#the untamed episode guide

[fine-nephrit]

🥏 Where to find good XF fanfics

👽 On Tumblr

@lilydalexf has an encyclopedic knowledge of fics and continues to be an invaluable resource. You'll find a boatload of themed fic lists, individual rec posts and helpful answers to anon asks.

@txf-fic-chicks-blog seven years of almost daily recs, with well-written blurbs and a lot of fun, run by @kateyes224 and @piecesofscully. Look out for their themed days: "Casefile Monday", "Tumblr Tuesday", "Editor's Pick Wednesday", "Post-Ep/Missing Scene Thursday", "Novel Length Friday", "Smut Sunday", and the very cool "Because You Watched"

@msrlibrary a well-tagged library of MSR fics; each entry includes a short excerpt and a nicely chosen image from the show.

@201daysofxfiles a rewatch blog by fandom veteran @wendelah. Each episode in season 1-7 is paired with its own fic rec post.

@enigmaticxbee an aesthetically pleasing and neatly organized rewatch blog that is packed with great content, including excellent fic rec lists categorized by season, story type, trope, and more. Each episode guide sometimes features related fic recs.

@thatfragilecapricorn30 posts one fic rec every Friday, accompanied by a nice writeup.

@randomfoggytiger curates many fic rec lists sorted by often fun and creative categories.

@cecilysass has a google doc titled "fics I love", which is a fantastic fic list categorized by story type, complete with thoughtful blurbs. She's also shared two episode-related fic rec lists on Tumblr: here and here.

@pookie-mulder writes a monthly fic journal with good recs.

**self-promo plug** I post fic recs on my Tumblr blog @fine-nephrit under #nephrit's fic rec. Plus, I reblog others' fic recs that I come across!

👽 Rec Communities

XF Book Club: the best thing ever, an absolute gem that deserves to be preserved for posterity. During its run, 270 fics were recced and discussed in depth here. The community's intelligent and insightful comments on this blog are sometimes even more enjoyable to read than the fics themselves.

The Fic Filter (xf tag): well-curated selections with short blurbs.

Multifandom Het Recs (xf tag): a major rec site's xf section that offers nice "why this must be read" writeups. @het-reccers

Crack Van (xf tag): another major rec site with a big xf section, featuring endless recs and blurbs

Fancake (xf tag): another major rec community's xf section boasting an extensive thematic tagging system

👽 Personal Blogs

Emily Shore aka Naraht: meta essays, fanvid recs, fic recs—great stuff aplenty

Bad for the Fish aka Scarlet Baldy: fantastic fic list paired with highly enjoyable reviews and analyses of the fics she's read. @badforthefish

Ramblings of a Mind Untamed: reviews of a dozen or so classic fics

xxSKSxx XF Fanfic Recs: still active in 2024! @xxsksxxx

X-Libris: more of a fic library, this is the best place to download nicely-formatted ebooks of pre-AO3 oldies. What I love most is the incredibly detailed and extensive tagging system.

👽 Individual Rec Lists with good writeup

Character Manifesto - Dana Scully: a character analysis and 10 Scully-centric fic recs, categorized by "best of .." selections. Amazing format and choices!

Character Manifesto - Fox Mulder: same format as above for Spooky

bachlava's awesome fic rec essays, covering classic fics and slash fics

ShipRecced blog's classic MSR fics and newer MSR fics recs

luminary's 16-fic rec post

RivkaT recs fics and writers @rivkat

Anna Otto's favorite stories

Syntax6's rec list on her site, great rec list on Tumblr and FTF rec list @syntax6

👽 90s Old School Rec Sites

The Basement Office - Musea: a treasure trove of extensive fic lists with lovely written blurbs, recced by a group of talented writers from back in the day

The Other Side - Fanfic Recs from Beyond the Grave: a large collection of 'scary' or 'spooky' story recs with nice blurbs. Beautiful web design.

the Rookery - Favorite Authors: nice commentary on a list of classic fic writers

X-Files Fanfiction 101: an intro guide to fic categories and what to read for each

The Primal Screamers: a fun site run by a mailing list that hosts fic recs with blurbs, and a 'Coffee Talk' section full of delightful discussions of canon

Idealists Haven - Elemental Fanfic Archive: an archive with rec blurbs

Chronicle X: a large, well-organized archive with blurbs, plus a 'Can We Talk' discussion section of novel-length fics, plus a total of 46 author interviews. Simply incredible!

👽 Special Mention

The X-Files Lost and Found: a fic finder message board that is miraculously still very active today—How wonderful! Its FAQ page hosts a huge collection of well-categorized themed fic lists (not recs), including "Classics (or, Your Fanfic Education is Not Complete Until You've Read ...)".

Where do you find your next read? What did I miss? Reblog and share your favorites!

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 成化十四年/The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

(The) Sleuth of (the) Ming Dynasty (it's hard to get an agreement on how many definite articles should go where) is a beautiful, high-budget 2020 drama about a weenie genius detective, his long-suffering and deeply traumatized sugar daddy, and the eunuch with the most difficult job in the Great Ming: keeping these two dumbasses from getting their fool selves imperially executed.

Depending on how you like it, it's either an OT3 or an OTP with an intense, underage third wheel, and either way, it's delightful. I wouldn't call it a comedy, but it has very many funny elements that keep the drama fun and engaging. The first half is full of shorter mysteries that are clever and thoughtfully plotted, and the second half goes in on the longer mystery that ties them all together.

I've already done my quick guide to the early-episode characters, if you want a taste of just how many people are running around and how wonderful they all are. But in case you want to know a little bit more before you commit yourself to a 48-episode series, here's five reasons I think you should watch it!

1. The whole thing smacks of gender

Yeah, this was originally going to be selling point #2, but I know what the people want.

This is not a show about gender. But boy it is a show that has a lot to say about gender, and not just by way of critiquing premodern Chinese gender roles (though it does do that!). Many of the cis characters are either a) somewhat gender nonconforming, b) canny enough to weaponize binary gender expectations, or c) both. Sui Zhou's entire third-act storyline is about how expectations of masculinity exacerbate PTSD in veterans. Three different AFAB characters either dress or live as men. The part where one of the male characters goes undercover in drag is played for laughs, but the joke isn't 'ha ha, a boy in a dress,' it's 'ha ha, this particular boy in a particular dress, and also he's terrible at it.'

And that's even before we get to the eunuchs.

There are several professionally dickless, permanently unmanned characters running around. One-third of the OT3 canonically had his external genitalia nonconsensually removed when he was five years old, and because of this, he has been given unimaginable authority. He's basically the second most powerful man in the entire empire, and he only gets that way by being unquestionably, ostentatiously, and genuinely submissive to the first most powerful man.

I have seen other Chinese media where eunuchs are treated like sinister clowns, good only to be the bad guys and the butts of jokes. Sleuth's main eunuchs are real and complex characters, and because of this, the show gets to explore what it is to live in this weird third-gender category of incredible power and powerlessness.

Now, don't go into this expecting woke gender treatises. Wang Zhi's never going to sit down and go, "You know, my friend and fellow eunuch Ding Rong, because of my lack of a penis, I understand my relationship to masculinity differently than other men do." But the show understands that even if he doesn't say it, it's true. And that makes a lot of the characters and their relationships just so much more interesting.

