#GIVE US SOME TRUTH UNCLE TONG

[waitmyturtles]

Okay, I’ll try to be quick about this. I’ll do it in list form to set some ground rules and get my analysis going.

(I am arguably very frustrated overall about what I’m about to write, because of how excellent The Eighth Sense was, and watching this was just a bit of a downer, man.)

1) I will own that at this point, I might be the only The Promise apologist on this site. I might have led friends astray at this show. For that, I offer a 90-degree wai of apology. I gotta check the tag, but I wouldn’t be surprised. 

(Senpai @respectthepetty...I’ll watch The Shipper as self-punishment.) 

2) Yes, Phu DEFINITELY sucks. BUT, there’s a but that I’ll get to in a sec.

3) For the first time in this show, I am actually frustrated by the pace. 

4) Party definitely rules, Mr. Sassy.

Alright, all that out of the way, get ready to hear why, once more, even I surprise myself by saying, I STILL like this show, but we’re on shakier ground. The Promise, episode 7, here we go:

We’ve now established two social rules by which Nan and Phu operate: 

a) Phu is afraid of loss, 100%. He’s scarred by his father’s death, and doesn’t want to lose anymore people in his life, especially his best friend. 

(HOW that equated to him RUNNING AWAY for 10 YEARS is STILL unclear to me, but I SUPPOSE that if Nan can STILL wait for an answer, then WE, as the audience, are expected to wait, TOO, which I THINK, dear director Khom Kongkiat/Uncle Tong, is ASKING a little MUCH of US, BUT ANYWAY)

b) Nan has said this shit in the past and present about how he wants FRIENDS, and separates that from LOVERS. And Phu is all up in his confusion about that.

I mean, I think I can get that those are legitimate reasons why Phu continues to hold back from revealing his truth to Nan.

But, fuckin’ GO PARTY. Party is like.... what the fuck, dude? Just come out and say it!

AND: Party put himself out there! He put himself out on the line! He revealed himself to Nan! Nan rejected him. But guess what? They’re still gonna be friends! PHU SAW ALL THAT!

Will Phu NOT be satisfied IF Nan rejects him? I mean, Phu will be sad, but... can’t they be like Party and Nan, and still be friends? NO? 

On the one hand, I say: WHAT THE FUCK? Phu -- you are REALLY hyping this up! Why should everything be 100% with you?

On the other hand, I say: My socio-emotional read is that because Phu experienced the death of a loved one at an early age, things might HAVE to be 100% with him. 

I just don’t know if Uncle Tong is weaving this complicated and emotional story as well as he could be at this point. I don’t know how efficient each episode is at selling the skincare. I absolutely loved the focus on the coffee farm and the process of the beans and everything. I love, love those slices of village life. It very much harkens to P’Khom’s actual role in Bad Buddy, and obviously goes to show how much he wants to profile these slices of Thai village life. I love those parts.

But at this point, as I said last week, we’ve waited too long. We need clarity. I get we have three episodes at an hour each, but the pace has now started to drag. I love what this show gives by way of a respect of the rural life these guys come from, but the imbalance is there among Devonte commercials/life in Chiang Mai/Granny and how she’s there to explain who Phu really is/Nan’s patience. 

It’s not quite working anymore. I’m gonna stick out this show, because who knows if Uncle Tong can give us a huge and surprise ending, and there are only three episodes left, anyway.

But seriously, Nan is getting fuckin’ seriously played, and like, I think Phu is not as dumb as he’s being written. Maybe Phu’s read is that he thinks Nan is a lot stronger than Nan actually is. I don’t know. I just don’t know why Phu would play his homey like this for SO LONG. WHY DID PHU COME BACK, ONLY TO ATTEMPT TO RUN AWAY AGAIN. 

Yes, you’re held back by your demons, but -- maybe it would have been best if Phu had just permanently stayed away. 

Come on, Uncle Tong. PLEASE clean up this mess. I HAVE HOPE.

[transpat]

ep 12 as a sequent to ep 8 and pranpat's decision

i think many ppl that are upset about pranpat's ending are ones that have terrible parents but aren't asian. and ur allowed to dislike it, to be upset about it, this isn't to say ur not. but i wish they'd stop calling the ending pointless or gmmtv's bait or character development being negated or whatever. bc its not. whether it's been interpreted as such or no, it is a happy ending. this isn't just a love story you've been watching, it's a v asian love story about two thai boys so ofc this kind of ending is the one that makes sense. it makes me upset bc this is a story told by a gay asian man for other gay asian kids, and every step in the story making process was a carefully thought out, conscious decision. this story was meant to give us the message of hope, that things will be alright, not now necessary, but once ur grown. and that was a message i really needed to hear.

onto our leads: pat was the kind of person who didn't like hiding, while pran was the kind to hide behind his lies and secrets. pat didn't lie bc he found them pointless having never dealt w the consequences of the truth, while pran too hated lying but knew he had no other choice to protect himself.

but pat doesn't actually mind lying or hiding. he does this again and again when he tells his father he'll play rugby, when he tries to hide the truth from uncle tong. pat recognizes where the truth can be conflicting and will hide it, while its pran who inherently hates lies. pran won't lie unless its to protect. pat won't speak his truth unless its necessary, unless it matters to him. and pat has few things that truly matter to him. that's why he hates hiding pran so much. bc pran is the most imp piece of his life, pran is his past, present and future, pran is a half of him. and pat can't lie if it means concealing parts of him, bc to him that's an act of injustice towards himself.

in ep 8, pat doesn't mind lying to his father at all, bc here he knows its necessary. then he's discovered and for the first time he's faced consequences, i.e., his dad's disappointment. and thru that we're shown how much power his father holds over him. in ep 12, he still doesn't mind lying to his father, but this time it's bc he's lost that kind of respect for him. its bc he doesn't think he owes his father the truth anymore, that his father isn't a big enough person for it. and this itself is growth. earlier, even when pat knew his father was wrong, even when his father would push him into doing things he didn't like, pat wouldn't argue, would simply nod along. bc he put his father above everything else.

the revelation caused his veneration for his father to plummet, but its not the revelation itself that causes pat to set boundaries w his father. its how in spite of it being in the open now - that ming caused the family feud and all - this man still won't set his ego aside and allow pat to be w pran. its that heartbreaking moment where u first see ur parent in clear lights, and realize they're not even close to the divinity u imagined they were, that they're just some nasty, ugly human. and so pat doesn't care about lying to him anymore. he doesn't deserve pat's truth. for the pat who asked pran if he should quit the play for his father to become the pat who works for his father but not with him - that itself is growth. tossing his father down that pedestal finally was pat's development.

then, from pran, he learns that hiding this from others doesn't make him less true to himself. when pran tells him about his intent to become a musician in the future, pat learns that sometimes swallowing ur truth isn't an act of violence towards urself, but one of defiance towards the world. that if ppl refuse to accept a part of u, its pointless to tire urself out fighting them, its okay to bury that part of urself for the time being. it isn't ur loss, its theirs. he learns his love isn't larger if it's announced to the world, and can be just as humongous when its silent, that shouting his love from rooftops can be cathartic but isn't absolutely necessary in order to substantiate it.

also in ep 8, we see pran reacting violently to public hand-holding, to pat taking pictures of them, to pat posting stories that are too revealing, to pat wearing his shirt in open. its his fear, here, that everything will be snatched from him if they reveal it, that he'll lose pat again if someone were to find out and he can't tolerate the idea of it, won't confide to pat the depth of his fears, so it ends up as a conflict btw the two. in ep 12 thou? pran will hook his pinky with w pat amongst a throng of unknowing friends, pran and pat have a whole picture wall in their flat, pran sends alcohol to pat's father, pran allows pat's laughter to boom across a room just a floor above his mother.

pran's no longer afraid. he knows nothing in the world could separate him and pat, he knows this won't end in heartbreak, so he's the one that becomes unabashedly open. he continues to lie like he always has, but where he'd leave his guitar outside their home for his mother, he serenades pat into his room now. more than lying, he's taunting. its that conversation he had w his mother from ep 10: about asking for but hating the truth. its the culmination of that: now pran lies to her, then openly goes behind her back to say 'this is what u wanted, r u happy to see me live life on ur terms?'

pran lived his whole life locked in the safety of a shell he'd built around himself. by the time he realized the shell was weakening his heart more than it was shielding it, he'd forgotten how to crawl out of it. its pat who guides him back out, one step at a time. pat becomes his knight in shining armor, rescues him from the locked tower. its from pat that he learns to vocalize his feelings, pat who doesn't lash out at him unexpectedly, who simply imbibes his truth. its pat who teaches him that sharing ur load w others isn't burdening them, but lightening each of ur loads. pat is the one who taught him that it's possible for him to be accepted just as he is - with all his beauty and ugliness intact - the way he's always accepted others.

ep12 was such a perfect mirror to ep8. where pat couldn't bear to keep them a secret and pran was too afraid of being found out, pat now learns their love doesn't need to be announced to the world to remain valid or for them to stay true to themselves, while pran understands why pat wanted to be loud about his relationship, he's the one who doesn't hold his laughter, the one to send his father-in-law gifts.

pat still resents that he can't enter thru the front door. and pran still prefers keeping romance to themselves, unwilling to share it w their high school friends just yet. but this time its out of his own choice not his fear, this time pat accepts bc he too finds this game fun, not bc he thinks its a sacrifice he needs to make for pran.

they've reached a middle ground, one they've had to repeatedly built being such different ppl. they're good at it when it's just the two of them, when they haven't been forced out in the open. they take small, small unrushed steps towards the other, going at their own pace. pran adds a fourth wonton to his noodle soup and pat tidies their bed in the morning. pran cooks for them and pat's the designated driver. when it's btw the two of them, there's no real obstacle in their path, bc for how different they are from each other, they're just as willing to reach a compromise.

so its alright. they both know this isn't permanent. they're no longer financially dependent teens that have to return to their parents. once pran comes back from singapore, i doubt they're gonna keep this lie up much longer (esp w marriage on the table). once pran returns home, they'll probably bring the other home and be like, 'yeah lol we got back together' and their parents won't be able to do shit about it (nor would they want to).

no, this isn't a sad ending for them. to go back to keeping a secret that was hurting them, bc now it doesn't hurt them, now its on their own terms. they're from a society where shunning parents - who aren't outright criminals - would make them bad ppl, where they're told to live their lives the way their parents want for as long as they're under their roof. and so pran and pat obey. defiantly.

what's important is that they don't do so for society or their cultural values or even their parents. if they'd chosen to temporarily breakup they wouldn't be able to carry on w/o each other. if they'd chosen to keep fighting, they'd be the ones who'd suffer. and when they'd return to each other battered , the sharp splinters of their broken bones would cut the other. it'd lead to fights like in ep 8 and ep 11, fights caused by their inability to separate themselves from the very external factors they're defying. in doing so, they'd put their love on stake, their love would dim carrying the blunt of those blows.

what pran and pat did was choosing each other, choosing their love above everything else. ofc it was a sacrifice they had to make, returning to hiding when neither of them wanted that. but they also no longer mind. ofc its unfair that'd they'd have to return to that after fighting so much. but its bc they've fought so many battles, they knew that wasn't a war they were prepared to win. they knew they'd get hurt again and again, they'd have to watch the other in pain too. and their sacred, euphoric love would be torn apart till it would turn into smth possibly irredeemable. so they readily made that sacrifice. they put cherishing their love over all else, even their freedom. they chose each other above everything else. that was their happy ending.

p.s. also want to point out that in asian cultures all forms of love center around compromise and sacrifice. whatever path pran and pat took they'd end up sacrificing smth - forsaking either their parents or each other. compared to that their freedom was a much smaller price. the ideal to us would be the parents acceptance, while to western audiences it'd be fighting or abandoning their parents. the latter really isn't much of a choice to us, fighting is tiring, abandoning is impossible when there's so much love interwoven w that pain. the former wasn't immediately possible bc p'aof wants us to know that pran and pat's parents are not good ppl, their love for their children isn't above their pride. they're not good ppl but pran and pat love them, that's why this was the best outcome.

[gaitwae]

Mistletoe •||• Loki x Female Reader

Tag List: @winterfrostsarmy @twhiddlestonsstuff @lucywrites02

+-+--

“Y/N, babe?” you hear your boyfriend, Jerry Allen, say. He had a sort of superpower that let him go to other realities. In his original reality, he was the quickest man alive. “Could you help me put up the Christmas lights?”

You smile and nod. “Of course! Just let me finish spiking some eggnog for Thor. Uncle Tony and Aunt Pepper will be here soon . . . I can’t believe all of the Avengers are coming.”

Jerry grins. “Well, the Avengers are practically family. After Tony basically adopted you, they totally count.” He zooms through the living room, putting up the rest of the other decorations.

“Jerry, I was fifteen when I met Tony. That was ten years ago, I don’t think that counts as adoption,” you laugh softly. You helped him string up the Christmas lights, secretly hoping that your favorite uncle’s friend, Thor, would bring someone else to the party. You mean, he was practically your best friend. He had to show up and play just a few holiday pranks.

Your quickster boyfriend shrugs. “Whatever. And, uh, put up some mistletoe. That will be interesting.”

Mistletoe? Pffft, no one was going to fall for that. You sigh, putting it up, anyway. The only person you could think of who was unfortunate enough to even accidentally stand under it would be Bruce. You giggle gently. You would bail him out if that happened.

But what if he came? Oh, goodness. You didn’t think he knew about mistletoe. Would you still kiss him, despite having a boyfriend? Despite your promise never to fulfill your secret desires?

There’s a knock at the door. Jerry speeds to open it as you finish tying up the plant to the ceiling. You hear a voice at the door, and your heart flutters against your will.

“(Y/N),” they sing. You groan, but quickly smile anyway. You loved him, and that was that.

“Tony!” you laugh, running into his arms and helping him with presents. You move to hug Pepper. She hugs back. You hug Nat and Steve and Bruce, even seeing that Clint and Bucky showed up. They did with simple handshakes — they never were ones for major affection.

When you let go, huge arms pull you into a hug. How could you have missed him? You smile widely. Thor.

“Sister Y/N! Thank you for inviting us!” Thor’s voice booms. You return the embrace, though you’re finding it hard to breath. Sister? Usually he called you ‘Lady’ or just Small One. Never ‘Sister.’ What was going on?

It seemed like Tony and Steve and Pepper noticed it, too. “Why the sudden name change?”

Thor was about to say something, but quickly shook his head. “Nothing,” he says, like you all couldn’t already tell it was a lie. The four of you glare. “I’m under oath,” he tells you, walking away into the living room.

