#also that shot with them face to face and a Ning

[kurogane2512]

Howdy, avid reader of your Ningguang x reader fic ya wrote over on Wattpad! (As well as the several one-shots ya wrote for her in the Mine collection). Anyway!

If it's at all possible could I request some Ningguang x reader NSFW? (Preferably dom!Ning and sub!reader)

Aww thank you so much for the continued support! <3

God I missed writing on Ning so much :))

18+ CONTENT MDNI

Game: Genshin Impact

Characters: Ningguang x fem!Reader

Type: Smut and Fluff (kissing, tying up with chains, blindfold, fingering, teasing and edging, dommy mommy Ning but she's soft too)

This was a bad idea. You should have seen this coming before proposing something like this. You were up against the Tianquan of Liyue, owner of the infamous Jade Chamber and the wealthiest human in Teyvat. You should have seen this outcome from miles away. Yet, your body couldn't refuse her. Not when she made the tempting offer to turn this casual match of TCG into something....exciting.

"Hehe~" The Tianquan chuckled, her voice flowing in your ears.

"It seems the winner is decided now.....However, I do believe in playing until the end since you never know when the tide can turn~"

The Lady of the Jade Chamber teased, the two of you seated in her private room with a Casket of Tomes out and card decks in your hands. Two of your cards had already been defeated while Ningguangl had two of hers....You were supposed to be one of the best TCG players in Liyue considering you reached the semi-finals of the tournament; clearly, it was evident why you didn't go further.

"Hah~ It's no point now...."

You sighed and played your last die and as expected, the move didn't help in any manner. Ningguang smirked and played her final turn, defeating your last card and achieving victory.

"Congratulations, milady." you praised earnestly, not so upset to lose but were anxious of what was to come.

"My, thank you very much, my dear~" she smirked then beckoned her finger at you, making you crawl closer to her and she held your chin up.

"Now, what shall I do with you, hm?~"

She hummed and caressed your cheek before making you sit on her lap, your hands holding her shoulders.

"Well, the condition was that we'd take off our clothes with every card lost...."

That's right, she made it into a stripping game. Naturally, you were currently in your bra and underwear as you had taken off your shirt and pants earlier. You were supposed to take off one last clothing but clearly, your lover had other plans. She, on the other hand, was still in full clothing as she had only discarded her underwear.

"Hmm....but I have also won the game so I shall claim my prize now~"

She pushed you down on the bed and came above you, smirking before holding your wrists up to your head. You then felt something forming around your wrists and looked up to see Geo chains binding your arms to the bedposts. You gulped, anticipating what was to come. The Tianquan then proceeded to bring a red silk cloth from her cupboard and blindfolded you.

"Well then, what clothing shall we take off now? As the winner, I'll let you choose~"

Your face flushed as you felt her hands caress your body before her soft lips planted kisses on your neck moving down to your chest, you shuddered as her knee dug between your thighs and rubbed against your core. You knew she was doing this intentionally, being blindfolded made you more sensitive to her touches as you had no idea what she'd do.

"Hm? Are you having a hard time choosing? Shall I select for you then?~"

Her hands cupped your breasts, rubbing and massaging them. You shivered as you felt her take off the bra very slowly, you didn't want this. You wanted her to take off your underwear, you wanted her to touch you down there. And she knew that, she knew you wanted it there but she wanted to hear you say it.

"N-No, wait....not that."

"Oh? Then, be a good girl and tell your mistress what you want~"

Her angelic voice brushed against your ear, her warm breath tickling the edge and your body trembling in response.

"P-Please, mistress....the u-underwear...."

"Hm? I'm afraid I didn't hear you, sweetheart~"

You pursed your lips in embarrassment, "P-Please, take off my....u-underwear!"

You spoke earnestly, earning a smirk from her. She brought her knee closer to your core and rubbed it, your body arching at the sensation.

"Is this what you mean? You want me to remove this unnecessary piece of clothing?~"

"Y-Yes! Please!"

You practically begged, discarding all your pride in front of the Tianquan. She could feel wetness on her knee dripping from your core, she slid off the underwear and gazed at your throbbing wet cunt, needy for her touch. Your heartbeat fastened as soon as you felt a rush of cool air on your core, you couldn't see what she was doing but her gaze was intently fixed on your core, so much so that you could burn up under her.

You gasped as you felt her cold metal nails brush your thighs to spread your legs, your body squirming in place and making the chains clatter. Her fingers then gently rubbed your outer folds, the metal nails occasionally touching your walls. You wanted her so badly, you wanted her inside you. But, the Tianquan was often feisty with you. She loved making you impatient for her.

"My, it seems my darling has been a bad girl. Already so wet and dripping with essence, I have barely even touched you~"

Frankly, she was the cause of your current state. That moment was still vivid in your mind, the moment where she lost her card and took off her underwear right in front of you. You had become impatient since then and wanted to win so as to see her naked, but clearly you became too haste and made mistakes. You rubbed your thighs together to grip her palm but she forcefully spread them again.

"Uh huh, don't even think about it. I decide what we do, you'll be punished if you make a move...." she paused and leaned down, her body pressed against you as she came to whisper in your ear, "....Unless that's exactly what you want~"

You were in no place to decide, beggars can't be choosers. You would be content with anything, you just wanted to be touched. You nodded your head and she chuckled then leaned back up, rubbing her fingers against your folds again and gathering your juices.

"Well, since you gave me an enjoyable game, I'll reward you for your obedience and company~"

She inserted 2 fingers in one go seeing how wet you were, your walls spasming and taking her in needily. She scissored them as she leaned down to gaze at your face before snuggling into your neck, biting at a spot. Your back arched as she touched your senstive spot, her fingers thrusting in and out now and hitting it over and over.

"Aaah! M-Mistress! L-Let me....mhm!~"

You moaned and threw your head back, her voice chuckling in your ear as she licked your lobe and gently nipped at it.

"My darling wants to cum already? And here I thought I'd give you a special treat this time....What a pity~"

You bit your lower lip as her thrusts fastened, you knew what she was referring to and you wanted it so bad but she wasn't making it easy for you.

"If you hold in for two more minutes then I promise to give it to you~"

You hissed and pressed your thighs together; her fingers were drenched in your slick as she continued fingering you relentlessly. Your moans echoed in her room and you did your best to hold back but she knew your weak spots too well. You already lost one game to her, you didn't want to lose again. At last, she stopped her assault and took out her drenched fingers. You did as asked and didn't cum, making her smile in pride as she leaned down to kiss you deeply.

"Good girl~ That wasn't so difficult, was it? Now then, I'll give you your real reward~"

You laid panting on the bed as she stood up to open her cupboard and wear a strap on before climbing on the bed again and coming between your legs. You felt the tip rub against your clit and jumped in surprise, making her excited as well.

"Now, let's see if you can cum with me~"

[admirableadmiranda]

I keep seeing the idea that Jiang Cheng is disliked or hated for his actions because "Jiang Cheng Antis” refuse to acknowledge ugly reactions to trauma, or victims who aren’t perfect, basically citing that he should be forgiven more than we do because not everyone is going to react the same to pain and trauma and just because his reactions aren’t perfect doesn’t mean that he should be held accountable for his actions, any of them, and us calling his actions wrong or abuse is us in fact being terrible.

I want to refute this idea for a few reasons:

First off, while I can’t speak for everyone, I know that I and my friends don’t think that his initial reactions being kinda bad are necessarily damning. Nobody is going to be perfect, sometimes when we are stuck in the worst parts of our lives, we do things that we will later regret in the process of surviving those times. It doesn’t really make it okay and we should understand if the people who are around us in those times don’t want to be around us anymore after that, but it isn’t a death knell that he reacts really poorly after the initial fall of Lotus Pier and the death of his parents and everyone he’s grown up with. I have forgiven characters for doing worse, but proving that it was their worst and turning around after that.

The problem with that part is that he doesn’t turn anything around. He never apologizes for strangling Wei Wuxian, he continues to turn the blame for what happened on people who weren’t involved even after getting to kill Wen Zhuliu and torture Wen Chao to death, holding Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and, for a time, Jin Zixuan as also being responsible even though none of them were, even though he knows this and adjusts his opinion later to drop Jin Zixuan out of the blame, even though he later adds Wen Ning to his list of those to blame despite Wen Ning rescuing him from Lotus Pier and sheltering him. It isn’t a worst moment of his life, brought on by trauma and pain, it’s just the start of his sliding slope downward.

Second off is the idea that this should exonerate him of all of his actions. Look at him! He lost his parents and his clan to war by the Wens! He has suffered so much, becoming a clan leader so young in the fires of war!!!

Except... he’s not the only one, not by a long shot. Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang all have their fathers killed and their homes attacked by the Wens as well. Both Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen also ascend at very young ages, no one was over twenty when they took up their positions, and at the end of the novel, Jin Ling is even younger when he takes on his own clan leader position. Also he isn’t the only one to go into war so young, Wei Wuxian is a whole five days older than he is, and the whole jianghu falls into war against the Wens, no doubt with other fighters who also lost their homes and families in the process.

It isn’t that it isn’t impressive that he manages to pull it together in the face of all that’s happening, it’s that he’s not the only person by any means to suffer this trauma. Wei Wuxian goes through the exact same journey that he does, but when this argument comes up, it’s always just for why Jiang Cheng shouldn’t be blamed, not about how their whole generation lost so much to a war that their parents left to them by refusing to do anything before even when they all saw the signs of what Wen Ruohan was doing.

The third part is that there’s apparently no limit or expiration date on how long people have to forgive him for doing whatever he wants to do. His trauma is a reason for him to treat people however he wants for as long as he wants, and they should just put up with it because he’s suffering and not all pain is beautiful.

But by the time Wei Wuxian comes back to life, it’s been almost twenty years. A whole generation, long enough for Jiang Cheng to watch his nephew grow to almost adulthood. The world as a whole is changed, he himself has transformed Lotus Pier into a whole new place; and it wasn’t because the Wens had destroyed everything, Wei Wuxian no longer recognizes it, meaning that this happened after he died. The general attitude that JC stans have towards Wei Wuxian is that he shouldn’t hold Jiang Cheng leading a siege against him because it’s been long enough, he should get over it by now. But Jiang Cheng apparently should still get to act without hesitation or consideration of others and their own pain because he is suffering, he is an imperfect victim. It doesn’t matter what else anyone else has gone through and it is unreasonable to hold him to task because he lost his family.

The whole point of poor trauma reactions is that they are moments, responses in time to events. It is one thing for Jiang Cheng to react poorly right after his family is killed and his home invaded. But he gets worse over the course of the story. The day of the attack, he strangles Wei Wuxian. That’s one thing. But three years later he turns on Wei Wuxian, declares him an enemy of the world, tells him to let the Wens be slaughtered even though they are no longer at war, later declares war on Wei Wuxian and personally leads a siege to kill him. In the interim, a time of peace in which supposedly all of his enemies are dead, he hunts down people who he claims to be demonic cultivators and people that Wei Wuxian is possessing and tortures them to death, all the while doing very little to help his people as he will only intervene once someone has already died to the problem. When Wei Wuxian returns to life thirteen years after he died, seventeen years after the war, when Jiang Cheng is literally double the age that this began, despite him deliberately trying to avoid Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng seeks him out multiple times specifically to hurt him, first trying to kill him with a whip that can destroy spirits possessing bodies, then tying him up and torturing him with a dog. Later he leads a second siege upon Wei Wuxian, who still has done nothing to him aside from try to avoid him before later attacking him and Lan Wangji by first demanding that they leave, then refusing to let them do so, driving Wei Wuxian to a qi deviation (which can be fatal, that’s how Nie Mingjue died) and attacking Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian with Zidian while Wei Wuxian is unconcious before Wen Ning stops him. Even in the temple, he’s still demanding that Wei Wuxian play by his rules of debts, he’s upset because he knows that he has gone so much farther than anyone has any right to and he has nothing to hold over Wei Wuxian’s head anymore.

Fifteen years of hurting everyone around him isn’t a poor trauma response. That’s deliberate and chosen. That is what he wants to do. It is a clear line of events where in the end, the trauma is an excuse over anything else.

If it had ended at the beginning of this list, Jiang Cheng would be a very different character and Modaozushi would be a very different novel. If it were just a trauma reaction and he didn’t want to hurt anyone in the long run, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

But you cannot exonerate everything with the fact that his parents died when he was seventeen. Especially not when we have so many other people who react in so many other ways to the same pain. It is frankly ridiculous that people think he is the only one to suffer in the story, even though it is clear that no one escapes the novel unscathed and a hell of a lot of people die. Sometimes even at his hands or by his orders.

Jiang Cheng is not unsympathetic. I can understand what hurts he feels, at least to an extent. But an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and he just keeps doing it. And then his stans show up and claim that it’s fine for him to want to kill everyone who he hates (not necessarily everyone who’s even done him wrong, and they certainly like to ignore everything he does to them) because he’s an ugly trauma victim.

He may be that, at the start. But twenty years down the line, when he gets excited at the thought of getting to torture people, that isn’t a trauma reaction anymore.

That’s a choice.

[heymeowmao]

2024.04.29 - https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321325028561374544131

I'll stream for a while then go~~

bgm: 落了白 (Falling White) - Jiang Xue’er

LYN: Hallo everybody, good evening. I am Modern Brothers Liu Yuning. Welcome to my livestream~ Long time no see. I feel like I haven’t seen you in a long time, so I wanted to have a nice chat with you before my next drama starts airing. C: Act more normal. LYN: I’m not acting abnormal?? Are you starting to have something against me, now? Is it that you havent seen me in too long so I feel unfamiliar? I’m being very normal right now, and you want me to “act more normal”? What counts as “normal”? C: Ning-ge, you’re so gentle. LYN: In your hearts am I a very fierce and cruel person? Or do I normally have a bad temper and I yell a lot? No, right? I’ve always been this gentle.

C: The sound is much lower. LYN: /speaks directly into the mic/ Is it too low? I just need to pull the mic closer. 

C: You haven’t eaten, so you have no strength? LYN: No, I’ve eaten. I had a meal before starting the stream. I ordered some takeout. Otherwise I was afraid I would pass out in the middle of the stream. I ate something before I started.

C: Don’t be so gentle. I feel uncomfortable when you’re not backtalking at me. LYN: Are you sadistic? You need me to backtalk you in order to feel comfortable? That’s weird. 

LYN: I don’t know if I’ll have the time to stream once filming starts up, because shooting a drama keeps me pretty busy. My last drama ZLYM- I actually didn’t have that many scenes. I had very few, and I didn’t have time to stream. I’ll have more scenes in this drama (SJYM/A Dream Within A Dream), so if I had to predict then… I would have even less time to stream. Today’s stream is a preemptive measure- so that you’ll be aware that my future streaming schedule will not be very frequent. Please understand.

bgm: 狂風襲來 (Fierce Wind Raid) - West Out of Yumen/Parallel World OST

LYN: I have a lot to do. If I were only an actor I would probably have more time. But I can’t let go of music, and there’s also the streaming so… I don’t have enough time. I guess I’m also getting older, too… C: You also have variety shows. LYN: The Truth is almost finished- I’ll go one more time and we’ll be done shooting for it. After that, I’ll stay in the drama crew a while. I just need to go to shoot The Truth one more time- a two-day session, then it’s over. LYN: It’s a variety show I like a lot. I went to the first season, and the people there were great. Honestly, I rarely make friends. I can only make some if I’m working with them, shooting a drama or variety show together. I made a lot of friends after shooting season 1, and I’ve made a lot of friends after this season as well. Of course, some of those friends are already old friends. Zhou Keyu and Bai Yu, for example. We shot the first season together. I’m close with Reba, because we’ve worked together twice already. This variety show counts as our third partnership. Now there’s Zhang Linghe and Xun-ge. Xun-ge, I actually did work with before, but that was just roughly. Jin Jing also came to film with us this season. It’s nice to be able to make some friends. It’s a happy thing. Later I will be properly focused on shooting the drama and I won’t have much of anything else going on. 

LYN: There are people making fun of me for being scared. Friends. You already saw how scared I got when we shot the prologue. Friends- you might not understand. I was pretending on purpose. Honestly, I wasn’t scared one bit. I wasn’t afraid. I was pretending. Pretending to be cute. I was thinking since my face is so old, if I acted a little cute, would it make the viewers like me a little more? I was just pretending. You can see my performance in the later episodes. I stop pretending, then. I come clean. Don’t believe in what you see, I was just pretending. Pretending to be scared. What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not scary. Just watch me in the later episodes- there’s not one shred of fear in me. Yeah… really. Believe me. C: I can’t believe you at all. LYN: Believe me. I’m not afraid at all, later. You’ll see. 

LYN: The second season should be a pretty good watch. We could tell when we were shooting it- it’s actually very interesting. We’re a good group of people and we had fun together. The other thing is that I don’t record variety shows often- I don’t much have the time, and there are few I want to be on- so when I am on a show I’m always very happy. I’m happy and relaxed. When I’m not too busy with work, I can find a fun project. While I’m playing, it also counts as work which is nice. I was happy to record this variety show. LYN: Every time I go to record for a variety show, I- 

bgm: Truthfully = A1 Trip/DOBI

LYN:  When I go to record for a variety show, when the time comes for it to end, I feel like I don’t want to let it go. I feel like I only just got close with my new friends and we’d only just worked out how to get along. We’d only just reached the point where we could rely on each other, so having to part with them makes me sad. So… the last time we recorded, I had asked the producer, “Will this program have a season three?” They said, “There will be.” I told them, “I remember the last season, I asked you this same question. You made me wait three years.” /sigh/ And then I asked, “What about the third season?” They told me the third season would come quickly. I replied, “Does it depend on how well this season rates? If KSTLB2 flops, would a third season be hard to pull off?” They did not respond. They used silence as the answer. LYN: The moment they lowered their head I understood. I saw clearly the truth of the situation. The cruelty of it. So, friends, when KSTLB2 starts airing, I hope that each one of you here can promote this very good variety show, this easily consumable variety show, this show that makes you think, this show with a group of youthful and good-looking men and women- to your parents and elders, and brothers and sisters. Okay? Thank you, everyone.

C: I’ve watched the whole first season and can tell you all about it from memory. Looking forward to S2. LYN: There’s a problem with S2… wait- would saying this be bad for the program? /laughs/ The gameplay of the second season is different from the first. Our trust will be on thinner ice. Our mutual trust in one another- that friendliness and closeness one feels upon first meeting- will come back to hit us in the face. For example, when we first see each other: “Good morning! How did you sleep? Not bad? Let’s see what we’ve got for us today. I hope we can solve the mystery quickly.” We’re smiling and everyone’s faces are full of… kindness. But once this game starts- there are five fixed players and each week we’ll get a guest sixth- there’s a murderer among the six of us in each episode. So… the whole process is just us suspecting one another. Indiscriminately suspecting, indiscriminately provoking, indiscriminately attacking. Which leads to…

LYN: Last week, I know you saw me wearing a red wig, right? I’m telling this to my fans, since they would probably follow the spoilers about me- I recorded an episode in a red wig. While we were recording that episode, BY kept singling me out. He kept saying, “LYN’s not normal today.” “Liu-ge, you’re not normal today. This is too out of the ordinary. I have a feeling you’re the murderer.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “Because you’re not talking. This is too different from normal. You haven’t spoken a word all day.” I replied, “It’s not that I don’t want to talk, it’s because my hair is being pulled too tightly. The wig is too tight and it’s affecting my ability to think and respond to people normally. Those functions have disappeared. They suffocated.” Half an hour with that wig was okay. Over an hour and it’s a headache. I feel like it was leaving stress marks on my skull. I filmed with it for several hours. After that day I felt like my soul was squeezed out. I was trying to explain to him, “My wig hurts too much. It’s so uncomfortable. I know it looks good, but the cost is too great. It hurts so much.” He said, “I don’t believe you. We’re all adults. How could a person as smart as I am be tricked by your excuses? I’m right. You are the murderer.” Of course, I can’t tell you if he guessed right or wrong. :) LYN: You can imagine- The wig starts from here, and it’s wrapped around your whole head. All that’s left is a mouth. XD It separates your brain from your mouth- do you know that feeling? It’s like a barrier in the middle. Your thinking, logic, and speech is no longer under your brain’s control. 

C: What are you drinking? LYN: Tea. It’s uh... some tea.

C: How many episodes is KSTLB? LYN: It should be around 10 or so? I think it’s 10, and they’re spilt between part 1 and part 2. I’m not sure. Are parts 1 and 2 aired on the same day? I’m not clear on the specifics. They only gave ten episode’s worth of pay. XD I’m guessing how many episodes there are based on how many episode’s worth I was paid for. 

C: How much do you get paid an episode? LYN: /whispers/ What’s it to you? Does it have anything to do with you? LYN: Also- they pay you for this variety show? I had to buy tickets to get inside. It’s a restricted area and you normally need a ticket to get inside. I bought tickets. They pay? I didn’t know! The production team didn’t tell me. Next time I’ll ask the other guests if they were paid to come on the show. At the time, they told me that if I wanted to be on the program I’d have to send the producer a 200rmb red envelope. I thought about it for three days and in the end I didn’t send it. They were supposed to give me money? Wasn’t it that I had to pay to be able to be on it??

C: If I give 400rmb, can I go in and be a ghost? LYN: You want to be an NPC? You want to PAY to be an NPC? I don’t think you can do that.

C: Is Zhuo Bufan coming? LYN: I saw online that Heroes (Tian Xing Jian) would air on May 4th. I think it’s fake news. I saw the posts- someone online said that TXJ would air on 5/4 and many of my fans were discussing it, saying, “Waa~ ZBF is coming!!” I think it’s fake news. Why? Because they only send me the OST yesterday. They send me the OST yesterday, and I need to go record it. Think about it- the OST isn’t even recorded yet, so how can it air?? So that’s… probably false.

LYN: Later when I’m not doing this job anymore, I can… become an yxh that knows more accurate information than any other yxh. C: Ning-ge, it seems like you would be happy to do it. LYN: No- I’m just saying some nonsense!! It looks to me like being an yxh is really easy, is all. If I want to do it, I’m sure that I could be successful at it. I could be big. Even a media company. I think I can make it. You’ve just got to think of different paths. Being in more than one industry is useful.

- /hears some banging from upstairs?/ LYN: ??? - C: Let us know when you’re looking for employees. LYN: Ok. - C: What’s that sound? LYN: I think the upstairs neighbors are fighting. I don’t know who lives up there, but sometimes in the middle of the night I’ll hear things falling on the floor. There are always some sounds that rouse me. But it’s okay because I always make noise for other people, too. I can sit here in the night listening to music and no one complains about me. So if other people bang and drop things on the floor, I won’t complain about them either. But these past few days I’ve gathered that the people upstairs are playing mahjong. The sound is of the tiles hitting the floor. I’m guessing that after the machine shuffled the tiles they accidentally drop the tray of tiles on the floor. They were probably about to win, got excited, and their tiles dropped.

bgm: 天光 (Heaven Light) - Chongzi OST

LYN: I went to record a song the other day. It’s one I sang with another person, and it should probably be released in a few days. It’s… you’ll know when you hear it. It was a pretty good job, so when it comes out please pay it some attention. I’ve sung a song with someone, and it’ll come out in a few days. I’ve actually done a lot of things in secret.   