2. Uncle Jackie Money

Sleuth was the was the fourth c-drama I dove into, following the Untamed, Word of Honor, and Guardian -- or, Some Money BL, Less Money BL, and No Money BL. So imagine my absolute wall-eyed shock to find this was All The Money BL, courtesy of its executive producer, Jackie Chan (seen here with some of his handsome boys):

Sleuth looks good. The costumes are amazing. The sets are stunning. The cinematography is beautiful. Everything is so detailed, and while I can't speak to the absolute historical accuracy of all those details (see point 3), they're still gorgeous. In fact, you know what? I'm going to shut up and show you some of the promotional images.

(For actual screenshots, I'm just going to point you at @rongzhi's tsomd photoset tag, as they have done a tremendous service to the fan community -- though do beware of spoilers.)

Uncle Jackie's influence doesn't end with the money, though. Even though things get a bit goofy and wirework-y near the end, most of the drama's fights are shows of real martial arts skill. You can see his fingerprints on a lot of the choreography -- I'm thinking particularly of the time Tang Fan tries (and fails!) to stab Sui Zhou three times, which is pure Jackie Chan high-speed dexterity.

Add this one to the category of shows your Average American Television Enjoyer Who Can Handle Subtitles would like. In fact, I have shown the first episode to my normie father-in-law, who was impressed. Show it to your dad! See if he picks up on the gay!

3. I am from ... HISTORY!

The Chinese title translates to "The 14th Year of Chenghua," which works out to the year 1478. There are some clear anachronisms, but they tend to be played for comedy, so it's hard to hold that against them. On the whole, though, the show is trying real hard to evoke a very specific moment, and I feel it does so beautifully.

This does, however, mean that several of the characters are real people. I don't even have a good sense of how many of them are based on historical figures, that's how many. Hilariously, Wang Zhi's tag on AO3 used to read "Wang Zhi (?-1487 CE)."

Moreover, these are characters I've seen pop up in other media, played very differently! In particular, Noble Consort (up there in blue) tends to be written as an uncomplicated villain elsewhere, whereas Sleuth gives her a chance to add some goodness to her badness, until, damn, you can't but root for the bitch. (It also downplays the cradle-robbing, which, honestly, is for the best.)

You may have guessed from the eunuch section earlier, but it bears repeating: Wang Zhi is straight-up the best character in the show. He's smart as hell, and he has to be, because the second he's stupid, he's dead. I actually consider it helpful to know ahead of time that he's never going to do a heel turn -- I feel like on my first watchthrough, I was holding my breath for the first two-thirds of the show, waiting for his sudden but inevitable betrayal. It does not come. Wang Zhi is one of the heroes.

He's also, like, evil. He orders people flogged, tortured, and executed. The very first thing you see him doing is sinister as hell. And the show clearly doesn't think this is good, but it also doesn't judge him for it. He's a traumatized seventeen-year-old who has not had a normal moment of his entire life. He's working thanklessly for a boss who could kill him on a whim -- and he's doing it because he literally, physically was made for his job. He's mildly freaking out because he has no emotional grounding to help him understand that these weirdos want to be his friends.

Was the real Wang Zhi like this? That's beside the point. The point is, you get to see how someone in that position could wind up as the war-crimes-committing platonic ideal of a little meow meow.

4. oh my god the food

Warning: This show will make you hungry.

Again, beware of spoilers, but @peppersandcreamsicle and @qinzai have put together an entire cook-along Google Doc so you don't just have to drool -- you can do something about it! Or you can just read it and learn about Chinese cuisine, which is a little more my speed.

But it's not just about how good the food looks. Food is a vital emotional part of the series. People bond over it. They make and share it as a sign of love and care. It indicates status, ethnicity, interest, personality. The show's message about the healing power of cooking for the people you love will bring you to tears.

And yes, Sui Zhou is the main one doing the cooking, so get ready to drool over both the dishes and the handsome man preparing them.

Oh, and as though that weren't enough, Fu Meng Po can actually cook in real life. He's so dreamy. Absolute unreal handsome man with a devastatingly sexy voice. (I know my opinion might be different if I could hear his Taiwanese accent, but I can't so it's not!)

5. An Unsunk Ship

So like I said, my intros to c-drama couples had been WangXian, WenZhou, and WeiLan. That meant I'd basically come to terms with the idea that you can't have a main couple in a BL-but-not-really drama without splitting them up at least a little in the end, for no-homo plausible deniability reasons.

Tang Fan and Sui Zhou are still definitvely, unequivocally together when the story ends, as the iconic pentultimate scene of the series confirms with beauty and simplicity. I refuse to give any more details than that, but that ship's afloat.

(These shirtless pictures aren't from the end, but I wanted to include them, and I didn't have a better place to do it. ...Also, you know, ships and water? Yeah?)

And I think their winding up together reflects Sleuth's entire attitude. Tang Fan is made of sunshine, and the series loves him for it. There is tragedy aplenty in this show, but there's no misery. It is ultimately a hopeful show that believes in the power of second chances, if you're willing to take them. Time and again, the moral of the story is that you are only ever as good as the people who have your back -- but you have to be willing to let them have your back. Let people help you. Let people cook for you. Let people give you a reason to keep living. And then keep living.

Also, Sui Zhou gets two good kabedons off on that little twink, which means they're legally married now. I don't make the rules.

Bonus: Banger opening theme

This is one you will watch all 48 times.

Bonus #2: The Halo Video

This is the video that made me go, huh, these Sleuth boys seem like other boys I've enjoyed! Perhaps I shall enjoy them as well! And then I did. So if that might be convincing to you too, well, have at it. Even if it isn't, it's a fascinating three-minute study of shared those-boys-are-in-love visual language across these shows.

Fair warning that it contains shots from right up to the end, so if you'd rather go in completely blank, give this one a pass until later. (Excuse me while I now go watch it for the 10000th time.)

Have I convinced you to watch it yet?

It originally ran on iQiyi, though Viki's got it as well, and Viki's is free if you're willing to put up with some ads about it.

...I just noticed iQiyi's description of the series reads, "When the two handsome leading actors Darren Wang and Fu Meng-Po work together, what will happen? A lovely prefectural judge and an arrogant embroiered [sic] uniform guard join hands to crack unusual cases! Are you going to choose a new idol?" And you know what? Yes. The details are a little off, but that is the correct spirit. Thank you, thirsty blurb.

[guzhufuren]

China 🇨🇳 A Guide to Some of the Best Queer Asian Shows

Full list here.

Most chinese shows are adapted from explicitly queer novels, the shows are undeniably and obviously queer, but nevertheless the queer romance part is censured. The only exception is number 4 on the list, it is not censored.

1. The Untamed period drama; fantasy

An epic fantasy led by a problem child who comes back from the dead 16 years later in order to fix the broken world he left behind — and finally unite with his soulmate.

YouTube

2. Word of Honor period drama; fantasy

The leader of assassin organisation Zhou Zishu quits his position in pursuit of freedom with drastic measures. In his travels, he meets Wen Kexing, the leader of Ghost Valley who wants nothing but revenge. The two become entangled in various machinations within the martial arts world, and eventually become soulmates instrumental in each other's redemption.

