#mdzs ch.100

[evadingreallife]

Confession time every time secretive plotter appears i just think "oh, it's him, the good old nie huaisang".

[songofclarity]

After 100 years, I finally watched (more like marathoned) the SVSSS donghua and I'm kind of obsessed now?? That moment in ep 8 when the young Luo Binghe runs to Shen Qingqiu's bedside all concerned and innocently says, "Shizun," and then it flashes to an older, Dark Protagonist™ Luo Binghe saying, "Shizun," in a sinister yet somehow provocative fashion with that look...

Yeah. That moment rightfully frightens Shen Qingqiu but it's also sexier than anything that happened in MDZS if I'm being completely honest here LOL

(Dark Protagonist™ Luo Binghe vs Sunshot Campaign Wei Wuxian, fight!!)

Shen Qingqiu is also hilarious and delightful as a protagonist and I love him?? I've heard season 1 only covers up to ch 27, so I don't know the whole story yet, but it does feel like perhaps MXTX cut Nie Huaisang from the same cloth? They just want to survive the story so yeah, they're going to finagle things and play some tricks to get what they need, but they aren't stepping up in the story to win it. They don't actually have any ambition to become a person of importance! A passing grade is OK! They are fine being supporting characters!

But Nie Huaisang lives in his story while Shen Qingqiu has genre awareness since he has been isekai'd. Shen Qingqiu knowing VERY WELL that he is a supporting character/backstory antagonist makes him completely oblivious to how he is slowly setting himself up to become the future love interest is a grade A dining 10 course meal.

Shen Qingqiu: [Subconsciously keeps glancing over at Luo Binghe while trying to figure out how to achieve the next plot point without 1. the system deleting him for messing up and 2. without giving Luo Binghe another reason to put him in The Pot™]

Meanwhile, the sweet and impressionable Luo Binghe who doesn't think he's of any importance: 'Why does Shizun keep looking at me 😳'

and

Shen Qingqiu, to himself: 'Hopefully my good advice just now will make Luo Binghe reconsider putting me in The Pot™ later on!'

Meanwhile, the earnest and hardworking Luo Binghe, to himself: 'Shizun is the best and kindest person I know. I need to get stronger so I can protect him.'

Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe are having such wildly different experiences to the same moments and just. It's strangely wholesome. I'm super into it. Shen Qingqiu also going from hating on the story to appreciating/empathizing with Luo Binghe in small moments are also quite sweet.

But of course it also comes back to this element of Inception (like the movie lol) in how our Shen Qingqiue is reworking the story. Luo Binghe experienced horrible abuse at the hands of and by the will of the original Shen Qingqiu. That negative experience is destined to help drive Luo Binghe in the future to get his revenge on Shen Qingqiu. Our Shen Qingqiu can't fix what happened before he was isekai'd. But the shift in meaning behind the abuse is obviously setting the stage to make the difference. Slowly the abuse isn't seen as cruel and meaningless harm by a jealous man, but by someone who wanted to push the weak and tragic Luo Binghe to get stronger.

Which still doesn't make the abuse OK, but I actually really like what SVSSS is doing with this. Our Shen Qingqiu didn't do what the original Shen Qingqiu did, so it's not like we should feel like he deserves to be punished. It also doesn't feel like Luo Binghe has yet grown to resent or hate the original Shen Qingqiu for what has happened. He's still young (14!) and at that age kids are more focused on their social group and trying to fit in. So Luo Binghe has been taking the abuse and bullying in stride and showing great mental strength. It's still quite sad how quickly and eagerly he is to grab onto the hints of kindness and acceptance that our Shen Qingqiu is suddenly able to offer him (even when Shen Qingqiu is trying to fight the OOC system lol), but it's also quite endearing that even after how much he has suffered, he gets the opportunity to feel like someone cares about him.

Plus, we already know what happens when Luo Binghe views all the abuse and bullying as negative (Dark Protagonist™ Luo Binghe, smacking the top of The Pot™: 'This can fit so much Shizun in it.'). Now I get to see what happens when he views it as, at worse, tough love. Best of both worlds, let's go!!

What did betray me though was the donghua's ending! The characters finally found a chance to run away from some monsters and it felt like the episode was cutting to a commercial break but then... it's the credits? Hello!? Excuse me!??? I didn't care at all for them awkwardly tacking on the cliff scene after the credits, like they included that scene in the opening and Shen Qingqiu talks about it as one of the big story moments, so I expected the season would at least to build up and then finish with that dramatic moment... But they skipped the build-up! So I'm going to pretend I didn't see it for now lol

In any case! I bought the first SVSSS book way back when it was first released to throw in my support for the genre getting English translations, but I never got around to reading it. Something I need to remedy as soon as soon as possible.

[amynchan]

I posted 2,891 times in 2022

That's 98 more posts than 2021!

314 posts created (11%)

2,577 posts reblogged (89%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mrevaunit42

@mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess

@chaotic-cheshire

@rainbowrider1290

@amynchan

I tagged 2,191 of my posts in 2022

Only 24% of my posts had no tags

#mdzs - 959 posts

#wei wuxian - 496 posts

#xd - 474 posts

#jiang cheng - 355 posts

#lan wangji - 309 posts

#x'd - 231 posts

#jin ling - 167 posts

#lan sizhui - 107 posts

#nie huaisang - 101 posts

#lan jingyi - 98 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#he plays chenqing and from beneath the wooden floors a corpse emerges screaming about how their spouse killed them for life insurance money

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

yk, I was p okay with going along with the interpretation that Lan Zhan chose 'Sizhui' because he was longing for Wei Wuxian, but what if it's something else? 'Sizhui,' according to the translations, means to remember and long for. The second half is what makes everyone go "Lan Zhan is just so in love with Wei Ying!" While that's true, the courtesy name should show what you want for the kid, right?

