#don't like any girls but xue

[ronandhermy]

Li Yubing really only had room in his whole head and heart for one (1) woman his entire life and he’s so valid for that

[hobunaga]

UPDATED VERSION, thank you @guzhufuren for the additional info!!!

my friend wanted me to make a chart of, Meet you at the Blossom, characters and what their relationship is. Now I don't know everything, I don't even know if I got the names correct but I hope this clarifies a little what is going on here.

here are some clarifications(careful, spoilers)

Xiaobao's parents: Xiaobao's dad found Xiaobao's mom wandering around town one day and assumed she was the daughter of a wealthy family and had lived a really sheltered life(she is). He got her drunk, they slept together and he took responsibility by marrying her and taking care of her.

Tong'en: Now I don't know for sure if she loved any of the men that I attached her to, but they were in love with her so I kinda just added it in case her feelings were genuine or if she was only doing what she had to to survive. The only person I can confirm she truly cared for is Zongzheng Qiyuan and they had a brotherly and sisterly bond only.

Xue Xiaoyu: Now ya'll might be wondering why she has a red line towards Xiaobao and it's kinda given that she has a big crush on him. Her cousin however is his true love so I think she'll put on her big girl pants eventually and move on. Her brother is Xue Lianyu, Xiaobao's best friend. She is also the cousin of Huai'en.

Que Siming and Jinbao: They have 2 names cause in the extra I read, they had changed their names at least once. Jinbao was originally known as Wang Erhu and Que Siming was called Yue Siming. Que Siming was most likely adopted by the doctor whom was caring for him after his father was sentenced for treason and Jinbao was sold to Xiaobao at a young age.

Jinbao and Zhao Cai and Que Siming: Similar to the Xiaobao, Su Yin, and Huai'en jealousy trope, Que Siming's jealousy is mainly centered around Jinbao and Zhao Cai's relationship. Now I don't know if Jinbao has a thing for Zhao Cai, but Jinbao maybe masturbated to Zhao Cai once??? or Zhao Cai ran into him while he was masturbating??? I don't know... if someone can interpret this scene let me know because English is not my first language.

Zhao Cai and Medicine Girl: In Jinbao's side story, Jinbao Marries a Wife, it was stated that Zhao Cai was in a heated relationship with this medicine girl and frequently went out to see her during the time Xiaobao was still sick with the cold needle poison. I don't know if they end up together at the end but it was the only relationship that was mentioned in the story for him.

Shaoyu and Su Yin: So apparently there is a one sided interest in their interactions according to the awe inspiring @guzhufuren . When I read it, I wasn't sure how to exactly interpret their relationship but I can see it now that Shaoyu is just as obsessive and possessive as his older brother is. Good luck getting away, Su Yin!

Shaoyu and Huai'en: Half brothers with a somewhat refreshing ending in the live action that hints that there is a possibility of them bonding later in the future. Now I'm not sure which woman mothered Shaoyu, but I'm going to assume it's the ex empress which makes them half-brothers(well Tong'en only birthed one child so it's a given). Now usually if the mother loses the favor of the emperor to even be demoted out of being empress, that must mean that it heavily affects Shaoyu's standing as crown prince as well. Luckily no other princes were mentioned so it's more likely that Huai'en won't compete for the throne and Shaoyu will still inherit it.

The Zongzhen 4 brothers: Now they're just fucking insane and the only sane one is Zongzhen Qiyuan. Even the emperor is a little cuckoo but hey, that's what stress does to you right? They need to sit down, relax, and chill a little. I'm so glad two of them greatly support Huai'en's decisions.

ps: I'm sorry if I got the names wrong or I didn't name a few of the characters. Either way, I think this is the relationship chart?

[coquelicoq]

just finished my rewatch so i am here to bring you the important fax, such as:

how many dramatic thunderstorms take place over the course of 40 episodes of the double?

the answer may surprise you!

episode 1. the og. xue fangfei is buried alive by her husband, who then goes in for a lil psychological torture courtesy of the princess. meanwhile, su-guogong kicks down the door of a contraband salt warehouse and does a sick spin onto the back of a chair completely unnecessarily. for the aesthetic. you really get your bang for your buck with this one because it also features in at least ELEVEN separate flashbacks in later episodes (episodes 4, 7, 9 (three FBs), 11, 13, 17, 24, 27, and 32, to be specific).

episode 7. shen yurong comes to the jiang residence to give "jiang li" an entrance exam for fancy pants academy. she drops hella hints to her true identity and keeps bringing up how much it sucked to be abandoned on that mountain :) while a storm rages around them much akin to the one that made the whole live burial thing especially dramatic. as if being buried alive needed additional pathos.

episode 13. xue fangfei is called before the jiang family tribunal because she's got some explaining to do about what happened at the palace banquet (where, if you recall, jiang ruoyao attempted to set her up to be violated and disgraced, and instead found their cousin in bed with jry's fiance). of course our girl wipes the floor with these amateurs. she's bringing melodramatic precipitation to the table, and what do they have, a face wound? god's least favorite soldier (the concubine's son)? please. you gotta get up earlier in the morning than that to pull one over on this fake ex-nun.

episode 14. this one is maybe the funniest to me from a doylist perspective because it's just one single thunderclap/lightning bolt right after the emperor says to xiao heng, the princess hates you. she might even try...to KILL YOU. like bro this is not news to anybody lol. but at least the universe has a sense of dramatic timing. there is no other sign of this storm, not even rainfall, in any other part of the episode...the emperor summoned a stormcloud just for that one sentence and then was like okay i got what i needed, run along now.

episode 17. wins the award for cutest rainstorm. a drunk xue fangfei holds xiao heng's cheeks very insistently between her hands, looking up into his eyes as rain falls in her face. he takes off his utterly sodden cloak and wraps it around her shoulders, surely doing absolutely nothing w/r/t keeping her dry but at least seeming very tender about it. the rain is obviously integral to the scene, but i think the thunder and lightning are mainly here because someone involved with this production really likes thunder and lightning. we also get a flashback to this one in...

episode 18. the metaphorical masturbation scene (xue fangfei lies in a tub artfully draped in fabric nuzzling the soft petals of a rose while xiao heng does half-naked swordplay dripping with rain). again i think somebody was just having a lot of fun with the thunderstorm effects on set that day. rain would have been sufficient, but if there's one thing you can say about this show, it's that everyone involved agreed that "sufficient" will not suffice. we are not here to regular-ass things. we are here to double- or even triple-ass them. and when in doubt on how to achieve that, add some fucking meteorological event. some kind of audiovisual spectacle. it's literally coming down from the heavens. what, are we gonna ask for subtlety? from this show? not if we know what's good for us.

episode 20. xue fangfei has just asked the auntie down the street in huaixiang to testify on her father's behalf, getting down on her knees and begging, only to have the door shut in her face. ouch. if that's not prime time for some rain to mingle with her tears, her surroundings reflecting her inner state, i don't know what is. it's giving textbook pathetic fallacy.

episode 25. ji shuran meets with the imperial diviner who turns out to be her long lost lover she thought she had successfully burned to death!!! (ohhh sidenote i am just now getting the jsr-syr parallel with this.) honestly if they had neglected to punctuate this scene with thunder and lightning i would have been metaphorically holding the back of my hand up to the production's forehead to check for fever. it would not be a sign of health, given this show's general baseline.

