#all he wanted to do was protect xue meng

[wibbly-wobbly-kylie-wylie-blog]

I haven’t cried this whole time while reading 2ha but Xue Zhengyong’s death is just too tragic oh my gosh my heart hurts

[red-garden]

When will we, as a society, understand that Jin Guangyao’s story is about survival and the things he had to do to make it, rather than one super evil guy just trying to be awful and kill people? We can look past Wei Wuxian torturing and killing nameless Wen soldiers because we’re not attached to them and they’re Wens. That gets to be justified because it’s the bloody revenge of the protagonist on henchman #362. We can look past his desecration of the dead, his raising of fallen soldiers to tear apart their brothers in arms, because they’re the baddies. We look past him deserting Jiang Cheng after his return because he had people to protect and Jiang Cheng is an asshole (affectionate). Don’t misconstrue me- I love Wei Wuxian, and I think that he is a basically good person that was pushed past his breaking point and did some truly awful things as a result. He’s not a bad person. But he’s not better than Meng Yao.

Walk with me, Jin Guangyao antis. Let’s recount every bad thing Jin Guangyao has ever done in chronological order.

1) killed Nie Mingjue’s general

2) got Su She to cast the 100 holes curse on Jin Zixun (possibly to frame Wei Wuxian)

3) advocated for and later worked with Xue Yang

4) killed Nie Mingjue

5) banged his sister before he knew they were siblings, later married her after knowing

6) everything about Jin Guangshan’s death

7) allegedly killed his own son

8) chopping nie Mingjue up into little pieces and keeping his head in a cupboard

9) putting all the juniors in The Zombie Cave to get everyone on Wei Wuxian’s ass and kill a lot of people

10) almost killing Jin Ling

Numero uno first ever Bad Meng Yao Deed was killing Nie Mingjue’s general. You know, the general that constantly belittled him and repeatedly insulted his mom. Not only is this one totally understandable, it was also filial.

Next the 100 holes curse. There’s not solid proof that he wanted to frame WWX for this, it’s more likely this was just a better hidden filial killing in the name of his mother’s honor that ended up negatively impacting WWX.

Xue Yang is a little freak, but he’s a powerful, smart little freak. He was to protect Xue Yang in the interest of his father, although he does keep working with him after JGS’s death. This one was a power grab, trying to have extra pieces on the board to ensure his position among the Jin.

Nie Mingjue was another filial killing. If there’s one thing Meng Yao is gonna do is always be filial to his mom. Additionally, Nie Mingjue was not a perfect innocent angel either, he supported killing the Wen remnants. This wasn’t Meng Yao killing the last unicorn y’all. AND AND ALSO ALSO Jin Guangshan ordered this!!!!!!!!!! He was obeying his father to maintain his social position!!!!!!! What’s not clicking?

I get really mad over the Qin Su stuff, because marrying her after she was already pregnant was the kindest thing he could do for her. Should he have told her they were siblings and let her make her own choice? Absolutely. But he was trying protect her, and I can’t fault him for that. (Call back the nonconsensual golden core transfer)

The only thing I won’t defend is how he killed JGS. JGS was world’s worst guy, but no one deserves to be raped under any conditions. The sex workers he hired didn’t deserve to die, they didn’t deserve any of that. One thing I will say is that he didn’t plan for Sisi to be there. She had been transferred, he didn’t expect her, and after the fact he fed and clothed and kept her comfortable for the rest of her life. Keeping her under house arrest was how he protected his social position. Psychologically speaking I understand why he killed JGS like this however. While jiggy loved his mom, it’s clear he didn’t love sex workers more broadly, and saw his mom as an exception among them. He didn’t see the sex workers he killed as people, only saving Sisi because she was another supposed exception. For JGS, this was a taste of his own medicine type beat. JGS is a rapist, who raped Qin Su’s mom and jiggy’s mom when she was 15. I completely understand why he chose to kill JGS this way, but that doesn’t make it okay.

Jin Rusong’s death is completely alleged. While it ended up being politically advantageous to jiggy to squash the smaller sects that plotted against him, we have no idea if he killed his son. While he does say he does, he also says he killed Qin Su, who killed herself. While he may feel responsible for both their deaths, that doesn’t mean he killed them. I should point out the one claiming he killed his son was Sect Leader Yao, you know, the mob mentality character.

Chopping Nie Mingjue up is just common sense. Harder for a fierce corpse to kill you if it’s just a head. Harder to identify a body if it’s just a leg. “This is desecrating the dead” AND WHAT WAS WEI WUXIAN DOING, RIDDLE ME THAT BATMAN

For the juniors, this one was just poorly thought out tbh. He needed the Jianghu to get WWX’s ass because he was going to uproot him from his comfortable life. So he harmlessly leaves all the kids in a cave, gets everyone out there, gets their energy sealed, and lets people point fingers at WWX when the zombies start coming. He knows this likely would result in the deaths of many cultivators- many cultivators who need I remind you, make up the bourgeois, talk nasty about his mom, and who supported killing the Wen Remnants. This was like the ocean gate of wuxia, but y’all aren’t ready for that. He was protecting the life he worked so hard for, plain and simple 

Okay there are two things I won’t defend. While I don’t think he would’ve taking JL’s life, I can’t imagine how traumatic that was for Jin Ling. BUT AGAIN, I understand why he did it. He was grasping at straws, clinging to anything he thought might keep him alive, and he did a desperate, shitty thing. If you want to believe he never loved Jin Ling because of this moment, be my guest, but if there’s one thing jiggy can do is love.