So, when Lan Zhan chose 'Lan Sizhui,' what if he was just saying "I want you to remember, eventually, where you came from and who protected you in this world"? He already remembers Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants, and I wonder if it ever killed him that little A-Yuan had forgotten?

186 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

#4

See the full post

218 notes - Posted May 3, 2022

#3

Everyone's got a right to their own experience with characters.

Like, it's more than an opinion. People experience things when they're faced with characters that act a certain way. Characters are often exaggerated in order to help the story along, and stories are meant to affect people, so good characters affect people. Some of the effects are intentional, some of them aren't, and it's 100% okay that people have a different experience than you.

Like, when I was watching Encanto, I was so excited for Abuela to come talk to Mirabel. To me, that was a step towards healing. Abuela knew where Mirabel had gone and had actually gone to talk to her. Not only that, Abuela was being real and ate her own words of her own volition. That was amazing for me, who doesn't see that happen a whole lot and wishes to high heaven that it would happen more often, and I was thrilled. However, my siblings, who've had older people come to talk to them when they just wanna be left alone, immediately wanted Abuela to fall into a ditch. They wanted Mirabel to get angry and stand up for herself and defend her worth and her actions.

Neither of these interpretations are the wrong way to interact with Abuela because our difference didn't mean that we instantly hated each other. Instead, it was kinda fascinating to see where they were coming from because I'd never seen someone actively coming up to you and being straight up as a bad thing, and I hope they thought my POV was at least a little interesting. We didn't belittle each other or call each other names or accuse one another of being xyz because we interacted with a set of characteristics differently from one another.

Characters are characters. Good characters—not "moral" or "righteous" or "best," but "good"—make the audience feel things.

In Fruits Basket, Shigure makes me so infuriated because I met him when I was wrestling with this gray morality thing. I know several people who love him and his conniving little ways. The two reactions can—and, tbh, probably should—coexist in this world.

In Steven Universe, when Pearl and Amethyst fight, their division makes me hurt because I've been drawn to care about both characters. There were lots of people who took Pearl's side. There were lots of people who took Amethyst's. Both could be justifiable, and a lot of people got so invested. Pearl and Amethyst made the audience feel things, and that's kinda the point.

In Modao Zushi, Jiang Cheng is an incredibly divisive character (for good reason!), but he's a good character. Some people hate him and can back that up with the text and their own experiences. Some people love him and can back that up with the text and their own experiences. It's great! It kinda sucks to see an excess of an opposite opinion, but, like, they're allowed to have that. My experience doesn't make yours invalid, and your experience doesn't make mine invalid. They're just... different.

You're allowed to look at the same text, the same character, the same story, and feel different things from another person based on that text, character, and story. It's honestly part of the fun. And if you can't interact with people who hold that different opinion (for literally any reason ranging from "this is my chill spot and I'm not about to argue with somebody over something that doesn't matter" to "the opinion I hold is tied very closely to core aspects of my personality [trauma, strongly held beliefs, etc] and seeing its opposite physically and mentally unsettles me" to "stars. not today."), then that's fine. Block the tags. Ignore. Let it goooooo (had to).

They're characters. We love them, we hate them, they make us feel things, and we sometimes do some self-reflection using them as a guide (I find that this is where a lot of anger comes from? Maybe that's just me.). But we don't have to sit there and accuse someone else that they're xyz for hating/loving/not appreciating a character.

These are stories. These are characters. They may touch on our heartstrings and make our experiences and traumas feel validated, but they do the same thing in different ways for other people. And that's okay.

We can use that to learn about other people instead of immediately condemning them. If you don't want to engage with the other interpretations/experiences, then cool. If you wanna hate a character in peace, just make sure you've got the 'anti-' tag ready to go so people don't walk into your shop ready for something they ain't gonna get.

Just... yeah. Characters, experiences, and fandoms. We don't gotta be at each other's throats all the time.

252 notes - Posted May 14, 2022

#2

I know a lot of us go 'poor baby Mo Xuanyu' because of how shittily he was treated, but do we or do we all not just collectively gloss over the fact that he thought 'I am going to summon the most horrifying demon so he can slaughter my family and then I'm gonna let him loose on the entire world because I am so fucking done'?

Like, he was wrong, of course, but that was the goal, and I kinda wonder what other 'plots' he might have tried if the whole Yiling Patriarch thing hadn't worked out?

362 notes - Posted July 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think a lot of us really want someone to have survived the burning of Lotus Pier, and I've seen some stories say that some survived because they were out of the pier for one reason or another, but something just hit me.

The Wens placed a restriction on night hunts before they attacked. All of the cultivators, including Jiang Cheng, the actual heir of YunmengJiang, were forced to stay in Lotus Pier. They were all bored out of their skulls when the invasion knocked upon their door because they were all forced to stay inside.

Everyone in Lotus Pier died except for Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian.

Because they were trapped there.

And the Wens knew because they orchestrated it.

For some reason, the massacre is one thing to me. It takes on a whole new layer when I realize that the Wen kept the cultivators there, waiting and ready to be slaughtered.

After everything, Jiang Cheng really was alone, wasn't he?