You roll your eyes. You were seriously starting to wish Loki were here. You blush as some simple fantasies flew into your head at the mere mention of the God of Lies. Such things you’d never let Jerry find out about, much less experience with him. Things that made you melt like butter on a thousand degree knife.

You sat down, a light haze making your head spin and cracking a smile on your face. Man. When you described the trickster as a god, there really wasn’t much exaggeration. His long black hair and his bright green-blue eyes made him look so regal. His smile was dazzling. You completely agreed with his sense of humor. You rested your head on your fist.

His lips looked so soft. You almost wanted to taste them. His hair was begging to be braided. And, norns forbid, those arms of his would cuddle amazingly. You were practically dying to find out. You hummed softly and let out a lovesick sigh. I wish you were coming.

“Y/N. You okay? You’re zoning out, kiddo,” Tony chuckled. Your heart skipped and sat up, heart pounding in your chest. What if Tony found out about your more-than-a-crush crush on Loki?

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine.” You cleared your throat. As smart as your “uncle” was, he would probably figure out soon. You didn’t think that would really end well. He arched an eyebrow at your statement, but didn’t press much about it. “You need something?”

“Thor spilled the beans — if you wanna hear it.” He smirks and rests his hand on his knee, getting ready to stand up. “But apparently he can’t say all of it without you.”

“Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“He didn’t say anything. You just wanted to find out what I was thinking about. Didn’t you?” Tony looked somewhat shocked, to say the least. You give him an exasperated glare. He smiled and shrugged.

“Caught me, kiddo. Is Pete coming?” He looked around. You could tell he was worried. You pointed to the door, which burst open with a Spider-Man in a Christmas hat.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND HAVE A WEBBY NEW YEAR!” He set his hands at his hips and dropped the bag of presents he had. You laugh and run to hug your younger friend.

“Peter! You made it,” you smile. He takes off the mask, grinning. His eyes sparkle with his eagerness and excitement.

“Of course, I did. Had to do some last minute shopping for Mr. Stark, but all’s good.” He chuckled and rubbed his hands together. “This Christmas is gonna be so sweet!”

You roll your eyes. “Go sit down,” you laugh. You look out the door and see snow gently falling, but no Loki. You didn’t know how much you really wished he would be here until you figured he wasn’t coming. I miss you.

You looked toward where Jerry was. Thor and Tony glared at him. Nat was giving her fake smile. Bruce was fiddling with something in his hands. You felt bad for Jerry. You knew that you were a distraction from his real love, Tulip, but she was dating one of his co-workers.

“Darling, why stay with that quickster? I know who you really want, and it isn’t him. It never was.” You knew that voice. Oh no. Within a fifty mile radius, you could hear people’s thoughts without physical contact, as long as they were directed toward you. You gulped as his thoughts and mind reading powers mixed with yours.

You weren’t invited, Loki, you think back. You could tell he was amused by that statement. He knew the truth. He was in his mind, just as you were now in his. You wanted him to come, and he knew it.

“Based off of your current train of thought, love, I would say I was. Tell me that book you wanted, again?” You light up immediately.

You can’t be serious! Really? You’re coming?

“Of course I am. Are you going to tell me the title or not?” You quickly tell him the correct name of the book, getting giddy just thinking about seeing him. Your face is hot and your hands are shaking. You can almost hear his snickering and your smile falters some. There was a knock on the window.  You look. “Oh, good. Now. Open the door?” he calls, his voice muffled by the glass.

You were sure that you died. He played you. He waved through the window, and here you were, thinking that he was just on his way. You growl at him and stomp out to the door and open it. The air is cold and crisp and bites at your ears and makes your skin erupt with goosebumps. “Loki!” You shout so loud that he winces. So much for godly ears.

He turns around and grins at you. He opens his arms out for a hug, and to also take credit for such a cruel prank. You roll your eyes, punching his stomach lightly. He makes a face, but before he can truly say anything, you hug him tightly. “You’re so mean,” you whine into his shoulder, feeling him hug you back with just as much force.

He chuckled and sighs. “Am I?” he playfully mocks back. You groan, shutting your eyes. You breathe in his sweet scent. What was it? Peppermint? Ice? You didn’t care. It was Loki. “I knew you would start wondering where I was.” You play with the soft, silly strands of his raven hair. You longed to tangle your fingers in the locks.

He pulls back some. “Shall we go in? I assume you don’t quite like the cold.”

“Of course, you big silly!” You sigh and hop away. “Let’s go!” You gently take his hand and pull him. Then you stop and think: What if I get caught?

He interlaced your fingers. “Darling, I can tell you that only two people in that house know what’s really going on, and that’s Thor and Tony Stark.” He smiled. “Please. You know me better than anyone. Everybody will just think I’m playing another prank.”

You gulp and nod. Sure. Why not? You smile and gesture for him to take the lead. He starts running, not even giving you time to find footing. Before you know it, you’re sliding through the door, laughing and trying to get your hand back. “Loki! Oh, norns! Stop!” you scream with joy.

“What’s the magic word?” he dares, now picking you up. You let out a shout. He holds you like a knight would a princess, but you hope that the cold air from outside was enough of an excuse for your blush.

“Please?” That was your guess, but knowing him, it wasn’t it. He shakes his head. He thinks a sentence to you: In the end you’ll always . . . what?  “Just let me go!” you beg, kicking your legs some. You’re holding on for dear life because oh my goodness he was tall!

“If you want me to just drop you—” he tries, loosening his grip as he says it. You yelp.

“Kneel! I’ll kneel!” you say, finally giving in. He gently sets you down. You try to punch his shoulder but he catches your fist. He smirks. You roll your eyes and get on your knees. He shakes his head and makes a dramatic sigh.

“Dearest brother, has our friend Jerry Allen been informed about, ah, the current situation?” He looks over to Thor, who’s smirking. You were so confused. You gulp.

“Shall I inform our most loveliest of hosts that she’s under mistle-tong?” You blush insanely. Loki . . . ! The dumb trickster! He takes your hands and swooshed you into his arms, moving under the mistletoe, too. He’s cupping your face and bringing you closer and closer to his. You’re resisting the urge to melt, and he hasn’t even kissed you, yet.

He looks lovingly at you. For a moment, you wonder if it’s really just a dream. “Admit that you love me,” he whispers, almost begging you to confirm this.

You pull back and rest your hands on his shoulders. His other hand is on your hip. “What am I supposed to say? I wanted everyone I love here with me tonight, if possible.”

“So you are in love with me?” He smirked widely and you leant in more than you meant to. He grins. “Finally.” You blush and try to push him away some. He looked almost overjoyed. He was right: You were in love with him. Deeply. But there were so many people you didn’t want to hurt.

“I-I don’t know what you mean!” you sputter, but your arms snake around his neck. “I love Jerry.” Dumb excuse, yes, but you were trapped. Loki had caught you, quite literally. Not to mention he was digging around in your mind.

“About as much as you love my brother. Could we stop this ridiculous cat and mouse?” Loki asked. You sigh.

“Jerry knows, right?” You bite your lip, feeling Loki hold you even closer. Your noses touched. He smirks, and you resist the urge to look behind you when you hear Jerry’s soft laugh.

“Well, if he didn’t, he does now. And he seems fine with it.” You sigh. You look up at Loki, cupping his face toward yours.

“Good. Now kiss me, before I go nuts.” He happily pressed his lips to yours, holding you close. You kissed back with relief and excitement and as much love as you knew how to.

[evathenovice]

☕ Give us one (or more if you feel like it) of your OCs deep dark secrets! Why do they keep it hidden? Spill the tea! 🥀 Has your OC ever been hurt by someone they love? Ever been betrayed? Abused? Attacked? Give me the angst! (if you’d like, write a short drabble about it!)

☕ - 

Eva knows how to make people hurt....She knows where to hit, what potions can make a person feel like they are being eaten from the inside, and how to make people fear crossing her. The ways to damage they body so a person thinks they are dying, but are barely shedding any blood. She of course, keeps this hidden because it is not a part of herself that she likes and also brings connections to her family that are meant to be under wraps unless absolutely necessary. 

🥀 - 

Oh yes, Eva has been hurt deeply by a love of her life before. (Drabble bellow) 

“Unchiule! What is going on?” Eva huffed as she was tugged by the wrist through the throng of yurts that the family and allies lived in. “I need to get this powder to  Can you at least let me do that?” She demanded as her uncle kept silent and pulled her towards a yurt on the outskirts of the rest... the black yurt... “T-This must be serious...” Eva mumbled.  Gabriel as an older man, with grey strands peppering his side burns and in a few wisps of his almost pitch black ruby hair. Wordlessly he pulled his niece into the punishment yurt, only then releasing her wrist. He stepped aside with arms folded, his piercing green eyes staring at the one accused, who was currently tied to a chair, a guard at either side of him.  “Micharu!” The young woman gasped, running to kneel in front of him, taking his face in her hands to examine is already swelling eye and broken nose. With a throaty growl, Eva stood and turned to her elder, “How dare you? What could my betrothed have possibly done to find himself in the shadow yurt?! Untie him right now!”  “I cannot do that, little bird” Gabriel’s deep tones came out soft, full or remorse, though the hate in his eyes grew every brighter as he continued to stare at the young man tied up, “He has broken a bond and must be punished.” “And what bond is that may I ask?!” Eva’s own arms folded to match her uncle’s posture. 

“...Yours little bird...” 

Those words hit like a tidal wave of ice on Eva’s anger, filling her chest with stabbing pain... hers? her bond.. how... “T-That’s not true...h-he and I.. we are to be married in the spring and-”  “Seems he could not wait till spring to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh,” Gabriel cut her off, “The two men there? they are witness of what he is accused of...” Slowly turning herself back to face Micharu, it was hard for her to take her eyes off him enough to look at the two men standing on either side of the chair... Togda... and his son Varu... Emarie’s father and brother. “They caught this fox in the hen house so to speak. Laying in bed with Emarie after weaving lies of calling off your engagement and ... and marrying her instead....” 

It was cruel, and he knew it, to be so blunt about what had occurred, so straight forward. But Gabriel also knew if he did not, his little niece would come up with any kind of excuse in her head to heal her heart, and not believe that her fiancé was the filthy pig he was. 

“That’s not... h-he wouldn’t.... I....” The redhead found it hard to speak... hard to breathe, around the lump in her throat that would come back with a vengeance every time she tried to swallow it down. Her body moved, though she didn’t remember trying to, to stand in front of Micharu, “Look at me...” even her voice didn’t not sound like her own... “Look...at.. me.. now”

Like a cowering dog he did, his breath shaky and lip quivering as the pain and anger started to come off her aura in waves. Hell aura or not, those eyes spoke enough for him to know his life was in her hands. 

“Is it true... tell me by vow of your own blood, if what you are accused of is true” The darkness that flowed through her words promised pain if he lied, and anguish if he told the truth. Either way, there was no escaping the payment due for his actions. 

“I was not going to c-call it off.. I.. I just... I was a fool and....” It sounded painful for the young man to talk, probably from the cracked ribs, or perhaps the need to breathe through his mouth since his nose was smashed. He lowered his head in shame and started to blubber, words of sorry on his breathe, with some hope his pitiful state would touch on his fiancée’s  kinder nature. 

Quietly, Eva pulled off her engagement ring and laid it in her palm, rolling it around, the admiration she had for it before replaced with disgust. She brought it to the fire pit tossing it in and making eye of where it was in the hot coals, she needed to remember where it was as it was touched by the flames.  

“So you laid with another... defiled another, while your heart was given to me” She returned to in front of the accused, “You confess?” More simpering and sobbing was all that came with the shaking nod. 

Her hand tingled from the slap she gave across his head, and was displeased by the small grunt of pain she got. 

“Ține capul sus!” she barked the command with acid on her tongue. To which Varu was quick to obey, grabbing Micharu’s hair and yanking back so he was looking up at the angered daughter of the Forsyth blood. Perfect; it was a better angle.  Forehand, backhand, back and forth Eva slapped the man who she had loved with all her might. The sobs and wails of pain didn’t seem to satisfy. Even when she felt the sickening crunch of his already broken nose across her palm and the blood that seeped out of it wasn’t enough. She wanted a scream, pure anguish; the pain in her heart needed to be felt by his flesh. 

“Unchi Gabriel.” her voice was calm, low and full of a strange lull, “the tongs?” She turned back to the fire, kneeling down and hunting with her eyes for that engagement ring that she had left to nest in the coals.  Wordlessly he handed her the fire pit tool, watching with solemn eyes, and yet a proud smirk on his face.  Picking the glowing metal out of the fire, Eva gave pause. It looked so pretty, glowing like an ember of her hate. “His hand... would you?” She looked over at her uncle who gave a small nod, walking over to the culprit of his niece’s broken heart. Pressing his thumb into MIcharu’s wrist he hand his hand raise palm up. No amount of thrashing or saying her name was saving the young man as he stared at the glowing ring being hung over his hand.  “Micharu,” She said in melancholy sigh, “I am afraid I must decline your proposal.” She let the ring free to fall onto his waiting hand.  The screaming did not give her pause, the smell did not make her regret. No, Eva made sure as soon as the ring touched his hand to close his fingers around it, forcing his fist to embrace the hot metal. A sneer of disgust left her lips as he vomited from the pain, only then did she take a step back and let his hand go limp. 

“Now, he has dishonored your family...” she said to the two men who had helped keep the dishonored one from resisting, “I leave the rest of his fate to you, in accordance to tradition.” she bowed her head quickly and made a march out of the yurt. 

“Well done little bird,” she didn’t want the praise though, didn’t want any more words or touches... her feet picked up pace, faster and faster she walked away from the yurt, till it was a full on sprint away, her heart pounding and hot tears falling. 

It kept going, till she stumbled and fell to her hands and knees, and it didn’t matter that she was surrounded by the women of the clans who followed after her, nor did it matter the words of comfort they gave. All that Eva could find the strength to do as she wept, was let out the scream of a freshly damaged heart. 

[sincerelyreidburke]

Day 24: Nochebuena

A very happy Christmas Eve to those of you for whom that is important! (I’m among you.) We are quite literally hours away from Christmas, and I come to you now with the second to last fic for the 25 days of Kiersey.

In Mexican culture, and most other Latin American cultures as well, Christmas Eve, known as the Good Night or Nochebuena, is the biggest celebration of the Christmas season, surpassing even Christmas Day itself. For this ficlet, I’m taking you for a return into Nando’s backstory, but only about eight months before his arrival at Kiersey. We’ll look at the Christmas Eve of his senior year of high school here, and see some of his family members again, most notably his papa.

An obvious trigger warning for this one: this ficlet is set within the period of time when Nando’s papa is sick with cancer. Not only that, but Nando does a good deal of ruminating on that very fact during what you’re about to read. If that may be triggering for you, you might want to skip out on this one.