All in all, he did a lot of desperate, shitty things to claw his way to a better life, and a lot of desperate shitty things to keep it. If you think he shouldn’t have cared so much about being part of the Jianghu, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MISSED THE POINT !!🎉🎊 Poverty is violence, and he grew up in it. It was his mother’s wish, what she broke herself doing, to give him a better life. He was a good son, not going to squander what his mother gave him, trying to protect his very precarious position in a society that hated him for the fact of being born wrong. He’s not a moral paragon, but no one in mdzs is. They’re all people that react in deeply human ways to deeply unfair situations. They lash out, commit violence, do things they regret. Jiggy did a lot of terrible things, but the point is that he shouldn’t have had to.

[wuxia-hero]

HELLO coming out of my cave to yell about how much I LOVE The Double (墨雨云间) bc I have no irl friends that love historical c-dramas :’) I’ve been hung up on this show for a few days after finishing it.

Overall 10/10 with a subjectively happy ending (I choose to believe the ending is happy) with really good acting. Wu Jinyan could never disappoint. The frontal camera angles threw me off quite a bit at first but I slowly started to appreciate this artistic choice.

Some spoilers ahead as usual!

Let’s dive into - the Plot. I read some of the original novel in the past but dropped it after a while. There are some differences - such as the novel using transmigration (Xue Fangfei entering Jiang Li’s body) as the main plot point, while the drama explicitly shows how Xue Fangfei’s journey with Jiang Li and how she eventually took over JL’s identity after her passing. Personally I prefer what the drama did as everything felt much more real and believable. This added a depth to the story that transmigration was unable to showcase. Plus, Wu Jinyan’s ability to showcase XFF’s pain and growth as she vows to exonerate JL (played by Yang Chaoyue) and herself was extremely captivating and I constantly wanted to root for her.

All the flashbacks with JL thanking XFF throughout the show had me sobbing in bed at 3am while watching.

Special mention to the king (played by Zeng Ke Liang) as well for not being a total fool - as seen in SO MANY other historical dramas. His friendship with Xiao Heng is rock solid, and seeing the ministers and other antagonists constantly underestimate it was sooo satisfying to watch. So if you hate cdramas with stupid monarchs, you'll be pleased to hear that there won't be any of that here.

Scenes of their friendship were really cute to watch too.

The romantic development between XFF and Xiao Heng (played by Wang Xingyue) was delightful to watch. I love couples that just understand each other. Without explicitly saying anything, without any grand confessions of love, both parties mutually knew each other’s feelings and constantly looked out for each other. The slow and gradual process of them falling for each other was paced out beautifully - XH’s gaze changes as he looks at her throughout the episodes, and XFF gets more and more playful around him. The script and their bantering ticks all the right boxes fkr me. He’s the only person that knows her real identity, she doesn’t need to hide in front of him. And this makes their relationship so much more special.

And I love that there was nothing like making stupid decisions in the name of love and protection while jeopardising the bigger picture. (eg. XH giving up the entire secret army the emperor trusted him with for XFF - turning out to be a hidden ploy) Both XFF and XH were on a quest for revenge and they are determined to get what they want without making any compromise. If at any point of the plot - they deviate from this and decide to do something foolish in order to protect the other, I would have seen it as out of character.

Bonus points for including an archery scene :D It’s one of my favourite overused tropes.

The overall camera work and style of The Double was shot so beautifully and in a rather interesting theatrical style. From JL’s death where she falls among the pear blossoms to Princess Wanning (played by Li Meng) ’s dancing and even the scenes where characters stare directly into the camera. The opening scenes were super dramatic and really set a heavy tone for the rest of the story.

While the staring into the camera took some getting used to, there are certain portions where Wanning’s expressions gave me goose bumps. Li Meng’s performance took me out - her Wanning was repulsive in the way she treated others, yet so broken from her past that I felt so much pain for her towards the end of the story. It was amazing.

There were even comedic elements that made some parts feel like a stage play. Like her cousin and his lackeys’ coordinated walk as they try to help her out from her room. And one of the minister’s love for theatre which was super on the nose I laughed out loud while watching it all play out. The style in which important plot points are presented is so unique and really sets this show apart from other cdramas I’ve watched.

Everyone in the cast was amazing in their roles. While Wang Xingyue is one of the younger cast members, the emotional depth in his performance as Xiao Heng gave off maturity and a temperament beyond his years. Seeing him goof around behind the scenes, and then watching him as Xiao Heng gave me whiplash - but in the best way possible.

Liang Yongqi was a truly despicable Shen Yurong - it got to a point where seeing him on screen made my skin crawl. Liu Xiening as Jiang Ruoyan was perfectly annoying - and I can't wait to see more from her as I've really liked her since she was in Gugudan.

I could probably go on and on about how much I love Wu Jinyan as Xue Fangfei and I’m so happy that they casted her because she was perfect. (Admittedly, I’m biased). But I think you can watch the show to experience everyone's brilliance for yourself. The casting and script pacing was great and all the different pieces fit together into this story perfectly.

Now let's talk about the somewhat controversial ending of The Double. Did our beloved Duke Su die in battle? Did they ever reunite? I choose to believe that he came back to her in the end and they got their happy ending. But Wang Xingyue's performance in that last battle - with the iconic scene of XFF's pendant in his mouth was breathtaking. Regardless, I do think the show could have done without causing the audience pain with this added arc of him going back to his duties - but I felt that it made sense.

Xiao Heng is someone who is deadly loyal to his country and to his king. He and XFF are not the kind to simply escape from the capital and its intrigues to live a happy life on their own. Both value their family and their country, they would never leave the capital to pursue their own happiness.