733 notes - Posted September 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[grandmasterofwangxiancultivation]

MDZS ch.100

also said "save wwx and lwj and make them talk or I'll dIE"

Before he could finish, the sharp pain of flesh being lacerated came from his throat. Something dripped down his neck. Lan WangJi’s face was pale. Jin GuangYao, “How could he not listen to me? Just think about it, Young Master Wei, his life is in my hands.”

(I'M SCREAMING STOP THAT SHIT STOP RIGHT NOW YOU ABSOLUTE TRASH I'M GONNA KILL YOU AND TORTURE YOU SO MUCH-)

Lan WangJi spoke a word at a time, “Do not touch him.”

(lwj passive-aggressive is like water for someone living in the desert, guys, that threatening tone... that speaking a word at a time... *shivers*)

EDIT:

Wei WuXian, however, stopped him, “Lan Zhan! I-I have to tell you something.”

*sobbing* please please please I don't know what for but please-

EDIT 2:

Jin GuangYao, “Let’s save it for later.”

Wei WuXian, “No. It’s really urgent.”

Jin GuangYao, “Then you can also say it right now.”

It was only an offhand comment, but Wei WuXian seemed as if he realized something, “You’re right.” Right after, Wei WuXian shouted with all he could, “Lan Zhan! Lan WangJi! HanGuang-Jun! Back then, I-I really wanted to sleep with you!”

(OKAY I went from laughing like an idiot ‘cause this jgy-wwx’s interaction are too much for me to bear, to WHAT THE GELL OMG MY BABIES LOOK AT WWX BEING HONEST AND SO CUTE AND WHAT DID HE JUST SAY SIJGO0IEWRJKG)

[...] Jin GuangYao’s hands loosened, and the string fell. As soon as he felt the stinging at his neck disappear, Wei WuXian threw himself at Lan WangJi, unable to wait a second longer.

(GO BABY G O o O o O o O C L A I M Y O U R H U S B A N D AND KILL THAT KXMSHXKWHZKSBSKS)

EDIT 3: OMG OMG MY BABIES MY BEAUTIFUL BABIES PLS JUST KEEP TALKING WWX, KEEP THAT STUNNED EXPRESSION ON LWJ'S FACE, MAKE HIS HEART LIGHT AND HAPPY AND SPARKLY PLS

Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan, did you hear what I said?!”

Lan WangJi’s lips moved. A moment later, he spoke, “You…” He’d always been concise and comprehensive with his words, never pausing at all. But right now, he paused with more hesitance than ever. Another moment later, he continued, “You said…”

he broke him- HE BROKE LWJ- LWJ HAS BEEN   B R O K E N

EDIT 4:

Jin GuangYao turned to Lan XiChen, “ZeWu-Jun, it’s raining. Let’s take shelter in the temple.”

at least he shows some decency

EDIT 5:

Lan WangJi’s voice suddenly rang beside his ears, “Sit.”

Wei WuXian’s thoughts immediately returned. Lan WangJi gathered four cushions from the temple, giving two to Lan XiChen and Jin Ling and two to Wei WuXian and him. But for some reason, both Lan XiChen and Jin Ling moved their cushions quite far away from them. And coincidentally, they gazed into the distance in unison.

Lwj talks and wwx stops thinking about whatver he was thinking, i am doomed. Lxc and jl are too clever for their own good. Also, I know they can't do much rn, but they are just gonna sit and watch as jgy explains his evil plan? And I WANNA KNOW WHAT THAT MADMAN IS LOOKING FOR

EDIT 6:

Tugging Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian sat down on the cushion. Perhaps because his mind was far off, Lan WangJi’s figure wobbled from the tug before sitting down properly. Wei WuXian calmed himself a bit before gazing at Lan WangJi’s face.

(LWJ WOBBLED. GUYS. GUUUUUUUUUUUYS. LWJ WOBBLED HE IS SO DONE FOR-)

His eyes looked down. Not many emotions could be seen. Wei WuXian knew that with just those words, Lan WangJi probably couldn’t believe him yet. He was tortured by a smiling, oblivious person who knew nothing of his crimes. It was only natural that he didn’t believe it. After he thought so, Wei WuXian felt his chest go heavy. His heart hurt so much it shivered. He didn’t dare think of it any longer, but he knew that he should increase the dose.

(Omg this scene is so pure and delicate and painful. Wwx pls darling say something DON’T TORTURE YOURSELF SO MUCH YOU DIDN’T FREAKING KNOW OKAY just talk-)

He spoke, “Lan Zhan, l-look at me.”

His voice was still a bit tight. Lan WangJi, “Mn.”

After a deep breath, Wei WuXian whispered, “… I really do have a bad memory. I can’t remember a lot of the things that happened in the past, including the time at the Nightless City. I don’t remember a single bit of what happened during those days.”

Hearing this, Lan WangJi’s eyes widened slightly.

(ARE THEY FINALLY TALKING OH PLEASE. P L E A S E

look at wwx stuttering. look. and lwj’s eyes widening in disbelief omg omg omg)

EDIT 7: OKAY THAT

EDIT 8: hanji.exe has stopped working

EDIT 9: THAT

WAS

THE MOST EPIC, AWKWARD, BEAUTIFUL, HEARTFELT LOVE CONFESSION I HAVE EVER READ. IT WAS PERFECT AND I'M SHIVERING AND LWJ HUGGING WWX AND REPEATING EVERY WORD HE SAID AND CRYING IS LIKE

I DON'T KNOW

IT'S ALL I NEED AND SO SO SO SO SO MUCH MORE

AND

WWX SAID IT

"I WANNA SLEEP WITH YOU EVERYDAY"

WEI YING, EVERY DAY MEANS EVERY DAY.