episode 27. xue fangfei meets with jiang yuanbai's concubine, hu-yiniang, trying to convince her to help xue fangfei fuck ji shuran's shit right up. the weather didn't help her recruit the huaixiang auntie, but it works like a charm on auntie hu. (i'm choosing to believe the weather is a sentient entity and it's showing up to drench xue fangfei like a wet cat at irregular intervals like ⛈ im helping 🥰)

episode 28. the exorcism. fuck yes there's a thunderstorm during the exorcism. what are we even doing here if the showdown between olympic-grade synchronized charlatan choreography and mad-with-grief-mother-approved creepy ventriloquism isn't punctuated by bolts of lightning? don't waste my time. perfectly timed thunderclaps or gtfo.

episode 29. gotta have some thunder and lightning while visiting the tombstone of your brother who isn't actually dead (but you don't know that). definitely gotta have some rain so your crush can show up out of nowhere and lovingly hold an umbrella over your head. that's just basic science. step 4.7 of the water cycle.

episode 30. xue fangfei comes to the academy to rehearse the duet for the zhao envoy and dun dun dunnnn...only shen yurong is there!!! i am feeling distinctly menaced, but on her behalf, or on his? hard to say. on the one hand, he did attempted-murder her. on the other hand, she's xue fucking fangfei and he's the chump who attempted-murdered her. sweet dreams, bucko.

episode 35. consort li visits the princess in an attempt to get her diagnosed with Pregnancy...out of wedlock!! lots of thunder but no lightning until shen yurong shows up afterward and is like, hey honey i figured out how to solve this problem, just marry this totally other dude 👍 wanning is Not having a good day and the weather got the memo.

episode 39. what would u even do if ur lover poisoned you & took that opportunity to rescue his ex-wife from ur dungeon & walked out holding her in a bridal carry (after using knockout gas on her, natch) & when he saw u he tenderly placed her down out of the rain? what would u do if u had the hairpin u thought he had given u as a sincere token of love and commitment & this hairpin was sharp enough to impale a person & u could put it in his hand pointed toward u & then u could pull his hand right into ur abdomen? WHAT WOULD U DO if all this was the case BUT THERE WAS NO THUNDER AND LIGHTNING WHILE THIS WAS GOING DOWN?? i think i would just NOT impale myself on my own hairpin using my traitorous lover's hand. out of PIQUE. i know weather patterns are driven by atmospheric forces or whatever but come on man. that would just be rude. so thankfully the weather showed up to give the princess the dramatic accompaniment her iconic death scene deserved. she died as she lived: dangerous, vulnerable, electrifying. i'm buying the effects people a round for this one. they made it count.

so, 14 individual thunderstorms, plus at least 10 flashbacks* to one of those thunderstorms, for (at minimum) 24 total scenes featuring thunderstorms in 40 episodes. *(i say "at least" because i probably missed some. and there are 12 FBs mentioned in this post, but two of them were being remembered while another thunderstorm was taking place, so their scenes have already been included in the count of 24.) and that is not even counting 1) lightning in an imaginary what-if scene in episode 6 in which xiangqiao (one of jsr's planted servants) says "if i'm lying, strike me with lightning!" or 2) the magical lightning strikes that jiang ruoyao and/or xue fangfei may or may not create during the guqin exam cgi extravaganza in episode 11 (kinda hard to tell if that was lightning or not). if you count those too you start to wonder if the crew was getting some kind of bulk discount on lightning bolts from the lightning bolt factory...but that's none of my business 😌

[shanastoryteller]

Happy birthday Shana!!! I wish for a continuation of the Lady Mo story if you have any inspiration. Otherwise I would love any untamed promt!

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

"Are you hurt?" Sizhui asks anxiously, jumping off his sword to tun towards Lady Xuanyu.

"Nah," she says, wincing as she stresses. "Well, nothing important."

"You're bleeding!" Jingyi shouts at a really unnecessary pitch. He unsheathes his sword and points it at Song Lan. "What did you do?"

"Stop that," she scolds, knocking his sword down. "Go get Xiao Xingchen and the girl. He's probably really confused right now."

Song Lan's expression clears and he bows to her before flying off.

His father jerks as if to go after him and Lady Xuanyu calls out, "Leave him be! He's doing what I said."

Lan Wangji hesitates, but nods and finally descends to join them. He towers over Lady Xuanyu, looking down at her with a fierce glare that makes Sizhui cringe even though it's not directed towards him. "What happened?"

"Found Xiao Xingchen, found Xue Yang, Song Lan killed him," she says, not even so much as lowering her eyes. "Xue Yang, not Xiao Xingchen, obviously. Wasn't this guy supposed to be killed during the war or something? It was a little before my time, so to speak."

"Song Lan is unharmed and you are not," his father says, lifting a hand to press it against the sluggishly bleeding wound in her shoulder.

Lady Xuanyu hisses at the contact but doesn't pull away. "He's a more experienced cultivator. Give me a couple hours and they'll be all closed up."

It used to take days for Lady Xuanyu's golden core to heal anything more complicated than a paper cut. She's strengthened it to the point that what would have been weeks of healing is reduced to just a day.

"He should have protected you," Sizhui says stubbornly. He'd rather she didn't have to heal at all. "Why did you run off with him anyway?"

"Had a hunch and figured I'd be back before you noticed," she says. Jingyi sputters. "Also, I don't need him to protect me, geez. He's a more experienced cultivator, but I still am one. I've gotten more hurt in training."

It's true, but Sizhui doesn't like that either. To harm ones body without cause is against the rules. Perhaps it's not entirely without cause, considering her rapid growth, but none of their teachers had ever beat them as badly as she demands the disciples beat her, and their cores had all turned out fine.

"What hunch did you have?" his father asks.

She winces and says, "Oh, you know, womanly intuition."

It's a lie and not even a very good one.

Lan Wangji's eyes narrow but they're interrupted by Song Lan returning with two people balanced precariously on his sword. Sizhui assumes the other man clad all in white must be Xiao Xingchen but doesn't know who the blind girl that looks to be about his age is.

"Xuanyu!" the girl calls out joyously, causing him to reevaluate his assessment of blind. She's being awfully familiar with his step mother. The girl leaps from the sword before it's fully on the ground and goes running towards them, shoulder pass Lan Wangji to body slam into Lady Xuanyu. "You're still alive, right? You said you would be!"

Lady Xuanyu laughs, closing her arms around the girl's shoulders. Her shoulder is bleeding again now that his father isn't keeping pressure on it. Cant the girl see that she's injured? "Yes, yes, I'm still alive. Excellent work keeping Xiao Xingchen out of the fray, A-Qing. I knew I could depend on you."

The girl - A-Qing, apparently - glows under the praise, beaming up at Lady Xuanyu, still with her arms around her waist.

What's her problem anyway?