Also something I noticed - that made this scene so much more painful. At the start after XFF retrieves the pendant, Tong'er (her servant) tells her not to pawn off this pendant anymore. She replies with "there's no one worth trading this pendant for". And then she gives this pendant to XH before he goes off to battle at the end. Cries.

Abrupt end but I think this is most of the feels I have to get out already - I took a lot of screenshots and recordings while watching The Double (haven't felt the urge to do so in such a long time tbh) so there may be more posts from me while I continue yapping about how much I love this show and story adaptation.

smol life update: I’ve been working FT after graduation two years ago - but I was in a pretty bad environment and have decided to resign this year. So now I’m funemployed and trying to work through some health issues. Hope everyone has been well and thank you for reading this! ❤️❤️

[symphonyofsilence]

does Jin Guangyao play a villainous role in Wei WuXian’s story? yes. but is he also the Narrative’s special boy? also, yes.

I don’t remember the post, but the fact that Wei Wuxian, and by extinction, the narrative sympathizes with Jin Guangyao has already been brought up. He draws a comparison between himself and JGY when the crowd suddenly turns against JGY in Lotus Pier and wants WWX to deal with him, and again when the other Sect Leaders led by Sect leader Yao assume that the Guanyin statue is made to resemble JGY himself ‘cause he’s a narcissist, and when people are saying nasty things about JGY in a tavern after his death.

but another way in which the narrative sympathizes with JGY is that every time JGY is shown doing a shitty thing, it’s immediately followed by him being shown in a situation in which he is a victim, or has done something good.

he paralyzes Qin Su after she finds out some horrible truths about him and hides her in the creepy room where WWX finds JGY’s sworn brother’s head? A chapter or an episode after that we see him being trash-talked and cast out by other Nie soldiers when they’re drinking the water he brought, while he’s doing thrice the work they’re doing. we see him cleaning the battlefields and helping the commoners after battles, we see him voluntarily do the work of the servants as a deputy general when they lack staff, and pour people tea, while they rudely clean their cups when they take it from his hands (which NMJ does nothing about), we see him loyally arguing with LXC that he can't leave NMJ for his father’s sect after all NMJ has done for him, and learn that he has saved LXC. CQL shows him in his Meng Yao Era more. We see him repeatedly receive scorn when all he gives others is curtsey and smiles, we see beforehand the Nie Captain be an absolute bitch to him so I'm sure nobody in the audience regretted his loss, but even then we immediately get that jumping in front of NMJ and taking a stab to the chest to save him, and the teary banishment scene that cancels the "guy is now officially a scheming murderer" out.

He's being a bitch to NMJ in the Nightless City? He kills Wen Ruohan & turns out that he has been bravely spying for the Sunshot campaign all this time and they owe him their victory. But even then, he apologizes to NMJ, kneels down, and surrenders himself.

He's protecting Xue Yang? You have him explaining to NMJ why he can't go against his father's wishes, and how he's scared of everything and everyone because he was never given the luxury of safety, status & power, so he can practice that power freely. In the end, NMJ offends his mother and kicks him down the stairs (which he's well aware is a trauma for JGY). Which honor-bound ancient man wouldn't have killed the man who disrespected his mother and kicked him down the stairs? What would have NMJ done had this been done to him? But even then, in the book, the narrative does even more to make JGY sympathetic, LXC comes to NMJ to calm him down, and he says that JGY's in a difficult situation right now. His stepmother beats him & his father doesn't listen to anything he says anymore. Otherwise, he wouldn't have talked back to NMJ. & after that, NMJ's qi deviation happens when he drops eaves on this conversation between LXC & JGY:

I mean if you've tried to murder him thrice, shoved him down the stairs, & called him a whoreson, taken any opportunity to scold him, & you don't like it when he talks back to you, at least let him talk behind your back. He's not even lying or being disrespectful or anything.

He retaliates against WWX & LWJ’s attack by showing WWX as a villain and the way he has killed NMJ comes to light? a few chapters later WWX is surprised that JGY hasn’t visited LXC to demand a search but to tell him that he has prevented everyone from searching the CR and thinks it’s best if LXC, whenever it’s convenient for him opens the doors of the CR so JGY can get this search over with and shut the other sects up. And reassures him that he won’t let LWJ’s reputation be tarnished in any way. (At the stairs of Jinlintai, JGY knew fully well that LWJ was doing what he was doing because he was in love with WWX, as we learn at the Guanyin temple, but he loudly suggested that LWJ is being deceived in front of the crowd to save LXC's brother reputation.) The Donghua even has a wartime flashback from a young Meng Yao saving LXC, feeding him, hiding him, washing his clothes, getting beaten up by the Wen soldiers to keep LXC safe, and even then bringing back food for him with a smile.

He takes everyone hostage, twice (his hostages are children the first time) and is at the peak of his villain moment? You have the whole Guanyin temple thing happening. (which, personally for me, was what really elevated him from an interesting character to my poor little mew mew in my eyes.)

When JGY kneels down, WWX feels uncomfortable. He feels embarrassed on his behalf:

the same effect of inducing pity & sympathy for him is achieved in the show by somber music swelling in this scene, reaction shots, slow-mo, and a wide-shot of everyone in the temple as JGY kneels down to make him look especially small, while almost 2/3 of the shot is of the candles of the Guyanin temple. in the exposition scene when LXC kneels down to hear JGY out, the statue of Guanyin is between them. THE LOCATION OF ALL OF JGY TRAGIC EXPOSITIONS IS A GYANYIN TEMPLE! The temple of the bodhisattva of mercy who is considered to be the physical embodiment of compassion!

