#thanks to my multiple untamed rewatches

[negrowhat]

I know that first "P'Yang" went straight south for Yang but he played it off really, really well.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

"your top 15 favourite tv shows can say a lot about your personality!"

Thank you so much for the tag @morkofday 🥰

How could I rank my top shows? They all mean so much to me and are all from different times in my life and from different genres... I can't compare Gilmore Girls to Moonlight Chicken! So without a rating here we go!

Gilmore Girls

The show I watch to feel cozy and comfy! Most of the times I do a rewatch of my favorite episodes in autumn/winter and just enjoy Stars Hollow and all the quirky characters. And I am a huge fan of Lorelei... not her love life, but she is a strong and independet woman and I love that.

Moonlight Chicken

What can I say? I love EarthMix and GeminiFourth! And the story was more of a family drama and something different than the usual GmmTV stuff. The story of letting go of the past and starting a new future, which is scary with all its obstacles, really captured me and I still think of it from time to time.

Pushing Daisies

I love this bitter-sweet story of the unlucky pie baker and the love of his life never been able to touch each other but love each other nevertheless. The criminal cases were interesting and I enjoyed the colorful scenery, but nothing could top my love for Lee Pace. This man...

Unknown

My new favorite show. I loved it from beginning to end. And I don't want to let go of them. The hurt is still too fresh to talk about them 😭 Their story was so well written and the actors were so good in portraying the characters and their inner monologues and thoughts and I love it so much!

Love for Love's Sake

The one show I will never be able to get over. The feelings I felt after it ended were not normal! I was heartbroken! This series means so much to me and Myungha will be forever one of my favorite characters ever! The story is unique and beautiful and so deep! Damn, that is such a good show!

It's okay to not be okay

This show that broke me on so many levels. The amount of tears I shed! It was really a journey and I loved the characters and their growth.

Queer as Folk

I was obsessed with this show and him, Brian Kinney! The topics they showed were, and still are, so important and relevant. It is not just some gay men fucking, but different stories about the community and their problems, fears, breakthroughs and their every day life. And Debbie will be forever this iconic mother figure for all of them and for us too.

The Untamed

I don't know how many shows broke me, but this one... this one hurt so good! It is such a masterpiece of a series. What is good and what is evil and aren't there multiple ways to get to the same goal? There is so much love in this series and so much pain. At its peak I cried for 15 minutes straight... One of my all time favorites, but I couldn't rewatch it yet. The pain is still too real. I convinced my best friend to watch it and now she is mad at me and can't go on with it, because the same scene broke her too and now she is afraid of more pain to come. I understand her so well!

A Breeze of love

Most of the times there is this one show a year that blows me away and I can't get a grip in life afterwards. This year is somehow different as there are already two shows that had this effect on me, but for 2023 it was this here. It is such a simple story and there was nothing special about their story, but I adored it to the max and I rewatched it multiple times. I can't really tell why I love it so much, I just do.

Eureka

This is one of the shows that can easily play in the background when I am doing other things, because I know it by heart. The amount of times I rewatched that is not normal and even though I don't really like the last season that much, the first three are hilarious and just so good!

Friends

And another one I know by heart and could rewatch all the time. This show feels safe and there are so many memories connected here. I watched it after a bad breakup to give me some comfort or when I had a huge fight with my best friend, those friends were there for me. And even now I watch a few episodes when I feel down, because they can lift me up so easily.

Once Again

Aaaand we have another one that broke me! Hurray! Guess I love cozy and comforting shows and those which totally destroy me. Great for me! This one had me sobbing during the whole last two episodes. I have my problems with time travelling, and I don't say it was a good execution here, but I just don't care, because the story is unique and special and I love it.

Be My Favorite

The one that broke me and healed me withing hours. The beginning might be a little bit cringy, but it easily became one of my favorite shows out there. It feels so good to see the character growth and all the love that comes within. I still think about them very fondly.

A Tale Of Thousand Stars

This back hug alone made it one of my favorite shows of all times. But for real, this started my EarthMix-love and I am still not over them. The story is beautiful and the scenery is stunning and the pining is perfect and I have so many emotions about them and this show!

Star Trek - The Next Generation

Since I can remember I am a little trekkie, but only TNG. I love the cast and their adventures. I had a huge crush on Wesley when I was a kid. I watched his episodes so many times, it would be embarrassing, but that was what little Josi's heart wanted... Favorite character is by far Q. All of his episodes are hilarious and brilliant!

It was really difficult to break it down to only 15, because I love TV shows and there are some that I wish I could have put up here, but the rules are the rules.

I am as always lost who did this and who did not, so feel free to ignore me, if you don't want to or already did it! I am tagging @wen-kexing-apologist @pose4photoml @twig-tea and @troubled-mind

[gyllenhaalstories]

Hey :D I watched a few movies with Jake and I was wondering what are your fave movies and your least fave? Just curious!

hi anon!!! i hope you've enjoyed the movies you've watched so far!!! 💖 i've made it through almost his entire filmography, i think i'm missing 2 of them? yeah, that's about right. i'm avoiding nocturnal animals like the plague so maybe one day i will be brave enough to watch it and complete jake's whole filmography. it was pretty easy to select my 3 least favourites, but my top 3 had me questioning everything. i just love so many of his movies, it's not my fault! thank you so much for asking this question! i love rambling.

TOP 3 FAVOURITE MOVIES

Demolition (i remember watching this movie and i loved it so much that i watched it a second time right away. it holds such a special place in my heart and it always will!)

Brokeback Mountain and Love & Other Drugs (it feels criminal to put them at the same level but i just love them too much okay!!! they both make me cry a river)

Road House (yeah <3 jake has so many amazing movies but the rewatchability factor is very important to me and i've watched the movies mentioned above SO MANY TIMES and what's the other one that i also watched an alarming amount of times? road house. it's funny, it's pretty, it's not boring, it's not too long, it's got some depth, it's just so good. ambulance would also qualify, i love it so much too. if i was smart i would put wildlife because it gave me a similar gut punch as demolition did the first time i watched it, but i'm not smart so my vote goes for the gyllentitties)

TOP 3 LEAST FAVOURITE MOVIES

The Sisters Brothers (i love john morris & his multiple accents so much and there are elements of the movie i liked, but... it's so long... it's so boring... it's so yeehaw gold rush... it's one of the few movies of jake i have on DVD and i can assure you it won't be played very often <3)

Highway (call me boring and lame and everything you want, but i don't like alcohol and weed and stuff centered around those topics so it's kind of obvious that this movie wasn't for me. pilot's cute, i like him, but yeah. it took me forever to find this movie online in english and not spanish or russian? for some reason? so the intensive research was not all that worth it. if i ever watch it again, it's for pilot)

Life (i love david jordan and his yo-yo!!! i love him so much!!! i watched 2 alien movies in my life and they were essentially the same and i did not like them. why do they always let the aliens inside the spaceship??? aren't astronauts supposed to be smart? it's so stupid that they just think it will end well. it never ends well! so yeah i'd rather watch accidental love than life and that says A LOT.)

honourable mention for spirit untamed. i will never watch spirit untamed. i grew up watching spirit: stallion of the cimarron and my spirit would never!!! i can tell that jake's voice acting improved a lot between this movie and strange world and that's all that matters.

as a bonus, i'll give you the 3 movies that pleasantly surprised me! moonlight mile (i wasn't expecting much? i don't know, i thought it would be pretty meh but it was so good! i really liked it and it's definitely one of my rare comfort watches because jake hates me and doesn't do enough movies i can just watch easily), end of watch (it's so... intense. i almost threw up because of a certain scene, i thought i would have stopped watching before the end but i loved brian taylor so much) and stronger (one of jake's most underrated performances like woah this was so painful and so good and so yeah! i really liked it. you can tell that jake was passionate about telling this story and it deserves a lot more recognition). i'm done rambling now, thank you again for sending this! 💖

[yea-baiyi]

Hi....If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

hi it’s been a while! i love getting asks from you because it lets me ramble about my favourite things, it makes me so happy so thank you!!! i hope you know how much joy you bring <3

(i’m sorry i haven’t replied to your last top 10 ask, i started the list and it got so humiliating that i’m unable to look at it again.)

anyway “top 10 media” is a broad question, so i have picked the top 10 media i love to ramble about. the kind where i could talk for hours about each one. are these objectively my favourites? maybe not. are they even good? only like half of them. but they certainly are top. enjoy!!

top 10 media of all time (not ranked):

1. tgcf (novel)

its still too early to say if this is a permanent top 10, but it has consumed my life for the better part of a year so it gets on this list. i have difficulty describing tgcf, it’s not particularly an excellent novel by many metrics, but it gives me endless satisfaction — the breadth of the story, spanning hundreds of years and a broad range of plotlines, plus the incredible depth of each moment, with sensitivity and humanity behind every hilarious-ridiculous-bombastic moment. i keep finding new things with every new chapter i annotate, even on my 4th/5th read. it’s rare that a piece of media gives me so much to think about, i’m just trying to savour the enjoyment for as long as it lasts.

2. the untamed/陈情令 (tv show)

oh man what can i say about the untamed. what can i NOT say about the untamed. the show i resisted for two years before finally being pushed into it. and i have been hurtling down the danmei rabbit hole ever since. for all that it was my intro to danmei and into the modern cdrama fandom, it really is SO MUCH just on its own. i daresay no tv show will ever be able to deliver such pure insanity juice straight to my brain ever again. deserves its spot. show of all time.

3. fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood (anime + manga)

i was a weeb for YEARS. consumed hundreds if not thousands of episodes of anime and manga. and this is the only one that stuck. obviously a masterpiece of storytelling. i revisit this constantly. i love stories that can be grim but still hopeful and endlessly sincere. also if you can’t tell i’m a huge sucker for stories where the side characters clearly have their own histories and relationships outside of what we get to see, and fmab has that for ages.

4. the legend of korra (tv show)

i cannot in good conscience say that i like this show. if you asked for my opinion, i would complain in your ear for an hour straight, minimum. (i have done this. multiple times. don’t ask me about the legend of korra.) and yet it is the piece of media i think about the most, that i have dedicated the most of my writing to, that i rewatch most often. lok aired when i was 13-17 and i grew up with it on tumblr. the people i followed and the things they talked about shaped how i interact with fandom today. maybe one day i will be able to move on, but this one has a sure spot in my top 10.

5. sense8 (tv show)

this one i can wholeheartedly recommend to any queer person trying to grow up in the world. yes, the orgies are gratuitous, the first season has some 2014 cliches, and overall who cares about the plot. but it’s such an unabashed expression of queer joy and unconditional love. there’s something so comforting in the idea that other people will volunteer to share your pain, your happiness, and your loneliness. that everyone in the world is connected by their ability to feel, to laugh, to scream, to cry, to love— you are only as alone as you let yourself be. this show carried me through so many dark times and helped me to keep believing in people. maybe i’ve outgrown my need for this show now, but i will always love sense8.

6. my ajusshi/my mister (kdrama)

is it one of the best kdramas ever made? yes. am i also incredibly biased because it’s IU? also yes. i strongly recommend it if you have the patience. this drama is slow and melancholy and washed out, its characters are weary and cynical and not always kind to each other. but that is precisely the point, because the drama dusts off their dull, exhausted lives and finds within them something worth living for. sometimes it’s enough to know that you have the power to make someone else’s life better. you might have lost the love of your life, but you have a spare mattress in your bedroom for a scared, lonely girl to sleep on. you might have lost your marriage, but you have enough money to pay for an old woman’s funeral. your career might be going nowhere, but you can be the cheerleader and inspiration for a silly woman that loves you. you might be a gang of sad, broke, middle-aged failures, but you can all walk a young woman home together and make her night a little less dark. my ajusshi is not an easy drama to watch, but similar to sense8, it’s one that gives me hope.

7. the k2 (kdrama)

firmly convinced that tumblr is sleeping on this drama. it is so absolutely batshit feral unhinged. let women be a mess!!! let women be so wrong!!! let women scheme and threaten and fight and manipulate, while the man looks on with protective anxiety and/or dead-eyed absolute competency. let a woman run barefoot through the streets of spain in a nightgown, tears streaming down her face. let a woman past her prime be psychosexually obsessed with her stepdaughter’s bodyguard whom she is locked in a blackmail revenge plot with. let him lead her at gunpoint into a car so he can escape the standoff, only for it to become a car chase with her enemies, and for him to flip the vehicle over. let him walk back into the burning car to carry her out.

8. man of steel (movie)

not gonna lie haven’t rewatched those one in a while! but officially my #1 favourite movie if anyone asks. i have moved on from capeshit but this movie still has everything i love: a world that breathes, people that live in it, and a clear message of hope despite how bleak things might seem.

9. rogue one (movie)

i mean. i mean. it says something that i was working on my (planned out, the story exists fully formed in my head) tgcf rogue one au when i opened up my writing notes and found that at some point last year i had written an entire mdzs rogue one au. brilliant. unparalleled. so blessed that this movie got to exist in between the endless cash grabs that are the other movies. as a star wars fan since age 13, i can say with full assurance this is the only star war that matters actually.

10. the infernal devices (novel series)

not sure if i’ve mentioned this series on this blog before, but to this day it’s one of my favourite YA series. yes it is your standard cliche fantasy series but it has will herondale, the best payoff to the typical angsty brooding male lead to ever exist. writers try to justify brooding characters like “they have valid reasons to be that way, deep down they’re really loving blah blah” but this series takes that and delivers. because the moment will is free from the legitimate reason he was acting that way, he is bursting at the seams to show his love. he runs to the girl he loves and tells her he loves her. he tells the woman who raised him that she’s awesome. he spends the rest of his life so, so incandescently happy, simply because he gets to love the people he loves. also the ending of the second book is possibly one of the wildest cliffhangers for a love triangle ever. i clearly love to have an Experience while consuming a piece of media.

(if you’ve read til here, thank you for reading and letting me ramble some of the words that go through my brain endlessly. if you’ve ever consumed and enjoyed any of the things i’ve mentioned, please feel absolutely welcome to message or dm me, i am dead serious about being able to talk about these for hours. in fact i would love to. please)

[viterbofangirl]

I posted 3,877 times in 2022

11 posts created (0%)

3,866 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@cat-a-holic

@canardbabillard

@featherfur

@squirrelasinthewoodlandanimal

@fallynleaf

I tagged 3,870 of my posts in 2022

#fanart - 278 posts

#star wars - 165 posts

#heaven's official blessing - 157 posts

#tgcf - 157 posts

#the daily adventures of viterbofangirl - 131 posts

#*undignified giggle-snort* - 130 posts

#dracula daily - 128 posts

#this blue hellsite - 126 posts

#just for fun - 122 posts

#somedays i love this website - 95 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#every scene with renner and johannson together is played as a huge unspoken 'fuck you' to brucenat and the farm family and bless them for it

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hey I don't have links myself but re: that post about DuckDuckGo: I've seen a different version of the post with links to the CEO's Twitter where he refuted that (and explained why independent outlets fall lower in results) and I don't think it's true. There are a few reblogs in the notes with links. Also many of the alternatives in that list are Google or Bing clones posing as "independent" search engines to lure in people who are cautious about the big names.

Thank you so much for this info! TBH it's a relief because I've been quite happy with DDG, and I will now be on the watch for poser search engines!

4 notes - Posted June 19, 2022

#4

Tag game!

Thanks to the ever-lovely @akamarykate​ for tagging me! <3 

Rules: Tag nine people you want to know better.

Three ships: Most recently, Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing from The Untamed, but I gotta go with Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade from the Star Wars EU, and Gary Hobson/Toni Brigatti for the longest-lasting ships!

First ever ship: See the above two! They were going on around the same time. L/M probably predates G/T by a year or two, but G/T was more viciously shipped (at first).

Last song: “Queen” by Loren Gray

Last film: Film? Ah geez. I honestly don’t know. I’m going to cheat a little and say “Frozen II” not because I recently watched it, but I’ve had a strong hankering for it so it’s got a 99% chance of being the next movie I watch!

Currently reading: I’m technically in the middle of “Because Internet” by Gretchen McCulloch, but tbh I’ve been reading a metric shitton of MDZS fanfic on my Kindle.

Currently watching: I’m taking a very brief hiatus from The Untamed and just finished up rewatching BBC’s The Musketeers, a.k.a. Man Candy the Series.

Currently consuming: Alyssa’s Healthy Chocobites

Currently craving: Reaching That Point In My Life Where I Regain A Smidgen Of Energy. And also the inspiration to continue some WIP fics!

Tagging: @themoonstarwarrior, @cat-a-holic, @fallynleaf, @threadsketchier, @squirrelasinthewoodlandanimal, @pityen81, @shaelit, @lucife56, @ancientstone but seriously no pressure on the above and loads of encouragement to participate to anyone else! To anyone who wants to play, please just tag me so I can see your answers! <3

5 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

#3

(x)

5 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

#2

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💖

My sideblog was tagged by @ancientstone and so I decided to post there AND on my regular blog!

Okay, so, I've been writing and not completing fandom stuff since I was at LEAST 16 which means over twenty years now, but I looked through my folder and I *think* these are my faves in no particular order:

1) Sinbad and the Garden of the Hesperides: a Proteus-heavy sequel to Dreamworks' animated "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" because Proteus deserves ALL THE LOVE dammit! >:[  (currently over 41k words and unposted but stay tuned because I know the first 4-5 chapters are done at least...)

2) The Sense of Her: a FMA Royai one-shot taking place over multiple points in the series, each scene focused on one of the five senses (currently on AO3)

3) Gunslinger: written in a different narrative style than my usual (Old-West stylized omniscient present vs alternating third-person POV) it's a retelling of Roger Corman's (yes, I know) movie "Gunslinger" starring Beverly Garland that is one of my favorite MST3Ks (yes, I know) but still has really good bones to the story (unposted and honestly barely started but still has some damned good lines if I do say so myself)

4) No Miracle for the Likes of Us/Rebirth/Codename:Teen Idol 'Dite: *CHEATER ALERT!* These are _three_ Venus/Kunzite-centric Sailor Moon fics, but are set in the same no-Stars-AU, with the first detailing the fall of Silver Millennium, the second beginning with the Shitennou being revived immediately after the manga's SuperS arc, and the third being a plot line so heavily intertwined with Rebirth that I haven't decided whether or not to make them one big fic featuring Codename as specified interludes o_O;;; (overall size: *drops face into hands* it... it just keeps GROWING... *sobs*)

5) She-Ra: Princess of Power: a massive retelling of the original She-Ra series as a continuation of the Mike Young 200X animated He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, with each chapter an "episode" (currently a highly disjointed >57k monster, but the first two "episodes” are on AO3)

Tagging @akamarykate @fallynleaf @rhysiana @threadsketchier @adriannasharp and anyone else who wants to participate! Tag me if you reply so that I might properly appreciate your efforts and genius! <3

7 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Offered Up

Abel you placed the stone in my hands Told me that God prefers innocent lambs Strike hard strike true my own my brother Then He’ll prefer you favored over another

Offer me up

Don’t worry don’t worry my own my brother I’m happy I’m happy my own my brother Release me release me my own my brother

Offer me up

The stone sat heavy and thick in my hands The blood ran heavy and slick on my hands This murder it seemed like a trick on my hands

Who is the victim? Who was the victim?

