#i was ONLY spared a little because i KNOW xiaoge lives

[mejomonster]

(7) okay i love wu xie immediately noticing that xiaoge is gone and going back to look for him. Its such a nice contrast to when they were separated in tlt1 and he didnt notice until even a minute or two after theyd gone to the top, he inquired about it, and everyone said not to worry about it. Like now instead of just being like "yeah he can take care of himself" hes WORRIED and going to look for him!!!

wu xie’s growth/change ALREADY is just. so apparent. which is part of why i absolutely love this sequence of scenes.

wu xie clearly has realized in the lapsed time between seeing xiaoge that: xiaoge CAN take care of himself but shouldn’t have to, that people put pressure on xiaoge that’s unrealistic and unfair, that xiaoge might actually die one day and ppl treating him like a ‘god’ doesn’t help him, that wu xie doesn’t want to worry if he’s alive or dead ever again, that wu xie CARES if he is, that wu xie doesn’t think xiaoge should go through that kind of suffering and danger and fear alone and wu xie is willing to go through it too just so xiaoge won’t bear it alone, that wu xie is ok dying if it means xiaoge doesn’t have to suffer or be left alone. 

like this wu xie has shown a lot of growth since the last time this happened, and also just how much he already cares. 1 just about innocents in real danger - and he very much considers immortals innocents too, even if other people are afraid and consider them monsters even. and 2 - that xiaoge even as a professional/god is WORTH worrying about and dying to protect, something i dont think anyone else has ever viewed xiaoge like. 

it absolutely tore my heart out. when i realized wu xie was going to lose him again. not know if he was dead again. not have any way to find him again. 

when wu xie ran into the sea, ready to DROWN just to try and make sure he didn’t lose xiaoge, try to help in vain. how pangzi was so sympathetic and just trying to calm wu xie down and keep him alive, knowing wu xie is too panicked to realize its impractical and impossible to help. wu xie CANT help xiaoge - he’ll literally die, he’s literally too weak. and wu xie was also too weak to stop xiaoge from doing this alone, and not quick enough to plan any alternative. and pangzi knows this, and tries to keep wu xie alive through it until he can accept it. 

wu xie running into the sea, so fucking worried, and then pangzi has to try and get sense into him - but he says what EVERYONE says about xiaoge ‘oh he’ll be fine, he’s like a god’ and wu xie HATES it because that’s part of why he’s so terrified. because wu xie sees xiaoge as a PERSON and a person who can DIE and be in PAIN and no one else seems to be caring about it! even xiaoge won’t seem to prioritize it, seeing how xiaoge just did that and sacrified himself. and wu xie just feels so lost and unable to do anything meaningfully helpful. 

and then wu xie tries to go again, and again, into the water. because he cannot fathom a world where he has to lose xiaoge again. where he’s expected to stop caring about him, even for a while - where he’s supposed to ‘just somehow assume xiaoge’s fine like everyone else does.’ because wu xie IS scared xiaoge can die, is scared he can lose xiaoge, and those very real possibilities are absolutely devouring him.

the entire sequence i was. aaaaaaahhhh

[januaryisnotanartist]

Consent Card

Liu Sang has a question to ask Wu Xie, an important request to make before it might ever actually matter.

Ships: KanSang (background/established), Wu Xie/Liu Sang (future/theoretical)

Genre: light whump, tragic backstory (Worship False Idols backstory), pre-sex pollen?, consent is the sexiest of all things

Warnings: Discussions of non-consensual sex, mentions of past non-consensual sex, discussions of Sex Pollen induced Dub-Con sex-or-die, coarse language.

Word Count: 1,327

-

Wu Xie was alone in a nice, sunny room of the Wushanju, he'd been spending the morning translating some old texts that had found their way to his shop. He was just thinking about taking a break when a light knock sounded at the door of the room.

Looking up, Wu Xie smiled. Liu Sang gave him a little wave in response and waited until Wu Xie gestured for him to enter before he actually stepped into the room.

“Liu Sang,” Wu Xie put his pen down and pushed his work away a little, giving the strangely nervous looking Liu Sang his full attention.

“Wu Xie,” Liu Sang greeted him, hands fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket. “Is now a bad time?”

“No, I was just about to take a break anyway, is everything okay?”

Liu Sang shrugged, and his mouth opened and closed slightly several times like he was choosing and discarding things to say. He shifted his weight repeatedly, and Wu Xie held up a hand in a 'wait a second' gesture. Wu Xie left his chair for a few seconds to drag a spare stool over for Liu Sang to sit on.