[desicanary]

Some thoughts after finishing the double that I need to expel from my consciousness:

1. I haven't enjoyed a show so much in a while. It had all the drama, and it didn't sacrifice it for the romance

2. Princess Wanning! She killed her dad and I think that was queen shit. She should have killed more people, frankly. She deserves to do so much murder

3. Shen Yurong how I hate you. This man is not only a murderer and a coward, he's also incompetent. None of his plans have ever worked. Mans couldn't manage to successfully kill his wife even if every god were on his side. I loved every time Xue Fangfei did psychic damage to him simply by existing

4. Xue Fangfei! Xue Li! Jiang Li! Xiao Limao! A'Li! Many other terms of address I've missed! She truly is that girl. She is gaslight gatekeep girl boss. She's a girl's girl. She stabbed a man in the dick 7 times. She has the man who once called her a pawn wrapped around her pinkie. When her man tells her he has to get into a political marriage for the nation she says do it then, and then he has to admit he was never gonna. She inflicted +9999999999999 damage on those who wronged her and Jiang Li. She can't fight to save her life (as evident) but can and will confuse her opponent into tripping over their own nonexistent shoelaces

5. I loved the progression of the relationship between A'Li and Xiao Heng. They weren't immediately lovers or friends. They fully used each other until they were willing to be used. The chemistry, the flirting, it's too much and too good. Also, Xiao Heng serves. See: the fans, the fucking gold plated murder fan, a walk-in closet full of capes, the most dramatic entrances known to cdramas, and all the audacity

6. BUT what were the last 20 minutes! They don't exist to me! My buddies Wen Ji and Lu Ji are watching their boss embarass himself at Duke Su's mansion and sharing in the hot goss, to me

7. Plus, I've gotta be missing something about the Longwu army. I do not understand them at all. Not a single one of them would survive the Nuremberg precedent. Not only are they not guided by ethics and morals, they're also not guided by loyalty or revenge or anger or hate or any understandable motivation. Instead, they're guided by a rock carving of a fish. wut. They find out the dude holding the fish works for the guy who betrayed and killed their general, their comrades, and even some of their family. And their response is: "How could they?!?!?! But we still have to listen to them because they have the fish!" Truly what. Someone explain this all-powerful rock fish to me

8. I do think that the Jiangs deserved more. And by more I mean worse. I think Xue Li should have told Jiang Yuanbai exactly how Jiang Li lived and died, and that she hated him for his negligence. I think she should have told the grandma too. They had their hand in this and they deserve to feel the full weight of Jiang Li's life and death and hatred

9. Also Jiang Yuanbai being like "It's not that I didn't know what was going on at home it's just that I was so busy working for the nation uwu". Sir, disrespectfully, no. You had not a clue. And if you did, that makes it worse. Like "Oh no! I'm so busy working that I have no choice but to let my wife frame my 8 yr old for her own attempted murder! The murder of the same stepmom that she, until yesterday, adored! Oh well, I gotta go to work so I'll just let that happen and abandon her for 10 years until politics makes it necessary for me to bring her home! And I'll feel really bad about abandoning her now, but I'll also never believe a single word out her mouth!" Actually, I think he should be hunted for sport

10. Anyway, that got off track! But I love this show, and how even the antagonists have arcs and backstories and aren't countering our girl just cuz. I love the fleshed out characters, all the looks it serves, the drama, and the adorable Wen Ji and Lu Ji and Jiang Jingrui

[winwintea]

WayV as my favorite songs

AUTHOR’S NOTE ↬ no one asked for this but i can do whatever i want lol. i need to flesh out every single nct member and this is the easiest way for me to write for them: music

PLAYLIST ↬ here just in case you would like to listen to any of them lol

OTHER VERSIONS ↬ dream | 127 | wish (when i post them eventually lol)

LIU YANGYANG ↬ 火 - A-Mei

yangyang is a certified y2k baddie. i'm fully convinced he was born in the wrong era. like he would've rocked the 2000s so much, if only he was born 10 years earlier. 火 is quite literally yangyang, don't tell me other wise, like yangyang is🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥the lyrics are so him coded. HE JUST LOVES MUSIC DON'T TELL HIM TO STOP! in true wayv fashion the song is probably about sex

XIAO DEJUN ↬ 爱 - 小虎队

my god. dejun....... literally such a romantic, but he's like the youthful style romantic?? (does that make sense) 爱 just fits him so well cause it's like young love, peaceful vibes, literally i'm in love with this man. I BET YOU ANYTHING HE KNOWS THE SIGN LANGUAGE TO THIS SONG BY HEART. heartthrob dejun of the 90s. LIKE CAN YOU IMAGINE HIM IN THE 90s???

QIAN KUN ↬ 你是我永远的乡愁 - fei yu-ching

you know the guy that sings the xue hua piao piao song? yeah this is one of his songs. another way for me to call kun a boomer but am i wrong??? is this man not a boomer??? i'm sorry. nah but i got a feeling that kun really likes old old music. i'm talking teressa teng, all those classics. and i can't blame him they're bangers. couldn't go straight with a jay chou song bc that'd be too easy i wanted to challenge myself.

DONG SICHENG ↬ 我愿意 - faye wong/王菲

i love love love faye wong....... all of her songs. she's so talented bruh. and i love winwin! wow those go great together! jkjk, i have reasons for this too. this song is quite literally so special so romantic like damn. i have a feeling that winwin, whoever his partner is, he would literally worship the ground they walk on. HE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR THE ONE HE LOVES. these are literally all love songs but my wayv boys... i picture them in love all the time okay.

WONG KUNHANG ↬ 失戀 - grasshoper

everytime i hear this fucking song i laugh so hard bc WHO WROTE THIS???? WHY DID YOU MAKE IT HAPPY??? hendery is such a comedian, we all know that. he just has this extremely playful vibe to him. the lyrics of this song... are certainly tragic.... it's about a dude who's chasing after girl who doesn't like him but also talking to another guy who likes the same girl and they both cope with their misery together. LIKE... hendery gives me the vibe that for all his misfortunes and troubles he would just laugh it off. which is not okay, but it's how he is. :((

CHITTAPHON LEECHAIYAPORNKUL ↬ play/我呸 - jolin tsai

literally do not know any thai songs i apologize, but if you got any good recs. really any jolin tsai song could fit ten's vibe tbh, like especially 舞孃 could work too. i chose play bc the gays like it (this is a joke but also kinda true) i could say that she's basically the "lady gaga of cpop" (not my words okay) play is just so sassy, and playful, really fits the vibes that ten has going on there. gay.

perm taglist ↬ @lyvhie

[morethanwonderful]

Out of all of Wei Wuxian's traits, one of the ones that fascinates me the most is how incredibly casual and chummy he is with corpses. All the other cultivators are a bit desensitized to the dead by nature of their profession, yes, but Wei Wuxian in particular treats the dead very much the same as he treats living people, and I think it's simultaneously one of his best and most concerning attributes.

On the good side, the way Wei Wuxian treats the dead is absolutely an extension of his overall goodness and empathy. He stands on the side of those that are looked down on, and nobody faces more discrimination that the dead. He treats the dead like people because they are people, and they deserve to have their voices heard. That's what Empathy's for, and that's why he revives Wen Ning to stand as witness to his own murder. Wen Ning is not a thing! And even when Wei Wuxian is raising armies of dead Wens to fight on his behalf, we get illustrations of him giving a helping hand to a weak old corpse that can't stand on its own.