OH MY GOOOOOOOOD SO THIS IS WHAT THEY MEANT-

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

EDIT 10: I’M STILL SHAKING

WHAT-

Oh, back to plot. Sushi is here.

EDIT 11: wwx toying with sushi by playing words-tricks is life. my protective, beautiful baby. also, reading about him saying he doesn't want to die made things to my heart.

Wei WuXian grinned, “Is it because HanGuang-Jun’s had such an icy face ever since he was young, Sect Leader Su, that you think about him this way? If so, then HanGuang-Jun is so unfortunately misunderstood. He’s obviously like this towards everyone. You should be glad you didn’t study at the YunmengJiang Sect, Sect Leader Su.”

Su She’s voice was cold, “Why?”

Wei WuXian, “Or else you would’ve long since been angered to death by me. When I was young, every day I wholehearted believed that I was a prodigy, that I was such a fucking big deal. And not only did I believe it in my heart, I even flaunted it everywhere.”

Veins lined Su She’s forehead, “Shut up!” He seemed as if was about to strike when Lan WangJi pulled Wei WuXian towards his chest, firmly protecting him with his arms. Su She’s movements paused, debating whether or not he should attack.

(I AM LAUGHING SO MUCH, WEI YING WAS SO OVERCONFIDENT BACK THEN, MY BOY

also, lwj protecting him, uuuuuuuhm yessssssssss)

EDIT 12: LAN WANGJI SMILED.

HE S M I L E D.

GuYs this world is amazing, and it is because of lwj's smile. I don't need anything else.

EDIT 13:

Nobody answered. The doors shot open!

From amidst the storm that had just broken inside, a crackling streak of purple lighting struck right against Su She’s chest, sending him flying backwards.

PEOPLE CAN LIVE OF THE SATISFACTION I'M FEELING RIGHT NOW, IT IS THAT POTENT AND ABUNDANT.

GO JIANG CHENG.

G o o o o O o O o O o O o O o O

[cosmoglaut]

If you think series!Lan Xichen has suffered a lot because of wangxian UST, it’s NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT BOOK!LAN XICHEN GOES THROUGH

[cream-and-punishment]

The confession scene

Me, afraid of what Wei Wuxian was about to say:

Then:

Me, LWJ, every other human being after what WWX said:

[xiyao-feels]

Just thinking of that post—the quote is from ch 66 when Wangxian are hiding from some random family in the yard of their farm...and the parents talk about being scared of the Yiling Patriarch! The wife apparently was raised on him as a horror story, and it's just like—

The husband, “Yeah. As soon as I heard about digging graves open I thought of him. It’s true indeed. The rumors have been spreading all over the city.”

To the fact that he was tied together with the act of ‘digging graves open’, Wei WuXian couldn’t do anything aside from feeling helpless. To be honest, he really had done many of these things in the past. The most famous time was during the Sunshot Campaign, when he dug deep into the earth to flip over all of the cemeteries of the QishanWen Sect’s ancestors and turned all of the corpses into puppets. And for every one of the Wen Sect’s cultivators whom he killed, he made them into puppets as well before controlling them to kill the friends and family they had before they died.

(Exiled Rebels, ch 66)

Like, yeah, in this case it's not WWX. But it looks like it's him because it's stuff he did actually do in the past! He doesn't feel helpless in this passage because Mr Farmer is making shit up or believing falsehoods, he feels helpless because he thinks it's a reasonable association.

And then there's this, just after:

During the Sunshot Campaign, all of these things were praised, used to inspire the people. However, the further the Sunshot Campaign became, the more fearful the people were when they mentioned it again. Not only others, even when he, himself, thought about it afterward, he felt that he had done a bit too much.

(Exiled Rebels, ch 66; emphasis mine)

He doesn't think that everything he did during the war was 100% righteous; he thinks okay, yeah, I kind of went a bit far actually. Either he was wrong then or he was wrong now! And, you know, whatever WWX's flaws, 'just goes along with the crowd on morality' really isn't one of them—if he's thinking this, it's because he believes it.

(The timing is interesting, too. Due to MDZS' weaving of the past and present timeline, ch 66 where this exchange takes place is just four chapters after we witness WWX's initial torture-rampage (warning that linked post is full of quotes from said rampage). Seems like it might have an effect on your reaction here, if you were reading straight through.)

[grewlikefancyflowers]

I'm so baffled every time I see some popular post about ~how sad poor jc's life is, he just wanted wwx to stay with him but he selfishly abandoned him for no reason/with no explanation~ and act like jc was totally out of the loop. They literally had a conversation about why wwx rescued the wen remnants, the only thing jc didn't know about was the golden core transfer, he did know full well they were innocent AND that wn got his parents bodies back. Like sorry but if jc thinks leaving to save innocent people's lives is a "betrayal" then that's on him lol idg why I'm supposed to feel sorry for him

I think a lot of people interpret the golden core reveal as if it changes everything for JC wrt the defection and WWX's use of guidao.. but, looking at things from JC's perspective, the golden core reveal is mostly irrelevant to these two things.

JC never had a problem with guidao, he was fine with it both during and after the SSC. The only gripe was WWX not carrying his sword, because JC felt it made him & the Jiang sect look bad. People put a lot of emphasis on JC supposedly being very confused and frustrated by WWX's cultivation practices, but the reality is he didn't give much of a care about it at all.