When they were both sitting, Wu Xie asked, “is it that hard to say?”

“Would you have sex with me?” Horror filled Liu Sang's face before Wu Xie could even register what had been said, and the younger man held up his hands even as he drew back into himself with a loud “No!” His face was scrunched like he was preparing to be hit, or to cry.

“I...” Wu Xie wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he waited for Liu Sang to explain himself.

Liu Sang slowly calmed down from his state of horror, though he was looking anywhere but Wu Xie.

After a long few moments, Liu Sang pushed his glasses more firmly back up his nose, his face flushed with embarrassed red. He mumbled “I should have brought Kan Jian for this conversation,” and Wu Xie couldn't help himself.

“Is this about a threesome?”

The abject horror and disgust on Liu Sang's face cleared that question up very quickly.

Liu Sang tugged at his jacket, fishing frantically through the pockets until he pulled out a card wallet. He opened it and flipped through the cards with shaking fingers, finally drawing out a thin white card and shoving it at Wu Xie, his face somehow even redder than before.

Wu Xie felt a headache starting from how hard his eyebrows were furrowed, because it looked like Liu Sang was one 'boo' away from crying, and Liu Sang wasn’t the type to cry easily.

He looked down at the card he'd been handed.

In the instance of being psychologically impaired by substances, if my life can only be saved by the act of Sexual Intercourse, I, Liu Sang, give prior and previously agreed upon consent for the act to ONLY the following people:

1) Kan Jian

Wu Xie's eyebrows unfurrowed and made for his hairline. “So...”

“I don't know if Pangzi was joking about the sex pollen the other night, but Kan Jian and I were talking,” Liu Sang started speaking quickly, like he was scared he'd lose the words if he didn't get them out in time. “There's a lot of weird shit that goes on in, and comes out of, tombs, and since meeting you I've seen some things I would have said couldn't have existed, so we thought, if it is real, what would happen if one of us were affected by it.”

Wu Xie did his best to keep up as Liu Sang spoke, the younger man's hands fiddling with the card wallet with almost manic energy.

“So you two decided that just in case, you'd get mutually informed consent for emergency life saving sex?”

Liu Sang nodded, “yes, because it's important. It's one thing to say 'these are the people I'd let fuck me rather than die,' but what if you aren't comfortable having sex with me? Because the whole 'the victim will die otherwise' removes your ability to consent properly, any consent given under those circumstances would be... suspect at best, it's under duress.”

Wu Xie hummed lightly as he considered it, looking over Liu Sang's anxious form.

“Are you sure you'd be okay with me having life saving sex with you? You didn't want to ask Xiaoge first?” Wu Xie regretted his attempt at teasing as Liu Sang flinched again, looking for a few too many seconds like he wanted to vomit.

“I...” Liu Sang was back to looking like he was about to cry, and Wu Xie felt like an asshole.

“I'm sorry, that was inappropriate, I just... I know you like Xiaoge a lot, and I know he'd give consent for you, so I'm wondering why it looks like I'm the second person you've asked.”

“Because you are.” Liu Sang's breath was shaky, but after a long pause he continued.

“I don't know how many of the rumours you've heard about me, but most of them... have some truth to them. When I was very young, Ouxiang saved me from some bad people. It... it wasn't the purpose of him being there, just a side effect, but he's... the idea of him in my head is very... the opposite of sex.”

Wu Xie felt like he wanted to be sick as the implications sunk in.

“I... don't feel super comfortable with the idea of sex, I mean, I like it with Kan Jian, and I like that he doesn't assume that me saying yes once means he always has permission, I had a boyfriend before Kan Jian and he... he didn't feel like he needed to ask, or that he needed to respect when I said no...”

Wu Xie made a mental note to find out the ex-boyfriend’s name and if he was still alive.

He used Liu Sang's pause to ask, “so who's after me on the list of people to ask?”

“No one,” Liu Sang replied, “for me, right now, it's Kan Jian, and maybe you, and then I'd rather just die.”

Wu Xie felt both honoured and horrified by the responsibility and trust being handed to him. 

“Liu Sang, if it comes down to it, I consent to live saving sex with you to save your life.”

Liu Sang let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, and Wu Xie was alarmed to realise just how tense and wound up Liu Sang had gotten.

