#actually it’s the whole Yi city arc

[anyanary]

Lighting study!

[mxtxfanatic]

Let’s talk Yi City Arc! I’ve seen a few posts since my time in the fandom that talks about the Yi City Arc as unnecessary or out of place in the whole of the mdzs narrative. I’ve even seen some suggest that the disconnect is because Yi City was originally a separate story to mdzs, a sort of prototype, if you will, to explain it away. I, too, after my first read questioned the significance of this arc to the overall story. However, the Yi City arc and its placement so early in the novel is actually just a huge and very clever spoiler to most of the important plot points of the overarching story… if you know what plot points to look for, which an un-spoiled first-time reader would not. So let’s talk about those spoilers:

1) The righteous cultivation clans’ refusal to stand against evil—and, really, their indulgence of it—leads to the wiping out of an entire clan and a monastery as well as the deaths of two powerful cultivators unaffiliated with any major sect.

The “righteous” cultivation clans happily ignore that fact that the Jin Clan is amassing power through unscrupulous guest disciples, and it is only when Xiao Xingchen, an outsider, brings the crime against the Chang Clan to light do they bother to pretend to do anything about it. However behind the scenes, the Jin Clan assassinates their only real opposition, and the other clans, great and small, continue to do nothing as Xue Yang is released to commit another massacre. The Jin are never held responsible for their actions. Likewise, all the clans turn away from Wei Wuxian, an outsider, when he calls out the Jin Clan’s crimes against the Wen remnants and accuses them of amassing power via poaching vassal clans and attempting to steal his tools. Behind the scenes, the Jin work to undermine Wei Wuxian’s reputation before joining in to massacre Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants. The Jin are never held accountable for this, which directly leads into the Xue Yang situation.

2) Xiao Xingchen has his reputation slandered by Xue Yang killing others using his sword.

After Xiao Xingchen kills himself, Xue Yang begins using his sword to enact “vengeance” on the remnants of the Chang Clan, who he considers as having “betrayed” Xiao Xingchen. Finding the signature of Xiao Xingchen’s sword on the slain bodies leads the cultivation world to believe that a disillusioned Xiao Xingchen is killing in revenge. In much the same way, Wei Wuxian is used as a scapegoat by the cultivation world whenever bad things happen, such as the presence of walking corpses or the mass digging of graves. In neither situation does any clan investigate the true events of the situations, happy to blame the easiest suspect and allow the unrest to continue. In both situations, Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian are eventually found innocent of the crimes for which they are accused, and the true culprit is revealed.

3) Xiao Xingchen is betrayed by someone he considered close to him, which eventually leads to his death.

Xiao Xingchen, due to being literally blinded by his sacrifice, ends up running into, rescuing, and caring for his mortal enemy, Xue Yang. Taking advantage of Xiao Xingchen’s blindness, Xue Yang tricks him into murdering a bunch of innocents and his best friend, causing him to commit suicide. Wei Wuxian, similarly, is betrayed by a close friend he kept near, figuratively blinded by a former childhood friendship and the present debt he felt owed to said friend’s parents. This misplaced trust directly leads to his death.

4) Xiao Xingchen must give up his eyes for Song Lan to see again, because Baoshan Sanren is not magical.

This is probably the biggest spoiler of the entire arc, but by the time you get to where this information is relevant, you’d probably have forgotten that this was even said. Xue Yang blinds Song Lan after destroying his home, and to atone for this, Xiao Xingchen goes to his master, Baoshan Sanren, to beg for her help. However, Baoshan Sanren cannot make something out of nothing. Mxtx explicitly writes that tidbit into the narration. Song Lan goes up the mountain blind and comes down with eyes. Xiao Xingchen goes up the mountain with eyes and comes down blind. Song Lan was given Xiao Xingchen’s eyes.

Much later in the story, Jiang Cheng loses his golden core. Wei Wuxian offers the miracle solution of Baoshan Sanren “giving” him a new one. Jiang Cheng, obviously skeptical, questions Wei Wuxian up until the moment he must go up “Baoshan Sanren’s mountain” alone. Wei Wuxian descends, alone, looking pale and weak. Later, when Wei Wuxian is ambushed by the Wen, Wen “Core-melting Hand” Zhuliu touches him and is visibly shocked by a discovery that he then keeps to himself. Jiang Cheng emerges from the mountain with a new golden core, while Wei Wuxian emerges from the Burial Mounds with a new cultivation method wholly independent of the need for a golden core. The Yi City arc tells us why this is: “Baoshan Sanren” cannot make something out of nothing.

And these are just the major parallels I remember off the top of my head. However, while a reread makes a lot of these parallels directly applicable to specific plot points in Wei Wuxian’s own story, I would argue that the biggest role the explicit paralleling is meant to play for a new reader is to make you question the dominant narrative of the main story. The narration tells us that Wei Wuxian is a bloodthirsty man who may as well be a demon, known for cruelty and vengeance. We see none of that from his character when he is resurrected. Then we get a mini-drama where a man with attributes Wei Wuxian directly relates to, with a story Wei Wuxian directly compares to his own life, is scapegoated by society, killed, then eventually vindicated. If nothing else, the Yi City Arc is meant to make you, as a reader, stop and go “Hey, wait a minute, what if Wei Wuxian isn’t the bad guy here???” And once you understand that, you should start questioning everything the prologue told you, just like the juniors start to question what they were told about Xiao Xingchen post Yi City in their group debrief.

[lazycranberrydoodles]

its prosecutor jiang wanyin!!!! oh fuck!!! / gifs + au rambling below the cut / follow for more mdzs x aa crossover stuff :3

all the gifs i made (poses traced off franziska):

hes so similar to franziska when you think about it. theyre both deeply insecure tsundere adoptive younger sibling of successful main characters. who carry whips. something something edgeworth choosing death and wwx actually dying also

his share code is HWFEFF if you wanna use him in a trial! you can't share backgrounds but heres the scenery from the donghua i used.

the easiest way to put custom stuff into objection.lol is to send it in discord and then use the link from opening it in your browser :)

a whole lot of AU stuff

the art im making is for if mdzs was an ace attorney game, playing from WWX's POV to solve various mysteries/cases over the course of the plot. so this scene would be from turnabout goddess, which would loosely cover the dafan mountain mystery.

cases include:

Turnabout Revenge (Mo Manor, quick introductory first case)

Turnabout Goddess (Dafan mountain, the good times flashback)

Turnabout Saber (the man-eating castle (omg hiii nhs))

The Blind Turnabout (Yi City arc)

Turnabout Deviation (the Koi Tower conference, Empathy on NMJ ala turnabout memories or beginnings. opening cutscene is his qi deviation)

The Blood-Soaked Turnabout (second Burial Mounds siege, flashbacks: Xuanwu, Sunshot, YLLZ, Nightless City massacre)

Turnabout Lotus Seeds (testimony about JGY, tree scene, golden core reveal, bathtub scene. opening cutscene could be JGS' death but that would make it canon rather than ambiguous)

Turnabout Confession (Guanyin temple)

the problem with splitting novel!mdzs into turnabouts is that flashbacks are a huge chunk of the book but they don't have mysteries/ cases to solve so they've gotta be lumped together with present day stuff. imo? many of the flashbacks would likely have to be abridged so they could be retold ala DL-6, SL-9, or the fourth grade incident, where characters talk about it over some pieces of art. this is really difficult when theres a metric ton of unspoken, complex, and signifcant history between every character lmao

there's not as much of a problem with the cql timeline but i have not finished it. so.

the opening cutscenes in ace attorney always show the murder and/or the murderer plotting. the first cutscene of the game would be MXY summoning WWX, muttering about getting revenge on his family (it would also be good for him to mention the yllz being dead because that's how the novel starts.) cut to WWX's POV as he wakes up covered in blood and the investigation segment begins.

for investigations of monsters (goddess, saber, etc) the cutscene would be a scene of some poor throwaway cultivator getting their shit wrecked.

it would be cool to make a breakdown for JGY but again I need to review that scene cause I don't know who I'd base him on. maybe Vasquez or Dahlia.

tell me your thoughts!! i'm working off of a mdzs summary/ skimming the novel because i don't remember it too well so if i get anything wrong please yell at me

Jin Ling's sprites & Nie Huaisang's sprites / masterpost

[eruhamster]

no, im thinking about the whole thing of more than just one or two people reading TGCF and somehow thinking he xuan only just found out about the fate switch again. the fact that this is something people think is so insane to me because even if the specific time he learned was never given, like it's essentially spelled out for you.

hua cheng says when he xuan died, shi wudu showed up and made sure he was dead, so he xuan knew something was up with this guy. he found out he was a god and grew more suspicious. and then he infiltrated the heavens to find out more. like that's really the only actual statement we get, but like... it's so clear it's been a long time coming.

suspicions don't make you eat a bazillion water ghosts to make you into a water ghost to give you the specific powers necessary to overcome and kill a water god. he had to have known for as long as he was considered black water sinking ships. and of course he would know from the moment he infiltrated - he knows what happened to him and when. he would go up there and see that shi wudu has a brother with his name, who ascended the same day he died, who isn't known for doing anything beyond pulling a drunken party trick on an asshole. and sqx is so willing to talk to everyone, "ming yi" even complains that he throws out his array password to everyone. sqx told xie lian his ghost story, complete with a spell to make it cold and spooky with scary music while he told it, within like a month of knowing the guy. there is absolutely no way in hell that he xuan did not connect the dots within a year of infiltration.

and this idea of "well why would he spend centuries not doing anything" is so fascinating because it completely disregards the entire subtext of who he xuan is and what his relationship is with others. he is not friends with hua cheng. hua cheng is actively antagonistic toward him(and this is not just a hua cheng thing; hua cheng is actively nicer to sqx and even pei ming than he is to he xuan): he calls in inept. he says he doesn't know what he's thinking. he freaks out at him coming into his territory(puqi shrine), he is actively on edge while they're on the island, and he goads and mocks him in ways he doesn't to his other underlings. and yet hua cheng bankrolls him. he xuan is insanely in debt because hua cheng pays for his food, the cost of his fish(that hua cheng also actively dislikes), the cost of bribing heavenly officials(probably to keep their mouth shut), etc.

