#SHIJIE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

[michyeosseo]

I am determined to take Shen Li home.

[mxtxfanatic]

Heyyy !! Hope you are having a nice day. I've been scrolling through your blog for a while and I absolutely love your takes and analysis of MDZS as they pretty much match up to my interpretation of MDZS novel. I just wanted to ask you what do you think about wwx's death at the first siege?? As there was no confirmation how he died but a lot of rumors ??? Do you think he qi deviated and his corpses turn on him? Or do you think he intentionally killed himself as was implied (heck it was shown) in cql?

I'm personally of the opinion that he chose to die because all the people he was in charge of protecting died in front of him. Plus his former (sect) brother jc was leading the siege to kill the said people. Not to mention the whole cultivation world for baying for his blood. He was traumatized, exhausted (both mentally and physically) due to destroying stygian seal, grieving due to death of the wen siblings and his shijie (probably blamed himself for it all and people dying).

So what is your take?

Wei Wuxian was killed from the backlash created from trying to destroy the second half of the stygian tiger seal. I'm using the exr translation for my quotes. In the prologue, we are told this:

“The YiLing Patriarch has died? Who could have killed him?” “Who other than his shidi, Jiang Cheng, putting an end to his own relative for the greater good. Jiang Cheng led the Four Clans of YunmengJiang, LanlingJin, GusuLan, and QingheNie to destroy his “den”—LuanZang Hill.”

A couple paragraphs later, someone refutes this, saying:

“That’s merely hearsay. Although Jiang Cheng was one of the main forces, he did not give Wei WuXian the final blow. Because he cultivates the Demon Path, Wei WuXian’s powers had backfired and he was ripped to pieces.”

—and we also get this, which while spoken by the narrator is given a speculative rather than conclusive tone:

Nobody could summon Wei WuXian’s soul, which meant that his soul had disappeared. It might have been torn apart by the millions of ghosts that devoured him.

Later on, Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning have a conversation about the cause of Wei Wuxian's death:

After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian asked again, “What else have you heard?” Wen Ning whispered, “Sect Leader Jiang, Jiang Cheng, brought a siege upon the Burial Mounds. And he killed you.” Wei WuXian, “I’ll have to clarify this one. He didn’t kill me. I died from a backfire.” Wen Ning finally looked up at him, “But, Sect Leader Jiang clearly...” Wei WuXian, “Nobody can walk safely on a single-plank bridge for their whole life. It couldn’t be helped.”

—Chapt. 43: Allure

Wen Ning hears that Wei Wuxian was personally killed by Jiang Cheng, and Wei Wuxian immediately refutes this and says he died from backlash. Wen Ning wants to argue this point, but I think, more than anything, that he is arguing that Wei Wuxian's death is Jiang Cheng's fault (the siege could not have happened without him being able to get past the corpses guarding the base of the Burial Mounds) rather than Jiang Cheng personally landing the killing blow. This is especially true since Jiang Cheng claims credit and glory for both leading the siege and "personally killing" Wei Wuxian, even though we know the latter is a falsehood.

Either way, Wei Wuxian, himself, says he died from backlash, and we know the backlash came from attempting to destroy the second half of the stygian tiger seal because that was what he was working on—having successfully destroyed the first half—when the first siege took place. Wei Wuxian did not kill himself; he knew he was on borrowed time and used it to destroy the weapon he knew the clans were really after.

[whetstonefires]

You know, I've been thinking about it, and it is absolutely essential to the narrative that Jiang Cheng is a dick and a trash fire. (Affectionate.)

Like, first of all, if he was a sainted little angel of a shidi the way Jiang Yanli is a shijie, Wei Wuxian's choices would become obvious, sort of impersonal, and boring.

Sure, lots of people wouldn't tear themselves apart for such a person in such a scenario, but they're not the protagonists of novels, are they; in a book you have to justify not doing that. So white lotus Jiang Cheng is off the table.

Jiang Cheng who isn't fragile-and-insecure but also stubborn-as-hell and violently reactive also won't wash.

If he wasn't the kind of person who sincerely tries to die under these circumstances, Wei Wuxian would have had the option of loyally supporting him in a less self-destructive way; if he was someone who could be trusted to handle the revelation without suffering a ruinous fracture of identity, Wei Wuxian wouldn't have been forced to distance himself after the war, because he could have come clean.

If Jiang Cheng wasn't the kind of person who centers on his own pride and hurt feelings and lashes out about it, it would be very hard to set up the lategame scenario where they're 'enemies' in a real, meaningful way, despite still loving each other and Wei Wuxian never wishing Jiang Cheng any ill. Even with Jiang Yanli's death.

And I mean, you could get most of the plot without doing this interesting thematic examination of the classic 'bond between martial brothers severed by one going to the dark side' trope, but I'd argue you'd lose an enormous chunk of the story.

And without Jiang Cheng's weaknesses, Wei Wuxian's motives don't cohere. His weaknesses form the foundation of at least two of the backstory's major turning points.

There's the tantalizing possibility that Wei Wuxian wouldn't have done it, if Jiang Cheng hadn't strangled him while blaming him for everything.

Probably he would have, all else being equal! But neither we nor Jiang Cheng can be sure.

Jiang Cheng sucking a lot, and knowing his own flaws perfectly well without that granting him the ability to do much about them, is heavily load-bearing. Which gives him such a fantastic implied point of view!

[silviakundera]

Oooh I like duke su from the show but the one from the novel sounds so much more interesting tbh I love a morally grey character with his own goals who doesn't give a f*ck what the lead is trying to do but has their own agenda and it's a much slower burn. Though with how Chinese dramas operate these days it's no wonder they made him like the FL and start helping her extremely early I don't think they know or even can with how netizens are write anything else.

Though I too love novel Su guogong, I think we're in a real quandary for the adaption.

The censors won't let him be characterized as black as the novel version AND be allowed to survive (see: Eternal Brotherhood where we can have a main character who is a dark schemer with blood on his hands that adores his wife -- only because he's doomed, doomed, doomed!) Boooooo!!! I do not agree that this softening was required for this work nor Story of Kunning Palace. Grr!!

But the change to make the FL and ML interact much more and work together in the 1st half, rather than him observing coldly and uncaring about her life or death -- imo that's a quandary about different mediums and how the audience reacts to them.

I wrote a lil meta post previously about the live action adaption of MDZS and why imo the production was forced to change the WWX and LWJ backstory. Once they decided on a linear storyline, imo the otp had to eventually be friends in his first life with a mutually acknowledged bond. The audience simply CANNOT be asked to wade through 20+ hours of episodes before LWJ as love interest isn't repeatedly rejecting the protagonist. 25 episodes and weeks in real-time of him being only cold & standoffish is too much for most viewers. When consuming the novel, the reader both won't have that stretched out real time delay until the couple are on the same page. And it won't take them 20 hours of reading to get there.

Things hit different for a crafted romance on page than performed live on screen for a 40-50 episode drama.

I can still see the adaption's struggle with this. Su suogong is truly a minor character in the novel and frankly not an active participant in most of the problem > scheme > resolution sub-arcs. He has this whole other full life of his own separate interests happening..... somewhere else. The novel mostly leaves his weekly activities as a black box, an obscured mystery. Drama boy is out there somewhere moving his chess pieces & murdering people for power but the reader often just sees glimpses of him ominously sipping his tea & ordering his minions around. In order raise him to a main, the drama is forced to make him involve himself in the play much earlier - to give him a reason to be on screen that is fully tied in with the main plot & its themes. He has to care about FL by the 9th hour in, and want to support her.... or give up ML status to Ye Shijie. 🤷

We can see the strain of this as 3 episodes may happen and all the screenwriter can do is have Su guogong show up for 5 minutes just to flirt a little and remind viewers he's alive 😂😂 but that's what you gotta do with 40 episodes tbh. I can't disgree that this is a more enjoyable viewing experience.