“Thank you,” Liu Sang held out one hand, still slightly trembling, and it took a second for Wu Xie to remember he was still holding Liu Sang's consent card and hand it back. As the card was put back in the wallet, Wu Xie's brain snagged on part of their conversation.

“Hang on, when you say you 'like it with Kan Jian' and ‘boyfriend before Kan Jian’ ...”

Liu Sang looked at Wu Xie, his face slipping into an expression that made it clear he thought Wu Xie was some kind of dumbass.

“Kan Jian and I have been dating for ages now, our one year anniversary is literally two month away.”

“Why didn't I know about this?” Wu Xie felt affronted, how could they not have told him.

Liu Sang rolled his eyes and stood, dragging his stool back to it's previous place, “you've seen us hanging off each other, we are constantly clingy, what part of that was confusing for you? And yes, Kan Jian and I also spoke about who other than each other we'd give...” Liu Sang wrinkled his nose in distaste, “'live saving sex' consent to.”

Wu Xie watched as Liu Sang left, another little wave in place of a verbal 'goodbye'.

Did everyone else know those two had been dating? Wu Xie had to call Pangzi.

[merinnan]

DMBJ Ep 6

I’ve been a bit behind putting these up on Tumblr, so I’m afraid you’re about to get a dump of the remainder of Season 1, plus the first two eps of Explore with the Note! (not all in one post, of course - 1 ep per post as usual)

So! Episode 6!

The Xiaoge Rescue Count at the start of ep 6 stands at 9 for Wu Xie, 12 for the protagonists, 13 for everyone.

- And we start back with Chengcheng and High Jr. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS SUBPLOT, MAKE IT GO AWAY AND BRING BACK XIAOGE AND WU XIE. 

- Why is Chengcheng calling her kidnapper dage? I don't like her or trust her. She is annoying and shady

- Oh, good, now we are back to Wu Xie being a good boy 

- That is a lot of guns and explosives Sanshu has recovered

- I am annoyed at how they all seem to think that A-Ning needs to be shielded from everything unpleasant because she's a girl. She's a goddamn mercenary leader. I think she can take knowing these things - and it's better to let her know as it's found out so that she can adjust to the news properly, instead of springing it on her when it can't be concealed anymore, like what happened when the blood zombie showed up.

- On a completely different tangent, Wu Xie's neck dressing has stayed astonishingly clear for running around in a tomb, crawling through tight tunnels, falling off of ledges and being dramatically rescued, fighting bugs, and fainting all over floors.

- Wu Xie is so sweetly optimistic 

 - LOL, sure Pangzi, you're here for archeological study 

- ....Wu Xie, you are disturbingly knowledgeable about guns for a college student

- Now that I've read the first novel between having watched ep 5 and now, my mind is slightly reeling from how innocent and babie drama Wu Xie is compared to novel Wu Xie 

- Awww. Doesn't matter which Wu Xie it is, babie with gun always looks kinda adorable.

- Also, I appreciate Wu Xie's trigger discipline. So often shows have such terrible trigger discipline. 

- Oooh, it's like a carved thing on the dais that got his attention. I thought it was like a computer drive or something at first, because it looked kinda like that.

- OH NO, THE LIVING VINES ARE HERE AND SNEAKING UP ON THEM 

- ...and pushing the button made them retreat 

- ...phew? 

- I am still concerned 

- The music signifies that something creepy is coming 

- lol, babie. Looking so innocent even though He Knows What He Did

- I don't know what that sound is, but that's not a good sound 

- ...earthquake? That's a bad thing to happen when you're in the middle of an evil cave. 

- WU FAMILY, WHY ARE YOU THE ONLY ONES TRYING TO STAY ON YOUR FEET WITHOUT HOLDING ONTO ANYTHING?! 

- So fucking stubborn

- This is where Wu Xie gets it from, if Erbai is wondering 

- A-Ning is the smartest one, staying sitting down 

- The tree opens up like a fucking security vault and ejects a coffin. Because of course if fucking does. 