hua cheng doesn't help he xuan and fund his escapades because they're friends. he is clearly hua cheng's actual spy. it's a sort of payment for his services.

there's no real info on this but they clearly have a deal worked out. hua cheng pays for his expenses. he xuan was likely tasked at keeping ears out for news of xie lian. their deal was likely set to end when xie lian was located. maybe it went further, given hua cheng is so familiar with what he xuan knew as a new ghost - esecially since hua cheng is known to help ghosts pass on and help them with petty revenge or give them shelter in Ghost City in turn for their assistance(best example being the boar and chicken ghosts, they serve their chengzhu after he helped them get revenge and that's why many of the cultivators in the mt tonglu arc hate him, as seen in the ghost inn scene), it could easily be the case that he xuan came to hua cheng and they worked out a plan together. hua cheng knows how the heavens work; he ascended once. he could have come up with the infiltration plan and assisted he xuan in turn for him being a spy alongside he xuan's goal of finding out what shi wudu did. so even when he gets up there and immediately connects the dots, he'd do the work he was tasked with.

because if he only just recently found out, it would be insane to think that "ming yi" wouldn't go berserk. that "ming yi" wouldn't at the very least start acting noticeably different toward sqx. but he doesn't, because he's known.

i've seen people mention the hua cheng line of "my underling for 10 years" - this is him working out the hole he xuan found himself in when the real ming yi set off the flame pillar. "ming yi" was working as jun wu's spy for 10 years. the 10 years comment was aligning with that, giving an out so he could be taken back to the heavens with the idea that he was only jun wu's spy that was discovered after 10 years of infiltrating ghost city.

in reality, jun wu was unlucky enough(or maybe 'ming yi' volunteered) that the spy he picked was already hua cheng's spy of centuries; a double-agent. he xuan was spying, and that was why hua cheng knew the moment xie lian ascended. that is why he knew the exact mission xie lian was on and where he could find him. because he had a spy on the lookout.

and by the time their deal had been fulfilled, he xuan had been sqx's best friend for so long that he had grown complicated feelings and didn't start on the path to revenge until he had no choice: when the real ming yi finally killed himself in a cry for assistance(which, personally, i think may have been spurred by he xuan potentially deciding he wanted to keep that ming yi imprisoned indefinitely, or perhaps only due to an accident that originated from xie lian's unluckyness burning sqx).

the real issue from then on is he xuan fighting with himself, stuck between 'ming yi' and the oppressive and violent black water, seemingly actively attempting to both get his revenge while trying to salvage a relationship with sqx and keep the truth of "ming yi" from his best friend.

that's why, despite it all, he xuan still pops into the rebuilt puqi shrine to eat the food in a silent act of congratulations. xie lian actively got in the way of his plans to the point of he xuan barely being able to contain his violence and hua cheng legitimately being worried, and again, hua cheng and he xuan clearly are not friends - but hua cheng still helped him for centuries. hua cheng is the reason he got his revenge. and that warranted stopping by during a celebration.

this fits in so perfectly with their characters and the events of the story. the moment you think that the discovery happened recently, motivations come into question and it makes things muddy. like, one person who believed that he'd only just learned had said that hua cheng must have found out about xie lian's ascension through the rain master - there is not a single instance in the books that imply the rain master and hua cheng have interacted meaningfully. you have to actively make things up to go against this very clear line of what likely occurred.

this is also what makes he xuan so tragic. "ming yi" is not a complete lie, and he does try to cling to it, and only has to let it go after xie lian's continued meddling that eventually reveals the truth to sqx - long after he would have known, if he xuan actually wanted sqx to know. he wanted to stay friends with sqx, and he hated himself for it, which is why he shows a bit of himself when he asks xie lian to 'exorcise the demons in his heart.' the real he xuan is not so evil; hua cheng does not work with evil ghosts. the real he xuan has silly pet skeleton fish that assault him and accidentally poison him the moment he comes home because they're so excited to see him, and makes little jokes like teasingly sliding away from sqx when sqx recalls the 'reverend' saying everyone close to him will perish. that's why he doesn't change sqx's fate after he kills shi wudu. that's why sqx makes it clear that he xuan wasn't the one that broke his leg and arm. that's why he hesitated when sqx called out his pet name. that's why he kept and repaired sqx's fan. that's why he laughs before leaving when sqx is hounded by all his new friends about godhood. that's why he helps hua cheng one more time. that's why he congratulates xie lian on the shrine reopening. that's why he still says 'dream on' and 'do it yourself' to sqx even when there is no more ming yi; he xuan is not a bad person. he is just a man with demons. and if his hand hadn't been forced time and again, maybe he would have made the decision that being "ming yi" indefinitely wasn't such a problem. but the mountain of sins he'd committed over the centuries in the name of getting his revenge once xie lian was found was a hill too big to climb over, and once the path to revenge started, he had to do it. otherwise, what was the point of all the debt, all the lies, the wrongful imprisonments, the killing- everything he used to stand against, the crimes that others had done to him? he had to do it.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 38 part one

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

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!  

OK But Why?

This tale-within-a-tale is excruciating, yeah? So let's start off by considering why it even exists. Yi City feels like, if not a fully separate story, a pretty complete arc that can play as its own little movie. And it's incredibly sad, in every direction. While it may have begun life, in its originally-written form, as a different story exploring some of the same themes, MXTX placed it in the novel deliberately, and the producers of CQL included it deliberately. Why? Other than the, you know, catharsis of a well-wrought tragedy?

I think the answer is that it tells a set of parallel stories, alternate versions of the stories our main characters inhabit, with different outcomes driven by the character's choices. There's an obvious parallel between Lan Wangji's grief and Song Lan's, and another clear one between Wei Wuxian's core donation and Xiao Xingchen's eyeball donation. 

And there's an important comparison to be made between Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian, two demonic cultivators. They share some formative experiences, but have followed radically different paths, shaped, at a key moment, by another person's choice. 

Overall, the Yi City story illustrates how choices made in a moment affect not just an individual life, but ripple outward into other lives. So be prepared for me to point out parallels even more than usual, as we go through these episodes.

Empathy

We start off learning about Empathy and how it’s sooper dangerous, which means of course Wei Wuxian is totally down for it and probably invented it.  He gathers the kids around and assigns Jin Ling to be the person in charge of supervising and deciding when to pull him out of the matrix link. 

Jin Ling is surprised and reluctant so teacher’s pet Sizhui jumps forward and volunteers. 

Wei Wuxian asks Jin Ling for his Jiang clarity bell, which is on a tassel that used to be Jiang Yanli’s. 

(more behind the cut!)

Once the bell/tassel is out of Jin Ling’s hand, however, he changes his mind and snatches it, and the responsibility, back. 

It seems like Sizhui might recognize this tassel? 

It’s like the one Jiang Yanli gave Wei Wuxian when they met up before her wedding, which means Wei Wuxian would have had it with him during their year in the burial mounds. 

Jingyi disapproves of Jin Ling’s mind-changing, which is a little unfair since JL didn’t actually say “no” prior to Sizhui putting in his oar. (Sizhui is entirely loveable, but he is also a pushy brown-noser just like Lan Wangji was at his age. He just does it so sweetly that nobody minds.)

Sizhui, also like his Lan dad, has made it his life’s mission to manage a loudmouth hothead’s temper for him. 

Heading into empathy with A-Qing, we get flashes of bits of the story that we're about to see in depth. Then we jump to "ten years ago" which, given the way this series does math, probably means seven years ago.

Side note: A-Qing has managed to keep her hair looking pretty cute despite being 90% dead. 

Splish Splash

This particular section of the Wuxia River of Sadness is reserved for people who are contemplating the total mess they have made of their lives (gifset here), but A-Qing didn't get that memo, so she's having a nice time splashing joyfully without a care in the world.

A-Qing isn't about drama or being depressed, even when things are pretty difficult. She has found a big rock to sit on and is having a nice day hanging out on it.  

Then she goes skipping along singing "la la la la" (which is the same sound in Chinese as we make in English when we're singing and don't know the words, incidentally). Ok, show, we get it, she's happy and carefree. I sure hope she doesn't get involved in any weird relationships.

Grifting

She sees a couple of women walking on the path and she starts pretending to be blind. In the book, this pretense was facilitated by her having completely white eyes, but in the show she has normal brown eyes, until she actually is blinded by Xue Yang. So her entire pretense of being blind is to unfocus her eyes a bit and wave her hands around...

...with frequent intervals where she thinks no-one is watching her, and she acts 100% like she can see. Somehow she is almost never busted for this. 

The ladies give her a steamed bun and whisper loudly to each other about how pitiful she is. 

Then she heads into town for a little grifting, picking a wealthy douchebag as a mark. She bumps into him and steals his money bag, which he doesn't notice because he's too busy creeping on her. 

She's annoyed and disappointed that he doesn't have a lot of money.

Hey Pretty, Don’t You Want To Take a Ride With Me

Next she bumps into (and robs) Xiao Xingchen, who is actually blind, so he doesn’t notice her noticing how extremely pretty he is. 

He does notice that she has robbed him, however. 

Did you know if you have your eyes removed or even just damaged so you can't see any more, your eye sockets and/or tear ducts will bleed pretty much forever? Yeah, me neither. 

Xiao Xingchen immediately takes charge of A-Qing, telling her to walk more slowly and then telling her - kindly - to return his money purse. Before she can answer him, the rich douchebag comes back to yell at her and try to hit her. Xiao Xingchen stops him and smooths over the situation, and then lectures Ah Qing about stealing and how it's bad. But he tells her to keep his money, so - mixed messages, bro. 