I’ll see you tomorrow— and have fun with the Hernandez family.

//

Nando’s senior year of high school

december 24th, 2017

 Sebastián wants this to be a normal Christmas.

After all, Christmas— with all its associated festivities— is his favorite holiday, always has been. And he loves the way his family celebrates it; the Hernandez family goes hard at the holidays, especially at Nochebuena. It’s tonight, the night before Christmas Day, that’s always his favorite of all. They all gather at someone’s house, cousins and aunts and uncles and immediate family all in one place; this year, Sebastián’s own parents are hosting, so he didn’t even have to leave home to celebrate. All night, they enjoy each other’s company, dancing and giving gifts and waiting for Midnight Mass, but most importantly, they cook— for nearly the entire day, Papa and Tio occupy the kitchen, and they go straight on until dinnertime. The past few years, Sebastián, too, has gotten to help, working alongside them just like he does in the restaurant after school.

It’s tradition. It’s family. It’s supposed to be the same, year after year.

Sebastián doesn’t want this year to be any different.

It’s like there’s an elephant in the room— well, an elephant in the kitchen— and either everybody is ignoring it on purpose, or nobody cares. Sebastián guesses he’s being stupid about it. Papa is sick, and he’s gotten well used to that fact, has gotten over the denial and accepted it as truth, and him being sick isn’t going to magically disappear just because it’s Christmas.

Sebastián wonders if it’s only himself, thinking about it, if everyone else has somehow managed to block it out of their minds because it’s Christmas, and why would you think about that on Christmas, even when it’s right here, staring you in the face in your own house—

It’s just… it hasn’t been a very easy year. But Sebastián can’t be selfish. That’s not what Christmas is about. So he’s in the kitchen, helping prep for dinner.

“Here, Sebastián.” Papa seems okay. In good spirits, at least. With a pair of tongs, he pulls a hunk of fatty pork out of a big pot on the stove, and plops it down on a cutting board. “Could you trim this for me, please?”

“Sure!” Sebastián can do this— he can do all of this, all of the cooking, knows these recipes like the back of his hand. He wishes everything else could be as easy as the cooking.

While he trims the pork, he watches Papa in the corner of his eye. He and Tio work side-by-side, just like they do in the restaurant. They speak in low voices, discussing dinner plans. Sebastián feels a little left out, but he knows they don’t mean to leave him. He tries to insert himself anyway. “What time is everyone else coming?”

Here’s the rest on ao3!

[forgedwild-arch]

@copiesofme​​ done reckon’d : “Wow. So what are you making. Can I help? What is that- is that an anvil? Can I hit it? Is this your hammer? Do you have a list of favorite hammers? Which is your third favorite hammer? How hot does it have to be before metal looks like sunshine. Where is-“ (have a baby Dolores who’s holding some of of uncle gus’s tools - prattling the whole time, not even a break in her chattering as she hands stuff back etc etc)

bonding time with uncle gus | always accepting!

The sun falls behind the silhouettes of the distant mountains, and young little Dolores is still perched atop his forge’s workbench, swinging her legs off the ledge as she hands him  hammer after tongs after gravers. There’s never a dull nor silent moment with her, but August is hardly one to complain. If anything, he focuses far better when there’s good chatter to be had. 

     And Dolores is, by far and away, the very best conversationalist he’s ever met --- why, she never runs out of things to talk about !

He takes the firepoker that she offers him with a gracious smile, chuckling as the endless rapids in her river of curiosity leaves him no hope for air, no pause to actually answer. “ Hold yer horses there, darlin’. One question at a time. Old man like myself can’t keep up with ya otherwise! ” It’s a reminder he gives her every weekend, an utterly futile attempt. By next Saturday, she’ll no doubt forget that he made any mention of her incessant interrogations. But in truth? He’ll never outwardly complain to her or scold her about it. Never dare discourage her inquisitive mind.

What is he making? Well, it just so happens to be a GIFT for his darling niece --- the pendant piece for a hand-crafted necklace, featuring a silver iris flower encasing the beautiful, earthly hues of a polished piece of moss agate. An homage to her endless and admirable quest for knowledge. But for now, his intent to send her on home with this piece adorning her neck will remain a surprise. So he chooses to answer the latter of her questions.

“ Just so happens that it depends on the kind’ve metal yer workin’ with. ” He’s unsure how much hard chemistry she’s been taught at school, and thus tries to keep his explanation in layman’s terms. “See, pure elements all got different MELTIN’ POINTS an’ such. Gold is a softer metal, an’ starts glowin’ at a lower temperature than say, IRON. Hell, iron’s got such a high meltin’ point, that the ancient Greeks used t’say Hephaestus stole his forge’s fire from the sun so he could make the other gods their armor. ” Her now-wide eyes cause another smile to pull at the corners of his mouth. He’s undoubtedly about to be bombarded by a whole new blitz of her questions. Still, he manages to get a few last words in edgewise.

     “ These days we just heat the ore up t’about 2,800 degrees fahrenheit. ”

[talldarkandroguesome]

8th of Hearthfire, Tirdas

I was thankful that Tel did not seem eager to ask about what happened. They did not bring anything up. I went about my routine as usual in the morning.

Then I left offerings and prayers at the small shrine to Almsivi in my house. I think that my uncle would appreciate my doing so in his honor.

I spent some time in the meditation garden in the northeastern part of my gardens light candles at the stations of the saints and around the statue of Almsivi. I also lit candles besides the stations of the Anticipations. I thought to pray with the True Tribunal, but with Tel around me like a guar pup, I did not dare risk it. At least this way it would look less suspicious.

Perhaps it was foolish, but I kept hoping that Tel would be their usual talkative self and I could pretend to be interested and occupy my mind on the conversation, find tasks to give myself so as not to have time to think about what has passed.

Yet Tel sat besides me in silence or followed me in silence.

I hate the silence. I hate its deafening buzz in my ears that allows my mind to meander down to the darkest corners of my mind. Down to places of what if, or why not. Those places that make me think about what part I played in both of their demises. What I might have done to save them. Why it could not have been me to take those blows? If it was a spell, why could I not have cast it so that if it killed me uncle Tanval could yet live?

I tried to find ways to busy myself. Tried. Tried and failed. Everyone was taking care of things so that I could concentrate on my role as mourner.

Even when I found things to do, a servant would come in and take over, saying I needed to let them do it as I had more important duties.

At some point Tel offered to talk if I wanted to. When I asked them what to talk about, they said uncle Tanval and Garyn. I asked what there was to say. Tel said I did not need to talk, but that they were there if I needed to do so. I said they were gone and there was nothing left to say. Tel said they just wanted me to know the offer was there if I changed my mind.

When I did not immediately say something, the silence returned, though someone even louder now in light of the conversation. It was infuriating.

I was finally saved by Mother’s arrival with one of the professors from Shad Astula and Father, as a high priest of the Temple. It was one of the few times in many years I have actually seen them together. They said they had come to give me the lessons I would need for the funeral and took me off to a place where I could practice.

Obviously, it was difficult in light of not wanting to mess up the binding of soul to bones on anyone. The bodies of criminals who had died in prison were put to use for this.

I admit to feeling somewhat disturbed in that knowledge. They said that they would undo the spell if it went wrong and that the bodies would be transported to the appropriate grave site. It did little to settle my feelings on the matter.

I worked initially with Mother and the professor. Mother must have explained the situation to her ahead of time, for the professor had a number of books she was going through.

After they had explained the theory of the spell and what the parts were, a knock came on the door. I was shocked when the old spymaster walked in. He looked nearly the same as I had remembered him from when he recruited me a century and a half ago. He had retired many years ago and so I was surprised to see him once more.

He and the others spoke about the spell as I waited. They discussed magickal theory and the way that the shadow techniques I used worked.

Shadow magic. I would never have guessed if I had not been told. And yet it seemed so obvious when it was being explained that it could be nothing short of magicka based.

The spymaster and I discussed some of the techniques I used and how to alter parts of them in order to become something closer to that which was being required.

Then with the professor’s help, I stood over the corpse in the room and held my hands out.

When Mother had helped with casting the spell before, a beautiful bright golden light had come from her hands, merged with uncle Tanval’s blue light, and that of another in order to bind the soul to its body.

Yet as I formed the energy flowing out of my fingers, I saw it was not bright and golden, nor blue, in fact, there was no brightness at all. Instead, it was the exact opposite, it was shadow, a darkness flowing from my fingers.

I stopped in my surprise and the spymaster had to convince me to continue. The professor released a white light and mother joined with her golden light. As the two sources of light and my shadow came together, they seemed to envelop the body. It moved ever so slightly and then a spirit rose from the corpse. It spoke and the spymaster grabbed my shoulder to get me to stay concentrating. Then Father held the book out to us and we all recited the prayer of binding.

Although I had described it in quick succession here, I will not forget the hours of failed attempts that were made. It was embarrassing how long it took. How poorly I am able to use magicka. I could tell from the looks on everyone’s faces when they thought I was not paying attention that they were frustrated with me. That they do not know if they trust me to succeed come the time. They suggested several more practices before I must perform in public.

What I will say, the professor, several times took out magicka potions and asked if I had not drained myself. Mother smiled at me when it became evident that I was not feeling any degree of fatigue. The spymaster eventually told the professor she was a fool to be treating my magicka as though I were a novice. He said, and I think perhaps it was exaggerated, that I had one of the deeper magicka pools he had come across and that it was one of the reason he had chosen me early in our meeting. I think it was more his pride in his work than the truth, but I appreciated his standing up for me. Even Mother seemed oddly proud. Father, as usual, gave a huge show of his pride by embracing me as though I was, in fact, still a child, and then said he had an appointment with Mother Morrowind that he could not be late for and excused himself.

The old spymaster gave me a wink and I thanked him profusely for his help.

Mother and the professor left to speak as a few Ordinators came and moved the body.

The old spymaster asked if I had time to talk. I said that I had.

He asked after how I had used my skills lately. I explained how I had used them in preventing the Brothers of Strife to terrorize Stonefalls. He told me he was proud of that, though he was still disappointed that I had been forced to retire.

I laughed and told him that they had turned me into a diplomat, so there was still time to make use of my skill. He had a good chuckle over that and then sighed and said it was a shame.

When I asked him why, he told me that he had been working lately with an old acquaintance of mine from Balmora. I smiled and asked him how in Oblivion he had gotten in touch with her.

That is when he told me that she had been on the mainland on a few assignments and had been speaking with him. In fact, she had asked after me. Apparently there had been a question about accepting a contract out on me, but it rejected each time it came in.

It was somewhat worrying to hear that there had been more than one person who had been trying to pay the Morag Tong for my assassination. But I was more surprised about it being turned down.

I asked him if a certain lady Virian was responsible for it. He had said that interestingly enough, no. That in fact, there was a higher force that would not permit it. And that he wanted to ask me about that.

Of course I told him that I only knew one member of the Morag Tong still living and if she were not responsible, then that was truly a mystery.

Then the spymaster made a gesture which I knew all too well. Yet I gave no reaction.

He looked at me expectantly.

Still I remained unmoving.

He laughed. He told me that though I did not admit to anything, he knew the widow in this city and knew enough that I did not need to say anything more.

That worried me. If he was implying that my Prince was ensuring my life, as good as that news is, I have nothing I can say. That would be my Prince’s place, not mine. However, I am not sure what he was trying to discover. Or maybe it was a threat? I do not know what his game is.

If he is working with the Morag Tong, why try and confirm if I follow Mephala?

I suppose only time will tell.

For now, I am heading to the Mages Guild to await the arrival of Plays-With-Fire who is escorting Sildras. How I have missed my dear boy.

[trishmilburn]

An Exploration of The Untamed’s Romance & Mystery, Episode 3

Disclaimer: This post and others in this series will be filled with loads of spoilers if you haven’t seen The Untamed, the Chinese drama based on Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). My chief interest in doing this series as I re-watch the drama is to chronicle the development of the romance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, but I also highlight the progression of the mystery that helps bring them together. Keep in mind that I’m writing these posts with the knowledge of what’s going to happen throughout the series and having read the novel.

On to Episode 3...

We’re still in the past, when our main characters are teens. Wei Ying and his adoptive brother and sister, Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli, are at an inn, wanting to rest for the night before proceeding onto the Cloud Recesses, where they are headed for a lecture series. But the inn’s owner is telling them that they can’t stay there because another lord has booked the entire place. When two young women, disciples of the Jin Clan, arrive to make sure all the arrangements have been made for their lord’s arrival, Yanli realizes who must have booked the inn – Jin Zixuan, the only legitimate child of Jin Guangshan, head of the Jin Clan. Zixuan is also Yanli’s fiancé, though we realize the relationship is strained because it’s a marriage arranged by their mothers, long-time friends, when Zixuan and Yanli were very young. But more on that later.

Determined to get a room for the Jiangs’ party, Wei Ying pulls out his charm and his adorable, mischievous smile and starts flirting with Mian Mian (remember that name), one of the two Jin disciples. Gradually, he convinces her to let him have a room. But that new arrangement quickly changes when the inn owner comes to the room and says they have to leave. When Wei Ying and the Jiangs step into the hallway and come face to face with Jin Zixuan and his entourage, there is a brief moment of truth on Zixuan’s face before he hides it. When he saw Yanli, it’s obvious he likes her. This is something that is more obvious to me on this second viewing, though easily missed when you’re still trying to figure out who everyone is and how they relate to each other.

As they are leaving, Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying note how sad their older sister is after the encounter with Zixuan, and Wei Ying wonders what Jiang Fengmian (Cheng and Yanli’s father and his adoptive uncle) was thinking to arrange a marriage between their sweet senior sister and that flowery peacock.

When we first see the Cloud Recesses from a distance, it looks cool and verdant, the exact kind of place you’d expect the Lan Clan to reside. I kind of want to live there, except for all those rules we’ll soon learn about. When Wei Ying and the Jiangs arrive at the gate, they realize they accidentally left their invitation to the lecture series at the inn during their hasty departure. Wei Ying is trying desperately to get the Lan at the gate to let them in because is a long trip back to town and it’s going to be dark soon. But the gatekeeper says they can’t enter without the invitation.

Cue the entry of Lan Wangji, aka Lan Zhan, the man who will eventually become the most important person in the world to Wei Ying, though he hasn’t the first clue about that yet. Neither of them do. But the look on Wei Ying’s face when he sees this incredibly handsome man with the cool, emotionless exterior reveals at least some interest. It’s just curiosity at this point, but I believe a little seed of attraction just sprouted somewhere inside Wei Ying, one that will grow and grow in the days and months and years ahead.