YouTube & Special Episode on Tumblr or DailyMotion

3. Couple of Mirrors wlw; period drama; socialite/assassin

You Yi is a kind-hearted socialite and a successful author. Her perfect life is turned upside-down when she discovers a betrayal by the two most trusted people in her life. With no one left to turn to, she finds refuge in the friendship and support of Yan Wei, a lonely female killer disguised as the owner of a photo studio.

YouTube. the show doesn’t have a happy ending, but it can be a happy ending for you if you stop watching at episode 12 timestamp 28:02.

4. Stay With Me enemies to lovers; high school setting; unconventional families; slow burn

Su Yu is a high school student who lives with his single poor father. Su Yu gets a new classmate Wu Bi. The two clash right from the start, and after getting off on the wrong foot, their explosive relationship takes a turn.

YouTube or GagaOOLala. the show doesn’t have a happy ending, but it can be a happy ending for you if you stop watching at episode 24 timestamp 05:00. OR watch the full thing and look at this post after

5. The Spirealm inside of a video game; mystery; fantasy; horror-ish; hopeful ending

A game designer Lin Qiushi is transported inside of a game he recently played, and now he must go through 12 horrifying survivor game doors to survive in the real world. Inside his first door he meets Ruan Nanzhu, a mysterious man who offers him to team up.

The show was taken down from streaming, download files here and subtitles here.

Various WLW mini web-dramas here.

Various WLW short films here.

[foxyyaoguai]

💫 Announcement: New MDZS/The Untamed Subreddit 💫

I'm excited to announce that I took over as the mod of the r/mdzs subreddit! I plan to make it into an alternative for r/MoDaoZuShi, whose mods aren't active anymore.

About this community This is a community for the danmei novel "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation". Discussions about the novel and all adaptations, including The Untamed, the donghua, the audio dramas, the manhua, the manga, etc. are all welcome.

I have the following vision for this subreddit:

Give newcomers an easy entry into the MDZS fandom through the subreddit's wiki.

Provide links to fandom events, discords, fanfic references, and more. The MDZS fandom is huge and it's easy to lose track!

Create a safe environment for fans to share and discuss without fear of discourse or harassment.

Create threads where we can recommend and search for MDZS fanfiction. Here is a link to the first Fanfiction Mega Thread.

Weekly or Monthly discussion posts, based on activity and interest.

I have gathered a lot of resources throughout my time in the MXTX/MDZS fandom which I want to share with all of you. All collections are a WIP and you're welcome to add more!

Overview of MDZS, MXTX, and danmei Discord Servers

List of MXTX/MDZS Event Pages The list includes links to danmei meetups, big bangs, exchanges, ship weeks, prompt fests, event calendars, zines, and more.

Resources for fanfiction authors This list includes links to chapter and episode summaries, location guides, hanfu guides, language guides, speech pattern analysis, and more.

Places to buy Danmei and MDZS Merch in Tokyo, Japan

Links to the explicit manhua panels in English and Chinese

What makes this subreddit different than the MoDaoZuShi subreddit?

I’m aware that the MoDaoZuShi subreddit exists and I used to be active there. Unfortunately, the moderation team has been inactive for a long time. I applied as a mod and sent a message to the moderators, hoping that I could improve things, but never received a reply, which is why I requested to take over as the moderator of this subreddit. I hope r/mdzs can become a safe alternative for fans of MDZS with an up-to-date wiki page and active moderation.

Please help this subreddit grow by sharing this announcement. I hope to see you in r/mdzs! :)

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions! You can leave a comment here or reach me through Modmail on reddit.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 37 part one

(Masterpost) (Pinboard)  (whole thing on AO3)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Never Trust a Big Butt and Smile (Poison)

Wei Wuxian has gathered all the juniors together in the paper-offerings shop run by the corpse lady, and asks for volunteers to help him in the kitchen. 

Teacher's pet Sizhui jumps forward, abandoning Jingyi and leaving the field clear for Ouyang Zizhen to make his move.

He tells the other kids to stay put, but Jin Ling follows along to go make a nuisance of himself.

DLWJLF (Dad Lan Wangji would Like to Fuck)

Now we get to see Wei Wuxian in a new dad mode; not entertaining and protecting young A-Yuan, but guiding teenager Jin Ling to be less of a prat. On one level he is talking to him forcefully and generally not having patience for his crap, but on another level he is carefully teaching him.

Wei Wuxian explains that glutinous rice (aka sticky rice, aka sweet rice) can cure corpse poisoning, and proceeds to cook it up with every kind of pepper he can find in the kitchen, in a sequence that has got to be an intentional parody (full gifset here) of the lovingly-filmed food porn that shows up in so many Asian dramas (for example).

(More behind the cut!)

While the rice is cooking, Jin Ling finally explains what brought them here; they all came following a trail of hideously murdered "cats." The show avoids having to put an explanatory note on the screen saying "this is a digital cat and no actual cats were harmed" by showing us this ridiculously bad stuffed toy cat. 

On this occasion I genuinely appreciate the department of dubious practical effects, since I don't really want to see a realistic dead cat. But wow, this is super bad. It doesn’t even have paws, just weird stubby peg feet. It is probably made from leftover bits of whatever they used to make Wen Chao’s dog. Also, the MEOW noise happens right when Jin Ling opens the door, when the cat is clearly already dead. Maybe the cat's ghost is doing the meowing.

During Jin Ling's flashback, we get to see Fairy in action. Fairy is a special, extra smart, spiritually attuned dog. 

His powers include barking at the door when someone stands directly outside the door stringing up a dead cat from the rafters. I feel like maybe Fairy needs to aim a little higher in life.

Wei Wuxian thinks about the cat-murdering, and reflects that it's horrifying, but that whoever did it "didn't actually cause any harm."

Ghosts of a whole lot of deceased cats: easy for you to say, asshole

I'm still a little unclear on who actually did the cat murders. I think it was Xue Yang? since he wanted to lure the Yiling Laozu to Yi City, and couldn't rely on the qiankun bag of plot convenience to get him there.  Possibly he also wanted to kill and eat the juniors, like the clown in IT. I've seen people saying it was Nie Huaisang, but I don't think he had a motive to get the juniors to go there, given that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were already headed that way because of the spirit thingy.

When the rice is ready Wei Wuxian sends the kids to deliver it to their poisoned buddies. Wei Wuxian pauses to give Jin Ling a little more uncleing.

Jingyi tries the rice, which is absolutely loaded with spice, and asks if Wei Wuxian is trying to poison them some more. 

Wei Wuxian has the audacity to think "could it be that I accidentally spilled pepper powder in there?" Bitch, we just watched you dump a whole bowl of red pepper flakes AND a bowl of black pepper AND several whole-ass red chilies in there. Your memory isn't that bad.

Sizhui tries it and does a nice spit-take; then he says that the taste is familiar. I think this is the first instance of him remembering something from his time with Wei Wuxian, and I love that the trigger for his eventual cascade of recovered memory is Wei Wuxian's terrible cooking.

Wei Wuxian makes them eat it anyway, and then laughs to himself about it.

Young Miss Jump-Scare

Wei Wuxian hears A-Qing's stick in the lane outside, and goes to a hole in the wall to look at her. Once he's had a look he says "wow! she's amazing!" to lure the kids into looking. 

Jin Ling goes to look and A-Qing obligingly sticks her face right into the camera for a jump scare. 

Camera Operator: Damn, warn a guy, will you?