[ultimateshixiongfuckertournament]

THIRD PLACE ROUND - Jiang Cheng vs Wen Kexing

The battle for third place is between Jiang Cheng (shixiong: Wei Wuxian) from Mo Dao Zu Shi and Wen Kexing (shixiong: Zhou Zishu) from Word of Honor

Propaganda under the cut

Wen Kexing:

(okay so the canon part is confusing. cause wenzhou are officially canon in Faraway Wanderers and are censored bromance in Word of Honor. but they're only shixiong/shidi in Word of Honor and not in Faraway Wanderers. so idk what you want to do in regards to the canonicity of their relationship)

I mean Wen Kexing is all over Zhou Zishu from day 1, though he has very complicated emotions surrounding the whole shixiong/shidi element to their relationship, he does eventually declare himself as the second disciple of Shiji Manor and publicly acknowledges Zhou Zishu as his shixiong. anyways if you know anything about Wen Kexing you know how desperately he wants Zhou Zishu, even the censorship couldn't hide the fact that Wen Kexing wants to rail Zhou Zishu to kingdom come

the utter simp that is WKX for his ZZS? No contest. None. None at all.

#WKX now actually fucked his shixiong like pls the entire book/show is about him wanting to get with him

#WKX hands down wanna fck or get fcked by his “Ah-Xu~” from day 1

#y'all have the audacity. as if Wen Kexing did baby trap is shixiong with TWO kids

Jiang Cheng:

Clinged to WWX constantly for 7+ years, wanted to have WWX as his right hand man forever after becoming sect leader, cried after WWX left, cried when he discovered what WWX sacrificed for him, was TORN APART when it got explained to him that if they were more outwardly close knit, WWX might not have died

PROPAGANDA!! to start, i'm still very bitter about how fairy lost the sentient animal poll and i want to win this badly. very very badly. current stats are 50.6 in favour of jc but that's too less of a gap for me. jc should be winning this by a landslide, y'all hear me? anyways. starting with a class act, like the clown i am->

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a few links ( because i'm chengxian trash, as always and i'd love if poll-guy could copy paste them on the og post): one, two, three, four (gif), five, six, seven (gif), eight (thoughts on different wavelengths), the absolute circles of them saving each other, the fucking golden core reveal scene. golden scene reveal part 2, jiang cheng will always forgive wei wuxian

to start with. jiang cheng is literally the picture of "i knew from the moment i met you that i'd spend a lifetime forgiving you".

the earliest dynamic of jiang cheng and wei wuxian is jiang cheng giving away his dogs (the only gift his father has ever given him, btw) because wei wuxian is scared of the dogs. tis only the start of it.

his father very obviously prefers his shixiong over him, his mother berates him for not being as good as wei wuxian and tells him his inheritance is in danger, and his sister (in my opinion) has more care for him (visibly. maybe jiang yanli doesn't show it because jc is an emotionally complicated purple grape, maybe because jc doesn't need it, or wei wuxian is traumatised but that's my opinion). but still. still. Jiang Cheng loves Wei Wuxian. so much. jealousy is like. the most tame response i can think of. and jiang cheng is proud of wei wuxian, okay? he'd believe his big brother if he'd said anything. want proof? well, here you go-> link

to paraphrase the link:

Jiang Cheng had just lost his family, his home, and his very golden core, and his older brother - his brilliant older brother who could fix anything, who could sneak wine into Cloud Recesses and defeat an ancient turtle nearly-god and make Jiang Cheng share a smile when Jiang Cheng’s mother was disappointed and furious at both of them - His big brother smiled and said, “I can fix this.”And Jiang Cheng believed him then, and believed him three months later when Wei Wuxian crawled out of the Burial Mounds (just the second miracle in three months), and believed him every day of the next seventeen(?) years until the pieces were shoved into place for him to see.

also. the circle these two go in protecting each other. (gif set by @sandushengshou), the 'if one of us is to die, then, i beg, let it be me' that they both do for one another in a seemingly neverending loop of sacrifice. via this post a la my lovely @backtoyunmeng

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jiang cheng is a cannonically ruined woman archetype, justified via the countless posts you'll get in the top posts of jiang cheng tag. he keeps chenqing, wwx's flute in perfect condition even when he hates wei wuxian, even when wwx, if only indirectly, has a part in jiang yanli's murder and oof okay someone pointed out to him that he's known to have killed wei wuxian and he almost cries. he absolutely believes, with his whole heart, that wei wuxian lives even when the world is sure he doesnt. and it always read to me like, i'd know if he was dead. he's a part of my soul, so i'd know if he was dead. he can't be dead.

this is getting too long, so, to sum up, some absolute poetry by @jiangchengsjawline

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#JC On The Other Hand Has His Entire Life Shaped By His Shixiong And Ended Up Cast As The Ruined Woman By The End

#jiang cheng though. wasn't able to fuck his shixiong but his shixiong definitely fucked with him

#hello?? the answer is Jiang cheng pls#he's the shixiongfucker or all shixiong fucker you wish you could be as pathetically in love with your shixiong as he is#chengxian

#i do not go here (chengxian) but the propaganda is incredibly correct they are insane abt each other#also sorry jiang cheng ik you're suffering but they are so funny to me#neway VOTE JIANG CHENG FOR CLEAR SKIN

#look I rarely go here#(here being chengxian)#but by GOD their lvoe compels me#they’re tragic and doomed and they love each other without knowing how to say it in words the other would understand#or in words at all because communication??? we don’t know her???

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he didn't even think about sacrificing himself, and consequently his entire bloodline, his sect, pretty much everything that depends on him for his shixiong??????????

is this not convincing->

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#had to vote jc though i have more feelings about chengxian#i think jc should have a huge gege kink

#like. jiang cheng should win the entire tournament hands down period

#jiang cheng#is the only correct answer in my gay little brain#i’m sure everyone else’s shixiong fuckers are great too#but jiang cheng is MY favorite#tumblr polls#mdzs#if chengxian fucked in canon it would make everything about their situation at least 65% less complicated you can’t change my mind

[gardensofthemoon]

for the ask game... 4 (where it hurts) + chengxian ✨✨🫶🏻🙏🏼

4 - where it hurts. prompt list here

Wei Wuxian brushes his fingers through Jiang Cheng’s hair. Shijie had painstakingly washed away the blood and grime—the basin water turned a foul shade of rust—matting his hair, then combed the knots until the strands were soft like spun silk, crying quietly as Jiang Cheng teetered on the line between life and death.

“Jiang Cheng,” he whispers in Jiang Cheng’s hair. “Wake up. I can’t stand to see you waste away.”Gathers him closer, nestles Jiang Cheng’s head in the crook of his neck. He’s wan, weak. Breakable.

Since Wen Ning brought him back, Jiang Cheng has been barely awake or deep in slumber, while Wei Wuxian despairs. The deep-rooted fear that Jiang Cheng will not open his eyes again, that Jiang Cheng will die and leave Wei Wuxian all alone, again, strangles the breath out of him.

“Stop smothering me.” Jiang Cheng’s voice rattles through his teeth, hoarse with disuse. “I can’t breathe.”