And, as you said, the reveal changes nothing wrt how JC sees the Wens, and the debt he owed them. He knew about Wen Ning saving him from LP, retrieving his parents bodies, and both the Wen sibs sheltering both him and WWX afterwards. He didn't give a fuck about that, and he doesn't give a fuck about Wen Qing helping him get a new golden core either. He still hates Wen Ning at the end of the novel, even after everything is in the open, because JC just hates, that's all he does - he's full of hate and directs it wherever is convenient for him.

JC is 100% fully aware of why WWX defected with the Wens, he understands that WWX is correct to do so as well, at least according to the values that JFM tried to instil in him. During their post-defection argument, JC says to WWX '“‘To attempt the impossible’? Fine. You understand the YunmengJiang Sect’s motto. Better than I do. Better than all of us do.”' (Ch.73)

The reason why JC turns his back on WWX is entirely due to his resentment and insecurity. This is why the golden core reveal is such a big deal to him, because he suddenly understands that he is the one who's wronged WWX, not the other way around, because he understands that he was wrong to direct all his hatred at WWX in the first place, because WWX is a good person - not a trouble maker with a hero complex. He also understands that his own sacrifice can't even begin to right these wrongs, which is why he keeps it to himself.

And JC shouldn't have needed the golden core reveal to understand this - he's known WWX since they were both children, if he'd cared to pay any attention, he would have understood the person WWX is in the first place. The golden core is just irrefutable, physical proof.

Some people will harp on and on about rumours and subversion in MDZS, then take everything said in the prologue at face value... WWX never betrayed JC, his actions at nightless city were justified, he wasn't some irredeemable villain, he was never any sort of villain at all. I don't know there is so much debate about this... it's not a case of things being that deeply complex or nuanced or ~morally grey~ what the story presents as right and wrong is 90% of the time pretty clear cut.

[spicychickenyang]

🌶🐔 Masterpost

Since it's Christmas Eve, you guys are probably not checking Tumblr for translation metas ;) I'll just use today's post to do some housekeeping. Thanks for all your support & see ya on Monday~

This list will be regularly updated. If you're seeing this post from a reblog, try viewing the original for the most up-to-date list :)

By order of book appearance:

Ch 1 - 12/30/21 - Ding dong, the witch is dead (大快人心) Ch 1 - 12/31/21 - MDZS Chapter 1, my translation Ch 1 - 1/3/22 - Chapter 1, director's commentary Ch 6 - 12/22/21 - Meet-Wei-must-argue Ch 10 - 1/5/21 - Alliteration has its place Ch 12 - 12/12/21 - He "aiyoh"-ed Ch 14 - 12/12/21 - Is he so pretty? Ch 14 - 12/16/21 - "Ying" vs "Wei Ying" Ch 15 - 12/11/21 - translated banter Ch 17 - 1/17/21 - How to translate a regional dialect Ch 28 - 3/5/22 - Ask around and find out Ch 43 - 12/13/21 - Who is gege Ch 54 - 12/21/21 - Get thee to a punnery Ch 55 - 8/15/22 - Xuanwu Cave dream Ch 56 - 12/13/21 - 喝 Ch 57 - 12/28/21 - How to insult people in Chinese, lesson 2 Ch 57 - 1/7/21 - The pecking order (尊卑) Ch 58 - 12/23/21 - Red eyes in morning, translators take warning Ch 69 - 8/17/22 - Phoenix Mountain kiss, Spicy Chicken edition Ch 69 - 8/18/22 - Phoenix Mountain kiss, translation details Ch 72 - 1/10/21 - It's neck and neck Ch 75 - 12/20/21 - 是非在己，毁誉由人，得失不论 Ch 87 - 12/22/21 - How to insult people in Chinese, lesson 1 Ch 94-95 - 1/6/21 - Drunk vs not-drunk LWJ Ch 100 - 12/15/21 - Confession nuance, part 1 Ch 100 - 12/14/21 - LWJ's eloquence Ch 100 - 12/14/21 - Confession nuance, part 2 Ch 108 - 12/30/21 - "xiyao" line translation/reading challenge Ch 115 - 4/8/22 - stacked like lasagna Ch 119 - 4/14/22 - Who is the husband Ch 125 - 7/27/22 - Wei Wuxian's back injuries Ch 126 - 12/17/21 - Lotus root my beloved

Non-specific:

12/25/21 - Chinese couplets 12/27/21 - A girl named Wan Jun 12/29/21 - A boring post (无聊) 4/19/22 - MXTX interview

[three--rings]

Hi, can I ask you about your first experience with danmei, like how you discovered it? Because by the time I found out about it, TUD was already pretty popular here on tumblr whereas when you joined the fandom it must've still been quite a niche interest. I hope you have a nice day and thank you!

So I found MDZS from Yuri on Ice fandom. Basically I saw several people (mostly people who lived in SE Asia) sharing MDZS art and it was just super pretty and unlike anything else I'd seen. I'm a MASSIVE fan of anything gay and historical, and so this historical gay Chinese thing attracted my attention. (Mostly tho it was just the pretty art.)

I saw a pimp post that was like What Is MDZS and it talked about the donghua and the novel and how huge it was getting in China and so I checked out the donghua. I watched the first five eps or so and then went to read the novel because it was recommended to do that so you don't spoil yourself for the novel with the donghua. So I watched the donghua, read the novel (which wasn't complete...it was at ch 100 when I finished it), then finished season 1 of the donghua.