Next Jin Ling lures Sizhui to look, and A-Qing provides another jump scare, this time drooling blood out of her mouth. Then she goes back to walking in circles in the street while the boys all check her out, mostly platonically, except for Ouyang Zizhen, who is in love with literally everybody so can’t do platonic.

Wei Wuxian, fully in Wei-Laoshi mode at this point, tells the kids that they should look at A-Qing precisely because they are scared; as cultivators, they need to look past their fear and be able to identify things correctly. 

Sizhui, Jin Ling, and Ouyang Zizhen all take turns looking and all make different observations about her, and receive feedback from Wei Wuxian about the quality of their observations. 

Itty-bitty Lan Sizhui, hilariously, says that she’s only as tall as his chest. According to wiki.d-addicts, he is a whopping 7 centimeters taller than she is in real life. He has doomed himself to having to stand on a box any time he is next to her. Which, you know, he mostly won't be, because of all the death.

Conveniently, the window has a whole bunch of strategically-placed rips in it, so several of them can look out at the same time, like the Joke Wall on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in. No I am not that old, but the reruns were inescapable when I was a child. 

Do these knuckleheads think they are hiding? Very subtle, guys.

A-Qing wanders around and bleeds for a bit, but then she hears someone coming and skedaddles. The someone who arrives is Xiao Xingchen, wearing a ribbon/bandage over his eyes, no guan, and dark robes. 

Wei Wuxian recognizes him anyway, because Xiao Xingchen is famously pretty no matter how he's styled. Also he has his sword and waves it around conspicuously.

Wei Wuxian immediately decides to rescue him, over the objections of Jin Ling, but has to move quickly to avoid being poisoned by the AfterEffects volumetric fog that covers the street. 

He also has to do a hella cool spell, with a mix of light-talisman drawing and poetry reciting, which impresses all of the youngsters.

 For some reason it also causes a bunch of mild squib explosions on the outside of the wall. He comes back in, super-quick, with Xiao Xingchen clutched against his side, warning the kids not to come near because "even skin-to-skin contact will poison you." 

Dude, we weren't planning on getting naked with your uncle, chill out.

He sets him down and whispers to him, calling him Xiao Shi Shu,小师叔 which is how he would address his father's martial younger brother, not his mother's, according to my deep Google-translated knowledge of Chinese forms of address. I'm going to go ahead and assume that Wei Wuxian knows the subtleties of this sort of thing better than I do. 

ANYhoo, Wei Wuxian lets Xiao Xingchen know who he is, without actually saying his name, since some of these kids might have good hearing. He tells Sizhui to get a bowl of congee. Jin Ling objects to helping XXC, because he might be a bad guy, and Jingyi vigorously defends him, saying that he was being attacked by corpses, so is definitely a good guy. That...is not how zombie attacks work, but ok. He also cites Lan rules about helping the dying, which is a rare instance of Jingyi giving a fuck about the rules.

After bringing the congee, Sizhui looks at Xiao Xingchen's sword and immediately recognizes it as Shuanghua, announcing it to the other juniors, who come racing over to look. 

The kids instantly figure out that the guy is Xiao Xingchen. They don't recognize him, mind you, just his sword. Sword fans, amirite? All of these kids are active members of the spiritual-sword fandom and can recognize swords they've never seen, but only heard about on Tumblr.

Zombie Stroll

A bunch of zombies start walking down the street at this point in a thoroughly un-menacing fashion, including one disturbingly hot zombie who looks into the window. 

This is to prepare us for the arrival of the #1 Hot Zombie, Song Lan. 

Before that, though, Wei Wuxian is going to do another spell to lock the door, so he slices his fingers open *before* asking the kids if they have any talisman paper. 

This is like when I start cooking the green onions for my protein-obsessed teenage son's omelet that I make every goddamn morning in a bid to always do the exact opposite of my own mother's shitty parenting before I check to see if I have any eggs. Crack the eggs first, Wei Wuxian.

All of the kids offer up their blood, which he doesn't need, but don't have any blank talisman paper. Why does he need paper when he drew the other spell in the middle of the air? Never mind, never mind.

He is unfairly annoyed at this, considering that he didn't bring any paper either. He overwrites an Already-Been-Chewed one that Jin Ling produces and uses it to seal the door, which totally astonishes all of the junior cultivators, like they haven't seen magic before.

Immediately after he seals the door, Song Lan drops in through a hole in the ceiling, that Wei Wuxian really should have thought about when sealing the room up.  

Song Lan strikes a sexy pose--oh, who am I kidding, all of his poses are sexy--and stands there being admired for a bit, before half-heartedly swinging a sword toward Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian responds by verrrry sloooowly booting up his flute and playing something, while all of the kids lunge toward Song Lan at the same time, and all get deflected and knocked down. 

The flute playing does seem to stop Song Lan from actually killing anyone, and they are able to tie him up with their magic shibari rope.

A note about how Wei Wuxian's powers appear to work, for those who find his abilities confusing. As I understand it, any skilled cultivator can make use of ambient energy from the world around them. This allows the use of talismans without needing a golden core. With a golden core, a person can store qi in their body instead of relying on ambient energy.

Wei Wuxian, as the inventor of Demonic cultivation Xue Chonghai? We don’t know him. is able to pull on ambient *resentful* energy from the dead folks around him and use it to do stuff. But he can't store it in his body very well, which is why he creates the Yin Tiger Seal. It's already pre-loaded with Yin energy and he dumps more into it to get it out of his own body. At least, he stops farting big clouds of resentment smoke after he refines the tiger seal. 

Episode 21: That’s-a spicy meatball

So, Wei Wuxian in Yi City doesn't have the yin tiger seal to draw on, but the place is chock full of ambient yin energy for him to use. Also the tiger seal 2.0 is in the room with him right now, although he's not aware of that. Is it weird that he can’t sense that his supposed uncle is carrying a giant chunk of yin metal? Never mind, never mind.

When Wei Wuxian sees that Song Lan is wearing the same black contact lenses that Wen Ning had before --well, probably not the same exact ones, the budget wasn't THAT low--he remembers about the nails in Wen Nings head, and pulls a similar nail out of Song Lan's head. 

Unfortunately he only remembered one of the two nails he extracted from Wen Ning, because he doesn't check Song Lan for a second nail, and Song Lan's contact lenses remain stubbornly in place.

Soundtrack: 1.Bel Biv Devoe, Poison 2. Coolio, Fantastic Journey

[letteredlettered]

watching The Untamed

Some people have been reading my new fic without having watched the canon on which it's based, which is the Chinese drama The Untamed. Since my fic is a modern AU, it doesn't really require much canon knowledge, so I think the fic can be enjoyed either way. You can read it here!

But! If you are interested in watching The Untamed first, or get interested after reading the fic, I wanted to share with you the intro that the unparalleled @stultiloquentia gave me years ago, when she accidentally messaged the wrong person to scream about this show and I subsequently fell down a rabbit hole. Here is her advice for watching, in my own words. (If you prefer to watch things COMPLETELY unspoiled, here's a warning: this advice contains a brief explanation of the first scene as well as an overview of the very general structure of the show.)

Advice for watching The Untamed:

Know this: the first episode begins with Our Guy falling off a cliff. Then we skip ahead over a decade for the rest of that episode and most of the second episode. Then in the last third of the second episode, we flash back to the story of why the guy fell off the cliff in the first place. The flashback is 31 episodes. Then the remaining nineteen episodes are a buddy cop ghost story mystery in which the two mains experience feelings.

