#cuz lwj is there twice lol

[harocat]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEI YING

From Kaze x MDZS donghua WEIBO

[razberryyum]

Why I love the Phoenix Mountain Hunt: an essay

(with novel spoilers)

Ok, firstly, the beautiful WangXian elephant in the room: I honestly never expected us to get the blindfolded kiss scene or anything close to that, though I was hoping for at least a mild hint at it involving Wei Wuxian being blindfolded and Lan Wangji at least somewhere nearby before they fade to black or cut- away, but I think what they gave us instead was just as awesome since it completely captured the spirit of the stolen kiss. For me at least, that blindfold scene was essentially LWJ being so overwhelmed by his feelings for WWX that he actually broke probably every moral code he’s lived by to uncharacteristically act upon his urges, pretty much taking advantage of WWX in his self-imposed vulnerable condition (although, how WWX could ever mistaken LWJ for being a female cultivationist, even if she’s especially arduous and STRONG, is beyond me…I mean, who has he SEEN at the hunt that would even fit that bill??? I probably could write a whole other essay just to figure this one out). With the “confession” scene we got instead, it feels like we basically got everything we wanted from the blindfolded kiss scene except without the actually kiss…which is pretty damn fine, all things considered. LWJ still was so overwhelmed by his feelings for WWX that he uncharacteristically almost demanded of WWX what his status in his life is and then pretty much eagerly pledged his continued devotion to him. To make things better, WWX was the one who came up with the word 知己 (more on that later) to describe how he felt about LWJ…which is actually a step up from how it was in the novel, where WWX, although aware of LWJ’s existence all of the time, mostly seemed to just enjoy teasing him for his own amusement. They definitely weren’t at the point where WWX would refer to him as a soulmate for life (and my God does it take a while to even get to anywhere near that point…not complaining but just…all the mostly one-sided pining on LWJ’s part in the novel hurt me).

I actually loved how the confession scene began with WWX immediately happy from seeing LWJ passing by and instinctively wanting to call out to him, only stopping himself because he remembered the talk he and big bro Lan Xichen had…which was not in the novel, completely original to the drama. I loved that change since that talk the two future bro-in-laws had just made me love LXC even more and also informed us further of just how much LXC is aware of his little bro’s feelings for WWX. But then LWJ was finally the one to spot WWX first and as he heads towards him, WWX has just the most heart-meltingly soft expression:

Like he’s so relieved and just happy that LWJ realized he’s there on his own so now they can finally converse. And then of course the conversation they have…so meaningful.

Now, tbh, for most of my life I thought the word 知己 actually just meant “dearest friend”, which would’ve been good enough already considering they can’t straight out say anything more intimate than that, but then upon finding out that the word can also mean “soulmate”, I was of course overjoyed. And considering the emotions involved in that scene and the way the two wonderful actors played it, along with the beautiful WangXian score coming in and their lingering looks, I don’t doubt that both LWJ and WWX did mean “soulmate”, especially considering how more developed their relationship was already by that point, thanks to the changes in the live action.

What I also love about the Phoenix Mt Hunt in terms of WangXian is just how WWX-focused LWJ was. It’s like he couldn’t take his eyes off of WWX the majority of the time, and he was constantly concerned for him. Other than the cute ribbon exchange at the beginning and the aforementioned conversation scene, my other favorite WangXian moment between them was when LWJ held WWX back while they were in hiding behind the tree, eavesdropping on Shijie and Jin Zixuan:

…because of the expression on LWJ’s face. It’s obvious he sees through Jin Zixuan’s facade, that the Jin dork is actually already crushing on Shijie, hence LWJ’s almost smile in that moment while trying to pull WWX back from ruining the two future lovebird’s alone time…

It felt like the reason LWJ understood JZX’s feelings was because he too was trying to hide his true feelings from the one he is enamored with.

And then of course there’s all the physical contact between WWX and LWJ…

Another reason I love the Phoenix Mt Hunt is because of Shijie, Jiang Yanli. I don’t post much about anyone else other than WangXian because Tumblr freaks out on me when I post about something more than once or twice a day so I have to pick and choose my loves, but I pretty much loved Shijie the moment she appeared in the live action. They could not have chosen a sweeter, more loving looking person to play her. I was already a fan of her character right from the get-go, but when she stood up for her little bro, WWX and her sect, I just about burst out crying cuz I was so damn proud of her. I wanted to reach into the screen and just hug her so much. She was simply amazing in that scene, the actress and the character, and I felt like we saw some of Madame Yu in her.

I’m still not very convinced that JZX deserves her, cuz he’s still kinda a dick to WWX, but if that’s the man she wants, who am I to deprive her of anything. Give her the world, please, cuz Shijie deserves it.

Oh and this moment, I really appreciated as well:

That look of utter fear on WWX’s face…which I feel wasn’t just due to the fact that he was worried for his Shijie’s safety, but because he knew there was no way he could protect her due to his condition. Bless LWJ again of course for coming to his rescue…which actually makes me wonder why he hasn’t said anything to WWX about his golden core considering it’s pretty obvious he knows something’s up. It’s actually still driving me a little crazy that LWJ continues to keep that to himself even though he clearly knows or is at least suspicious enough that he’s constantly coming to WWX’s rescue…during the Sunshot Campaign and now even at the hunt.