(inspired by @zelkam’s gifset)

22 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[silvysartfulness]

Salve,

I wanted to start with, I love your story Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It. I wanted to ask a question not really to do with it.

I was wondering, how do you write for Xue Yang? Like what is the process?

I'm currently trying to write multiple fanfics with him in it, but I suck dialogue and it's a "thing" of mine to try and write as close to the character as possible, while also getting them to do what I need/want them to do.

I was wondering how you go about writing for his character.

Thank you so much - I'm very flattered you like Heaven Has A Road so much! 💚

As for your question, hmm...

My writing process is very much based on immersion, to "step inside" the characters and try to see the world through their eyes, feel what they feel, think as they think, see what would be the logical thing for them do do or say in any given situation. And of course the first step in being able to do that (and to write any character well, to be honest) is to understand them.

Which may seem obvious, but can also be more complicated than just liking a character and wanting to write them!

The first step for me whenever I hyperfocus on a new character(s) is to gather all the information I can about them. Watch and rewatch canon. Listen to interviews and the actors talking about how they approached the role/ character. For The Untamed, I also read most of the other adaptations (MDZS, the manhua and donghua) etc. Just... collecting everything said about the character and the world that is their context.

Next step is to analyze it (which to be fair, for me, goes hand in hand with the information collecting stage) to figure out why the character acts the way they do, given the information we have!

Only once you have a very deep understanding (and a healthy bunch of headcanons and personal guesses!) for what makes the character act the way they do, can you apply that pattern onto new situations in a way that makes the character's actions seem reasonable.

For Xue Yang, the process went something as follows

Observations: Xue Yang has problems with empathy and parsing emotion, his own and others', in general. He's prone to lash out, and will hurt others without remorse. He hides his true emotions behind a grin. He is restless and animated, even in scenes where he stands or sits still. The few times we've seen genuine emotion is when he talks about the childhood trauma of losing his finger, and when Xiao Xingchen rejects his story and so by extension, him.

Both the Untamed and the book tell us that he's a brilliant inventor (MDZS described him as the only one who could give the Jin the demonic cultivation knowledge they wanted, the Untamed has WangXian's suspicions immediately jump to him while speculating who could possibly have recreated the Yin Tiger Seal.)

He kept a low profile those years in Yi City, only tricking Xiao Xingchen to hurt people as part of his revenge plan in the beginning, and then just... settling down. Seemingly happy. And finally giving up the last 7-8 years of his life to try to undo Xiao Xingchen's death.

Translations make it hard to get a good grasp on his speech pattern, but again, taking in different adaptations and different subtitles helps in narrowing down what he's actually saying, giving something to build upon. He's described as being witty, he uses puns, is often very direct to the point of rude even when he's happy. It's a start.

Analysis: A lot of Xue Yang's issues go back to his childhood trauma. He "had no parents or money" and was forced to deal with the horrific abuse inflicted on him by a powerful nobleman all on his own. For a child that small, and an injury that bad, it would have been life-threatening. His is a trauma-shaped personality.

He's highly intelligent, sought after by the Wen and Jin both, the only one able to decipher Wei Wuxian's notes.

He chases thrills and highs, often to extremes, but when offered stability and kind encouragement, he settles down. The fact that he spends the rest of his life trying to recreate that life in Yi City shows he really treasured having that, possibly for the first time in his life.

As far as we can tell, he's the only character in the show we see use demonic cultivation and spiritual cultivation simultaneously.

Headcanons and theories: Xue Yang has ADHD. You can see it in his physical restlessness, as well as his brilliant outside-the-box way of thinking. He also struggles with Cluster B personality disorder issues (antisocial and borderline personality, more specifically) caused and/or exacerbated by his childhood lack of family, and the physical trauma he suffered (issues including contempt for authorities, risk-seeking behaviour, lack of empathy and remorse, criminal lifestyle, violent outbursts, abandonment issues, alexitymia and difficulty grasping and reacting to emotions in both himself and others). He also suffers from chronic pain - crushing is one of the most severe kinds of physical trauma, and will mess up not only the bones that he described as all broken, but nerves and tendons as well. There's very little chance he would have escaped having his hand crushed without permanent damage and pain.

Having been bitterly abused by the world, he lashes out in turn, reveling in cruelty and violence and the sense of power it gives him, the feeling of never being vulnerable again. But when shown patience, kindness, fondness... He treasures it. He can't fully grasp it, but he yearns for it, for the sense of connection he's never had, for the stability, discovering healthier coping mechanisms and outlets than all he had before... Finding someone who accepts him as he is. That life becomes so important to him that when he loses it, he can never move on, only wasting away in a dead city, trying desperately to get it all back.

At a surface glance, Xue Yang is careless, cruel and laughing at the world. Underneath, he's full of restless rage and resentment. And under that... he is afraid.

He can't admit that, even to himself, but a lot of what he does is about proving to himself that no one can hurt him again, and if they do, at least he's not afraid. Wang Haoxuan said in one interview that Xiao Xingchen not only made Xue Yang feel loved but protected, and that really hit me hard. Because that's really it. His life in Yi City didn't just make him feel happy. It made him feel safe. Maybe for the first time since he was that sunny, carefree child.

So having mapped out this solid character profile and what mechanisms lie beneath his actions, I can go on and put him in any number of other scenarios and be able to guess pretty well how he might react!

Does he feel threatened? He always strikes out at any perceived threat with disproportionate force to neutralize it before it can hurt him. Is he happy? He can be very dedicated to the people important to him. Is he sad? He can't parse his own emotions very well - when Wei Wuxian confronts him about why he wants Xiao Xingchen back, he refuses to admit it is because he misses him, even if that might have actually won him more sympathy and a better chance to get Wei Wuxian's help - instead he sneers and maintains it's just so he can keep tormenting him. A lot of strong emotions just translate to "feeling something weird... must be rage" for Xue Yang.

I have some more Xue Yang analysis meta posts scattered around my tumblr blog - I don't have links handy, but if you just scroll my xue yang tag, you should be able to find them. Meta about his relationship with food/hunger is one, another is a more in-depth analysis of his trauma-shaped personality and personality disorders, and yet another of his only perceived worth being tied to his usefulness.

Long rambly response, but I hope it can be of some help! 😁👍

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 22 part one

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Not Quite Like Old Times

We ended the previous episode in daylight, with Lan Wangji putting Wei Wuxian and swordpoint and declaring his undying love lecturing him about his lack of sword skills.

We start this episode in full night, with the two of them sitting on a roof together. Presumably they spent the missing scenes getting dinner in the mess hall, doing some laundry, and definitely not making out. Fic writers, do your thing.

Finally, FINALLY, Lan Wangji has chilled out enough to actually sit and listen to Wei Wuxian, instead of yelling at and/or physically attacking him. The Zoloft is really helping!

Wei Wuxian is indulging in romantic recollections of their first rooftop encounter. Lan Wangji, who has loved him since he first laid eyes on him and who wrote a whole song with an entire music video about their love, featuring that very same rooftop encounter, shuts him down so completely he might as well have whipped out Bichen again.

First he corrects his description of events by pointing out they were fighting, not talking, back then. Then when Wei Wuxian continues in his charming, smiley reminiscing vein, Lan Wangji says "things change, how could they stay the same" with a deep, sad, weariness.

He seems like an old man in this moment, and I feel for him, really, I do. But he's not the one who's carrying the actual essence of death around inside him. Wei Wuxian is being much more generous in this interaction than Lan Wangji is.

Wei Wuxian thanks him for not narkng to Jiang Yanli about the whole talisman/forced suicide/ghost hummer/ghost flaying thing he did back in Yiling. Like there is any way Lan Wangji would ever tell Jiang Yanli, of all people, something like that about Wei Wuxian.  He's lying to his own brother to cover for Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian totally doesn't get it.

(more after the cut)

Unfortunately, there's no reason Wei Wuxian SHOULD get it, at this point; Lan Wangji has not communicated anything but disapproval to him since his return, and Wei Wuxian, despite their (apparently temporary) mental linkup in the Turtle cave, is not a mind reader.

Lan Wangji is so hurt here, and Wei Wuxian appears to ignore that, continuing to smile and laugh; he’s still sunny, still happy. Seriously, they are so tonally out of step with each other in this conversation, it's excruciating.

Lan Wangji: I’m feeling good about my tear-holding-back ability Wei Wuxian: do I look more fuckable sitting up? Or leaning back?  

But every one of these smiles is an absolute lie. This is Wei Wuxian appeasing an authority figure; baffling with bullshit and skating by on charm. This is not a young man confiding in his soulmate.