You can skip the first two episodes. Watching them means for the thirty episodes of flashback you get to experience the dramatic irony of "my God how do they eventually get THERE?" Not watching them means you are not confused out of your mind.

If you don't like the first two episodes, KEEP WATCHING. You will probably grow to like a character or two by episode four, but if you don't, KEEP WATCHING; you will probably grow to love a character or two and know most of the characters by episode six, but if you don't, KEEP WATCHING. If you're not ready to die for someone by episode ten, maybe this isn't the show for you.

That said, if you don't love it by episode ten, consider quitting and coming back six months to a year later. I have known multiple people who started and couldn't get into it, then restarted and loved it. I don't really get this as I was hooked like, halfway through episode one, but that's me and my kinks so ymmv.

The costumes and sets are gorgeous but BEWARE the CGI is horrible and downright goofy; DON'T JUDGE THE QUALITY OF THE SHOW BASED ON CGI!

If you don't speak Mandarin I assume you'll be watching with subtitles. A) the subtitles on Netflix are different than on viki (viki.com is a good place to watch!) People have OPINIONS on which are best; I think most people prefer viki, but if you don't want to figure that out (it's easy) Netflix really is fine. B) You do really need to pay attention. I understand lots of people like to watch things while doing something else, but you really miss a lot if you're not catching everything that's said.

There are a lot of plot holes. ACCEPT THE SHOW FOR WHAT IT IS. Or else come yell at someone who can fill in some of the holes for you like I yelled at @stultiloquentia. (You can come yell at me.) I know others have found some episode-by-episode watching guides really helpful. I personally did not need this, but that's mostly because when I went to yell at sultiloquentia she was always like "yeah it's like that. *shrug*"

[theladyragnell]

☕️The Untamed if you are feeling. spicy.

I know no ill of The Untamed. People very much seem to love it, even years on, and have very much to say about it, and I am sure it is a very effective story.

I have, and I am sorry to say this, never met a fandom worse at selling its source material, to the point where I am baffled as to how the fandom got this large. Even when the fandom got to the point of eating my dash where I had to blacklist it for my own sanity, what I knew about the plot and characters would have made for a one-sentence TV Guide summary for an early episode. Yes, I knew there were pretty and sad men pining for each other, and that one of them had been dead for a number of years and then wasn't and was/had been evil, but I feel like I should have been able to garner more, given how saturated my dash was with it*.

Like, I probably wouldn't have watched it anyway, I have trouble watching subtitled canons with That Much Content To Them because 90% of the time when I am watching TV I am also doing 1-3 other things, but at a certain point I am afraid to say it became a bit of a spite thing.

*I very much appreciate you, anyone who immediately got the urge to explain the plot to me, I know you only mean the best, but you are alas several years too late to capture my interest.

[writingsofwesteros]

I've been inspired by the new episode and that scene of Alicole with Alicent getting her pussy ATE;

Canon era Daenora, who we all know is the wildest of wild untamable spirits in any AU, and in this au, Alicent has always been strict and pounded into her head how she must guard her virtue, her maidenhead, and all that. She got reprimanded for getting caught in nearly-almost compromising positions with both brothers (Though her sleepovers with Helly are safe)

Daenora didn't think anything of it when she entered her mother's chambers and Ser Criston wasn't at the door, but when as she shut the doors behind her, she staggered back in shock. The sworn sword, the man who was like a father to her, on his knees with his head buried between her mother's thighs, as Alicent fought to restrain her moans. "You fucking hypocrite," Daenora spat, scoffing as they hastened to preserve any shred of dignity they might have. "Daenora!" Alicent quickly came over to her, but Nora shoved her hand off her. "You liar, you- you sanctimonious liar!" "You have suffocated me with your lectures of a woman's purity, and honor, and here you are, getting your cunt feasted on by your sworn sword!" She shouted. "Princess-" "Do not-" She could barely look at them. "Do not dare speak to me, Ser Criston, for I cannot find it within myself to look at you." The knight shrunk back, as Alicent's eyes filled with tears, and she pleaded, "My love-" "Do not touch me," Nora hissed. "You have constantly made me, the blood of the dragon, feel inferior for not living up to your notions of righteousness, how dare you?" She shook her head, stepping back before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She didn't know where her feet were taking her, until she stormed into Aegon's chambers, his crown on a table as he and Aemond were drinking wine and speaking, and they both looked up and saw the fury on her face. "Sister," Aemond quickly came over to her, as Aegon, despite his tipsy demeanor, found his way over to her seconds later. "What is it? What's happened?" Aegon asked her, guiding her face up to look up at them both. Nora said nothing, and without hesitation, she pulled Aegon by his shirt in for a kiss, her tongue moving messily against his, and when she finally released him, he caught his breath as she did the same to Aemond. Both brothers responded with intense fervor to her kiss, and when she released Aemond, she thought to herself, 'Fuck Mother. She can say nothing, when she learns that not one, but both brothers have taken by maidenhead tonight. I'm done holding back.'

"Nora-" She cut Aemond off, and said to both of them in a husky voice, "What is it? Do you not want me?" "Of course we do," Aegon rasped. "More than anything- we are dragons, one sister is not enough, we must have both." Aemond growled. "Then I suggest you both get my gown off and fuck me, or perhaps I'll seek the help of my Kingsguard."

Unless Viserys is alive, the hypocrisy doesn't stand (and even then..)..people have been wild that's for sure about what's happened with Alicole.

"More than anything- we are dragons, one sister is not enough, we must have both." Aemond growled. GO AEMOND !!!!!!!!

[villainessguide]

me and my friend's silly little podcast about villainess stories, isekai, and danmei is out now!

here is episode 1 on spotify! releases will be bi-weekly! find us on other socials through the pinned post!

Back in 2020, when we had copious amounts of free time for obvious reasons, we decided to try watching The Untamed drama together, and that was a slippery slope that has led my friend into opening an Etsy shop with MXTX stickers and for me to cosplay (my beloved millennial fail upward shen qingqiu)!

We now know too much on the topic of danmei, and we branched out into isekai and villainess stories (our novelupdates reading lists are something to behold), so we decided why not make our conversations into a podcast! Someone might like listening to us ramble about our favorite dumbasses lol

The first episode we delve into some of the common terms that crop up (do you know your shidi from your shixiong? your count from your cold northern duke?), chit chat about some of what we are currently reading, and then go on like at least 7 separate tangents (the undiagnosed adhd might be in the room with us).

this tumblr will hopefully also include show notes, such as all the titles that we list, definitions, and some fanfic recs, etc! That unfortunately means I have to listen to myself talk as I compile these posts, but that is a sacrifice I'm willing to make LOL

[waitineedaname]

Yo, friendo What's the best way to consume these funny doomed men I keep seeing?

( Didn't mean it literality, but I can't help but think that the answer is with spice )

depends on which ones!! there are two series I've been posting about a lot, both by the same author: SVSSS and MDZS!