And the sympathetic reaction shots when he talks about JGS continue throughout the scene.

then we learn that he had to marry Qin Su because she was already pregnant and he didn’t want QS & JRS to have his and his mother’s fate and that the reason they had to rush things through like this and conceive a child was that JGS might have further caused problems for their marriage because he really disliked his son. and that if a political fall-out happened between Jin & the Qin clan, JGY would get the burn of it. (still a shitty act, but you can’t help but understand where he’s coming from & pity him), he goes on about his father kicking him down the stairs of Jinlintai on his birthday while celebrating JZX’s birthday, we learn about his childhood in the brothel, about JGS saying that he could save Meng Shi but he didn’t ‘cause she would be too much trouble, and that their son wasn’t worth mentioning, we see JGY & SMS deep connection, the show gives us some very good Xiao Shushu & A-Ling moments, & even though it’s been always clear & is especially clear during the whole Guanyin temple scene, we see truly see the depth of love, respect, and loyalty JGY has toward LXC. 

We see him in the Villainous Friends chapter telling Xue Yang that he can vandalize people's shops and restaurants for no reason, only under the condition that he doesn't wear the Jin uniform. But it's immediately followed by the mention of the bruise on his head given to him by his stepmother because she can't vent her anger on her cheating husband, who JGY has to retrieve from brothels every night to ensure his safe stay in Jinlintai for another day. We see him massacre the He sect, and right after that, he goes to retrieve his father from the brothel and hears those awful things and you can't help but sympathize with him.

Because what is really important is that you understand Jin Guangyao. There are about 14 chapters in the book and 4 episodes in the show of JGY explaining himself while crying on the floor because it's less about "Jiggy eVIL" & more about look what the society who turned his back on him & his mother when they needed their help, and sneered at them when they tried to improve their situation, and never forgave JGY for being born has done to this man to make him do such horrendous deeds. (And his sword's name is Hensheng. Meaning "hate to be born". They made him never forgive himself for being born either.)

So by saying that X & Y has happened to JGY, and so what he does is for self-preservation, nobody's JUSTIFYING his genocides, & nobody's denying that JGY had a choice in everything he did. Even if his other option was to accept his place, sit down, shut up, and suffer in silence, NOT murdering a whole sect that includes children by doing experiments on them is the better option. The point is that it's not the point. JGY's atrocities are only means in the story to tell the cautionary tale of a classist, cruel society. The things that JGY has gone through cannot be erased from the conversations because "JGY EvIl. Periodt." The Narrative doesn't want the reader to do that! It's specifically structured to put the reason JGY's got to this point on the forefront every time he does a crime. The fight with NMJ's fierce corpse ends as quickly as it begins. The Climax of the story is mostly JGY's monologues. 14 chapters of monologues cannot be dismissed as JGY gaslighting LXC & shedding crocodile tears.

in a story that has Wei WuXian as a protagonist, and literally starts with the monster the society has made of him through rumors and has this theme going on through the rest of the story, especially with JC, and baseless accusations are the first thing that happens when JGY's secrets are out in the Lotus Pier, and then ends with society making a monster out of JGY after his death through rumors when Sect Leader Yao speculates that the statue's face is modeled after JGY himself (which WWX especially comments on), and in the tavern when people made such crude remarks that even those who were participating in the conversation felt uncomfortable, I think it's clear what and who the real villain is.

MXTX could have written people talking about literally any real atrocity that JGY has done, but instead, they talk about what he hasn’t done and read the worst out of his every action in life.

And actually, with everything that JGY has been through, he’s not even the worst case that could come out of his situation. He did have good intentions. For all his genocides, unlike Xue Yang, he didn't actually want to see the world burn. He did help the innocent common folk. He helped them during the sunshot campaign, and with the watchtowers, he fought against systematic corruption, and he treated everyone with respect. He rescued LXC and QS. We don’t know how many others he has personally saved. It's that the means he had to use to have the power to help the poor was incredibly dirty because he was playing an unfair game that was especially designed against him. (I'm not saying helping the poor was his only objective when he tried to gain his father's approval and a secure place in Jinlintai for himself. Though it's sad that he had to fight for these things at all.) The best he could honorably do was be NMJ's deputy general, which didn't save him from being bullied and people cleaning the cups they took from his hands. He knew that if he tried to help the innocent without having the political power to do that, he would end up like WWX. But what he didn’t know was that he would end up like that if he, unlike WWX, played by the rules of the game and compromised his morals anyway. There was no winning for people like them.

Dismissing the good that JGY has done, the real desire he had for helping the poor, and what he’s been through cheapens the character, cheapening JGY’s character to a one-dimensional Marvel villain, and dismissing the commentary that he represents on society as a whole is a disservice to the story. And that’s a crime cause the story is great. 

his fall from grace, the heinous acts he had to commit to find himself the slightest bits of safety, security, and respect wouldn’t be that much of a tragedy if he didn’t want to be good and do good for people.

Then there is JGY's death and the framing of it. Here is a wonderful analysis by @sapphicdalliances of why his death wasn't justice and that was the point, how he died because of an act he didn't commit, and here are great analysis by @thatswhatsushesaid & @crithir about how his death is described as a gut-wrenching horrible scene framed through his horrified nephew & ward's eyes, both in the book and in the show, how it didn't bring the Nie brothers any closure either, and how through the lenses of LXC and JL, and by JC’s & WWX’s reaction we see his death as a tragedy.