She calls him gege and says that since he's blind and she's blind, she's going to follow him forever. He’s like, okey dokey, and they walk off together. Is she really the first person (since Song Lan) who’s had this idea about him? He is *very* pretty, after all.

It's unclear to me if she's calling him gege in the sense of “orphan girl who wants a family,” or in the sense of “mostly-grown-up woman who would like to Hit That.” Xiao Xingchen appears to take it as the former; he is too gay virtuous for the other option.

Two seconds after they decide to stay together, they encounter Xue Yang lying injured by the side of the road. A-Qing pretends she didn’t see him, and almost successfully wangles a piggyback ride out of Xiao Xingchen. 

But then he hears Xue Yang and immediately decides to rescue him, like the do-gooder Xue Yang despises him for being.

Xue Yang gets the romance-tropey piggyback ride that A-Qing was hoping for. Girl, the time to stop trying to seduce your gay male friend is 5 minutes before you started, ok?  

So...why was Xue Yang lying by the side of the road with a stab wound? Who gave it to him? If Jin Guangyao was sick of him, he would have stabbed him 100% fatally, and he wouldn't have let him hang on to Tiger Seal 2.0. And presumably Xue Yang wouldn’t think of him as a friend any more. It’s a mystery.

The new throuple decide to go to the creepiest abandoned walled city that has ever existed, and head past all the regular houses to set up camp in the morgue, for some reason. Not even inside one of the buildings; just out in the courtyard with a bunch of possibly-occupied coffins. Xiao Xingchen is so fucking weird. 

Each Unhappy Family is Unhappy in its Own Way

Xiao Xingchen gets to work patching Xue Yang up, and Xue Yang wakes up and recognizes him. A-Qing explains that they are blind and tells him not to be rude about it.

Xue Yang takes a second to process the situation, and then decided he’s going to hide his identity and make nice with Xiao Xingchen. Proving that found family can also have hideous toxic dynamics.

Xue Yang is very careful to keep XXC from touching his hand, since that would give away his identity. He has a...prosthetic finger? He wears a black glove and keeps his pinky finger straight so we know it's a replacement, or injured, or something. 

I think this is a concession to Wang Haoxuan having ten functional fingers and the show having a limited CGI budget. In a real sword-based society, missing a finger is probably not particularly uncommon, and he would probably just rock the nine-fingered look without having a special glove.

At this point, the complex interactions of the trio get rolling. Xiao Xingchen is honestly kind, Xue Yang is fake-kind, A-Qing is fake-unaware with Xue Yang and is unable to make Xiao Xingchen understand the problem, and Xiao Xingchen is genuinely unaware of everything. 

We spend a fairly large amount of time with Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen playing happy families. As part of his false persona, Xue Yang adopts a coy and whiny tone when talking to his pet white-clad cultivator, remarkably like another demonic cultivator we know.

I’m pretty sure Wei Wuxian has never managed to cop a feel while his sweetie climbs up a ladder, however. 

Then again, neither Lan Wangji nor Wei Wuxian has ever needed a ladder to get onto a roof, so maybe it’s just a lack of opportunity. 

This relationship, on the surface, is cute and sweet, which just makes the reality of it more disturbing. It’s super uncomfortable to watch, but there’s more than manipulation happening in these interactions. As Xue Yang flits around doing domestic tasks like patching the roof of the crappy outdoor shelter that they absolutely do not need to be using, he tells Xiao Xingchen various true things about his early life, and we begin to see what shaped him. 

Xue Yang (like OP) is obsessed with candy. In Xue Yang’s case, he was a hungry street kid who loved candy but couldn’t usually have it because of poverty. We learn that he has skills in patching up inadequate housing because he did it growing up. 

And we learn that he was beaten a lot. 

So he and Wei Wuxian have these things in common - except now Wei Wuxian gets his sugar from alcohol, not from candy. And Wei Wuxian’s handyman skills are used to make a home for his former enemies in the burial grounds, while Xue Yang’s are used - also in a cemetery, of sorts - to manipulate and trap his enemy. 

I Want Candy

In classic predator form, Xue Yang uses candy to lure A-Qing into coming within stabbing range, because he thinks she’s faking her blindness and wants to test her.  

I find him super attractive right here in spite of his evilness. I’m pretty sure it’s because he’s offering candy. (OP goes and gets a jolly rancher out of her purse). 

After calling her over, he draws his sword with a super-loud "sshshk" noise that she inexplicably doesn't notice, and she bravely walks up to, and nearly on to, the point of the sword. 

This shocks him and convinces him that she's really blind. He sits her down with apparently sincere gentleness, and gives her candy, while quizzing her about her hot gege.

A-Qing tries to warn Xiao Xingchen about Xue Yang being a bad guy, pointing out that he's a cultivator and won't tell them his name. (She can’t say “also he tried to stab me” because she’d have to come clean about being able to see.) Xiao Xingchen, because he is a condescending prick--albeit a very sweet one--pats her on the fucking head and laughs off her extremely useful warning. 

Xiao Xingchen came out into the wider world with a set of ideals that he lives by, apparently without examining them. He’s humble, kind, frugal, and wants to eradicate evil. He also believes that the majority of people are good like him, and that detecting evil is simple--as simple as following his sword toward it. He doesn’t allow A-Qing, who is experienced in the wider world, to teach him anything, preferring to keep his ideals untarnished.

Contrast this with Lan Wangji, who also starts his journey into the wider world with a set of ideals (codified as rules), but does not make the mistake of assuming that other people shares his beliefs. Once he’s away from the Cloud Recesses, he follows Wei Wuxian’s lead when dealing with new people, rather than insisting on doing things the way he did back home. In general, he is open to having his beliefs challenged, even when it makes him upset or uncomfortable. As a result, he grows into a righteous man, not a naïve one, and he’s fully capable of identifying enemies even when they appear to be friends.

Bonus: 

In this brief long-distance shot we learn that A-Qing sleeps in a coffin, which is some next level goth girl shit. 

Soundtrack: 1. Hey Pretty by Poe 2. I Want Candy by Bow Wow Wow 3. Cheap Thrills by Sia

[fangxin-guoshi]

My mxtx adventures so far...

So I read/watched tgcf and became obsessed. Finally got around to reading MDZS for the first time and here's some lil thoughts (rn I'm like abt a third of the way thru)

- I love how there will be some insane tool/torture device/technique that's super powerful and wwx will just casually mention that he invented it it's so funny. like ok prince of darkness we get it ur evil and edgy and a genius

- JINGYI!!!!! I LOVE U BABIE!!! ALSO SIZHUI!!! KIDDOS!

- idk why but I love that it's called the sun shot campaign. It sounds so much cooler than like "wen extermination" or whatever. Also I hope to learn even more abt it.

- actually all of the juniors I love (even u jinling, lil shit <3)

- im so curious abt the whole jc and wwx history bit. I know they're brothers and have some history via fandom osmosis but I'm so ready to get the full story. I love angsty siblings

- the porn book pfft (lwj really went "BLASPHEMY!! GET THIS VILE FILTH AWAY FROM ME!!" lol)

- love how lwj acts annoyed w the rabbit gift but the first chapter set back in the present timeline it's someone commenting on how he has a bunch of pet rabbits awwwww

- omg WHAT was the yi city arc during the empathy section my jaw was dropped the whole time xxc you fucking sweetheart you didn't deserve that. A qing is THE girl ever omg. Also I'm convinced xue yang is not dead he is ALIVE and coming back to haunt everyone. Also WHY tf are they shipped together??

- I find it so funny how when lwj got drunk for the second time wwx kissed him briefly and then he felt so guilty he slept on the floor lmaooo that's so sweet

- currently in the middle of the whole wwx empathy w nmj and getting more background on the venerated triad and the dynamics. the drama is SO juicy

- also I can't help but notice a lot of similarities between tgcf and mdzs. Protagonist w a bad reputation among his peers, the flashbacks throughout the story, the three tumors and venerated triad kinda similar, etc. kinda fun

*i actually watched the donghua a while ago so I had a little prior knowledge but it went WAY over my head and I was NOT in the mood to read another giant series yet*

(might update as I get further along idk)

[habizuh-studios]

Which do you think is more tragic, Yi City arc or BeefLeaf arc or the Fallout between Shen Jiu - Yue Qi? Why?

huahuhuefheufhef okokok,,, so the thing is i haven't really read mdzs or the sj/yqy extra........ BUT I WILL STILL TRY ANSWERING THIS.......... unfortunately this will put the yi city arc out of the run tho :( sorry anon!!

okay okay uh uh uhu hh uh soo i dooo think there's something so tragic about the beefleaf arc esp with revenge and what they "could have had"----- and yes, beefleaf were best friends.... but tbfr. that's all they were.

sqx had others. he had so many people and so many things- the whole point was that he was *living in bliss* the whole time!! and hx was jealous and angry and rightfully mad that he got his fate with his brother and blah blah yada yada dont feel like typing rn sorry

there's another factor ofc- that's sqx's brother and what they had to go through when hx cut his head off. but tbh... beefleaf fared *well* after that fact. maybe hx was- tbh i dont remember where he was, im pretty sure revenge didnt help him at all but idk if we saw him on page after it-

anyway, bUT sqx was actually doing quite fine by the time we get to book 7-8! he has friends and he's genuinely happy. so,,,,,

i guess i'd say sj/yq was more tragic;

in a story where everyone is able to get their version of a happy ending (bingqiu, zhuzhi lang dying to protect tianlang jun, mbj/sqh, etc, etc) yq NEVER GOT THAT. they both had been so close at one point, and now theyre peak lords but sqq doesn't trust him anymore (rightfully) even tho yq was JUSTIFIED but he never TALKED ABOUT IT because he was here wallowing and punishing himself (and while doing so, hurting sj further, *because he thought that yq left him there, damnit*)

and by the time yq tries apologizing, explaining- it's too late. sj is long gone, we don't know where he is. yq has to watch someone he cares about, his loved one, away with his disciple, happy to be nowhere near him. from his pov, it's tragic (and he thinks he deserves that), even if sy just thinks it's awkward/sad with him.