Scum Villain's Self-Saving System/SVSSS is a book series, and you can read it physically (which I did through my local library for the first two books) or online on the Internet Archive or Anna's Archive (which I did for the last two books when I got too impatient to wait on my holds). It also has a ten episode long donghua called Scumbag System that covers most of the first book and it's terrible (affectionate). You can find that one on youtube or most anime pirating sites. In short summary, SVSSS is about a terminally online dude getting isekai'd into the villain of a webnovel he absolutely hates, and in his attempt to avoid the villain's horrible death he sends the story completely off the rails. It's unhinged, hilarious, and everyone in the series is a complete freak <3 It's only four books long (three of which are the main plot and the fourth is extras)

MDZS/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is also a book series by the same author! Similarly, you can check your public library or the Internet Archive and Anna's Archive. It also has a donghua (which I haven't watched) and a wildly successful live action drama called The Untamed (which is how I initially got into the series!). The Untamed is available on Netflix and Youtube and probably other places. It does make some significant changes due to censorship reasons and it is extremely cheesy, but I enjoy it. If you want more classical tragedy, I'd say start with The Untamed, and if you want more gay necromancy shenanigans, I'd say start with the books! In short summary, it's about the life and death and second life of Wei Wuxian as he goes from war hero to widely reviled necromancer, and it's quite fun. The book series is five books long, and The Untamed is 50 episodes long. I have a character guide for that one if you need it because the names do get confusing!

[salternateunreality2]

MDZS/The Untamed/SephZack, Episodes 24-50 aka the end

Because I got too excited and barely paused long enough to scream at frens.

LOOK AT THE PRECIOUS BUNS

Spoilers ahead:

After Red Lady finds Zack and begs for his help rescuing Cloud:

I WAS SO RIGHT ABOUT WEN NING BEING CLOUD He was stabbed through the middle and is now in a weird coma after being rescued by Zack. Peak Cloud right there. Just watch, homeboy is going to have an identity crisis/memory issues. BB CLOUD IS ALIVE!!!

------------------------------

After the midnight rescue and pivotal point where Sephiroth stands aside, allowing his beloved to pass with the remnants of the Wen clan:

THE BABY HAS ARRIVED. He is a CHONKER and needs ALL THE SNAX. AND HE RECOGNIZED HIS OTHER DAD OUT OF EVERYONE!!!!!!! FEED HIM WHATEVER HE DESIRES.

Baby A-Yuan supremacy. I can't even think of a parallel for him in FF7 because I'm too busy wanting to pinch his chubby little radish cheeks.

Maybe he's Nanaki. An expert at getting grown-ups to share snacks with him, who grows up into a surprisingly competent teenager due to all the ~trauma~.

Anyway, market scene in a nutshell:

Child: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Sephiroth: ...😐

Child: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Citizens: are you his dad? Do you not know how to sooth your child?! Are you an idiot?! Do you need HELP?!?!?!?!?!

Sephiroth: *bluescreen* *error.png*

Child: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Zack: trolololololol buy him something

Sephiroth: uh, ok

Child: *magnetized to Sephy*

Sephiroth: *equally as horrified and confused as when child was crying* *he literally never imagined himself as a dad* *but has been forcefully adopted*

------------------------------

Cloud: *violently emerges from his coma*

Zack: EYYY! SPIKE!!! MY DUDE!!!! *hi fives, shoulder bumps*

Cloud: I cOuLd HaVe KiLlEd YoU?!

Zack: False, I brought Sephiroth!

Sephiroth: ...

Zack: *shows Sephiroth around his hovel like it's paradise on earth*

Sephiroth: *looking at Zack like he's paradise on earth*

-------------------------------------

Red Lady: *gives Zack enough poison to tranquilize a bear*

Zack: Don't you fuckin dare go off and self-sacrifice!

Red Lady: Bitch, that's rich coming from you! Also, are you made out of pure red bull and spite?! How are you still awake?!!?

---------------------------------------

Things I am still not ok about:

Cloud being made into a puppet to kill Jin Ling's dad.

The one hundred holes curse. Just. Ew.

The remnants of the Wen clan ALL turning themselves in.

Grandma Wen dying.

Jin Ling being orphaned.

Zack thinking he needed to die to stop himself.

Sephiroth crying.

---------------------------------------

Sephiroth: *gets drunk*

Zack: This is the best thing ever.

Sephiroth: *proposes to his boyfriend by giving him chickens*

Zack: Look at this adorable city boy, not even knowing how to hold a chicken. I love him so much.

Sephiroth: *goes hog wild and does...GRAFITTI!*

Zack: PFFT! Y'know what, I'll carve my name too <3

----------------------------------------

Zack with his juniors aka ducklings is like a border collie intensely guiding them in the right direction as they bumble along.

-------------------------------------

Lan Wangji's sword is named Bichen, because he has serious resting bichen face.

Also I heard that he has a long wang, so Long Wang-ji seems appropriate too!

The Lan clan should be the Lan, meaningful glances clan. There is so much staring deeply into each other's eyes. And the eyes of their crushes.

(I'm 49.9% sorry)

--------------------------------------

Best Hurt/Comfort boyfriend/husband angst moments:

Jin Ling getting stabby with Zack.

Zack making himself bait as if this was FF7 canon.

Everything that happened on the top of that cliff with the bloodbath and Zack's death.

Sephiroth giving Zack a piggyback.

When they visited Genesis and Zack's internal injuries caught up to him.

--------------------------------------

It was so heartbreaking to watch Zack gather himself to be the sacrifice yet again, huge "heh, the price of freedom sure is steep" vibes 😭😭😭

Then Sephiroth jumps in with a "No. No, you're not doing this alone this time." And Zack is so relieved and surprised and you really have to be looking, but his whole body just relaxes and lights up at the same time, like the weight of the world he puts on like a backpack is suddenly halved and 😭😭😭😭

-----------------------------------------

Wen Ning/Cloud's arc is so wholesome. After all the, y'know, mind control and death stuff.

So proud of him for separating his identity from Zack's in the end, but never letting go of the loyalty. He recognizes and adopts A-Yuan like Cloud does with Denzel.

He's strong with Zack and becomes strong alone.

---------------------------------------------

I do NOT feel as bad as the series wanted me to feel about baby-face incest filicidal murderer McGee. Sure, Angeal loved him, but Angeal was severely misled. If Angeal wasn't such a good guy, I'd feel completely delighted that McGee's boyfriend was the one who killed him. His good qualities were *checks notes* remembering one guy's name and not physically abusing his boyfriend or accepting his boyfriend's offer to die with him. Wow.

He can go kick rocks and stub his toe and get a major infection and die.

--------------------------------------------

Genesis being a responsible uncle, lol:

----------------------------------------------

Re: that scene with Bichen that's NOT in the live-action drama, but apparently is in the books...

THAT'S NOT WHAT IT MEANS TO "USE PROTECTION".

Also, I now realize that the comment about riding one's sword was a translation CHOICE, not an accident.

[pod-together]

Pod-Together Day 3 Reveals 2023

The Yiling Lightbringer and the Shadow Patriarch | 闪电君 和 防光老祖 (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù) written by harborshore, performed by jennisaisquoi Summary: The year is 3023, and the cultivation world went to war to stop the Wen clan from taking over the planet. A year after the war ended, Wei Wuxian is running a free health clinic for the war victims of Yiling with Wen Qing. They're hiding from the Jin, who take exception to people giving away health care for free. They're also not big fans of the new electrical grid Wei Wuxian has invented, especially because he's not charging for that either. Then Yiling starts buzzing about a new cultivator dressed in black, working with resentful energy and scaring the Jins. But it's not Wei Wuxian.