“Ah, Jiang Cheng!” He smiles, but it must be a trembling thing. His heartbeat is thudding in his chest, pumping with relief. Finally. “A-Cheng, I’m here, I’m here.”

Jiang Cheng coughs. Dark shadows spread under his eyes, and the elegant angles of his face have become sharp, hollowing out his cheeks, pulling on his skin.

“What good is it that you’re here.” Jiang Cheng doesn’t meet his eyes. “You shouldn’t have saved me. Look at me, a pitiful wreck. How can I avenge my parents now?”

His lashes are wet, caught in clumps. Jiang Cheng shifts and pushes Wei Wuxian away with a pained groan, falling back onto the pillows propped on the headboard. The movement jostles his inner robe open, and Wei Wuxian’s stomach drops at the deep red gashes cutting across Jiang Cheng’s chest, still tender from the whip.

He’s been whipped, Wen Ning had said. Jiang Cheng has been whipped. His chest is a field of wounds that can never heal.

Wei Wuxian looks down. A strange shiver prickles through his chest, fever-hot and tooth-sharp, and he thinks he might cry. His heart feels ripe, like it’s going to grow out of his body, splitting his ribcage.

He loves Jiang Cheng so much.

He crouches on the edge of the bed. “I’ll help you with these,” he says, and presses a chaste kiss on Jiang Cheng’s wrist. Feels his pulse speeding up.

For a moment, he cannot breathe. His mouth rests on Jiang Cheng’s hand, a makeshift anchor.

“It hurts.” Jiang Cheng’s voice is barely a whisper. It slices through Wei Wuxian’s heart like a well-oiled blade.

Without a word, he leans in and kisses Jiang Cheng’s chest, kisses the unbroken skin above his heart, minding the tender flesh. Wei Wuxian’s devotion, laid bare. Jiang Cheng has to know he’d do anything for him. A few teardrops fall down his cheeks; he hides his face away, peppering Jiang Cheng’s skin with light kisses. “You’ll be alright. This shixiong will take care of you.”

[only10th]

Todays thoughts!

Wangxian meeting at the mall, single mom wwx shopping for some clothes with his little radish.

Wei Ying had gone to the mall cause he needed to buy a nice outfit for a date he did not want to go to, but of course his shijie was the one to set it up for him. Something about being time for him to put himself out there, find someone to take care of him as much as he takes care of his son. He, of course, insisted that he was fine fairing on his own. If anything, the reason why Wei Ying didn't want to date at all is more of finding someone that would put the same love and dedication to A-Yuan as he does.

And he knows, from experience, that's hard if not impossible to find.

So cut to a very stressed and distracted Wei Ying looking through clothes while his son played hide and seek in the racks of clothes. He'd been making sure to see A-Yuan popping his head out through the clothesline with a bright smile that matches his own, every so often calling out to him if he noticed he was taking too long to pop out. At least one of them was having fun. This was the third clothing store he visited, and the frustration of not finding anything remotely nice, or something that matched his style, was taking its toll. At the end, he sighs with exasperation. He'll just have to call his sister and tell her that he's sick, or something.

"A-Yuan, come out. We're leaving." There's no response, "A-Yuan, did you hear me?"

His brows dip with concern, it did get too quiet at some point. The giggling and the scraping of the hangers had come to a stop without him noticing. "Mister, if you're playing a joke on your poor A-Niang we won't get ice cream." He mumbles as he looks through the rack, moving the clothes around in mild panic. A-Yuan is nowhere to be found.

Wei Ying is practically panicking at this point, frantically searching for his son, practically yelling his name. He's on the verge of tears as he passes the rows and rows of racks and fixtures. All logic and reason are thrown out the window. There's no way.. there's no way he lost A-Yuan. He's always paid attention, always told him to stay by his side no matter what. What the hell is he going to do? The worst scenarios start crossing through his mind, but he keeps searching. A-Yuan knows to stay put if he ever gets separated from Wei Ying, he knows to not talk to strangers but he's only a toddler. Anything can happen.

“A-Yuan! Where are you?!” Wei Ying calls as he jogs through the store.

~~~~

Cut to A-Yuan staring wide eye at a tall guy with honey eyes. They're both having a staring contest at this point. That’s not his A-Nian, A-Yuan thinks to himself.

"Hello?" Lan Zhan says with caution. When did this child get here?

The child pursed his lips, slowly retreating into the rack with blue sweaters he was browsing through. "I-I’m not supposed to talk to strangers."

Lan Zhan blinks, staying quiet before nodding in approval. The toddler's parents are smart. He should probably alert security, he looks around in search of security or a staff member. As soon as he spots someone, he starts to walk away to try and get their attention but a small hand takes a tight grip on his light cream trousers.

"W-Wait! Mister— My a-niang told me to stay put if I ever get separated... A-niang will find me soon. Please, don't go."

Scared pleading eyes stare at him, the man seems to think through it for a moment. The smart thing to do would be to report the missing child. But at the same time, he's not sure how he would handle the situation if the toddler were to start crying.

"Alright.” He agrees with a nod. Though, the toddler doesn't let go of his trousers for a moment. At least he looks somewhat more calm. "We'll wait for your mother together."

Not a moment later, Wei Ying runs past them, yelling A-Yuan's name. At first, Lan Zhan looks at him with confusion. The child didn't say anything about his dad looking for him, so instinctively he shields and conceals the toddler. You can never be too safe, he knows people can put any sort of act just to take a child away. However, the toddler scrambled past Lan Zhan's legs and shouts, “A-Niang!"

Wei Ying skids to a stop, whipping his head towards the sound of his son's voice. Relief floods through his body as he falls to his knees and hugs his toddler, so glad that he's safe and sound. At first he doesn't notice the man who had stayed with his son because he's too busy peppering kisses to A-Yuan's chubby cheeks and mumbling "Don't ever scare me like that again!" And “We've talked about this, don't leave my side."

While this exchange is happening, Lan Zhan Is just thinking. The man... that drop dead gorgeous man was the toddler's mother?

A-Yuan clings to Wei Ying's neck, rubbing his face on his cheek, “A-Yuan is sorry, A-niang. Please don't be mad."

The puppy eyes win Wei Ying over and he can't be mad anymore. Silver eyes quickly scan his child, making sure there’s no injuries. He hugs his little radish once more, only then is when he notices the man watching the whole scene, and he can tell he's kinda not knowing what to do with himself.

"Um... can I help you?" Wei Ying asks a little defensive while hugging his son closer.

Before the man can utter an answer, A-Yuan beams with excitement. “That gege helped A-Yuan wait for A-niang!"

“Oh. Is that so?" He says, silver eyes softening and shoulders letting the tension leave.

"Mn. My name is Lan Zhan." He introduced himself and woah, how could Wei Ying not notice how handsome this man was.

“Thank you, Lan Zhan, for keeping an eye on my son. I really don't know how to repay you…”

"A-niang, is this the gege you're meeting later?" The toddler looked at Lan Zhan with hopeful eyes. "Gege taking my a-niang to dinner?"

Wei Ying quickly gets all embarrassed, cheeks flushed red like the ribbon holding his long hair in a ponytail. “Aiya, aiya! Stop bothering the nice gege! I'm sure he has many things to do."

"But!” A-Yuan begins to protest with a pout.

"No buts." Wei Ying picks A-Yuan in his arms, letting some of his weight rest on his hip. Silver eyes meet honey ones. “Thank you, again. I-I gotta get going."

And Lan Zhan can only watch the pair walking away, saying something about "I told you to call me a-niang at home and baba out here." And "I'm never leaving you out of my sight again. You gave me a heart attack.”

He’s sure he hears the child, A-Yuan, mumble “But I like that gege…”

Lan Zhan turns around, shaking his head before continuing his shopping. His chest aches a bit cause he just met the most beautiful man he has ever laid eyes on... It's childish, but he can't help but quietly sulk because he was in fact thinking of asking him out but... it looks like someone had beaten him to it. Wait, he didn't even get his name. He sulks even more.