But yeah it was basically sorta like...you like gay anime? There's a Chinese gay anime! But yeah it was very niche and I only followed like a handful of people who were also into it. I remember there was a Youtube video that came up when you googled MDZS for a while that called the donghua "The Chinese Avatar." (As in ATLA)

To be honest I vaguely heard there was going to be a live action version but thought it was going to be really low budget and like amateur?

So I was shocked when I started seeing gifs of The Untamed as the first episodes aired and was like WOW. I still remember the gif of WWX following LWJ and grabbing those ribbon things on his outfit and I just went OMG those actors get the characters SO WELL! And immediately went and started watching. (But Eng subs on Viki were a week behind so I continually was looking at gifs without subs.)

I enjoyed the novel and the donghua a lot but wasn't moved to write for the fandom until I got obsessed with cql as it was airing.

[weishenmewwx]

I’m annotating the Official Translation of MDZS before I lend it out to non-Chinese friends, and as I was reading I realized that the Chapters are different! Paper Book ch 1 = online book ch 1-4!

Which is ok, fine, sure…but that also means that there are no incredibly cute chapter titles to make the relationship between author and reader feel more intimate. I love MXTX as much as I do partially because every few chapter titles felt like it was a charming little inside joke that she wrote just for me (and her other millions of readers).

Here is a screenshot and link to Awesome Charming Cute Chapter Titles:

Here are the English Translations, courtesy of the MDZS wiki ❤️:

So my questions now:

do I just Pencil In the Cute Chapter Titles in the paper novel where they would/should appear?

Do they matter as much when it’s so difficult to translate the completely different style that they are written in — cutesy slang — vs. the writing style of the novel — proper “period” XianXia? I mean, of all the LWJ references in the chapter titles, she only writes his actual name Lan Wangji “properly” twice. Twice, in over 100 chapters. I learned how to read slang in Chinese because of these chapter titles! (And the end-chapter notes, and some of the comments :)

What’s the best way to introduce this story to a non-Chinese, non-XianXia, non-BL-reader?!?!?

[wherever-the-chaos-is]

MDZS Novel Translation links

((Guide on where and how to access almost all of the MDZS content available here.))

The novel tackles mature themes and contains graphic/explicit content so definitely R-18. I am also gonna put general content warnings under the cut at the end of this post if you don’t want to go into it too blindly.

Here’s as much of the translated content that I could remember. 

The most complete translation available is here: https://exiledrebelsscanlations.com/novels/grandmaster-of-demonic-cultivation/

The only thing not included in it is this section from Chapter 111 of the Taiwan Traditional Chinese version of MDZS: https://bigbadredpanda.tumblr.com/post/187152364306/chapter-111-wangxian-everyday-means-everyday

And this bonus that came from Vol. 1 of the Simplified Chinese version: https://bigbadredpanda.tumblr.com/post/181354575786/book-of-righteousness

Other partial translations here if you would like to read other takes on the translations (chapter numbers here follow the numbering in ExR for ease of comparison):

Ch. 69

Ch. 79 - 110 (translated from the Traditional Chinese version iirc)

Ch. 79 - 117

Ch. 95 nsfw; Ch. 100; Ch. 111 (both nsfw and sfw version)

Ch. 94, Ch. 95, Ch. 111

Ch. 114-116

From night to morning (Ch. 120 in the ExR translation)

Ch. 120.5-122

Ch. 112, Ch. 120.5, Ch. 125

There’s also this list of the chapters with their title and subtitle/summary translated. It’s peak comedy tbh hahaha.

GENERAL CONTENT WARNINGS UNDER THE CUT:

Content warnings include, but are not limited to: mild horror, graphic descriptions of violence and sex, dubcon, consensual nonconsent/ rape play (Wangxian have a healthy and adventurous sex life, yes). All the explicit sex scenes are in the latter part of the novel and in extras, specifically in Chapter 95, Chapter 111, Chapter 115 (not that explicit), Chapter 117, Chapter 119, Chapter 120.

[grandmasterofwangxiancultivation]

Me, at the end of chapter 100: kalahslansl_SJAKDKLAHDKAKDHXL JIANG CHENG JUST YEETED THE DOOR! Honestly tho, chapter 100 is A Time and I’m so grateful to be alive on this day, Bless MXTX.

SAME, friend, i can’t even begin to explain to you how PSYCHED i am at the idea of jiang cheng being RIGHT THERE. 

HOW COOL HE IS, just bursting out of nowhere and sending sushi to ground with a flick of zidian, my aggressive purple man! after we left him post-core revelation i’ve been thinking about him and how he was dealing with the new knowledge -since, you know, he probably took it worst than us, i totally DIED WHEN I FOUND THAT OUT I MEAN IF I FELT LIKE THE WORLD HAD ENDED AND NOTHING WAS IMPORTANT ANYMORE EXCEPT FOR WWX AND JC AND HOW MUCH I NEED THEM TO TALK AND BE ALL BRO-BRO AGAIN, WHAT WAS HE DOING?

ugh

so

i hope they’ll be able to talk in the next chapters? i mean, we had beautiful, wondrous, amazing, awesome, sweet, perfect, heartwrenching wangxian confession AND I THANK GOD EVERY DAY FOR THIS, why can’y we have jiang cheng and wei wuxian talking feelings to each other?

really, what a time to be alive, bless mxtx every second of my life!