C: I’ve finally caught up to a fresh stream. LYN: Alrighty. A “fresh” stream is nice.

C: Lao-da, talk about your music variety. LYN: The thing on Jiangsu Satellite TV? (音乐潮计划/Music Wave Project) We’re still in talks about it, but if there’s any progress I’ll let you know.

C: When is KSTLB officially airing? LYN: This, I really don’t know. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. So don’t ask me. You can just wait for the news. It should be soon, because I know the first couple of episodes are already made. There’s a… song that we recorded and they’ve sent that to us to listen to as well. 

----- Bodhi Seeds > Walnuts

C: I saw the walnuts. LYN: Lately I’ve gotten into polishing walnuts. I don’t know if any of you are like me- once you start with something, you start also thinking about how you can apply it to other things. One thing at a time, you start buying more and more. The more you see, the more easily you buy it. Are any of you like that? There’s just more and more. I can’t stop myself. In the past two years, when I first got into it, I was handling bodhi seeds (passionfruit hashplant). I kept buying them, of all sorts of different varieties. After playing with those for a couple of days, I didn’t find it fun anymore and gave them away to my friends and staff. At a certain point, I had enough of playing with the bodhi seeds. I started playing with Xingyue bodhi. I kept buying them, of all sorts- /describes the types/- and when I was done with them I gave them away. Then I spent a little more and started playing with the Fengyan bodhi. Fengyan bodhi are- to my understanding- the more expensive of the bodhi types. The pricing is actually a little ridiculously expensive. You see me wearing a strand around a lot. (People comment on the price of them, and he just wants you to know they’re a more expensive/higher grade.) Don’t call then cheaper than they are. LYN: At first I bought a 9mm-108 strand, but no matter how I handled it, I felt like they were too big so I gave them away. How did I do it? I separated it into three sections, and gave the two smaller sections to friends. There was a longer strand and the last time Da Fei-ge came for the Carnation Music Festival, right? When they came, I gave Ah Zhuo a strand of Passion Bodhi seeds. Then I gave a larger set of Qilingyan- a lot of you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. I gave him a set of Qilingyan, but he also wanted a set of smaller ones so I gave him that longer section of the Fengyan. After that, I started playing with the 8mm, not 9mm. Now I’ve moved on to the Jingang bodhi. It’s not particular, and I can play with it however I want.

LYN: And nowadays I’ve set my sights on walnuts. I’ve bought a bunch like the baishizi, guanmo, hamatou, and whatnot. I kept buying them, so now I’ve started to polish them. 

C: You’re a health and wellness streamer. (?) LYN: I’m not. But if I brought you my box of beads to show you, you would really think I am. C: Show us. LYN: Nah. - /makes a comment that he really shouldn’t be playing anymore because it’s a waste of money and it’s addicting./ - [t/n: I got lost, so this is the best I could do.]

LYN: I think I’m going to stop at walnuts, though. One day I was recording for the show and I told ZLH I was starting to polish walnuts. When we’re there, both as guests, isn’t it a good thing to try and find common topics of conversation and get some screentime? Friends- in your life and work, if you want to get closer to a person you have to find a topic of conversation that the other person enjoys talking about. For example, if they like talking about skiing, you can ask them about it. Through this topic, you can speak more to each other and understand one another better. So that day I struck up conversation with him, “ZLH. I’ve started to polish with walnuts lately. I heard it’s also a hobby of yours?” But it wasn’t because I knew that he polished them that I started! I just coincidentally saw that it was related to him, so I asked him about it. But he said, “I don’t polish them.” I said, “Oh?? Then…” It was a little embarrassing. “I heard that your fans are called “Walnuts”? I thought that because you liked to play with them, your fans started calling themselves that as a linkage.” Because people who like to play with the walnuts polish/rub them, so I thought his fans called themselves “Walnuts”. But… (that’s not the case). It was pretty awkward. C: Why would you make that connection? LYN: Because a lot of you tell me to stop playing with the beads and to play with you instead! I thought it was some preference for fans to adopt the name of the thing that their favorite artist likes. For example, some artist likes driving cars, so their fans would call themselves “Little Cars”. I don’t know if that’s actually a thing, though? Like, “Don’t drive cars, drive me instead.”?? 

C: Ning-ge, then we are called “chuan” (串)]! LYN: This name isn’t really good… C: Then from now on we will be called “chuan-jie”. LYN: No, no. It’s not a good name. “Chuan” isn’t normally used to describe humans. It’s used to describe… other things. So please, friends, don’t stick yourself with nonsensical labels. 

bgm: Young Captain队长 & ODD Chen Sijian - 超感 (Super Sense)

LYN: Some of you don’t get what “chuan” means, right? It’s used to describe small dogs. I’m explaining because you don’t get it, I don’t mean to insult you. It’s just that someone asked me what it meant, so I’m letting you know. “Chuan” is typically used to describe animals like small dogs. Let’s say you have a dog and it’s a golden retriever. If it has a pup with a samoyed, that mixed-breed would be called a “chuan.” If I say it like that, do you get it now? It mean it’s a mixed-breed. Yeah… That’s how people usually use the term. 

-----

C: We’re called “Yang Di.” LYN: XD I saw your comments on that. Did it air yesterday or today? I forgot. Hello Saturday. Oh, it was the day before yesterday. I was partnered up with YD and there were some activities that required me tohold on to him. And then- - LYN: Wait- hold on. I just saw a comment that read, “Did you do cosmetic surgery again?” Hey- where do you think I look good? :) Do you think that I am better looking in some way? Where? Tell me. Say it out loud. Tell me. I want to know. Someone just asked if I had cosmetic surgery, so I want to know where they think I look nicer. Hm? - *clicks his tongue* C: Your eyes look prettier. // You eyes are bigger. LYN: Did I get double-eyelid surgery?? I opened up the corners of my eyes? C: Your skin looks more exquisite. LYN: No- that’s because of the beauty filter. LYN: I didn’t get surgery. I wouldn’t have the time to recover. Also I don’t think that cosmetic surgery can save me. If I want to change myself- change this face- I’d have to change my whole head. A project so small as cosmetic surgery can’t save me anymore. - LYN: Continuing on with YD, for the game I had to hold on to him, right? I saw there were some of you who wished you could become him. You really… Did you know in fighting there’s this method called- called… /has to do the action to get the word/ a headlock? Normally, I think a person would pass out within five seconds if they were really subject to one. 

LYN: It’s kind of hot. Let me turn on the AC. I’ll go turn on the AC. Watch a video first, and I’ll  use the restroom while I’m up. Let me find something. There are a lot of new videos but I haven’t saved them. I’m sure you’ve already seen enough of the ones I already have. 

---------- Break #1 - 52:35-52:45 Daimi Time! LYN: Is this what they mean when they say “so hot you become a dog”? “Hot like a dog”. Is this what they mean? /to Daimi/ I’m talking about you. It’s okay- you can open your mouth to pant. It’s okay. Continue. LYN: She just got back from a bath. My ge sent her back. She just went for a wash so now she's excited. We’ve given her a blow-dry so her fur is fluffy. C: She looks quite heavy.

LYN: Yes. C: How many kgs is she? LYN: I think she’s about 14kg now.

C: The mic receiver is too good. LYN: Yes, nowadays mics are really good.

LYN: Let me sing a song! What do you want to hear? I’ll sing it. LYN: This song is good. Let me gift it to all of you and I hope that if any of you are lost in the dark and can’t find your way, you can find you light in the darkness. This song is for you.

-- 黑夜一束光 (Praying)

LYN: I heard a song the other day I really liked, so I want to sing it. /looking it up/ Oh, that’s what it’s called. … There’s no arrangement for it. I was thinking I would sing it for fun, but there’s no track for it. LYN: ??? Why is there so much white noise?? /troubleshooting/ Let me turn off the AC. LYN: /testing/ Oh, whatever. I don’t care. Let there be white noise. It’s not the sound of rain.

bgm: 世世 (Lifetime) - The Legend of Shen Li OST

C: I want to hear 啊默契 (Till the End) LYN: Okay. I can sing that. - /starts/ /stops/ LYN: Hold on. Sorry, let me start again. -- 啊默契 (Till the End)

bgm: 撞地球 (Earth Collision) by Yu Er Qi

LYN: Let me drink some water, hold on. C: 昨日少年 (Youth of Yesterday) LYN: /sings(?) it/

C: When will you get a new drama? LYN: You- you must not be my fan. Of course, it’s okay even if you’re not my fan. There’s still a chance- a slim chance that you could still become one. My next drama starts filming tomorrow. Today is night before recording starts and I will officially start my new role tomorrow. 

C: Use that style of singing to sing 奉上 (Offer). LYN: /does it/ LYN: I usually sing just like this, and what you hear when it’s released is what they’ve fixed during editing and production. This is how I usually sing. LYN: /sings more/ LYN: Isn’t it nice? It’s perfection. -- 奉上 (Offer) - A Journey to Love OST (tone deaf ver.) -- 奉上 (Offer) - A Journey to Love OST (ft. Daimi)

-- 一念关山 (A Journey to Love) by Richie Jen LYN: ?! Is it going to keep playing? 

-- 立剑 (Establish A Sword) by Zhang Jie Daimi: /barking/ LYN: /to Daimi/ Have you gone crazy? Huh!? What are you barking for?? LYN: I don’t really know this song ^^; Also the key is too high. It’s too high. I remember there was a previous stream in which I swore I would never sing Zhang Jie-laoshi’s songs again. Because they are too high. There’s no need to make things difficult for myself, you know?

-- 别梦寒 (Don’t Dream of the Cold) LYN: This song tires me out. I don’t really have the strength to sing this one. I can’t sing it. 

LYN: I can sing OSTs today! Let me see what OSTs LYN has sung… C: 拂晓 (Dawn) LYN: The one that just came out, right? Harbin 1944 (In the Name of the Brother)? -- 拂晓 (Dawn) - Harbin 1944/In the Name of the Brother OST LYN: Thank you. C: This song is amazing. LYN: When I received this OST, the main reason I accepted was because I haven’t released this type of song lately. I haven’t had this style of song, and it was quite nice sounding, so I accepted it. 

LYN: Am I trending? For real? I’m such a small-fry artist, but I have the honor to be trending? I don’t believe it. Let me find another OST… LYN: Hold on… there’s no rush… - /hums a little of 如果爱还记得 (If Love Still Remembers) - Wonderland of Love OST/ LYN: I know what to sing. I should sing this, shouldn’t I? By all means, I should sing it. (bc LYT is the lead ) -- 朝暮 (Morning and Evening) - Warm on a Cold Night OST LYN: Thank you. C: What song is this? LYN: I can’t believe so many of you are asking what song this is. My fans all know it, right? If you don’t know, then I think that’s also okay, because I release a lot of songs so if you can’t remember them, that’s fine.

C: Trending in the Entertainment tab at 32. LYN: It’s all positive, right? What I mean by that is no one is in there hating on me, right? “What gives LYN the right? When he looks so ugly??” It’s nothing like that, right? What are the contents of the trending topic at 32, friends? It’s not a new “melon” that says I’m in a new drama and who I’m acting alongside, and the comments are all people asking “What gives LYN the right?”, right? C: It’s positive. LYN: Oh, okay. Then it won’t get a very high ranking. I’ll drop off of it in a bit. C: It’s “LYN_Livestream”. LYN: That’s okay, then. I’ll drop off of it later. Usually all the topics that are hating on me rise up in ranks quickly. But for a small-fry like me, just being trending is thanks enough. I’m thankful to have you.

C: I want to hear 愿光 (Wish Light). LYN: Let me see if I have it. I really haven’t sung this live before, have I? I can’t sing it, because it’s not on this platform… Forget it. I won’t sing it, then. I won’t open the other app because it’s complicated to go between them.

LYN: There is one song I really like! I don’t think I’ve sung it before. Sometimes I don’t sing them live because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to. There are some songs that I know while I’m recording them are so difficult to sing and record. When I look back on them, I’m afraid to sing them because I’m afraid I won’t be able to pull it off. Oh, but there isn’t a track for this song. - 隐侠 (Hidden Hero) - 赘婿 (Zhui Xu/My Heroic Husband) Donghua Opening Theme LYN: Let’s forget it, since there’s no track for it.

LYN: This works, right? It’s also an OST. If I’m remembering correctly it’s for the Palace Museum, right? An OST to promote the Palace Museum… I really like this song. It’s about the inheritance of our national treasures. -- 传承 (Inheritance) - Palace Museum Cultural Relics Promotion Song

C: 千里江山 (The Vast Land) LYN: I can do that.

C: 一生有多远 (How Long is a Lifetime) LYN: How does that one go? It’s one of my songs, right? /looks it up/ Oh, it is my song. You know what is suitable for this song? If you have a cup of coffee- oh, no. Coffee doesn’t work. It’s a more nostalgic song. I don’t think I’ve ever sung this live. Let me give it a try. Actually I don’t remember if I have sung it or not. I forgot. I can try. - /misses the timing/ LYN: The mic just broke. There was just a little problem with it. Excuse me. It’ll be good in a sec. Let me make adjustments. Sorry. Yeah, the stream froze. - /water asmr/ LYN: Let me try that again. Apologies. - /Daimi starts barking & growling/ LYN: ?!? LYN: She’s trying to steal my limelight. /sigh/ - /walnut asmr/ LYN: Is the sound of them loud? D: /growl/ LYN: Shush! -- 一生有多远 (How Long is a Lifetime) - The Curious Tale of Mr. Guo LYN: Sorry- I’m not really familiar with this song. I’ve already forgotten it; it’s been too long. Next time I’ll learn it properly and sing it for you. Sorry. /keeps apologizing/ C: It froze! LYN: It didn’t freeze, I just forgot how to sing it. It’s been way too long! And I haven’t ever sung it. Sorry.

LYN: Let me see what else I have… what other OSTs. /types in “OST”/ Oops. I meant to type “LYN”. /sigh/ - 专属蓝天 (Always Be With You) - Dance of the Storm OST - 烟火星辰 (Fireworks and Stars) - You Are My Glory OST LYN: This will do. - /narrates/ -- 莫问前程 (Don’t Ask About the Future) - White Cat Legend OST LYN: Thank you. How awesome is this song?!

C: 向死而生 (Live to Die) LYN: I don’t think I can sing it live. I’d have to be in really great condition to be able to pull it off. When I finish singing that song I “want to die”. (向死 (towards death) vs 想死 (thinking of death) - homophonic joke) I really like the song, I really do. But it kind of makes me “want to die” when I sing it. Let me see… How about I give it a try? -- 向死而生 (Live to Die) - Burning Flames OST - /cracks at the chorus/ /clears his throat/ LYN: The mic broke a little just now. It’s super unstable. Let me try again. -- 向死而生 (Live to Die) - Burning Flames OST [take 2] - /pulls off the chorus this time/ /clicks his tongue/ /finishes up with minimal difficulty/

C: Let’s chat. LYN: /nods/ Ok.

-----------

bgm: Fall in Love

LYN: I want to thank everyone who is watching my stream right now. If at this moment you have not subscribed to my weibo, please do so. Thank you. I know many of you might be watching my stream for the first time. It’s nothing special and there’s no particular uniform. I just come when I have some time and chat with my fans, sing a few songs, and help everyone relax a little. That’s all.

C: How do I send presents? LYN: My presents are closed, here. This stream is a benefit for you all. You don’t need to spend a dime for it. But I hope that one day when I have a concert, you have enough money to buy a ticket and see me live. Okay? Thank you.

C: Ning-ge, when will you start filming? LYN: I start tomorrow, but I don’t know when the official “start” date is. I’m not sure because I don’t really care about that type of thing. As an actor, all I need to do is work on pulling off my scenes well. As for promotion… /trails off/

C: When you were being interviewed didn’t you tell us “Just you wait” because you were going to scare us? LYN: I wanted to at first, but I thought about it and decided to forget it. I thought about scaring you by telling you I was going to stream tonight, and then not streaming. Do you think that type of scare is big or not?

C: Why didn’t you sing this song on Hello Saturday? LYN: Right- because I needed to sing a song with a “beverage” in the lyrics, right? “Whiskey and ice, my music and you.” You’re right. I didn’t think of it. There were too many songs, I couldn’t react quickly enough. 

LYN: The thing I like about streaming on weibo is that it is always upgrading with new functions. Many of you have the special effects, when you type. You can also turn the special effects off, so it won’t affect your typing. In the menu, you can select to turn off the special effects.

C: Ning-ge, will  KSTLB still have a press conference? LYN: The Truth… press conference… we recorded it already, that day. There are spoilers online, aren’t there? Of us wearing school uniform-style? That’s the press conference and it will probably be aired later. I don’t know. I’m sure it will at some point. The program prepared a huge amount of content. Other than the main episodes, we recorded a lot of… other stuff.

bgm: 万物盛开法则 (The Law of Everything in Bloom) - Da Zhangwei

C: Is  KSTLB2 scary? LYN: It’s terrifying. But I was not afraid. This time around I show a very manly side to myself. I’m more firm this time, because I’ve already seen through all of the program’s tricks. LYN: I was only scared into crying, is all. LYN: It’s okay. You can watch when it comes out. It’s quite fun.

C: Lao-da, please I’m begging you to flip me. LYN: I’ve flipped you.

C: Tell me, is Reba really beautiful in person? LYN: /laughing/ Why are you spamming that? There’s really no meaning in you doing that. There’s no point. Other than someone who’s “250” (a fool or someone who doesn’t take things seriously) like me, no one else would dare to respond. LYN: The way I see it, if you only think of a girl in terms of “pretty” or “not pretty”, then I think you’re really shallow. Do you understand? My stance is that if you only care about her appearance and not her mind, then you’re a little shallow.

LYN: My hope for KSTLB2 is that- Ive said before that it’s a program that I really like. We had great time shooting the first season. When it aired us cast and viewers had a great time watching. There was a great atmosphere around it. I hope that this time the atmosphere will be equally as good. Because… when you record together for a few days you start to develop this inexplicable group cohesion. I hope that when you’re watching- to my fans, at least- you don’t watch with a competitive eye. You’re not watching to compare who is better looking or smarter than the others- it’s not that type of show. We’re watching for entertainment, and relaxation is the key. If you’re watching with any intentions in mind, you won’t be able to “see” anything. 

C: You look a little like LYN. LYN: Really? I get that a lot. 

C: Did you have fun playing with water on Hello Saturday? LYN: It was quite fun, actually! Last time I went to Changsha I had the time to shoot two episodes. The crew is really great. If there’s any ever plans for fun content for the show, they will contact my studio to see if I have time and am interested in going to play. We’re having fun. I’m pretty close with the group, too. Before, I was always in the drama crew and didn’t dare to go. But this time I happened to have two day’s worth of time, so I asked them how many episodes they were planning to record for. They told me they were recording two episodes, so I asked if I could do both. I was going to be in Changsha anyway, so if I could record two eps in the same trip, wouldn’t that be great? They agreed, so I went and got shot with water. It was pretty tiring, though. And I… didn’t come out of it uninjured. I was pummeled. LYN: You saw the episode the other day, right? The part when we needed to grab the flowers off a player’s back? I was able to grab it and then fell to my knees, right? And then I started heading for the goal- C: Face breaks. (when he was intercepted and scooped up by Yu Yang) LYN: No, not the face break. It doesn’t have to do with that. I was on my knees and the pants- they’re like exercise pants- they rubbed off a layer of skin on my knee. When I went to Disney later my knee hurt. It straight removed a layer of my skin. It’s okay now, though. /shows us his knee/ It was fierce. I gave it my all. LYN: I thought it was a lot of fun, though. I used the time to relax. It’s nice to be able to record for a show and have fun doing it. The guests were all great and we had fun playing together. C: In the end the flower was stolen by someone else. LYN: It’s okay. I’m really just gong there to have fun. Some variety shows are like a vacation for me. I don’t consider them as work. Hello Saturday is one of them- I only go to play.

C: What’s the scar on your left hand? LYN: Huh? There’s no scar. What scar on my hand? I don’t have one. Do you really think I’m so fierce? I used to have a nickname called “Knife Scar Liu”. /laughs/ I am the “Boy with Knife Scars”- I have scars from knives on my hands. Super fierce.

C: /commenting it’s their b-day/ LYN: Is someone celebrating their birthday today? What a coincidence. Since it’s your birthday and I’m streaming, I’ll wish you a Happy Birthday. Okay? Happy Birthday~ 

C: It’s my 13th marriage anniversary, and I hope to get your blessing. LYN: You have my blessings! I’m jealous that you have such a happy marriage. 13 years today, is it? Then, I’ll gift a song about love to you. What’s a good song to celebrate your 13th marriage anniversary with? And don’t you joke with me, saying 分手快樂 (Happy Breakup). A proper song. Something that wishes people health and happiness. Is there any song like that? C: The Song of Tui Town (KSTLB S2 Theme) -- The Song of Tui Town

LYN: Not that! I was just kidding. What song is there? C: 甜蜜蜜 (Sweet on You) LYN: … C: 给你给我 (Give You, Give Me) LYN: Alright, let’s do it. All of his songs are on the other platform. I’ll give it to you and open it up… LYN: Let me find the lyrics. I just wanted to try, to see if I could sing it in this key. // There are no lyrics, here. It’s okay- let me look them up on my phone. LYN: This is for the friend who is celebrating their 13th year marriage anniversary, and for all of you who are celebrating your 10th year marriage anniversaries. I hope your marriages are all full of happiness and fulfillment. I’m happy that you’re able to be together. -- 给你给我 (Give You, Give Me) by Mao Buyi LYN: That’s about enough. But since I’ve opened this app I might as well look at what other songs I can sing.

LYN: Okay, forget it. They don’t have it. That’s enough, I guess. I couldn’t find it. C: 愿光 (Wish Light) LYN: Oh yeah. Well, since I have this app open, I might as well look it up. LYN: There’s no track for it. There’s really no track for it. - /hums along instead/ -- 愿光 (Wish Light) - The Legend of Anle OST

----------- Break #2 (the neighbors are fighting) bgm: 如果爱还记得 (If Love Still Remembers) - Wonderland of Love OST

C: What is the story of SJYM about? LYN: I don’t know. I’m not even in that drama. I told you last time, didn’t I? The account followed me because they want me to sing the OST. How would I know what the story is about? I’m not qualified to look at the script. C: Didn’t you accept the OST? LYN: Yeah, but do I need to read the script to find out the story in order to sing it? You must be joking. Do you think there are no rules in this industry? C: Ning-ge, you lied. You’ll gain 10kg. LYN: I didn’t lie. How would I know what the story is about?

bgm: 黑夜一束光 (Praying)

LYN: Maybe it’s because we had made a prior agreement, that they would let me go cameo in a role. We’ve worked together before, so maybe I could cameo for them. The agreement was a song and a cameo. I agreed and told them that if I had more time, I could cameo in more than just a few scenes. I could show my face and it’d count  as another project with them.  