~~~~~

Back in Wei Ying's home, he was getting ready for his date. It shouldn't be too late to cancel, right?

“You look dashing!” His sister compliments with a soft clap. “Come now, don’t make that face.”

“Jie, I don’t know this man… What if he doesn’t like A-Yuan? What if he’s secretly an asshole?” Anxiety was clear in his voice, though it was quickly soothed when Jiang Yanli walked over and fixed the collar of his burgundy button up.

“You doubt your A-Jie will pick a good man for you?” She teases with a thin eyebrow raising in question.

“Not you… I don’t trust A-Sang.” He side-eyes his friend, who is sitting on the couch making faces to his baby nephew. “Are you sure it’s not too late to cancel?”

“A-Ying, you need this. I promise it’ll be good for you.” His sister reassures, gently patting his shoulders. She smiles softly at her younger brother. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am happy.” He reassures her

She chuckles, patting the top of his hand. “You know what I mean. YingYing, are you sure you don’t want me to watch over A-Yuan?”

“Nuh-huh, if I’m meeting this guy then he’s meeting a-yuan too. If he doesn’t love him then I won’t even give him a chance!”

“A-Ying.”

“I’ve made up my mind, Jie. Now, tell me A-Yuan doesn’t look like the most adorable gentleman you’ve ever seen.” Wei Ying coos as his son walks into the living room wearing a t-shirt with the print of a tuxedo. He picks him up and peppers his cheeks with many kisses.

Soon, they’re both arriving at the restaurant. At least the guy he’s meeting has good taste. Before they step in, Wei Ying sets down his son, going through the motions of fixing his clothes. “If you don’t like the guy, we’ll leave as soon as you want, okay? No one can pull my attention from my little radish.”

A-Yuan nods, and with that they both walked into the bustling restaurant. Wei Ying couldn’t help but to feel irritated at bit his sister and best friend. What the hell did Nei Huaisang mean that I’ll know when I see him? Would’ve been better if he just showed me a picture. He thinks to himself while rolling his eyes. Though, he couldn’t deny he was extremely nervous to meet this mystery guy that he had been set up with.

“A-Niang, look! It’s the nice gege from earlier!”

Wei Ying is quick to follow his son’s line of sight, and there he was. Lan Zhan sat at a tsks closer to the window, dressed up in a light blue suit with a light cream shirt. He knew Lan Zhan was handsome, but to see him in a suit? How the sleeves seemed hug his arms just tight enough to let you know the man works out. Before he knew it, Wei Ying was being tugged towards Lan Zhan’s table. “Hey, hey! Baobei let’s not bother the nice gege, he’s probably waiting for someone.” He tried to whisper, tugging his son the other way but they were already spotted.

“Gege! Hi gege!” A-Yuan chimes as Lan Zhan stands from his chair. Was he always this tall?

“Hi, Lan Zhan. What a coincidence! A-Are you here by yourself, or…”

He can see golden eyes scanning him up and down before landing back on his face. He can’t help but shift in place at the intensity of Lan Zhan’s gaze. “I am waiting for someone.” Lan Zhan responds quietly, gaze still on Wei Ying.

“Oh… Me too!” He’s quick to add before chuckling, “Well, you already knew that… A-Are you waiting for a date?”

Lan Zhan seems to consider his answer, and Wei Ying can’t help but to find it amusing at how deflated and defeated the other looks when he responds with a quiet “Yes.”

Wei Ying laughs once more, “Not really looking forward to it? I get it, my sister and best friend set me up for mine. I don’t even know who I’m supposed to meet! Can you believe they refused to give me his name? Or even show me a picture? They really took the definition of ‘blind date’ way too serious.”

Lan Zhan stares at him wide eye, and for a moment Wei Ying thinks he said something wrong. “No offense to whoever you’re meeting, of course! I bet they’re—“

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan takes a step closer towards him, but he doesn’t see himself taking a step back.

Brows furrow, “Yeah? Do… Do I have something on my face?”

“I’m meeting with Wei Ying… You are Wei Ying.”

The father can only look at the other in bewilderment, was… was Lan Zhan his blind date? No, this was to good to be true. A guy like Lan Zhan… he could have anyone, the man looked like a god! “Who set you up?” He decided to ask, if he’s says ut was Nei Huaisang then he really was having a date with Lan Zhan. There were no other Wei Ying’s around, not that he knows of.

Wei Ying can tell Lan Zhan is having the same train of thought. “My brother… He was convinced by a family friend that I should… attempt to meet new people.”

“Was it Nie Huaisang? Oh my god! That asshole set everything up!” Wei Ying exclaims once Lan Zhan confirms his suspicions, hands brushing the already messy bangs from his face, a loud laugh echoing through the restaurant. He winced, tho, when people enjoying their food shoot a glare at him. “I can’t believe this…Wait, if you knew my name, why didn’t you say anything earlier.”

Lan Zhan pressed his lips together before answering. “You did not give me your name.”

“Oh— I… Huh, I was really distracted. It would’ve made things easier for the both of us, huh?” Wei Ying smiles at him. “Well… mind if we join you, then? My treat, since you were my hero earlier and I must repay your kindness and patience!”

“Are we having dinner with the nice gege??” A-Yuan suddenly chimes, wide eyes darting between the two adults. Wei Ying smiles as he ruffles his hair.

“We sure are!”

“I knew it! The Nice gege is taking my a-niang for dinner!” The toddler soon clings to Lan Zhan’s leg, which caught him off guard.

“Aiya, A-Yuan! Where are your manners?” Wei Ying chides playfully, attempting to pull his son back to his side.

“I do not mind.” Lan Zhan responds with a smile ghosting over his lips.

The three of them sit at the table. Wei Ying talks away about anything and everything, and Lan Zhan pays full attention to every single word, attention unflinching. It especially melts his heart when Lan Zhan gives the same type of attention to A-Yuan, listening with much seriousness to all the stories he has to tell. He looks at both of them with so much fondness that he feels his heart bursting at the seams. Yeah… it was good he decided to not cancel the date.

[skeren]

Hi! I'm the mod for @svsss-fanon-exposed and saw your tags on my timeline post-- do you have a write-up of your own interpretation of the svsss timeline? I'd be really interested in seeing it if so bc I love to also look at how other people interpret these ideas!

Okay, so, I had to reread to get my bearings about what I saw that made me go 'no, that seems wrong' and it's a few specific points, I think. I want to say from the start that it all seems very well thought out and well supported and if you were working from a logical basis that makes sense for a setting like this, generally speaking, or even for one of MXTX's other works, you would be golden.

The problem is that you're being respectful, thoughtful, and giving all the background of the world the basis of logic and benefit of the doubt.

That doesn't work for SVSSS. At least, not quite to the extent that you're showing it to.