His death is because of a dishonorable trick. His last act in life, pushing LXC away is an act of love and of forgiveness. In the CQL before that, he pushes Jin Ling out of danger, too.

As said in the aforementioned posts, after it, we don't see a victorious Nie Huaisang or Wei WuXian. In fact, neither of them is victorious.

WWX, and by extension, the narrative blames NHS for his scheming & risking innocent lives. WWX is especially appalled by NHS' treatment of Meng Shi's body. He points out that JGY, being a big liar with a considerable criminal record, will be forever accused of lying, no matter what. While he immediately after brings JGY's last genuine act toward LXC as proof that JGY couldn't have been lying.

In the CQL, he straight-up calls NHS the devil with the coldest tone he's ever had towards NHS.

NHS for his part doesn't seem victorious either.

Dare I say he even looks like despite years of scheming he was not ready for it when JGY pushes Shuoyue deeper inside his own chest. (Who would he be acting for at that moment? Nobody's looking at him. And he’s sweating!)

And I think there's a "no, he didn't" in his last "I don't know." To LXC (at least in the show) when he's insistently asked whether JGY was going to attack LXC or not and he insistently answers "I don't know". It's a confirmation without confirmation.

And then in, IMHO, one of the most beautiful and nuanced scenes, NHS finds A-Yao's hat, in the book, he bends down, picks it up, and quietly goes away (and that's the last we see of Nie Huaisang), in the show he wipes off the dust on it, and his hand finally gets bloodied, literally & metaphorically despite trying his best to not do his dirty work himself. And we get a flashback of A-Yao's childhood that I always assumed we're seeing through NHS because maybe JGY had told him that story. Not only does the order of the scene, combined with NHS' deep in thought look seem like it but also NHS cleans JGY's hat when in that memory A-Yao's mom tells him that he needs to take good care of his hat.

And that scene is especially beautiful because the show went out of its way to show their close relationship pre-time skip. And we see NHS keep A-Yao's principal by cleaning his hat when JGY himself is too dead to do that. Even when the reason for his death is NHS himself. And by NHS getting his hands bloodied while cleaning the hat, and staring at it with a deep, nuanced look, that combination of care & hatred is shown in that scene.

I think he feels empty. He's spent years after years planning this thing. It was his only drive. Now it's over. And it wasn't a grand, victorious moment. It just...happened. and it was something that needed to happen, in his eyes.

And he did love his san-ge for a long, long time before the betrayal came to light for him. And then he hated him for a long, long time. But at that moment with JGY's bloodied hat in his hand? I think that's the moment when love and hatred have both run their passionate course and they've finally reached each other in the middle and collided and ran out of strength and intensity and separate, clear meaning and they just take their exhausted leave together, leaving only a trace behind.

And most prominently we see a devastated LXC and JL. We see Jin Ling's flashback of when his Xiao Shushu gave him his spiritual puppy. We see him being the only one who could cheer JL up when he was down for days.

We see JL choosing to keep loving him despite everything.

His loss is felt and the memory of his good deeds keeps coming back in JL's narrative:

The Narrative doesn't just sympathize with him. The Narrative mourns him.

[airplane69]

Ok bbut no fr the standoutt character if all the characters in erha is xue zhengyong. The moment in the book where all the sects are dithering over doing an unpleasant, unprofitable task that needs to be done to protect the common ppl and then he, with no second thoughts, takes it on? Paradigm shifting. Before that I really didn't get much of an impression of xzy, apart from mr's uncle he didn't care abt, shin mei's...person who gave him a shit ass name and had no taste and xue meng's dad who spoiled him. But after that scene...it felt like the entirety of the precious novel AND the precious life had been recontextualises.

Xue Zhengyong sets up a unprofitable sect to do nothing but hard, thankless work, and all he wants is to help people. I love him

[darlingpwease]

Ngl, all this omegaverse content brings me back to those asks about the pathetic and weak alpha and i can't help but imagine any of the hahwcs boyos stepping up for said alpha

oh gosh why do you still remember them shsghshdh it's embarrassing<///4 /neu /hj<3 let's develop the idea a bit into a more balanced one, so that we don't have the same experience with 'subby reader' repeated.

I'll cover for you

α!reader x β!xue meng x ω!mo ran x α!shi mei

♡ unhealthy behaviour, mixed dynamic, animalistic behaviour, 'my rabid ones' dynamic, poly relationship if you squint; weak!reader but manipulative / smart implied

alpha!reader who doesn't behave like a 'strong' or 'aggressive'; it's not that you don't have territorial instincts or a desire to protect your pack, but you just don't have this external protection that should be a facade. you are on the softer and more caring side, you do not need cruelty or rigidity to feel protected — but this is the reason why others look down on you, not seeing anything threatening in your behavior or in your figure. not that you blame them, of course, but being an aggressor is not in your character.