C: What are you doing tomorrow? LYN: … I’ll be filming with a drama crew tomorrow. I have my own scenes to do. We start filming tomorrow and I’ll have to log off later and do my homework. I’ll be starting in my new crew tomorrow. What about it? C: What drama is it? LYN: It’s a secret right now, I can’t tell you. The project is too large-scale. I need to keep it secret. LYN: Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s called- Rebirth: I am an Alien. Its a scifi drama. Ill be joining it tomorrow.

LYN: Some of you have been asking about “Chang Ling” since I’ve started streaming. I’ve never heard of it. It’s not that I’ve bever heard OF it, but just that I haven’t heard from my studio that this project has ever looked into me. Maybe they were looking for someone else, and you’ve misremembered? I haven’t heard of this project coming in.

-----

C: Lao-da, are you not off on 5/1? LYN: Ever since I started working, I’ve never known what it is to have a “holiday.” I used to be in the bar singing and and in a restaurant as a waiter. Back in those days these holidays are the days I was the busiest. Dadong is a tourist city, too. So when I was a waiter back then it was my busiest times of the year. I’ve never had a job with consistent holidays like that. C: Did they give you 3x salary? LYN: No, we didn’t get any bonus pay. You don’t see that very much in the service industry… or, I don’t now- maybe because my city was smaller. There was never any 3x salary on holidays. I’ve never heard of it.

C: Have you had 五险一金 (five types of insurance and housing provident fund)? LYN: Never. I’ve never worked in any official enterprise. I was working in restaurants and bars- there’s usually no guarantee and you don’t sign any contracts. It’s just a verbal agreement of work. Usually, like when you go to work- - D: /starts barking/ LYN: Shush! D: /growling that sounds like an engine revving/ LYN: Are you pretending to be a motorcycle?? Are you getting ready to take off? - LYN: - I’d never been in any standard job. Many of you are in college now, right? All of you who are in college or grad school will likely move on to work in a company, and those places will have the insurance and standard pay. People in the servie industry don’t have that. Most of the time we’re in verbal agreements with no official contracts. They’re afraid of you walking out or stealing a piece of rib. This is why most places will make you give a deposit. For example if you get 1200rmb for the first month, they’ll keep 800 and let you take home 400. When you want to quit, theyll return that deposit to you. When you want to quit you have to let them know one month in advance so they can find another worker, and then they’ll return the deposit to you.

C: They keep more than half of your month’s salary? LYN: Just about. C: It should be regulated now, right? LYN: I doubt it. I don’t think it’s totally unregulated, but- not like I understand it very well. When I was in the bar a few years ago, it was still like that. That’s just the way the industry is. It’s not very formal to begin with. There are no contracts, just agreements. There’s a high turnover.

C: Ning-ge, did you ever want a 9a-5p job? LYN: I don’t know. I think it’s more stable for sure, but ever since I was little I wanted to be a celebrity. So I probably decided early on that there was no way that I’d be in a 9a-5p job at some company. You all know that I’m not very highly educated, either. After high school I went straight to culinary school to learn how to be a cook. Of course, a lot of people use my education to ridicule me, saying “LYN is uneducated.” That’s why I admit to it. I’m jealous of those of you who are good at school. Many of you are in college or graduate school, learning to become doctors and professors. I’m happy for you and jealous of you. You’re all very great, so keep doing well in school. I’m sure that you’ll be doing even better than I am in the future. LYN: If you really wanted me to work 9a-5p, I don’t think I would be used to it. I have a break out personality. (does not want to be constrained)

C: Making something you like into your job is the greatest thing. LYN: It’s fun at first. Um… everyone has their own difficulties. No matter what industry you’re in, what you’re doing, or what position you hold, everyone has their own hardships. It’s just that the hardships are not all the same thing. For example, I like to sing. After I made singing into my profession, there were bound to be things I didn’t want to do. You’ll find out that things aren’t as nice as you thought they would be. Taking something you like and turning it into your job to be able to make a living IS a happy thing. But once you actually start doing it you’ll find that it’s not as happy as you thought it would be. You’ll start to feel like you’re losing something you once enjoyed. 

bgm: 我只愿朝着光 ( I Only Wish to Face the Light) - BYOL OST

C: Lao-da, I hope that you are happy. LYN: I am very happy. I’m very happy now. I’m very happy. I’m not unhappy. I’m very happy. Right now I’m… extremely happy. - [t/n: why does it sound like he’s trying to make himself believe it??] LYN: Why wouldn’t I be happy? What right do I have not to be? I have so many people who like and indulge me. I have work and people who support me. Why wouldn’t I be happy? There’s not reason to not be. Really! The reason is because “happy” or “not happy” are not important to me anymore.

C: What is important? LYN: What’s important? Of course, there are things that are important to me. That is… Wow, forget it. Do we have to talk about such deep topics?? I don’t want to. Let’s not go there. I don’t want to talk about it. Weibo is a public platform. If I speak too much on it people will say that I’m pretentious. No one will think I’m being transparent or whatever. They’ll only think I’m being pretentious. What’s there to say? Everyone has it hard. No- it’s not hard on me. Everyone has their own way of living and their own life. Our experiences are not the same. There’s no way to have empathy, so I don’t see the need to share too much. It’s all okay.

-----

C: When you were recording for KSTLB, did you have nightmares? LYN: No. It’s actually not that scary! I already told you I wasn’t afraid. Honestly! I wasn’t afraid. Not one bit.

LYN: There are more people in the comments saying, “Lao-da, I hope that you are happy.” I’ve never presented myself as a weak/vulnerable little boy, have I? I don’t need it. I’m already a man who’s into his thirties. I don’t need you to comfort me. I can get by on my own. LYN: There’s nothing wrong with me! I don’t know why, all of a sudden, the mood has taken this turn. You’re making it seem like I’m very sad right now. I’m not! I’m very happy!! If I dropped off the trending topics, I would be sad. Have I dropped? Have I dropped off the trending topic ranking, friends? Am I still there? If I am, then I won’t be sad. If I’ve dropped, then I’ll cry right away. C: You dropped. LYN: /sobs/

C: Lao-da, I want to see you act as a dominating CEO. LYN: Dominating CEO? ~ You mean to say, that you wish to see my shoulders carry a whole business empire? Alright, no problem. I want to know who the girl that posed this comment is. Get me all her information within three minutes. ~ ~ Later you can find my butler to discuss the details of our collaboration. Remember- this isn’t a discussion. It’s a notification. ~ C: That’s so greasy. LYN: How was that greasy? Aren’t they all like that??

C: I want to be the butler. LYN: ~ You wish. ~

C: Dominating CEOs themselves are greasy. LYN: That’s bs. How are they greasy? Aren’t the really popular dramas lately of the dominating CEO variety? Maybe I was overexaggerating a little bit in my demonstration. That’s the type of performance you’d see in mini dramas. But honestly… aren’t all the characters in dramas right now the dominating CEO type? They’re just not modern drama CEOs, but historical drama CEOs instead. Right? In guzhuang dramas there are the kings or whatever- aren’t they all the dominating CEO? It’s all the same, we’ve just changed the identity. The model is all the same. The guy who would rather fail the world than fail this one girl. Isn’t that the dominating CEO’s M.O? LYN: ~ Look. Ahead of you are the lands I’ve won for you. From now on, you will be my only empress. If anyone dares to touch you, I’ll have them beheaded in front of the masses. ~ LYN: Aren’t guzhuang dominating CEOs like that? It’s all the same! LYN: ~ Look. This is a hall I’ve purchased for you. You can go in and take whatever you want from any of the shops inside. ~ LYN: It’s all the same, isn’t it? Your dominating ceo is just showing up with a different identity in a guzhaung drama, is all. // A lot of warlords are the dominating ceo type. So when you tell me to act as one, I actually already have. 

C: Then, how would an alien dominating ceo act? LYN: /laughs/ Ohh, is that how it is? I was telling you that tomorrow I’ll be starting a new crew, for a drama called Rebith: I Am an Alien. How does an alien dominating ceo act? Hmm… LYN: ~ You want the Earth? Okay. I’ll take down the Earth for you. From today on, you are the lord of this planet. ~ LYN: ~ What was that? You want the Sun? Alright. I’ll order my army to move the sun over for you. ~ LYN: It’s the same. The content of the dialogue changes, but the status and aura doesn’t change.

LYN: It’s about time. I should log off early today. I’ll chat a little longer, then leave. I need to shower and then do homework for tomorrow. I’ll really be starting to film tomorow. Rebirth: I Am an Alien. I hope that when this drama airs- Since I’m just starting filming tomorrow and it’ll take about four months, so if you’re new to my stream, just passing by, or maybe you came in because of the trending topic, I hope you can subscribe to my weibo. Okay? Thank you, everyone. Tomorrow I’ll start filming for a drama called Rebirth: I Am an Alien. I hope that when it airs, you can support my drama. Okay? Now I’d like to sing a song for all the people who are watching my stream for the first time today. This song is especially for the first-time viewers, okay? Um… what should I sing? -- /tries to play 刀剑如梦/ LYN: There’s actually no track for this song. Oh my goodness. - /looking for a suitable track/ LYN: Let me pull RJL’s version, then. -- 刀剑如梦 (A Life of Fighting is But a Dream) LYN: Sorry- I didn’t get the beat right. And I don’t have any props. Let me bring my sword and it’ll have more of the right feel. Wait for me a sec. -- 刀剑如梦 (A Life of Fighting is But a Dream) [take 2] - /misses the timing to start bc he was playing with the sword XD/ - /LYN: Why is this interlude so long??/ - /EDM remix???/ LYN: I didn’t think the arrangement would be like this.

LYN: Anyways, sorry. It was a gift for new friends but it was a little rough. Let me switch to something else. What’s another song that’s very jianghu-esque? Is there any? 走天涯 (Zou Tian Ya)? 让酒 (Rang Jiu). Let’s not do Rang Jiu. 剑魂 (Soul of the Sword)... there’s probably no track for that. -- 剑魂 (Soul of the Sword) [jaunty ver.] LYN: When I sing this song It’s like I’m self-helping my back problems. If you are experiencing shoulder discomfort you can exercise it with this song. It’s great.

LYN: What other song has that feeling of the jianghu? Let me look up something from my Qi-ge. (死不了/天涯). Hey wait- why do I want to move my shoulders to every song I hear? See, this works too! It works. This has already become one of my- C: 寻一个你 (Finding You) LYN: Who sang that? /looks it up/ Oh, WHD’s song. XD -- 寻一个你 (Finding You) - Love Between Fairy and Devil OST LYN: /sigh/ That’s about enough. So if you haven’t subscribed to my weibo yet, please do so.

C: Why did you stop moving your shoulders? LYN: I started sweating. D: Friends, I really think that move has a practical function. So if you’ve got nothing to do, you can practice it. It could help straighten your spine. Or... flex your joints, or something to that effect. 

C: I hope the filming for your new drama all goes smoothly. LYN: Okay, no problem. It’s alright this time, because I’m acting as an alien. I’ll be wearing an alien’s grey skin most of the time. You pretty much won’t be able to see my face, in this drama. I’ll wear a suit. The directors chose me mostly for my height. After they add something to my shoes I’ll be more than 2m tall and I’ll look even less like something from this Earth. 

C: I look forward to your alien. LYN: Okay. You can. No problem. Don’t worry. C: Does the alien talk? LYN: I have lines. Because normally when aliens talk to you, they’ll translate it to Earth language. So I’ll be speaking Chinese like normal. LYN: ~ You foolish Earthlings! ~ C: Standard Mandarin? LYN: No, with a Northeastern accent. LYN: ~ You dumb Earthlings. I’m your alien overlord. ~ C: Does the alien have emotional scenes? LYN: Um… yes. Think about it- for a story about aliens, if you ONLY talk about aliens there’s no way you can shoot a 40 episode drama. You’d never make it. There have to be emotional scenes. Maybe he’s just wearing the shell of an alien to fall in love. A lot of dramas do that, don’t they? This one is the same. The alien and scifi aspect of it is just to draw in an audience. Mainly it’s a love story between a man and a woman.

C: Will you be alive in the end? LYN: Maybe not. Friends, it’s like this: for roles that I’ve played, you can- From the moment I started acting until now, of the roles I’ve played…staying alive was an accident/unexpected. For roles that I play, as long as they’re alive, the reaction should be, “OMG, he’s alive! He didn’t die!!” I’m sure you’d be surprised. But for most of the roles that I’ve played the death rate is extremely high. Very high. Maybe I didn’t have a good start. The very first drama I ever shot- I died. C: Jiang Junhao in BYOL didn’t die. LYN: You want me to die in a slice-of-life drama, too?? That’d be too cruel. I meant in guzhuang dramas. In those, my death rate is about 80%. In 10 roles, 8 of them die. 

bgm: 热辣滚烫 (YOLO) - YOLO Movie OST

LYN: Alright, it’s about time. Thank you for your company and support. Tomorrow I’ll be entering into my new drama crew. I hope you have a fun 5/1 break, okay? Thanks for keeping me company and for your support. It was great to have you tonight and I hope you enjoyed it. Let’s meet again in the next stream, okay? Even though I don’t know when the next time I stream will be! LYN: Goodnight, everyone!

[romchat]

Story of Kunning Palace Ep. 24-25: Over the threshold of regret and possibility

There are very few things I love more than a good doorway shot.

Doorways symbolize many things. They're the boundary between what is seen and unseen, what is known and unknown. They're the threshold between the pasts we leave behind and the futures we seek ahead. They're full of regret and possibility.

And we see them everywhere in Episodes 24 and 25.

Seeing how one of the threads that connect Jiang Xuening and Xie Wei is their ability to truly recognize the good and bad within one another, something that struck me about Episode 24 was the ways in which doorway coverings were used to represent the barriers to that fragile understanding. These coverings allow the characters to gaze at one another from a distance (and avoid confronting their feelings) while also obfuscating the reality of what they’re looking at.

For example, after apologizing to him about her role in the Tongzhou battle, Ning-er doesn't quite know how to interact with Xie Wei. On one hand, his quick thinking not only saved her and Zhang Zhe but also everyone on the mountain. It's just one more addition to the increasingly long list of good deeds Xie Wei has done for her. And yet she still doesn't see the significance of those acts.

And for Xie Wei, gazing at Ning-er and Zhang Zhe walking through the snow together catapults him into a fit of jealousy, not realizing that would be the night Ning-er starts pulling away from Zhang Zhe. Because he shut his door, he completely missed how she returned to her room alone.

Side Note: I want to take a moment to appreciate the actor blocking and camera language in this rejection scene. It's subtle but devastating.

When Ning-er first sees Xie Wei through the door coverings, we get a close-up shot of her hopeful face. She steps towards the door so Xie Wei can see her as Xue Dingfei asks if he wants to attend her dinner. She is waiting FOR HIM.

But when Xie Wei declines, we get a long shot showing the seemingly irreparable distance between the two of them before the camera settles once again on her face. This time her expression is hurt. For a moment, she thought things could be different between the two of them.

When Xue Dingfei asks Xie Wei again, we see he is about to say no, but then he notices Ning-er outside and he pauses FOR HER. He wants confirmation that she wants him there. The camera then racks focus on Ning-er through the doorway. Stung by his earlier rejection, she gives him an excuse not to come.

I adore how the camera work starts intimate with all those close-up shots of Ning-er and Xie Wei's faces and gets more and more distant to represent their inability to communicate. He didn't want to stay away and she wanted him to be around but they missed each other's cues. These two are a bittersweet comedy of missed opportunities. And poor Xue Dingfei has to play wingman sober.

While some thresholds can be crossed with little thought, others require courage.

And we finally see that courage in Episode 25 when Xie Wei notices Ning-er through the doorway of Zhang Zhe's home and chases after her. His comforting embrace is pivotal for her awareness of him as something more than a tentative ally in her schemes.

Neither knows what is next but they have crossed the threshold into possibility.

[zykamiliah]

plucking leaves, flying flowers

hold on, is using the plucking leaves' technique as an offensive weapon something that original Shen Qingqiu already used, or was it something SY!Shen Qingqiu came up with!?

Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had a minor technique, “Plucking Leaves, Flying Flowers.” At a glance, it wasn’t very useful, just aesthetic and interesting. The novel had described how Luo Binghe used the technique to win the nth woman’s affections. As Shen Qingqiu had, since his arrival, been furiously reviewing various manuals, he had also recently seen a description of it.

He plucked a nearby leaf and channeled a touch of spiritual power into it. The first time, he channeled too much. The leaf couldn’t withstand his power and instantly split into several pieces. He succeeded the second time, held the leaf between his fingertips, and gently blew, letting go.

The leaf shot toward Ming Fan like an airborne knife(...)

No wonder they said that to an expert, even a flower or tree could be used to hurt people! But he hadn’t killed Ming Fan just now, right…? (Chapter 1: Scum)

that would explain why it took bingge by surprise when sqq attacked him with it in the extra! SY modified the technique!!!

(more quotes under the cut)

After a pause, [Ning Yingying] continued. “If you feel that the Shizun in the old days didn’t treat you well, then think back on the day you lost your jade pendant. Our shixiong inexplicably backed off all at once. You yourself knew there was something strange, right? No one else on Qing Jing Peak would turn leaves into weapons for the purpose of teaching a small lesson.” (Chapter 8: Death)

No one else, so this is something only SQQ has used, but does it mean that SJ never used that technique in the same way? I feel like SQQ would have mentioned it.

(shout out to nyy for noticing these at the time, though she's being a little bit unfair here because she didn't know had bad original sqq treated lbh)

he uses them again while he's in the mushroom body to trim SHL's nails (and really, he didn't think that technique would out him as SQQ? man has zero logical thinking when it comes to indirectly trying to make lbh's aledged love life easier)

She then raised her hand to examine it. Her five cinnabar-painted nails had been uniformly trimmed a noticeable length shorter.

It was only her nails, and it hadn’t hurt in the least, but Sha Hualing’s blood went instantly cold (...)

If someone lurking nearby could cut her nails with such ease, then they could just as effortlessly slice open her neck.

Shen Qingqiu was feeling much more relieved as he released a twig plucked clean of leaves. (Chapter 9: Borderlands)

after his sword it's his first go-to weapon when facing enemies such as tianlang-jun

WITH LIGHTNING SPEED, Shen Qingqiu grabbed a handful of leaves from a vine. He’d just charged into the cave with the rest when he heard a voice. (Chapter 21: Always Together)

i have to quote the part where he used them against bingge because it was soooo badass. there are so few moments when you can say sqq was honestly this badass, and this is one

At this moment, the only things above their heads were rustling twigs and leaves of bamboo, swaying and undulating in the wind. The original didn’t need to raise his head to tell that no threat awaited him above, and he smiled slightly. “Shizun, that sort of ploy is for dealing with little children. Trying to trick your disciple that way is a bit too condescending.”

You won’t look? All right, you brought this upon yourself! Shen Qingqiu formed a seal with his left hand and crisply snapped his fingers, his expression hardening.

The original was about to say something when a fluttering leaf streaked across his vision. The smile on his face froze. A fine trickle of blood slowly dripped down his cheek.

All around him, bamboo leaves fell more and more thickly, until the leisurely drifting foliage suddenly sped up, each one slicing toward where he stood in the center like the frigid, cutting wind from the east.

Plucking Leaves, Flying Flowers: Ultimate Version—Hundred Leaves, Thousand Flowers!

The original Luo Binghe flung out his palm, routing the dense assault of leafy razors, but for Shen Qingqiu, the entire forest was full of ammunition—thick with leaves that rained down like confetti, homing in on their target in hot pursuit. Though they appeared unassuming, with a single touch, they could carve flesh from bone. (Chapter 22: Bing-mei and Bing-ge’s Ultimate Showdown)

look at the "semi-otaku" saying the same of the technique in his mind, pfffff. "ultimate version" if he had screamed the name of the technique at bingge i wouldn't be surprised lol

aaaand i just checked the qijiu extra and it seems SJ never used that technique, so SY made it up :DDD

[whetstonefires]

10 and 29 for the ask game?

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

I try not to have expectations, so I'm sure it's happened a lot and I didn't remark upon it enough to remember.

I do recall that All the Roofs of Uncertainty was originally a one-shot that was much better-liked than I expected, so I wrote into the what-happens-next and changed the original open ending into a whole plotline, that consisted almost entirely of Jason Todd talking to people in a hospital.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Oh gosh I have so many fics that lie unfinished because the work necessary to complete them exceeded my interest in the premise. I could do this for weeks and not run out. Let's see.

Okay, the funniest fic that I will never ever finish is the one that was me trying to draw up a plausible background scenario for an AU (which I couldn't decide if it ought to be modern or not) where Su She was dating Wei Wuxian.

(This in turn was inspired by the fact that I kept reading modern AUs where various canon villains were cast as wwx's shitty boyfriend or ex and it was never Su She, aka the bargain bin version of Lan Wangji, who seemed to me to be the least improbable option on offer. Like if you feel the need to lampshade repeatedly within your fic that it's incomprehensible that Wei Wuxian would ever voluntarily date Jin Zixun, maybe that's a sign you should change that bit.)

The plot of the story that Su-She-uses-his-words-and-pulls-wwx embedded itself in would have revolved around Lan Wangji subsequently agreeing to a date with ten-years-younger Mo Xuanyu, presumably in an attempt to move on, and Su She picking up on his hopeless pining when both couples happened to be in the same room, as dates to the same function or something, and then following a characteristically self-destructive course where he got so wrapped up in rubbing it in Lan Wangji's face that he finally had something the Lan scion wanted and couldn't get that he wound up entirely destroying his own relationship.

Wei Wuxian is a very good judge of people who also attracts strong personal loyalty once people get attached to him in the first place, and notably something that simply never happens to him is someone betraying him who he trusted not to do that. (Jiang Cheng does not count; Wei Wuxian maneuvered him into most of it, he wasn't taken by surprise.) So it could be really neat to finesse the character work of him understanding Su She's basic character flaws, but not expecting them to manifest or affect him quite the way they end up doing.

In the same way he mostly gets Lan Wangji as a person from the start but, lacking insight into certain things he's hiding, is unable to reliably reconstruct his perspective. To an increasingly noticeable degree, as lwj acts on that aspect of his motivations more openly.