Even when the conversation shifts, and they talk seriously about what is going on with him, Wei Wuxian is barely confiding anything. He briefly acknowledges that he was in the Burial Mounds for three months, and shudders at the memory, but Lan Wangji doesn't respond to that other than to look away from his face.

This is almost the last thing Wei Wuxian will ever say to anyone about that experience.  He only alludes to it again when Jiang Cheng visits the settlement and talks smack about their corpse turnips. Lan Wangji says he wants to know why Wei Wuxian’s cultivation changed, but he really doesn’t; he just wants to convince him to change it back.

Wei Wuxian explains about using Lan clan techniques to protect his temperament, as well as the flute and talismans, to control the resentful energy. This is a good reminder that Wei Wuxian was never a bad student. He was an outstanding cultivator within the Jiang Clan, and he learned a hell of a lot during his time in Gusu, despite getting expelled for fighting.

His original golden core was stronger than Jiang Cheng's, even though he apparently started cultivating later. Yes, he fell asleep during meditation that one time in Episode 43, but that's not because he's bad at meditating, it's because he was tired from getting railed all night by his boyfriend stabbed in the gut by his nephew.

Lan Wangji eventually manages to ask him a question like an interested fellow human being sharing knowledge, instead of like an authoritarian dick calling him to account.  

Side note: I still am flopping around trying to find good-sounding English terms for Chinese philosophical concepts. I kind of like "ghost path" vs "sword path" for the two styles of cultivation - I don't know where I saw that, apologies to the translator. I like "necromancy" for the part where the dead are reanimated and controlled, because we definitely have that in English. But there are many layers of nuance in these conversations that English is not equipped to render in a natural-sounding way.

Lan Wangji tells him, again, that it's dangerous, but this time he does it in a gentler and more poetic way, saying it's like taking grain from a burning fire, and says he's in danger of becoming the novel version of Wei Wuxian a demonic cultivator.  Wei Wuxian, also gently and seriously, says he knows.

Then he immediately goes back to his lightest tone and promises, with his three-fingers gesture, that he will not fall into demonic cultivation. This gesture is basically the Wei Wuxian "I am totally fucking lying" salute.

He is totally fucking lying, and he MUST know it. He's baking the Yin tiger amulet every day during his meditation, getting ready to use it against Wen Ruohan, getting ready to take over his army of the dead.

He has the audacity to ask Lan Wangji, "do you believe me?" and Lan Wangji, also totally fucking lying, nods.  Their relationship is just as broken right now as it was before their courtyard sparring session.

You can tell it's broken, because after they've reached this apparent place of peace, Wei Wuxian just hops down off the roof and LEAVES Lan Wangji sitting by himself. When has Wei Wuxian ever been like "gotta go!" with Lan Wangji? The last time they were here, he spent the night sleeping on the roof tiles just so he could be near him.

As he leaves, Lan Wanji stands up and says "let me help you." Wei Wuxian is not a fan of that idea, at all, if his expression is any guide.

He agrees, though, and leaves smiling, apparently for real, but maybe just practicing for all the fake smiles in his future.

Hooray for War

In the morning, Nie Mingjue makes an angry speech to the 2 dozen cultivators who apparently make up the army. Extras are expensive, y'all.

The senior cultivators are standing to the right or left of him, with the Lan brothers bracketing the Yunmeng sibs. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng are both staking their claim to Wei Wuxian, while Lan Xichen is standing in the spot closest to Nie Mingjue; Nie Huaisang is on the opposite side with the Jins.

All of the random cultivators yell a war chant in response to Nie Mingjue's speech, while the senior cultivators are like, we don't have to do that yelling stuff, thank goodness.

Nie Mingjue's war outfit includes metal (ish) epaulets on his shoulders and a totally not-kinky belt featuring multiple rings with nothing attached to them (yet) and an angry demon face right above his junk.

Nie Mingjue says we're going to storm into Nightless city and I'm going to chop off Wen Ruohan's head! By which he means, I'm going to get captured and get my ass beat, and then my murder-babie ex-boyfriend who had this belt specially made for me is going to stab Wen Ruohan in the back while he's distracted. They do say no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Side note: Baxia makes a loud metallic "shnk" noise when NMJ takes it off his back during this speech, even though Baxia does not have a scabbard. You do you, Baxia.

All the senior cultivators file out down the center while everyone else parts to let them pass. Then everybody does the Electric Slide.

Jiang Cheng tells Wei Wuxian they should go ahead of the main force to get some killing in early, but Wei Wuxian just pulls a face and looks down, staying with Lan Wangji. 

Jiang Cheng is disappointed, and no doubt takes this as a sign of WWX choosing LWJ over him. But actually, WWX can't fight side-by-side with Jiang Cheng without showing his weakness.

LWJ and WWX exchange one of their unspoken "let's go" eye touches and get ready to ride out together with the main force. 

Lan Wangji is still super, super sad. Wei Wuxian is still fake. But something is starting to knit together between them, and once they can hit a battlefield together, it will get a lot stronger.

On A Horse With No Name

Everyone rides out on horses, which will presumably get eaten somewhere along the way, because they appear to travel on foot after this. While Wei Wuxian practices his horseback-flute-twirling, Lan Wangji asks why Wei Wuxian didn't go with the forward force to fight.

Wei Wuxian says that he has a case of the don'wannas, and Lan Wangji snarkily points out that he used to like fighting. Wei Wuxian reacts, just as he did at the end of their sword fight, with embarrassment, and doesn't answer.

Lan Wangji, sweetie. You are really not helping. 

At this point, despite their ongoing fighting, Wangxian are clearly together again. Lan Wangji isn't riding with his brother; he's RIGHT next to Wei Wuxian, and will stay close to him through the rest of the campaign.

Nie Huaisang hollers "Wei-Xiong" from the top of the battlements and tells him to take care. Wei-Xiong lifts his flute in acknowledgement while Nie Huaisang looks worried. He doesn't tell Nie Mingjue or Lan Wangji to take care, just Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian is his particular friend, more than Lan Wangji is, but he may also be concerned because he can tell that Wei Wuxian isn't well.

Nie Huaisang hasn't yet developed the deep cynicism that he calls upon in his quest to avenge his brother, but he has always been a voracious collector of information, and he is keenly observant.

Side note: what the fuck is going on with this sculpture? Kudos to the artist. This has beautiful forms, and is weird and disturbing. The main head is wearing a horned skull on its forehead, small ungulates that I hesitate to call “deer” chilling on its horns, and...snakes? biting its ears? 

Boring Wen Interlude

Wen Ruohan is waving his hands around. Sigh. This is one of the more boring villain performances ever, and it's not the actor’s fault. They could have given him a sidekick to yell at or something, so we could get more than just hand waving. I’ve given up screen capping any of this; there are more interesting things to look at. 

Battle Moves

Jin Zixuan and Jiang Cheng and their forces have an extended fight scene with a bunch of puppet dudes and stuntmen in harnesses. 

It's pretty fun to watch. (Fanvid with more over here)

The gist of the fighting scenes is that Wen Ruohan is getting stronger, and Klingons are hard to beat.

Battle Planning

Finally we see a sidekick with Wen Ruohan, although he's blurry so it's hard to tell that he is totally Meng Yao.

The Sunshotters have set up a Battle Camp Playset. It's got chunks of gates and walls that don't connect to anything, like a Duplo set. It's just randomly open for most of the back area so that anyone can walk in. 

They've got a cage of hilarious definitely-not-zombies set up, and the rest of the wounded cultivators are lying on the ground. 

The main battle trio go chill in Nie Mingjue's incredibly fancy tent. They talk it over and say it's impossible to kill unkillable enemies, "even when we have millions of troops." And by “millions” they mean “dozens.”  

Nie Mingjue decides the way to handle it is to kill the leader and everyone else will collapse, because he has watched vampire movies and the last season of Game of Thrones and that's how it works. Watching the last season of Game of Thrones is why he is so angry all the time  He says he's going to sneak into Nightless City and assassinate Wen Ruohan.

Okay, first of all, Nie Mingjue can sneak? I don't believe it.  Second of all, if that was possible, why didn't he do it as soon as Wen Ruohan attacked his clan?

Nie Mingjue wants to take the biggest risk because he's the commander in chief, which is not how commanding is supposed to work, but okay.

He says if he dies, Zewu Jun will take over. Jiang Cheng starts to protest but Zewu Jun appears as if conjured, and shows them a map that will...dear GOD his hands are beautiful.

It's a helpful map, painted in multiple colors with careful writing on it, so if anyone were to show it to Nie Huaisang he would probably go "oh cool Meng Yao painted that" because anyone who could paint that well probably spent a fair amount of time at it on a regular basis. But, Nie Huaisang isn't here so, nope.

It’s always nice to see Jiang Cheng smile.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Waniji examine some of the puppets to see what's up. It's transmitted by touch, and Lan Wangji says that curing one dude takes three months of spiritual power. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Writing Prompt: Missing scene! How did they get from the fight in the courtyard to the talk on the roof? 

Soundtrack: 1. Shine on You Crazy Diamond, by Pink Floyd 2. Electric Boogie, by Marcia Griffiths

[rei-the-head-shaker]

reveal your watch & rewatch drama list

got tagged by @scarefox Thank you! *^* I'm sorry for taking so long!