Wei Wuxian is painted in very deliberate contrast to Xue Yang, who treats the dead as tools and deprives them of agency. His closeness with them is a symbol of his kindness.

However, beyond treating the dead decently and like people, there is a point where his chumminess with them starts to get unsettling, and that's the point where it becomes a reflection of his loneliness and trauma. In particular, I'm thinking of his cuddliness with the ghosts he uses to torture Wen Chao and the corpse girls he's hanging out with when he invites Lan Zhan to drink with him. Because treating the dead with respect is a very different thing from having a corpse lay in your lap as you stroke its hair. And fierce corpses by definition do not have personalities (with Wen Ning as the exception that proves the rule), so treating them as companions to socialize with is rather concerning behavior.

So why is he like this? Isolation and trauma!

It's easy to understate the trauma of Wei Wuxian's three months in the Burial Mound, especially given that we don't see them play out but do get details about so many other horrible moments. But those three months? They Fucked Him Up. In particular, beyond the trauma of the near death experience (or presumably many many near death experiences in a row), he spent the better part of three months without seeing a single other living human. People are not meant to do that.

So what is a person gonna do when he spends three months in Worse Solitary Confinement? And when that solitude is spent on Fierce Corpse Mountain? He's gonna get really weird about corpses. He's gonna turn into the kind of man that would let a murderous ghost he's controlling lay in his lap as he strokes her hair, because for an extended period of time, that is the closest thing to human contact he's had access to.

And later, post-sunshot-campaign, Wei Wuxian does regain access to living humans and society, but he's still incredibly isolated. Just about everyone besides his siblings and Lan Zhan hates and/or is scared of him by the time we hit the scene of him and the fierce corpse girls throwing flowers, so it's no wonder he's hanging out with dead people. He already picked up the habit of replacing company with corpses once, so of course he doesn't see anything wrong with it. Maybe they're there as bodyguards, maybe he's just extremely lonely and doesn't have any human companions to drink with him, or maybe (probably) it's a mix of both. But in any case, it's a pretty clear expression of a horrifying degree of both past and present isolation.

That's why, though he doesn't lose his respect for the dead or his desensitization to touching corpses, we never see him just Hanging Out With Mindless Ghosts in his second life. It's a substitute for real companionship, not a healthy behavior, but lack of company is no longer an issue he has after being resurrected.

He doesn't need an entourage of corpse girls, because this time, when he wants company, he's always got Lan Zhan.

[elderflowergin]

Hello, hi. I hope that you are well and I hope you don't mind me kinda rambling in your inbox. I see that you've watched The Double! May I just say as great as the show was, I think I have one niggling issue with it, maybe two. The og Jiang Li was forgotten in the end and not even her father mourned her for real - as much as I love that Xue FF got her justice, that poor girl died not knowing that she was loved. It would have been nice to see her father, at least stand by her grave or something to remember her. Then Wanning(poor girl best girl mean girl)! I hate that she died like that. There was no way she was ever going to concede power to man after the treatment she received in that other kingdom, I don't even think that she wanted to corrupt Sheng Yurong, but her trauma will not allow her to trust or yield to man for any reason and I am so curious as to why she trusted her brother to be emperor knowing that she detests men in high positions. Lastly Jiang Li's fake pregnancy ploy was beyond cruel, of course she had no context, but to Wanning, it was everything. I cried for her. My heart broke her. Despised by her own people after what she endured for them, maybe a a little madness is not unrealistic. I cried when she cried. Wept with her. I hope this makes sense. Anyway, wish the show had more space for all three of them. That's all.

hello hi anon! I’m good! And I completely agree with you - I didn’t write my concluding thoughts on the show here (I did it on twitter) but yes, real-Jiang Li never got her due, and XFF’s reveal to Jiang Li’s father gave short shrift to the girl who suffered for ten abusive, lonely years. And I don’t think redeeming Jiang Yuanbai was fair to Jiang Li’s righteous rage at her total abandonment - Ji Shuran may have been the agent of destruction, but she managed to commit all these horrors because Jiang Yuanbai was a lousy father and husband. This man’s negligence led to the deaths of two wives and two children! Crying for thirty seconds of screen time is not enough imho.

Wanning’s end was indeed gutting to watch, and the only point at which I was weeping too. She’s sacrificed so much for her kingdom and suffered far more than anyone can imagine, and yet these grand old men turn up their noses and avoid her because she didn’t wield a bow and arrow. No wonder Shen Yurong’s meagre gesture meant so much to her. My guess is Wanning did not have enough power to drive succession - the men around her don’t trust her or think of her as smart, including Lord Cheng and yes, the emperor, and she’s nothing more than an inconvenience to be handled. I think Lord Cheng only pretended better than their younger brother does, and I guess being full siblings close in age helped them build a bond.

The fake pregnancy broke my heart as well, and I know it was aimed at saving the Yan, but it was so cruel considering Wanning’s backstory. How much indignity did she suffer, my god, and for LI JING to loudly mourn her! Blech!

I have to admit that all things considered this was an incredibly entertaining show! I enjoyed so much of it, and I was especially surprised that I enjoyed watching Shen Yurong. I find TV misogynists to be very boring - how many different ways can you hate women, after all? - but he was a compelling character till the end, like layers of a rotting onion. I’m hoping someone picks up Wanning’s plot and writes something that does her justice.

Thanks Anon, for giving me an opportunity to talk about this inexplicably compelling show!

[rose-and-thorn-fanfics]

"The Vanity Of Virtues" A CQL (Xue Yang x Fem! OC) Fanfic: Part 1

Lan Qiān Qiān had run away from her problems. Or, at least she had thought that was the case when she snuck out of Gusu and abandoned the Lan Clan and its many strict rules. 'No one will look for me. No one will miss me, anyway.' She thought, the sadness of failure settling into her bones as she wandered the streets of a town in the lush mountains to the south of Gusu. It was lightly raining, and the people in the market place hurried their transactions so they could return home before dusk. It became apparent that Lan Qiān Qiān was being followed. Her keen ears had been trained to recognize this, and she subtly dropped her hand to her side so it hung loosely next to her sword (which she called "Misfortune").

She turned around suddenly, coming face to face with a richly dressed young man, who she had seen a lot around that town. "You're following me. Why?"

"Is a man of my stature not supposed to take interest in such a beautiful girl?" The man spoke confidently.

Qiān Qiān scoffed. 'The audacity of this man. Its his first time speaking to me and he says this?' She frowned. "Your flattery falls on deaf ears. I'm not interested in aristocrats who follow around girls without dignity." Lan Qiān Qiān said sternly. It felt refreshing being able to speak her mind now that she had left the Lan Clan.

The man advanced. "Maybe I can teach you to appreciate me through other means. Would that interest you?" The man spat.

Qiān Qiān shivered, becoming aware that the other merchants and customers in the outdoor market had gone inside. It was just her and this ugly rich asshole who didn't look like he'd take no for an answer. She gripped her sword, and yet the man didn't seem at all threatened by this gesture. "Don't come any closer!" Qiān Qiān unsheathed her sword.

The man laughed, and approached her anyway. He went to bat the handle of the sword away with one of his hands, using the other to stroke her face.