erm... yeah that's all i got. sorry for rambling nonsense!! thank you so much for the ask, sorry for taking so long!!

and my hot take... ehueehehheh... mmy abadddd

[veliseraptor]

xuexiao for the ask meme? The answer is indeed obvious as apparently nobodys asked yet - if you would *like* an opportunity to go off. 👀

👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌there👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my self 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit

(which is to say, ship it, obviously, I'm not exactly subtle about this one)

What made you ship it? watching yi city arc in cql, pretty much. still remember watching it for the first time, already loving xue yang, and going "what the fuck. how is this actually happening. what the fuck" the whole goddamn time

What are your favorite things about the ship? as much as I love them both (I do, a lot, in case that wasn't clear), and want them to be happy (I do, I will write endless fix its about it), the thing that holds me captive about xuexiao is the tragedy of it. it's sort of the ultimate in "the love was there, but it didn't change anything" ship. by the time it becomes a thing it's already pretty fucking doomed, by virtue of both xue yang and xiao xingchen being who they are. if things were different, if they were different - but they're not, and so they both die, miserably. and it makes me. you know.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I don't know how unpopular it actually is (for the most part I'm really bad at measuring that), but I'm really not about mean dom xiao xingchen. not to harsh other peoples' yums (you find hot what you find hot, I get it), but I just can't make it work for me in terms of characterization.

also this is definitely not unpopular among people who ship the thing but since it does come up not infrequently: xue yang did love xiao xingchen, yes, actually, in the way that he knew how, which just happened to be "badly."

[texasthoughtsaboutnothing]

So, Canto 5. Spoilers.

Peak fiction, utterly incredible. My following thoughts will be jumbled but forgive me.

I've sadly not finished the source material, so I won't analyze it from that POV, but just to discuss the continued building of the world of the City, the Great Lake is so well conceived as a setting. The individual Lakes and their Waves, and the Whales that cause them, the variable coordinates and U Corp's monopoly on written data of Laws. You could make a whole damn RPG on the back of this stuff alone, I know TTRPG heads are looking at this and coming up with some homebrews.

I wonder if the Lakes are actually the result of the Whales changing the waters around them? Ishmael theorizes that the Whales parasitize humans out of loneliness, to make others like them (which of course reflects on Ahab as a Whale) and I wonder if the waters of the lake are similarly changed to reflect the Whale? And then I think about how Ahab turned the inside of the Pallid Whale into Pequod Town gah the subtext.

I'm also thinking more about the Sinners as a found family. While they've gotten on well enough since Verg put his foot down it's becoming clearer as time goes on that real bonds are forming. Ishmael was certainly straining those bonds but its a testament to them that they grew stronger after she found peace. I was pleasantly surprised she and Outis found a dynamic as fellow seawomen leading to mutual respect, not to mention what's going on between Heath and Ish (I have never shipped anything harder in my life). And then there's the individual relationships to Dante. Dante and Ish have gotten over the hump, and while she says that if they ever go in the wrong direction "she'll drop a skiff and depart" I feel like Ish is invested in Dante as a friend and will be there for them no matter what, including steering them back on the right course.

We saw it in S.E.A., but it's dawning on me that we get to experience characters post arc and that there are consequences to that. It didn't feel that way as strongly with Canto 1 - 3 because Gregor and Rodya are thoroughly still cooking on their issues and Sinclair feels like he's started his arc to becoming more confident and capable (the part where he actually threatens that guy is just chef's kiss). But we saw a Yi Sang who's actively trying to preserve his new friend group and find the bright side of things. Now we'll have a collected Ishmael who can keep it together and is firmly on Dante's side, which will be amazing come the Heartbreaking if the Heathmael dream is real.

Rapid fire thoughts in no particular order:

Ahab VA is perfect casting, her character is phenomenal, and I can't wait to see how she'll do on Hermann's team. PM is carrying the torch of insane old ladies.

I'm increasingly certain that the plot of Limbus will be ultimately about the multiverse (IN A GOOD WAY) and the goals of the villains and other groups deals with mirror worlds in some way.

I'm thinking about the other 3 Calamities of the Lake, Whales that attack without rhyme or reason. I have to imagine them as other great beasts of literature, so one surely is the Crocodile from Peter Pan. Possibly another is the Dogfish from Pinocchio (adapted as Monstro in the Disney version). Then I don't know, the Giant Squid from 20'000 Leagues Under the Sea (or maybe the "Narwhal" itself)? There's many possibilities.

I enjoy the Middle as a faction, they fit in with the deeply absurdist nature of the City and feel distinct from the other Fingers we know about. Makes me wonder what the actual fuck the Pinky's deal is if they're the worst Finger (iirc).

Love the feeling of Faust and Verg as outsiders Red Fraud Alert there's no way it doesn't come to a head at some point where Vergilius and the group are fundamentally at odds but the group is strong enough that threats won't cut it.

Compass is fire. Love that we're seeing different fan remixes combining the vocal and instrumentals in interesting ways, though I worry for the official version. Fly, Broken Wings doesn't work as well when it just goes through the whole thing without repeating the Broken Wings part, I much prefer an edit that matches the in game version more. I hope Mili sees what people are doing and gives us the heartbeat.

Praying to god we get a Stubb or Pip Outis ID with Pequod Captain Ishmael, but that will likely be end of season. I predict Ish ID to be a powerful SP support ID and will likely be as meta as Nclair (which is cool but also kinda unfortunate narratively, there are some downsides to the Gacha format).

Sentences like "Ishmael totally tops Heathcliff, that guy would turn into a puppy dog at the slightest hint of affection" are insane things I believe wholeheartedly and I love every time a literature person stumbles upon it and has to wrestle with this surprisingly valid crackship not knowing its origin.

All for now but I'm sure I'll think of something else later, can't wait for the Christmas Event (which will likely drop after Christmas but c'est la vie).

[ghooostbaby]

i wonder where the interpretation for the whole “he xuan’s revenge failed” thing came from... (jk i know it’s beefleaf fanon :P)

as far as i could tell, there was no indication that he xuan was determined to immediately kill shi qingxuan as part of his revenge, and that not killing him along with shi wudu is a “failure” of his revenge. are you all such vicious revenge perfectionists you DEMAND beheading or bust?? in fact, he xuan already stripped shi qingxuan of his heavenly powers, exposed his brother’s corruption to him, forced him to live out his days without his brother as a mortal in abject poverty without the possibility of reincarnating (as mxtx said in an interview, once someone ascends to the heavens they are taken out of the cycle of reincarnation so shi qingxuan won’t reincarnate) - seems pretty revengey to me ???

there’s also the part when he xuan’s still in disguise, but after shi qingxuan has found out the truth of how he became a god and lost his powers, he xuan gives him the chance to go stay with the rain master while they are going after shi wudu. maybe he was faking it, maybe he genuinely hoped shi qingxuan would go, but it seems like his main interest was shi wudu.

and if he xuan decided not to rip shi qingxuan’s head off ... he xuan was the one that decided that? he wasn’t outsmarted or strong-armed out of it, he was perfectly capable of doing it and didn’t. yeah, i suppose this is where beefleafers could say he doesn’t behead shi qingxuan because he has conflicting feelings.. and this is why it seems that reading beefleaf into the black water arc requires reading he xuan as disempowered. It only works if he isn’t capable of doing what he wants for some reason, but why in the world would that be? is it more likely that he xuan is actually capable of doing things he wants to and not doing things he doesn’t want to do, or that he is rendered incapable of action by romantic feelings? (but i really don’t think what he did to shi qingxuan could be considered “going light” or not taking action... true romantics over in the beefleaf ship, if it’s not a beheading it must be love! XD) I wonder if it’s because he is so defiantly silent, and maybe some readers can’t see agency in introversion, or if maybe if some people who ship them see themselves in shi qingxuan and he xuan is a convenient absence that can be filled with a tragically passive longing. or some people just like shipping things that are nothing but pain... that’s definitely true ...

but it’s such an unfortunate waste of he xuan’s character to read him this way. try reading the black water arc assuming that everything he xuan does, he intentionally chooses. i find it much more interesting. he is a furious, silent, powerful ghost king with a strong sense of justice who has shown himself capable of doing whatever the fuck he wants. if he is in love with shi qingxuan, wouldn’t he do something about it? or maybe even the black water arc was him doing something about it. if he WAS in love with shi qingxuan before he stages the black water arc and this was a test to see if he xuan could really trust him, shi qingxuan so utterly fails him and fails his own commitment to justice, i can’t imagine he xuan would still feel the same by the time they come to the reveal. (and shi qingxuan CERTAINLY doesn’t feel the same way about he xuan as he did for “ming yi” when they see each other again in the imperial city.)

does it really make more sense that he xuan makes all these convoluted moves to avoid murdering shi qingxuan because he has fallen in love with him while hating himself for falling in love with him, so he spares him while also destroying his last family and condemning him to a slow death as a mortal while tortuously watching him from afar for the rest of shi qingxuan’s days ... or that ... he doesn’t want to murder shi qingxuan, doesn’t, punishes him, kills the villain who destroyed his family’s lives, and then gladly gets the fuck out of the heavens, and never appears to shi qingxuan again except that one time his bb gurl (hua cheng) asked him. this feels like a very “he’s just not that into you” scenario. sometimes if someone murders your brother and leaves you to ruins and other than one time where they acted extremely angry never appears to you again, it’s NOT because they secretly harbour an eternal flame for you. !!

the simplest explanation is likely the right one! and also this is an explanation that assumes he xuan is capable of acting on his own desires. i mean ... did you READ his backstory?! he is THE character of desire and determination!

[symphonyofsilence]

Hello, it's MXTX Ask Game :

1.) From the 3 works by MXTX, who is your favorite (canon) couple? Why?