CURRENTLY WATCHING:

KinnPorsche (TH)

Star and Sky: Sky in Your Heart (TH)

Astrophile (TH)

KeiXYaku: Abunai Aibou (JP)

Devil Sister (TH)

My Ride (TH)

Rainbow Prince (PH)

(HAVE BEEN) ON HOLD (FOR SOME TIME):

The Lover (KR)

Boys Over Flower (KR)

Crush (CH)

Dear Diary (CH)

Final Fantasy XIV: Hikari no Otousan (JP)

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (KR)

It's Okay, That's Love (KR)

Meteor Garden (CH)

Moorim School (KR)

Orange Marmalade (KR)

Pinocchio (KR)

Remember You (TH)

Squid Game (KR)

The Untamed (CH)

STARTING SOON:

Mama Gogo (TH)

Oops! Mr. Superstar Hit on Me (TH)

Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area - Part 1 (KR)

3 Will Be Free (TH)

REWATCHING:

KinnPorsche (multiple times in a row probably, with many different people)

Not Me (I'll force my little brother to (re-)watch it with me, like I did for Bad Buddy)

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

GAP (TH)

Never Let Me Go (TH)

Moonlight Chicken (TH)

(Many other things I have lists and list full of dramas to watch)

I have no idea who to tag, many blog I follow already did that, so I don't know! Whoever wants to do it is welcome!

[fitfmybeloved]

✨ TAG 9 PEOPLE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEIR INTERESTS!

thank you for the tag @loulovehome, @quelsentiment and @chironmybeloved 💕💗💕

MUSIC

fav genre? oh maybe like pop, indie, soft rock??

fav artist? ok this is a list idc: louis, sam fender, awfultune, cavetown, zayn, måneskin..theres more but yeah, for now these are the top

fav song? ok right now i want to say neptune by sleeping at last or cigar by tamino

5 fav lyrics? ohhh ok here we go - 

I'm only honest when it rains// An open book, with a torn out page// And my inks run out// I wanna love you but I don't know how (the entire song honestly but anyway this is Neptune)

Mom, would you wash my back?// This once, and then we can forget// And I'll leave what I'm chasing// For the other girls to pursue - class of 2013

patroclus, dont be stupid i’m not falling down// i am growing wings and flying away - achilles’ response (it counts)

And I'm too tired to be tough// Just wanna be loved by you - defenceless (this shit man...)

Your lips, my lips, apocalypse  - apocalypse (just this)

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fav book genre? uhh i guess like dystopian but also ya??? oh and fantasy too 

fav writer? madeline miller, cecelia ahern

fav book? oof, maybe the song of achilles? 

fav book series? anne of green gables, dude i really want ot go reread all of it now

comfort book? thank you for the memories by cecelia ahern

perfect book to read on a rainy day? any mystery book

5 quotes from your fav book that you know by heart? i dont know any quotes by heart :/

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fav tv/movie genre? for movies i prefer action, for tv shows, horror/thriller or romcom 

fav movie? i want to say how to train your dragon but im sure there’s something else that i cant think of right now

comfort movie? real steel!

movie you watch every year?probably real steel

fav tv show? either the untamed or stranger things

comfort tv show? i dont think i have one?

most rewatched tv show? ok im not counting all the disney channel ones that come on tv all the time, so it’s the untamed

ultimate otp? wangxian

5 fav characters? lan wangji, wei wuxian, steve harrington, hiccup, and jake peralta (ive watched only a few seasons but yeah) 

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

thank you again!! this was so much fun!!! im tagging @zaynsclitoris, @purpleflicker, @fivescrews, @lousfaerie, @finexbright, @lostintranslationbut1d and @hometothecanyonmoon (feel free to ignore if you dont want to or have already done it!!)

[wangxiandecoded]

Episode 9

Previous Episode | Next Episode

(Spoilers for the whole show ahead!)

Lan Zhan remembers what Wei Ying had mentioned about the puppets the first night at Cloud Recesses showing he remembers quite a lot about him, he just doesn’t let on.

NHS is a big mood in this scene, an absolutely useless gay depending on two warrior gays to save his life. But he’s hindering their flawless team work so Lan Zhan uses the silencing spell on him.

This dialogue is so uncalled for and delivered in a way that makes you think Wei Ying just wants to see Lan Zhan have an outburst, kick back and admire how hot that is.

Wei Ying’s “you can go ahead and blame me for everything that is wrong with this world but my man has done nothing wrong in his life ever” smile.

You didn’t have to expose him like that but thank you, Jiang Cheng.

Wei Ying’s “sorry I accidentally did a hetero thing, let us please not remember this for the sake of my clean conscience” smile.

Yet Another Plot Device To Show Off Wangxian’s Chemistry

The Dire Owl subplot is one of the dreamiest scenes on the show and a fight sequence that proves Wangxian own the patent for words like soulmates, symmetry, equilibrium, balance, yin and yang, mirrors and their derivatives.

Here’s something that’s bothered me : Wei Ying calls for Lan Zhan twice and he doesn’t answer him the first time even though he looks searchingly in his direction. It is only when they knock into each other the second time that he explains the fog is a hallucination caused by the Dire Owl. (But of course Lan Zhan doesn’t need to answer him, the red string of fate will inevitably help them find the other.) 

Clear-headed as he is, did he for a second believe that the Dire Owl was making him hallucinate Wei Ying’s voice the first time, and is that why he ignored him? Because Lan Zhan’s mind could be the spotless sea of tranquillity it is, but Wei Ying has now become the shrillest thought that breaks through and demands his attention. He doesn’t respond though, so he must have been sure Wei Ying is safe.

For Lan Zhan, Wei Ying will do even the impossible. He’ll try his best to seal off all his senses and mute his head that’s forever brimming with thoughts. 

Ok, pause. I cried when I watched this for the first time and let me tell you why. The implications of this fight scene are astounding. We all know Wangxian are soulmates who can confront anything together but did we know that they could feel and find their way to each other even when their senses are completely shut? I mean, how attuned to someone’s existence do you have to be to achieve that? They are hyper focusing on nothing but the Dire Owl and yet moving perfectly with eyes closed in an outrageously impressive synchrony. They can feel the other’s presence and have utmost trust in each other to shield their direction. They move as if they’ve spent infinite lifetimes by the other’s side mastering this skill; they leap, spin and swerve like they think with the same mind. The way they fit together is to die for, nearly impossible and the legendary stuff from stories that we all wish we could have with someone in this existence. If I was whatever that stood in Wangxian’s way, I’d be terrified and call it a day. They are not just soulmates, they are The Original Formidable Soulmates™. 

Wangxian Are Here To Kick Queerbaiters In The Ass

This fantastic display of battle prowess by the two heroes fighting back-to-back is one of the many things that convinced me The Untamed is not like the other stories out there. Simply because every stop of their journey is too romantic and the others don’t come close enough. It is an injustice to compare or group their relationship with the ‘dude bro, no homo’ chemistry that bromances usually sell. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are two people who are so passionately devoted to and absolutely belong with each other, they are soulmates not just in the minds of the audience or because the creators were afraid to make them something more, but soulmates by their own admission. There are other factors that strengthen their already supergay case like the absence of a female love interest in their lives and their flirty interactions being genuinely adorable as heck, as opposed to just isolated instances of b(romance). And it really, really, helps our case that the novel is canonically gay but it is also remarkable that a show that’s teeming with gay subtext can exist at all and go on to become one that is widely embraced by everyone, casual watchers and shippers alike. 

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying's chemistry gives all the Western superheroes a run for their money. We no longer have to wonder what it looks like when two queer heroes who are in love get to kick ass together. See, this is what happens when you have the guts to invest in a gay romance. This show looked censorship in the eye and said gay rights anyway. (I’m going to digress from this show for a sec and just plainly weep for all the queer pairings on mainstream media that we shipped but couldn’t see the light of day because of the homophobic people behind them. It is great that the truth still lives in our hearts and the millions of words on ao3. But life feels a lot sweeter to know with certainty that our heroes are in love this time and celebrate the fact that the people who made this show knew and honoured that very well, that they honoured the audience. In my eyes, CQL is the unparalleled forefather of gay romance from now on. Because reading these epic queer stories is one thing but watching Wangxian’s story unfold along with the entire world means believing in the power of gay love. And seeing our favorite heroes in action makes the characters we look up to so much more real.)

Lan Zhan comes flying like the Prince Charming he is to break the shackles of heteronormativity trying to kill his soulmate! Hell yeah, king! Save us from that straight trope that’s been choking us since time immemorial.

We did not just see Wei Ying pretend to be dead so he can outsmart the bird and simultaneously get Lan Zhan to save him just because he likes that sort of thing. Nope, totally didn’t happen. 

Oh, hello Ah Yuan! Details like this prove the show is well worth multiple rewatches.

There is nothing more uniquely Wangxian than the million thoughts they share with each other through mere glances, the frequency of which steadily increases. Who knew you could speak with zero articulation? Not having a soulmate sure sucks for the rest of us mortals. I doubt the audience can truly grasp the depth of their communication but I’m pretty sure it goes like this most of the time. 

Wei Ying teasing Lan Zhan that the Goddess Statue tried to kill him because she had a crush on him is all kinds of hilarious. Lan Zhan looks somewhere in between “Wei Ying, we’re talking about the fate of the universe, stop being gay for 2 seconds please,” and "STFU, just because I can find my way to you blind doesn't mean I will hesitate to Silence you again."