'That's it.' Lan Qiān Qiān thought, boiling with anger. Faster than her racing heart, she spun away, and slashed the sword across the mans legs, so his knees buckled and he shouted in agonizing pain, collapsing on the ground. Her rage still filled her every breath, as flashbacks filled her head to when she was a child. How she had hated being beautiful, the way her wishes were disregarded. The way men had approached her... She slashed her sword again, this time completely slitting the mans neck. Blood spirted out and stained her blue Lan Clan robes, and she spat at him with distain. The town's guards came into view, marching around the corner. Realizing her situation, Lan Qiān Qiān made a run for it, tears welling up in her eyes as she used her cultivator skills that she had learned to set up a small temporary invisible barrier that halted the guards and delayed their pursuit.

She sprinted to the stables and climbed on a horse, spurring it forward and out of the town's back gate. She knew the energy barrier she had created would only last a few minutes longer. As she rode the horse into the darkness of the mountains, she wondered why she didn't feel guilt of any sort. Qiān Qiān had always assumed that if she were to let her temper get the best of her, the first person she'd kill would leave her riddled with regret. Instead, she felt something different. Almost... satisfying. She shook her head. It was wrong. It must be wrong, to feel this way.

Hours passed and the horse Lan Qiān Qiān chose was getting tired. She kept an eye out for another town, but instead only found a cave that appeared to be some sort of makeshift shelter. Wood boards patched up holes in the ceiling as she entered, but there was no sign of anyone . A hole in the ground served as a fire pit that had gone out many days ago. She hitched the horse to sharp rock, exhausted from the travel. Slowly but surely, Lan Qiān Qiān drifted off to sleep to the sound of water dripping into a puddle of the cave's floor.

The sun peaked through the cracks and opening of the cave, and Qiān Qiān's eyes fluttered open. She bolter upright, seeing someone sitting across from her, staring at her intently. She unsheathed her sword, but immediately after took note of this man's appearance. "You're injured!" She gasped, seeing the long gash in his midriff that he was clutching. His clothes were soaked in blood, but his dark eyes were shining with amusement.

"You're a long way from Gusu," He observed, glancing up at her headband.

"Aren't you in pain?" Qiān Qiān stuttered, flustered by the devious way he was grinning. This man was staining the floor with blood yet seemed un- phased by it. In fact, he was more interested in small talk.

"A little, maybe." He shrugged.

Qiān Qiān shook her head, starting to panic over his injury. He may be a stranger, but he didn't seem like he would do much in his current state. She took off the outer layer of her robes, tearing off a shred and advancing towards him.

"Mmm. Not so fast, sweetheart." The handsome man backed away gripping a knife with his other (partially gloved) hand. "I'll need a name before I let you closer."

She sighed. "Fine. My name is Lan Qiān Qiān. I'm only telling you that because I highly doubt you'd be the sort to go running to Gusu telling Lan Xichen of my crimes."

"Well then, you can come closer. I'm Xue Yang." He said in an alarmingly charismatic tone, taking in her appearance with more interest. He set aside the knife, and beckoned Qiān Qiān to come closer. She cautiously took a seat by his side, gently tying the long shred of her robe around his waist. She felt very aware of the her proximity to this "Xue Yang".

"This should stop the bleeding for now." She said, tightening the cloth until it was just right.

"Qiān Qiān. Your name suits you." He said, suddenly gripping her arm. "That's enough tightening. Its fine now." Xue Yang winced.

She sat back down, carefully leaning against the wall next to him. "The blood on your clothes," she whispered after a few minutes of silence. "Its not all your blood, is it?"

Xue Yang laughed lightly. "Of course not. I'd be embarrassed if it was." He turned towards Qiān Qiān. "You said you committed crimes. I love a good confession. If you tell me who you killed, I'll tell you about my latest murders."

Lan Qiān Qiān's eyes widened, and she whipped her head towards him with shock. "You can't just say stuff like that!"

"Why not?" Xue Yang asked, genuinely curious. "You know I'm not wrong. I can tell a killer when I see one."

"You say that with pride. Don't you feel remorse?" She whispered, planting her face in her hands with distress. Mixed feelings coursed through her like lightning.

"No. Do you feel remorse?" Xue Yang asked.

Lan Qiān Qiān paused for a long time, face still in her hands. "I.... guess I don't.... either."

She felt Xue Yang's hand placed lightly on her shoulder. "Thats what I like to hear."

She looked up at him, and almost immediately blushed. Just the way he looked at her made her feel guilty. Absolutely sinful. And her thoughts... well, they were far from pure.

Thanks so much for reading Part One!!! Like, comment, and reblog if you want a sooner part two!

[alipeeps]

Episode 39

I am honestly fucking scared to start this episode. *whimpers*

Ahhh so the plan is to get rid of Xiao Heng before the battle kicks off (because they're scared of him - cowards!). Not sure leaving the princess to ensure his death is their best plan though?

Wait up is that real Zhao Ke who's escaped from shitty uncle or is this fake Zhao Ke again carrying out the plot to bring Xiao Heng to the princess?

Ayyy you go grandpa!! That'll throw a spanner in the works of Wanning's little plan! 😁

Oh for fuck's sake, I was right, wasn't I? Yurong *still* wants Xue Li (still thinks he has any fucking right to her, like her opinion on the matter doesn't count?!!) and I bet that's what he asked Lord Cheng for as reward.

So he in one move poisons the princess, to justify the rebellion, and "saves" Xue Li from her prison. What does he think, she's going to turn around and be so thankful for the rescue that she'll take him back?!

Oh you absolute little shit of a man. Grrrrrrrr.

Oooh holy shit, confronted by poisoned Wanning as he's walking out carrying drugged unconscious Xue Li.

Pleeease Wanning, please, put those sociopathic tendencies to good use and kill the fucker. Take him down with you. Go on!!

"Haven't I treated you well?" WHat? WHAT? Bestie, do you even listen to yourself?

Go on girl stab him. I know you got a knife there somewhere. Stab that fucker.

Better yet, take out that hairpin he gave you and stab him with that!

Nonononoooo you did it all wrong! You were meant to stab HIM!!

Him having stabbed you does rather screw up the plan to blame your death on the emperor though so thanks for that I guess...

I wonder was the poison actually intended to fake her death not kill her, as discussed with Lord Cheng? Cos if so, that's you out of favour with the dude who was your meal ticket to success if the coup works out.

You're screwed fella. Whether the coup succeeds or not, the emperor will have you killed for killing his sister.

Meanwhile where the fuck in grandpa Xiao who is meant to be coming to rescue Xue Li?

Please don't despise me? Bestie, what fucking drugs have you been taking?

Your ruined her reputation. Tried to kill her. Plotted against her. Just told her that you're going to kill the man she does love. But it's all ok sweetie, afterwards I'll clean myself, and we can go back to being husband and wife just like before, ok? I mean wtf?!!

PLEASE tell me Xiao Heng gets to personally end Yurong's life. PLEASE.

Oh thank fuck, I was just gonna say AGAIN, where the fuck is grandpa Xiao and his rescue mission? Props to the old boy for jus straight up kicking the door in.

Oh dude it's the Luoyang bandits to the rescue too! Yassss! Get the fuck in there boys!!