The Lans who are accompanying Lan Zhan carry in a man on a stretcher. Jiang Cheng wonders how the man died, but Wei Ying says he’s not dead, just possessed by evil sorcery. This observation draws Lan Zhan’s attention, seeming to surprise him, though he says nothing.

Wei Ying shifts his argument for allowing them entry to the Cloud Recesses to Lan Zhan, since he has the power to overrule the rule. But Lan Zhan maintains the whole no invitation, no entry stance. Frustrated, Wei Ying continues to argue until Lan Zhan puts a muting spell on him and walks away. The original Lan at the gate tells Wei Ying the spell can only be removed by a Lan Clan member but if he doesn’t struggle against it, it will dissipate on its own in five minutes. But Wei Ying, being Wei Ying, continues to try to talk. Lan Zhan, who is a bit up the path now, stops and partially looks back over his shoulder at the sound of Wei Ying’s struggles. That right there is his own curiosity planting the seed of something more within him. He will deny this…until he doesn’t.

After night falls, we see the Jiangs sitting around a campfire as they wait for Wei Ying to return from town with the lost invitation. Surprisingly, Lan Zhan arrives at the campsite and lets the group in despite their lack of an invitation. When Wei Ying returns to find his family gone and no one guarding the gate, he tries to enter only to find there is an invisible barrier. But Wei Ying easily passes through after drawing a spell/talisman in the air. He’s pleased with himself as he heads into the Cloud Recesses with not only the invitation but also two bottles of Emperor’s Smile, an alcoholic beverage famous far and wide for its taste. But he’s already started breaking several of the many, many Lan Clan rules. First, he broke the barrier to enter. Then he has alcohol. And finally, he climbs over the wall surrounding the Lan compound. And his entry does not go unnoticed. Once atop the wall with his alcohol, he notices Lan Zhan watching him emotionlessly from nearby. When Lan Zhan informs him of the rules he’s broken, Wei Ying replies that he’s never been to the Cloud Recesses before so how could he possibly know about those rules? And then he proceeds to break another by trying to bribe Lan Zhan with the Emperor’s Smile.

When Wei Ying tries to drop into the courtyard below, out comes Lan Zhan’s sword, Bichen, to stop him. Soon they are engaged in a sword fight on the rooftops under the moonlight as “WangXian” plays in the background. That’s their song, though we haven’t gotten to its creation yet. I mean, who doesn’t engage in a bit of swordfighting before falling in love, right?

In the midst of this, Lan Zhan thinks that Wei Ying is “impenetrably thickheaded,” while Wei Ying tells Lan Zhan that he’s “heartless, unreasonable, pedantic and old-fashioned.” This string of adjectives earns Wei Ying a second dose of the muting spell.

Next we see Lan Xichen, Lan Zhan’s older brother, examining the “dead guy” and telling their uncle, Lan Qiren, how strange the marks on the guy’s body are and how this situation is something they’ve never seen before. (Oh, but it’s not going to be the last, dear Xichen.) Xichen tells Qiren there have been reports of disappearing cultivators, and Lan Zhan was asked to investigate. When Xichen hears someone outside, he covers the guy with a cloth before Lan Zhan brings the misbehaving Wei Ying before his two elders. After hearing what happened, Lan Xichen tells Wei Ying that while it’s understandable that he didn’t know the rules yet, he’ll still be punished. Okay, not fair, but that’s the breaks in the Cloud Recesses. (But if the Lans are that strict and unyielding, this also gives us a hint of how out of the ordinary it was for Lan Zhan to let the Jiangs in without their invitation, and you have to wonder if he thought Wei Ying would be with them when he did so.) Xichen asks his younger brother what he thinks will be a suitable punishment for Wei Ying’s infractions, and Lan Zhan responds with copying the house rules 300 times. There are a LOT of rules for the Gusu Lan Sect – as in more than 3,000 of them. Imagine how unexcited Wei Ying is at the prospect of copying them 300 times. He struggles to say so though he’s still under the muting spell, at least until Xichen tells Lan Zhan to release him from the spell.

But after Wei Ying tells Xichen and Qiren about the whole disagreement at the front gate regarding the lost invitation, Xichen reveals to Wei Ying that not only has his family safely arrived in the Cloud Recesses but it also was Lan Zhan who allowed them to enter. Lan Zhan tries to prevent his brother from revealing that latter fact, likely not wanting Wei Ying to know he caved and that Wei Ying’s protests might have had something to do with him changing his mind, but it didn’t work. Wei Ying approaches Lan Zhan to apologize, but Lan Zhan grips Bichen tightly and backs away from him. At this point, Lan Zhan is not only cut off emotionally, he’s also uncomfortable with physical contact with other people. This boy is holding a lot inside, as we’ll see in the future.

Wei Ying spots the covered body and asks if he’s dead because he wasn’t earlier. All three of the Lans seem surprised when he says this.

Cut to the Heavenly Nightless City, home of the Qishan Wen Sect. I personally think this place is inappropriately named because it looks more like Mount Doom and tells the audience in no uncertain terms that these are the bad guys of our story. Wen Ruohan, head of the sect, is speaking to a pretty young woman named Wen Qing. He’s instructing her that she’ll be going to the Cloud Recesses the next day, accompanied by Wen Chao. Her task while there isn’t so much to learn but to find one of the shattered pieces of Yin Metal like the one found at Great Brahma Mountain (which is also sometimes translated as Dafan Mountain). This metal, if all the parts are brought together, is tremendously powerful. Wen Ruohan wants to use it to subdue and rule over all the other cultivational sects. Yes, he’s a very bad guy who has a very dark and uncomfortable looking throne. Wen Qing asks if she can take Wen Ning, her younger brother, who has been weak since he was young, with her. Wen Ruohan asks if she thinks he’ll be mistreated if she leaves him behind, and though she says she’d never presume to think such a thing, that’s exactly what she’s thinking. Must protect cinnamon roll Wen Ning at all costs! Wen Ruohan agrees, saying that Wen Ning’s unique body might actually help her. I didn’t realize this statement was a clue and foreshadowing when I watched The Untamed the first time.

After Wen Qing leaves, we see Wen Ruohan snap his fingers. Instead of it being a Thanos-type dusting, this snapping actually activates the dead-ish guy back in the Cloud Recesses. He opens his eyes to reveal pure white and he sits up. Wei Ying and the Lans come to the conclusion that he’s a ghost puppet. When Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan step outside, Xichen tells Lan Zhan that the person who is using evil sorcery to control the ghost puppet may have great ambitions and that the disappearing cultivators may be just the start of their evil actions.

Then we have a lovely moment of brotherly conversation in which Xichen tells Lan Zhan that he’s never had to worry about him, that he’s mature and dependable, but wonders if his expectations for him are too high. He then tells Lan Zhan that among the visiting cultivators are several who are Lan Zhan’s age and he should make some friends. When Xichen says that he thinks Young Lord Wei isn’t bad, Lan Zhan looks surprised – or as surprised as Lan Zhan ever looks. This early in the first viewing I hadn’t yet grasped how very good actor Wang Yibo was at conveying Lan Zhan’s feelings through microexpressions. He was, in fact, a perfect casting choice for this role, though early feedback from fans was reportedly less than enthusiastic. Well, he showed them. Ha ha! Wang Yibo IS Lan Zhan now. I’ll never be able to picture anyone else in that role.

Xichen continues, saying that though Wei Ying acts out of bounds, he is also clever, quick-witted and has a bright personality. He is likely thinking these qualities would be good influences on his quiet, serious and closed-off younger brother. He notices Lan Zhan is once again gripping his sword tightly. When he asks Lan Zhan if when he fought with Wei Ying if their skills were evenly matched, Lan Zhan doesn’t answer and simply walks away. Instead of thinking his brother rude, Xichen actually smiles in amusement. He likes seeing that someone has finally gotten under Lan Zhan’s skin and cool exterior, making him act out of character. We have just witnessed the first step in Xichen becoming WangXian’s biggest shipper.

Finally we see Xue Yang, a beautiful but deadly and kind of crazy dude, with several of the ghost puppets (the missing cultivators) at Mount Doom…oh, I mean Heavenly Nightless City. Seriously, this is the most colossally misnamed place ever. It literally looks like it’s night all the time and is about as heavenly as, oh yeah, Mount Doom. Wen Ruohan tells him to help him find the other pieces of Yin Metal so he can subdue the other sects, mwahahaha. Xue Yang has agreed on the condition that Wen Ruohan keep his promise to give him what he wants, something that at this point remains unrevealed.

And thus ends Episode 3. First steps toward true love have been unknowingly taken while the baddies are being bad.

If you’d like to read my examinations of the previous two episodes, you can find them here:

Episode 1

Episode 2

[thecomicsnexus]

Superman vs. the Cab Protective League

ACTION COMICS #13

JUNE 1939

BY JERRY SIEGEL, JOE SHUSTER, GARDNER FOX, PAUL CASSIDY AND FRED GUARDINEER

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC WIKIA)

Clark Kent is traveling in a cab which is hit by a rival company's cab driver. When he questions the driver, he says that the rival driver is a member of the Cab Protective League, an organization that victimizes independent cab companies.

Superman visits the independent Carlyle Cab Company. He discovers the boss being threatened by a member of the CPL. He reveals himself and beats up the racketeer, then picks him up and leaps into the air. The racketeer tries to stab him, causing Superman to crash into a building, leading the racketeer to fall to his death.

Mr. Reynolds, the boss of the CPL, calls Mr. Carlyle and asks whether he's going to pay for protection. Carlyle refuses, so Reynolds and his henchmen go to confront him. Superman destroys their car, and also makes them all destroy their own cabs. Superman also makes Reynolds confess to ordering the deaths of other drivers, and he gets arrested.

As the police drive him to the station, Reynolds lights a cigarette. The cops realize too late that the cigarette contains a poison gas. Superman finds an abandoned police car right where the police were last seen. He hurtles through the roof of the cabin, where he finds Reynolds, who now introduces him to his boss, the Ultra-Humanite, the most intelligent man on earth. Superman approaches the Ultra-Humanite and is caught in a wave of electricity that temporarily knocks him out. The Ultra-Humanite quickly has Superman tied to a board and fed into a sawmill.

But of course the saw blades have no effect on Superman. In fact, one of the blades breaks off and kills Mr. Reynolds. The Ultra-Humanite calls some henchman, who carry his paralyzed body away to a nearby special airplane, and then start the cabin on fire. Superman wakes up and escapes the cabin just before the fire can kill him. He super-leaps up and crashes into the Ultra-Humanite's plane, destroying it. However, the Ultra-Humanite's body is nowhere to be found.

Zatara is called to Carolina by Fred Hodges, who's the last surviving male member of his family. On their way, Zatara and Tong hear the faint sound of a woman's scream. Turning himself and his servant into a gust of wind for faster travel, Zatara heads in the direction the scream came from. They come across an old crone and a large brutish figure (Martha and Jon) carrying an unconscious young woman in his arms. After reverting back to their human forms, Tong attacks the brute, while Zatara rescues the girl. The brute matches Tong in strength, and begins to strangle him. Zatara uses his magic to shrink the brute to be knee-high in size. He and Tong take the girl back to the car and drive out to Fred Hodges' estate. The young woman turns out to be Fred Hodges' sister, Elanor, who disappeared on her way home from their uncle Karl's place. Zatara presses them for information on the ugly old hag and the brutish fellow they met in the swamp, but the Hodges clan suddenly seem to become gripped in fear, and Neither Fred nor Elanor will tell Zatara why the witch kidnapped her.

Even the next morning, while Fred is giving Zatara a tour of his cotton plantation, the magician is still unable to get him to talk about the mysterious swampland figures. That night, a scream sounds from Eleanor's room! Zatara and Tong race to the scene, finding Eleanor lying on her bed, under a deep hex, and nothing they do wakes her. It's time for a straight answer, so Zatara places Fred under hypnosis, and soon learns through Fred's subconscious speech, what was really happening around here. His Uncle Karl had warned the Hodges siblings to leave the old hag and the brute alone, as they were related to his family through the old blood, from the "evil bloodline" that their family was cursed with for generations! Fred was afraid they were after his riches and his plantation, yet he dared not do anything, lest the embarrassing truth get out, of his family's bloodline.

Zatara believes Fred's story to be ridiculous, but it has Fred and Elanor scared enough. Zatara changes his and Tong's forms into shadows, and they swiftly visit the home of Karl, the Hodges' uncle. The old hag and her brutish son are already there, with Karl, who mentions the hex he put on Eleanor should be working soon, sending her sleepwalking through the dangerous Swamp of Satan, where she'll surely meet her doom! Leaving Tong at the Hodges' house (for which he is glad, being eager for another chance to prove himself against the brute), Zatara flies out to verify Karl's words. He eventually spots Elanor, and she is indeed sleepwalking, through the swamp towards a deadly pit of quicksand. Zatara magically creates a safe path for her to follow, then manages to safely guide her past the dangers of the swamp, until they are safely back at her brother's estate. Karl is already there, delivering the tragic news of Elanor's death, when she suddenly walks through the door with Zatara, looking healthy as ever, much to his surprise. Outside the window, the old crone watches with wicked glee as the brute pulls out a gun and shoots Zatara and Tong! The bullets pass through them without doing any major damage, but when they finally come around, they are alone in the house. Fred and Elanor were gone, likely abducted by Karl and the "evil blood family".

The Hodges siblings are led to a small cottage in the center of the Swamp of Satan, where they are tied up. Karl demands the deed to the plantation, threatening to make it worse for them the longer they hold out. Zatara's astral form observes this, and Zatara teleports himself, and Tong, to the cottage for the rescue. Tong bursts through the door, and this time he's ready for the brute's strength! He throws punches at the brute, beating him back. Karl pulls out a pistol and prepares to fire on Tong, but then Zatara appears, turning Karl's gun into a snake! The crone tries to run, but Zatara melts her with a curse, letting her essence seep into the slimy waters of the marsh! The brute runs from Tong, who gives chase, wanting to finish their fight. But the swamp ends the battle for him, as the brute falls into the quicksand and continues sinking until he is completely buried. When the duo return to the cottage, they find that Karl has died from heart failure. Zatara frees the Hodges, and together, they all set off back to the estate. Leaving the evil Swamp of Satan behind.

REVIEW

Sometimes Golden Age details change with time (as more information become available), but the Ultra-Humanite is the first Superman villain, and one of the first (if not) super-villans in comic-books. Technically, the first supervillain debuted a month before. Phantom Blot, a Mickey Mouse villain.

Ultra-Humanite in his first appearance already has all the tropes. He explains his motivations without anyone asking him, he thinks he already won, he leaves the hero to die (without making sure he does), and he appears to die but his body is never found.

People also say that one of the Henchmen looks like Luthor... I am not convinced.

