait, sieun forgives beomseok, yeongbin and yeongi when they initially wrong him in season one).

he doesn’t actively fight hyoman because his objective was not to defeat the guy but to stop him from irreversibly damaging juntae. he advises baku about the unbreakable cycle of violence and how they HAD to end it. he refuses to back out of their search for baku because come hell or highwater, he wasn’t going to let a friend of his fall off that cliff edge and we know baku was hovering a little too close for comfort after joining the union. it was sieun who approached and mended things with hyoman and seongje despite both of them having wronged him and his friends because again, sieun isn’t trying to seek revenge at all. not even in their fight with baekjin. his goal was sketched out to us, plain and clear: sieun is trying to catch all these students wrapped up in the casual and cruel violence of the union and give them as safe a landing as possible.

(even the purposeful shot of sieun stopping gotak and walking into the final fight himself shows this; gotak’s knees would probably not have survived the intense fight).

i think what’s really important about sieun’s arc this season is that it is not just his guilt over suho that haunts him but he also blames himself for beomseok going over the cliff edge and him not being able to help him. he forgives himself twice this season. first is obvious: juntae’s words rid him of his guilt over suho and it’s the decisive moment that we know he will now not consider himself at fault for suho being comatose. the second instance of sieun forgiving himself, imo, is during his imaginary talk with beomseok while he himself in a coma. the boxing ring earlier held memories of both suho and beomseok and now only beomseok remains there, holding him down. but now, sieun is finally able to unburden himself of beomseok’s presence and his guilt over him. i think it’s very telling that his dream version of beomseok asks him whether his new friends are more important to sieun than him because that is exactly what beomseok himself would have dwelled over, given his insecurities. it just reiterates how well sieun understood beomseok but at the end of day, sieun realises that he needs to reconcile his past with his present and overcome the guilt so he can act on the philosophies he wants to follow. sieun forgives himself once more and accepts that beomseok is now out of his life and he has other friends he needs to worry about, friends he holds dear.

sieun’s been through this once. he knows what the consequences of repetitive grudges and violence are. the “happy” ending we got for season two wasn’t a fluke but a culmination of every small and big effort sieun took to safeguard this very ending. he really did catch so many from falling off the cliff.

[randomness-is-my-order]

ngl, sieun being hit by truck-kun somehow ended up being the best course of unfortunate events for his mental and physical well-being. because when his accident happens, what are the circumstances he is faced with? either go run and save gotak and juntae (he doesn’t expect baku to get there in time) or abandon them so he can reach the hospital because something is going wrong with suho. any choice he makes would leave him with guilt for the other party and if anything went wrong, it would weigh him down even more. just the choice alone would fuck with his mind and i was kinda scared of how he would deal with that decision but luckily, he never got to grapple with this crossroad because he got hit by a truck instead. it's like a twisted form of narrative grace forcing sieun into letting his mind and body finally, finally rest. the choice was made for him and sieun was spared choosing one friend over another. once he was out of his coma, an instant switch had been turned and we could see so much more life in his eyes. months of insomnia and his psyche haunting him but finally, he woke up—not just from a deep, recovering sleep but from the haze of the past holding onto him. it was beautiful and relieving and i never thought i’d say this about my favourite character being ploughed by a vehicle but here we are.

[randomness-is-my-order]

i’m like five minutes into weak hero class 2 and already heartbroken over the reputation sieun is saddled with—yeon sieun who’s so sweet and caring and loving under his numbness to the world, who brought his friend the soup he craved, who took a beating so suho’s birthday wouldn’t be ruined, who forgave beomseok even when he didn’t deserve it, who never wanted to be involved in fights or bother anyone, who went the extra mile to try and bust the frauds who were exploiting children and teens through their gambling game, who was undeniably warm and giving once you broke past his perfunctory shell. this yeon sieun is now considered a murderer at large. fuck. nothing like this series to get my crying my eyeballs out.

[randomness-is-my-order]

since weak hero class 2 is gonna come out very soon (finally!), i had to do some navel gazing with regards to season one and even after multiple watches of the show, i’ll always find the relationship between beomseok and sieun the most tragic fucking bond ever because amidst the massive fallout and very much foreground animosity that rose between beomseok and suho, sieun was the figure providing the most grace to beomseok, till the very end. sieun was the one who was sensitive and empathetic towards beomseok when his bullies targetted him again, when beomseok was undergoing a change of character, when beomseok revealed his home situation. as much as i love suho, the show made it a point to show his callousness towards beomseok’s bullying situation—in part because suho has never been at the bottom of the barrel due his strength and general personality; he does not understand because he has never been the weakest in the chain, but sieun knows, he understands. he’s aware of how bullies work, how they target any perceived weakness, how sometimes the one being bullied can’t do anything short of sacrificing their entire dignity and value system to make it stop (which isn’t always a guarantee anyway). how the one being bullied did not do anything “wrong” to provoke a reaction from the bullies, aside from existing.