Okay, first thing's first. The one that I have no evidence for. This one is based more on feelings and the fact that even after he's running around running half the demon realm Binghe still calls Ning Yingying Shijie. By that point, he'd basically usurped the Head Disciple position off Ming Fan in the past, has been running his own sect part time, and generally been above and beyond successful for a given value of the word. He's certainly stopped being respectful to most people from Cang Qiong. I take this as proof that Ning Yingying must be older than Binghe, and not just someone who was a martial sibling who was there longer. She's Shijie because she was there longer, is older, and thus that's just the title she gets, full stop. I might be wrong, that's always an option, but that's how I see it, and I've always placed her at one or two years older, with Ming Fan at closer to three. Similarly, it makes her insistence on getting a new Shidi much more reasonable if she's been waiting for a while to get one, and didn't end up there shortly before Binghe, but years earlier with Shen Qingqiu being immensely picky and denying her new playmates.

Circling back to the respectfulness thing though. I absolutely and whole heartedly believe that the absolute vitriol that Shen Qingqiu receives from the sect and we see through Shang Qinghua's eyes is because he had no time to prove himself. He showed up, and was nearly immediately dumped with the head disciple position, probably because he has a brain in his head, and didn't even have to go through the choosing trials to get there. How dare he. We see after Shen Yuan takes over his life that given even a little justification that the people in this world will accept practically anything, so that means that Shen Jiu must have had absolutely no chance to prove himself to the sect, to prove he was worthwhile and didn't get the position through some kind of underhanded means or even bribery. This also fits the narrative beats of how Airplane initially wrote his backstory and the way it's presented that somehow, events always conspire to show Shen Jiu in the absolute worst light no matter what he does.

By this thought process, it puts him solidly at a year younger than Shang Qinghua, or at the very least, the same age with a few months between.

Following the logic of that, me and my bestie, who helped me get all these sorted out, thus have the whole situation with Tianlang-jun happen a scarce few years after he shows up, no more than three, and that they all ascend to being Peak Lords within the same year that the last head disciple (Probably Shang Qinghua) is chosen, which happened in a very short time after that fight.

So as you can see a lot of the same beats are followed, but I think you might be dropping the ball on the actual timeline of Shen Qingqiu being booted up to the head disciple position, because this is, in fact, an absurd exaggerated world that plays up all tropes and nepotism is nothing if not the most powerful trope and it would look like that from the outside if nobody knew the real circumstances of the Shen Jiu's arrival.

As for a thing I agree with but feel the need to expand on! I am aware that your timeline cuts off around when SVSSS starts, but I should point out that we know, near for certain, that SVSSS starts when Binghe is 14, and no more than perhaps four or five months away from his 15th birthday. The reason for this is that in one of the extras he says he is fifteen and this is almost immediately after he's moved into the bamboo house by Shen Yuan following his three months of cultivation, which we know happens as soon as he manages to unlock the OOC feature. I can't imagine that Shen Yuan took more than a month to get this unlocked, so there you go.

Forgive me that it's not a properly written out timeline such as yours, and instead picking at a few specific points, as I know how difficult these can be to maintain and have made them myself for other fandoms. I simply have not sat down and done so here. Thank you for reading this far, and I hope that this proves useful to you!

[douceurrrr]

LOVED LOVED LOVEDDD YOUR SHUJI FIC!!! If it’s not too much trouble can I request a Jamaican fem reader and shuji teaching each other about their cultures for culture day at school?

sure!!

𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.

today was finally culture day a school and your teacher assigned everyone to pair up with someone who is different from you, culturally. once the teacher let everyone loose you instantly started to find your boyfriend, shuji. you always wanted to know his culture as much as he wanted to know yours.

your actually Jamaican and you knew you would have a lot to talk about with him. you looked over to see shuji waving his hand, motioning you to go over to him so you did. “hey babe.” he says before grabbing your hand right when you got in his presence. you smile blushingly at him a replied with a hey before sitting down in one of the desks with him. “so you go first, babe.” he says leaning back giving you his full attention.

“so I’m Jamaican and both of my parents are fully Jamaican- ou you should come over for dinner sometime. our food is amazing.” you beamed at shuji. shiji was barely listening to what you were saying as he was distracted by your beauty. “shuj? were you even listening?” you chuckled. “yes baby.” he rolled his eyes playfully.

“okay well it’s your turn.” you mentioned.

once shuji got to talking you began to listen more and more, growing interested about his culture. “of course you already know what our food tastes like, you’ve been over my house like a whole lot this week.” he chuckled, you hit him in the chest playfully.

“shut up you know you like it.” you smirked at him.

“yeah your right.” he replied

[jade-len]

no but seriously though, let's say that you've never read svsss and proceeded to transmigrate into pidw as either sqq or one of bunhe's random npc shixiong/shijie. is there anything you guys would've done different from sy?

personally, if i knew that bunhe was going to literally become the embodiment of toxic masculinity, a dictator who collects women as if they were some coins, and a man who's overall just the product of the abuse cycle... i would try my damn hardest to prevent any of that lol.

but, for me, i would not promote a harem or bingge's fucked way of thinking. even if i just transmigrated as some other disciple, there would be absolutely no way i would let bunhe turn into bingge (also because.. why would i let the entire sect continue to abuse him). and, probably not even really bingmei as well? i don't know, i would obviously still protect and befriend him, but i think i'd be much more stricter about teaching bingbing morals, good ethics, mental health, all that jazz.

like, we live in a time where we actually know better about that stuff! might as well pass down our 20th century knowledge, y'know? i know sqq loves binghe the way he is, but if i read pidw i would most definitely not like bingge's character due to airplane's wack writing

(cut under is just me rambling lol)

but if i were to transmigrate as sqq... honestly, it would go two ways for me. genuinely, i think (after the ooc function) i'd just run away from the sect and take on a completely new appearance using magic airplane plant bullshit, find binghe (because i know damn well the abuse wouldn't just stop there.. also because the system will probably still demand for me to be some sort of mentor), then be like that one cool teacher or older brother figure? i'd definitely be more of that instead of a proper shizun. idk, i'd just treat binghe as if he were my little brother

or, since binghe is still bunhe and thus hasn't darkened at all, i would maybe pull him to the side and say that i'm actually not his shizun. probably claim that the real sqq hated teaching (which was why he abused binghe) and kids, so he made a doppelgänger (me) to replace him as he goes to buttfuck anywhere else from here. since i would know of luo binghe's loyalty at least from never having read svsss, i'd tell him to respect sqq's wishes

this is so that binghe would at least know that i'm not shen qingqiu. because remember, in this alternate timeline i only know pidw instead and don't know if binghe would forgive sqq for all the abuse he suffered, so don't blame me for going that route! again, i know that the system would still probably require me to be his mentor for the abyss arc, so i'd have to still stay as bingbing pretty much gets an entirely new person as his shizun. but hey, would he complain? i don't abuse kids and thus won't ever hurt him. plus, i don't think i'd be able to constantly put on a mask and pretend to be sqq, the least i could do is have luo binghe know the "truth"?

look i know that that probably breaks the system's rules, BUT remember, you can negotiate with the system. "well, i'm not revealing my identity as a transmigrator or the system? i'm technically still 'shen qingqiu', im supposed to be a doppelgänger, a copy! remember? so i'm technically him." also, i don't remember any rules about running away and such for the new identity plan, just that binghe still needs a mentor to push him off. i feel like with enough negotiation, i would be able to do this (also yes i know that i wouldn't know about the system not being strict, but i feel like i would figure it out pretty quickly, considering that i bitch a bit and will find a way to back up my argument if I'm really insistent)

speaking about the endless abyss!! yeah no i don't think i would be able to push him off. i think i'd make it abundantly clear that i don't want to, but i'm cursed to "fulfill" a prophecy or something.. either through a bunch of metaphors and stories. or, since system never said i had to full on betray him, just that he needed to be in there, i'd kinda just. tell him to jump and that there was nothing else i could teach him or something. i'll be waiting, bingbing!

and finally: what about if binghe fell in love? ...honestly don't know what i'd do with that. i feel like i'd be more gege material if anything since i'm not super different in age with bingbing, so i'd most likely see him as a friend or younger brother instead of a disciple (and i'd definitely treat him like one too. sorry, i just don't think i'd be able to take my job as a teacher or anything seriously, nonetheless actually teach teach. mentor-ish or bro figure, yeah i could do that. responsible teacher? okay, now you're asking for too much). so maybe? maybe not? i don't even know if i meet binghe's standards (which, admittedly, is kinda low but you get my point). i'd probably wanna kiss liu qingge though lol

[darkfalcon-z]

was WWX fixated on LWJ? I don't think that fixation or obsession are an accurate description of WWX's attitudes towards LWJ.