I am never going to write that though, because I just don't care enough about that kind of story, although concept free to a good home.

I did write out a little of the backstory to how Su She could have wound up in a position of wanting to date Wei Wuxian on his own merits, which was a fun bit of character study because Su She is basically Jin Guangyao's Wen Ning, you know? Evil Wen Ning.

His understanding of Jin Guangyao as someone who respects and values him earned an insane amount of personal loyalty from a basically very selfish guy--like sure, it's clear he got a steady stream of favors out of the bargain, but he also puts himself on the line way in excess of the practical value Jin Guangyao has provided and is likely to provide; the real inducement was the validation.

So, if Wei Wuxian had happened to be carelessly kind and supportive to Su She the way he was to Wen Ning, having met him in a weak moment before Su She had had a chance to make an impression as a petty asshole rather than just a bit of a dumbass (not that he actually in canon managed to make any personal impression even by shooting him in the arm) you could probably arrange for him to glom onto Wei Wuxian instead, as someone like him, who didn't get the respect he deserved because of his birth station.

And Wei Wuxian would be perfectly willing to reciprocate that friendship, even though (as with Wen Ning) if Su She didn't reach out promptly he'd have totally forgotten he existed until prompted lmao. Su She would never forgive that insult.

You can see in the passage here where I still kind of wanted it to be a modern AU so they're texting, but the setup I'd written previously worked as a clean canon divergence because that's my usual preference, and I really wasn't interested enough in a plot that's entirely about romantic relationships to figure that out and write the rest.

But I did enjoy doing this study of how Su She could have gotten stuck on Wei Wuxian, only to later go on to fuck himself over with his Lan Wangji complex.

It was nice to have someone to complain to who got it. When Su Minshan talked about having no family to turn to, about owing everything to the Sect that had raised him when, to the Lan, everything came down to the clan and he would never have a chance to truly distinguish himself— Sometimes I think about just leaving, Su Minshan wrote, because Wei Wuxian wouldn’t scold him for being ungrateful. You can, if you want, Wei Wuxian wrote, as if it was that easy. Only if you came too, Su Minshan had written back, shaken by his own daring. Of course, Wei Wuxian refused. Jiang Cheng would never forgive me if I ran off. Because he’s counting on you to run his Sect for him. He absolutely is not. Jiang Cheng will work himself into the ground before he lets me do his job for him. He didn’t admit that of course the Sect Heir was counting on him, but he didn’t disagree, which was basically the same thing. Wei Wuxian worked very hard and was rewarded for it, but Su Minshan knew that even in Jiang the equal opportunity only went so far—he was the Sect Leader’s pet for personal reasons, not just on merit, and even so he could never rise to be the equal of the blood heir. It was infuriating sometimes how that didn’t bother him. Have more ambition! You’re so lucky, Su Minshan wrote, because he was jealous, he was so so jealous. I am! <3 But let’s see, outside the main family how important can a person get in Lan Sect? You can make a plan. Weeks of effort did not produce any particularly good plans. The most realistic one took forty years to show results. Maybe I should just kill Lan Wangji and use a spell to disguise myself and take his place, Su Minshan joked. Haha! Minshan-xiong, I’m sorry, you couldn’t pull off being Lan Zhan. That hurt, an unexpected cold dagger to the ribs. Wei Wuxian was his friend! Why not! he typed angrily. Was his playing too weak, his swordsmanship, his deportment? Would even Wei Wuxian tell him he was just not good enough? Because you could never resist saying something bitchy when you had the chance, and he keeps all the bitching inside his head. Su Minshan put his head down and laughed until he thought he might cry.

I have the sneaking suspicion I already shared this one for one of these games, because it really is by far the funniest thing I'm definitely never going to finish, so I'll reblog this post later with another offering.

[least-carpet]

Fic snippet: "Wen Ning Gets a Life"

I've decided that there's not enough ningcheng on this site (or, like, in existence). So, while I work on organizing my ningcheng thoughts, have a snippet of the fanfic I'm writing, in which Wen Ning attempts to escape fierce corpsehood by means of dual cultivation (as directed by his alive sister), has his hopes and dreams (sex with Wei Wuxian) dashed (because the sex is bad), and stumbles head first into banging Jiang Cheng. I'm calling it "Wen Ning Gets a Life."

Below the cut: discussion of sex (for fun and cultivation), mildly sadistic fantasies, offscreen necrophilia but the fierce corpse consents. Ningcheng with background ningxian, wangning, established wangxian, and eventual ambient chengxian vibes because Wei Wuxian is not very normal about Jiang Cheng and wouldn't know a boundary if one bit him on the face.

The next day, Wen Qing, Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji were sitting inside the Jiang's sect's pharmacy when Wen Ning showed up to organize the new delivery of herbs. He had just taken down a set of clean jars, lured into a false sense of complacency, when the interrogation began.

“So,” said Wen Qing. “I hear that Jiang-zongzhu is also helping with your treatment. This should all go much faster.”

Facing the counter, back to his sister, Wen Ning froze. He should have known! He should have known they hadn't gotten away with it!

“N-no,” said Wen Ning. He looked down at the herbs he was sorting.

“Hmm,” said Wen Qing.

“But Wen Ning, I heard you two—you know, you weren’t being quiet—” said Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji didn’t say anything. Wen Ning wondered why he had bothered to come.

“He’s not helping,” said Wen Ning quietly. Perhaps some herbs should be moved to bigger jars?

“So,” said Wen Qing as Wei Wuxian sputtered in the background. “If Jiang-zongzhu isn't helping, then what did Wei Wuxian hear?”

Wen Ning took a deep and calming breath which he did not, strictly speaking, need. Yet. Thus far. “We were… having sex.”

“Isn’t that helping?” said Wei Wuxian.

“Not like that,” said Wen Ning. He’s not allowed to put it—no, he couldn’t say that. He would die again. Some more? “Recreationally. We were having sex recreationally.”

There was silence behind him. Wen Ning gave up on fixing up the herbs. He would never be able to find them later if he attended to them in his current circumstances.

“Because you like him?” asked Wei Wuxian.

Wen Ning wasn’t really sure what to say. Did they like each other? Wen Ning wouldn’t have said so originally. But Wen Ning had to admit that he didn’t—he felt that he understood Jiang Cheng better, now. He felt that Jiang Cheng understood him.

He reluctantly admitted to himself that he felt Jiang Cheng saw him with a clarity that that his beloved sister and best friend lacked. He had finally found a person he couldn’t ruin with his anger—because there was no one angrier than Jiang Cheng—and so there was nothing for Wen Ning to hide from him.

It occurred to Wen Ning that he had never before had a person with whom he could be totally honest. Growing up in the Wen sect with his sister had made them close, and he would die—again!—for her. But he couldn’t admit his feelings to Wen Qing. They had simply never talked to each other about things like that.

“It’s complicated,” said Wen Ning. He thought for a minute. “But I think we like each other.”

Everyone was silent again behind him.

“Also,” said Wen Ning impulsively, “the sex is very good.”

He regretted it immediately. Wei Wuxian was off like a shot.

“What do you mean the sex is good? Isn’t our sex good? Don’t I make gentle—Hey—”

Wen Ning couldn't take it. He turned around and looked Wei Wuxian in the face. “Wei-gongzi, do you really want to make gentle love?”

Wei Wuxian stopped, mouth open.

“That’s what I thought,” said Wen Ning. Perhaps consider that I don’t want to either, he thought but didn’t say.

He addressed Wen Qing: “Jiejie, there’s no reason to be concerned. This will only help, if incidentally. I understand that I must not—I must not—” —why did he have to say this—“release any, uh, energy during these pursuits. We’re being cautious and will follow all medical directives. We can be reasonable.”

Apart from the choice to have sex with someone who he’d made cry and even qi deviate, if the Jiang healer was to be believed about the very long night at the temple. Well. He wouldn’t do that anymore! This was a much more positive way to direct those impulses!

He briefly considered the merits of making Jiang Cheng cry… recreationally instead, and then instantly felt like dirt because of how much he liked the thought. He wondered if Jiang Cheng would like it. He wondered if he could blush again yet.

“Well, see that you don’t,” said Wen Qing.

Wen Ning nodded. Wei Wuxian nodded. They all stood there, trying not to look at each other.

“Excuse me, I think I’ll go see what the juniors are up to,” said Wen Ning, and then he made his escape as quickly as he could.

[llycaons]

ep49 (3/3): lwj dismembering a man and looking so so cool diverts attention away from the true man of the hour (👀👀👀)

and he's also calling out in concern for wwx now, not just jl! man, this is great. a lot of postres meta relies on them having this horrible twisted relationship after the temple, and they ABSOLUTELY need to work on shit, but jc trusting wwx and being openly concerned for him is huge compared to their previous dynamic

they love him!!!! his uncles!!! give him open affection and physical comfort!!!

this panning up was done SO well god he is so fucking cool 😍

ik wen ning isn't in control of his body but there's something a bit delicious about him stepping on the arm of the man who helped murder his entire family

ohhh another juicy scene! jc trying to protect jl from wn, and in front of both their eyes they see 1. wwx try to stop him and 2. wn grsab a blade with his bare hands to try to stop himself. he wants so much not to hurt this boy after killing his father 🥺 I'm sure he remembered jyl giving him soup too. I'm sure he did

lwj's eyes are so pretty...dark brown forever

and here! lxc warns wwx off about using the STA, but lwj intervenes. convinces him to step back, then gives the green light to wwx. lwj trusts him, and supports him, and will back him up 🥺

and here!!! jc returning chenqing! wwx's old friend and strongest weapon. it's about trust!! wwx can do what he needs to do and his closest friends and family won't turn on him for it

pied pipering this sword over here

uh oh. get some cleansing on ya bud

it's so funny that ss accuses nhs of doing this to himself because he's literally right, but he looks like a maniac for it

this is so dramatic and romantic...WAIT THIS IS HOW THE JIANG PARENTS DIED WTF!!!!!

these scene always reminded me (tonally) of the one in iasip where liam was about to fall off the roof and ryan grabbed his wrist like "i've got you, brother" and then frank comes behind him and goes 'no you don't!' and pushes him off the roof with a piece of plywood and ryan screams 'NOOOOOO', obviously it mirrors the cluff scene very closely but the absurd tone is so different I never associated them. this though. this is a kind of pathetic guy dying and his employer using his courtesy name for the first time in like. 30 episodes. a bit silly

ooof. ough. wwx rubbing his thumb slowly over this powerful tool that saved him and cost him so much. another goodbye, to another part of his former life

I love you sooo much nhs ♥♥♥♥♥♥

NHS HORSE MOMENTS god I love saying that. what a great shot

aww jc patting jl's neck

nhs tearfully: I'm just a little guy I can't fight I'm just a little birthday boy GOD he's such a good character I love him he's so funny

oh right significant Look At wwx time

aw man this fucks

THE HALF FACE SHOTS!!!!! I go crazy every time I love then so much. they've never been used wrong in this show

oh god help that is so fucking funny. why was jgy behind them and not tied up at all anyway. also lxc immediately turning and stabbing without realizing jgy was completely motionless and no threat??? a high-level cultivator like lxc didn't even register he had no sword to parry? and why was he working with his back to jgy anyway!!! I mean ik it's all for plot and that's fine but stil. lmao

personal highlights:

all of jgy's excuses are so insane and absurd and infuriating but they contrast wwx's actions and behavior SO nicely. if there was a way to prove wwx is The Good Guy to the gathered sect leaders, this is it. not that he has many people to convince who are here

various asides about lxc's relationship with jgy

"I don't deny it'/"You can't deny it!'

the creepy wedding scene was really well done

jgy making a fake tell for jzx to pick up on is truly a masterstroke

yayyy physical affection and comfort for jl from wwx (and jc)

jgy mockingly bowing after being kicked down the steps really did fuck severely

"I've done so many bad things, yet I still hope for pity' *half face shot 'PSYCH!" *takes jin ling hostage by ripping a string out of his body* what a scene

jc calling on wwx for guidance, trusting him, seeing him protect jl, returning him chenqing. nature is healing. they'll never be exactly what they were before, but that's okay. it's a start

'clan leader, abandon me' 'sure thing lmao'

slow shot panning up from jgy's severed arm to lwj standing tall with bichen fucked SO hard god lwj looks so good esp postres they nailed him

wn stepping on jgy's arm

lwj beautiful dark brown eyes <3

jgy and su she's absurdly dramatic reaching-to-each-other deaths. yes kind of jiang parents of them

wwx bidding farewell to the STA. I love closure and acceptance

all of nhs's shenanigans including eating like a horse from lxc's hand and then the half-face shots

everyone turning around like that meme of the girls at the party but it's because lxc just STABBED jgy

[wisedawn13]

#xiantober Day 14: Bartenderxian

CW // Alcohol, Attempted Drugging, Violence, Wen Chao, Cops

Friday nights are always swamped. The bar Wei Ying works at is in the middle of a busy area and attracts a lot of attention.

He has to say, he loves working there. He gets to meet and chat with people from all walks of life. It also keeps him distracted.

That isn't to say it's an easy job. It's not. It takes a lot of effort and energy and he has to stay vigilant, especially when it's crowded.

Tonight is one such night.

The unfortunate reality is that he can't keep track of everything and everyone. The other staff help that, but tonight just happens to be an understaffed night. He's a little on edge and not willing to put up with any shit.

He's had three different guys kicked out tonight already and it's not even 8 pm.

Wei Ying had noticed the young lady who came in alone (having lightly flirted with her as she ordered from him), so he tried to keep an eye on her as much as possible, but he was simply overwhelmed.

So, you can say he was kicking himself a lot when she came up to the bar and ordered an angel shot with ice.

He froze, eyes trailing where she came from to see a man staring directly at her.

"Sure thing," he said to her with forced cheer as he pulled.

Just as he finished ordering a ride for her there was a commotion that drew his attention. The man he clocked earlier was standing really close to another man, squaring off.

He swears under his breath and tells Wen Ning to man the bar while he goes over there.

As he gets closer he overhears what they are talking about.

"Back the fuck off, dude! It's none of your business!" the creepy dude exclaims.

The other man (stunningly gorgeous now that Wei Ying is getting a better look at him) doesn't budge. "I saw what you did."

"Oh? And what's that?" the creep sneers.

"You put something in her drink when she got up," the beautiful man says darkly and Wei Ying sucks in a breath. Fuck. He signals back to Wei Ying to call the cops.

The creep laughs. "So what? I saw her first. Why? You want in?"

Wei Ying's skin crawls. What an absolutely disgusting person.

He sees the beautiful man's face morph into a disgusted look before he replies, "No, and I am not letting you do anything to her either."

The creep snarls and Wei Ying doesn't get there in time to stop the punch.

Thankfully, he's apparently not needed because the beautiful man mostly dodges and swiftly punches the creep, knocking him out immediately.

The bar is absolutely silent.

"Holy shit," Wei Ying breathes. "You okay?"

The beautiful man looks at him and nods. "Yes, I apologize."

Wei Ying laughs and waves him off. "No need, that was amazing. I would have done that myself if I got here sooner, so thanks. Sorry you had to deal with that, though. You shouldn't have to."

The man shrugs. "I saw it and chose to act, that is all."

It's a bit of a blur after that. The cops arrive to take statements, get the footage of the incident, and take the creep (Wen Chao, a cousin of Wen Ning, who is now permanently banned) away.

The woman's name is Luo Qingyang and she profusely thanks them before leaving.

Wei Ying later finds out that the beautiful man's name is Lan Zhan. He doesn't drink alcohol (Wei Ying had offered him a glass of their finest wine for his trouble) and was here to accompany his brother and his brother's friends.

"Brother claims I do not get out enough."

Wei Ying laughs at that.

Lan Zhan ends up staying even as his brother and co leave. Wei Ying talks animatedly with him every chance he gets.

It's nice.

By the time the bar closes, Wei Ying has asked for Lan Zhan's number so they can keep in contact.

Lan Zhan obliges easily.

After that, he visits the bar often on nights he knows Wei Ying has a shift. They text and call every day and hang out when they are free.

They both become friends with Luo Qingyang as well and she often joins Lan Zhan at the bar so she isn't alone.

Eventually, Wei Ying asks Lan Zhan out on a date and it's the best night of his life.

----------

Link to thread

[kirishikai]

 KFO  Oliviana “Founded” Ovibourn  “Another day…another round”  App: wears a hooded cowl and an engraved full face mask, covering her forehead down to her chin, almost nothing of her head is truly seen but she sometimes lets down the hood of her cowl to release her short messy hair, she wears a full skintight body suit and a small shirt to cover up on top, it is usually black or green in color and only covers her chest (yes she does wear under garments but just on the bottom, the top is to uncomfortable for her) and boots that go slightly past her ankle, down the sides of the body suit are two lines of purple that she can allow to glow for an easier coverage and a harder time for enemies to truly focus of her  Weap: as all Facility members do, she was allowed to choose and design her own gun or weapon, she went with a Barret 50.cal with the ability to change its barrel form into that of a glaive, it allows her with superior range and an easy ability to fight at close ranges. Her mask itself is a miniature tool that allows her to keepalive and fighting, it comes in three uses; support(ability to stim Founded, or give her pain killers to keep fighting, and with stim she can even walk on broken legs) defend (a basic mini flashbang, only blinding enemies that somehow pin founded down, and comms (radio transmitter and a scouting tool, and connects to her gun perfectly for an enhanced sniper zoom)  Abil: Founded’s innate ability comes in the form of her ability to “trap” bullets into hard, sturdy objects. Be that coins or tree’s, walls even, however the drawback is that each shot must aim for the head no matter what, because a miss or a regular body shot will not kill or damage the way a normal bullet will, she however has gotten so good at this that even stray traps can kill unsuspecting people, she has killed many with this. Stories in her journal have told of her “V1’ning bitches” with this ability, embedding them into coins and launching them at people when she was trapped in a corner or so, this is another reason why she wears the body suit, it hides her scars and bullet wounds from her own ability. She hates that fact and calls it “Embarrassing” however founded to a tee has become perfect at flicking coins at people in this way, she still sometimes does it out of habit and boredom, just flicking pennies into the smallest of cracks and having them slot in perfectly.  Connections; Duck (“brother” read more with “the father” hydra)  Trade (“Brother” same as duck)  rosemary(companion and partial friend)  ruin(another close ally she can rely on but also at times hates)  May (childhood “mother” before Eden incident)  “The father”(hydra that made founded who she was today)  Rukihara(childhood crush, but this died down now. Completely, ruki is now happily “engaged” with may)  Oro/Saki (used to be one being((orosaki)), but now separated, they are her mother and father to a degree, they were both extracted from “Arknari” and “Chiifora” founded’s true mother and father)  Elo’stan (twin brother)  Terrorist/ Terraformer “Terra” (surrogate daughter she didn’t know she had) 

sushi (surrogate granddaughter TERRA didn’t know she had)  Dynasty (best friend and owner of the store Oliviana works at)  Charmy (she knows her, but Olivia doesn’t know Charmy. due to the connection with orosaki, or, Oro and Saki, however only Charmy truly knows what's going on, and to an extent, the holder as well)  Kay’draov(personal nightmare eater. They don’t know each other, but kay knows of Eden. And sympathizes with Olivia. However, she doesn’t plan on staying with her for long)  ending quote;  “it's the end now...I'll miss you all, through good and bad...”  -Oliviana before betraying the facility and leaving with her group 

[mejomonster]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

Ep 2 and yes. Yes this shows gonna hammer in pingxie like a Beast

Ep 2 and they’ve already got “no one would notice if I disappeared - I would know” and xiaoge going “I’ll stick with you” to keep wu xie from pushing and, wu xie going “if that palace has the answers for you then I’ll stay, I’ll go with you” in one scene With Romantic Music Video music including the lyrics playing

Phenomenal. They got the first romantic mv scene of the show. Phenomenal. Ep 2 and we already got hit with the song mv during a scene.

I wish I knew what the lyrics had been I was too busy going Wow they Sure Packed character plot Right Here Huh

[robininthelabyrinth]

Yiling isn’t eldritch, not like Night Vale. Life just gets a little spooky sometimes. (Not a crossover request, just a canon with a comparable tone — basically, the townspeople being blasé about the hazards of living next to the Burial Mounds.)

ao3

“You know, I always found this place a little odd,” Wen Qing said.

Wei Wuxian lolled his head over to stare at her with a somewhat disparaging expression.

“What,” he said, dragging out the sound. “This place? The Yiling Burial Mounds? Bastion of unquenchable resentment, mountain of fierce corpses and worse, a graveyard and sore upon the world? A place so fearsome that most cultivators see it as a lair of certain death? Odd? You don’t say.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said with dignity, then shot a piercing glare at her younger brother. “Stop snickering.”

Wen Ning hadn’t been snickering, but he had vaguely looked like he’d wanted to. He obediently rearranged his face into a slightly more somber expression, which wasn’t all that different from his usual expression.

“No, wait, now I’m curious,” Wei Wuxian said, sitting up and starting to grin. “What did you mean? What’s ‘a little odd’ about it? Most of the things I can think of make it very odd, not ‘a little’.”

“It’s actually not the Burial Mounds themselves,” Wen Qing said, rolling her eyes at him. “It’s the town.”

Now both Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning were staring at her.

“The town,” Wei Wuxian said dubiously. “The town where we go to buy groceries and sell radishes.”

“Sell radishes badly,” Wen Ning muttered under his voice.

Wei Wuxian pretended to ignore him. “Okay, I’ll bite,” he said to Wen Qing. “What’s odd about the town? It’s a completely normal town.”

“Exactly!” Wen Qing exclaimed. “It’s a completely normal town! A town that sits right at the foot the Yiling Burial Mounds, which as you yourself have said is extremely odd, and yet they’re completely normal. Don’t you think it would have more of an impact on them?”

“…I think you’re stretching it.”

“I mean, the town is a bit odd,” Wen Ning said, loyal as ever. “For example, there’s no fish in the river.”

Now it was Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian’s turn to stare at Wen Ning.

“What? There aren’t.”

“It’s a mountain stream,” Wei Wuxian said flatly. “There are fish in the lake on the mountain. There are fish in the larger river that the stream feeds into on the other side of the town. You can’t possibly mean that fish just, what, disappear on one side of the town and appear again on the other.”

“There’s no fish,” Wen Ning said firmly. “Anywhere in town borders. At all. They don’t even eat fish.”

“What, no one? Ridiculous.”

“Check it out yourself next time you’re there if you don’t believe me.”

“Maybe I will!” Wei Wuxian grumbled. Then he thought about who was speaking for a moment, then sighed. “…okay, no, I believe you. If that’s true, then yes, that is a bit odd. Some ritual or tradition of some sort…? Like the one about their graves?”

“What tradition about their graves?” Wen Qing asked. “Also, why do you know about their graves? Why were you in their graveyard?”