Revenge Is A Powerful Spell (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)) written by flipflop_diva, performed by GhostCwtch Summary: The beeping of the machines sounded like a countdown, but a countdown to what? The end of the world — again? A happily ever after? The tension in the room was palpable, like any sudden movement could either shatter it forever or send the world spinning out of control. And no one wanted to be the reason for that. So none of them moved. Nor spoke. Nor did anything but stare — at the floor, at the machines, at Tara. -- An AU starting from Season 6, Episode 19, "Seeing Red." The canon that should have been.

all eyes on me (Men's Hockey RPF) written by LizzieMack, performed by nony Summary: “You got a lot going on today?” “Job interview,” Tim says. It’s technically true. “Oh, yeah?” the guy asks, eyebrows raised halfway to his hairline. “That’s cool.” Tim shrugs. He can’t shake the feeling that the guy somehow knows what he’s here for. People come to hotels for all kinds of reasons. He’s pretty sure there’s a business expo or something going on at this one; he keeps seeing guys in suits. There’s really no way for anyone to guess that Tim is here for a porn shoot.

a false start (McGillicuddy And Murder's Pawn Shop (Podcast)) written by Koschei_B, performed by Rosemarycat5 Summary: Maude does join Night Enthusiasts. It still doesn't go well for them. Some things don't matter, because others never change.

Tied to a Dream I Can Barely Remember (Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types) written by litra, performed by Juulna Summary: Soulmates dream of each other, but not Obi-Wan. Not until he's lost so much and given up on it. Cody dreams of the outside, of someone who is haunted by the dark.

Collapsing Under My Dreams (Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types) written by EustaciaVye, performed by AsterRoc Summary: After crash-landing on an uncharted planet, an injured Obi-Wan learns Ventress has a very different perspective of the Jedi Order’s peacekeeping activities.

Radio Killed the Semaphore Star [text, audio] (Discworld - Terry Pratchett) written by SweetPollyOliver, performed by semperfiona Summary: In 1895 on Roundworld, the inventor Guglielmo Marconi invented the wireless telegraph, which used radio waves—a form of electromagnetic radiation that is outside the visible spectrum—to transmit messages from a sending operator to a radio receiver. But, like the invention of bread*, few truly good wheezes are only thought of once, and so in the early 2000s UC on Discworld, Liam Macaroni invented a similar device that used a different form of electromagnetic radiation: octarine. And, due to the preponderance of narrativium on Discworld, radio got around to audio transmission, rather than being confined to the old dots and dashes routine, quite a bit more promptly than it did on Roundworld. *And brewing.

The Outlaws’ Guide to Parenting (DCU) created by Flowerparrish, kbirb, and Opalsong Summary: Roy: so you know how I had that fling with Chershire for a month or two a couple years ago? Roy: apparently the condom broke Kori: You have a child! Jason: of fucking course we're keeping her

Provision (9-1-1 (TV)) written by domarzione, performed by blackglass Summary: ( noun) The providing or supplying of something, especially of food or other necessities Michael and Bobby, figuring out their places in relation to each other, to Athena, and to the world.

The Care And Feeding Of Poorly Warlocks [text, audio] (Shadowhunters (TV)) written by mansikka, performed by ToughPaperRound Summary: Alec's second day of being home starts with a sneeze so violent that it forces all of the feathers from their comforter and pillows. "Not to worry," Magnus says cheerfully, magicking all the feathers away and replacing the bedding with a simple flourish. There must be dust in the air along with those feathers, because Alec then starts coughing, and in the process manages to summon a hairdryer, a pair of shorts, and a single, freshly boiled egg. In which, Alec gets his first warlock flu and his magic makes it everybody's problem.

Shepard's No One Fan (Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy) written by ThreeWhiskeyLunch, performed by Djapchan Summary: During the events of Mass Effect 1, Conrad Verner starts up a WeeView channel. What starts out as a fangirl-for-Shepard channel turns into something much else during the events of Saren and the Geth's invasion of the Citadel.

[yourdailykitsch]

‘American Primeval’: Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Shea Whigham, More Cast In Taylor Kitsch Netflix Limited Series

Netflix has rounded out the cast for American Primeval, its upcoming limited series from Pete Berg, Eric Newman and Mark L. Smith. Betty Gilpin (Gaslit), Dane DeHaan (Oppenheimer) and Shea Whigham (Joker) join previously announced Taylor Kitsch, along with Joe Tippett (Mare of Easttown), Jai Courtney (Kaleidoscope), Kyle Bradley Davis (American Horror Story), Nick Hargrove (Devotion), Derek Hinkey (Walker Independence), Saura Lightfoot Leon (Hoard), Preston Mota (Asteroid City) and Shawnee Pourier (Stranger Things).

The six-episode American Primeval is described as a raw, adventurous exploration of the birth of the American West. The violent collisions of cultures, religions and communities as men and women fight and die for control of this new world – for a land they truly believe is their destiny. The ensemble tells a story of the sacrifice all must pay when they choose to enter a lawless and untamed wilderness.

Gilpin will play Sara Rowell, an extremely capable woman with an air of composure and grace that seems out of place in Fort Bridger as she seeks a guide across the frontier for her and her son, Devin.

DeHaan will portray Jacob Pratt, a Mormon leading his family across the frontier to join other settlers in Utah.

Whigham will play Jim Bridger, a grizzled realist but a decent man, Jim Bridgers runs his namesake Fort, a popular stopping point for settlers and trappers.

Tippett will portray James Wolsey, a Mormon man leading a militia of men who don’t possess the moral code they claim they do.

Courtney will play Virgil Cutter, a trapper and bounty hunter who sees opportunity in the naiveté of others.

Davis will portray Tilly, one of Cutter’s trappers, Tilly is a nasty, dangerous man who doesn’t mind killing to get ahead and rather enjoys it when others fear him.

Hargrove will play Cottrell, a young man that helps out around Fort Bridger and serves as Jim Bridger’s right hand.

Hinkey will portray Red Feather, the leader of a renegade group of Crow warriors known as the Wolf Clan.

Leon will play Abish, a Mormon woman not content with being seen as the property of her husband, Jacob.

Mota will portray Devin Rowell, a sensitive soul with a curious mind, Devin is Sara’s son.

Pourier will play Two Moons, a young girl who flees her village with a strong will and drive to survive at all costs.

They all join Kitsch, who portrays Isaac, a traumatized man struggling to overcome his demons and find a reason to live in this brutal and punishing world.

Berg will direct all of the episodes and exec produce for Film 44 alongside Newman, who exec produces for Grand Electric under his overall deal. Smith will write all episodes and exec produce.

[theroguequeen]

What really fucks me up are some comments about daemon and especially about women who have fallen for this character. Often it is something like "oh what did you expect he is daemon targaryen not a little puppy or a shiny knight" and you know what? Of course he is not and if he was he wouldn't have this huge fan base. He is not called the rogue prince for nothing.

I personally did fall in love with daemon because he has flaws, because he never even tried to act like he was perfect, he knows that he is reckless, that he is brutal. This is not about girlies wanting a perfect man or him being the perfect husband all the time. This is about following a complex character, a grey character. He has a dark side, he can be cruel, he has and will kill people, he will lose control, he will be angry, wild, untamed.