But let’s talk about death and morality, because this issue of Action Comics comes packed with extra death. In the Superman story alone, almost all his enemies die. One of them slips from his arms and plummets to death. And Superman reaction was “meh, he deserved that”. Another interesting thing about the Superman story is his power set. He can basically leap and has invulnerability. But he can die in a fire and he is affected by electricity. With these limitations it is understandable that his morality has limits, after all, he can die. Still, a bit odd, even for modern age readers. And in the end he makes the plane crash. There is no hijacking it or anything, he is just looking for the bodies.

The Zatara story is equally inappropriate.  Tong is still a mystery. I am not sure why he is a slave or why he isn’t allowed to wear clothes. The character didn’t make it to our times. Again, in this story the villains die. One dies of a heart attack, of course. But Tong sees one die (trying to escape quicksands) and his reaction is pretty much “meh, he deserved that”.

The art on the Superman story is a bit more “pulp” than usual, perhaps because of Paul Cassidy, but more likely because the story happens at night.

I give the issue a score of 7

[fandorkofeverything]

RdR2 Doubts And Scars Chapter Seven

//Katherine’s P.O.V//

 

“Dad, he’s been tied for almost a month now! He’s had no food or water; he’s going to die if you don’t decide what to do with him!”

 

“So what if he dies? He an O’Driscoll, Katherine!”


“How can you say that? You don’t know Kieran like I do! Or Raine! They never belonged in the O’Driscoll gang! ‘Nor did they want to be in it in the first place!”

 

My hands were made into fists from anger. My eyebrows were furred, and my voice rose louder with each word I spoke. Kieran and Raine don’t deserve the shit they got. They need to be treated fairly. True, they didn’t tie Raine up, because the boys would never tie a woman up, let alone a minor, but still! They’re starving her and Kieran! Without me, they’d be dead.

 

“Plus, it’s not like you haven’t been around her lately anyways. That fight in Valentine. Saving Reverend from that damn train. And oh! That’s right! Collecting those goddamn debts!” I growled, crossing my arms. Strauss’ debts are stupid. Why pay people who can’t pay you back? It’s ridiculous.

 

“Fine. I’ll have a little chat with him.” Dad decided, defeated and I breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Thank you…” I started to walk the other way, but I decided against it. Knowing my father, I had better follow him. Plus, I knew Raine was by Kieran, and I needed to keep an eye on her.

 

We walked up to Kieran and Raine, both of them tensed up immediately at the sight of Arthur.

 

“Put in a good word? Would you…?” Kieran asked, visibly shaking.

 

“You got some speaking to do of your own. About that old gang of yours.” Dad growled at him, Kieran then looked down, scared.

 

“Dad, come on…..” I whispered, a hand on his shoulder. This wasn’t the way to do it.

 

“Mr. Arthur….. Please. Let my brother go.” Raine pleaded, her big blue eyes shining up at him.

 

“I said…. I told you…. I don’t know nothing.” Kieran told him, and Dad scoffed.

 

“That’s what I thought.” Dad growled, crossing his arms.

 

“Come on, Dad. He has to take care of his sister. Untie him.” I told him, but he didn’t take his eyes off Kieran.

 

“Not just yet, Katherine. I was thinking Mr. Williamson could have a word.” Pawpaw came up, Bill behind him. My blood turned to ice. I know what Bill is capable of….

 

“You ready to talk, boy?” Bill growled, getting in Kieran’s face. Raine shuffled and hid behind me. I put my arms around her in comfort.

 

“I told all of you, I don’t know nothing! They ain’t no friends of ours! My sister and I just rode with them for a while!”

 

“Horseshit! See, we’ve heard that part, so how about the truth?!” Bill screamed at him in his face. “Dutch, what’d you want me to do?”

 

“Hurt him! So the next time he opens his mouth, it is to tell us what’s going on!” Dutch exclaimed, and Bill rolled his sleeves up, getting in his face and Kieran flinched back slightly, as if afraid to be touched.

 

“Pawpaw, please! He didn’t do nothing to us!” I pleaded, trying to get him to see reason.

 

“Quiet!” He exclaimed, looking in my direction, then back at Kieran. “Who am I kidding? But if one of O’Driscoll’s boys opened his mouth, he’d tell a lie. Screw it. Let’s just have some fun.” He turned to Bill, with a smile. “Geld him.”

 

“What?!” I exclaimed, tightening my grip around Raine.

 

“No!” She exclaimed, trying to get free of my grasp. “Don’t hurt him!” She struggled in my arms, but I held onto her. “Get away from my brother!”

 

“I’ll do something, just wait a minute.” I whispered to her, and she settled down slightly.

 

“Bill Williamson, don’t you dare go near That boy with those tongs!” I exclaimed stepping in front of Kieran.

 

“Move aside, Miss Morgan. This is man’s work!” Bill exclaimed, moving his hand as if to push me out of the way.

 

“You touch me, Williamson, it’ll be the last thing you ever do.” I warned him, hand on my knife on my belt.

 

“Katherine. Move.” He told me and I shook my head.

 

“No. and you wouldn’t hurt a lady, now would you, Williamson?” I asked him, a smile on my face.

 

“For God’s sake! Katherine Bessie Morgan, move outta the way!” Dad moved me forcefully, and Dutch lowered Kieran’s pants.

 

“Don’t worry! They’re only balls boy!” I made Raine turn around so she wouldn’t have to look at Kieran’s parts, and I ran at Williamson. Stupidly, I grabbed the tongs and jerked it away from him. I screamed and threw them aside, blowing on my now burning hands.

 

“Katherine!” Dad grabbed my now sizzling hands, getting a better look at them. he then gave me eye contact, looking directly at me. “Are you crazy?!”

 

“A little bit.” I breathed heavily as my hands continued to burn.

 

“Katherine, go see Miss Grimshaw.” Pawpaw told me and I shook my head.

 

“Not until you untie Kieran, let him pull his pants up and treat him decently.” I argued, ignoring the glare that Dad was giving me.

 

“Okay, okay! Listen. I know where O’Driscolls held up. And you’re right. He don’t like you anymore than you like him. He’s at Six Pointe Cabin! I’ll take you there. Serious. I don't like him. I mean, I like him even less than I like you no offense." Kieran spilled the beans and I sighed in relief. They weren’t going to hurt him.

 

“Okay. Why don’t you take a few of us up there, right now?” Dad ‘suggested’ though it wasn’t really a suggestion, more like an order. Dad cut the rope, and he pulled his pants back up, hurriedly.

 

“Go see your Aunt Susan. Now.” Dad ordered me and I nodded slowly.

 

“Come on, Raine.” I whispered, and she followed me.

 

//

 

“Seriously, Katherine! How stupid are you?! Why would you grab flaming hot burning tongs?! If I were your mother, let me tell you!” I had basically tuned Aunt Susan out at this point. I love her, I really do. But she knows I’ll do whatever I damn well please. She pulled the wrap around my hand a little too rough, and I eyed her. She mumbled a slight apology and I sighed, shaking my head slightly and looked over to the other side of the clearing.

 

Dad, Uncle John, Bill and Kieran were back at this point. They were told that Kieran should be spared, and he and Raine will remain living with us. I’m glad about that! I’ve grown found over the siblings. I’d hate to see them break up. Raine’s also grown more confident talking with the other gang members. Charles, Karen, Tilly and Mary-Beth particularly. She’s still wary of Arthur, Dutch, Sadie and Bill. I don’t blame her. They’re terrifying if you didn’t grow up with them or have gotten to know them.

 

Sadie, however,…. That’s different. Her husband was killed by O’Driscolls. Though, it’s not their fault….. I wish I could teach everyone to hate the sin, love the sinner…. It’ll take some time though. But I’m willing to help them. Whatever it takes.

 

“Okay. You’re free to go.” Aunt Susan told me, and I got up, walking over to Kieran and Raine.

 

“So, free from imprisonment, are we Mr. Duffy?” I smiled as he blushed slightly. I could tell he was timid. Shy, even. I think I can help with that. “How’s Spirit doin’?” I asked, looking to the Kieran-confirmed Arabian/Thoroughbred mix. That’s what we’re calling it.

 

“He’s good. He still needs some time adjusting though.” Kieran commented, looking over to where the horses are. “Dutch assigned Raine and I to care for the horses.”


“That’s great!” I exclaimed, patting his shoulder, causing him to flinch a bit. Something tells me he’s not one to like touch.

 

“Now that I have my own horse, Kieran’s going to help me train him and get him saddle-broke and ridable! Right, Kieran?” Raine looked at her brother, hopefully and he nodded.

 

“You got that right!” He exclaimed, messing up her hair, causing her to giggle.

 

“Kieran! Let go!” She laughed, trying to get out of his grasp. I laughed at the sight.

 

“Micah! They got Micah! Dutch! Arthur!” I heard the familiar voice of Lenny Summers, he basically jumped of his barely three-year-old mare, Maggie and ran up to Pawpaw, Dad and Aunt Molly.

 

“Who’s Micah?” Raine whispered, not knowing who the sick rat bastard rattlesnake was.

 

“I’ll explain later.” I told her, walking up to where my second-best friend was.

 

“What’s going on?” Pawpaw asked him.

 

“Micah! He’s been arrested for murder! He was in Strawberry and he—” Lenny didn’t breathe as he spoke, I put a comforting hand on him.

 

“Lenny, it’s okay. Just breathe.” I told him and he took a few breaths but continued.

 

“They nearly lynched me… They got Micah in the Sheriff’s at Strawberry. And there’s talk of hanging him.” Lenny finished and I scoffed. It’d do the ratface good.

 

“Here’s hoping.” Dad commented, earning a laugh out of me.

 

“Arthur!” Pawpaw exclaimed in shock.

 

“What? The fool brought this on himself! You know my feelings about him, Dutch.” Dad told him. He was right. Micah’s not reliable. He’s the one who convinced Pawpaw to take the goddamn boat job in Blackwater.

 

“You think I can’t see past his bluster to the heart inside? He is a fine man.” I scoffed at Pawpaw’s comment. A fine idiot, that’s for sure.


“No! I ain’t saving that fool!” Dad exclaimed, turning the other way.

 

“I can’t go! My face will be all over West Elizabeth! Arthur, I am asking. He would do it for you.” Pawpaw told him and Dad sighed in defeat.

 

“I don’t think he would, but fine, alright.” Dad waved his hand in agreement.

 

“Thank you, Arthur.” Pawpaw nodded at him and Dad looked over to Lenny, who was sitting at the nearby table.

 

“You okay, Lenny?” Dad asked, walking over to Lenny, who was only a month or two older than me.

 

“Yeah, of course I’m okay.” Lenny told him and I shook my head. He’s not.

 

“You don’t seem okay.” Dad commented and I rolled my eyes. Way to be subtle.

 

“You take that kid into town. Valentine, not Strawberry. Get him drunk. And Arthur? No crazy business.” Pawpaw told him, causing me to smirk.

 

“I’ve given that up!” Dad defended himself. Yeah. Right.

 

“And you get Micah out of that jail!” Pawpaw ordered him, going into his open tent. Dad sighed, irritated that he’d have to rescue the rat.

 

“Come on, son.” Dad wrapped his arms around Lenny slightly, walking towards Maggie and Splash. “I’ll get to it Dutch! I just…. Can’t drop everything.”

 

I eyed Black Rose, who has a face full of grass in her mouth and I smiled. I ran over towards her, mounted her and raced past Dad and Lenny.

 

“Keep up, old man!” I exclaimed, urging Black Rose on.

 

“Old man?!” I heard Dad yell and I smiled.

 

“We’ll show her!” I heard Lenny exclaim and I heard the clatter of hooves.

 

“You know the way girl; we know for a fact you can beat ‘em!” I exclaimed, asking for more speed.

 

Racing against the eagles, the wind in your hair. You almost seem free. Like, you can do whatever you want, say whatever you want, and you won’t be ridiculed for it. It’d be amazing if the world was like that. If the world was better. If the world was kinder. But it’s just not meant to be.

 

I pulled Rose to a stop at the entrance to the Saloon and smirked as the other two followed.

 

“You’re not fair.” Lenny told me, dismounting Maggie.

 

“No but let me tell you this;” I wrapped my arm around him and smirked. “Even with two burned hands, I still ran a better race than you.” I told him and he rolled his eyes but smiled at me anyways.

 

We walked into the saloon, and we leaned on the bar. We ordered three beers. I hope to god that this is only one or two…..

 

About an hour later

 

“I don't wanna spend my life jaded,

Waiting to wake up one day and find,

That I let all these years go by.

Wasted….

 

Another glass of whiskey but it still don't kill the pain,

So he stumbles to the sink and pours it down the drain,

He said it's time to be a man and stop living for yesterday,

Gotta face it.

 

'Cause I don't wanna spend my life jaded,

Waiting to wake up one day and find,

That I let all these years go by,

Wasted…..”

 

“Katherine, get off the bar!”

 

“I’m not on the bar! You’re in the fishbowl!” I laughed and fell about fifty feet, hitting the floor.

 

“Ow! Damnit Lenny, why didn’t you warn me about that cliff?!” I exclaimed, struggling to find my legs. “Have you seen my legs?! I swear I just had them!” I felt around, but no such luck. “Legs! Where are you?!” I ran outside, hopefully to find them. “Excuse me, ma’am!? Have you seen my legs?!”

 

“They’re attached to you, dear.”

 

“Ohhhhhh….. Thank you for helping me find my legs!” I hugged her and she gave me a pat on the arm.

 

“Go home, dear. You’re drunk.”

 

“Have you seen my Dad? I can’t find him! He’s tall and handsome! He’s a man with a face, and hair!” I exclaimed, looking around to find my father. The women sighed, pointing somewhere.

 

“Maybe try the saloon?” She suggested and I sputted.

 

“Pfffffffffft, as if! He gave up drinking years ago!” I waved my hand in disbelief, but walked into the saloon anyways.

 

“Daddy! Have you seen my Dad?!” I yelled, looking around the saloon. “You know, you’re not the only one I call Daddy! But I’m talking about you in this moment!” I looked around and fell over a chair, falling twenty feet. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE RIVER?! HELP! I’M DROWNING!” I flapped my arms pathetically, trying to get out of the river.

 

“Katherine!” I felt myself be lifted up and saw Lenny. “What are you doing?” I grabbed Lenny’s face and kissed him on the lips.

 

“Javier’s not the only good-looking man in our family!” I wobbled off sideways, trying not to fall in the river again.

 

“LENNY?!” I heard Dad’s voice, and Lenny went over and grabbed Dad. I saw them repeatedly smacking themselves and I laughed, hiccups in between.

 

Awhile later, I found myself outside, in the street.