... even so, you really don't understand why you're being so fiercely protected.

in the end, you didn't think it was necessary — people didn't deliberately seek to humiliate you verbally, even if you more than felt how their smell was trying to suppress yours, especially when you were confronted with another alpha or aggressive alpha-like beta, who sought to emphasize his dominance over you. it was very childish, in your opinion — but you didn't react, not trying to push back or obey, calmly putting up with their attitude. haven't you been taught to be above that? in the end, an eye for an eye — and the world will go blind; if you give in to your baser instincts, then what are you better than a stray mutt? even if people are nothing more than dogs to heaven, it is important to always remain noble and humble, like an unblemished lotus flower, instead of sinking down and struggling in the mud.

of course, only you thought so. maybe that was the reason — when you tried to be peaceful and calm, clearly behaving more like a beta and not feeling humiliated by it, not being either a mattress or a guard hound, they couldn't get behind you anyway. and 'they' are not just those who look down on you.

maybe you'll be fine with that attitude, but the members of your pack are absolutely not.

even the soft and supple SHI MEI, more like an omega than an alpha, was suddenly interested and silently put his hand on your shoulder or back, giving a non-blinking look to the interlocutor, very interested in what is so important you are discussing while his usually light smell became strong and almost intrusive, sinking into the lungs and soaking the skin. and even if he becomes so protective, what could you expect from someone so protective of 'his' pack like XUE MENG or generally aggressive and almost domineering like MO RAN?

and the fact that they were alpha-like beta and omega made it even worse, as if you were a fragile flower in the garden that needed to be taken care of and protected, as if one wrong touch and you would break in two, like a crystal ball made of snowflakes. and you never considered yourself an omega — and did not want to be one; despite the personality, you were more than satisfied with the core — but it was the 'omega' that you had to be when they reacted too sharply, as if this was not a slight to you, but an insult to their entire family and relatives.

it was hard with MO RAN, who tends to get carried away easily and has both a sharp tongue and an aggressive disposition — but it was no better with XUE MENG and SHI MEI, especially when XUE MENG believed that neglecting you was an attack on himself, while SHI MEI himself was possessive and having very sharp claws and fangs hidden behind an innocent exterior. you did not feel like a "dog under heaven", but the owner of two dogs capable of gnawing anyone's throat, and a bird that could not gnaw, but could easily tear out eyes and organs — and the fact that you had to keep them under control did not let you relax or feel at peace at all.

in the end, you were not weak or powerless — you are not a puppy and not elderly — but every time you felt exactly like that when, even if you tried to convince that there was nothing important in it; but the hardest thing to convince is a domineering omega, a hyperprotective beta and an alpha confident in his opinion, — and you were incredibly lucky to collect all of them. you might as well be considered something like the heart or glue for a team that, no matter what, has one common goal and that common goal is to protect you and shoot everything that tries to touch you.

but hey, you, you are the alpha, and even if you may be weak or malleable — you are still the leader of this pack when CHU WANNING is not around (although next to him you are also often the leader, not that your leadership is based on physical strength or smell), and they obey you; of course, you prefer to think that this is out of respect for you or for your words, and not at all because it is more convenient to look after you and have an excuse to always stay close to you and smell your scent or engage in scenting, since doing it with the leader of the pack is almost a duty.

yes, maybe you constantly smell like them, just like they smell like you, and MO RAN often takes your clothes for the nest, while XUE MENG demands that you constantly leave your scent on him, and even SHI MEI does not mind at all, although, as an alpha, he should not be so submissive for such contacts — but who are you to be against?...

no, you don't worry at all about the consequences if they feel dissatisfied and become even more belligerent because their alpha doesn't do such small things with them at all. you're just being... prudent.

it's not such a rare quality when people need to pass thirty and three tests to get access to you.

[wordingg]

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Vol. 4

Haha, I almost forgot to post about The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Vol. 4 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou. Like last time, talking about this book at all is going to spoil volume three so, I'm going to put my recommendation at the top and then talk about the book itself under the read more break.

I thought this book was probably the slowest paced out of all the books so far, but it was also the sweetest and fluffiest. Don't expect any big bombshells in this one, but it still advances the plot.

So book three ends with Master Huaizui accepting Chu Wanning's souls from Mo Ran and telling Mo Ran it will take him five years to put Chu Wanning's souls back into his body and revive him. Book four starts in an epistolary style, showing a few quick snapshots of what Mo Ran is doing in the five years Chu Wanning is still being revived. He desperately wants to become someone who can support and protect his shizun, so he travels and studies and helps people selflessly. But, he's also still absolutely tortured by the knowledge of who he was and what he did in his past life. It haunts him constantly.

When Chu Wanning wakes up, it doesn't really sink in that it's been five years until he sees Xue Meng and doesn't recognize him. Xue Zhengyong tells Chu Wanning about all the good that Mo Ran has been doing, how he's been making a name for himself in the cultivation world and working hard. But, it's still a shock to see how much Mo Ran has changed when Chu Wanning finally meets him again (in the bath because of course that's where their tearful reunion takes place, fucking butt ass naked). Mo Ran 2.0 has finally arrived, and he's tall and tan and ripped and also the sweetest boy that ever happened!

I'm not going to recount every event of this book because I think it would take forever. But, yeah, this book definitely has a different tone and feel. Mo Ran is both sweet, but tortured. Also! He doesn't realize until THIS FUCKING BOOK that he LOVES Chu Wanning?!?! I was. My guys. My dudes. I started to cuss this book out loud, I had to put it down (loudly) I was so. I don't even know what I was feeling. I was laughing, but I was also mad. Apparently? He thought he just SUPER respected Chu Wanning, but all that fucking they did in his past life was just mucking it up with lust. It isn't until this book that he's like "oh fuck, I'm in love with him". In his defense he does say he feels like an idiot for not realizing it before but like. God dammit. I'm not even mad. It feels like it's my fault, honestly. I signed up for this.

This book is primarily both Chu Wanning and Mo Ran pining for each other, but trying to keep it professional. With a lot of silly situations thrown in to make their lives hard. They're both struggling with lusting after each other while also respecting the hell out of each other. Chu Wanning is freaking out because he's never felt lust for anyone in his life (supposedly because he's practiced asceticism his whole life, but I'm just going to plunk the demisexual label on his forehead just to make myself happy) and Mo Ran because he's afraid that if he gives in to his baser instincts he'll turn back into Taxian-jun.