2.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any non canon fav ships? (FYI, I have at least 10 fav non canon ships from those 3 series, sorry)

3.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any favorite quotes (from each series)?

4.) Who is your favorite love interest in MXTX three novels (luo binghe, lan wangji, mobei jun or hua cheng)? Why?

5.) Who is your favorite mc in MXTX three novels (shen qingqiu, wei wuxian, shang qinghua or xie lian)? Why?

6 a.) Which do you think is more tragic, Yi City arc or BeefLeaf arc or the Fallout between Shen Jiu - Yue Qi? Why?

b.) Can I ask your opinion on the comparison between bingqiu, wangxian, moshang, and hualian (their plus and minus sides, what do you love or not from each couple)?

Thanks ⭐

Hi! Oh, such difficult questions!

1) even though Hualian has a special place in my heart, (I mean, 800 years?! "Your Highness, I'll forever be your most devoted believer"? This much devotion? This much longing? A god and a demon? The bitchiest bitch and the nicest bitch? Such a healthy relationship? Just 🤌🏻) I gotta give this one to Wangxian.

The development in this one was chef's kiss. The way their characters played off of each other was beautiful.

They're highschool-not-sweethearts, they're soulmates. The hall monitor who's never heard of fun in his life meeting such a carefree fun- living ray of sunshine who never stops pestering him made for really fun, dynamic interactions full of chemistry. Them fighting side by side with each other and going through thick and thin while still clashing and bickering, Lan Wangji questioning his morals and slowly coming to change his world views, the whole last siege of the burial mounds incident, when after going through all those back and fourths and disagreements in one pivotal moment Lan Wangji finally chose the only thing that mattered to him, and tried to save WWX with everything he had. I loved that both of the characters went through very interesting arcs. LWJ yearning for WWX all those years and searching for him desperately, them having a second chance, LWJ getting back his "the one that got away" and living his "in another life I would make you stay" dream, him trying to do this right this time, him just being with WWX every step of the way and supporting him unconditionally, not even expecting him to accept his love, but only wanting to be there for him, (I'm a sucker for quiet, long-suffering, pure loves with no strings attached, with longing and devotion) it was all very beautiful. Full of engaging ups and downs and engaging, emotional moments. And done masterfully!

2) Oh, definitely! I like them more than the Canon ones! In fact, I completely forgot that they're not canon and I had to think for a moment before I remembered which ones aren't canon.

Xuexiao

3Zun but specially Xiyao

Fengqing

Beefleaf

Qijiu

Mingling

(If we take adaptations into consideration then Baoshan Sanren/Lan An and Wen Qing/Jiang Cheng are in there, too)

3) Oh, there are many!

Off the top of my head are:

"To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is ‘you’ and not the state of you."

-tgcf-

“I, AM OVER EIGHT HUNDRED. OLDER THAN ALL OF YOU COMBINED. I’VE CROSSED MORE BRIDGES THAN ALL THE ROADS YOU’VE WALKED.

“I, POSSESS SHRINES AND TEMPLES ACROSS THIS LAND; MY DEVOTEES AND WORSHIPPERS ARE SPREAD TO ALL FOUR SEAS. IF YOU DON’T KNOW MY NAME, IT’S BECAUSE YOU ARE IGNORANT AND UNLEARNED OF THE WORLD! “I, DO NOT WORSHIP GODS. “I, AM GOD!”

Immediately followed by:

“Will everyone please forget everything I just said? I’m actually only just a scrap collector!

-tgcf-

“Lan XiChen! In this life, I've lied countless times, killed countless times. Like you said, I killed my father, my brother, my wife, my son, my teacher, my friend- Of all the evil in the world, what haven't I done? But I've never even thought of harming you."

-mdzs-

"Only, in this world, simply doing your best isn't good enough."

-tgcf-

"In this world, there is nothing intolerable to the heavens."

-SVSS-

“WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!” Xie Lian spared the time to turn his head and shouted loudly, “EVERYTHING'S WRONG! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!” 

-TGCF-

It's been so long since anyone listened to me talk, won't you stay?

-tgcf-

Let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on. I, too, know what i should and shouldn't do

-TGCF-

"After a while, San Lang said softly, “Something like saving the world, it really doesn’t matter how you do it. But, although brave, it’s foolish.” “Yeah,” Xie Lian agreed. Hua Cheng continued, “Although foolish, it’s brave."

-tgcf-

“Ling‌ ‌Wen,‌ ‌something’s‌ ‌happened!‌ ‌I...”‌ ‌Ling‌ ‌Wen:‌ ‌“...I‌ ‌know.”‌ ‌

Xie‌ ‌Lian:‌ ‌“...So‌ ‌sorry‌ ‌to‌ ‌bother‌ ‌you.”‌ ‌

-tgcf-

"This time, no matter where you want to go, this master will accompany you."

-SVSSS-

But like he’d said before, within this world, there had never been any such thing as “if only I had known.

-SVSSS-

Only after having met you did I rediscover that it's such a simple thing to be happy.

-tgcf-

He gazed at Xie Lian. "If your dream is to save the common people, then my dream is only you."

"..." Relying on his memory, Xie Lian asked with a trembling voice, "But... you won't... be able to rest in peace... like this...?"

Hua Cheng answered, "I pray to never rest in peace.

-tgcf-

But just like how the past Wei WuXian couldn't tell him the truth of giving him his golden core, the current Jiang Cheng wasn't able to say anything either.

-mdzs-

Nobody knew with more clarity than Wei WuXian that nobody would care and nobody would believe him. Anything related to Jin GuangYao would be given the most malicious conjectures and passed through the mouths of the crowd. Soon, this coffin would be sealed within a larger, firmer coffin. It'd be secured with seventy-two mahogany nails and buried deep underground, sealed under some mountain with stone tablets of warning.

And the things sealed inside would never see light again, under heavy barriers and endless scorn.

-MDZS-

“Dear‌ ‌fucking‌ ‌god,‌ ‌may‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌gods‌ ‌and‌ ‌buddhas‌ ‌grant‌ ‌their‌ ‌blessings,‌ ‌that‌ ‌better‌ ‌absolutely‌ ‌be‌ ‌Crimson‌ ‌Rain‌ ‌Sought‌ ‌Flower,‌ ‌otherwise‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌gonna‌ ‌go‌ ‌mad!”‌ ‌ ‌“Stop‌ ‌your‌ ‌rubbish,”‌ ‌Mu‌ ‌Qing‌ ‌berated,‌ ‌“We’re‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌gods‌ ‌and‌ ‌buddhas‌ ‌ourselves‌ ‌and‌ ‌we‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌grant‌ ‌shit,‌ ‌just‌ ‌keep‌ ‌up‌ ‌with‌ ‌him!‌ ‌Look‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌stumbling‌ ‌way‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌running,‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌gonna‌ ‌trip‌ ‌and‌ ‌fall‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌bloody‌ ‌death‌ ‌before‌ ‌he‌ ‌even‌ ‌sees‌ ‌the‌ ‌man!”‌ ‌ ‌

-TGCF-

To Ascend‌ ‌is‌ ‌Human, ‌to‌ ‌Fall‌ ‌is‌ ‌Also‌ ‌Human‌

-TGCF-

What’s wrong with you, you pieces of dog shit?! Attacking people while they’re down—so vile! Fuck your entire family!” “You sure you want to fuck their families if they all look like that?!” Xie Lian responded.

-tgcf-

JC's sassy lines all of them!

Ling Wen and Xie Lian's first conversion is hilarious.

And I quite like the lines that we later get back to. Like "Xie Lian always believed in forever. For examples, friends would always be friends forever." (And then they actually did start friends forever!), and the lines about FX & MQ being jewels among rocks to XL and "those who are destined to shine, I must let them shine."and lines that haunt the narrative like the Wei Wuxian's promise to JC. And if we're counting the adaptation "in our next life, let's be brothers again."

And when in the end JC said :"let's go back. Each to their own sect." It was so sad but also a closure because JC spend both the past and the present of the book chasing after WWX in one way or another and in the end, he jjst let go.

Also, the last words of every character is haunting me!

"I'm sorry, and thank you."

-MDZS-

"A-Xian, before, why did you run so fast? I didn't even get the chance to look at you. Or say something to you. I'm here to say...I'm here to say..."

-TGCF-

"A-Li is still waiting-...A-Li is still waiting for you at Golden Carp Tower."

-MDZS-

"Ming-Xiong! Ming-Xiong! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! [...]"

"You called the wrong name."

-TGCF-

4) Hua cheng. Such a bitch <3 so sassy, his BDE is unparalleled. His style is meticulous. His aura is immeasurable. Love the way he treats Xie Lian.

5) all of them have really special places in my heart. WWX is my sunshine boy. He's so sweet, funny, charming, intelligent and energetic and a breath of fresh air. I love love his deep relationship with his family and how they'd do everything for each other, love his dark era when he went completely batshit and insane, how far he went for the Wen singlings and their kin, how he brought his own demise, how he came back like his funny, old self but now with so much baggage, going back to Lotus Pier and all his other memories over and over in his head, his relationship with the kids but especially with JL. He's very precious to me. And SQQ is hilarious! Reading his POV was absolute gold! the way he bulshitted his way to being one of the most loved and respected masters of that world was absolutely iconic! He's got such a kind heart and he's so funny and so good with his students, he knows exactly what they need and how to treat them, and I adore his relationship with the other peak lords. it's my favorite part of the book! And I love SQH too.He's also very funny. It's really endearing how he can stand up for himself and his demon lord hobby when he wants to, he's so much more than what even he himself believes, and he's such a hard- working, determined person and he always does his best to get the best of every shitty thing that has been handed to him one way or another. And I love that SGH and SQQ kept calling each other with ridiculed innuendos of their usernames and never once asked each others actual names! Truly the best duo!

But I give this one to Xie Lian.

I think in order it would go Xie Lian-> WWX->SQQ->SQH.

Xie Lian is like...a really lovely person.