Wei Ying Is Crumbling All Of Lan Zhan’s Walls

Most people maintain their distance from Hanguang-Jun, the Noblest Of Them All, he whose robes command respect and inspire fear. There is hence something very sweetly domestic about Wei Ying latching on to his silk tassel while subtext-whining, "Where are you going Lan Zhan, I refuse to live without you", and "Ugh Lan Zhan, you're so lost without me, ok fine, I'll help you.” It’s like he granted himself the lifetime entitlement of being Lan Zhan’s nuisance-companion the night they met, and thank goodness for that because Lan Zhan wasn’t going to let anyone into his life. Wei Ying is the exception who managed to charm his way into his heart and dissolve his barriers.

Notice Wei Ying even turns down free alcohol for Lan Zhan. And the sheer undisguised panic on his face that Lan Zhan is going to leave him alone after all the bonding activities he made sure they went through is endearing comedy at its peak. 

We see Lan Zhan no longer believes resolutely in His Ways and lets Wei Ying persuade him to believe there is a better one. This is a great 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 for them because they’re communicating.

Lan Zhan doesn’t fight him anymore, period. 

The Yin Iron starts acting up and Wei Ying is immediately there for Lan Zhan, gently grounding him. He can feel the horror and pain Lan Zhan has seen in the vision because of course he can. But does Lan Zhan see how much Wei Ying loves him and hurts for him? He has to. In moments like this, Wei Ying’s presence shows how wrong Lan Zhan is in wanting to do everything alone. We all need a friend in life. And it was destiny that led them to each other because their lives would’ve evidently been a lot lonelier without the other in it. 

Episode 9 shows Lan Zhan warming up to Wei Ying some more : he has stopped being antagonistic altogether, lets Wei Ying pull him around, freely accepts his help, shares many glances with him and is ready to blast anything that lays a finger on Wei Ying sky high. (Of course we see that Wei Ying exaggerates needing his help most of the time. He plays the “I’m a frail man desperately in need of Hanguang-Jun’s protection” card because swooning into the arms of his lover is one of his favorite things. And not even Lan Zhan calls him out for it. They’re just so whipped for each other.)

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Sophia Jirafe

Seven of Sophia Jirafe’s fics are at Gossamer, but more of her X-Files stories are at AO3 (as sophiahelix). I’ve recced some of my favorites of her stories here before, including Stones and Bones. She was active in the fandom during the show’s run and has never strayed far from fandom in general. She co-founded Glass Onion, a great multi-fandom mailing list that now has nearly 1,000 fics from 100 fandoms at AO3. Big thanks to Sophia Jirafe for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

It did initially, but so many old shows are on streaming now and getting discovered by new people, it makes sense.

I did get a comment from someone who said my first story under this name, posted in early 2000 when I was a college freshman, was older than her by a couple of months, and THAT took me aback.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

It was my first fandom, discovered when I was 17 and searching for info about the show on the school library computer, and it really shaped my whole life! I met a lot of people I still know today (mostly in non-fannish venues like FB, though I do still have some connections in fandom), and learned a lot about writing and just life generally, since I was younger than most of fandom at the time.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

I started off on a tiny forum at a website called Squirrel’s Nest, but I kept seeing people thanking Scullyfic in fic headers and eventually I was able to join the mailing list (which was capped to 500 members). Scullyfic was everything to me — I made friends, betas, discussed the show, learned about all kinds of things on Off-Topic Fridays, etc. A lot of those friends, I would email with or more often chat on AIM (individual or these sprawling group chats that would go on all day), and then at the end of 2001 we started migrating to Livejournal. I was getting into Buffy more by then, but it was still mostly the same crowd of people I knew from Scullyfic.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

I feel like it started me on a whole life path really — finding that my deep obsession with fiction could be channeled like that and shared with other people, as well as deepening my writing. Online fandom has been a major part of my social life for over 20 years now, and I love the mix of getting excited about things with friends and also the creative outlet.

My corner of X-Files fandom in particular was just very calm and enjoyable for the most part, full of older professional women who were happy to be friends and give me advice about all kinds of things, and it really set the bar for me with my online interactions. Now I’m almost 40 and trying to be that person for my younger friends, as well as having no patience for toxicity and in-fighting in my fandom spaces.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

A combination of the creepy conspiracy angle and just adoring Scully. I remember how mysterious and fascinating the show seemed when I discovered it right before S5, and there was no way to find out more except to keep watching and hoping they explained. Scully was so smart and tough and beautiful and interesting, and as a teen I was just captivated by her (and the UST, though I didn’t care about Mulder as much).

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I ran across it a couple times early on but felt embarrassed by the concept, but then I read the first in Karen Rasch’s Words series and suddenly it clicked for me. After a while I started daydreaming my own conversations between them, very similar to what happens to me now when I’m getting into a new pairing, so after reading tons of recommended fic by big authors, I started writing my own (the 3-4 stories I posted in high school are all wiped from the internet now, though).

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Good memories, though because it was my senior year of high school and college, I know a lot of it is just tied to that time in my life, and also being in my very first fandom. I will rewatch episodes from time to time, but I basically never revisit former fandoms because they’re kind of like exes, even if I finished on a good note. I also think my taste in fic has changed (and there isn’t the same novelty of “characters I like getting together omg!”)

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

So many! None of them had quite the same combination of excellent central architecture (especially pre-AO3) and a really high level of discussion and friendliness without being enormous, but I’ve loved them all in their own ways. I’ve done fandom on LJ/DW, Tumblr, Discord, and now on Twitter, and I think I miss the mailing list days the most. You didn’t have to repeat yourself so much in multiple conversations, you weren’t character limited, and the discussion was all in one place, with personal stuff more confined to your side conversations. Discord is a little like that, but it moves too fast and there’s too much noise for my taste.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Heh, after X-Files I went through a whole phase of faves in the Scully vein — Buffy, Aeryn Sun, Kara Thrace, etc. Like many people I’ve shifted primarily into m/m in the last decade (Sherlock, YOI, and recently The Untamed have been my major fictional fandoms, along with a lot of sports RPF), but for non-fannish shows I’m always looking for awesome new female characters, like Elizabeth on the Americans, Peggy on Mad Men, Nadja on What We Do in the Shadows, etc. And I do LOVE Killing Eve and have written a little f/f over there.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I’ll rewatch favorite episodes occasionally, and I keep thinking about a full rewatch but it takes so much time! I never saw the second movie, and I didn’t finish the first of the new seasons because I was hating it, so it’s a little hard for me to think fannishly about them when I disliked basically everything after “Je Souhaite” so much (as far as I’m concerned the show ends there).

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

X-Files no, but yeah I’m still very active in fandoms.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I lost all my saved fic several computers ago, but I recall loving “Blue Christmas” by Plausible Deniability and “Diamonds and Rust” by MustangSally (obviously everything she wrote was great).

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Looking at my X-Files fic, I can’t believe how short it is and how comparatively little of it there is (I have lost track of a few ficlets). It felt like such a big deal to finish anything back then! I think my favorite remains Alphabetum, which involved a tricky structure and 5 elements given by people as part of the Scullyfic Improv challenge, where you had a week to write a story around those elements.

My favorite of my recent fic in fictional fandoms is probably the GoT/YOI crossover novel I wrote a couple years ago, for a completely opposite experience to this (and proof you can grow as a writer with a lot of effort!)

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

It’s honestly hard to imagine going back (like I said, I usually don’t), but I guess I could get inspired by something.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I certainly still write, and I do have to give credit to XF fandom and Scullyfic in particular for giving me the start I got, where I really wanted to be writing good fiction. The few things I wrote in high school were just me jamming out romantic cliches, but the people I was lucky to know in XF fandom showed me that “just” fanfic can still aspire to be high quality. I am a much, much better and more disciplined writer than I was back then, but I might never have started on this path without fandom friends encouraging me.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Usually just daydreaming about emotional dynamics between characters/people, but sometimes something specific in canon or real life (I write a lot of RPF) gets me going, or maybe something I read.

What's the story behind your pen name?

When I wrote for X-Files, I picked “Sophia Jirafe” combining my favorite first name with a fancy spelling for my favorite animal (I was 18! Don’t judge!) Over on Livejournal, my friend Jintian and I initially shared an account with the same name as our website, double_helix, and when she got her own account I changed to sophia_helix, which is now sophiahelix just about everywhere. A little clunky, but I like the continuity (and I do run across old friends who remember the name).

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

The friends I’ve known for a very long time know about it, but we have never talked about it in depth. My husband, who I met not long after getting into fandom, also knows about it, and he’s encouraging and also a writer so we talk all the time. I told my mom in college and she was pretty dismissive, so we haven’t talked about it since (but my younger sister knows and is cool about it).

When I was younger, it was something I shared readily (I bonded with a new friend in law school I saw looking at LJ), but now I don’t really bring it up with new acquaintances.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

I just made a Carrd the other day with all my various fannish addresses (Twitter, locked fannish Twitter, AO3, Tumblr)

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Just that it really was a high quality fandom — so much excellent long casefic, so many cool down to earth people, just generally a great launching place for a young fan. The friendships I made with older people were really important to me, and it makes me sad to see a lot of younger people now getting upset about the idea of anyone over a certain age being in their fandom spaces. I hope someday fandom can get back to appreciating that people of all ages can be the fandom type, and that everyone brings something different to the community.