The book ends with them all going to Rufeng Sect to attend the wedding of Nangong Si and Song Quitong. Mo Ran meets Ye Wangxi the day they get there, and Ye Wangxi is so fucking sad, Mo Ran decides then and there he's going to fucking ruin this wedding. God, I love this idiot boy so damn much.

ANYWAY! How am I going to survive until next month when the next book comes out? I'm really asking. I've already preordered it! Til next time, I guess.

[hulijingemperor2]

The Meng family, Team dimple (of course) and Lan xichen were in their grand living room, discussing something important.

Yao: We have reached a milestone, A-niang. 

The Meng dynasty is in control. I have repaired everything that was broken.

Meng Shi: good job, Yao'er. I know that you would make me proud. 

You established quite a strong empire.

Yao: all thanks to you. 

Now I think it's time to adopt someone.

Qin Su: really Huangdi? Who do you want to adopt? 

Mo xuanyu: but I didn't get pregnant for you yet, Yao gege.

Xichen: is it ouyang Zizhen? 

Rusong: definitely not.

He's my prospected concubine.

Qin Su: *laughing* A-song.

Su she: anyways, congratulations Huangdi. 

I hope it's not another Lan.

Jingyi: hey!! 

Su she: You're a good son for my Huangdi but I don't like the Lans.

Yao: Shanshan, don't drill him.

Su she: *bow* ok Huangdi. I'll try.

Xichen: oh come on, we aren't that bad.

Su she: *sarcastic* really, Lan lips? 

Mo xuanyu: sorry for Shanshan's saltiness. 

Xue yang: Jiggy, is it that kid you told us about.

And Shanshan is protecting him.

Yao: yes. 

He's Jin Xiaobao from Huaizhou. Xiaobao is a year younger than A-Song, and I let a peripheral Jin family adopt him for safety, while locking his hulijing power. 

Rusong: a year younger than me? Why did you let them adopt him? And what's his story. 

Yao: in A-niang's time, when they revolted against the Mengs, a few Mengs hid in exile. 

Meng Shi: Jin Xiaobao is our distant relative. As his grandmother was my cousin, Meng Lingling.

Meng Lingling died when Xiaobao was born, and his parents were killed by the pesky He sect. 

Yao: that He sect did so much atrocities towards the Mengs and Jins. 

They even tried to kill Rusong.

Hence I asked team dimple to eliminate the sect. 

Xue yang: they even dare to insult Jiggy! I sliced the sect leader's tongue!

Yao: ah. when I was informed, by one of my spies, I decided to be responsible for the child. 

I was already the Jin sect leader, but I thought it would be unsafe for him to live in the cultivation world. He deserves to live a simple life without constant targeting. 

I already had to protect you (A-Song) from it.

Meng Shi: A-Song, Yao'er went to the Jin family, which is a small part of the main Jin sect. Yet they weren't cultivators.

They were the richest family in Huaizhou and head of the Jinqi sect.

He wanted him to live comfortably.

But out of danger.

Rusong: waw. 

Meng Shi: he's your cousin, Song'er, and of Meng blood. 

He would look a lot like you. 

Yao: indeed, with the dimples too. 

Meng genes are strong. 

Now he'll be your brother.

Rusong: I'm so excited to meet him.

Jingyi: same! We'll have so much fun.

Qin Su: what happened to them now? How is their state?

Yao: they were framed for a scandal, bit it's all resolved now. 

However they lost some of their money.

I think it's time for me to adopt him, since the Mengs are reigning supreme. 

I'll give the family their wealth, and freely adopt Xiaobao.

Qin Su: he'll make a lovely addition to the family. 

Xichen: long live the Mengs. *hugs ayao from behind* Yao Huangdi has four children now.

Yao: ahaha yes. 

It's my dream to have children. 

And give them the world.

Qin Su: same. 

Yao: A-su, Minshan. We have to go to Huaizhou to collect Jin Xiaobao. 

Is Suyin back in Annan? 

Su she: no Huangdi. He's waiting for me.

Qin Su: who's Su yin?

Su she: my cousin, Huanghou. His parents were a part of the Su clan,

With the permission of Huangdi, I gave him the principality of Annan as well as  the duty to protect Xiaobao.

My lineage, sect and I are indebt to protect Huangdi and his dynasty.

Qin Su: oh. I would love to meet him.

Invite your cousin here, and let him stay for the banquet. Obviously Yao Huangdi will throw a party for Xiaobao. 

Su she: of course, of course! Will do Huanghou.

Yao: we will love to have him, Shanshan. 

And he seem so devoted and loyal like you. 