 

“Hey, you three! Stop right there!” We froze as we heard their voices. Police. We started to run, one caught Lenny. One caught up with me and handcuffed me. the other one chased Dad and caught him too. After that, I blacked out.

 

////

 

“Kat? Are you dead?” I groaned at the sound of Lenny’s voice, holding my head.

 

“Shut the fuck up….. Ugh, kill me now.” I sat up, looking around. Dad, Lenny and I were in jail cell. Wonderful.

 

“What did we do?” Dad asked and I shrugged.

 

“No idea.” I commented.

 

“I don’t know.” Lenny added onto that.

 

“Me neither.” The Sheriff said, I looked over at him. “Shit. A trio of degenerates. There’s a fine for drunken violence in this town. You’re just lucky no one was killed.”

 

“We didn’t start a thing!” Dad yelled and the Sheriff chuckled, amused.

 

“Yes, you did.”


“Well…” Dad waved his hand in defeat. “I don’t remember.”

 

“Any of you got any money? It’s fifteen dollars, and you’re free to walk.” I sighed, pulled out said price and handing it to the man.

 

“Pity the lady has to pay for your crimes.” I glared at him as he unlocked the cells, and he raised his hands in mock surrender. “Woah, my apologies miss! Why don’t you two take the lady home. See she does her house chores.” I growled and slammed the door shut when we got out.

 

“That inconsiderate, no-good, sexist- Ahhh!” I screamed in anger, crossing my arms in annoyance. “I am not just a woman to see to house chores! I can fight, I can hunt, I can kill if need be, and I can ride! I’m nobody’s buckle bunny!” I exclaimed, hand on my hip.

 

“Trust me, we know.” Lenny told me and I scoffed, getting on Black Rose, holding my head as another dizzy spell took place. 


“I’ll see you two back at camp. No hurry.” I told them, making Black Rose walk.

 

Well…. That certainly was fun. One of the worst drinking I’ve done yet. Tomorrow, Dad and I will deal with Micah. Either that be letting him hang or saving him from Strawberry. I’ll decide when we get there......


Did I kiss Lenny?!

 

I stopped Black Rose and facepalmed.

 

   

“I’m a fucking idiot.”

[salwaalkhalifa]

Staggerlee wonders by James Baldwin

1

I always wonder

what they think the niggers are doing

while they, the pink and alabaster pragmatists, 

are containing 

Russia  

and defining and re-defining and re-aligning 

China, 

nobly restraining themselves, meanwhile,

from blowing up that earth

which they have already 

blasphemed into dung: 

the gentle, wide-eyed, cheerful

ladies, and their men,

nostalgic for the noble cause of Vietnam,

nostalgic for noble causes,

aching, nobly, to wade through the blood of savages—

ah—!

Uncas shall never leave the reservation, 

except to purchase whisky at the State Liquor Store.

The Panama Canal shall remain forever locked: 

there is a way around every treaty.

We will turn the tides of the restless

Caribbean, 

the sun will rise, and set

on our hotel balconies as we see fit.

The natives will have nothing to complain about,

indeed, they will begin to be grateful,

will be better off than ever before. 

They will learn to defer gratification

and save up for things, like we do. 

 Oh, yes. They will.

We have only to make an offer

they cannot refuse.

 This flag has been planted on the moon:

it will be interesting to see 

what steps the moon will take to be revenged 

for this quite breathtaking presumption.

This people

masturbate in winding sheets. 

They have hacked their children to pieces. 

They have never honoured a single treaty 

made with anyone, anywhere.

The walls of their cities

are as foul as their children.

No wonder their children come at them with knives.

Mad Charlie man's son was one of their children, 

had got his shit together

by the time he left kindergarten,

and, as for Patty, heiress of all the ages,

she had the greatest vacation

of any heiress, anywhere:

 Golly-gee, whillikens, Mom, real guns!

and they come with a real big, black funky stud, too: 

oh, Ma! he's making eyes at me!

 Oh, noble Duke Wayne, 

be careful in them happy hunting grounds.

They say the only good Indian 

is a dead Indian,

by what I say is, 

you can't be too careful, you hear?

Oh, towering Ronnie Reagan,

wise and resigned lover of redwoods, 

deeply beloved, winning man-child of the yearning Republic

from diaper to football field to Warner Brothers sound-stages,

be thou our grinning, gently phallic, Big Boy of all the ages! 

 Salt peanuts, salt peanuts,

for dear hearts and gentle people, 

and cheerful, shining, simple Uncle Sam!

 Nigger, read this and run!

Now, if you can't read, 

run anyhow!

 From Manifest Destiny

(Cortez, and all his men

silent upon a peak in Darien)

to A Decent Interval,

and the chopper rises above Saigon,

abandoning the noble cause

and the people we have made ignoble

and whom we leave there, now, to die, 

one moves, With All Deliberate Speed,

to the South China Sea, and beyond, 

where millions of new niggers

await glad tidings!

 No, said the Great Man's Lady,

I'm against abortion,

I always feel that's killing somebody.

Well, what about capital punishment?

I think the death penalty helps.

 That's right.

Up to our ass in niggers

on Death Row.

 Oh, Susanna,

don't you cry for me!

  2

 Well, I guess what the niggers 

is supposed to be doing

is putting themselves in the path 

of that old sweet chariot

and have it swing down and carry us home.

 That would help, as they say,

and they got ways

of sort of nudging the chariot.

They still got influence

with Wind and Water,

though they in for some surprises

with Cloud and Fire.

 My days are not their days.

My ways are not their ways.

I would not think of them,

one way or the other,

did not they so grotesquely

block the view

between me and my brother.

 And, so, I always wonder:

can blindness be desired?

Then, what must the blinded eyes have seen

to wish to see no more!

 For, I have seen, 

in the eyes regarding me, 

or regarding my brother, 

have seen, deep in the farthest valley

of the eye, have seen

a flame leap up, then flicker and go out,

have seen a veil come down,

leaving myself, and the other,

alone in that cave

which every soul remembers, and

out of which, desperately afraid, 

I turn, turn, stagger, stumble out, 

into the healing air,

fall flat on the healing ground, 

singing praises, counselling

my heart, my soul, to praise.

 What is it that this people

cannot forget?

 Surely, they cannot be deluded

as to imagine that their crimes

are original?

 There is nothing in the least original

about the fiery tongs to the eyeballs,

the sex torn from the socket,

the infant ripped from the womb, 

the brains dashed out against rock,

nothing original about Judas,

or Peter, or you or me: nothing:

we are liars and cowards all,

or nearly all, or nearly all the time:

for we also ride the lightning,

answer the thunder, penetrate whirlwinds,

curl up on the floor of the sun,

and pick our teeth with thunderbolts.

 Then, perhaps they imagine

that their crimes are not crimes? 

 Perhaps.

Perhaps that is why they cannot repent, 

why there is no possibility of repentance.

Manifest Destiny is a hymn to madness, 

feeding on itself, ending

(when it ends) in madness: 

the action is blindness and pain,

pain bringing a torpor so deep 

that every act is willed,

is desperately forced,

is willed to be a blow: 

the hand becomes a fist,

the prick becomes a club, 

the womb a dangerous swamp,

the hope, and fear, of love

is acid in the marrow of the bone. 

No, their fire is not quenched, 

nor can be: the oil feeding the flames

being the unadmitted terror of the wrath of God. 

 Yes. But let us put it in another, 

less theological way: 

though theology has absolutely nothing to do 

with what I am trying to say.

But the moment God is mentioned

theology is summoned

to buttress or demolish belief:

an exercise which renders belief irrelevant

and adds to the despair of Fifth Avenue 

on any afternoon, 

the people moving, homeless, through the city,

praying to find sanctuary before the sky 

and the towers come tumbling down, 

before the earth opens, as it does in Superman.

They know that no one will appear

to turn back time, 

they know it, just as they know

that the earth has opened before 

and will open again, just as they know

that their empire is falling, is doomed,

nothing can hold it up, nothing.

We are not talking about belief. 

  3

 I wonder how they think

the niggers made, make it, 

how come the niggers are still here. 

But, then, again, I don't think they dare

to think of that: no: 

I'm fairly certain they don't think of that at all.

 Lord, 

I with the alabaster lady of the house, 

with Beulah.

Beulah about sixty, built in four-square, 

biceps like Mohammed Ali,

she at the stove, fixing biscuits, 

scrambling eggs and bacon, fixing coffee, 

pouring juice, and the lady of the house,

she say, she don't know how

she'd get along without Beulah

and Beulah just silently grunts,

I reckon you don't,

and keeps on keeping on

and the lady of the house say

She's just like one of the family,

and Beulah turns, gives me a look, 

sucks her teeth and rolls her eyes

in the direction of the lady's back, and

keeps on keeping on. 

 While they are containing 

Russia

and entering onto the quicksand of 

China

and patronizing

Africa, 

and calculating

the Caribbean plunder, and

the South China Sea booty, 

the niggers are aware that no one has discussed 

anything at all with the niggers. 

 Well. Niggers don't own nothing,

got no flag, even our names 

are hand-me-downs

and you don't change that 

by calling yourself X:

sometimes that just makes it worse, 

like obliterating the path that leads back

to whence you came, and 

to where you can begin. 

And, anyway, none of this changes the reality, 

which is, for example, that I do not want my son 

to die in Guantanamo, 

or anywhere else, for that matter, 

serving the Stars and Stripes. 

(I've seen some stars.

I got some stripes.) 

 Neither (incidentally)

has anyone discussed the Bomb with the niggers:

the incoherent feeling is, the less

the nigger knows about the Bomb, the better: 

the lady of the house

smiles nervously in your direction

as though she had just been overheard

discussing family, or sexual secrets, 

and changes the subject to Education, 

or Full Employment, or the Welfare rolls, 

the smile saying, Don't be dismayed.

We know how you feel. You can trust us.

 Yeah. I would like to believe you.

But we are not talking about belief.

  4

 The sons of greed, the heirs of plunder,

are approaching the end of their journey: 

it is amazing that they approach without wonder, 

as though they have, themselves, become

that scorched and blasphemed earth, 

the stricken buffalo, the slaughtered tribes, 

the endless, virgin, bloodsoaked plain,

the famine, the silence, the children's eyes, 

murder masquerading as salvation, seducing

every democratic eye,

the mouths of truth and anguish choked with cotton, 

rape delirious with the fragrance of magnolia,

the hacking of the fruit of their loins to pieces, 

hey! the tar-baby sons and nephews, the high-yaller

     nieces,

and Tom's black prick hacked off

to rustle in crinoline, 

to hang, heaviest of heirlooms,

between the pink and alabaster breasts

of the Great Man's Lady,

or worked into the sash at the waist

of the high-yaller Creole bitch, or niece,

a chunk of shining brown-black satin,

staring, staring, like the single eye of God:

 creation yearns to re-create a time

when we were able to recognize a crime. 

 Alas, 

my stricken kinsmen, 

the party is over: 

there have never been any white people, 

anywhere: the trick was accomplished with mirrors—

look: where is your image now? 

where your inheritance, 

on what rock stands this pride?

 Oh, 

I counsel you, 

leave History alone.

She is exhausted, 

sitting, staring into her dressing-room mirror,

and wondering what rabbit, now, 

to pull out of what hat, 

and seriously considering retirement, 

even though she knows her public

dare not let her go.

 She must change. 

Yes. History must change. 

A slow, syncopated

relentless music begins

suggesting her re-entry,

transformed, virginal as she was,

in the Beginning, untouched, 

as the Word was spoken, 

before the rape which debased her

to be the whore of multitudes, or, 

as one might say, before she became the Star, 

whose name, above our title, 

carries the Show, making History the patsy,

responsible for every flubbed line, 

every missed cue, responsible for the life

and death, of all bright illusions

and dark delusions,

Lord, History is weary

of her unspeakable liaison with Time, 

for Time and History

have never seen eye to eye: 

Time laughs at History

and time and time and time again

Time traps History in a lie.

 But we always, somehow, managed

to roar History back onstage

to take another bow,

to justify, to sanctify

the journey until now. 

 Time warned us to ask for our money back, 

and disagreed with History

as concerns colours white and black.

Not only do we come from further back,

but the light of the Sun

marries all colours as one. 

 Kinsmen, 

I have seen you betray your Saviour

(it is you who call Him Saviour) 

so many times, and

I have spoken to Him about you, 

behind your back. 

Quite a lot has been going on 

behind your back, and, 

if your phone has not yet been disconnected, 

it will soon begin to ring: 

informing you, for example, that a whole generation, 

in Africa, is about to die, 

and a new generation is about to rise,

and will not need your bribes, 

or your persuasions, any more: 

not your morality. No plundered gold—

Ah! Kinsmen, if I could make you see

the crime is not what you have done to me!

It is you who are blind, 

you, bowed down with chains, 

you, whose children mock you, and seek another 

master,

you, who cannot look man or woman or child in the 

eye,

whose sleep is blank with terror, 

for whom love died long ago,

somewhere between the airport and the safe-deposit

box,

the buying and selling of rising or falling stocks, 

you, who miss Zanzibar and Madagascar and Kilimanjaro

and lions and tigers and elephants and zebras 

and flying fish and crocodiles and alligators and

leopards

and crashing waterfalls and endless rivers, 

flowers fresher than Eden, silence sweeter than the 

grace of God,

passion at every turning, throbbing in the bush, 

thicker, oh, than honey in the hive, 

dripping

dripping

opening, welcoming, aching from toe to bottom

to spine, 

sweet heaven on the line

to last forever, yes, 

but, now, 

rejoicing ends, man, a price remains to pay, 

your innocence costs too much

and we can't carry you on our books

or our backs, any longer: baby,

find another Eden, another apple tree,

somewhere, if you can, 

and find some other natives, somewhere else,

to listen to you bellow

till you come, just like a man, 

but we don't need you,

are sick of being a fantasy to feed you, 

and of being the principal accomplice to your

crime: 

for, it is your crime, now, the cross to which you

cling, 

your Alpha and Omega for everything. 

 Well (others have told you)

your clown's grown weary, the puppet master

is bored speechless with this monotonous disaster, 

and is long gone, does not belong to you, 

any more than my woman, or my child, 

ever belonged to you. 

 During this long travail

our ancestors spoke to us, and we listened, 

and we tried to make you hear life in our song

but now it matters not at all to me 

whether you know what I am talking about—or not:

I know why we are not blinded

by your brightness, are able to see you, 

who cannot see us. I know 

why we are still here. 

 Godspeed. 

The niggers are calculating, 

from day to day, life everlasting, 

and wish you well: 

but decline to imitate the Son of the Morning, 

and rule in Hell. 