Sure he was fascinated with him, he found him inspirational and LWJ definitely left enough impression for WWX to remember him, but that's different from a fixation. He's drawn to LWJ when he's there, but other than that, as far as I can remember, there's like one scene in entire novel when WWX talks or thinks about LWJ (other than scenes other than immediately after encounters with LWJ).

It's in the Lotus Pods extra, which takes place months after WWX left Cloud Recess, and JLY, who is the most likely person for WWX to tell what's on his mind, reacts as if the information that there's any kind of meaningful relationship between WWX and LWJ is novel to her. Which suggests that WWX hadn't talked about LWJ and hadn't even though about regularly enough to bring him up with his Shijie. He outright asked her if she even heard of LWJ, which he wouldn't if LWJ was a frequent topic of a conversation between them. It to you but doesn't imply any sort of fixation, it's normal to randomly remember people you've spent some time with.

LWJ didn't have that much of a role in WWX's first life, they've met infrequently, for most of those encounters LWJ had been unpleasant to him. Not all fascinations with others are romantic or sexual. It that context it really wouldn't make so much sense for WWX to interpret his fascination as something romantic. Among other things it would be emotionally safer not to interpret it as romantic if the other person is frequently irritated by you and antagonistic.

I don't think WWX was oblivious either.

Once he develops actual friendship with LWJ, he very soon notices romantic feelings and, sure, he struggles for some time with his previous preconceptions, but it takes him only few weeks to sort out, which is exceptionally fast. He doesn't even have ready made frame of cultural narratives to help him recognise what's going on. This is short time to accept you're queer when your entire life you though otherwise. If you hadn't grown with accessible narratives about quires figuring it out can last months or even years from the time you've noticed first signs.

The notions that WWX examines in his head, like if he could become gay by occupying gay man's body, aren't some definitive statements of his beliefs or conclusions, it's just him processing and reflecting. It would be unnatural for anyone to jump from one set of conceptions to another without some processing.

It takes so much for WWX to believe LWJ likes him back, because he consciously doesn't want to make untoward assumptions about LWj, he's scared that he maybe projecting his feelings and hopes on LWJ and that if he's misreading the situation he'll lose their friendship. He tries to look at the situation from different possible angels and refuses to takes seemingly obvious assumptions for granted, especially when they contradict his previous observations. He's not oblivious, he's an over-thinker. By the time they had non penetrative sex for the first time he was 95-99% sure LWJ shares his feelings, and he was sure once they got frisky until LWJ reacted negatively, at which point he started panicking and overthinking. That's why he needed so much assurance.

Besides, LWJ is incredibly hard to read. People didn't in fact know he was in love in WWX. Even LXC seemed to only realise the extent of those feelings once LWJ defended WWX against his own clan. It was a secret very few people were actually aware of. Most though the two hated each other.

JC is shocked (and overwhelmingly disgusted) when he sees Wangxian together in Lotus Pier and realises all the homophobic insinuations he'd been making may in fact hold kernel of the truth. The things by that time WWX has it basically figured out, but the subsequent confrontation with JC makes him hesitate once again. But it's about the fear of pushing something socially undesirable on LWJ.

[thegreymoon]

The Double

LMFAO

***

OMFG, they are setting her up to be raped.

Again.

***

I can't get over these pearls they stuck to their faces.

***

Wait, what? Ye Shijie is in love with her?????????

Aren't they cousins? Are first cousin marriages allowed in ancient fantasy China?

***

So, she was the old Emperor's concubine and now she is the current Emperor's concubine as well? Did I understand that right?

If the Emperors are related, then, eww, gross.

***

Girl, what are you doing?

***

She gives me so much ick.

***

He has a death wish and A-Li is more than willing to shoot him.

[alipeeps]

Episode 40 (aka Hold me, I am not ready for this!! 😭)

Gods I think I love Xue Li almost as much as Xiao Heng.

And that dude loves her a LOT.

LOOK at how he looks at her. LOOK!!

"Kill Xiao Heng and we'll live happily ever after"... dude, you have completely lost touch of reality. How can you believe for even a fraction of a second that she'd do that, that she'd choose you over him? She just told you a moment ago that she'd rather die with him that be with you.

YES XUE LI!!! Put the next one through his eye please!

Actually no, don't kill him. Let him live and suffer and regret.

"Killing you would dirty my hands." You tell him girl. He's nothing. He's not worth the blood on your hands.

I reckon 75% chance he's gonna throw himself off the battlements anyway. Coward.

Ahahahaaaa he's standing on the edge! Am I right? Am I?

CALLED IT!! 😂😂

Last thing he saw was her walking away. Love that for him.

Ooooh she's gonna cut her own throat on the sword....

Shiiit where's that tumblr image of apollo's dodgeball? I'm getting too good at this.

There goes your last leverage, shithead.

Aaaaand there goes your ability to breathe anything other than blood.

Yeah baby, get your revenge.

Ey up, the wind machine's back.

Hahahaa fucking hell grandpa Xiao making Xiao Heng serve him drinks on the excuse that he was injured saving Xue Li?! I'm pretty sure Xiao Heng was actually *more* injured - he took at least 3 sword slashes in the battle with Lord Cheng!

Okay but now I am really intruiged/worried cos the rebellion is over and there's like 30-odd minutes (and the much giffed scene of Xiao Heng in his armour with the pendant in his teeth) left to go so... wtf is gonna happen now?

Oooh Xiao Heng's going north to protect the border...

Bros 4eva!

Daddy Xue's back? For reals?

"She's got a husband now, how can she go back with us?" 😂

Awww and she's got daddy's approval for this one too! 😁

What do you think she means, Su Guogong, you dumbass? You gotta make that place fit for a wife! 😁

Hahaha Xiao Heng has bluescreened again!

It's kinda disturbing how rare it is in a cdrama for the main couple to get together, both survive and get to happily marry. HOWEVER... there's still 20 minutes and that scene to go!! 😭😭

Also am i the only one that keeps getting very nervous about the combination of wind machine, billowing drapes, and naked flame candles... 😬

Is she gonna admit to pappa Jiang that she's not Jiang Li? I'm pretty sure he already knows...

Yeeeeeah that's a nice lie Xue Li but it's a lie nonetheless. She did suffer and she was in pain. But okay...

I want this to be between you and me - and all the servants that just overheard our conversation.