He's got a special charm. He's a very nice, gentle person and yet still he's so sassy and even bitchy occasionaly. He's very funny even though he's more subtle in showing his sense of humor compared to WWX & SQQ. He's very kind, patient and conflict- avoiding but still so badass, and firm and determined. He's very wise and calm and generous like you'd expect a god to be but also endearingly awkward occasionaly. Somewhat distant but always very polite and respectful. He's very easy to love.

Xie Lian is just really my type of person.

6) a) oh, this is the hardest one. All of them are devastating. And absolutely beautiful in their tragedy and ruin.

But hmmm...Qijiu just haunts me. Like... the way YQY worked so hard to get to keep his promise to SJ and save him and this very thing became the reason that he failed and qi- deviated and he went through all of that and yet SJ thought that YQY has forgotten him in his success and happiness, but still chose to stay loyal to YQY and then DIED never knowing the truth?! Absolutely devastating! The way YQY never found out that Xiao Jiu's dead and never got to mourn him? The way he didn't know that he never actually told SJ the truth? And don't even get me started about the PIDW version of their story! They had the worst fates! And nobody ever found out about who SJ truly was and he'll forever be remembered as a scum! And they didn't have a moment of happiness and relief in their whole story...ever!

(In the second place is Yi City Arc. One of my favorite stories ever. And thinking about XY dying with that candy in his hand, endangering himself to try to bring back XXC who himself had pushed to suicide while they were living their found family cottagecore fantasy is downright gut-wrenching. And the third goes to the Black Water arc. All absolutely gorgeous clusterfucks!)

b) hmmm... one thing I really don't like is too much age gap and the teacher/ student relationship.

I know Shen Yuan is not as much older as LBH as SJ was, and that when they got into a relationship LBH was in his mid-twenties. But still, when SY first saw LBH, Binghe was 14. And SY was in his early 20s. And they already shaped a teacher/ student relationship. I just really can't with such a relationship turning into a romantic one when the student gets older. It's not for me. (Except about Ranwan but Mo Ran is actually older than CWN when he goes back in time. And TBH being a teacher and a student is the least of their problems.)

(One of the things that makes me like Wangxian more is that they have no age gap.)

Bingqiu is really cute, though. Their relationship, with little cute puppy LBH following his majestic Shizun around is so adorable. Gotta give them that. SY's little crush on LBH when he first read the book, that he didn't even recognize for what it was until he was already two seconds away from marrying his fictional crush was so cute!

And I like that unlike WWX, SQQ always made sure that LBH is treating his Shishu LQG right, regardless of what problems they've got with each other.

But a part of me will always feel a bit sad beneath it all for Shen Jiu and YQY. SJ had to go because it was never his story. And the world was better for his passing. That boy who, unlike SY who was raised in a healthy, wealthy family and his kindness was not taken from him, was dealt bad hands in life and even now will always be remembered by the name he hated, Shen Jiu, because he has to be distinguished from Shen Yuan who is the main Shen QingQiu of the story. And YQY who doesn't know that Xiao-Jiu isn't there anymore. And didn't even get the chance to mourn him. And thinks that Shen Jiu doesn't remember him anymore. And he'll never get his Xiao Jiu back in this new SQQ. and if you see their relationship as romantic, he sees him running off into the sunset happily with LBH while "Yue Qingyuan said, “Go ahead.” He stood cheerfully and silently behind Shen Qingqiu. Just like the past, just like the future."

What's not to love about Moshang? My man SQH just wrote his own ideal man, bagged him, and made him a house husband. Absolutely iconic behavior!

Usually, I'd say I don't like relationships with imbalance of power but like, SQH is really the god and he made it known in the end? And MJ was the cutest especially towards the end! I need to know how MJ's noodles taste like!

Well, I sure would have liked if Wangxian's first kisses and bathtub incidents were... you know... consensual...

And it's very great that LWJ always has WWX's back unconditionally and without question through thick and thin, even if it's them against the world. God knows WWX needed it. And, it's great that WWX feels safe and happy and comfortable with him.

But on the other hand, these two both have some maturity problems. And instead of working through them, they just... somewhat enable them in each other.

WWX has this tendency to run away from his past, and from the problems he himself has caused. And he causes problems with everyone everywhere he goes. And LWJ has no tact and is rude and brash to everyone, has zero diplomacy, and puts silencing spell on kids in front of their guardians.

I absolutely despise their behavior towards JC and honestly, the way they treat their families in the end in general. But especially JC. Hate that LWJ allows himself to physically attack WWX's brother and WWX ALLOWS him to do that! I've explained my beaf with Wangxian and WWX regarding this matter in length here, here, and here.

Like this sort of "I found this new romantic partner so fuck my family and friends I guess" behavior is despicable even in the best of circumstances but WWX actually owes JC so much explanation?! He really did fuck up regarding him and his family?!

And I think, a more mature person, like say LXC, in LWJ's place would have just excused himself so the brothers could fight it out privately, or stay quietly to be an emotional support for WWX but not say anything. He also would have encouraged WWX to face his past and his family without putting pressure on him to do so and make him feel unsafe or rushed. (IIrc the scene where LWJ encourages WWX to talk to JC was only an Untamed! Thing. Right? Most of the characters were so much better in the show. Especially Wangxian) In WWX's place, he would have stopped LWJ from beating people up and acting so immature and inconsiderate.

I went on and on about what I love about Hualian and Wangxian earlier.

I love how HC always respects XL's decisions, and never questions them and is just there to support him for every decision he makes. Unless he wants to sacrifice himself in which case HC won't let him.

Hualian, for obvious reasons is more mythical, majestic, and poetic both in general and compared to the other two.

And in the case of the other two couples, we see all of them go through changes and developments, we practically see Wangxian growing up together, but because Hualian are both 800 years old and whatever changes and growth has happened to them, has happened way in the past, we only see Hua Cheng being there for Xie Lian as XL realizes and digests what's happened to him and comes to term with them and reconciles with his friends, his protégé and with himself.

I love how all of the characters are so good for each other and exactly what the other needs. Not just in personalities and how they're always unfailingly by the other's side in their worst moments when nobody else is. but also in the way that Hua Cheng in the worst of his days needed a reason to live, and Xie Lian gave him one. And Hua Cheng really took it seriously. Then Xie Lian needed a believer (just like how back in those days, the cursed, outcast Hong Hong-er did) and HC was his most devoted believer. XL has this tendency to self-sacrifice and HC won't let him.

SQQ is the answer to all of LBH's many issues and LBH is SQQ's fictional crush and makes him finally feel free enough to stop hiding himself under a persona and be himself.

And for WWX who always takes it upon himself to fix everything alone and fight all his battles alone, the protective and devoted LWJ who fights for him and side by side with him is the perfect partner. And for LWJ who has no idea how to live and sees everything in black and white, WWX who is so full of life and a chaotic good is the perfect partner.

And this one is very personal for me and probably most wouldn't agree with me but one thing that I've said before and really put me off was that Wangxian, right after JGY's painful demise left their grieving nephew, bleeding brother, and sui*cudal brother to go fuck in the bushes and while I was really grieving JGY and everyone else, chapters and chapters went on with Wangxian hitting it, at which point I had totally lost interest and only felt sad for JGY.

(The same thing to a lesser extent happened when Hualian were passionately kissing after the end of the Black Water Arc when I just wanted to know WHAT HAPPENED TO SQX!!)

And I've talked about this before but one thing I really don't like is the main couples running off into the sunset together. I know it's a popular trope, and again, this should be a very unpopular opinion but the main draw for me is the side characters. I also don't like it when the MC goes to live in his new husband's place like some old time bride. Personally, I feel attached to the place established as home. Like sure, LBH's crew are all lovely. But SQQ was a peak lord! What about his students and his relationships with the other peak lords that were truly peak?! the Lan Juniors are endearing, LQR is funny, and LXC is a lovely person, but there's a whole chapter where WWX talks about how boring the "parties" at the CR are, how awful the food is, and how he missed the lively home that was the LP. (but, narratively, I loved where the Yunmeng bros relationship was left off. It was the truly the perfect ending for it!), and the Ghost City is great and all, but srsly the gods in the heaven were all so charming!

Yeah, those were all the praises and grievances I could think of. And it got quite long!

My pleasure!

[optimisticmiraclefest]

This headcanon is kinda inspired by one of the arcs from the cnovel (A precious pearl in imperial city- aka one of the funniest novels ever with the sweetest characters especially the ml fl but with incomplete translation 😭) where *spoilers* a scheme against the crown prince ml was just basically just a smear campaign with 'good prince' and 'evil prince' and funnily enough the fl finds out and pays the storyteller to make the evil prince secretly a good person and all the women from the noble ladies to the palace maids ends up being obsessed with the bad boy stereotype (the ml's mother was so confused how her absolute brat of a son suddenly got popular among the common people lol)..........

And the point I was trying to make is imagine the same thing happening in mdzs. We already know jgs was purposefully badmouthing wwx and everyone else except a select few went along with it (I loved the part in the novel where lwj publicly calls him out for being a liar) and all the yllz rumours were pretty over the top so....

Imagine the juniors holding an intervention bc none of the sect leaders changed their ways after the second siege and just writing up an actual record of what happened........with new worldbuilding and slight changes in their names of course and jl is exempt from the process after his first few disastrous attempts,

Ljy and ozz write up the most sappy cheesy version of wangxian (bc both of them give the vibes of reading too many romance novels especially ljy in yi city arc),

All the primary antagonists die in ways more brutal than canon (and even the ones who didn't die get actual consequences of their actions) bc a certain young sect leader wants to vent up all his pent up frustrations of being related to way too many evil people and attending the most tedious discussion conferences with the rest,

There is an entire section about the wen remnants bc lsz and wn (who got roped into it) want to remember all their personal quirks and their life in burial mounds fondly and safely,

All the other juniors from many many clans pitch in by 'discreet' investigations and make a patchwork of many stories including contributions by various rogue cultivators who had left the jianghu in protest of their terrible decisions when it came to wwx and the wen remnants (there is a section about wwx being a terrible flirt thanks to one mianmian)

And sure enough even with fake names and swapped genders for minor characters to maintain plausible deniability, the jianghu's tendency to be disconnected from the common people means they don't realise that a story specifically with all their dirty little secrets exposed became the most popular story in the civilian world till it was too late.