“Firstly, just because I’m a demonic cultivator doesn’t mean I like that tone you have or the implications you’re leveling my way. Secondly, I just got lost. Thirdly, they put rocks on all their graves.”

“That’s not that unusual. Rocks are a sign of memory in a number of areas –”

“No, no, it’s my fault, I gave you the wrong impression. When I said ‘rock’, I meant ‘extremely heavy boulder’. Big enough that even Wen Ning couldn’t lift it.”

“…are they scared of fierce corpses crawling out or something?”

“I thought of that,” Wei Wuxian remarked. “But no, there’s no resentment anywhere near those graves.”

“…no resentment at all?”

“…you know, now that I’ve said it like that, it does seem a bit weird.”

“How do they move those rocks anyway?” Wen Ning wondered. “If even I can’t lift them, how could a bunch of mortals do it?”

They were all silent for a moment.

“The cloud!” A-Yuan exclaimed, and they all blinked at him. He beamed at them. “The cloud moves the rocks.”

“That’s nice, A-Yuan,” Wen Qing said in that disinterested tone adults tended to adopt when they were trying to be encouraging. “What a clever solution.”

“He means it,” Granny Wen said from where she was minding him. “I’ve seen it too – a giant glowing cloud that floats over the town sometimes. It drops rocks onto the graves.”

“…a giant glowing cloud.”

“That’s right.”

“Why have I not seen the giant glowing cloud?” Wei Wuxian demanded.

“You weren’t around those times. You were in your cave.”

“And why have you never mentioned the giant floating cloud?”

She frowned. “Should I have?”

“I think my point has been made,” Wen Qing said. “That place? Is odd.”

[heymeowmao]

 2022.09.28 - https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321324818741396635821

[Truthfully - A1 TRIP & DOBI]

LYN: Hallo everybody, good evening. I am Modern Brothers’ Liu Yuning. Welcome~ C: What a surprise that you’ve come to stream today! LYN: Are you not part of my fan board? I already posted an announcement saying that I would stream a little tonight. C: I finally caught it! LYN: You finally did, huh? I hope next time you can subscribe and next time you can also catch it because it will tell you when I am streaming. 

C: Have you recovered from your cold? LYN: I’ve been recovered. It’s not like I was afflicted for two months, it was just a few days. I heard people say that for colds if you don’t take medicine you’ll be okay in seven days, but if you do take medicine you’ll be okay in five. This is the difference between taking and not taking medicine. 

C: Have you eaten? LYN: I haven’t because... I’m on a diet. (I’ve eaten). /being dramatic/ I’ve eaten nothing at all today- just skin and bones- I haven’t even had water. Oh- I should drink water. LYN: Let me grab my cup! - /water asmr/ LYN: Cheers! C: Ning-ge, are you drinking 55% Er Guo Tou? LYN: /picks up the water bottle to look at it in disbelief/ How can I be drinking alcohol while streaming? I’d be cursed to death! Also, I met a friend today, and as we were chatting they asked if I usually drink. I told them I don’t drink, and they said I don’t look like the type. Adding to that the fact that I am from Dongbei it seems like me NOT consuming alcohol is a very strange thing. Let’s not talk about Dongbei- I have some friends from Inner Mongolia, and THEY can’t drink, either. You alcohol tolerance doesn’t have anything to do with where you come from? Perhaps the stereotype is that most people from these regions can hold their liquor but even so there are outliers who can’t. I am that outlier. Let me tell you all about my tolerance- one bottle of beer and I start to cry. All the injustices I’ve faced in my whole life come to the forefront and I start to cry. After two bottles of beer, I pretty much can’t walk anymore. These two long legs of mine become chopsticks. They’re not very easy to use.  C: You start to cry, even. LYN: What? Is crying after one bottle of beer make me sound too girly? No, right? It’s just because that we live in a harsh society and everyone has a lot of pressure. C: You don’t (seem girly). LYN: Firstly, my tolerance is low and secondly, I don’t really enjoy drinking. I don’t find any pleasure in it. People always say that when they drink they can experience some happiness, but I don’t. The only thing I feel is uncomfortable- I get a headache. Also- when I drink it shows on my face. It doesn’t matter how little the amount- one mouthful of red wine and my face is flushed. Sometimes veteran actors have told me that if I have an emotional scene, I should have a shot of liquor to bring up my emotions. When I first started acting I tried it out once- I bought and drank half a bottle of beer and I didn’t feel any of the effects of the alcohol, but my whole face was red. I said, “Director, my face is so red, do you think we can still shoot the scene?” Fro then on, I don’t dare to drink while filming. 

C: Lao-da, your bangs are longer. LYN: I put them in front of my face on purpose. So I can cover up some of my ugly, and also don’t I look more ~melancholy~? A Melancholy Guy (忧郁男子). Because from what I see there are two impressions people have of LYN: 1. LYN sings a lot of OSTs. and 2. LYN is a COMEDIAN. I’m a comedian??? I’m OBVIOUSLY a cool guy. Everyone says so.  LYN: Lately I’ve been criticized online for being ugly- it’s the most criticized I’ve ever been before. I mean, people have always said I was ugly, but lately it’s A LOT. I’m having mental break. I don’t even dare to eat- I only drink water. (joking) That’s why when I play games or the Switch, you know how you can name your character? All my names are designated as “Handsome/Cool Boy” (帅气男孩). This is truth. Not because I believe I am, but because I am trying to convince myself that I am. It’s alright, it doesn’t matter. C: You don’t want “Shaolin Master (少林师)” anymore? LYN: The Shaolin Master has expired. All my usernames used to be that, but now I want to turn over a new leaf, so I’m Handsome Boy now.

C: Are night scenes tiring? LYN: I actually like shooting night scenes better than day scenes. Why? Because my appearance- let’s use a few different methods to explain why- appearance-wise, I have a small nose and small eyes. There are few artists or actors in this industry with eyes/nose smaller than mine. So in the daytime, with my already small eyes and the sun shining down on them, it seems like my eyes are pretty much closed. A Chinese pancake with two red dates for eyes. In the daytime I like to close my eyes a little- I can’t open them very big - because the sun is too bright- it hurts my eyes, because I have astigmatism. So when I have shoots in the daytime my eyes are really small. But at night it’s better, because no matter how bright the lights are, I can take it. I just don’t like the sun. But with night scenes the bright light makes the makeup look heavy. C: Ning-ge, your eyes aren’t that big to begin with. LYN: ... I wasn’t talking about the Shandong Round Dates, I was talking about those... small wild dates.

C: You caught a cold? LYN: I had one, there are still some after-effects. I still SOUND like I’m sick, but everything else is ok. C: After your cold, your voice sounds much more charming~ LYN: Look at that~ I think... oh- the “bubble” sound seems to have gotten stronger. So it turns out that you all find this type of sound charming- when it sounds like you have a motor in your mouth? Like a motorcycle!  LYN: I see online that guys record clips of themselves saying some great quotes- well, sometimes they’re not great, but just cheesy pick-up lines- but when they speak, you have two things to focus on: 1. The “bubble” sound, and 2. Make it breathy. Let me show you an example, with some song lyrics. - /demonstrates/ LYN: Start it with the bubble and end it with a breath. C: You need a good nasal tone. LYN: No, nasal tone ~sounds like this~

C: I’m using my data to watch. LYN: It’s better to find someplace with wifi, because my stream is extremely HQ. Watching 2-3 hours of my stream is like watching a movie. Think about it- if you watch an HQ movie with your phone how much would it cost you in data?? I firmly believe that if you use your roaming data to watch my stream... unless you are very rich, then you can watch with your data. But I suggest finding wifi- I think one stream will use up at least 1-2GB, right? I don’t know, I’ve never tried it. C: No. For you it’s worth it. (paying for roaming data) LYN: Am I supposed to be touched by you saying that? I told you not to watch my stream with data, because it would cost you at least 1-2GB, that’s about 5RMB; and someone says, “No! For you, spending this 5RMB is worth it.” Thank you. XD

C: Lao-da, are you singing today? LYN: I can! If you want to hear something, I can sing it later.

C: How long has the stream been on? LYN: Just five minutes. You didn’t miss anything. I didn’t say anything at all prior to this. 

C: Don’t sing, your voice can’t take it. LYN: What nonsense are you saying? I’m a singer. I can’t too arrogantly say that I’m an actor, because right now I don’t have too many works out yet. But I can confidently say that I’m a singer. I’m alright, though- because as a singer I think we should be able to overcome some discomfort regarding our voices. I once experienced a situation- and that day my throat hurt badly and my voice was hoarse but I had a performance, and it was being streamed live. That was the only time I really felt the pressure. Other times even when my throat hurts, I know that work is work and when I have to sing, I have to sing. C: Ning-ge, I want to hear WSL’s songs. LYN: /squints/ If you want to hear WSL’s songs, go to HIS weibo and leave a message. What are you chatting with me for? Go tell him. How ignorant.  C: WSL says he wants copyright royalties. LYN: I don’t know- do you need a copyright to sing his songs? Wait- of course you do. But if I send him a message and say, “Long-ge, I want to sing a couple of your songs in my stream. Can you not ask me to pay a fee?” I think he would show my some face. Of course, it’s not all about the copyright.

C: Ning-ge, how are you with riding horses now? LYN: Riding a horse? I’m alright- which is to say, I CAN ride them. I can ride them, but if you want me to flip upside-down and pick something from the ground and get back up- that I can’t do. But normally for going forward and turning back, those movements I am capable of.  C: Will you still be scared into crying when you ride? LYN: Ehm... I cried once, and then after that I was able to hold it in. It’s too shameful. If I were a little kid- someone born after the 2000′s- it’d be okay for me to cry, cute even. The jiejie standing around would sympathize. But I’m already 30+. If this old face rides a horse and starts crying, do you think that would be cute? I can’t cry, so I’ve been holding it back. I don’t cry while riding, but then I’m off the horse and am in a resting area, I secretly bawl. Men’s tears are like this- they can’t be seen by others. They only fall in a place where others can’t see. C: Can you gallop? LYN: I won’t say anything more. I ride a lot in Floating World, you can watch that when it’s out. You can also watch the dramas I’ve shot before. There were scenes where I galloped. It’s possible for even me. 

C: Will Zi Chuan air this year? LYN: I’m 80% sure it will air by the end of the year. I’ve been contacted to go back and supplement the voice acting. I’ll do that in early October, and when it’s all done I guess it can air by the end of the year. I think it will be able to, so you can watch Zi Chuan this year.  LYN: But I want to say to my fans- that even though I’ve debuted for about four years now, and have been shooting dramas for three of them, but all I’ve ever acted as is supporting characters. It’s either third, fourth, or maybe second male lead. I’ve been eighth male before, and have also cameo’d in a few things. But up until now I’ve always been support. I know a lot of my fans hope to see more of me, but I really don’t have a lot of scenes in those dramas before. Zi Chuan, for example, in 48 episodes I only have about 200 scenes. In Heroes BCF had 360 scenes. So it’s not much; most of my scenes (Zi Chuan) are in the second part- which we haven’t filmed yet. For Floating World I only have 191 scenes.  C: Feng-feng? LYN: Oh, WCF (Hot Blooded Youth)? That was my first drama, so I don’t think I have an impression of how many scenes I did. It wasn’t a small amount, in any case. C: It took you 5 months to shoot 191 scenes? LYN: All good works need to “refine gold into powder”. That’s right. For every production every person needs to have the mindset of a craftsman. No production is created willy-nilly. Every great actor needs hundreds and thousands of hours of hard work and effort, to have experienced great trials, before they can be considered a real actor. So I think being an actor is extremely difficult. [t/n: making up for his past slip, where he said acting was easy X’D] LYN: Why did it take 5 months to shoot 191 scenes? Because there were too many fight scenes!! We were fighting every day and for nothing at all. I told you about it, Zhuo Bufan is the best swordsman in the world, so he is always looking for a fight. There were so many fight scenes... but when I experience these things I might think they are torturous in the moment- seeing my schedule filled with “fight scene” day after day just gives me a headache- but when you look back on it, you would be thankful for the experience. Really. Because for this drama I have a few fight scenes as well- not a lot, but not a little- but I had a sudden feeling that I’ve made a breakthrough. I don’t know if you’ve ever worked at something for a long time and then suddenly get the feeling you understand everything perfectly? I think I’ve had a breakthrough with fight scenes. Because most of them are a set of moves, but when I got to this drama I suddenly felt that when the stunt teacher showed it to me once, I could remember it already. It’s like in the wuxia novels and the student and master and exchanging blows, and the third person just watching on learned by observation! I was in disbelief- how could you learn such a long martial art just by watching?? There’s no way. But then when it actually happens, I see that it’s because you’ve pretty much learned all the basic moves before. It’s just the same: hack, slash, swipe, block, kick. Only the order changes. // So I thank my previous drama for the training. I had a hard time, but I gained something from it.  LYN: I still need to say, though- I still can’t do fight scenes well. I didn’t say I was any good, I just wanted tot thank my previous drama for the training. I spent five months shooting for Floating World and I think it was worth it. Of course, I also improved the slightest in my performance, but I most want to thank it for honing my fight skills. // Every drama I finish, there is something I learn the most from it, Floating World just happened to be how to do fight scenes.

C: What shade of foundation does Ning Yuanzhou use? LYN: /laughs/ People seem to be very interested in my character’s foundation, because I was suppressed by No.13 once. When shooting for Floating World I had shade No.13. A lot of people may not know because they don’t use or have no experience with make-up. Shade No.13 is... not very frequently used by us yellow-toned individuals. Do you understand? That is- even if you want to buy it in this country, you’d be hard-pressed to find it. No one buys it, so why should places stock it? But the drama sourced it from overseas and applied it to my face- that’s just the look we were going for. It really made me consider my appearance. I’d see myself in the mirror- and I’m talking to myself now! /looking at the camera/- “Alright. This is fine. Let me just perform my part well, and see if I can improve upon my acting.” There’s no way anyone would start to like my face after watching this drama. LYN: I didn’t even want to look at myself in the mirror. As we were shooting and the makeup artist tells me it’s time to touch up, I told them, “No need. Do you think this /gestures to his face/ needs any touching up?” But honestly- when you’re living in the moment it’s easy for people to be confused, right? I don’t know if you’ve experienced this: only after you come back from experiencing something and have time to reflect, can you think clearly- so I think that this role was actually very good. Because it allowed me, as the actor Liu Yuning, to be able to really get into character. In looking at the guzhuang drama’s I’ve done until now, there hasn’t really been a change in dress and appearance- is there a difference? Yes. But not drastically- because it’s always going to be this same face. It’s still going to be me acting. But this character was unique in that it was so different from the others, so I really enjoyed it. LYN: So let’s get back to the topic of Ning Yuanzhou’s foundation. At the time, I thought Floating World would be when I was most troubles by my appearance, but I didn’t think that this day would come, because NOW I am troubles by my appearance. This just goes to prove that once you jump over one of life’s hurdles another one will be waiting. There might be another hurdle, or perhaps... a pit. You can never tell! :D C: So what shade do you use? LYN: When we first started off I was very pale- we used either No. 2 or No. 3. I say both because they used both... for a shade No. 2.5. I never knew! It turns out you can mix the colors for foundation, too. I always thought that you were set for either 2 or either 3. But now they mix it! As we kept shooting, they told me, “Ning-ge, should we use a lighter shade?” and I asked them, “Why? Is it because you think I’m too ugly?” They said, “No!” well of course they would say that, out of politeness. It was because all the other male actors had were lighter than me, so then I secretly took a peek at what shade THEY were using. All less than me. How can this be acceptable? If the five of us were in the same frame it’d be four pale faces and one dark one! I’d look like the waiter! That’s no good. We’ve got to one-up them! You’ll notice that if there’s some event and a group of artists take a picture, inevitably the conversation will turn to focus on who is the palest- and therefore the “prettiest”. (It’s really like that!)- there will be a comparison. So in this case, it’s no good, and I should adjust the color of my foundation, too. We switched to No.2, but after I few days I got the feeling... it’s TOO white. D: I’m a really straight male, alright. So I can’t stand if I am saying some serious/urgent things and my face is just- sheet white. So later I told them I could go back to the darker shade, so I can look manlier. Because “men have to fight”. [t/n: referencing that song, again.] Lately- if I’ve gotten tan they’ll use a mix of 2 and 3. If we’re shooting in the tent, we’ll use no.3. - /suddenly breaks out into “Men Have to Fight” for two lines/

C: Ning-ge, have you turned on the big eyes (beauty filters)? LYN: No, I don’t use those strange effects when I stream, like fixing the shape of my nose or eyes. I only use the blur tool... and the slimming effect, just a little. Just the blur tool, to make my skin look a little better. Because I’m always in front of the camera, anyway. I’ve been on variety shows, so you all know what I look like already! I go on shows, I perform at events. It’s not like I’m wearing a mask around in life. When I’m streaming for three hours at a time, I hope that even if you’re not my fan you can still be able to see something passable, and at the very least not be annoyed by how I look. Right? If I sit here looking ugly and you start to become annoyed at me, then I’d be done for. So just a little blurring effect. It’s enough. It’s not like we’re filming some documentary, and even if we were- nature/food documentaries still touch up the colors. They also add filters to make the image appear more beautiful. It’s normal. Don’t get hung up on this. But I really haven’t turned on the “big eyes” filter.

C: Ning-ge, I haven’t seen one of your stage performances in so long! LYN: ... I don’t think there have been any stages for me to be on, lately. A few events have invited me, but I rejected them. Not because I’m so amazing! But because my current drama.. it’s a pretty complicated role and I don’t want to split my attention. Honestly, everyday I- - /Daimi barking/ LYN: Other than filming, I don’t really want to do anything else right now. When I used to shoot dramas, I would also find some time to play games and relax, or go out for a meal with friends. But this time I’m not interested in any of that. I’m giving this role 120%- not because I’m professional, but maybe because I’m dumb. I don’t have enough mental capacity to think of other things. I apologize, I’m a bit more foolish than most. C: You’re addicted. LYN: I really am. I have to thank the drama, for that. I always want to tell my fans- my friends- just trust me. Let’s all wait for the result. :)

LYN: But anyway, I’m just here to chat a little. I haven’t really go anything planned. If you want to hear a few songs, I can sing. Lately I’ve released a song called “浮生 (Floating Life)” [Floating Life: Fantasy World] (t/n: somehow related to Floating World)... I won’t sing it yet, but maybe next time. I’ll wait for it to near the end of its run before I sing it. LYN: It was a bit difficult for me- especially the rap part. I’m really not great at it. Sometimes I think about what I want to sing during my streams, and the other day I heard this song: “麒麟 (Kirin)” (早安 Zao An, Rap of China). // I wanted to study this song and then sing it for you for entertainment, because I’ve seen a lot of people covering this song. I wanted to try. But when I try to sing this my mouth can’t catch up.  C: The tone of voice doesn’t suit you. LYN: What do you mean? I don’t sound as good a him, sure, but- /clears his throat/ This must be a new friend. C: Try it out, ge. LYN: Let’s check it out together, because the lyrics are kind of long. Let me see if I can even READ it. - /starts reciting lyrics, and it devolves into an old-timey style Dongbei rap/ LYN: Let me see if I can get it down. The fast parts are more difficult. For this part, my brain can still follow. - /continues/ LYN: You know there’s this style of performing rap- which is he sings everything else, and I’m in charge of following along with the last three words. - LYN: Someone said ZXD-laoshi is here? Welcome, welcome~ I’m discussing music with my friends. Welcome, please watch for a bit. - LYN: So let’s try rapping, but only following along with the latter three words. The front is “Are you ready?! afjkdla”- could we try it? C: Forget it, ge. LYN: If you kept telling me to try, I would forget it. But now that you told me to forget it, I really want to try. Should I... try? // Why is it telling me there are no lyrics?? If there aren’t any, then let’s not push it. We could play the original track and hum along...  - /fudges his way through 麒麟 (Kirin) by 早安 Zao An/; /adds in a bunch of “are you ready?”s for the hype/ *(t/n: I say “fudges” because he is making noises but only really saying the last word of the rap parts, but when it gets slow enough for him to follow it’s good! XD) LYN: I muddled my way through. LYN: Rap, to me, is very difficult. My mouth can’t move that fast. /huffing/ This (rapping) really requires some stamina. I didn’t even really sing, but it feels like I’ve already done two sets of sit-ups. You really need core strength to sing these songs.

LYN: How about this, friends- /setting up the bathroom break/ Shh! I think my neighbors are fighting. Friends, I think they’re fighting. You listen. It’s real this time! Let me go take a look, so that no lives are lost. I’ll go take a look. Wait for me. I’ll play you a vcr. - bathroom break #1

- /comes back without missing a few outer layers/ LYN: One song has made me very hot. I’ve taken my clothes off! C: How did the neighbor’s fight go? LYN: They “died” most miserably. But after I intervened they were able to calm down. So I sang them 童话 (Fairytale). “I forgot how long it’s been since I’ve heard your voice. Since I’ve heard you tell your favorite story. I thought for a long time and started to panic. Have I done something wrong?” So I sang them this song and they reconciled. In just a short three minutes I saved a lovely relationship. C: We want to hear it, too! LYN: I’ll sing it for you. Let’s see if I can save your relationships. Are there any fans out there who are having a spat with their husbands? XD He doesn’t want you to watch LYN’s streams, but you are so you’ve had a fight. Now I’ll sing this song for you to make amends. - /童话 (Fairy Tale) [Guang Liang]/ (& tries to splice it with a couple different songs XD) LYN: That’s why, music can really redeem a person. A short “Fairytale” saved a relationship. C: Ning-ge, I am having a fight with my husband. We’re considering a divorce. LYN: What, divorce? Don’t mess around. Happily live your life together. If you can get by peacefully, then live well.

C: Ning-ge, you’re so gentle today. LYN: When was I ever mean? Tell me, when was I not gentle?!? I think I’m a pretty calm/neutral person. C: You’re getting fierce right now. LYN: No, that’s because I’m streaming. Normally I’m a very good person to get along with. If you talk about me to people who’ve met me, and ask them if they get along with me, they’ll say that I am good to get along with. Because I don’t normally interact in the first place. So really, they don’t know if I AM good to get along with, but I just seem like someone who would be. I can attest- I am a very good person to get along with. LYN: /reading comments/ Alright, let’s not let it get to our heads. I told you I’m good to get along with, and some of you are saying, “Let’s meet up and prove that.”