[aliasmary]

Day 5: Writing Prompt

We were walking towards the bbq, where my dad was standing facing us with his back, on each of his sides stood a skeleton-like demon. Both were shooting flames out of their fingertips and onto the sausages. "That's alright boys, take a smoking break." Toz ordered. They both walked off, moaning at each other. Dad turned and as he saw me approaching and let go of the barbecue tongs. But instead of falling to the ground they got held in place by a freshly grown tendril. "My boy, good to see you! Your mum thought you wouldn't come but I'm happy that you did, you know how she can get when she isn't happy with something ... or someone." he shrugged. "Anyhow, did you have a good flight?" he asked. "It was great! I had quite a few crying babies on the plane. And a kid was kicking my seat for the entirety of it but I didn't mind, you know how much I love kids." I said mockingly. "Yeah, I know." he ignored the answer. "Speaking of it, I must admit that I hoped that you would've maybe come this year with someone. You know, your reproduction chances don't increase as you get older, son." he said frowning at me. "Dad, please. I've arrived less than five minutes ago and here were are again. I don't want to have this discussion every time I see you." I said. "What did you expect from me, Alex? I'm the God of Life, it is only natural I want to see you create some of it as well." he said. "Although, technically I'll still be the one impregnating your future ..." "Oh god, please stop!" I shouted in disgust. Our conversation luckily got interrupted. "Is it...? Aleeex, you rascal! Come here, greet us properly." a loud officers voice commanded me. As from a reflex, I straightened myself up, clicked my heels and marched to the voice. It was my aunt Helga, the Army General of Earth. Like the whole. I was surprised by how my muscles immediately responded without me thinking, even after all those years. "Pioneer, what do you report?" she asked. She glanced up for it for a second before continuing to polish her boots. "Work is fine, I've got a raise. Position: Team Director. Status stayed the same: currently single. Trying to make the flat more comfortable. No injuries or other complications since the last gathering." I answered. "All those positions, don't mean anything to me. Team Director, what does that even mean? Real men don't sit around, hiding behind desks, they fight and die amongst their brothers in battle!" she said while simultaneously pointing up and waving her hand around as she spoke. "I know auntie Helga..." I said. Someone appeared from behind approvingly clapping on my back. "Now this is a word of truth!" he agreed. "You should hear to your aunt she knows what she's talking about." he added. "Hello, uncle Emjir. How are the other demigods from the camp doing?" I asked. "Oh Helga, what a woman you are! Incredible, so much manliness but so much WOMAN at the same time. You're making me crazy!" he said to her, already headed to give her a big smooch. I looked around for a bit, searching for someone I haven't seen yet. But it wasn't hard to spot her, she was always sitting alone somewhere. "Hey, Sara. What are you doing here all by yourself?" I asked. "Oh hi, Alex. Not much, I'm just writing with someone. It's boring, here." she said. Next, I made my way up to the veranda to see if I could find Mum inside but as I went up to the stairs, she was already standing prepared in her black gown. "Good afternoon, my dearest. It has been too long that I haven't heard from you." she said as she passed me her hand to walk her down the stairs to the others. "It's good to see you too, mum." I said. We walked to the gathered group. "Indeed. It is pleasant to be having guests, at least once a year." she gave me look. "But for now, I am happy to see you healthy and fine." she said. Her lips formed to a kiss which she passed with her gloved hand to my bare cheek. She smiled. I smiled too.

[trishmilburn]

An Exploration of The Untamed’s Romance & Mystery, Episode 2

Disclaimer: This post and others in this series will be filled with loads of spoilers if you haven’t seen The Untamed, the Chinese drama based on Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). My chief interest in doing this series is to chronicle the development of the romance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, but I also highlight the progression of the mystery that helps bring them together. Keep in mind that I’m writing these posts with the knowledge of what’s going to happen throughout the series and having read the novel. If you’d like to read my post on Episode 1 first, you can see it here.

On to Episode 2 (as I listen to the lovely soundtrack to The Untamed)…

Having left Mo Manor, we see Wei Ying traveling through the beautiful countryside with his donkey companion. While resting at a roadside well, he hears people approaching and soon ascertains some of them are fellow cultivators. One of the guys in the group says to another that his compass still isn’t working. Wei Ying learns from them that they’ve heard about a soul-eating fiend at nearby Brahma Mountain, but another guy says there has been no strange movements in the Compass of Evil (yet something else invented by Wei Ying that is still in use, along with those Spirit Attraction Flags from Episode 1). First guy mentions that Wei Wuxian (aka Wei Ying) is his idol. Now that’s not something you hear every day.

Another one of the travelers, a woman named Ah Yan gives Wei Ying an apple to get his stubborn donkey to move, and thus the nameless donkey becomes Little Apple. A little while later, after Wei Ying climbs to the top of a hill, Ah Yan joins him and starts dancing while facing Great Brahman Mountain, at one point striking a pose that is foreshadowing for what’s to come. Her mother tells Wei Ying that Ah Yan hasn’t been right since she recently lost her husband and father.

Wei Ying hears people calling for help, and when he arrives he finds several people hanging in the air inside Immortal Binding Nets. A teenage guy shows up, and we the audience know this is Jin Ling, even if Wei Ying doesn’t at this point. Jin Ling recognizes Wei Ying as Mo Xuanyu (remember, he’s wearing a mask and Jin Ling was just a baby when Wei Ying died so wouldn’t recognize him anyway). Little does Jin Ling know that he’s talking to basically his uncle. Wei Ying isn’t a Jiang by birth, but he was raised alongside Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli (who is Jin Ling’s mother), and Yanli especially considered Wei Ying her brother.

When Wei Ying puts a paper man talisman on mouthy little Jin Ling’s back to keep him down, Jin Ling is furious and warns Wei Ying that he’s in trouble when his uncle gets there. During this conversation, Wei Ying, not knowing who Jin Ling is, gets in a couple of digs about his parents or absence thereof, which understandably upsets Jin Ling. And then the uncle arrives, and Wei Ying is stunned when he hears Jiang Cheng’s voice. And the intervening years have just made Wei Ying’s adoptive brother more bitter and harsh. There’s no hint of the playful, smiling side of Jiang Cheng we’ll soon see when the show goes back in time to show us the characters’ formative years and the beginning of the love story between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.

Jiang Cheng is upset that Jin Ling let Wei Ying (who he doesn’t know is Wei Ying yet) get the better of him, but the fact that this unknown person has used evil sorcery means that he must be immediately killed and fed to the dogs. Jin Ling thus starts to attack Wei Ying, but his sword is knocked away by a blast of familiar energy from Lan Zhan’s guqin (a type of zither). Lan Zhan arrives with the Lan disciples while the soundtrack plays the beautiful zither music associated with him.

Showing some of his natural humorous personality, Wei Ying thinks to himself, “I should have checked my horoscope for any bad luck before heading out today.”

Jiang Cheng accuses Lan Zhan of being in the woods to look for someone (we all know he means Wei Ying) and mentions how Lan Zhan has done a lot of traveling around the world the past 16 years (also looking for Wei Ying or some piece of his soul). When Lan Jingyi asks Jiang Cheng what he means by that, Jiang Cheng says Lan Zhan knows what he means. And there’s no denying this infuriates him.

Lan Sizhui directs the conversation away from the tense moment between these two men who obviously do not like each other. Sizhui notes that the monster hunt they were all taking part in was supposed to be a fair game, but Jin Ling put nets all over the mountain. Wei Ying is amused when someone in the Lan clan uses the muting spell on Little Lord Mouthypants (Jin Ling). Still stewing, Jiang Cheng looks at Jin Ling and says that if he doesn’t capture the thing wrecking havoc on the mountain to not bother coming to see him. Poor Jin Ling, even though he’s annoying in these early episodes, you grow to love him because not only was he orphaned while a baby, his uncle is an unforgiving ass. His character is one about whom I changed my opinion the most, and you’ll see why in my future posts.

When everyone else leaves, Lan Zhan looks toward where Wei Ying is hiding behind a tree. But when Wei Ying turns away, Lan Zhan lets him be and walks away. He either knows in his heart or at least greatly suspects that he’s Wei Ying, but he doesn’t have conclusive proof yet. And obviously Wei Ying isn’t ready to reveal himself to him. It’s got to be hard for Lan Zhan to walk away when he’s that close after all those years of grieving and looking for some piece of Wei Ying to hold on to.

Next we see Wei Ying walking beside a river. He takes off the mask as he bends down beside the water. In the reflection he sees memories of Jiang Cheng scolding him about assisting him and Yanli saying that she, Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng would be together forever. But that’s not true because he’s lost them both. He overhears someone on the road nearby say that both the Jin and Jiang families are spoiling Jin Ling too much, to which a woman replies that it’s understandable since he lost his parents when he was just a baby. Another man notes how Jin Ling’s dad died because of Wei Wuxian and then his mother, Yanli, also died because Wei Wuxian. The painful truth of Jin Ling’s identity hits Wei Ying hard, and he slaps himself for the comments he’d made to Jin Ling about his missing parents.

The Lan disciples encounter an old man in a graveyard, and Jingyi asks why he’s sneaking around. After learning he’s the caretaker for the graveyard, Sizhui asks if anything strange has been going on in the area. The man says they should check out the Goddess Temple up the mountain, but it’s not until they walk away that he reveals that the dancing goddess statue can move.

Wei Ying sees Little Apple eating Spirit Gathering Grass that can collect the spiritual energy from the soil near cultivators’ graves. He soon shows up at the same graveyard and encounters the same old man, but Wei Ying can tell that the area is masked with a black aura. When the old man tells him this is the Wen clan’s graveyard, he sees a vision of Wen Qing, a woman he knew in his past. She tells him that this is her ancestors’ graves, and Wei Ying realizes the young disciples are headed for a bigger danger than they realize.

The Lan and Jin disciples are in the Goddess Temple, talking about local legends that say the people in the area come to the temple to pray to the goddess who grants wishes. Jin Ling, being his smartypants self, says he wishes the entity causing all the trouble would reveal itself to him right then. And thus the dancing goddess statue starts to move. Wei Ying shows up, starts throwing talismans at the statute and tells the kids to get out of the cave. Once they are outside, he tells the Lans to send up a signal flare to call Lan Zhan, but the disciples realize they don’t have any. They used the last ones during the battle at Mo Manor and didn’t replenish them. Remembering all the trouble he got into as a teen studying in Gusu with the Lans, Wei Ying teases the boys that they’re going to be in trouble when Lan Zhan finds out.

Wei Ying tells them how he knew the goddess statue was the one eating souls – soul-eating beasts and fiends thrive off absorbing spiritual consciousness that has not departed from dead people. If there are so many dead people buried nearby, why take souls from the living? Something be fishy.

We next see a brief scene of Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan sitting at different tables at what looks like a rural tea house/eatery. It’s abundantly clear that they do not like each other, which is understandable. After all, Jiang Cheng is the reason that the man Lan Zhan loves fell to his death and he’s had to mourn his loss for the past 16 years. This was made even more heartbreaking considering how until he met and started falling for Wei Ying, Lan Zhan was a very closed-off person. Some would say he was even emotionless, but he really had a big heart hidden away. But Wei Ying gradually wormed his way into that heart, filling it, and to have him suddenly ripped away forever was unbearably cruel.

Then we’re back to Wei Ying telling the boys about how Ah Yan prayed to the goddess for her husband, and her spiritual consciousness was taken. Her father, seeing this, went to pray for his daughter to get her spiritual consciousness back. She did, but it was damaged when the goddess spit it back out, and her father’s was taken instead. Ah Yan’s experience was why she was able to pose and smile like the goddess statue.

Wei Ying realizes Jin Ling is missing just before the goddess statue shows up outside chasing some of the Jin clan members. Jin Ling flies through the air and starts shooting arrows at the statue. I have to admit, this looked pretty darn cool. Wei Ying thinks, “Something’s not right. Lan Zhan and I sealed her up.” He takes Jingyi’s sword and cuts a section of bamboo to make an improvised flute, his musical weapon the same way Lan Zhan’s is the guqin. Jin Ling is about to be trampled by the goddess statue when, to everyone’s surprise, including Wei Ying’s, his flute playing causes Wen Ning, aka the Ghost General, to show up. Wen Ning was the first fierce corpse Wei Ying created as the Yiling Patriarch. I must pause here to just share how much I love Wen Ning’s character and Yu Bin’s portrayal of him. Even though he can be unbelievably deadly in his Ghost General persona, he’s an adorable cinnamon roll of a guy with the world’s biggest heart otherwise. It’s a wild contrast. Anyway, the kicking-ass version of Wen Ning saves Jin Ling and destroys the goddess statue, but still everyone except for Wei Ying turns on him. Seeing this, Wei Ying realizes he needs to play a calmer tune to cool Wen Ning’s bloodlust and lead him away from the others.

And the playing of that particular tune is the confirmation that Lan Zhan needs to know for certain this is Wei Ying. It’s a song Lan Zhan wrote and played for only Wei Ying at a moment when the two were in a dangerous situation (which we’ll see in a later episode). It’s a love song named “Wangxian,” a combination of both of their names, though Wei Ying doesn’t know that or that this is how he’s finally revealed to Lan Zhan who he is. (Note: On the soundtrack, this song is called “WuJi” and is sung by Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, who play Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.) Lan Zhan shows up and grabs Wei Ying’s wrist. Wei Ying stops playing the flute and looks into the eyes of the last person he saw before he died, the person who tried to save him, the person who evidently has been searching for him ever since that moment he fell off that cliff. Lan Zhan looks at Wei Ying as if convincing himself he’s real, that he’s finally found him.

Wen Ning flies off and when Lan Zhan turns to pursue, Wei Ying drops his flute and this time he’s the one who grabs Lan Zhan’s wrist, his eyes pleading with him to let Wen Ning go.

All this Wen Ning action and obvious touching and feelings between Lan Zhan and the masked dude is too much for Jiang Cheng, who has arrived just in time to make a hateful ass of himself. Convinced the masked dude is Wei Ying, and determined to get rid of him once again, he uses Zidian, his weapon that usually resides on his wrist as a bracelet but can turn into a whip of purple lightning, to prove Wei Ying’s identity. You see, Zidian has the ability to separate a soul from a body they’ve seized. When he tries to use the whip on Wei Ying, however, Lan Zhan steps in between them and sends out a wave of power from his guqin, blocking Zidian. This is the second time that Lan Zhan has protected Wei Ying in this episode, and you’ll see him protecting him a lot more. It’s his thing – protect Wei Ying at all costs. After all, that’s what you do for the person who owns your heart. Wei Ying, the adorable dummy, makes a break for it. Jiang Cheng, seeing another chance, slashes him with Zidian. But when Wei Ying gets up and no soul pops out of the body, Jiang Cheng is stunned. How did Zidian not work? The technicality he doesn’t think of is Wei Ying didn’t seize Mo Xuanyu’s body. It was willingly offered. Big difference.