(Posted by Lilydale on December 1, 2020)

[neuxue]

Hi Lia, I want to thank you for this blog. I read it episode by episode as I watched 'The Untamed' for the second time, and it was SO helpful. The first time round, I was clinging to the plot by my fingernails for much of the time - due to reliance on subtitles and the multiplicity of names - and needed to watch it again to appreciate it properly. Second time through with you at my shoulder, I picked up SO much more, and can't thank you enough. It's been like having a friend to discuss it with

You are very welcome! I’m glad you found it helpful (to be fair, I also feel like I need to rewatch it to appreciate it properly, if only because oh man some things sure hit different in hindsight!). But yeah, jumping into a new genre does often come with a bit of a learning curve - honestly, liveblogging was probably a large part of what helped me keep things vaguely straight in my head (insert obligatory ‘nothing in this story is straight’ joke here). It’s like taking notes, but more fun!

[reluming]

2020 Year in Review

Tagged by @vowel-in-thug @nettlekettle and @marsza! Thanks, you’re all darlings 💕 It’s the last few hours of 2020 and I’m finally doing this! 

Top 5 movies you saw in 2020

Do rewatches count? If so this list would be like entirely rewatches lmao and Portrait of a Lady on Fire would definitely be at the top of my list. If rewatches don’t count...

Parasite

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

The Personal History of David Copperfield

Alice Júnior

The Half of It

Also an honorary mention must go to Sisterhood bc although I rated it lower than the above movies (I still rated it 4 stars, but all the above movies got 4½ or 5 stars), it’s the only movie I watched this year which I still think about all the time. Sad gay East Asian cinema always gets me!!!

Top 5 TV shows you watched in 2020

I just finished a rewatch of the entirety of Black Sails so my top 5 list could just be Black Sails x5 because it deserves all that and more, always. But if we must...

Work in Progress

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

I May Destroy You

The Untamed

Ghosts

Some honorary mentions: The Owl House and Teenage Bounty Hunters!

Top 5 songs of 2020

This has been the year I got really into MUNA... I do just want to put 5 whole MUNA songs on here but uhhh let me try

Halsey - Graveyard

MUNA - It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby

Emmy the Great - Dandelions/Liminal

Taylor Swift - seven

Vienna Teng - City Hall

(I’ve adored Vienna Teng since forever but just this month I got to watch a remote concert she did and it was wonderful and I watched it with my gf and I cried MULTIPLE TIMES.)

Top 5 books you read in 2020

I've barely read anything this year and the last book I finished was back in September... WHOOPS!

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

Gravity Is The Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty

5 positive things that happened in 2020

My girlfriend!! 💖 We started dating October last year and she is just the loveliest person on earth and she’s absolutely changed my life. I’ve fallen so deeply in love with her this year and I feel so lucky and honoured to know her.

I started playing D&D for the first time and I adore my D&D group and our DM is amazing (ily, Zoë!!). It’s just been a source of so much joy and laughter this year.

I got a permanent job! I’m working with a team I love and in an area I care about and my contract is no longer just a temporary one. I’m so relieved!

I wrote just over 50k of fanfic! The Dimension 20 fandom has been such a huge ray of sunshine this year and I’m so pleased to have found this wonderful lil D&D actual play show <3

I’ve started to use they/them pronouns exclusively in some areas of my life, including at work. Whilst it’s not easy to get everyone to remember those pronouns, my colleagues have been very supportive on the whole. Last year when I started trying out they/them pronouns I wasn’t sure about how they would feel, but 2020 has taught me that I really do vastly prefer they/them over she/her, and I’m extremely happy to have figured that out and to have such supportive people in my life!

Not sure who’s done this already as I haven’t been on Tumblr much lately but I’m going to tag: @sidewaystime @drivingsideways @tweetsongs @astrabysm @bazemayonnaise @naomiherne @andlightplay

Happy new year, everyone! 💖

[farmerlan]

Farmer Lan’s Rewatch Guide to The Untamed - Episode 1

HERE WE GO I am strapped in with my Topo Chico and ready to take on Episode 1 of The Untamed. It’s going to be wild. I have no idea what I’m doing. If you’re reading this and have a better suggestion on how I should format everything, feel free to tell me because right now this is just the diary of a madwoman.

CAUTION: Due to the chronological differences between the novel and the drama, there will be instances where I bring in references further along in the novel and/or drama to explain what is going on, so there will be spoilers if you haven’t finished the series.

[Starting scene – there’s a voiceover of people rejoicing over WWX’s death, we see a chaotic battlefield and people fighting over the Stygian Tiger Amulet (here forth abbreviated as the STA because abbreviations are my jam). WWX commits suicide by falling off a cliff, LWJ tries to stop him and then JC sends him to the depths of hell. Flash to the present when some storyteller is narrating this story, and we’re told 16 years has passed since the Nightless City incident and WWX is seemingly gone forever – although his body has never been recovered despite extensive search efforts.]

Differences from the novel:

In the novel, there is no mention of clans trying to fight over the STA during the bloodbath at Nightless City. It’s definitely true that the existence of the STA and WWX’s unchecked power led to the actions of the Nightless City, but it was a combination of multiple events that led up to the battle, and not an explicit cause and effect.

It is also explicitly stated during Chapter 1 as people recount the tale of WWX that he destroyed the STA prior to his death.

In the novel, it is stated in Chapter 1 and confirmed by WWX himself (in Chapter 43) that WWX’s death was caused by his own power rebounding upon him and he ended up being torn apart by his own undead creations. So unfortunately the epic cliff scene was entirely scripted for the drama.

13 years has passed in the novel vs. 16 years in the drama. I can’t remember if there was an exact reason why they switched up the timeline, but just know that the timeline of the novel series of events itself is also very confusing and I will probably do a post with my take on it sometime later.

[Cut to present – WWX is summoned by MXY’s sacrifice, there’s some weird mask action going on, WWX creates a ruckus at the arrival of the Gusu disciples, they set up shop with the Demon Summoning flags, tell WWX to go wait inside and then they wait for the spirits to come their way.]

Differences from the novel:

The mask does not exist in the novel. In the novel, the body that WWX is summoned into is that of MXY’s, and MXY is a different person in every way from WWX in terms of face, height, etc. So everyone who sees WWX thinks he is MXY up until he finally reveals himself. It’s obviously a stylistic choice made to reflect why no one can recognize WWX in the drama series even though they are played by the same actor, because otherwise I can see how it can get confusing for viewers.

WWX is shown to be playing the WangXian melody in the room but this does not happen in the novel, although it does lead to a pretty epic snark from my favorite boy LJY about how awful WWX’s playing is (which IS in the novel, but happens later in the story instead). WWX does NOT use a flute at all until the Da Fan Shan arc in the novel. Also Jingyi, never stop being you.

It is not explicitly mentioned that MXY went to Lan Ling Jin sect in the novel at this current point, only that he was accepted as a disciple by a sect before being kicked out. We find this out later.

Other than that, the scenes with MXY closely follows the novel up until the Demonic Left Arm (DLA) to show up.

[WWX is hauled in to confess his crimes by Matriarch Mo, things go to shit in about 3 seconds and the disciples realize they need to call for backup STAT, the flare for LWJ is sent. WWX realizes this needs to end fast in order to avoid meeting LWJ and exposing himself. A-Tong becomes possessed by the DLA, dies, and then the DLA possesses Matriarch Mo. Attempts to restrain her fail and WWX revives the other now-undead Mos to fight her.]

Differences from the novel:

The sassy verbal takedown of Matriarch Mo by WWX is indeed in the novel and just as great.

The drama identifies the black marks on the victims’ necks as being caused by the STA. There is no such scene in the novel. Basically, there is no mention of the STA being the cause of ANY of this, because in the novel, it’s not.

In the novel, the disciples send flares for back up but are uncertain how quickly back up will arrive, and they definitely did not specifically call for LWJ. However, WWX realizes he needs to intervene to end this quickly because the spirit is too powerful for the disciples to deal with, and he can’t leave the Mo household until the revenge curse put upon him by MXY is lifted (i.e. until everyone MXY wants dead is dead).

A funny scene that gets left out of the drama is: Matriarch Mo leaps to attack LSZ, who can’t dodge in time. Instead, WWX literally KICKS LJY into her path because he knows that the Gusu robes are imbued with magical protective spells, so he basically used LJY as a human talisman as a last resort. LJY did not find this funny, and WWX plays the “I didn’t do anything, I have no idea what I just did and I can’t be held culpable because I’m batshit crazy” card. Ah, my boys.

 [LWJ appears just as Matriarch Mo appears to have gotten the upper hand, and subdues her with the POWER OF MUSIC dundun (also sensually massaging the guqin strings helloooo). WWX is hiding but HE IS HERE for all of his boo’s actions. LWJ clarifies that the DLA is a spiritual sword ghost with traces of the STA, everyone gasps because didn’t WWX die? OR DID HE NOT? Time will tell, my friends. Anyway, with the DLA subdued for now, LWJ hears the footsteps of WWX running away and chases after him but sees nobody. He thinks….”WEIYING IS IT REALLY YOU??” WWX A MYSERIOUS PERSON (to be revealed...but OK it’s NHS I told you there would be spoilers) gives money to the storyteller, and then we see WWX with Little Apple and he has one more wound left on his arm, indicating there’s someone else he needs to kill on behalf of MXY.]

Differences from the novel:

In the novel, WWX leaves the moment he hears LWJ’s guqin and does not stay to spectate.