I also love of course how LWJ seems to be in constant fear that WWX would just lose it completely and then do something irreversible…which, of course we know that he eventually will, sadly, but my heart just ached on behalf of LWJ and the non-stop concern he must’ve been feeling for WWX like 24/7. I mean, leading up to the hunt, we know he was breaking sect rules to look up ways to help WWX, while WWX on the other hand got to enjoy life in Lotus Pier. All of it just makes LWJ’s words to his big bro, where he talks about wanting to just hide WWX away, that much more heart-breaking. It was already poignant in the novel knowing that he would even want to do something like that (after what happened with his parents) just to keep WWX safe, but somehow it felt worse in the live action because of all the build up to that moment, where we see how almost desperate he is to keep WWX on the right path and safe.

Lastly (omg, this thing is already 3 pages long), what I also appreciated about the Phoenix Mt Hunt is the stuff that happens to Jin Guangyao. First off, against my better judgment, every time he pops up with LXC, I can’t help but smile cuz it IS so damn cute how the two of them are like always attached at the hip…they just appeared together here…like, I guess they just ditched their crabby older bro to wander off together?…lol. 

And then, when you see just how shitty Madame Jin and even that ass-weasel Jin Zixun treats JGY despite the fact that he’s basically helping them run their freaking sect now, really makes a good case for why he doesn’t feel any love for his so-called family, even before we find out his history. Not that that justifies what he does, especially considering how much he hurts those we do love, but we can see the Jins really don’t make a good case for themselves. Not to mention, at the start of the hunt, with how they use the probably innocent Wen members for archery targets, the line between the Jins and the Wens became really blurred, despite the Lanling Jin’s more angelic looking outfits. Again, I don’t get a chance to talk about this enough, but part of the reason I love Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed is that surrounding the beautiful love story between WWX and LWJ there is a legit fascinating story about the world of cultivation, the sects and families within it, which is populated by characters that are just as interesting and dynamic as our two protagonists. I think the Phoenix Mt Hunt really highlights this fact by giving us a glimpse into all these different aspects of the two main stories at play in one event…and not to mention, WWX just looked cool AF doing all that stuff with a blindfold on…which is why I love the hunt so much.

Thank you for reading my thesis. I will continue to work hard to earn my doctorate degree in MDZS/The Untamed.

[coquelicoq]

the untamed ep 25, aka: SHE!!!! (jie)

HOO BOY! WOAH NELLY! HOT DIGGETY DAMN!!!

shijie. DID. THAT!!!!

i cannot handle this. i cannot. this entire post might as well be a keysmash, but i shall do my best.

okay this episode is iconic??? like 10% of all the most-giffed scenes are from this episode, wt actual f??

wwx and his flashy archery!

wwx asks for lwj’s forehead ribbon to wrap around his eyes even though he has a perfectly serviceable blindfold around his own arm! ya fuckin dingus!!!

(did anybody else get “knight at a jousting tournament asking for a token” vibes from this or was it just me lol)

jiang cheng is proud of his brother! (jc watching wwx do archery all impressed and proud is my favorite thing in heaven and earth and i’m so glad it happened twice, i don’t deserve this happiness)

wwx looks to shijie and lwj for approval & gives them that happy lil nod!!

good GOD the “what am i to you” scene??

the pauses? the music? wwx looking down demurely??? what the everloving fuck??

then they just stare at each other? for MANY MOMENTS?! god these two are so intense

then the WRIST GRAB and the slomo hiding?? i already knew the dialogue from gifsets but absolutely nothing prepared me for the finished product. nothing!!

FUCK YEAH SHIJIE!!!!!!

i was literally clutching both my hands over my heart for the entirety of the shijie scenes

she’s the only one who can calm wwx down! she stands up for him again and again! PROTECTIVE BIG SISTER FEELS!!!!

she apologizes to jin zixun in a very correct and polite way and then is like OH TOO BAD MY BROTHER IS BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERY POSSIBLE REGARD YOU PIECE OF SHIT except like diplomatically because she is in fact above all of this bullshit and can control herself unlike everyone else lol. UH?? SHIJIE FOR PRESIDENT????

she refers to wwx as her didi so many times i almost cried you guys

i don’t care about jin zixuan at all cuz he just seems like a total asshole, but i do care about the look on lxc’s face as jzx confesses and then runs away. PRICELESS

wen qing is back! wen qing and wei wuxian bros 4 lyfe!!!

and just when you think you’ve seen all there is to see and this episode could not possibly have any more wild moments to throw at you in the remaining one minute of airtime, lwj hits you with “i want to bring someone back to the cloud recesses”?

“bring him back, and hide him”??

what, from the bottom of my heart, the fuck????

i had planned to exercise some restraint and go do something else with the dregs of my sunday but there was absolutely no way to stop after that. holy shitsnacks you guys i am REALLY in it now. please send help and smelling salts:

c/o Shijie For President

1234 Im Love Her Boulevard

My Hero City, I’d Die For You State

if you don’t hear from me for the next 100 years, assume it’s because i fell into an enchanted sleep in order to avoid the intensity of my feelings about everything that just happened and i’ll be in a coma until jiang yanli somehow becomes real and gives me a true love’s kiss, okay toodles