the tragedy of season one is just how avoidable the final conflict was, if beomseok just tried to accept the concerned voice that was trying to help him, if he allowed himself to accept sieun’s care to soothe his insecurities over suho. it’s not that suho didn’t reach out—it’s that beomseok and suho were not speaking the same language. what beomseok did is inexcusable and i hope we never see him again and he gains no forgiveness or redemption but it fucking sucks that beomseok blamed suho for not understanding him but then ignored the one who was going the extra mile to meet him halfway, to offer help and empathy. till the last moment, sieun couldn’t bring himself to be violent towards beomseok (which was honestly the biggest metaphorical slap in the face the guy could receive) because how could he ever outdo and avenge the kind of rotten, sickening violence beomseok chose to employ towards his own friend? (and also because hitting him then would mean scores were being settled but what suho suffered through was in suspension and it did not deserve to have a definite resolution and also, beomseok’s too used to being hit for any mistakes/faults/flaws of his, when it is both deserved and underserved and sieun was, once again, being graceful in a painfully ironic manner by leaving beomseok unscathed but with a lesson that should rightfully scar his soul. he held back).

[randomness-is-my-order]

I've seen a lot of people say that if wwx was a girl jfm would've made her jc's betrothed, however I've always thought that he wouldn't do that because of wwx's social status, that said I'm curious as to what your thoughts on that are, because as I've said, your perspective regarding the book is always amazing!!

hi again!!!

honestly, any scenario in which wei wuxian and jiang cheng are hypothetically paired together is instant nightmare fuel. 😭

but considering your question: no, i don’t think jfm would plan this betrothal because how the hell would he convince madame yu? wei wuxian being a girl won’t change the “rumors” about her being jfm’s illegitimate child with cangse sanren and neither will it change wei wuxian’s capability with cultivating and her embodying the jiang spirit. instead of just being compared with jiang cheng, imo she’d also be pit against jiang yanli. the latter might be less intense, perhaps, but might be another cause for bitterness within madame yu.

thing is, in canon, there is no betrothal planned for jiang cheng, only yanli. maybe if lotus pier massacre hadn’t occured, jfm and madame yu would arrange jc’s marriage as well but it would be with a lady of some high status, so i do agree that wei wuxian’s social status would definitely be a major reason for this betrothal not happening.

i flat-out refuse to consider this situation somehow involving a besotted jiang cheng who would covet wei wuxian and thereby, somehow ask for a betrothal to be set up (genderbent!wwx would still choose lan wangji, obv).

wei wuxian had enough challenges to face in canon—but being a woman would just make it so much worse. i’m not even sure what her main purpose as a disciple in the jiang sect would be—as in jfm wanted wwx to be jiang cheng’s lifetime companion and subordinate but would a female wei wuxian be levied with the same expectation. would her marriage be planned within the clan so she would have to stay and help jiang cheng anyway? would being outclassed by a “girl” hurt jc’s ego even harder, alienating wwx from the clan faster and deterring even the thought of planning their betrothal for jfm? i mean, jfm had the good sense to understand that yanli and zixuan’s marriage wouldn’t have worked, at that point in time, so it stands to reason that he would notice this within jc and wwx as well. whether wei wuxian’s choice would matter in the equation is another question.

okay, enough rambling, my final answer is nope, jfm won’t plan this betrothal because 1) wei wuxian is the daughter of a servant like you said 2) madame yu’s existence. i do have more tangential thoughts—like the possibility of female wei wuxian being used for sect alliances after she’s gained a rep in the cultivation world or her being trained under madame yu to be her personal servant, only madame yu treats her personal servants kinda well so maybe not—but i’m gonna end it here because scatterbrained-ness is kicking in. fun question again, though, thanks!!

[randomness-is-my-order]

This may be a little too vent-y but I honestly don't get why people (in the fandom) act like the residents of Yunmeng commenting on what their sect leader does is "just hearsay." The reports of JC refusing to deliver aid unless there's been a death, yet having time to beat people up and capture "demonic cultivators" at will are reliable! They come from the people who are directly affected by JC's behavior and don't really have anywhere else to turn to, this isn't just gentry gossip against someone of lower social status! 😭

agreed lol. this is not vent-y at all btw and when it comes to this topic, i think we all deserve to let out some steam anyway. :P

we do know the reason as to why people try to conflate two different things to disregard unfavourable information about jiang cheng. it’s coming from fans of his character who don’t actually like the canonical version of him (pathetic, cowardly, irresponsible, misusing his authority) but the fanon characterisation (poor meow meow who’s just hiding a big heart under a prickly exterior). there is a delusion around that jiang cheng was actually a capable sect leader and respected by the people, when in reality, he was feared and criticised. there is a difference between firsthand, secondhand, thirdhand, fourthhand accounts of direct witnesses gaining some note of exaggeration versus malicious rumors purposefully spread with the intention of ruining someone’s reputation. the mob works both of these but they are not the same. the latter is what happened to wei wuxian primarily, the former is what might have happened to jiang cheng, but even that holds little weight when we have jin ling to corroborate these behaviours of jc.

denying what the book plainly tells us about jiang cheng, multiple times, won’t change the fact that he horribly abused his power to wrongfully and with prejudice, mete out punishment to supposed practitioners of demonic cultivation, nor will it change the fact that he was negligent towards the people his sect was supposed to preside over (this is a problem every other sect also has to deal with).