But at the same time he cares so deeply about the people he loves, about rhaenyra. He went down on his knees for her, he crowned her, called her his queen. He is a chaotic mess, he is trouble, there is angst, there is this fire bringing out the darkest parts of him but at the same time he called laena "my brave girl", he gifted rhaenyra the famous necklace years ago, he stood up for his brother even when viserys did send him away and overlooked him for years. He guided his brother so he could one last time claim the iron throne.

Something broke inside him when he heard about his death, when he once again had to hear his women scream out in pain while giving birth, when he once again felt like he could do nothing but go into war mode, when he felt like all he could do was to function, to prepare the war while rhaenyra was fighting her own while giving birth.

He completely broke down at the beach, everything was crashing down, there was so much grief, hurt, anger, fear.

Daemon targaryen is not loved for being perfect, for doing the right thing but for being real, for giving us all the emotions, the good, the bad and the ugly. When he loves someone, there is nothing that will change it, he is loyal, he loves like he fights. Going all in even if it means it will kill him.

Falling in love with this character is no fun little walk in a park, it's finding yourself in a bloody mess, trying to catch a breathe before once again going on a bloody marathon with him.

I'm tired of people making others feel like they don't understand this character, that daemyra shippers don't watch the show right or just want a love story. Because you know what? The love story was already there, way back in the first episode. It's nothing we made up and there's nothing wrong with wanting to see it. It doesn't make us less a fan and it doesn't mean someone doesn't understand the damn story or that this will from now on will be a ugly war.

[purpletyn]

pale white horse + where is your rider is about limited life martyn from scott's pov

AKA, I go insane and assign lyrics to block game and probably stretch the meaning too far lmao

"down they fell like the tower as the land relinquished her ghost"? totally about how they spawned in and the boogeyman mechanic kicked into play.

"Heed the sirens, take shelter", "flee the fire that devours", "but the sight held me fixed"? the sirens are the countdown to boogeyman that both scott and martyn succumbed to on day 1.

"neither plague nor famine temper my courage" i mean, martyn and scott stood together in the face of everything. Scott was target #1 for like two sessions and yet only went down to martyn at his request. they did not falter at any point.

"a pale white horse with a crooked smile, and I knew it was my time" martyn's skin was pale from being red, but he was still a silly goofy guy through it. Scott probably didn't know martyn would kill him for the win, but time and limited life go hand in hand.

"a raging storm of a foreign war, a face i'd seen before" Martyn literally wore the banner of Dogwarts, a war fought 3 seasons ago. Scott would've seen the Hand fighting on the opposite side of the battlefield.

(other song under the cut because this is long and i dont want to clog the tag)

"Was it you 'mid the fire and the ember? Were you there to bedevil and beguile?" Scott died to lava and a traitor, having literally been tricked into removing his armor by Martyn.

"See, your face wasn't quite as I remember, but I know that wicked shape to your smile" similar to above, Scott is used to seeing Mean Gill, pirate martyn, but the banner and the bloodshed would have reminded him of the Hand. One can assume he was making a similar facial expression during battle.

"So bury me as it pleases you, lover, at sea, or deep within the catacomb" I feel like being buried at sea is self-explanatory for a dying Mean Gill

"But these bones never rested while living, so how can they stand to languish in repose?" Scott, having been the target of a hunt more than a few times, would not have gotten much in the way of downtime.

"He has thrown down the cavalry as gravel sinks and as the stone founders underneath the sundered sea of red and reed" Primarily focused on the later half here, the isle was decimated by the time Martyn killed Scott. Several people died in those waters- Scott killed pearl not long before. It was certainly red.

"The shadow of Hades is fading for he has cast down Leviathan, the tyrant, and the horse and rider" Martyn was a force this season. I believe he is tied for most kills. He was a force of nature, much like Leviathan. This one is a stretch lmao

"Where is your rider? Where is your rider?" Listen. Hear me out. This is Scott asking why Martyn snapped at the end. Martyn is an unguided hand, a explosion of fury, an untamed horse. His rider, who had in the past seasons been his ally both secret and not, was not present this go of things. Ren was not there. Scott was never going to be able to exact the loyalty Ren had.

"He will hold with all of his might the armies of night still as boulders laid to the side 'til we pass by" Ren was able to hold back Martyn. He could restrain him, guide him. Scott couldn't.

"He has hoisted out of the mire every child so lift your voice with timbrel and lyre" As Scott died, he would have heard Martyn yelling his speech about it being a death game. Toward the end, his voice had gotten quite loud.

"We will abide, we will abide, we will abide" At the end, Scott accepted what Martyn did. He was glad his Mean Gill won. He will abide.

look i know im insane ok but this has been on my mind literally since the final episode dropped i needed to get this out to the public

[mousieta]

Review: Love Between Fairy and Devil

Year: 2022 Country: China Platform: iQiyi; Viki

Love Between Fairy and Devil is right up there with Love and Redemption for xianxia dramas. It is literally everything I love about them coupled with gorgeous visuals that made my kid-raised-on-80s-fantasy heart soar. Admittedly, it took a handful of episodes for me to fall in love . But as The Untamed took me 14 eps – thank you Tortoise of Slaughter – I try to give C-Dramas a while before I pull the plug. Also, I turn a blind eye to how women lead’s characters are drawn early on because its often going to toe my line of too-gratingly hyper-feminined sexist. (If China could skip the innocent idiot trop at the beginning of every xianxia I would be eternally grateful)

Alright, caveats done, once we got over those hurdles, I fell hard and fast. Something about pained-stoic-overlord-of-evil having to submit to their thematic opposite is just catnip to me. So, by the time the Devil is bound and determined to secure the Fairy’s happiness For Reasons, I was hooked.

The story is fairly straight forward: imprisoned Devil and is tied to Fairy and together they have to save the world.

A lot of the show’s charm lays in its actors. I’ve had a soft spot for Dylan Wang since Meteor Garden. He is not the worlds best actor though he has definitely displayed some growth and more expressive range as the Devil, Dongfang Qing Cang. He also has that alchemical ‘it’ factor: an ability to render what should be, on paper, an unlikable character as sympathetic and a touch self-aware. There is a layer he adds to would could easily become a flat, uninteresting, and toxic character.

Esther Yu was good enough as the fairy though I feel she may have largely been constrained by the demands on women characters and I don’t think her voice actress did her any favors either. I did enjoy her eventual character growth, however.

As always, I am a sucker for equal and complimentary powerful OTPs, where each pushes the other and neither over-shadows the other. I also so much prefer a forthright admission of love and care to annoying love triangle shennanigans which I feel this drama delivered well. We can’t completely avoid a love-triangle and I recognize their purpose in storytelling, I just appreciate when the writers know their use and place within a story.

I think what sets this show apart is its handling of trauma and recovery, of how it shows the fallout of abuse, especially that taken from the hands of a mis-guided parent I love that while Fairy is obviously the catalyst for Devil’s healing, she is not his savior. Healing is something that generates from within him. Definitely check out @dangermousie​ who has written some great meta. (spoilers for the whole show obv but def check out their tag when you’re done)

Ultimately, this show is solidly one of my favorite of the year. The acting is captivating, the directing and cinematography beautiful and the writing thoughtful. It hits on all levels and overcomes its flaws with how well it gets right the important things. I suspect this show will wind up having a high rewatch value as well.