Well fuck, shit's going down for sure cos Xiao Heng is actually armed with a sword rather than a fan.

Does... does he really think anyone would believe what he was claiming? If the emperor was going to imprison his sister, he certainly wouldn't do it so openly, and tell her consort why he was doing it! Wtf who would even believe such nonsense?

They better not kill my baby idiot boy Wen Ji! They just better not!!!

Oh I stand corrected - he did have a sword when he spoke with the emperor... but apparently he feels Lord Cheng doesn't warrant such extra effort and ngl I agree with him there. Kill his ass Xiao Heng!!

OOOOH it's a motherfucking METAL fan!! Yasssss bitch!!!

A metal fan AND his daddy's sword. Hell yes.

Uhhh yeah Xiao Heng. sweetie... he's got armour. And you don't.

Fuuuck that shoulder throw was a badass move!!

Sorry fella, what were you saying? What do wise men do again?

Ngl I especially love that moment cos it's a subversion of such a common trope in cdrama - in the middle of a massive battle, you stop to wax poetic about your motivations with your opponent. Of fucking course in a real life battle someone would take advantage of your grandstanding to shove a fucking sword into you! 😂😂😂 Well done that nameless soldier! Bravo! 😁

Ayyy it's Jiuyue and the Great Zhao boys!! Woohoo!!

Ahh shit, how's Lu Ji gonna fight off that many on his own?

Ayyyy pappa Jiang!! Never thought I'd be so happy to see that old fucker! 😁

You go pappa Jiang. You shoulda kicked him in the nards instead though.

The director really likes the imagery of a fighter's foot sliding/splashing into a puddle as they are pushed backwards in a fight. It's rapidly getting right up there with the wind machine in popularity.

"I rescued your wife." Oh grandpa Xiao you are really fucking growing on me!! 😁

JFC pappa Jiang's face!!

He's like wtf? When did this happen??!! 😂😂😂

Ngl though fellas, romantic as this is, you really don't have time for this. There's some fairly important shit going down right now. The slow-mo hugs really should wait.

JFC dude it's not just because of Xiao Heng that Xue Li won't look at you! She's never gonna look at you. You could kill every other man in the world and she'd still not look at you!!

Plus where was this fucking rabid devotion to Xue Li and being with her no matter what when the princess ordered you to kill her? Oh, that's right, nowhere!! You DID fucking kill her... except you're too fucking cringefail to make it stick!!

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! WHat a place to end the ep! Fuck!!

(Please tell me in ep 40 Xue Li turns up and puts a fucking arrow right through that fucker's face!!)

[risingsoleil]

Is Xue’s name still Xue in the AU? And who are her “favorite” siblings among the AU kids and what were their thoughts when they learned that Lin was pregnant again?

Yes, her name would still be Xue in AU.

The favorites change depending on Xue's mood and what she wants lol Her go-to sibling is probably Kang bc he drops everything to entertain her and they're food buddies. Mei would be food buddies with them, but she isn't on the island as often now that she's married.

The second would be Jin. Siblings tease him and say that she loves going to him bc he doesn't want any kids. She's like a cat and can sense people who don't want kids.

Xue loves dancing with Mei and playing with her makeup.

Areum and Xue draw and paint together. Sometimes, they have garden walks and Mei joins them. They want to soak in girl time whenever they can.

When they all found out Lin was pregnant again, their eyes were:

The silence was LOUD.

Once they got over the judgmental side-eyes, kids were pretty happy that they'd have another sibling. Kang got dramatic bc he wasn't going to be the baby of the family anymore. Oh, and his twin, too.

To Linzin's surprise, all four of their grown kids were very involved in taking care of Lin during pregnancy. I wrote in the Other Side of Heaven chapter that Mei also found out she's pregnant. So it would be the family coming together to keep Lin and Mei happy and satisfied lol

The moment they all met Xue, any judgments disappeared and melted. They couldn't imagine not having their baby sister in their lives. She's just a cute chubby baby that they'll die for

[pippin-pippout]

This drama does particularly well with its "villain" which is to say Shen Yurong/Scholar Shen. Having not watched it all, it is clear to me that he genuinely regrets killing his wife/leaving her for dead (I still don't believe someone can 'bury someone alive' that incompetently).

And it's clear that he will not act against A'Li (whether he believes her to be Xue Li or Jiang Li - doesn't matter, he made up his mind).

I LOVE how he stood up to Princess Wanning when declaring in front of the emperor that A'Li was in fact not his wife, even though he clearly knows that she was. Part of that is possibly due to the fact that he thinks he's in hell and hallucinating most of what is going on around him.

I also feel like Princess Wanning loves it. Let those two go off and be kinky together without disrupting any real world people and we'd be fine! Bratty sub meets dominatrix.

But alas, these labels do not exist in ancient china. So our girl is forced to go ape shit and take out her decade(s?) of being a hostage on anyone that moves.

[wutheringskies]

I find this interesting in mdzs posts on Tumblr. Once the profile pic or background pic on their blog is either Xue Yang, JGY, or CQL pictures, then the post they wrote must be "The MC of mdzs is not morally that good, the reason is bla bla blah. To make flaws in the MC they went to the extent of victimizing the Perpetrators mainly Wen Chao and QishanWen Cultivators who'd chosen to join the war, a war to oppress other sects and slaughter them if they were to defy.

Don't you think that pattern resembles MDZS world? If you find someone spreading rumors and distorting facts about WWX it must be from the Jin. After the war ended, The Mobs actually accused WWX of killing too much (Wen Cultivators) during the war, in the occasion of talking about WWX freeing the real innocent Wen Remnants from LanlingJin's true war crime. The Irony and Ridiculousness are so thick. But that actually came into being in real life on their fans. How amusing was that?? Like Idols like fans. There really are people like that in real life...even MianMian can't put up with such mobs.

Excellent point, anon.

I always feel that MXTX's stories - specifically, MDZS and TGCF do a great job at presenting in the bounds of fiction, a real society. In our sort of society, those who are kind, are also often foolish. Those who are brave, are treated as rebels. In our world too; minorities are treated with suspicion and hostility. Systems aren't set down in rules; the rules can be changed by those who hold power; those who constitute the majority. Most of the people in this world listen along to the flute of him who is most powerful. Most people are mob-like. They don't help, but they criticize those who do for not doing enough. They don't like putting themselves into difficult positions. Even if they feel sympathy, they never act on it. They treat outliers as scandalous; they just wish to be accepted in any community, and put down all voices of reason, and pleas, to act like a banded group; like a bunch of 'teen mean girls.'

That is the sort of world MDZS is based in. In such a world, there are two idealistic people with solid morals - Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, and this is the story of coming to peace with such a world and finding each other. I strongly feel that if one tries to justify an antagonist's actions; they rob themselves of the experience of reading a book which subtly, yet strongly pokes at how corrupt power structures, social hierarchies are; and how terrible it is to not examine the information you are presented with.