[randomness-is-my-order]

Your friends watching something for the first time and getting to that scene VS you, the knower.

[randomness-is-my-order]

People don’t understand the concept of liking two characters’ relationship in multiple contexts. They can be lovers in one setting and just friends in another, their dynamic doesn’t have to be consistent in every piece of art I make.

[randomness-is-my-order]

Book so good it deprives you from sleep, makes you walk twenty circles around the house, and causes an unhealthy attachment to a character you will never encounter again

[randomness-is-my-order]

blood over bright haven by m.l. wang

because good people can turn desperate when the horrors are upon them—especially people whose culture of plenty has left them with no systems to cope with scarcity or cataclysm. good people will turn monstrous when it’s down to their survival or someone else’s.

[randomness-is-my-order]

blood over bright haven THE standalone fantasy book of all time

[randomness-is-my-order]

'Dark Academia Fullmetal Alchemist' doesn’t exactly describe Blood Over Bright Haven. It’s not a ‘girl takes down the empire’ nor is it mystery or action. It’s a little of all of these things, but really thinking about it I've come to the conclusion that it’s best described as a fusion between a scathing criticism of American Imperialism and a power fantasy for people who really fucking hate their coworkers 

[randomness-is-my-order]

Magic systems contingent upon the suffering of others are SO delicious as narrative devices *chefs kiss*

[randomness-is-my-order]

SIGN UPS ARE NOW OPEN!

And we are full steam ahead, people! The Sign-Ups for the 2025 MDZS Big Bang are officially underway! We welcome Writers, Artists, Beta Readers, and any combination of the three to sign up now with the google forms below:

Writers, sign up here

Artists, sign up here

Beta Readers, sign up here

Pinch Hitters sign ups will open in May!

You are welcome to fill in more than one form, and you can sign up to be an Artist and/or Beta Reader for multiple projects. Please do consider the commitment that you are making though! While we will be running Pinch Hitter sign ups later on to fill in any gaps from drop outs - it’s much easier for continuity if that doesn’t have to happen. 

When you submit the form you’ll see a link to our discord which we encourage you to join, as this is where a lot of discussion will take place and where we’ll set up teams (if all members are on discord) unless we have an unexpectedly high turnout. You must be 18+ to join the discord.

Once you’ve submitted the form/s, welcome to the Big Bang! We encourage writers to start creating as soon as possible, as we’ll need details of your projects in April ready for claims. Remember, claims will be anonymous, so please keep your ideas quiet until after claims are finished. There are channels in the discord server dedicated to discussing your ideas in the meantime!

Artists and Beta Readers, you can relax until claims. In the meantime, why not tell your friends about the event, see if they’re interested in joining us! Reblog this post and spread the word - all are welcome!

If you need a refresher on event details, our schedule is here [mobile version], and our FAQ is here [mobile version]. Any other questions, do check our answered tag, and then feel free to send us an ask. 

We look forward to seeing what you all create!  Please bear with us as we experience any technical difficulties in running the discord server at present - we have done a cursory check and don't anticipate any major issues, but if you have any issues, feel free to bring it up in server or DM a mod!

-The Mod Team

[randomness-is-my-order]

the thing about jiang cheng’s relationship with jin ling is that it is not the sugar-coated caretaking film which people wish to see it through and this is besides the fact that jiang cheng was physically abusive towards jin ling. jc was not interested in imparting good values to jin ling or partaking in his upbringing in any meaningful manner. what he taught jin ling was violence and anger and his own abrasive and entitled world views. he exposed jin ling to his treatment of demonic cultivators for a substantial enough time for jin ling to have been desensitised to it in some capacity. his lessons to jin ling were about being indiscriminately ruthless to anyone who he perceived to practice demonic cultivation. jiang cheng wasn’t “raising” jin ling to be a good, upstanding individual but moulding him with his worst impulses and never once reflecting over what that meant for jin ling and his future. people citing jiang cheng’s displays of overprotectiveness (which themselves are a detriment to jin ling’s progress) as proof of jiang cheng being this caring, kind uncle is an oversight of how utterly careless jiang cheng is with jin ling. jiang cheng wielded his influence over his nephew quite callously and he did jin ling damage by trying to make him another wheel in his vehicle of violence and that is unrefutable.