Furious, Jiang Cheng makes a move to strike him again, but Jingyi steps forward and says it’s already proven that Wei Ying hasn’t possessed Mo Xuanyu’s body, that Wei Ying is dead. To which Jiang Cheng asks him how he knows he’s dead. Jingyi says, uh, weren’t you the one who killed him? And thus begins my love of the Sassy Lan.

During all this, Wei Ying wishes he could go back to 16 years before, back to his home at the Lotus Pier in Yunmeng. And with that wish we are taken back to that happier time, where we will stay for quite a while as we see the characters’ teen years and how this whole story started.

We see Wei Ying lying in a boat with a big lotus leaf covering his face. Jiang Cheng and Yanli are teasing him to wake him up, telling him they’ve arrived at a town in Gusu on their way to study at the Cloud Recesses with the Lan Clan. As they walk through the streets of the town, Wei Ying spots a vendor stall where carvings of little animals on sticks draw his attention. He immediately zeroes in on a bunny one, and this is also foreshadowing. Bunnies will play a part in his story with Lan Zhan. Another bit of foreshadowing is when Jiang Cheng tells his sister that he’s afraid Wei Ying will cause chaos at the Cloud Recesses. Yanli, being her sweet and caring self, responds that Wei Ying just has a lively personality and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

But even the sweetest, most fun-loving people can be driven to take dark paths when they are backed into a corner and lose too much.

[trishmilburn]

An Exploration of The Untamed’s Romance & Mystery, Episode 7

Disclaimer: This post and others in this series will be filled with loads of spoilers if you haven’t seen The Untamed, the Chinese drama based on Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). My chief interest in doing this series as I re-watch the drama is to chronicle the development of the romance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, but I also highlight the progression of the mystery that helps bring them together. Keep in mind that I’m writing these posts with the knowledge of what’s going to happen throughout the series and having read the novel. If you’d like to read my examinations of previous episodes, links are provided at the end of this post.

On to Episode 7…

We pick up where we left off at the end of Episode 6, in the cave beneath the cold pool with Wei Ying and Lan Zhan talking with elder Lan Yi. Wei Ying asks her what happened to his grandmaster, then explains that he’s the son of rogue cultivator Cangse and that rogue cultivator Baoshan was his grandmaster. Lan Yi says that the mess she made with the Yin Metal years ago caused Baoshan to have to live in seclusion.

Lan Zhan asks Lan Yi if she beckoned him and Wei Ying into the cave, but she replies that she didn’t. Instead, in recent years the Yin Metal has been showing signs of movement and her spiritual consciousness has gotten weaker and weaker, making this possible. She says she’s afraid the resentment of the Yin Metal has polluted the water of the cold pool and thus that’s why the two of them were pulled under into the cave. Wei Ying asks her why the Yin Metal has been making movements, and she speculates it’s because the other pieces have resurfaced. At this news, Wei Ying looks at Lan Zhan and says that the cultivator they saw suffering from spirit absorption was turned into a ghost puppet by someone following the methods of Xue Chonghai.

Wei Ying asks Lan Yi if there’s another way to keep the Yin Metal from hurting humanity, but she says it’s a natural object with an earthly spirit, thus it’s impossible to completely eliminate. The only solution is to find all the pieces and eternally freeze them in the cold pool.

Lan Yi starts to fade away, and Lan Zhan bows and says he’ll undertake the task of finding the Yin Metal pieces and freezing them. Wei Ying follows suit, but Lan Zhan decides to be stubbornly standoffish again and tells him it’s a Lan Clan matter and has nothing to do with Wei Ying.  But Wei Ying says that Lan Zhan can’t stop him because he has never taken the principles of humanity and justice lightly, and because the Yin Metal issue forced his grandmaster to live as a recluse for a hundred years. He can’t sit aside and do nothing.

Lan Yi says she hopes they won’t repeat her mistakes, and when she disappears completely the Yin Metal piece falls from where it’s been slowly spinning in mid-air. In that moment the protective barrier falls as well, and an invisible wave flows out of the cave across the surrounding area. Wen Qing feels it as she’s searching the back side of the mountain, and Wen Ning feels it, his eyes going wide, as he helps search for the missing Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.

Then comes one of the more humorous parts of the entire series. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan tumble out of the side of the mountain, their wrists still tied together with Lan Zhan’s “only parents, child and wife can touch it” forehead ribbon, and Wei Ying lands on top of Lan Zhan. So this is how you get a bit of a BL moment in a show that can’t be explicitly BL because of government censorship. When Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing see them in this position, Wei Ying’s all smiley and “Hey, guys!” while Lan Zhan clenches his jaws and tells Wei Ying in no uncertain terms to get off him.

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are surprised that outside of the cave, they’ve been missing for an entire day and night, and everyone’s been worried about them. Wen Qing mentions that their foreheads are emitting cold energy and asks what is in the mountain. (Let me pause for a moment to marvel at how fast Lan Zhan got that forehead ribbon off their wrists and once again tied properly around his head before anyone else saw the inappropriate connection between him and Wei Ying.) Smoothly covering the truth, and perhaps surprising Lan Zhan in the process, Wei Ying tells Wen Qing that the cave was filled with cold water and ice and he thought he might freeze to death. Then the little devil turns and gives Lan Zhan a grin as if to say, “See how smooth I was. You should be impressed and be my friend.”

We next see Lan Xichen playing his magical flute to calm the piece of Yin Metal that Wei Ying and Lan Zhan brought with them from the cave as they and Lan Qiren watch. Then Lan Qiren puts it in of those magical spirit-trapping bags we’ll see throughout the series. While discussing the Yin Metal and what they should do going forward, they hear and then see one of those wraith-like birds of the Wen Clan. Lan Zhan observes that the Wens attended the lecture series just for the Yin Metal. Lan Xichen says they were right to deduce that Wen Ruohan has a piece of the metal already and knew one was at the Cloud Recesses. Lan Qiren adds that this means Wen Ruohan must have had help from someone to locate the first piece.

Wei Ying tells the others that Lan Yi said the pieces of metal can sense each other, so they should use theirs to find the others. Lan Qiren disagrees and says they should seal their piece once more and put it back in the cold pool, then recreate the barrier. Lan Zhan says he fears that will be to no avail. It’s the first time we see Lan Zhan disagree with his uncle in any way, but it definitely won’t be the last or the most vehement disagreement. When Lan Zhan finally falls in love in the future, there is literally no one he won’t go up against to protect Wei Ying. But we’re not there yet.

When we see Wei Ying outside after the conversation, Nie Huaisang runs up to him and asks where he was. Wei Ying responds that the Cloud Recesses is so big that even Lan Zhan almost lost his way. After Huaisang walks away, Jiang Cheng says that Wei Ying is getting mighty close to Lan Zhan (remember, he saw them with their wrists tied together with that forehead ribbon), so much so that he might as well become a Lan disciple and not go back to Lotus Pier. Part of this is his normal poking at his “brother,” but there is likely a part of Jiang Cheng that wouldn’t mind if Wei Ying stayed behind. Then he wouldn’t have to compete with him and constantly come in second place.

Next we see Wen Chao and Xue Yang standing outside Wen Ruohan’s throne room. It’s obvious the chief cultivator doesn’t like colors other than black and red. How very on brand. They have to talk to Wen Ruohan through a big black door, and Wen Chao congratulates him because the Yin Metal has resurfaced in the Cloud Recesses. But Daddy Dearest asks why he’s congratulating him. Does Wen Chao have the piece in hand? Yeah, this guy isn’t winning any Dad of the Year awards. Wen Ruohan tells Xue Yang to go to Yueyang, a command that excites Xue Yang in that wide-eyed, “I’m going to murder some people” sort of way. Yueyang is the seat of the Chang Clan, and we’ll later see that Xue Yang has a beef with them. He reassures Wen Ruohan that he has no interest in the Yin Metal.

Then we go to another of my favorite scenes in the series, where the Lan Clan and the various visiting disciples are making paper lanterns that they’ll send up into the sky along with their prayers. While Lan Zhan is very stoically making his, Wei Ying watches him, a little smile tugging at the edge of his lips. Why does this boy not know he’s smitten? He says to Lan Zhan, “Since we’ve been through life and death experiences together, let’s release a sky lantern together to pray for blessings.” Predictably, Lan Zhan responds that he’s used to doing it by himself, which strikes me as very sad. Despite having family, Lan Zhan has been very much alone and shut off emotionally since the loss of his mother when he was very young, which we’ll find out more about later in the story. Wei Ying says that habits can change and that he made his lantern specifically for Lan Zhan. And then the most beautiful moment occurs, a small but not insignificant turning point in their relationship. Lan Zhan looks at the lantern, on which Wei Ying has drawn a bunny, and smiles. It’s not a huge smile, but it’s big considering it’s Lan Zhan. He looks genuinely stunned and happy, and it makes you think that perhaps no one has ever done anything that thoughtful for him.

Of course, Wei Ying can’t help laughing and pointing out that Lan Zhan smiled, which totally ruins the moment. Lan Zhan’s smile disappears in favor of his more usual disapproving glare as he grabs his sword. Wei Ying jumps to his feet and backs away, inadvertently setting Nie Huisang’s expensive lantern ablaze and destroying it.

When everyone else lets their lanterns float up and start making their prayers and wishes, Wei Ying says, “I wish that I can eliminate evil and protect the weak.” This is significant because not only does it foreshadow the complicated and often sad path he’s going to travel, but the unguarded look Lan Zhan gives him when Wei Ying isn’t looking shows that despite how he might act he’s developing feelings for Wei Ying. It’s more than just curiosity or a crush now; I think this is the moment he starts to fall in love. He probably doesn’t really realize it yet, is maybe even confused and fighting the truth, but it’s going to be a losing battle. These two were drawn to each other from the first moment they met, no matter how much they might fight it or think that it’s something other than what it is.

During the whole lantern scene, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan were making eyes at each other in that shy little way they have, but when their engagement is brought up by Mian Mian and some of the other Jin disciples, Jin Zixuan’s attitude changes and he says it’s time to leave. As Mian Mian questions him about the engagement as they walk down the road, he tells her not to bring it up again because the engagement was not of his free will. Wei Ying overhears this and hates anything that might hurt his beloved sister. Next thing you know, the two are in a fight. Lan Zhan arrives and goes straight to Wei Ying, telling him to stop, and a random disciple explains why Wei Ying was defending his sister’s honor, because Zixuan was seemingly looking down on her. It takes Yanli’s arrival to get Wei Ying to back down even though she’s obviously hurt by the things that were said.

Because fighting is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses (really, what isn’t?), we next see Wei Ying kneeling in the courtyard while Zixuan is supposedly receiving the same punishment elsewhere. Lan Zhan catches him playing with ants, saying they’re cute, instead of reflecting on his wrongdoing. Next Wei Ying sees that Jiang Fengmian has arrived because he and Jin Guangshan have been summoned by Lan Qiren because the fight was over their children’s engagement. At the end of this meeting, Fengmian asks that they end the engagement since he doesn’t believe in forcing the two into a marriage that won’t make them happy. Guangshan reluctantly agrees.

After Jin Guangshan leaves, Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen tell Jiang Fengmian that the fight wasn’t the only reason they asked him to come to the Cloud Recesses. They tell him about the Yin Metal situation, and he vows to help however he can.

When Jiang Cheng tells Wei Ying that his father ended Yanli’s engagement, Wei Ying races off to see his sister because he knows she’ll be upset. Plus, he feels guilty that it’s his fault that things have come to this. When he sees how sad she looks, he floats a paper man talisman toward her to make her smile. When she comes outside and catches him, he apologizes and tells her she’ll marry a man a thousand times better than Jin Zixuan. Wrong. She loves him, and Zixuan likes her, too. He just doesn’t like being forced into things with no say, and I can understand that. Yanli then tells Wei Ying, “You will also marry a beautiful and talented female cultivator.” Wrong again, but she’d only have to change one word in that sentence for it to be right. After all, Lan Zhan is beautiful and talented.

She then tells him that since the lectures are over, they’ll be going back home to the Lotus Pier. Wei Ying looks disappointed when he says, “It has ended already?” You get the feeling that he’s talking about more than the lecture series. He must be wondering if his budding friendship with Lan Zhan is ending, too, or how long it might be before he sees him again.

Jiang Fengmian tells Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen that while on the way to the Cloud Recesses, he heard disturbing news that in the Yueyang region, some cultivation disciples were murdered with no survivors and that the killer is a young retainer of the Wen Clan with the last name Xue. Yep, looks like Xue Yang went on that killing spree he seemed so excited about.

As Jiang Fengmian, his children and Wei Ying bid the Lans farewell, he and Lan Zhan seem to be extra aware of each other and their imminent parting despite not saying anything to each other or making eye contact. When Wei Ying tries to say something to him, Jiang Cheng drags him out as Wei Ying overhears that Lan Zhan is going on a trip. Once outside, Jiang Cheng asks why with so many other disciples around, why did Wei Ying only want to say goodbye to Lan Zhan? Wei Ying replies that he looks up to Lan Zhan and then teases that he was unbeatable until he “finally met his match.” Oh, sweetie, he’s your match in more ways than fighting.

As Lan Zhan watches the Jiangs and Wei Ying depart, perhaps reluctantly and very privately wondering if he’ll ever see Wei Ying again, and quite possibly why he’d want to, Lan Xichen asks him if they should tell Wei Ying about his trip to look for the pieces of the Yin Metal. Lan Zhan says there is no need.

In the final scene, we see Wei Ying saying goodbye to the white bunnies he brought out of the cave and left to roam over a hillside at the back of the Cloud Recesses. He wonders aloud if he should take them to Lotus Pier with him, but then decides to leave them for Lan Zhan in case he gets bored. He wonders where Lan Zhan is going by himself and then seems to remember the promise Lan Zhan made to Lan Yi about finding the other pieces of the Yin Metal and can’t believe he’s going by himself. After all, Wei Ying had promised to help despite Lan Zhan telling him it was a Lan Clan matter.

So this episode had more revelations about the Yin Metal and Wen Ruohan’s devious plans, but on the bright side it also had some beautiful moments in the early development of the romance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. We see some softening on Lan Zhan’s part. Wei Ying’s infectious personality and caring nature are making inroads in Lan Zhan’s closed-off heart. And I don’t think he quite knows what to make of Wei Ying, how he surprises him, and his own changing feelings toward this man who is so totally opposite in personality to himself. But that’s what makes you the perfect pairing, dear Lan Zhan, as you will grow to realize.

Previous posts in this series:

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6