Of course nhs was the one who ended up fanning the flames bc he found the entire thing funny especially after jl ended up asking him for any useful tips to spread rumours but if anyone asks he really 'doesn't know anything at all'

The storytellers have a fun time bc mdzs as a whole is entertaining enough to earn them a fortune, the civilians realise the main characters with the dizi and qin are a lot like yllz and hgy and.......

That's the start of their new obsession with the bad boy with a heart of gold stereotype with all of the over the top yllz rumours getting twisted to fit their new favourite story and wwx would definitely find the entire thing amusing even if his counterpart has a very different personality (and tease the juniors a lot after he finds out how the story started in the first place)

[mxtxfanatic]

A-Qing and Wei Wuxian: An Under-Discussed Analysis

While many different Yi City comparisons and relationship breakdowns have been made, one that I don't think I've ever seen is between A-Qing and Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian is probably the first living being to treat A-Qing with respect and not fear or revulsion after her death. He plays into her jumpscare trick by allowing her to scare the juniors, but also addresses her respectfully, the directness of which initially arouses her wariness. He trusts her to lead him and the juniors to safety, being able to understand that she does not mean any of them harm. This is a trust she then reciprocates when she allows Wei Wuxian to perform Empathy on her to share her wish to avenge Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan:

Wei Wuxian smiled. “Mm, you’ve thought about this, very good. This is exactly how you should analyze the situation—don’t ignore any suspicious details. Now then, let’s ask her to come inside and clear up any doubts about this case.” After he finished speaking, he immediately removed one of the wooden boards blocking the window. The youths inside the dim room and even the ghost outside were startled by his sudden movement. She raised her bamboo pole in defense. Wei Wuxian first waved to the ghost. “Miss, you’ve been following us this whole time. Do you have some business with us?” he asked immediately.

—Chapt. 36: Flora IV, fanyiyi

The ghost of the blind, tongue-less girl had returned! Wei Wuxian made a snap decision. “Let’s go!” “Go where?” Lan Jingyi said. “Follow the sound of the bamboo pole,” Wei Wuxian replied. “You want us to follow a ghost?” Jin Ling said, somewhat startled. “Who knows where she’ll take us?!” “Yes, exactly. Follow her. The sound’s been tailing you ever since you got here, right? You tried to walk further into the city, but she was leading you toward the city gates, and then you ran into us. She was trying to drive you away—to rescue you!”

...

“Why don’t you come in?” Wei Wuxian said to the ghost girl. She wiped her eyes and face and ran at him, her entire soul merging with his body.

—Chapt. 38: Flora VI, fanyiyi

But the thing I find most interesting about A-Qing and her role amidst the Yi City arc's parallels is how alike she and Wei Wuxian are. If Xiao Xingchen is the parallel for Wei Wuxian's righteousness and the trajectory of his first life, then A-Qing is the parallel for his adaptability and unwillingness to passively accept evil cloaked in civility, as a lot of the moments where Wei Wuxian and A-Qing are most in-tuned are when A-Qing is showing off her survival skills or when they are both mentally raging about Xue Yang:

This girl really knows how to act wild. I understand now—she’s pretending to be blind. She was probably born with white pupils. Even though she looks blind on the surface, she actually can see. She’s using her appearance to pose as a blind person in order to trick people and win their sympathy. As a young, lone, homeless girl, if she pretended to be blind, others would naturally lower their guard. In reality, she could see perfectly clearly and could thus adapt to the situation. It indeed counted as a smart method of self-protection.

...

Ah-qing apologized repeatedly, but as the man was about to leave, he realized he wasn’t willing to let it go just yet. His unruly right hand found Ah-qing’s bottom and pinched her forcefully. As he shared her feelings, this was effectively the same as pinching Wei Wuxian. He instantaneously felt his skin crawl and become covered in a dense layer of goosebumps. He could think about nothing except slapping the man so hard he’d fly right into the earth.

—Chapt. 39: Flora VII, fanyiyi

Before she even opened her mouth, something small flew abruptly toward her. Subconsciously, Wei Wuxian wanted to dodge in case it was some kind of concealed weapon, but of course, he had no control over Ah-qing’s body. Soon after, he came to a sudden and startling realization: It’s a trap! Xue Yang was experimenting on Ah-qing. If she was truly blind, she shouldn’t be able to dodge! Ah-qing proved herself a veteran of posing as a blind girl at all times. She was quick: when she saw the object sailing toward her, she didn’t attempt to duck out of the way. She didn’t even blink. Instead, she allowed it to strike her lower chest, and only then did she jump back. ... He pointed the tip of the blade at Ah-qing. If she walked a few more steps forward, she would be impaled. But if she hesitated even a moment, the fact that she wasn’t truly blind would be revealed! Wei Wuxian shared all five of Ah-qing’s senses, and he could also feel the prickling at the back of her head. However, the girl had incomparable courage and composure, and continued to feel her way forward, expression normal. Sure enough, when her stomach was about a centimeter from the tip of the blade, Xue Yang drew back Jiangzai on his own and placed it back into his sleeve, exchanging it for a couple of pieces of candy. ... She was astonishingly shrewd, Wei Wuxian thought. Ah-qing hadn’t forgotten at all. Everything Xiao Xingchen said, she remembered more clearly than anyone. She had said the wrong thing on purpose, and since Xue Yang corrected her, he had effectively confirmed that he was also a cultivator. His test had failed, but she had tested him successfully in return. Though the girl was so young, her mind was surprisingly sharp.

...

Xiao Xingchen hadn’t had much prior experience with people like him and was easily amused—just a few of Xue Yang’s remarks could make him laugh. Listening to their pleasant conversation, Ah-qing viciously but silently mouthed a few words. After careful observation, it seemed as though she were saying, “I’m going to kill you, you horrible thing.” Wei Wuxian and Ah-qing’s feelings were the same.

...

There’s no way Xue Yang has good intentions, Wei Wuxian thought. He even wants to help Xiao Xingchen night- hunt. If Ah-qing doesn’t follow them, then we’ll miss something big. However, Ah-qing was indeed quick-witted and understood that Xue Yang was probably up to no good. She waited until the pair left, then hopped out of the coffin and followed them at a distance.

—Chapt. 39: Flora VII, fanyiyi

However, Ah-qing did not understand the cipher lying before her. Her knowledge was extremely cursory, derived entirely from the occasional moments when Xiao Xingchen had mentioned these subjects. “Could that rotten thing really be helping Daozhang?” she mumbled. Don’t start believing in Xue Yang so easily! Wei Wuxian thought. Fortunately, Ah-qing’s intuition was very sharp. Though she couldn’t pick out anything strange from what she saw, her wary attitude toward Xue Yang was deeply rooted within her. She hated him on instinct and couldn’t feel at ease with him. Thus, whenever Xue Yang followed Xiao Xingchen out to night-hunt, she quietly tailed them. Even when they were all at home, she never let down her guard.

—Chapt. 40: Flora VIII, fanyiyi

While A-Qing lacked the cultivation knowledge and skill to act on her knowledge to save lives, the courage and endurance she displayed while living with Xue Yang matches Wei Wuxian's own spirit. And because of this shared spirit, A-Qing is willing to entrust her life and after-life goal to Wei Wuxian:

Wei Wuxian sighed internally, then turned to Ah-qing. “We’ve troubled you.” ... Propped up on the side of the coffin, Ah-qing pressed her palms together and bowed repeatedly to Wei Wuxian. Afterwards, with her bamboo pole serving as her sword, she made the “kill kill kill” gesture she had often used when causing a ruckus. “Don’t worry,” Wei Wuxian said.

—Chapt. 41: Flora IX, fanyiyi

...a faith proven rightfully placed as not only does he (and Lan Wangji!) put an end to Xue Yang's reign of terror in Yi City, he also releases Song Lan from the curse of the nails and gathers the fragments of her shattered soul to give to him for safekeeping:

“Hold him down!” Wei Wuxian said. He leaned over and rapidly felt through Song Lan’s hair, searching for the two nails stuck in the corpse’s skull. Relief washed over him when his fingers found the ends: this pair of nails was much thinner than the pair which had been hammered into Wen Ning’s head. Plus, they were made of different material, so restoring Song Lan’s original consciousness wouldn’t be too hard. Immediately, Wei Wuxian pinched the ends of the nails and slowly began pulling them out. Feeling the foreign objects move in his head, Song Lan’s eyes abruptly widened. He let out a low hiss, and Wen Ning was forced to press him down harder to prevent him from escaping. When the nails were finally wrenched free, Song Lan immediately collapsed on the ground, entirely immobile, paralyzed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

—Chapt. 41: Flora IX, fanyiyi

After a moment of silence, Wei Wuxian produced two identical, small spirit-locking pouches and passed them over to him. “Xiao Xingchen Daozhang and Miss Ah-qing.” Though Ah-qing had been terrified of Xue Yang, she had closely shadowed her murderer, preventing him from escaping or hiding until Bichen had plunged its blade through his chest and he had finally experienced retribution. The seal Xue Yang had venomously thrown at her had shattered her soul. Wei Wuxian had run around frantically, trying his best to pick up the pieces, but he had only successfully retrieved part of it, and only after a great deal of effort. Now that Ah-qing’s soul was in fragments, it was in more or less the same state as Xiao Xingchen’s. Curled up in their respective spirit locking pouches, the two souls seemed extremely fragile, as though they would disintegrate right inside the pouch at the slightest bump. Song Lan’s hands trembled slightly as he received them. He held the pouches in his palm, too afraid to carry them by their tassels lest a shake destroy the souls inside.