See above re: no mention of what caused this, and certainly no discussion of the STA.

There’s no mention of LWJ suspecting that it is WWX in MXY’s body, or even suspecting that he has returned at all.

In the novel, the four wounds left as a physical reminder of the body count for the revenge curse is for the three members of the Mo family and for A-Tong. Therefore, WWX leaves the Mo family effectively free of his debt to MXY, but in the drama, he is shown to still have one remaining person left to kill…dun dun dun.

Storyteller man is not around in the novel – consider him a convenient voiceover tool for the drama ha. Thanks to the @redisthecolouroffate​ for the catch, I missed this but this is also the episode where NHS first shows up to reward the man for his storytelling, which is a nice bit of foreshadowing done by the show which is not in the novel at all.

Overall Thoughts

The drama does a really good job of setting the tone from the beginning. There’s not too much deviation here compared to the first five chapters of the novel (which covers this whole Ep 1 arc) since the majority of it was to set up the premise for the show and introduce our main characters.

The main difference here is we can see the drama is already setting itself up for the STA to play a much bigger role than in the novel. In the novel, our protagonists really have no idea what is behind the DLA at this point, and they certainly don’t immediately assert that it is a ‘sword ghost’ that has been tainted by the STA. In the novel, the only explanation for the DLA at present is in Chapter 5, when WWX notes that the spirit is more powerful than most, given that this spirit has already claimed three lives in the span of a few hours. WWX also deduced that this was the arm of a person who died by dismemberment, and to summarize the novel, the ghost arm is effectively trying to find the rest of its body. Until then, it moves between ‘live hosts’ like a parasite.

Also – WWX is also noted to be wearing badly applied make up in the novel but not in the drama. It is clarified in Chapter 1 that MXY was homosexual and was kicked out of his cultivation sect as he harassed a fellow male disciple and is now basically a gay lunatic, which is unfortunately not a great look in ye olden days.

Lastly, cute tidbit in the novel in Chapter 3 that didn’t make its way into the drama – WWX secretly marveled at LSZ’s knowledge and manners, and wondered “Who in that godforsaken, old-fashioned place (referring to the Cloud Recesses) could have brought him up/taught him so well?” OH YOU’LL FIND OUT WHO HA.

[neruto]

Tag Games!

I’ve been tagged by a bunch of people to do a bunch of different tag games!! (thank you all so much!) and decided to just put them all together onto one post c: so here we go (it’s gonna be long)! 

list my 10 favorite male characters from different fandoms!

tagged by: @wuatsui (thank you so much mandy!) 

naruto (naruto)

levi (snk)

hinata (haikyuu) 

izuku (bnha)

xie lian (tgcf)

lan wangji (mdzs) 

jin mori (goh)

tanjirou (kny) 

tetsuya (knb) 

shion (no.6) 

(as we can see...im a sucker for the main characters...sigh)..

spell out my url using songs!

tagged by: @stfudabi  and @wuatsui (thank you nea and mandy again!!) here we go! 

N: nothing helps by ONE OK ROCK  E: epiphany by BTS R: remembering sunday by all time low  U: UGH! by BTS T: TO THE BEAT by ateez O: outro: house of cards by BTS

this is just me showing im a bts stan...ahhhh ;;~;; there were so many songs i wanted to choose from sdjdjf 

13 songs i’ve been listening to lately 🎵

tagged by: @niwas (thank you mars!! <3) this is in no particular order!

moondust by jaymes young

ultraluminary by phillipa soo (from the movie over the moon) 

stay by bts

i can’t stop me by twice 

wuji (instrumental ver.) (from the untamed soundtrack) 

utter innocence by yu bin (from the untamed soundtrack) 

inception by ateez 

gurenge by LiSA 

we didn’t start the fire by billy joel 

we lost the summer by txt 

wait a minute! by willow 

already over by red 

big girls don’t cry by fergie 

i go through a cycle where i listen to the same like 20 songs on repeat for a month (if not longer) and then i dont listen to them again for a while (this playlist is all over the place dskfk)

Answer 30 questions and tag others 

tagged by: @rumprich (thank you ananya!!) 

name/nickname: alex

gender: g i r l 

star sign: gemini

height: 5′3

time: 12:32 

birthday: june 14

favorite bands: bts, txt, ateez, one okay rock, exo, all time low, fall out boy, wayv, etc...

favorite solo artist: lil nas x, the weekend, ariana grande, billy joel, khalid, halsey, etc. (i listen to more groups/bands) 

song stuck in my head: radio ga ga .... i listened to it today and its been on repeat in my head since ;;~;;

last movie: over the moon (its so cute! and so good!)

last show: jujutsu kaisen. currently rewatching bnha. 

when did i create this blog: july 2018~

what do i post: animanga, disney, things i find cute and aes 

last thing i googled: moon phases for 2021 (i’m working on my bullet journal lol) 

other blogs: lanszhan (my main blog that im mostly on), minsbutt (soft bts sideblog that im on occasionally), fytgcf (tgcf sideblog!) 

do i get asks: uhm sometimes? not really...but only because i haven’t really been active this past year...but more recently i have gotten some! (thank you to all the lovely people who sent me some!)

why i chose my url: naruto is my show...and i’ve been wanting the url for a while and finally on the off chance i checked to save it and it was free...and bam now we are here :)

following: 165 (i need more blogs to follow tbh..)

followers: 900+

average hours of sleep: uhm it depends..i can run on 5 but i prefer to try to get around 6~8

instruments: piano and violin  

what am i wearing: long sleeve navy blue shirt, some hot pink shorts, and christmas socks...(it’s sleepy time!!) 

dream job: uhm im not the type of person to really have a dream job tbh..but maybe either opening a bakery or being able to sell my art 

dream trip: south korea, japan, holland

favorite food: probably any kinda of pasta..

nationality: american

favorite song: hmmm...so far away by agustd 

last book read: tgcf by mxtx 

top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: a studio ghibli movie, atla, harry potter 

tagging: all the people who tagged me (to do the ones they didn’t tag me in!<3) and @tanchirou, @ocarinnas, @natsutakashi, @omijime, @kirstein-jean, @sakaguchis and @hyakkimaaru (you can do any one that you want, you can do multiple or all, or you can also completely ignore this and thats fine too!! <3) 

[thecolorsthaticantchange]

✨tag 9 people to learn more about their interest

thanks @skyyneverlookedsoblue for tagging me!!!

MUSIC

fav genre? idk i don’t think i have a favorite but i’ve always had a thing for classical, country, and pop. i also love musicals

fav artist? this is obvious

fav song? if i had to choose (which i guess i do) it would be still and too much to ask - niall horan

most listened song recently? to begin again - ingrid michaelson and zayn

song currently stuck in your head? demons - imagine dragons

5 fav lyrics?

Written on these walls are the colors that I can't change Leave my heart open but it stays right here in its cage I know that in the morning now I'll see us in the light upon a hill Although I am broken, my heart is untamed, still

story of my life - one direction

Therе's no right that I feel of late There's no light if my view's at stake And which life should I choose to take? What's left, is it room or space?

calamity - zayn malik

So tell me you want it A thousand miles away from the day that we started But I'm standing here with you, just trying to be honest If honesty means telling you the truth Then I guess we lost our focus And it's killing me that we could go to war like this But I'm standing here with you, just trying to be honest If honesty means telling you the truth Well, I'm still in love with you

still - niall horan

I hope that I'm not asking too much Just wanna be loved by you (Don't you be so defensive) And I'm too tired to be tough Just wanna be loved by you

defenceless - louis tomlinson

Still high with a little feeling, I see the smile as it starts to creep in It was there, I saw it in your eyes

home - one direction

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fav book genre? sci-fi and thrillers

fav writer? michael crichton and stephen king

fav book series? fourth grade me would never forgive me if i didn’t say harry potter

comfort book? the andromeda strain - michael crichton (i’m fucked up, okay?!) and any fic

perfect book to read on a rainy day? any

fav characters? luna lovegood and hermione granger

5 quotes from your fav book that you know by heart?

It is living, breathing, walking, and talking. Only we cannot see it, because it is happening too slowly. Rock has a lifespan of three billion years. we have a lifespan of sixty or seventy years. And the rock is not even aware of our existence because we are alive for only a brief instant of its lifespan. To it, we are like flashes in the dark.

the andromeda strain

You know what's wrong with scientific power? It's a form of inherited wealth. And you know what assholes congenitally rich people are.

jurassic park

It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love.

harry potter and the half-blood prince

If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

harry potter and the goblet of fire

Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.

the shining

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fav tv/movie genre? rom-com, sit-com, procedural, horror, sci-fi

fav movie? star wars episode 6 and jurassic park

comfort movie? the sound of music

movie you watch every year? hocus pocus at halloween and home alone at christmas

fav tv show? criminal minds, grey’s anatomy, shameless, supernatural, bones

comfort tv show? any show from my childhood

most rewatched tv show? criminal minds and stranger things

ultimate otp? ugh i have so many so i guess anything gay (and not incestuous (the fact that i have to say that))

5 fav characters?

penelope garcia - criminal minds

rapunzel - tangled

chewbacca - star wars

castiel - supernatural

temperance brennan - bones

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

i’m tagging @jadeloveslou @tenminalltoowell @emmavol6 @joycat20 @sunflouwersea @tobesolouis @doorsyellowbrokenblou @aubreydupont @5thwheelniall​