Shit I thought for a second there he'd stroked out and died on the spot! 😂

This feels like she's saying goodbye to the Jiang family for good. She's married into the Xiao family now and the Jiang family are leaving the capital... and she's not really related to them, she's got no real reason to see them again...

Shijie is just too goddamn good and precious.

Ooft one thing that bugs me about the subs in this is that they don't properly translate titles/honorifics, they translate everything to the person's name. So the significance of her calling him ge is entirely lost to anyone who doesn't understand at least a little bit of Chinese.

(Also they do this with single syllable names which is even more egregious. They translate didi as Zhao, they don't even have the fucking courtesy to make it A-Zhao)

Awww I am sad that the haircombing scene was just her imagination... and I'm also worried that it's some kind of portent... 😭

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THEY KILLED LU JI!!!! 😭😭😭😭

I don't deserve this. After 40 episodes i do not deserve this how could you do this to me

Okay but Wen Ji I feel you fam I really do but Xiao Heng needs help!!

YOU BASTARDS!!

WHYYYYYYYYY??!! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME?!! Why could they not just have a happy ending? What plot purpose does this even serve at this point?

Oh thank fuck I genuinely thought it was gonna end with it implying he was about to die on the battlefield.

I am dead. RIP me.

This was a fucking RIDE and I LOVED IT.

(Apart from them killing Lu Ji and Wen Ji for no reason 😭😭😭)

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

How do you know?

The tops of Sizhui's cheeks are dusted red when he finally makes eye contact with his senior. He has been staring into his cup of tea for the past 10 minutes, quiet and unmoving, gripping the side of it hard enough that it's a miracle it didn't break yet. Very uncharacteristic of Sizhui to be so... worked up over something, but there's no better place to find out what's wrong than over tea with Wei-qianbei.

"I...um... have a question."

"Figured as much." Wei Ying laughs. "What's up?"

"How... how does one know when they're... in love?"

Wei Ying feels his heart both ache and soften at the question. He sees himself, over twenty years ago, asking his shijie the same thing. He remembers Wen Qing telling him she'd probably never get to see A-Yuan growing up and and achieving his life's milestones, learning cultivation and falling in love.

"It's different for everyone." Wei Ying finally replies, in a voice that's uncharacteristically soft. "It feels like... honestly, it feels a lot like sword flying for the first time."

"H-huh...?"

"You're scared you're going to fall and nobody's going to catch you, and it's terrifying. But once you're in the air and you feel the wind around you and you can see the world from above, you feel free and invincible and like you can do anything."

Sizhui is quiet for a long time after that. Wei Ying lets himself think over his own metaphor.

He has been scared to fall, indeed. When shijie found him hiding in a tree, when he learned to fly on Suibian, when he fell into the Burial Mounds, when he learned what his feelings for Lan Zhan meant... In fact, until Lan Zhan, he could never be sure there was someone there to catch him. He had been scared to fall in love with Lan Zhan too, even if it came to easy, even if he couldn't help it, even if, in hindsight, it was obvious Lan Zhan loved him too.

But nothing could compare with the knowledge that his feelings were reciprocated, that he would never be alone again, that no matter what, there would always be someone in his corner, loving and protecting him. Catching him if he'd fall.

And he'd been falling a lot lately - Mo Xuanyu's core has improved, but not nearly enough to allow Wei Ying to do the airborne tricks he used to do with Suibian. The amount of times he almost splattered into the ground should be laughable - but Lan Zhan always caught him, no matter how ridiculous it was for him to slip off his sword like a child.

"Is it... easy? To love someone?" Sizhui asked, again, his face even redder than before.

"The right person is never hard to love. It just comes naturally, you may not even realize it's happening."

He surely didn't, not from the start. His life would have been a lot different if he had - still, his life is wonderful now, and there's no point dwelling on the past.

"You know, it took me a while to realize that I loved Lan Zhan, but not because it was difficult. It just came like second nature to me, it felt normal for me to want to be around him and to share everything with him. It was subconscious, I think. Our hearts know we're in love before we do."

Wei Ying doesn't realize he's playing with the ribbon Lan Zhan left on his wrist as he says all this.

He also doesn't realize Lan Zhan is quietly listening in from the doorway of the Jingshi, a look so soft and loving in his eyes it would melt him if he saw it.

---

"Anyway, why are you asking me this stuff? Got any news to share?"

Sizhui's flustered and sputtering. "N-no, I-I was just, um, curious, it's nothing like that, really!"

"Well, when you do decide it's something, let me and Lan Zhan know, we need to have a stern talking to with whoever's decided to steal our baby's heart!"

"Wei-qianbei!!"

[alcrox]

Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan are so interesting to me.

On surface, they are a boring heterosexual couple. There is a lot of awkwardness and bad, unfortunate moments and quite a bit of doormat-ery from everyone's beloved shijie, JYL. But what do they signify?

We know that they were betrothed from a young age. It was a match that their parents fixed for them.

JZX (JZX refers to Zixuan and not that asshole Jin Zixun throughout this post) was breathtakingly rude at several moments of the show, but can we think of it from the point of view of someone who has been arranged to marry someone against his will? Since he was a kid. We already know the Jins are not the best bunch. JZX grew up in that fucked up, dysfunctional family, grew a big head due to being spoiled and being around general Jin ostentatiousness. He is still the best Jin you can think of. And here is this young, proud man who has been arranged to simply marry someone and was definitely not asked about it. It did not matter whether he liked JYL as a person or not. All he could think of was how JYL is the woman he has to marry, no questions asked. He was given no choice in the matter.

JYL on the other hand clearly always liked JZX to some extent. But timid nature aside, she was absolutely aware that this was not a match that JZX wanted. She was obviously not very happy about it but had no choice in this matter either. She always knew from a young age that her hand will be decided based on how much advantage it will bring to the Jiang Clan and not whom she likes. I think she made peace with that a long time ago, but JZX never did.

I cannot blame JZX for not liking his predicament. But despite the fact that he had no choice in the matter, he did end up making a choice. He acted less than ideal with JYL and her brothers (who clearly jump at any chance to be overprotective of their sister) and when WWX was visibly mad about JZX audibly dismissing JYL, he did not back off. He doubled down on his statement, infuriated WWX further and fought WWX.

WWX is blamed for JYL's marriage arrangement breaking but honestly, this was a choice JZX himself made. In fact, I believe it was a good thing JFM broke off the arrangement. I know he gets heat for that but at this point it was clear JZX absolutely did not want to marry JYL and did not value this alliance. If the Jiang Clan continued to tolerate this kind of behavior from the Jin heir, it would send the message that the Jiang Clan can just be disrespected anytime. The Jins may be the richest but the Jiang Clan is also one of the 5 great clans. From a political standpoint, the Jiang Clan absolutely should not marry their daughter off to someone who dismisses her in public and gives the heavy impression that he does not want to marry her at all. From a personal standpoint, JYL is better off without being married to someone that she likes but who clearly does not like her back.

And it is better. After their marriage arrangement is broken off, JZX starts to develop feelings for JYL. He actually begins to see JYL for being a person that he can grow to love and live with, instead of as a symbol of his helplessness at choosing his own bride. He realizes he took JYL for granted and this is needed for JZX, because he has never received lessons like this in his childhood. He has received lessons on how to run the clan when he becomes the leader, he has received lessons on how to navigate politics and power plays, but he has always had servants waiting on hand and foot for him and he never realized how to value other people sufficiently. Of course, there was the whole soup incident which was another lesson for JZX on how to respect others. And JZX proves to be a person who does learn from his mistakes but is so hopelessly awkward about expressing personal feelings that he fucks up a couple more times.