[jadedadultritsu]

Me: Wha-- *slams on the table the 50-ep c-drama, audio dramas, mdzs q (chibi), manhua, 100+ ch's of novel where LWJ has been longing and craving for WWX's touches, hugs, and kisses*

Me: EXPLAIN THIS THEN! 💢💢💢

[jinzilla]

(MDZS CH 100 SPOILERS) Happy birthday, Lan Zhan! :’)  ⚠ Please do not repost! ⚠ ( twitter / instagram )

[xiyao-feels]

☕ possibly unpopular opinion, but I don't think lxc survives his seclusion. I think his world view is too badly shattered and he either wastes away slowly or outright kills himself.

I like—one-quarter agree with this, I think?

On the one hand, as I've said before, I do think CQL LXC kills himself. The man is just... really completely broken. And also just tried to die with JGY. I mean, I don't even think he goes into seclusion first, necessarily.

On the other hand, while MDZS LXC is also very much broken, I don't think he does die; even aside from anything else, JGY is still sealed in the coffin, and dying would be leaving him behind in a way it wouldn't in CQL—so in MDZS I don't think he does.

The part where I totally disagree with you is—I don't think it's about his worldview. It's about JGY being dead. I—think people very much want it to be about something other than that (including his grief for JGY /and NMJ/, which, still no) , and I am as ever prepared to look at a textual argument in favour if someone wants to assemble one, but honestly I think the text is pretty clear here. Throughout the temple, he's reacting and processing pretty normally—to borrow from my own previous work, here's an overview of some of his reactions to things and people other than JGY:

Obviously we see [LXC] react when he’s telling LWJ about WWX’s feelings, but even beyond that, even when he’s occupying a more background role in the narrative, we’re given his reaction quite a few times. He sighs when LWJ seals his spiritual powers (ch 100); he tends to NHS, covering with his outer robe (ch 102), comforting him when he’s disturbed at the sight of the coffin (ch 103), protecting him from SMS (after NHS frames him for stabbing him, ch. 107) and from NMJ (ch 107), and comforting him and giving him pain medicine about the wound in his leg (ch 108); along with LWJ, he’s distressed by the sound of JC’s sword-scraping technique against JGY’s music (ch 101); he tries to warn JC a couple of times when JC is fighting JGY (ch 101), cautions JL (ch 101) and later JC (ch 102) about worsening JC’s injuries, and along with JL, WWX, and LWJ freezes when JC slaps JL to the ground (ch 102); he asks Minshan why he’s being rude to LWJ, and a little later, with SMS and JL, pauses in astonishment when LWJ laughs (ch 100); he averts his gaze from and seems perhaps embarassed by the ghosts that WWX summons (ch 104); he calls out to WWX to remind him that his current body is closely related to JGY, and will therefore attract NMJ’s fierce corpse (ch 107). He actually has a couple of entertaining reactions to Wangxian being Wangxian: he coughs and tells WWX it is maybe not the best time and place for this when WWX is about to repeat “I really wanted to sleep with you,” and then later he and Jin Ling inexplicably! move their sitting cushions far away from Wangxian’s and gaze into the distance (ch 100).

And of course he reacts to JGY again and again, and—again!—is engaging and processing. Again pulling from my previous post—

And more than anything else—in what I think is a very instructive contrast—he reacts to JGY, in a way that reflects an ongoing continual emotional investment. He is, quite notably, consistently worried about JGY and unable to stand the sight of him in pain, even when he thinks he shouldn’t be. When the coffin trap goes off, and they overhear Jin cultivators wailing and a pungent smoke emerges, there’s worry in LXC’s eyes; after JGY and Minshan make it out, and JGY takes some medicine against the poison, LXC hesitates for a moment and then asks what happened (ch 103). After LWJ cuts JGY’s hand off—which means /after/ he’s taken JL hostage, note—LXC “seemed as though he wanted to help him for an instant,” though “in the end he dared not” (ch 106). When Minshan asks him for medicine for JGY, seeing how terrible JGY looks, he hesitates slightly before they’re interrupted by NMJ’s success fighting the Jin cultivators (ch 107). After they’ve defeated NMJ, he treats JGY’s wrist; moreover, “Seeing that Jin GuangYao almost passed out from the pain, Lan XiChen, who in the beginning wanted to use this to punish him, still didn’t have the heart to bear it,” and goes for the pain-relief medicine from NHS. And this is all not even accounting for his reactions to JGY either during his questioning of JGY or post-stabbing!

and

For the first, he calls out Sect Leader Jin when JGY starts in on JC after JC calls him the son of a prostitute (ch 104), although notably he does not do the same in their earlier confrontation when JGY is distracting JC in order to defeat him, only warning JC (ch 101); when JGY confesses to having burned down the brothel, he’s distressed when JGY says that it wasn’t entirely to remove the traces (ch 105); he becomes /less/ angry about the second siege and about QS when it turns out that he was operating under constraint in those conditions (ch 106); and of course, the thing he’s angriest about is JGY killing his father, “and even in such a way” (ch 106). In ch 103, looking down at the coffin he is shocked that JGY buried something that caused such horror to its surroundings, but without further information about JGY’s reasons this does not metamorphose into anger.

And there's even more! I don't want to quote all of that section because it's really long, but you get the point: before JGY dies, he's distressed, sure, but he's still processing.

And then after JGY dies, it's—

Lan XiChen staggered a few steps back from the push. He hadn’t realized what happened yet.