LYN: I won’t stream long today, only until about 10p. I came here to keep my promise to you, because I really don’t know when the next time I’ll be able to stream is. I’ll be busy later, when I start to record some OSTs, and do some voice acting... ALZ has called me to do voice acting, so in-between shootings I’ll go do that. C: Ning-ge, have you decided on your next drama yet? LYN: I’m not that good- there’s really not a market for me. I don’t have anything yet. The next one is proving difficult to find. // I’ve been caught up with the current drama’s script, so I haven’t really looked at any new scripts. Of course, they’ve been sent to me, but I don’t have the interest in finding another just yet- I just want to finish this one first. I know that media accounts are saying that I’ve been cast for a few, but I haven’t yet. I haven’t had the time to look. I don’t have work (after YNGS). LYN: I know a lot of you are afraid that I don’t have any work, but don’t be. I am very realistic when it comes to my business practices. I won’t let myself go without work for long. From an outside perspective of those who don’t know me- you might think that I’m a failure, that I’m just wasting away and not getting anywhere (climbing up the ladder) in the industry. The people who say this don’t understand me. I am really the type who won’t let myself slow down- I need to have work. But not only do I need work, I need good work. Like working with brilliant actors like Tao-jie- to me, that is “good” work. 

LYN: Oh? Is she here? See- when you mention Tao-jie, Tao-jie comes. LYN: When you compliment someone to their face it seems a little fake, so that’s why you have to compliment them behind their backs. When I was complimenting Tao-jie just now, I had no idea she was watching my stream. It doesn’t tell me. ZXD, also- is a very good actress. Is she gone? LYN: I haven’t spoken much about Tao-jie, because I wanted to tell you about it when the drama started airing. But I had a very good time while shooting for ZZJDG (BYOL). A lot of crews just think of it as work, but with this crew we all had a great time. I think Tao-jie is a very mature and brilliant actor; she’s taught me a lot on set. I’m not just saying this to be a good business partner, I really secretly learned a lot of techniques from (observing) her. C: Connect with her. LYN: I’m afraid I don’t have the right to. C: Beautiful and kind. LYN: She really is. C: Would we be lucky enough to see Liu Tao and Liu Yuning connect on stream? LYN: Um... you aren’t that lucky. You might not be. LYN: She left. See? She came to watch my stream and you’re all pushing us to connect. Who do you think you are? There’s no way she could just randomly chat with you all.  LYN: But Tao-jie took really good care of me. She guided me while acting- very good actors can make it so that you invest your emotions and the scene plays out naturally. It was really comfortable filming with her. // I’m really very attached to the drama, so I was thinking that when it wraps- even though it’s already wrapped for me- I want to go back to Chengdu for the wrap party. That’s what I want to do, but it depends on if my schedule allows. C: Are you a very emotional person? LYN: I’m alright. I’m just very grateful for the actors and the drama crews that have worked with me. You all know that I am a pretty excitable person- you can tell by how I speak to you most of the time. But I can make myself more balanced out. I really am grateful to everyone I’ve worked with, and even though we may never see each other again, in the time that I have spent with them I really respect them. 

LYN: Oh- where was I? People were saying that I just let myself waste away. But just think of where I started. I’ve only debuted four years and HOW many songs have I released?? If I were a failure, why would I have released so many? So I’m not- I just give it my all. It has nothing to do with hard work- I’m just investing my everything. Because I don’t want to let myself have nothing to do. This applies to dramas, too. I started officially acting in 2021- once I started I haven’t really stopped. I’ve picked up one after another, so I won’t let myself stop now.  C: Four years, 117 songs. LYN: Right? So if we average it out its... 30 songs a year. With twelve months in a year, that means I had to have released 2.5 songs every month. For a singer to release 2.5 songs every month- think about the probability. How many singers do you know can release 2.5 songs in a month? I’ve also recorded a few OSTs this week that haven’t been released yet.

LYN: For those fans out there who are worried for my career- don’t worry. I know better than you what I need to be doing. And I’ve seen what people are saying about me online and I understand them- it’s just because they don’t know me. Of course, they are not required to know me, they don’t need to know me. Who am I, even? When people make posts online I think it’s just a short expression of their feelings. If they want to curse and slander me, let them. They don’t need to know me, and I totally understand. As long as I know what I am doing and what I need to do, that’s enough. I know what I want.

LYN: I shot my first drama in 2018- I debuted in 2018! How old does that make me? I debuted so late in life, do you think I dare let this opportunity go to waste?? The first drama I shot was the role Linghe Ent.’s Bai-laoshi gave me in Hot Blooded Youth. Honestly, at that time I really wanted to BE an actor, but didn’t think I had what it took. I thought I would take any chance I could get to even be a part of acting. Even after I finished with that drama, I still didn’t think I could even continue to be an actor. I only knew that if there was another chance, I would still take it. I was a singer- and didn’t consider that acting could become part of my career. I just thought that if someone wanted me to, I could act a little. Normally I would hold my concerts, release albums, and meet you through some variety shows and I was satisfied with that thought. LYN: I know people online are saying I have backers and resources. The truth is, a lot of people are giving me resources. A lot of people do give me work to do. But if you say that I have a company backing me- if you really know or understand this industry, you’ll know that it’s very small- you can go ask anyone if I have someone backing me. Go ask, and then you’ll know whether I really do have resources or backers. If I had anyone backing me, do you still think there would be so many people online slandering me? I have no one to control/subdue the comments. I’m free-range. LYN: Then, after HBY I went to shoot Ultimate Note. It was after the holiday break- I went to do a simple surgery and couldn’t sing for three months after. As a singer, being unable to sing, what else could I do?? I couldn’t stand the thought of me sitting around doing nothing. Coincidentally, Bai-laoshi came to me again with a drama (Ultimate Note) and gave me the role of Hei Yanjing. // I’m very thankful for Linghe’s Bai Yicong-laoshi because he’s the reason I was able to become an actor at all. And- I’ll be honest with you- when I was shooting HBY, he was already talking to me about Zi Chuan. But who would have known that though we talked about it in 2018, we only really got to film it in 2021. I’m thankful for the fact he brought me into this industry, and gave me my first two dramas. LYN: My third drama was The Long Ballad. Even after shooting the first two, I was still unclear on what it meant to be an actor. I didn’t think of it- not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t think I had the right to. There are so many actors already, and there was no one out there who knew that LYN was now acting, so even if they had any scripts they wouldn’t know to consider me. It just so happens that I got to know Bai-laoshi, and he considered me for a few productions. I never thought that I NEEDED to be an actor, because I didn’t think I had the right or the resources. It’s only after you’ve worked with a crew and some directors/producers that the work follows- but I didn’t have that to start. But the director of The Long Ballad- Chu Yuibin- he was my first (real) director. I started to chat with him- we get along very well now- and he said, “Xiao Ning, after your first day on set I nearly had a breakdown. I could tell you’re a rookie who’s never acted before.” The only thing I could do was agree. I’d never done a (guzhuang) drama before, what was a crew, even?? But he said that after a month of filming he felt more at ease with me. I was able to get into character. Up until that point I was just acting on instinct- it might not have been perfect, but at least it was real. He told me I got a lot better when I started to act as the bad guy (bc the scenes are shot out of order), and was I perhaps a bad guy to begin with? If he didn’t acknowledge I had something back then, he would never have recommended me for anything else after. LYN: He was the one who recommended me for The Long Ballad, so I guess you can say that he’s my backer. I met up with him to discuss this project, and this was well before I knew any of the producers. He asked if I would consider the role, and after he sent the script to me told me to meet with the producers, so they could “check out the goods”, so to speak. This is the normal process- you have to meet with the producers so that they can see how well you know the character, and how well you fit in with their bigger picture. We went for that first meeting in Beijing and it was pretty stiff, because none of us knew each other then. Chu-laoshi kept speaking for me, and trying to get me to chip in. You know me, with my Dongbei personality. If it’s a really big boss, I keep quiet; But if it’s a normal conversation you want, I can give it to you. I speak very realistically, and won’t try to pretend and put on airs because I know exactly how I started out. I’m a normal person, so I spoke to them as any normal person would. We started to get along quite nicely. Of course, no decisions were made at the table that night but they contacted me later and asked if I would accept the role. 

C: You sure can hold a conversation. LYN: If you get to know me in person, you’ll know that I’m not actually very good at it. Sometimes I can say things that might have you taken aback, but that’s just because I like to say practical things. I don’t like to pretend, and I hate the type of people who do. Hao Du is that type of person. XD After I finished shooting CGX- it hadn’t even aired yet, and neither had UN- I only had one drama out and it was HBY- which didn’t have good viewership. But it was after I finished with CGX that I felt like I started to LIKE acting. I said in an interview around that time as well, not only did I want to be an actor, I wanted to be a good actor. LYN: I had a sudden breakthrough with acting. Do you know what I mean? All of a sudden you have an epiphany and everything becomes clear. Like riding a bike- at first you may use your legs to push you along, but suddenly your feet are on the pedals and you get moving, and it all makes sense. You struggle and fall, and struggle and fall. But in one moment you’re riding smoothly and you’ve got it down. A lot of skills are like this- you have a sudden breakthrough. I got this feeling after finished CGX- suddenly I knew what acting WAS. The first two dramas I got through blind, but now I understood. If you wanted me to explain, I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know whether I acted well or not, but I knew what I needed in order to act. I don’t mean that suddenly I was a genius, just that I knew what I had to do- even if I wasn’t good at the execution. From then on I told my studio that we would try out being an actor, because I has started to like acting. CGX was my first guzhuang drama, AND the first drama I was able to do the voice acting for; I consider it one of the more important dramas in my acting career. My experience with this drama was the one that really confirmed whether I could cut it as an actor or not. LYN: When I was shooting CGX, everyone knows that I pretty much didn’t have anything out at the time. People didn’t know who I was or if I could act. Of course, I don’t act well, even now. I always tell my fans not to go out and tell people about my acting- I’m working on it. I’m still learning. I’ve been with my acting coach for three years, now.

LYN: Bai Choufei- I think is a very good role. When we meet up I tell my friends that I met the best role at the best time. There’s something I gained from every role I’ve played. No matter what that role was, it must have a positive trait. I can say that I’m Liu Yuning. My personality is just how you see it, my experiences and perspective are limited, my talent is for streaming, my ability is for singing, and now I can act. But each role I’ve acted has positive traits that are unique and brought out by the characters themselves. I think something that’s fun and that can make me grow is if the positive traits of these characters that I’ve acted- that I’ve brought to life- can become a part of me. This is one of the reasons why I like being an actor. I used to be all over the place, but after acting as Luo Mingxi (ALZ) I’ve calmed down considerably. XD But BCF was the best role for me at the time because he gave me space to perform. I could act with as much energy as I wanted.  LYN: I was chatting with Liying, and she told me that she watched Heroes. I asked her how she think I did. Even though by asking her you could say I was fishing, but I thought I would ask, between friends. She told me that she could tell I was putting my effort into the act. Of course I would! I’d never be able to find such a role in 800 years, I had to make the most of it! There was a lot of room to perform the character of BCF, and so many ways you could interpret the character. But what’s aired is what is conveyed to the viewers and what I have to take responsibility for. LYN: It’s just because the difference was so vast. In the beginning he was just a young man with wild ambition, but then later he went crazy. Later he was perverse! The thing is, when you have to play a character who has two wildly different personalities at the same time- forget it, I won’t talk about this too deeply. Why? Because I don’t understand, either. But there was a lot of space to perform this character, so it was really satisfying. Really satisfying. You now how people say you need to learn how to reserve a little when you’re acting, but there is a time and place to go all out? With BCF you could go all out, all the time. It was okay no matter what I did. But if I were to have gone all out and then reserved myself again- that would be strange. It was a test of how much I could express. LYN: It was a really great role... even though it didn’t air very well. Of course, I was cursed at. I guess Hao Du was okay, because he was a likable character in the end. But Bai Choufei was a bad egg through and through. I saw people trying to stir up trouble, saying how I voiced my lines was too weak. There were some fans I couldn’t control back then, and they went out and spread the news that I was voice acting for my own lines. Next time, you don’t have to go and publicize this for me. There’s no need. Naturally, people acknowledged the fact that I DID do my own voice acting, but also said that I did it badly. They said I was lacking energy/sounded weak. I think that if you want to say that I executed my lines poorly, you shouldn’t give details because then I’ll fight back. You’re saying my voice is weak? I’m a singer. How could my voice be weak, you tell me? How could I? It’d be alright if you said my Mandarin was no good, but I can’t stand that you called my voice weak. That makes it sound like you’re a doctor and you’ve deduced my poor body condition. That’s why- please don’t go into details. Just say I didn’t execute my lines well and leave it at that.

LYN: You all know how I speak from watching me stream- I don’t use my head voice, I’m using my chest voice. So there’s no way I could sound “weak”. You can sound weak when you use your head voice but my natural voice comes from low. I’m a singer! Sometimes I even wonder if I’m too masculine. When I’m acting opposite someone I will be saying my lines and then suddenly think to myself whether or not I sound too old. I’ll ask the director about it, too. Because actually every role has a tone of voice that suits them- it depends on what you’re acting as. If you’re acting as a general or someone people rely on, your sound can’t waver too much. - /gives examples/ LYN: Do if you want to curse me, just do it outright (and not find petty excuses). LYN: When I talk to people, even, I wonder if I sound too old. Should I make myself sound younger? // But I’m pretty good at imitating sounds.

C: What sound do you use for Jiang Junhao? LYN: JJH is just my own voice. C: Luo Mingxi? LYN: For this character, you have to take his condition into consideration. When I’m done with the voice acting for this role I’m SURE people will say that my lines are weak. LMX himself is someone quite weak with lots of ailments. Think about it- if someone sick and frail were to say his lines like this: /rough & with power/- there’s no way. He has to speak a little airily, a little slowly.  C: Psychotically. LYN: He’s not psychotic, even though that’s what I heard at first. He’s just sick. They’re two different things. He just has a weak body, so he has to speak more gently. “Psychotic” has more to do with the state of mind. LMX is perfectly sound of mind- he’s a normal person, still. It’s just that he might be a little more hard-hearted and cruel, is all. He’s not abnormal. // He can’t be too weak, though. He still has to sound like a man. ~I can’t make him out to be a eunuch, otherwise people would laugh at him.~ Also I’m 1.9m tall, how do you expect me to look weak/gentle? C: Why don’t you go play a eunuch, then? LYN: /laughs/ I can! I would, if someone wanted me to. I think it’s an interesting role. I won’t decline nor am I unwilling to try out any role. I can try it out, I don’t mind. We’re actors. C: Where would you find a 1.9m tall eunuch? LYN: DOES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HEIGHT?? What do you mean, huh? Are there no actors who have played a eunuch that are this tall?

LYN: Friends, let me tell you- I’ve been bullied while in this drama crew. The other male actors are too much. I never talk about someone behind their back, but today I’ll be the bad guy. One day FYL and I were shooting a scene together. As the scene went on, I started to sense that something was off.. because when we’re standing together, I had to look up at him. /re-enacting him looking (up) at FYL - pause - gives him a once-over - “have you gotten taller?”- looks him once-over again- “what’s the meaning of this?”/ I was dumbfounded! I turned my head and all of a sudden I had to look up at him! I don’t mean anything by it- I just mean that in my life thus far I have rarely ever had to look up at someone else. So that moment really surprised me. There are times when I can look another in the eyes, and that’s okay. But that day I had to look up at him. I said, “This is too abnormal, isn’t it?” He’s already 1.86-1.87, and he’s still over here trying to one-up me? What's he trying to do??? It went to my head. He can be more handsome than me, I don’t care. But my height is my only advantage in this industry, and he’s crushed me with a simple plastic insole?? Does LYN have any outstanding qualities in this industry? No, but maybe only his 1.89m height. My only advantage was beaten by two pieces of plastic. /sigh/ LYN: He didn’t do it on purpose, though. The props dept. gets those things ready, and he didn’t know there would be the added height. I said it was alright if they wanted to add in the height, but when he had to do scenes with me, I told him to take his shoes off. Every morning before we start it’ll be like going through airport security- he has to take his shoes off, for me to take a look before he can start. XD C: Ning-ge, you can add insoles too. LYN: Am I still human?? Sometimes when I’m just walking around set, some people will stop to ask me if I’m wearing insoles. I always tell them I wouldn’t be human if I did. What would I need them for?? Do I want to fly in the sky and meet with the sun??? So every time I do a scene with FYL I have to perform some security first. LYN: Of course, I am joking. Please only believe about 20% of what you hear in my streams. You can believe 20% of those plastic insoles, and the rest you can choose not to believe at all.

C: If you compare heights, do you also compare bodies? LYN: Not really. We don’t have the habit of getting together, taking our shirts off, and comparing muscles. There’s nothing to compare.

C: Are you still working out? LYN: I am. I only don’t do it when I am very tired. But these past couple of days I thought I couldn’t go another day without working out a bit. I didn’t feel comfortable if I didn’t. So even though we wrapped the other day at 5am, but I still came back and worked out for an hour. We finished up in a place called Xianju, and it took 1.5 hours to drive back. It was a night scene, so when the sun came up we wrapped for the night. By the time we got back it was already around 6a. C: Do your muscles not hurt? LYN: They do. It hurts right here, now. / LYN: I was working out more when I was in Chengdu. I finally realized why actors like doing modern dramas- because the filming environment is a lot more comfortable. When I first started off, other actors would tell me that modern dramas were relatively more laid back. And I wondered why, because I thought acting was all the same. But what they meant by “laid back” was probably the fact that the working environment is a lot more convenient. The hotel was very nice- because even though we’re in a hotel here in Hengdian.. it’s still Hengdian. But the hotel in Chengdu was nice because it had a gym, so every night when the drama wrapped I would go. What you saw in the Work-Out VLOG- that was the hotel’s gym. Sometimes when we wrapped at 2-3 in the morning, I would still go. Not that I am trying to make myself out to be a very hardworking person- I just knew that I had a lot of fight scenes for this current drama so I wanted to get into some shape to prepare for it. I didn’t think that I would still be ridiculed. :| But anyway, I was with the BYOL crew for around two months and I was pretty much working out every day. I recorded a lot of clips and started eating chicken- the guys out there who are working out would know- and protein power, and that’s what I had for the day. I was really training. I thought I could continue when I got started in this crew (YNGS), but I hadn’t even been here a few days before people were already critiquing me. Then I thought that working out wasn’t worth it. LOL. Two months of effort had no effect. I was still being ridiculed, so then I wanted to give up! They said my posture was bad, so I fixed it. I fixed it and they STILL said I’m no good- so really, what do they want from me? But even so, I’ve decided to stick with it, and I’ll count it as preparation for my next drama. / You need to understand where you’re lacking, in order to improve. So that’s what I’m doing.

LYN: I know a lot of you tell me not to mind what others are saying about me, and I don’t care what they say. But if what they say is exactly where I know I am lacking, then I will work on myself to change. If they say that I’m not suitable for acting and to quit, then I won’t listen to them. If they think that my posture needs work, then I’ll work on it- and I’ll be more aware of how I carry myself when the cameras are rolling. I think their critiques are constructive and allow me to do better at work. That’s a good thing. Honestly. Even if they meant to criticize with ill-intent, I take their words into consideration. But if my posture is good and they SAY it’s bad...it doesn’t matter because at that point I know that those words are in the same realm as saying I’m not suitable to be an actor (and I ignore it). LYN: From debut up until now, I really am grateful for all the haters, too. I’m not just saying that to make myself seem the bigger person. Do I hate and find them annoying? Of course I do. But I am also thankful for them, because in some roundabout way they are motivating me. I know to avoid things that would hurt my development, and they’re making me more aware of how I should conduct myself while working. At first they were saying that I was only just an internet famous individual and that I could never make it as a singer or an artist. It’s the same old sh*t. But at the time they really motivated me to prove them wrong. I wanted to become a singer and make them admit that I AM a singer. Even if they never admit it, I know myself- and that’s the most important thing. You can say I’m just an internet famous individual, but when I see all my albums, my performances, my osts, and my dramas- at this point I don’t care what you call me.  LYN: So as a singer who is just getting into acting, all these “critiques” are constructive criticism. Like saying I have bad posture, and saying that my lines are delivered weakly. When I know I’ve fixed my posture then at that point I won’t care what they say. So I still have to thank these voices for pointing out my weak points and motivating me to improve. LYN: No matter how weak my body is, my voice will never be weak.

- /saying some things in a weak voice/ LYN: People who just came in have no idea what I’m doing. XD - LYN: ~do you know what time it is?~ LYN: What time is it? - LYN: ~right now.. is the... start of my love for you~ LYN: A lot of people don’t know what I’m talking about- I was saying how there are a lot of things going around online about how a man is “supposed to sound”, and that is starting off low and ending with a breath. /gives some examples/ LYN: Any men watching tonight? Watch your Ning-ge give you an example of how to speak, and then you can try it out on your wife or girlfriend! C: Ning-ge, if my husband spoke to me like that I would hit/kick him. LYN: Don’t you think it sounds ~tender~? Am I not saying it ~right~?

LYN: ~Friends, I need to use the restroom. Can you stay here and wait for me? Is that alright? Friends, please don’t leave. I’ve had a bit too much water. I’m going to use the restroom. Please wait for me. I’ll play a VCR for you.~ -- bathroom break #2

LYN: Am I trending? Really? I don’t believe it. Tell me if it’s true or not, friends. C: Trending Topic #23 LYN: Ah. /tries to hide his smile/ I quite like it when I start trending- and by that I mean that if someone logs in right now they will see the topic and click into it and they can see me in real-time... C: The Entertainment Tab. LYN: Is that so? AH. What’s wrong with that? It still counts! How about this- go into the topic and leave a message. Just write... “LYN’s hat looks so good.” /laughs at his own shamelessness/ We have to make a topic of discussion. C: You’re officially a trending topic. LYN: Really? In that case, I need to show some talent! If people come in to see and nothing interesting in happening, how can I expect them to stay? How to get guests to stay is the most important thing. I think other than music, I don’t have anything else that can make them stay. LYN: Faraway visitors, please stay. Hello everybody, my name is Liu Xialai. I originally wanted to play you something with Kaka (kazoo) but I think opinion on that is divided. Why should I push my guests out the door instead? So I think I will not do that... C: Ning-ge, you’re a visual streamer. (referencing a different douyin video) LYN: I’m a visual streamer. I can’t sing. Get out. C: How about a song? LYN: Which song, though? I’ll sing one. Is there anything you want to hear? LYN: I’m sorry, I’m a dance-streamer. I can only dance and nothing else. XD C: Searching for You. LYN: I’ve been singing that too much lately, so I won’t today. How about this... - /Rang Jiu (Tomb of the Sea OST)/

LYN: Sorry- my vocal condition is that great today. LYN: Don’t request any more, I can’t sing. I tried it, but I don’t think I can continue. LYN: Let me get some water. LYN: I think I should stay nice and quiet as a visual streamer today. My vocal condition’s not to great.

C: Where’s Daimi? LYN: Let’s not let her show herself today. /goes to get her anyway/ LYN: She’s starting to get agitated now when I don’t give her some limelight. / She’s had a bath today, which is why I’m showing her to you. Usually she just looks like a “trash dog.” Like those stray dogs that pick trash off the street. But she’s been washed so I can let you all see her. 