We are well aware that Jin Guangyao is a villain. Yet, saying that he is just evil at the root, two-faced and a vengeful, lying snake isn't enough. We must consider into account the nature of society - the untouchability that he faced; the humiliation, the rejection, the plea of a boy to buy out his mother's freedom. But note, that these difficulties aren't meant to free him of his guilt, but rather to add nuance to his character. Jin Guangyao is a victim of society, and on gaining power, he is one of those who stand atop the social ladder and cause harm to those below; and when he falls to the bottom, it is the same people who once held him as powerful, kind and benevolent that spread truths, rumours and secrets about him. Thus, the people probably had hints of what he does; yet they considered him of good standing until it was no longer beneficial; until they could turn the tables around and throw him down. Then they turn into his enemies.

This is not to absolve Jin Guangyao of his guilt, but to make us uncomfortable with how society is. I recall this line by Wei Wuxian - "How cheap is your hatred, and how cheap was your admiration."

Similarly, Jiang Cheng is an antagonist. He's a safe sect leader; never taking fights he can't win. Thus, he turns a blind eye to all injustice that would harm his position by putting him at odds with other powers and even encourages it. Social hierarchy allows him to whip up innocent people and not pay back his debts. As he's in a more privileged position than many others, being the literal sect heir of a major clan, he can retain the right to be upset, angry and hurt over whatever he chooses, whether or not his feelings were drawn on valid instances.

For some reason, this fandom falls into the same cycle of reading the book as if they're a civilian in the MDZS world, rather than a reader, containing an omnipresent point-of-view and analytical skills to understand whether the information presented is reliable or not. Perhaps, it is due to their in-built classism, where they are born and raised in places where they are allowed to exaggerate their pains beyond necessity. Perhaps, it is because they are readers who grew up on a bunch of material that is targeted at being 'relatable.' Since MDZS is similar to our world, there are plenty of people who hold sympathy but never act on it, care but not enough, cannot show it, or people who grow resentful. On the other hand, moral ideals like Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are rare. Thus, they cannot relate to these two. What they can't relate to, or cannot understand - they make up narratives to bring them down to 'their' level by framing their righteous actions as wrong, morally incorrect or selfish to make the characters 'more complex' and thus, relatable, and thus, digestible.

Another reason for condemning the main leads comes from the more genuine lack of understanding of the setting and the themes. I've been raised with Indian literature and I found Chinese literature sharing similarities. The protagonist isn't someone you should 'relate' to but someone whom you can idolize, and hold in high regard; someone from whom you can learn to become better. Society isn't generally kind, and love isn't what the characters are after; whether it be platonic, familial, romantic or parental.

Thus, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are fine with just being together, despite their feelings being reciprocated or not. Of course, when you're a child, you are prone to jealousy and anger. But when you mature, it isn't like that - they aren't possessive of each other. Their love lies first and foremost in sharing the same ideals, the same path, the same search for truth and knowing each other inside out even when the world frames you as this or that. That is the greatest act of love for them. Just like that, Wei Wuxian didn't give his core up due to brotherly love, but a sense of responsibility. Love isn't something that exists; but something that is borne, something that grows between two characters.

Yet people don't even understand things like this; they make Lan Wangji petty and Wei Wuxian some sort of manwhore flirt. They don't understand that in xianxia and wuxia, the dead are an entity, just like the living. The body, the soul, the resentment - all are different parts of the same being. Not all souls can be liberated, thus the end result is having to kill those souls, but Wei Wuxian's cultivation uses their resentful energy to do his bidding, and liberate them. Instead of mindlessly killing, he kills with aim. Even highly resentful fierce corpses can be neutralized. Yet, people think it's his cultivation that is his dissent. They say he killed Wen Chao wrongly. I only feel that they haven't read much Asian literature. If you let vermins go then they will come and bite you in the foot.

Honestly, there is so much wrong with fanon interpretations. It is literally a different book that they are reading. If these were only fun, fanon comics, it would be fine, but these are their actual interpretations upon reading the novel. How far are interpretations valid until you literally ruin the book? It's like being in a fandom where the author wrote a book about cats being lovely, but instead of that, people debate which cat character was more evil.

But, well, I always just think such people are Sect Leader's Yao's followers. Haha. I have no issue with those who like XY, JGY, or JC - but at least like their canon selves, lmao? Or even if you wish to make them more sentimental, that is okay, but don't drag the actual moral ideals to their level, you know?

Well, this got pretty long! But thank you anon for this wonderful ask. I got to rant a lot.

[rose-madder-gaze]

Writing Meme: First Line Patterns!

I was tagged by @mathclasswarfare (here are math's first lines) and @avianscribe (here are avian's first lines). TY 💛

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (or however many you have) posted fics and see if there's a pattern!

I considered cheating and only doing FFXV fics, but woe, niche fandom be upon ye:

Sometimes you kiss a princess, and then you live happily ever after. ("Spanner in the Works," FFXV, Cindy/Luna, rated G)

To Noctis, it has always been a bedtime story: the Ring, the Sword, and the legend that connects them. ("Besmirched," FFXV, Gladio/Noct and Prompto/Ignis, rated T)

Stirrings cease, the silence of a shadow passing; silence like a curtain drawn closed: he's close. ("Hwamei, who speaks at dawn," Thunderbolt Fantasy, Lin Xue Ya & Sha Wu Sheng, rated G)

"Ouch!" Lunafreya rolls over in the grass, a hand to her head. ("Death and Life," FFXV, Gentiana/Luna, rated G)

Lunafreya watched through her glass as the lights came back up. ("Burnt Pink Gin," FFXV, Gentiana/Luna, rated G)

Outside was a blue Insomnian night. ("Seiðr," FFXV, Gentiana/Luna, rated G)

This is the girl called Luna. ("Dream on the Distaff, A'tangle," FFXV, Gentiana/Luna, rated G)

Of all the mornings to wake with a touch of fever – it is, of course, the morning when he wakes thinking of him. ("Try to eat," Thunderbolt Fantasy, Wan Jun Po/Shang Bu Huan, rated G)

Shāng pulls off his headphones when the break room door opens. ("Hit It Off," Thunderbolt Fantasy, pre-slash Mu Tian Ming/Lang Wu Yao/Shang Bu Huan, rated G)

The near future lay on the other side of the mountain. ("Spring's First Thaw," Thunderbolt Fantasy, Lin Xue Ya & Sha Wu Sheng, rated G)

As for patterns… I start a lot of fics in the dark/morning (6/10 of these)? LMAO I'm not totally sure what patterns are here. Starting with narration, rather than dialogue? All but the first two of these are limited-word fics (500-word max), so maybe that somewhat skews the results? Unfortunately, I'm a poet: I don't believe in the independence of the first line. Let me know if you see any patterns.

I'm tagging @seaofolives, @gingerel, @firefallvaruna, @ignoctrabbithole (it let me tag you this time >:D), and @every-lemon if you waaant/haven't done it yet!

[rejectedfables]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

Character: Draco Malfoy (HP) Why I love them: I don't. I love the version of him I frankensteined together from fics I read/wrote as an undiagnosed autistic preteen who wished I knew how to be meaner, and was hopelessly demisexually gay for a brunette with glasses.