JYL herself grows to be a more confident version of herself after her parents' death. That confidence does not show itself often, but it shows itself when she defends WWX from Jin Zixun in front of everyone by ripping Asshole Jixun a new one. It shows when she decides to go meet her brother a-xian (before she got stopped by JZX).

I asked 'what do they signify' and here is the answer: they signify the importance of seeking their own happiness. The Untamed is a story about principles and selflessness and the weight of debts and favors and burdens and fighting for the greater good... and a story about caring for your own happiness, told through JYL and JZX. JZX is not happy about being married off to someone while having no choice in it, and he makes that clear. JZX pursues JYL once he genuinely likes her because he wants to be happy. JYL is about to go meet WWX, despite the cultivation world beginning to completely ostracize him because her brother makes her happy. JZX plants lotuses for JYL because they make JYL happy and making JYL happy makes him happy. JYL ends up opting not to go to WWX and instead accepting JZX's proposal because JZX makes her happy, because being with JZX makes her happy, because JZX promises to keep her happy. JZX requests to call WWX to Jinlintai because he makes his wife happy.

JYL, having lost nearly everything and everyone that made her happy, runs out into a battlefield to finally look for WWX, even though she does not know how to defend herself physically, even though the entire world is hunting the Yiling Laozu, even though she is consumed with grief and mourning, even though doing that was objectively the stupidest thing to do. All because there was a time when her little brother made her happy and seeing him with her own eyes, close to herself, within touching distance to lovingly caress his face is the one last thing that could make her happy. And hence, she does it. Just to be happy and have no regrets.

This pursuit for happiness can be seen as selfishness but in a cutthroat world that the worldbuilding of CQL (and even real life) shows us, they do what many people couldn't. They make sure to care for their own happiness as much as they could. Because even though their romance takes place against the backdrop of all the tragedy that is at the forefront of the story, they deserved to be happy.

[leviadraws]

Ik you said it's hella subjective but I'd love to see why you assigned each card for each character, i always find it fun to see what goes behind artist's minds n stuff :]

Oh go on you've pulled my leg /lh, I do have some notes on what's to come. Some of my picks might be considered a little ...spicy?

I was gonna put in the ones I'm more solid on but I ended up getting carried away and putting them all down haha. Yes I got way too involved reading into this, under cut as it's long and contains some spoilers.

Fool - Kiyoka: So you could likely argue either Yuki as the fool, since the tarot is often called the fool's journey. But I'd just taken the interpretation as the beginning, so I picked Kiyoka as the beginning of the series.

Magician - Syobai: I can hear it already, why isn't it Mikado? He's a literal wizard! But like while you could stretch the heaven and earth thing to be the real world and virtual one the kinda core traits of the magician don't really match up with him.

The magician is all about using everything in your arsenal to move forward, and taking every chance you get, and to me that reminds me of Syobai's journey from abandoned to the cut-throat person he ends up being.

High Priestess - Mikako: The priestess represents knowledge or a lack thereof, so it felt like it suits Mikako because she has her memories and knows who's responsible. There's also an element of mystery to it, so it works in the way that she can't reveal what she knows.

There's also a line for the reversed card about choosing to trust someone against your intuition or what others say, which is kinda like what happened with her and Utsuro + Akane when they're in hope's peak.

Empress - Setsuka: The empresss pretty much boils down to being kind to yourself and others, so I picked Setsuka as the big sister of the group and her battle to keep the group together.

Emperor - Shiji: So this one was harder, since the emperor is a little stoic and reversed emperor is tyrannical, such that Tsurugi would fit better. That said, the positive parts of it are more leaning towards Shinji and his role with the gang (Yuuki especially), he's their rock and their guide. It also means we get big bro and sis as empress and emperor which is kinda cool

Hierophant - ???: It feels like I should pick Kinji for this, seeing as he's the religious figure and this is the religious figure card. The hierophant is about taking the well-trodden path, do things by-the-book per say. Someone who's a good colleague or mentor. So I guess that could be Kinji?

Lovers - Haru + Satsuki: This one is kinda self-explanatory, there's not a lot of depth to this one haha. That said, there's a section of this card that's about finding out what's important to you by looking inside yourself so it fits nicely anyway. It's kinda the opposite of the hierophant, who find their way through established outside paths.

Chariot - Rei: The chariot is about having the willpower to overcome obstacles without distraction, so that fits Rei and her mentality to reach her goals no matter what pretty well.

Strength - Ayame: Strength is strength when facing adversity specifically, remaining calm even when facing a horrible struggle. Reversed strength is about insecurity, and a lack of confidence in one's self too, so I really like it on her.

Hermit - Sora: While the hermit can be associated with someone who likes to be alone, the whole thing about finding your inner self works nicely with her amnesia and drive to figure out who she really is.

Fortune - Yuuki(SDRA2) + Utsuro: I feel this one is more obvious, but the fortune refers to swings of good or bad luck. Reversed fortune feels particularly apt for SDRA2 Yuuki, as it's about uncontrollable change, and he's constantly a puching bag for all the horrible things that are out of his control.

Justice - ??? I feel like Kakeru is a cop-out here, and the theme doesn't actually suit him all that much. Justice is kinda the karma card, if you've done something bad your comeuppance will come, if you've been wronged your time for justice will come to you.

I've considered Kizuna for this one, as she has both done some awful things, been kinda in denial (or pretended to be) about those things, and shown that she was willing to take steps towards change. I'll likely come back to this one at some point

Hanged man - Teruya: The hanged man is someone who realises that sacrifice is necessary to move forward, this was one of the first ones I had decided on /lh

Death - Tsurugi - the reason Tsurugi isn't emperor or justice is because he fits this a lot better, the death card is about change or the resistance to change when reversed.

Temperance ???: Calm, someone calm who stays in safe waters and doesn't push the boat out.... I'm not sure tbh, possibly Kanata?

Devil - Kanade: Beyond the obvious, the is a theme with the devil card to addiction and obsession. You get the idea

Tower - Hibiki: Kinda funny that they're next to each other, the tower is like a huge change causes your life to fall on top of you. While the card itself isn't that drastic it works nicely for Hibiki.

Hajime also works well with this card, as a tower can represent a looming disaster and what you can do to avoid it too.

Star - Yoruko: I originally had this one as epilogue Yuki/Sora, but as the only survivor to not be as fucked up or on the run I think Yoruko sutis. The star is about hope and carrying on with your life after the events of the tower card.

Moon - Yuki (DRA) : So this one was kinda hard, I chose Nikei for this for a while, but his motivations are more rage related and don't really line up with the theme of the card. The moon is a card about taking the uncertain path, hidden truths and self-deception.

Sun - Yamato: What we're told at least of Yamato matches up with the sun a fair bit, someone with deserved confidence and success. I'm not very confident on this one, but I'm struggling to pick someone who hasn't been picked yet.

Judgement - Akane: Based off chapter 6 mostly, and her choice to save the others in the end. But also her choices in the start and how much she seems to regret them

World - Mikado: do you have any idea how much it pains me to give the wizard a card? /hj

That said, the world is completion and achievement, and so I wanted to give it to Mikado as someone who believed that had completed everything as planned, but had the wrong goal post from the start. It also felt apt for him to have the last card in the deck.

If I manage to get through all of them in like, a year(? most optimistic timescale ever haha) I'd like to do the minor arcana too, I'd like to end up with every character represented at least once

I'm likely to redecide on these at least 50 more times over the course of this project lmao