LYN: Female celebrities need to watch how they look on camera, right? LYN: Why don’t you give everyone a wave? /waves her paw around/ LYN: She doesn’t seem very willing. Look at the camera! Here~ LYN: Alright, that’s enough. Go away, now. After you’ve used me, you can leave. Don’t break my headphones, though. LYN: Alright. It’s fun to play with her a little when I stream. LYN Studio only manages two artists- one is me, and one is my little dog. I’m her manager. Heartlessly telling her to go away. XD - LYN: Anyway, I’m just going to chat. I tried out a song but my condition isn’t the greatest. - C: You’re Daimi’s anti. LYN: See? If you’re an artist, no matter where you go, you will always have antis. It’s very normal. I don’t even mind anymore. I also see that some people like to use my picture as their profile pic and go to curse out other artists. Not curse at, but rather... shade other artists. With my photo as their profile pic. But you know- when you click into their profile, you find that they curse out even me. That’s true love, right there. I saw someone doing that and I wanted to go try to advise them not to. I wanted to talk some sense into them, and make them stop putting others down because it makes LYN fans as a whole look bad. But when I clicked into their profile I saw that most of the hate comments were about me, and just sometimes about a different artist. After I saw that, my heart was at ease.

LYN: Is FYL here? He’s here to set the record straight about what I said about him, is that it? XD C: Wei Shuyu? LYN: His name is Fang Yilun. All in all, we’ve known each other longer than most. We weren’t that close, because we had only shot that one drama together and didn’t keep in contact after it was over except having a meal together once or twice. But we’ve really gotten to know each other through this current drama. He’s a good kid. And I’ve never said anything bad about him during my streams, right? I always tell you what a good person he is. I never talk badly about someone behind their backs. What type of person would that make me, right? But he’s very nice and cool. Honestly, he’s very good looking. Other than being good looking, he is also very good in all other aspects. XD All good. Tall, handsome, and a good actor. LYN: FYL has his own fans, and the other day I saw them saying, “FYL is starting to act with LYN? When will he have a lead role of his own?” But the problem is FYL has already been male lead in other dramas before! Also, he’s much better looking than I am on screen. So I told him that if YNGS airs and there are articles stating that the 2ML is overpowering the 1ML, I will go to his house to beat him up. Even if I can’t beat him, I’ll still give it my all.  C: You’ll scare him away. LYN: No. We’re have a good relationship, and might even do a song together later. We’ll see. Because we’ve already negotiated with the production company that I will have two songs for YNGS. But there’s not much meaning in having two songs for myself, so I wanted to see if I could do one of them with FYL. C: Buy one get one free. LYN: How could I do one OST and then give another for free? There’s no way. Each song costs money. It’s not like I’m going to act for them and then sing the OST for free- they’re such a big company, it wouldn’t make a difference to them. I even told them before, that I would come as an actor-singer package deal, and they said there was no need and that each aspect (acting/singing) would receive its due payment. Since they’re such a kind company, it wouldn’t be right of me to keep refusing. C: Give the second song half-off. LYN: Do you think you’re selling milk teas?

C: /asks him abt a popular game?/ LYN: I’m not playing it. I don’t have the interest. I don’t why- I’m different from other people, and it might be because I’m “sick” at heart- but the more people are into something, the less I want to do with it. If I saw it in passing I might entertain the thought for a while, but if it’s the topic of every single discussion I don’t really want to entertain it anymore. I’ve seen it before, because my friends share it, so I have an idea of what it is. But I don’t really have the interest in playing it myself. I’m more of a rebel at heart. LYN: Why do you think so many people like LYN? It’s because not everyone finds LYN attractive. Ey! I’m not your traditional handsome guy. Am I handsome? No. I don’t have the beauty and big eyes that people can say is handsome with just one look. My appearance is... steadfast/down-to-earth. You can with one look that Xiao Ning has lived through some stuff in life. It’s a different style. I can’t reach the “handsome guy” level. When my fans compliment me and tell me I’m handsome, I feel guilty. Because it seems like the act of chasing stars has gone to (and broken) their heads. It’s like the ability to judge and the conception of what is “pretty” and “ugly” has malfunctioned. I can understand. LYN: But! But it’s a little like the saying “王八看绿豆” (lit. turtle looking at a mung bean; bc a turtle’s eyes are only the size of a mung bean, so if you place one in front of the turtle, that is all they can see.). It’s only an expression, though. I’m not trying to make any insinuations about who/what we are as people. I just mean that we’re suited for each other- so my fans like people like me; and no matter what I do, in their eyes I will still look cool. It’s weird but there’s no helping this- everyone’s tastes are different. This is very normal. Sometimes I will see nationally acclaimed paintings and I look at them and think to myself, “What is this?” But the truth is that the painting can sell for millions of dollars. It’s a mystery.

LYN: When I was little, I grew up with my grandparents. My grandmother really liked to use idioms. So when I grew up a lot of my way of thinking is a lot like my grandma’s.

C: Did you drop in on Zhao Liying? (Legend of Shen Li) LYN: I did go take a tour around her drama set, and I also know the director Deng Ke, too. So I went to greet him. I got introduced to Lin Gengxin while I was at it. We didn’t know each other and we’re not familiar. Of course I had to have known of him before, but we did not know each other privately. But I got to know him because one day I was in Changsha and I really wanted a haircut. I felt like my hair was too long and ugly, so I wanted to get it fixed. But I couldn’t find a shop in Changsha. I’m the type of person who only likes to go to someone familiar, because I don’t want to end up on a variety show or something with an ugly haircut- I want to find someone I trust. I was looking it up online and found a shop that was using his picture. I was amazed that this shop had the audacity to use an artists’ photo like that- isn’t that false advertising? They must be crazy. But my studio looked it up too, and they said the shop really did seem like it was owned by Li Gengxin.  LYN: Because you know how some shops (hairdressers and optometries) like to use artist photos to advertise, but you can tell with one look these shops are not represented by these artists at all? It’s like the stall by my house that’s plastered a huge poster of an artist on its walls. I thought they must have been crazy but after a quick search that salon really was opened by LGX. I figured if that was the case, it would be a reliable establishment, so I went. I went and... I’m a bit more publicly recognizable now, so they knew who I was. I didn’t SAY anything- I was just there to get my hair cut! But as they were trimming my hair, one of the attendants came by and said they gave their boss a call, and the boss said to give me a card. So that I would be able to go there to get my hair cut in the future and not have to pay. So generous?! Of course I refused, and wanted to pay them but they insisted that their boss would not let them accept any payment. At that time I didn’t even have LGX’s WeChat yet. I had no way of thanking him. But I got the free haircut and the card (with money on it!). He’s such a kind person! So when I got to Hengdian and got to finally greet him and thank him. That’s how I got to know him. C: Will you go there again? LYN: When I’m free to get a haircut. Because now I’m in Hengdian in the drama crew and I don’t really need to cut it. If I do, the crew’s stylist can cut it for me. At that time my hair was too long and I needed to do some other activities, so I went to get it cut. It was free and he gave me a membership card- what a nice guy, really.

- /scolds Daimi for wandering around/

C: What about BJT? LYN: I didn’t drop by his set. We’re pretty much shooting at the same time. Right now our relationship is that of upstairs and downstairs neighbors. If I get in the elevator and go down one floor I’d be at his house. We haven’t bumped into each other yet but I know we’re in the same building.  LYN: Hengdian is very small. Pretty much everyone is shooting their dramas here, right? I looked into who all was living in this building and after I found out I was shocked. It’s only one building- but there are really SO MANY artists living here? In this one building alone??? It’s scary. C: People you don’t see often. LYN: Yes, people I don’t see often, I meet all the time in the elevator. LYN: The other day we wrapped for the night and I heard someone call me from behind, “Ning-ge!” I turned back to look. (It was) Zeng Shunxi. On a different day we got into the underground car park and there was a car in front of mine. I was thinking about who might be plotting against me. It was Gong Jun. In any case, it’s the same group of people (all living in the same building in Hengdian). C: Have you met up with ZSX and YCY? LYN: YCY, no. I asked her, but she hasn’t been in Hengdian recently. ZSX is here though, so we meet up sometimes.

C: Your accent is so strong. LYN: Do I have to speak Standard when I stream now? Are you here to test me? My accent is a lot less strong now. Have you noticed that I’ve been using more Standard in my streams lately? LYN: I CAN speak Standard Mandarin, but I just like to use my dialect when I stream. My dialect is.. Cantonese. X’D Next up let me sing you a Cantonese song... Oh, right. I won’t sing, because my condition isn’t good today. Lets just chat.

C: Do you have a makeup collab? LYN: Yes, I do have one coming up but nothing’s been announced yet so I won’t say anything about it. It’s been years since my debut and you are asking me all the time when I will do a lipstick collab. I really don’t know how much lipstick your lips need! This has been following me for three years already, “Ning-ge, collab with a lipstick brand already! I don’t have lipstick to wear.” Alright, then. This time I’ve gotten a deal down. It’s a makeup set- lipstick, eyeshadow, blush... you know. It’s a set. LYN: I’m really trying to control how many spokesperson deals I get, and I’m not trying to brag that I have so many deals that I can reject most of them. I really am trying to control the amount. Because first of all, I don’t really want to spend most of my time on these types of things (brand events, livestreams, promotions, etc.) and shooting a drama is taking enough of my time. I really only collab with good brands that I acknowledge- I’d never work with a brand you’ve never heard of. It’s not that they didn’t try to come find me, either. There are so many contracts- but just having two or three a year is enough. LYN: I always deal with a brand that’s known, and with a product that you all will find useful. If I really wanted to make this my sole source of income, honestly I could be making a lot more than I am right now. If I sit here promoting products to you in three hours of my stream, how much money do you think I can make? I’d be streaming for nothing, right now. But I don’t think that’s how money should be made, and it’s not a great way to exhaust yourself. LYN: Any good brand that has an interest in me, I have pretty much all been in contact with. If there are other opportunities, we’ll discuss it later. It doesn’t really matter. But anyway, the makeup collab is coming. It’s almost finished. Some of y fans have been following me for three or four years now and you’ve always asked about when I would do a lipstick collab, so much so that I started to feel insecure. Because you would always mention it, but it didn’t seem like any makeup brand was willing to come use me. It’s so strange. It would have been fine if you hadn’t mentioned it so much, but since you did I started to find it weird. But it finally came to me this year. It’s not like it came in recently, either. We were in talks already at the beginning of the year. Brand discussions with artists always happen at the beginning of the year. I guess it’s because that’s when they know what their budget is. C: Will you do a testing? LYN: I don’t think I would do it in one of my own streams, but there will probably be a brand promotional stream that I would be able to show you. I’d apply it to my hand or something, because it’s not like I’m going to put it on my lips to show you. We’ll see.

C: I finally caught up to a real stream? LYN: Are you usually watching a fake one? Are you usually watching an AI? Do you usually see something like this?

C: You’re trending. LYN: I know. They already told me earlier. :) Thank you.

- /playing with filters/

C: Ning-ge, you’re so good looking in the Reuters. LYN: Don’t mention the Reuters to me. I don’t want to hear that word in my life again. XD Alright? Whenever I hear that word my heart lurches a little.  LYN: Honestly, though. In Hengdian and with all the paparazzi. I can understand why they do it- it’s their job. In my previous stream I tried to interview them, remember? I think there’s a mutual respect. Because this is their way of making a living. They have their job, and I have mine. It’s not that I don’t mind, but I am not strict with it and don’t go out of my way to stop them. I don’t try to obstruct them, or find someone from the crew to tell them to stop taking photos. I don’t want to get in the way of how they make a living, because they rely on doing this to get a meal on the table. But! I want to say to all my paparazzi friends out there: I’m ~alright~ aren’t I? If you think there’s some part of me that you find lacking, please just tell it to my face. I’ll change, ok? Also, my fans still buy your photos, don’t they? Even if it’s only enough for you to buy a pack of cigs or a beer, you’re still making some profit from them, right? If you take a picture wherein I look kinda ugly, can you just delete that picture?? I know that you’re up in the mountains there trying to take photos. I even feel bad for you. Sometimes I want to send you water. There are all sorts of bugs up in those mountains and you’re squatting in a bush on a hot day- honestly, my heart goes out to you. I want to send you water. I ask my assistant if I should send them up there to shade you with an umbrella. I’m a good person, aren’t I? So if you have an ugly photo of me, could you please erase it? Or if you have a photo where one person looks good and the other doesn’t, just cut me out of the frame if I look ugly and THEN you can post it. Is that alright? I’m begging, bros. We’re both in Hengdian together, let’s not make it any harder for each other than it is. I’ll send you up some water next time. LYN: Control yourselves, please. I’m on the rise but I’m very vulnerable. Can you protect a rookie actor like me? // I am very clear on it myself. This is my second male lead role- my first was with Tao-jie- and I know that when these dramas air I am going to face a wave of criticism. This is very normal, and I have steeled myself for it. But even so, you can’t continuously ridicule me from filming start to drama end date, can you? Everything has a time limit. Let’s give it three days before this topic all blows over. Next time you can pick on me for something else. You can’t criticize me for one thing for a whole month! Who does that?! Enough is enough. Change the topic, everyone. - /continues to negotiate with the paparazzi. not only will he send them water, he’ll add in crispy pancakes, with added sausage and chicken cutlets if they could delete or cut him out of particularly ugly photos of him./ C: I feel sorry for Ning-ge. LYN: There’s nothing to be sorry for. I understand why they do it- we’re all just trying to survive. It’s not easy for anyone. Just... I hope we can become mutually understanding. // I trust that after I’ve brought this up today, there won’t be any more ugly photos of me floating around. XD But it’s possible that they didn’t receive the message. It’s whatever... but just.. try. C: They’re too much. LYN: I understand them though, because this is how they make a living. There’s no need to pick a fight with them. It’s just sometimes that they’ll post something critical of me. This has happened before, with ALZ. One person looked good while the other didn’t. But back then it blew over in a few days. I don’t know what’s happening this time, but people can’t let it go. I think it’s about time, though. You can switch to something different, now. D:

LYN: My friends- you don’t need to reply to them or try to explain. Don’t do anything on my behalf. There’s really no need. Only four of my dramas have aired- the truth is not a lot of people know what I’ve been up to these past two years. If they’ve never even seen one of those four dramas, and have only heard me sing- or if they haven’t even heard my songs and only know there is a person called “Liu Yuning”- the only thing they know is that I’m acting in some drama right now. It’s not important. This drama- when it comes down to it- is only just a drama. I still have a lot more roles to act after this. So it’s not like I’m going to hold a big grudge over it.  LYN: Also! I’ve said so before- that even if in future dramas I go back to playing second lead or supporting characters, please don’t mind it. I’m an actor- so if I like a role, even if it’s fourth lead, I’ll take it. I got here today by trying out different supporting roles. As long as I think the roles suits me and it’s something that I like, I’ll try it out. I don’t think name or title of a position is important, for an actor. What matters is what you’re showing the viewers. What do you have to show for yourself NOW, and not what you already have to show for yourself.  C: You’re suitable to play a domineering CEO. LYN: If there’s an opportunity. Right now I’m still thinking of... I’ll tell you if there’s any news, but right now I’m still looking at the roles... but... I’ll tell you later. C: What type of role do you want to play? LYN: Honestly, anything is fine. Earlier someone told me to go play a eunuch! I think it’s alright. As long as the role is good enough, and he has an interesting enough story. Let’s say that usually every other eunuch enters the palace when they’re young- but this one entered the palace when he was thirty. You can think about it- hearing this about the character alone, makes you think that it would be a good watch. This complicated life story is enough to captivate the viewers. Especially about a eunuch that 1.9m tall. How terrifying is that- taller than the emperor, even! Hey- this story is fitting. He entered the palace when he was thirty- I’ve debuted at the age of thirty. A story of about turning the tables. LYN: I don’t want any role in particular. As long as it’s interesting enough- before I used to only look at the character- but now I would also look at the crew and who the director is, and what the hair/makeup will look like. There are many things to consider. Before, someone would look through these details for me. But now that I am more familiar with the industry, I can look into these details and make my own decisions.  - /likes dramas like Being a Hero and Be Reborn, even though he hasn’t watched many episodes, would really like to act in one of these types of dramas/ LYN: I haven’t had the chance to act in any drama like those ones, so if I had the chance I’d want to give it a try. A long time ago I already said I wanted to play someone undercover/a mole. A complicated role.

C: Do you have work tomorrow? LYN: I do. When drama filming is over I think I also need to go record an OST as well. I finished recording the OST for New Life Begins, also. That’s the one BJT recommended me for, so that counts as having fulfilled that rumor. You can hear it when that drama airs.

C: Ning-ge, stop streaming after you hit thirty million viewers. LYN: 3...2...1. Bye bye friends. Good night! LYN: I’m not that much in a rush. I’ll probably- actually it’s about time. I already said I would stream until 10p. When did I start? Around 7p, right? SO it’s been about three hours. That’s enough. I’m not thinking about the views, anyway. I just come to stream so I can relax and because my fans might miss me. There could be some passersby who may not LIKE LYN, but they can think of me as entertainment. If you’re watching my stream right now and think I’m alright to watch and you don’t find me annoying- if you do, then you don’t have to follow me- but if you think I’m entertaining, please subscribe to my weibo. Thank you.

C: When will you stream next? LYN: I’ll let you know. I’m not sure when the next time will be, right now.

C: Will there be a surprise on National Celebration Day?  LYN: No. I always look at my schedule and try to predict what I will need to do next. But after recording tomorrow, I have full days of drama shooting at least until the third. Only my scenes. After that I will be shooting the drama during the day and going to voice act for Zi Chuan at night. After voice acting for ZC is finished, I will follow-up with voice acting for ALZ. So that means I’ll be quite busy during the month of October because voice acting is a complicated process; made all the more complicated because I’ll be shooting the drama in the day and voice acting at night. It’s not like I can spend the whole day in the studio voicing 4 or 5 episodes per session. I’ll be going there only after a full day of filming- so when I’ll get to stream next, I’m really not sure. This is one of the reasons I’m afraid to go on variety shows- dramas have me busy enough as it is. Some things I have to give up.

C: When will you do another stage performance. LYN: They’ll come. I’m sure they’ll be one at the end of the year. Because your Ning-ge has to bring in the new year, right? I’m sure I’ll have the chance to go to a few different broadcast stations’ galas.

LYN: Alright, it’s about time. I’ll sign off and grab a bite to eat. I wish you all a relaxing and wonderful night. It was a pleasure to have you and I hope you had a good time. I’ll see you in the next stream. Good night everyone.

[mlm-writer]

Rutterly Filled (Omega!Wei Wuxian x Alpha!Male!Reader)

Pairing: Omega!Wei Wuxian/Wei Ying (The Untamed ver.) x Alpha!Male Reader (NOT trans-friendly) Rating: Explicit Words: 3416 POV: Second Summary: You have not had a rut ever since you have been captures with the other Wens. Now things are going well on Burial Mounds, your body decides it is time. Unfortunately, your prolonged period of being rutless meant your next one was going to be extreme. Fortunately, the Yiling Patriarch is secretly an omega and you two have been flirting ever since you met. Notes: This is 200% self-indulgent. I saw the twink, I fell in love, I wanted to wreck him. Do I need an excuse?  Tags: Omegaverse, a/b/o dynamics, ruts, idiots in love, being in a relationship without realising it, reader is a himbo, loss of control, magical restraints, breeding, knotting, multiple orgasms, does Wei Ying have a dick and a pussy or a dick and an ass? up to you!, self-lubrication, fingering, blowjobs, facials, handjobs, gēge kink and fuck or die

There was no qi flowing anywhere. The only thing that filled your ‘internal stream’ was utter rage. “I told Wen Qing this would not work without a golden core!” You exclaimed as you got up and started stomping around. The alpha pheromones were rolling off you in waves and you were low key glad you were the only alpha present on Burial Mounds or you would have started a fight the second you caught a whiff of any other alpha.

“It was still worth a try. I do not think there is a way to stop your rut now.” You stomped around Wen Qing. You did not want to lash out at her. Were it not for her concoctions, you would have gone into rut a few days ago without a backup plan at all. Your hands clenched and unclenched at your sides. “There is one thing I have not yet told you.” You let out a grunt, indicating you were listening. “Wei Wuxian is an omega and has offered to help you through your rut.” 

You stilled for a second. The Yiling Patriarch was an omega. It only took a second for you to process. Wei Wuxian was not known to adhere to any stereotype or standard. It was not crazy to think that the Yiling Patriarch, a figure that induced fear and hate in many cultivators, was a fragile omega. He may carry himself around like a big figure, but truth to be told, he was skinny like a twig and if he was not such a good fighter, anyone could snap him in half. It all made sense, it was not a crazy thought.

“Master Wei has saved my life. I am already indebted to him. I will wait out my rut in the tent Wen Ning set up in the woods.” You were already walking to the door of Wen Qing’s humble hut, but she stood in your way. Sometimes you suspected her of being an alpha as well. One never knew, when cultivators could just simply suppress their second gender, making them all appear like betas. 

“You have not had a rut in a long while due to the poor conditions we have been under. Your first rut in a while may be much more intense than you are used to.” You clenched your fist, digging your nails into the palm on your hand. Your eye twitched. “Wei Wuxian can defend himself against you, should there be any need. He is also the only omega on the whole mountain. His only condition is that you do not mark him.” You violently shook your head before you could agree to it. The man was the prettiest boy you had ever laid eyes upon and while you two had been flirting, you had not yet confessed that every flirty word you shot his way was truthful. The thing between you two, unnamed and not yet romantic, was too good to risk. 

You walked away from the door, before you were going to physically lash out at Wen Qing. “I will not take advantage of master Wei. I owe him too much already.” 

“Your excuses are so weak, I’m starting to think that you don’t think I’m attractive.” Your whole body whipped to the door, where the omega in question had appeared with a pout on his face that made you want to kiss him. His lips were pink and glistening. They looked so full and soft. Wen Qing told him to get out, but you already caught a whiff of the omega scent you had never noticed on him before. Before you had any control of your tongue, you had agreed to spending your rut with Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch. Want bubbled up from deep within you. There was no way back now. 

You followed him and his scent like a blind puppy, as he let you between trees to a tent Wen Ning had set up earlier in case you could not suppress your rut. You saw the dark red fabric in the distance, when suddenly you were caged against a tree by Wei Wuxian. “Scent me,” he whispered into your face and he did not need to say it twice. You rubbed your nose all over his neck and down to where it met his shoulder. You took deep breaths, letting your lungs fill with the sweet and spicy scent that you from now on would know as Wei Wuxian. You didn’t know how long you were rubbing yourself on him and smelling him, but after a while, the fog of alpha hormones cleared and you had a bit more grip on what was going on and what was about to happen. “Better?” Wei Wuxian giggled as he rested against you. You held him close and slowly breathed in his scent. 