- Oooh, yeah, that's that shot from the opening credits 

- "I can't read any of this, but it says this is the guy we're looking for" 

- "His story recorded here is the same as what we know" WU XIE YOU JUST SAID YOU CAN'T READ IT

- Come on. Earlier in the show you said "yes I can read this" and read it. And in the novel, you puzzle it out from being able to read bits. This part, you flat out said he couldn't read it, and now are telling everyone what it says 

 - I love continuity, but dramas really don't

- The music now is similar enough to the Harry Potter music that I almost expect an owl to go flying past 

- The owner of a coffin wanting the coffin to be opened hundreds or thousands of years later seems like it should be something more worrying than how everyone is reacting

- I wanna know how Sanshu knows the coffin has been there for 3000 years. Wu Xie can't read the dates on it, and the Warring States Period was 1500 years ago, not 3000 

- JESUS CHRIST, SANSHU, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SENSIBLE ONE!

- Why are you suggesting you open the chained shut coffin in order to see if there's somehow something alive (or alive-ish) in there? 

- Awwww! Wu Xie going "no, don't do that, Pokerface told us not to touch anything"

- Like. Not, "no uncle, that seems like a bad idea" 

- But "Xiaoge told us not to, and we should do what he says" 

- I have the feeling that if this Pangzi is agreeing with something, then you all should not be doing that thing. Because this version of Pangzi is an idiot

- HOW THE FUCK IS THE MOVING COFFIN GOING TO SECRETLY HAVE THE EXIT INSIDE IT, PANGZI 

- THAT MAKES THE LEAST SENSE OUT OF EVERYTHING SO FAR 

- Pan Zi's "WTF do you think you're doing" look

- This Pangzi is so bad 

- I even like Chengcheng better than him. And I wish they had taken her into the tomb and used her as bait. 

- I'm glad he's better in other adaptations. Like, I love the Pangzi in Chongqi. I am so glad that he was my intro to Pangzi, not this one

- DON'T MAKE THE BABIE SAD BY BEING DUMB

- A-Ning really should not be just standing there with her leg injury. I've had a muscle biopsy before where they took it from the thigh, which is a similar 'injury' to what she's got, and you do not get on your feet unless you absolutely have to for days afterwards.

- At least they have her limp when she's walking, and it's kinda sad that I'm glad they do that! 

- And Pan Zi should not be doing hard physical labour with a fucking gut wound

- But I think I'm more annoyed by A-Ning, because I have personal experience with her kind of injury so know first-hand what kind of pain she's causing herself by standing and walking 

- HUMAN BRAIN LOGIC GO

- Pangzi you fucking dick, just standing there watching. You should be pushing instead of Pan Zi 

- Hahahah, after all his shittalk and boasting, and he can't do it 

- Oh, there, finally

- I know that inside lid is supposed to be jade, but it looks so terribly fake. Oh my god. It's awful 

- It looks like a bad Photoshop of one of those Windows 98 default backgrounds

- I love the looks everyone gives Pangzi every time he slips up and talks about getting money from the stuff in the tomb 

- LOL, that's not a carving, that's a couple of translucent green plastic discs stuck on top of Windows Background Photoshop cover

- ...I'm kinda waiting for someone to suddenly shout BOO! really loudly while they're all carefully trying to listen for any sounds in the coffin

- They're almost at the end of the first novel in terms of plot, and there's still 4 and a half eps to go

- Wow, I think that's the first time I've seen Sanshu actually worried 

- lol, and now Pangzi says he believes him, rather than get his ear that close to the coffin himself 

- PANGZI DON'T STARTLE SOMEONE WHO HAS THEIR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER OF A GUN & DEFINITELY DON'T SMACK THE GUN

- Wu Xie has a lot of control to have not accidentally shot right then

- LOL, after all their declarations how they're archaeologists, not tomb robbers, & how they're here to protect cultural artefacts from robbers, etc - they go make references to the northern and southern schools of tomb raiding

- Just without actually saying exactly what the 'Southern School' being referred to actually is. 

- ....and now Pangzi jumps in front of the pointed gun as he grabs it. Do you have a fucking death wish, dude? 

 - And now we see the infamous bronze armour! Jade armour. Whatever

- You'd think they'd have learned to fucking take all of A-Ning's guns away from her after last time she held one of them at gunpoint 

- OMG, the face on the helmet is so fucking ridiculous, I can't - It's not even properly positioned over his face

- Aaaaah, Sanshu called him tianzhen  I'm so happy at being able to identify that word now it's ridiclous 

- That...that is not what peeled skin looks like 

- Pangzi comes right out and admits he's a tomb robber 

- And for the first time, no-one calls him on it

- Or correct him for calling them tomb robbers 

- Ah, there you are, Xiaoge. I was wondering how long it would take for you to be back 

- I see looking for people in a tomb requires no shirt XD

- Better shots of shirtless Xiaoge

- Like, same, Wu Xie. Same.