Character: Uzumaki Naruto (Naruto) Why I love them: Emotionally neglected ADHD powerhouse who thinks "what do 600 hot girls look like? Me with titties and pigtails 600 times obviously" followed by "what do 600 hot boys look like? All my male friends with bedroom eyes OBVIOUSLY" and somehow hasn't figured out he's into dudes and is probably genderfluid. The Haku and Zabuza arc came SO close to "child soldier figures out that making children into soldiers is bad, actually, and resolves to create a better society where fewer people needlessly suffer" but then I think the author got old and forgot his own trajectory in favor of endless spectacle creep and, idk, something about the moon crushing Konoha or whatever. I lost interest in the story, but not the BOY. Also his relentless fixation with that dark haired cool guy he kissed one time makes every other character feel awkward, and I relate to that.

Character: Urameshi Yusuke (Yu Yu Hakusho) Why I love them: LOVE me a guy who even HEAVEN writes off as an irredeemable asshole surprising everyone with an act of selflessness. Love me an asshole who dedicates his life to love and friendship. Yusuke's narrative is basically "Obviously all yokai are evil. Wait, some aren't (some of my best friends are yokai)? Wait, most aren't (I actually really enjoy the yokai world/community)? Wait, I'M a yokai? (THAT'S why I am the way I am, and actually that's not evil it's just different)??? So there's evil humans AND evil yokai but neither are inherently bad, MOST are just regular people on both sides, and both are worth protecting" and anyway this is a neurodivergent and queer allegory to me, which slaps severely.

Character: Shi Qingxuan (Heaven Official's Blessing) Why I love them: Gender

Character: Luke Fon Fabre (Tales of the Abyss) Why I love them: Nobody's doing character growth like this little shit. An icon. It takes like 30 hours of gameplay for him to become likable and when he does it's somehow genuinely worth it.

Character: Changheng (Love Between Fairy and Devil) Why I love them: (I'm picking only one character per story, which is the only reason Xiao Lanhua and Dongfang Qingcang aren't also on this list.) You're telling me the God of War's narrative is a "tragic princess, betrothed since childhood, can't escape her family's expectations, constantly has to put everyone else above herself, until finally she snaps" story blended with "man who has been forced to live in war, falls for the first person who acknowledges that he, too, needs protection, ultimately rejects the violence he's been forced to endure and enact in favor of pursuing peace" and I'm what? NOT supposed to go insane? Also his nose freckle gives me heart palpitations.

Character: Logan Echolls (Veronica Mars, specifically season 1) Why I love them: What an excellent example of a badly coping shithead jerk fuckup boy who would be SO soft in any context where he's not under constant threat. Something about his mouth-breathing under duress compels me.

Character: Kyo (Fruits Basket) Why I love them: Badly coping under duress, the entire system is stacked against him, anger management issues and the snatched waist of a 90's manga twink. What can I say, a feral cat finding stability and love gets me every time.

Character: Xue Yang (MDZS) Why I love them: Irredeemable asshole feral cat ass man, coping badly at all times with all things but holding it together with a winning personality (gratuitous violence and bad jokes). Falls SO hard for the first person to show him love and kindness, becomes SO soft when not under threat for the first time ever, and then fucks up SO badly he ruins his whole fucking life. Spends more time trying to get back what he lost than he actually HAD what he lost. He's irredeemable. He's irredeemable. He makes apple rabbits for A Qing because she's sad. He's irredeemable. He doesn't pull a weapon on Xingchen even when Xingchen has already stabbed him and he's renowned for violence and revenge. He's irredeemable. I starting writing a post in his defense and hit the character limit halfway through my 'notes to flesh out later' bullet pointed list. He's irredeemable?? Xiao Xingchen could, though, is all I'm saying. The deeper you look into his actions the more humanity there is to find. I'm rotating every single thing about him in my mind like a rotisserie chicken.

Character: Chu Wanning (ERHA) Why I love them: He's hopelessly demisexually gay for literally just one guy. His story is gratuitously tragic but with a happy ending. Autistic Yearning incarnate. He's a burnt out husk of a blushing virgin, and the horniest person alive. Would readily die for his convictions, but won't ask for help. Prettiest wife anyone could ever wish for, with a strong masculine jaw. Total knockout gorgeous with body dysmorphia. Hyper competent with zero emotional intelligence. Widely respected and beloved with intense self loathing. He's never not masking. He's an atticked wife, he's a bossy husband, he's a piece of wood. He's 45. He's 6. He's 20. He's 32. He is catnip for me.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Due to current set of asks speaking on the idea of fandom vs. canon, as well authorial intent for MDZS and the intention for what a relationship is meant within the text, compared to "personal interpretation" in regards to Jiang Cheng, and his relationship with Wei Wuxian:

"据我所知，好像江澄……嗯，他是有粉的，而且粉黑在评论区大战还挺厉害的。所以……就……所以我觉得还是挺多人喜欢他的嘛，就并没有……就并没有人把他……就并没有很多人把他当成绝对的坏人。至于他对wifi是不是仅仅是朋友的感情我觉得这种问题吧，就……就比方说，我觉得有些读者可以不用看到两个……就拿晓星尘跟薛洋来说吧，晓星尘和薛洋好像也有挺多人感觉他们之间超出了那个普通的感情，但是其实晓星尘和阿箐之间的那个感情呢会更亲密，但是为什么就没有人把他们往BG情那方面想呢，所以我觉得有些读者可以不用对这种男性与男性之间的那种感情太敏感哈，就一定要把他们之间感情都解释为……就往那方面去想。其实有的时候你不要简单粗暴地把它定义为那方面的感情的话，角色之间的关系有更深的可塑性"

"As I have seen it , it seems that Jiang Cheng... Well, he has fans, and ----- is quite good in the comment section. So... just... so I think a lot of people like him, but there is no... no one regards him... not many people regard him as an absolute bad guy. As for whether his feelings for wifi (chinese fandom name for Wei Wuxian) are just friends, I think this kind of question, just... For example, I think some readers don't need to see two... Take Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang for example. Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang seem to have a lot of people who feel that they are beyond a simple relationship, but in fact, the relationship between Xiao Xingchen and A Qing is far more intimate , but why doesn't anyone think about them in terms of BG (Boy/Girl) affection, so I think some readers don't need to be interested in this kind of relationship only between two men. You are thinking too much, if you must interpret the feelings between them as such, just think about it in that regard. In fact, sometimes if you don't simply and only define it as that aspect of affection, the relationship between the characters has a deeper pliancy."

With the above statement, yes we are not supposed to view Jiang Cheng as an absolute villain, that is not how a story redemption works, but a redemption also does not mean a clean and nice end for relationships. We also are not meant to view each relationship under the lens of shipping and romance only, as that removes the actual nuance that the story is also trying to portray through it's framework.

Fandom as a whole, is meant to have fun in the what if's it can explore, but that is also supposed to stay divorced from the actual intentions that the story provides and the further clarifications of an author. Authorial intent, is not always going to mirror the wants of their fandom, and it is not supposed to be meant for that. It is how we do get fan service and massive ship wars that are indeed baited with that intention without any real pay off, or even eventual cruelty towards creators and creators towards it's fandom.

Ship teasing, is a nasty tactic that has arisen from lucrative media consumption using it's base for a profit, once that has been used as a tactic, there is a line that creators are forced to play, that leaves neither an audience or them satisfied with the end result.

MXTX explores this exact trappings with her first novel. Subtext, is not just for shipping, and I believe this fandom needs to come to terms with that.