After a few slow breaths, you nodded and took his hand to drag him to the tent. It was big enough that you two could stand inside and there were supplies inside, mostly food and water, but also extra robes. You didn’t hear the sound of a lake behind the tent, as you dragged Wei Wuxian inside and pushed him down onto the straw mat on the ground. You crawled on top of him, but as your eyes met his, you were awfully aware of how you were acting. “Sorry, maybe we should talk about what I can and cannot do, before I lose all my patience.” Wei Wuxian laughed and shifted so you two were sitting on the straw mat, facing one another. His robes had fallen open a little and the sight of his chest threatened another frenzy to make itself known.

“You can do anything, but try not to claim me. It is a little early in our relationship for that.” You almost choked on your own saliva and started coughing. Wei Wuxian handed you a waterskin, but you needed a solid minute, before you had enough breath to actually attempt drinking anything. 

“I’m sorry, but… relationship?” You watched Wei Wuxian through teary eyes from your coughing fit. He seemed to turn red in an instant, his face now matching the ribbon in his beautiful silk black hair. 

“Yes? I mean I thought… we always flirt? And we drink together and you sometimes feed me at dinner? We also cuddled when we were drunk? I know we never talked about it, but we are in a relationship or something… right?” You stared at him, a little dumbfounded. He did not lie; those things happened. You just took all those things for things Wei Wuxian would do with anyone.

“I didn’t think of it that way,” you immediately regretted your words as you could see Wei Wuxian’s heart breaking all over his face, “but! But! But!” He looked at you, hopeful in a way that seemed plainly desperate. “I want it to be that way! I just didn’t realise what we were, but I want to be…” There was a flare of hormones and you shuffled forward to bury your nose against Wei Wuxian’s scent gland. “I want you, even when my rut is over, but also now. Right now.” A slight shift and you noticed you were hard between your legs. 

Wei Wuxian might have noticed it too through your robes, because he was shoving at your clothes. You stood up, ripping everything off in a hurry and grabbing Wei Wuxian by his ponytail. You pulled at it until his lips were around your hard cock. You let out a moan of relief, as he immediately started sucking on the length. He resisted when you tried to get him to swallow more of you. Wei Wuxian only took the tip, but with the way he was sucking and licking, it was enough for now. You threw your head back, grunting into the air, while Wei Wuxian sucked you off. His tongue cupped the head of your cock and played with the ridge between the head and the rest of your length. The wet sounds of his mouth seemed so loud in the small space. Before he even took more of you in his mouth, you grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. Wei Wuxian took the hint and with a wet pop he pulled his mouth off your cock. You would have protested, were it not for the hand on your hard length. 

The cultivator squeezed the knot at the base of your cock, everytime his hand was at the bottom of your length. You looked down at him, seeing him with his tongue out, a smile hinting behind that lewd expression, cheeks a beautiful rosy colour that matched his spit-glistened lips. You let out a groan and kept a firm grip on his shoulder. Ropes of cum spilled from your cock. Wei Wuxian’s face, hair and robes were painted white with your seed. When he finally let go of your cock, your face heated up at the sight of him. A mixture of embarrassment and arousal swimmed inside your belly. “I’m sorry,” you whispered out of breath, but Wei Wuxian just smiled at you and started taking his soiled robes off, wiping himself off with a sleeve. When he was mostly clean off your cum, he laid himself down on the straw mat, completely naked and stretched out like a meal for you to devour. 

“Don’t apologise, I want this too,” he confessed with flushed skin and a hard omega dick twitching between his legs. You kneeled down and hoisted his legs onto your shoulders. Your tongue automatically fell from your lips at the scent of omega slick filling your nostrils. Lapping up the slick that had escaped his wet hole and trickled down his thighs, drew a gasp from Wei Wuxian’s lips. “Don’t tease me.” 

You huffed out a laugh at the annoyance in his voice. “Or else? Will the Yiling Patriarch haunt me like a ghost and eat me?” You didn’t let Wei Wuxian reply. You held him up with one hand and pushed your tongue inside, the other hand touching his cock. The omega mewled and moaned as if he was putting on a show for you. Maybe he was. When was Wei Wuxian not making a scene? “Wei Wuxian sounds so perfect,” you growled as you licked the slick off your lips. 

“If you are going to knot me until I can’t walk, at least call me Wei Ying,” the demonic cultivator huffed, his eyes ravishing your body. You smiled as you put his legs around your waist and lined your cock up with his wet hole. 

“Wei Ying is perfect.” And with those words, you slid into his heat. Wei Ying gasped as he stretched around your thick alpha cock, the slick making the slide easier, but he was not in heat. You got halfway, before the resistance became too much. “Wei Ying needs to relax,” you grunted as you rutted inside him, micromovements trying to make further entrance possible. 

“You’re too big,” he complained, hands on your arms and squeezing your biceps. You leaned down and caught his lips in a biting kiss. Soft, pink lips turned red under your onslaught. A hand made its way to his throat and he gasped deliciously against your wet lips. Wei Ying squirmed and gasped for breath as you frantically fucked his hole open until you were slipping in deeper. “So big, too big, I’m going to tear in two!” 

You would be more concerned for him, were it nog for the thick cloud of alpha hormones clouding your judgement. Instead of sounding fearful, Wei Ying’s voice fuelled the fantasy of a helpless omega at your mercy. “Pretty omegas like you can handle this,” you growled in a voice no one woud have recognised as your own. Both hands landed on Wei Ying’s hips and you sat up, so you could thrust inside him with vigour. 

Wei Ying’s voice would have been audible from miles away as he screamed mostly in pain. Coherent thoughts had long left your mind and all that was left was ‘mark’, ‘claim’, ‘fuck’, ‘knot’ and ‘breed’. Pleasure was all on your mind as you closed your eyes to fully enjoy the stretch of Wei Ying’s walls around your cock. That was until you found yourself unable to move. “No! No! No!” You growled as Wei Ying slid off your cock. He pushed you onto your knees and sat down across from you. 

“I’m sorry, alpha, but don’t worry I will not leave you like this,” he croaked out as he struggled with sitting down comfortably. His chest rose and fell in deep, but ragged breaths. You now noticed the redness around his eyes and the wetness on his cheeks. Worry paved a little clarity in the lustful fog dominating your head. 

“Cruel bastard,” you found yourself snarling back, in spite of the seed of worry Wei Ying’s image planted deep inside you. Before even the last syllable left your lips, Wei Ying had his hand tight around your cock and stroked, drawing a guttural groan from you. “That’s not enough, I need more,” you breathed out at the torture that was the grip of Wei Ying’s hand. It felt good, but his omega hole had felt so much better.

“And I need more preparation, I am not in heat,” Wei Ying huffed back as he reached behind himself. You could hear the wet squelch of him fingering himself and it drove you into a frenzy. You demanded being released, so you could once more claim your omega, but Wei Ying did not release you. He let you cum with his hand. Once he needed a better angle to shove more fingers inside, he switched his hand for his mouth, so he could support himself with one hand while he tried to shove his whole fist inside. His mouth felt better than his hand, but you already had had a taste of paradise and this was not it. 

“You’re open enough, please, I feel like I’ll die,” you whined, shortly after you covered Wei Ying in your fourth load. No matter how often you came, it would not be enough until you knotted the omega in front of you. Wei Ying seemed to take mercy on you and he turned around. Wei Ying lowered himself onto your cock. The mercy got you moaning. You could see where you entered him as he bounced on your cock, his hole gripping your length visibly. “Yes, you feel so good omega,” you moaned as he rode your fat length. “Release me and I’ll pound you so good. I will knot you and fill you with my cum and then pound you again.” Wei Ying gasped, a hand moving to his cock to stroke it. The smell of his slick as it dripped down your cock was intoxicating. 

“Gēge, you talk so indecently when you’re in a rut.” You wanted to pin him down and fuck him so bad when he called you ‘gēge’ and Wei Ying seemed to know. The glint in his eyes as he shot you a look over his shoulder was quite telling. “But I’m afraid gēge will break me if I release him. Gēge is such a strong alpha and I’m just a frail omega,” he spoke dramatically, knowing fully well he was far from a frail omega. His words would have made you cringe were it not for the fact you were in a full-on rut. The idea, the thought, the image of him being so fragile and breakable and at your mercy suddenly got something flowing in you. The feeling was unfamiliar, as was the strength it brought. 

You had no mind to think about it, but enough instinct to use it. With this new-found energy, you broke yourself free from whatever was holding you in place and grabbed Wei Ying by the back of his neck. A hard shove and Wei Ying was face down, ass up on the ground with your cock plunging into his wet hole. “Maybe they are right, the Yiling Patriarch is cruel,” you drew a loud moan from the man below you with a hard thrust, “and evil.” 

Wei Ying did not move from where you had him. Instead, he took your punishing pace with the prettiest moans you ever had the honour of hearing. His voice filled the tent with a symphony of pleasure, which only grew louder when you pressed inside and your knot slipped in. Wei Ying screamed in pleasure and pain as you slotted the two of you together and filled him up with your hot seed. 

Still, it was not enough. He was beautiful, had the most breedable body you ever laid eyes upon. How could it be enough to only fill his slick hole once?You only stilled for a minute inside of him, before you pulled out until the knot pulled painfully at the inside of his rim. Then, you pushed back inside, as deep as you could go. Wei Ying whined as you fucked him like that, the knot dragging against his walls and drawing out the melody of pain mixed with pleasure. He moaned and screamed about how he was stretched to the limit, but there was no urgency in his voice this time. 

Everything was a blur from there. Somewhere between rutting inside him and fucking him with your knot, Wei Ying had gone near-silent. His ass had become so open that your knot no longer served its purpose of keeping you inside as you spilled your seed. You didn’t know how many rounds you went, how often you filled the Yiling Patriarch with your load or how often the omega came himself. In one final mind-blurring explosion of pleasure, you passed out. Whether it was on top of him or if you managed to fall beside him was out of your control. 

When you woke up, however, you found Wei Ying on top of you. The smell of sex still hung heavy in the air, mixed with pheromones, both alpha and omega. A groan left your dry throat as you lifted your head to take a look at the man to whom you were indebted with your life, twice. He looked like he was not going to wake up for another 100 years. You tried to brush the hair out of his face, but your fingers got tangled in the silk black strands. Guilt filled your heart at the sight of bruises on his hips and sides. A respectful look down revealed there was still cum dripping out of his hole. 

You untangled yourself from him. It took you a good hour to get Wei Ying cleaned up and placed on a clean towel; the straw mat was completely ruined. You had him on his side, still sleeping peacefully, while you tried to comb the tangles carefully out of his hair. You were almost done when you noticed him stir. “Wei Ying?” You called out softly, hand shooting for the waterskin. You held it to his lips. “Don’t move; drink first.” To your surprise, he obeyed. He tried to sit up, but winced. You took the hint and helped him sit on your lap, the gap between your legs perfect for his ass to rest between with no pressure on it. “I’m sorry. I lost control.” 

Wei Ying blinked at you and then reached for the jar of wine in the corner. You chuckled and handed it to him, still cradling him close. He took a few gulps, before speaking up. “I thought I would die,” he pouted in a somewhat playful way that gave you conflicted emotions about his words. “Gēge, you were such a monster. Next time, I will use a stronger talisman to keep you down.”

You inhaled sharply. ‘Next time’, he had said. You licked your dry lips and nodded, agreeing with him. A signature smile painted the omegas lips, before he snuggled closer to you. “Gege is adorable when he is worried about me. I’ll be fine, I swear. Just don’t make me do anything for a few days.” You let out an empty laugh, relieved and still worried. Another nod as you put a hand on his head, holding it close to your shoulder. You twisted your head, placing a kiss upon Wei Ying’s temple. He hummed happily and closed his eyes. 

“Wei Ying! You need to eat before you go back to sleep!” 

[jadedbirch]

The more I watch other things, the more I come back to The Untamed and how it's just generally Superior. Is it perfect? Nope. Do I love it with every fiber of my gay heart? Oh heck yeah. I really wanted to hurt myself again the other day, so I watched Wei Ying's death scene, both versions of it, back to back, for peak pain and Romance. And honestly, I blew my own mind. 

In the Grand Opera of The Untamed, Wei Ying's death is a leitmotif. In fact, it uses a leitmotif - Lin Hai’s Death Theme music “Ye Ben” - which swells into being at different points during the two times we are blessed to watch this scene.  (As an aside, I was so fascinated by this piece of music, that I decided to hurt myself even more by watching EVERYONE’s death scene, just so I could confirm that we also hear Ye Ben when the Jiangs, Wen Ning, and Shijie die.  Jin Zixuan is special and got his own, very haunting, death music.)

Wei Ying's death scene is climactic and transformational, presented to us in bookended repetition, but each time from a different perspective. 

When I first saw the scene in episode 1, I was mistakenly thinking it was all an outsider's perspective. The way Wei Wuxian is shot (from the side, from the back, close up of just his fist, cast in darkness), had originally fooled me. It's only now that I realize that we're actually inside Wei Wuxian's mind, which at the moment is also somewhat outside his body. Lan Wangji is a disembodied arm, a trickle of blood that paints over Wei Wuxian as he is suspended from the precipice. It's dark, lurid, and evokes the imagery of guilt.

Jiang Cheng's features are contorted in rage and hatred as he strikes out. Wei Wuxian falls, and once again we're removed from it, distanced, it isn't personal. We watch Jiang Cheng saunter away, seemingly without a care and looking complacent, before we are left in the darkness, with Lan Wangji looking down from the cliff, as Wei Wuxian falls. 

When we return to this moment in episode 33, everything has changed, including our perspective. We now get to watch Wei Ying’s final moments through Lan Zhan's eyes. His and our attention is so focused on Wei Ying, he barely notices his own wound. The light changes, and now Wei Ying is lit almost with a halo as he steps towards the edge of the cliff. He is Lan Zhan's light and that light is receding - Lan Zhan must follow it. "Wei Ying, come back." (I don't need to tell you how many tears I've shed over that line alone, I'm owed restitution!)

We now get to experience the full frontal Wang Yibo, which is honestly A LOT on any day, but in that scene, really he does everything he can with his face and so much more. #Acting. It's murderous. He's terrified, he's agonized, I actually BELIEVE he can fly. When Lan Zhan catches Wei Ying, his body slamming into that cliffside, I feel physical pain.

Even though the focus is now on Lan Zhan's face instead of his bloody arm dripping over Wei Ying, or perhaps because of it, we can feel the full weight of his anguish. He's holding Wei Ying with his hurt arm, and he's GOT him, he's NOT going to let go, even as Wei Ying begs him to.  For a moment, his hair fans out and he’s illuminated with a semi-divine glow, allowing us to catch Wei Ying’s perspective again, if only for a moment.

(Listen, it's been a million years and I'm NOT okay)

One of my favorite (i.e. masochistic) bits of rewatching these scenes is Jiang Cheng. He seems so righteous, so sure of his rage in episode 1, but as he approaches the cliff in episode 33, we see he's just a grieving boy. 

We see his trembling arm and his broken heart. We see the joy and resignation in Wei Wuxian's face as he hopes that his shidi will release him. It's a stark contrast to the blank look of episode 1. (Don't get me started on Xiao Zhan and how his face is illegal in 6 countries. I mean, who looks this good covered in blood and tears?)

Of course, as much as Jiang Cheng at this moment hates Wei Wuxian, he also loves him. Or he wouldn't hate him so much if the love wasn't there. He strikes, and lodges the sword in the side of that fateful cliff. Which, of course, allows Wei Wuxian the opportunity to do what any foolish romantic would do in his place - sacrifice himself before the entire thing comes tumbling down, taking the two idiots he loves with him. We focus on Wei Wuxian falling, eyes closing.  The final thing he sees is the two last men in the world he might have cared for, alive and safe, even if he believes they hate him. His lips fold into a Mona Lisa smile.

Thinking back to episode 1 and how detached Wei Wuxian is from his own experience, and knowing the canonical dumbass that he is (I love that dumbass to death, don't get me wrong), his actions are instinctual and he doesn't give them much thought. I think that actually makes it even more romantic. His death at that moment is a protective instinct, an involuntary bodily function, it's like breathing. It's all the more cruel and operatic an image to leave Lan Wangji with as he falls, because Lan Wangji understands exactly what happened (and will not forget or forgive for the next 16 angsty years) even if Wei Wuxian doesn't.

It's exquisite and fucked up of them to leave us with the same overhead shot from episode 1 again, only this time with the wistful voiceover of "Wei Ying…" which shatters me as the last notes of Ye Ben fade out.

GOD, I love this show, it knows how to come right for my gay life! It hurts so good! There are other shows out there that do great romance with similar tropes, but I don't know, The Untamed just hits different ❤️.

(Eternal gratitude to @significanceofmoths​ for helping to illustrate my pain. Please check out her blog.)

[agendratum]

parties ruined by wei wuxian: ranked

(spoilers ahead!)

1. lantern ceremony (that counts as a party)

what was damaged:

- nie huaisang’s expensive lantern - jin zixuan’s pretty face - everybody’s mood

pros:

- ruined lantern was kind of lan wangji’s fault - ruined pretty face was kind of jin zixuan’s fault - resulted into a called off engagement (which was a good decision in the moment) - the party itself actually wasn’t ruined, the fight happened after it ended

cons:

- jiang yanli was sad - mianmian was disappointed - the whole thing with wei wuxian getting mad at jin zixuan and attacking him and jiang yanli and mianmian getting in between them kind of became a pattern that culminated into a very unfortunate event, but we don’t have to worry about that right now

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

0/10 that was an actually good party!

and the fact that it got slightly ruined by the end isn’t even really wei wuxian’s fault! good job!

2. we shot down the sun banquet

what was damaged:

- lan wangji’s mood - jin guangshan’s smugness - jiang cheng’s self-esteem

pros:

- actually it’s impossible to ruin a party for lan wangji because being at a party is already a ruined party for him - wei wuxian tried really hard not to ruin that party by drinking outside alone like an emo he is - jiang yanli got to voice her opinion on her own life, which isn’t something that happened a lot - fuck you, jin guangshan

cons:

- why do you have to be so rude to lan wangji, wei wuxian, please (i know why, but still) - everyone’s idea of wei wuxian being an arrogant, cocky boy who didn’t respect his sect leader was being solidified (that definitely wasn’t going to backfire later)

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

2/10 jin guangshan got fucked, so that’s a good enough party for me

also most of the people there were feeling pretty uncomfortable even without wei wuxian interfering, so does it really count

3. wen ning is back party

what was damaged:

- wei wuxian’s health - wen qing’s peace

pros:

- wen qing actually noticed wei wuxian’s problem with alcohol - for a moment it seemed like wei wuxian was too drunk to be depressed

cons:

- wei wuxian could never be too drunk to be depressed - wei wuxian was probably depressed - and slowly killing his health - and wen qing knew she couldn’t do much about it - but she was determined to try her best to help wei wuxian even if it killed her (oops)

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

3/10 it’s that type of a party that’s pretty nice in general, but then later you’re the only sober person left, and your friend that got too drunk starts crying and talking about all the terrible things happening in their life, but you can’t really do much about it, so you just hope that they will fall asleep soon enough and you’ll get a chance to finish cleaning in peace

so like… just a normal party

4. nie huaisang’s banquet

what was damaged:

- wei wuxian’s reputation - nie huaisang’s plans for the evening

pros:

- it prompted both jiang yanli and jiang cheng to try to talk with wei wuxian about whatever the hell was going on with him

cons:

- he’s a stubborn idiot so he kind of lied to their faces instead of talking about his problems - old sect leaders got opportunity to gossip about him - jin zixun got opportunity to be an asshole - nie huaisang didn’t get opportunity to hang out with his friend

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

4/10 that was lame as hell but not a total disaster

on nie huaisang’s scale tho it’s probably at least 8/10

5. post phoenix mountain hunt banquet

what was damaged:

- jin zixun’s smugness - a table - jiang cheng’s self-esteem (again) - everybody’s mood (again) - jin sect’s reputation (if only)

pros:

- jin sect was rightfully called out on their bullshit - everyone forgot the terrible time they were having before wei wuxian arrived and only remembered the terrible time they started having after he arrived - lan wangji got to enjoy his 10 seconds of thirst before everything went to shit

cons:

- most of the people there didn’t really notice jin sect being rightfully called out - they did notice wei wuxian threatening to murder people and black smoke coming from his flute - wei wuxian ruining jin guangyao’s parties kind of became a pattern and that wasn’t making jin guangyao any happier or less murderous

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

6/10 a disaster for sure, but at least no one died, right?

6. discussion conference at jinlin tai

what was damaged:

- qin su (in more ways than one) - jin guangyao’s peace - jin ling’s psyche - wei wuxian himself

pros:

- what happened to qin su can’t really be blamed on wei wuxian, but really we will never know - the truth came out - wei wuxian and lan wangji got to have an extremely romantic moment to everyone’s annoyance

cons:

- qin su fucking died - the truth only came out to wei wuxian and lan wangji - wei wuxian got stabbed by his own nephew, who thought that he was responsible for his parents’ death - jin ling was having a really bad time - jin guangyao basically didn’t have anything to lose anymore (that definitely wasn’t going to backfire later) - the whole cultivation world found out wei wuxian was back and they all wanted him to be dead again

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

8/10 only one murder happened! and not even because of wei wuxian (probably). but now someone had to pay for jin ling’s therapy

at least everything was going more or less accordingly to nie huaisang’s plan (let’s pretend he had one)

7. jin ling’s one-month celebration

what was damaged:

- jin zixuan - jin zixun - lan sect juniors - many sects' disciples - wei wuxian’s already not so bright future - wen ning’s already not so bright future

pros:

- technically didn’t ruin that party, as he didn’t even get to that party - didn't actually commit (some of) the murders himself, was set up

cons:

- nobody cared - many people died - his sister’s husband died - everything was kind of falling apart - that was the bad place

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

10/10 a double murder!

with an added bonus of a bunch of other murders. what fun!

bonus!

8. afterparty in nightless city

what was damaged:

- many cultivators - jiang yanli - wei wuxian - jiang cheng (in more ways than one) - lan wangji (in more ways than one)

pros:

- not all of the cultivators there were hurt or killed by wei wuxian (good!) - most of the people there were happy that wei wuxian died (good?..)

cons:

- people fucking died - some of the people there were extremely not happy that wei wuxian died - jiang cheng was left alone with a child on his hands - lan wangji was left alone with a child on his hands - you would think having so much in common after that they would at least have something to talk about - wrong, they haven’t talked to each other in 16 years

on a scale from an actually good party to a double murder:

100/10 when the only word that you can describe your party with is a “massacre”, that’s a bad sign