- Look, I have two braincells, and one is for Xiaoge and one is for pingxie

- YOU ACTING LIKE THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS, PANGZI

 - Oooh, this is a goood shot of the tattoo. And of who the tattoo is on

- I don't have a Xiaoge problem. It's the opposite of a problem.

- Seriously, Pangzi is so fucking lucky that Xiaoge didn't kill him a dozen times over during their first meetings here

- Also, now that Xiaoge has explained why he threw a knife at Pangzi, I believe it's time to update the Xiaoge Rescue Count to 9 for Wu Xie, 13 for the protagonists, 14 for everyone.

- Although maybe I should have also been keeping a People Eyerolling At Pangzi Count given how often it's been happening

- More Xiaoge pics, feat. emotions that are not 'worrying about Wu Xie'

- Also, did he throw the corpse off the platform after he broke it's neck, or did it yeet itself off somehow? 

- I mean, I too wanna know how Xiaoge knows all this stuff if this was all put here 3000 years ago

- I do love that Wu Xie is already about the only person who Xiaoge will actually look at instead of staring down or straight ahead

- LOL, Wu Xie won't even let Pangzi so much as touch this. 

- I honestly appreciate that Xiaoge appears to travel lightly enough that he doesn't have a spare shirt

- EVERYTHING makes Wu Xie better than everyone else (except Xiaoge), Pangzi

- lol, Sanshu, yes. You tell him. 

- Hahahah, and Wu Xie playing along with Sanshu, the little adorable shit 

 - THE LOOK ON HIS FACE 

- KJFDHKJDAFHFKASDJHFKJASDLHGFSKLJ 

- AND DON'T THINK I DON'T SEE THAT SMIRK, WU XIE 

- There is absolutely not enough of little shit!Wu Xie in S1

- Loooool, his little nod at Sanshu now that they got their way and made Pangzi promise to stfu for the time being 

- And that is the first time I've seen that style of carriage roll like a car 

- Those skull ballistae were a cool aesthetic, though

- THAT CARRIAGE WAS ROLLING LIKE A FUCKING CAR, HOW IS IT BACK UPRIGHT AND ROLLING ALONG THE GROUND TO THE CLIFF 

- HOW TF IS IT ROLLING ANYWHERE WITH A SMASHED WHEEL 

- HOW TF IS HE ABLE TO HOLD IT FOR EVEN A SECOND, ESPECIALLY WITH ONE HAND

- A thin as fuck flagpole is going to give you jack shit in terms of something to brace with when it comes to that much weight 

- THE SCRIPTWRITER OF THIS SCENE IS BAD AND SHOULD FEEL BAD 

- *cries in physics minor*

- I can suspend disbelief for aliens, zombies, everything about Xiaoge, logic holes, and plot pits. Apparently my line is a non-cultivator breaking the laws of physics. 

- Aaaah, here come the zombies 

- So this dude is not the zombie dude 

- He is the emperor, I think?

- OH MY GOD THAT GREENSCREEN IS JUST THE WORST 

- I thought the one on the river was bad. The one of her falling as he dives off the cliff to save her is actively painful 

- Oh, now it looks like we're gonna have a dumb love triangle in the flashback. Yay. *waves tiny flag*

- Bitch, be a bit more grateful. Yes, your ex-lover caught you as you were falling & did so by basically flying, but that's just standard wuxia defiance of physics. Your husband held a FUCKING CARRIAGE with ONE HAND for AT LEAST TWO WHOLE MINUTES to keep you alive before your ex finally showed up

- "Were you really frightened?" Your majesty, what kind of a stupid question is that? 

- The emperor's armour is really pretty, I gotta say 

- Uuuugh, this stupid love story hurts in a bad way 

- I'm just gonna fast forward through it 

- ...and there's the end of the episode.

- That love triangle is going to make me scream, I know it 

- But that does explain how they're going to pad out the episodes a bit more with how far through the plot they are already 

- None of them are even really that pretty to make up for the boring, trite, love triangle plot

- How do they expect to keep my attention through it if I don't even have eye candy?!?! 

- I will be seriously headdesking if this flashback goes on for more than the next ep! 

- Oh well, there we are. The end of ep 6

The Xiaoge Rescue Count at the end of ep 6 stands at 9 for Wu Xie, 13 for the protagonists, 14 for everyone.