Lan XiChen stared at the coffin enveloped in seven guqin strings. He was still lost in thought. Nie HuaiSang extended a hand and waved it before his eyes, terrified, “… B-Brother XiChen, are you alright?”

Lan XiChen, “HuaiSang, just now, was he really trying to catch me off guard with an attack?”

Nie HuaiSang, “I think I saw it…”

Hearing his hesitation, Lan XiChen pressed, “Think it over some more.”

Nie HuaiSang, “If you ask me like that, I can’t be sure either… It really did seem like…”

Lan XiChen, “Cut out the ‘seem like’! Did it happen or not?!”

Nie HuaiSang answered with difficulty, “… I don’t know, I really don’t know!”

This was the only thing Nie HuaiSang knew to say when he was desperate. Lan XiChen buried his forehead in his palm. He seemed as if his head was about to split, unwilling to speak again.

Lan XiChen was startled, “Induce? Induce what?”

Lan WangJi’s voice was low, “Jin GuangYao’s killing intent.”

If it were the usual ZeWu-Jun, he couldn’t have failed to fathom this. But right now, it was likely he had no more space in his mind to think.

(ch 109)

Veins suddenly lined the back of the hand in which Lan XiChen placed on his forehead. His voice sounded muffled, “… Just what does he want to do? I once thought I knew him well, and then I realized I did not. Before tonight, I thought I knew him well once more, but now I do not.” Nobody could give him an answer. Lan XiChen repeated in frustration, “Just what does he want to do?”

Of the people here, some were cleaning up the scene, some were solidifying the seal on the coffin, some were thinking about how to move it safely, and some were feeling angry. Lan QiRen raged, “XiChen, what in the world is wrong with you?!”

As his hand pressed the corner of his forehead, Lan XiChen’s face was full of an unspeakable grief. He seemed tired, “… Uncle, I am begging you. Ask no further. Really. Right now, I really wish to say nothing.”

Lan QiRen had never seen Lan XiChen, a child he single-handedly brought up, look so agitated and discomposed. He looked at him, then looked at Lan WangJi, surrounded by disciples alongside Wei WuXian, and felt more irritated the more he looked. He felt that of these two of his proudest disciples who had been absolutely perfect, neither listened to him anymore and both gave him much worry.

Lan QiRen watched Lan XiChen who followed behind him sluggishly, still absent-minded, and sighed forcefully before he left with a flip of his sleeves.

(ch 110)

And then in the banquet extras, three months later:

Wei WuXian still clung to Lan WangJi’s chest, face buried at his neck as he felt the sandalwood aroma on Lan WangJi’s body grow even richer. He felt lazy all over, eyes closed, “Is your brother alright?”

Lan WangJi embraced his naked back, stroking again and again. After a while of a silence, he answered, “Not really.”

Both of the two were sticky with sweat. Wei WuXian felt an itch crawl from his skin all the way to the bottom of his heart as Lan WangJi stroked him. He twisted somewhat uncomfortably, swallowing Lan WangJi even deeper.

Lan WangJi lowered his voice, “In the years when I was in secluded meditation, Brother had always been the one to comfort me.”

Yet now the situation was the exact opposite.

Likely because Lan QiRen got a heart attack whenever he saw Wei WuXian, he simply decided not to look at him, staring straight forward. Lan XiChen was pleasant as always, holding the hint of a smile at his lips that always seemed like spring wind. Yet, perhaps because of the secluded meditation, Wei WuXian felt that ZeWu-Jun looked a bit frail.

(ch 115)

After the tasteless meal, the servants took away the plates and tables. As usual, Lan XiChen started to summarize the recent plans for the sect. But after listening for just a few sentences, Wei WuXian began to feel that he was a bit absent-minded. He even remembered two night-hunting locations wrong and didn’t realize after he spoke, causing Lan QiRen to throw a couple of sideway looks at him and puff his goatee into the air. A while later, he finally couldn’t help but interrupt him. Fortunately, the sect banquet finally ended, although somewhat hastily.

(ch 116)

So to recap—before JGY dies, he's distressed but he's still processing and reacting to things basically normally, he's got his head in the game. And then after JGY dies, he is very much /not/ processing things, he's not reacting normally, the things he's preoccupied with are entirely about JGY, LQR is like 'I've never seen him this way before.' And when we see him three months later, failing at very basic tasks he's long performed perfectly, it's the same kind of symptom—just as it was in ch 109, he seems to have no more space in his mind to think.

There's also the explicitly-drawn parallels between him and LWJ—by LQR, and by LWJ himself, paralleling LXC's current state with his own time in seclusion. And what would LWJ have needed comforting about while he was in seclusion? It's not the shattering of his worldview—it's Wei Ying.

I'm not going to go and rewatch and cap CQL temple, but the same basic pattern shows. Before JGY's death, he's functional and processing: afterwards, he's broken. I do think CQL LXC is more emotionally agitated before JGY's death than MDZS LXC is, but he's also even less functional afterwards so it evens out. If you go to 18:40ish in ep 50 (on YT, might be a different timestamp in Netflix) you can watch LXC stand frozen and stare into space and totally fail to react to anything including the conversation right next to him about his brother and WWX having run off.

I mean, I think it's also about the manner of JGY's death, if JGY had, idk, died heroically saving JL's life or something a year earlier he'd still have broken but probably not as badly? But it really is about JGY.

Tldr: I do think he kills himself in CQL; I don't think he does, even passively, in MDZS; but either way, his state at the end of canon isn't about his shattered worldview, it's about JGY being dead.