—Chapt. 42: Flora X, fanyiyi

[amynchan]

Okay, so today:

Had a bajillion panicked messages to which I had to respond either Read What I Wrote The First Time, Read What I Wrote The Second Time, or (v rarely) ok this is an issue let's get it done.

(That last one got mixed in with all of the other ones that were basically "help me I didn't read the directions," so it took too damn long to figure out that there was an issue and solve it. I am Not Pleased about this and honestly Rather Pissed Off.).

Kept getting slammed with people and messages who were panicked and upset that I hadn't done a thing yet. When I was done with the messages, the thing took--total--30 minutes. I could have done it a LOT sooner without all of the panicking.

Got lowkey accused of being unhelpful despite clearly outlining the boundaries that exist for my own mental health. Seriously. Implying that I'm a shit person for sticking to my work hours is a shitty move.

Spent about an hour troubleshooting a problem that only existed because Someone Else Panicked Too Hard. Had a hard time believing there was a problem in the first place due to the issue of 'too many people panicked after skimming what I wrote,' so it took even LONGER for this poor guy to get actual assistance. (Again, kicking myself in the ass over this.)

Had to record a whole new video for a set of directions even though the directions are right there but people don't wanna read 'em and I'm v tired of them making that my problem over and over again.

Forgot to eat and had to scarf down my lunch right before class so as to keep a promise to a friend. Said lunch may have stunk up the nearby space, and that made me feel bad after a whole morning of being filled with rage.

Injured myself while cooking. I am now wearing a bandaid and a glove to make sure that this puppy is properly covered.

Ruined a perfectly good potato (different cooking venture. RIP potato. ;-; ).

Broke my chair somehow. It now has no back on it, and I cannot lean upon it anymore. Likely gonna have to get a new computer chair. :((

On the other hand, I got to

Show my friends the Yi City arc in the donghua! :DDD

so I'm rather giddy at the moment because I KNEW that one of them was gonna love Xue Yang and I was right.

[r95irth]

For the salty ask list: 25 and 10 regarding MDZS

Aw thank you for playing the game with me ^^

10 - Most disliked arc and why?

I'm going to anger my beta-reader Nasha...but I really disliked the Yi city arc, for several reasons (mostly stupid ones one stupid and one more legitimate than the other) The more legitimate one...It felt ouf of the story, like different from the rest (which makes sense since it's a story that MTXT wrote in high school and decided to implement last minute), I didn't like that there was no-prexistence for XY, XXC and SZC before. I did like WWX being a teacher in this and it was fun but that's it. I didn't even really vibe with the romantic couple of the arc (sorry XXC/SZC and XY U-U) I do like XY and A-Qing a lot (and Ouyang Zizhen whom shined in this arc) but huh that's it. It doesn't help that it's a moment of the story I was struggling with the power system and didn't understand much of how WW could do this and that (it was the beginning, so I waited for an explanation that never came, used to the way western books do, which is on me).

The stupid reason is that someone put the kids in danger and nailed dead cats for that. Which automatically make them the ultimate villain for me. You kill cat you're irredeemable in my book *runs away*

25 - How would you end MDZS? Would you change the ending ?

Ah, hard question. I really loved MTXT, I wouldn't change much from it? But at the same time I would changes some things.

Maybe make the theme a little more clearer because obviously some readers didn't get it, but there's always people not reading it like the author intend to. You can't fight that. So yeah...

My author side adores the parallel between LXC and JGY and their parents (the same way LWJ and WWX mirror it) adore the first sentence being "Wei Wuxian is dead hurray!!" and you spend the whole book learning that actually, not hurray at all...And the last line "JGY is dead, hurray!!" (when really not hurray). I think though this would have needed to be more highlighted, by giving more time / more development in the extra. With the cultivation world being in trouble because now they have lost their best administrator, and they have NHS who is not a good plotter or a good administrator either and destroyed everything in his revenge path. I would have more Wangxian getting a bit held responsible for some things because I'm sorry they are not acting to righteous by hiding the truth from LXC and going in their honeymoon phase and abandoning everything else. I do love seeing them happy, and I adored the incense burner extra but huh I feel they replaced important story bit we would have needed xD I would have also loved to see the Lan sect and the Nie sect getting a bit exposed for their hypocrisy (especially the Nie sect and they almost demonic cultivation saber)

But on the other hand I also hate the way MDZS ended with that loop. (I know I'm human, I'm complicated TT) I wanted JGY to get away and survive, because I'm tired of the "commoner who rose to the top and ended up being "corrupted" (aka playing their rules) being punished and proving the point of elite that letting them (commoners) in is actually worse than letting the system as it is" I really really hate that. I would rather have him flee and prosper in another place.

OR BETTER, my ideal ending is JGY ascending. like I said on twitter and then Shiome did an awesome fix-it au art like a week later (satiating my urge to write the au) - linking MDZS and TGCF together by having JGY ascend as a god, paving that once again you don't have to be perfect to be a god (im sorry if you hadn't read tgif, know that every gods in there is guilty of something). I would have loved that type of ending because we avoid the trope and JGY ends up being a bit right and doing the middle finger to everyone (look at Shiome's perfect art!!). and make the overall theme even clearer aka, the problem is the society. think that'd be my ultimate perfect ending for MDZS U-U° (and I could write an happy ending for xiyao, since Wangxian got their, they are fine they don't need extra help).

I'm going to be a little weird again, but as much as I love JC, I would to change anything to his story. Not even Chengxian reconciliation. I do love to reconcile them in my fics, but I do like that in the book they just...Are cordial to each other and not angry anymore but not friend/back to what they used to be. I just find it more realistic. People who's been following me for a long time know I'm picky with redemption arc and forgiveness. Not all characters needs to be forgiven/to forgive, I like diversity and some not forgiving. (I like some never forgetting, forgiving, and live their life without being portrayed as resentful) which I feel is a bit the case for JC. (as much as JC can be at least).

[silvysartfulness]

12, 17, 19, 22 for the choose violence ask game👀

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Oh man, like. All of them? I tend to only fall for unpopular characters, so that's a long list. But keeping it just to a few choice people in the Untamed;

Xue Yang. Obviously. He's brilliant, he's dedicated, he's fucked up in some really interesting ways and he got so close to having a redemption arc and happy ending before everything came crashing down! If he'd been the protagonist/viewpoint character, you know he'd be getting the fandom's WWX cinnamon roll treatment. But alas.

Jiang Cheng. That so many people dislike him honestly baffles me? I see so many takes that are frankly based in extremely shallow readings, disregarding his trauma, his world context, the impossible balance between his crushing responsibilities and the people important to him. He's not your homophobic dad or schoolyard bully, he's a deeply traumatized person doing the best with what he's got despite losing everything dear to him over and over, and he's trying so hard. He's loud and has a hot temper, but for fuck's sake, there's so much love there and you'd almost have to be willfully blind not to see it!

Jin Guangyao. Another of those "if he'd been the main character/viewpoint character, people would have loved him" ones. He's intelligent, determined, hardworking and loyal - though frequently pushed way beyond his breaking point in that loyalty. Pragmatic to the point of ruthlessness, but it's because the world's one big trolley problem to him - he sacrifices the few to help the many (even if yes, that does include himself in 'the many'), but he doesn't take pleasure in the hurt he causes (except in that one pretty understandable case of his dad). He deserves so much compassion, or at the very least understanding!

Should I put Song Lan on here? A lot of people seem to hate on him for very shallow, ship-related reasons, but within the plot, he tried his very hardest to set things right. It's not his fault they were all already doomed by the narrative and he walked into Yi City that day as the unwitting catalyst.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

For fics, Yi City fix-its that don't count killing Xue Yang as "fixing it". Stories digging into the hot mess of the complex, fascinating canon-verse, or at least reincarnation.

More fics with characterization I vibe with - a complicated, rough-edged but ultimately lovable Xue Yang, a compassionate but stubborn and somewhat brittle Xiao Xingchen and a Song Lan who feels so much and is so bad at showing it. More SXX fics overall!

For art, more art with the CQL character designs! The designs for the other adaptations are kind of cute, but they're just not my guys, and I feel pretty lukewarm toward them on the whole.

(And fellow artists - please, please, please don't forget Xue Yang's missing finger! 😭 I see so much fanart with either 10 intact fingers, or a glove with a fully articulated left pinky. His lost finger is the driving force of his entire character arc, don't just forget about it...😢)

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

Hmm... 🤔 On the whole, I don't feel a lot of shame for my tastes in fiction. I'm surprised I actually ended up really liking the main couple as much as I did - in a love story, no less? That literally never happens, I always go for the sideline gremlins.Other than that, though...

Trying very hard to hold up the blorbos and my usual go-to tropes, groping around for any sense of horror or shame, but I can't think of anything really. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I guess I'm that one (1) person who actually likes the Yin Iron plot? I genuinely think CQL made a lot of good choices to tie the sprawling narrative together more cohesively, and I liked the introduction of the Yin Iron and how it led into the creation of the Yin Tiger Seal rather than tossing the latter in as an "Oh yeah, this was a thing that totally existed all along, forgot to mention". (I know MDZS was written and posted in installment, and that can make it hard to work with foreshadowing etc, but even so. I do think CQL did a good job tightening up the story in many ways.)

And don't get me wrong, I absolutely don't mind the idea of Xue Yang as an absolute nobody clawing his way up from nothing! It's a delicious version, too! But there's just something about the idea of a family he could have belonged to, a sense of community he could have had, ripped away centuries before he was even born.

If I want to be a petty, I guess I could put "Xue Yang is canonically brilliant" under this question, too, because I wish that was explored in more fics and meta. The boy is a prodigy. He's a genius. He's also a street-brawler, petty thief and murderous little piece of shit, but that doesn't take away the first point. Let Xue Yang be the highly, dangerously intelligent Problem that he actually is!