Meng Shi: so sweet.

~~~~~ 

Later that day, in Huaizhou 📍 

Xiaobao's adoptive parents explained everything about his history.

Xiaobao: so I'm a Meng?! And a fox spirit? How am I a fox? 

Jin laoye: yes. And a Meng prince too. 

The Mengs were targeted for some time 

Now they're in full control.

Jin furen: Xiaobao, I would miss you so much. 

But Meng Huangdi is going to get you today. 

Xiaobao: but I'll miss you both. And would he accept Huaien.

Jin laoye: well that's a problem. 

Xiaobao: I'm not going anywhere without him. 

*pout* 

So you're telling me that my Nainai was  taihou's cousin?

And Huangdi wants to adopt me as his son?

Jin laoye: right.

Xiaobao: ah. Well I'm glad that Meng Huangdi saved me anyways. I'm grateful.  

Jin Furen: I don't know much about the Jianghu, but all I know is that the Jin sect leader, Jin guangyao, who's Meng Huangdi, has a son. He's a year older than you. 

Xiaobao: I wonder how is he like?

Jin Furen: maybe really lovely. He's the emperor's son.

Xiaobao: mn. Huaien. I got to tell Huaien! *runs* 

Jin laoye: still immature! 

Xiaobao: HUAIENNNNN!!!! 

Huaien: what happened?? Xiaobao.

Xiaobao: *hugs* guess what?!

Huaien: what? 

Xiaobao: guess.

Huaien: you're pregnant?

Xiaobao: pfft.. no! And you're the wife remember.

I found out that I'm hulijing royalty. I'm a Meng. And Meng Huangdi is going to adopt me.

Huaien: aw, I'm so happy for you. 

Xiaobao: now I can help my family, and the poor. Also I can make you my little trophy princess. 

Huaien: that sounds amazing. 

You'll be an amazing Wangzi.

Xiaobao: better than Shao yu?

Huaien: mhm. 

And better than me too.

Xiaobao: you're so perfect. *hugs arm* I could never match up to you 

Huaien: but you're extraordinary.

*someone coughed* 

Xiaobao: *pout* Su yin! What do you want?!

Suyin: behave. Meng Huangdi is on his way.

Xiaobao: really??

Suyin: we have been friends for so long, and the chief cultivator, my cousin, gave me the job to protect you.

Now I'm happy that you're safe and ready to reunite with the Mengs.

Xiaobao: that's why you were so bossy.

Meng Huangdi did a great job protecting me. 

Suyin: uff....I'm not bossy. 

Now go get ready. And please act decent in front of Meng Huangdi.

Xiaobao: alright alright! I got it! 

I'm not a kid.

I'm a hulijing.

Suyin: *rolls eyes*

A half an hour later.

Yao, Qin Su and Minshan arrived. 

Suyin: greetings Huangdi and Huanghou. *bow*

Yao: hello, Suyin. How are you?

Suyin: I'm good for now. 

Yao: delightful. Thank you so much for your service. You protected him well.

Qin Su: we'll forever be grateful.

You helped us preserve the Mengs.

Suyin: please it's improper for Huangdi and Huanghou to thank me. I'm just doing my job. 

Yao: you'll surely be written in history. Please, Suyin, I invite you to Jing Manor. 

Suyin: I'll be  there then, thanks for the invitation. 

Su she: well done  A-Yin.

Suyin: thank you!

So how's it going, as a concubine?

Su she: *blush* it's the best 

Suyin: awwww. Shanshan is blushing.

Su she: *red* shut up. 

~~~ 

Xiaobao and family afterwards bowed and greeted them. 

Thank you gracing us, Huangdi, Huanghou and Su xiandu.

Yao: please, discard the formalities. 

Jin laoye: have a seat, Huangdi. And have some tea.

Yao: thank you. *smile* 

Jin Furen: Huangdi is so ethereal. Just as how he looks in his paintings.

Yao: don't flatter me, I'm just basic.

Jin laoye: you're so humble.

Yao: *sips* and Mr. Jin's tea is fine.

Shall we discuss.

Jin furen: yes Huangdi. Xiaobao is an adorable boy. He's a ray of sunshine. 

Jin Laoye: if he breaks any of your rules, do forgive us. He's kind of laid back and free spirited, and loves a good party. 

Yao: those all sound like great qualities. 

He'll surely get along with Rusong and Jingyi. 

And our dear little daughter, Taihua.

I don't think he will break any rules. 

Qin Su: Meng blood runs in his veins. He would never defame the Mengs. 

Yao: Xiaobao. I did everything to protect you. 

Suyin, is non other than my concubines cousin. 

Xiaobao: sorry to ask, emperor. But concubine?

Yao: yes. Su Minshan is my right hand man, and shadow. Do you have any questions? 

Xiaobao: Many. 

Yao: ask away. 

Xiaobao: why don't I have hulijing powers? I never felt like a hulijing in my life before. Did you see my Hulijing parents, and how is the Meng empire like?

Yao: you don't have your hulijing power because I locked it when I found you. But don't worry, I can unlock it.

And unfortunately I haven't seen them. But your grandma is my A-niang's cousin.

You have the Meng dimples to prove.

The Meng empire is a powerful one, made up of the fox spirit empire and the Jianghu. As well as some mortal territories. 

You'll quite love it. 

I'm thrilled to adopt you as my son, Xiaobao. 

Xiaobao: I'm also excited for my new life. But, what about my parents here? 

Yao: I'll restore their wealth. Rest assured.

Anyways, I must thank them for protecting you.

Qin Su: doesn't he resemble our Song'er? 

Yao: ah yes! He resembles him a lot. 

Qin Su: his cute little dimples.

Xiaobao: Huangdi, can my boyfriend, Huien come? You maybe think it's unorthodox. *lowers gaze* 

Yao: it's fine dear. And some emperors have their token male concubine. 

I have a whole harem of male concubines, as they have fallen in love with me and my beauty. 

However I have a wife, who's the empress. 

Besides, Hulijings need masculine energy.  

Take Huaien with you. 

Qin Su: can you tell us about him? 

He seems so majestic.

Xiaobao: as you wish. 

Zongzheng Huaien has just found out that his father is an emperor, but he decided not to be Taizi Dianxia.

He wanted to live with me instead.

Qin Su: so precious.

Yao: I'm very happy for you, dear.  

Xiaoyu (Xiaobao's adoptive sister): emperor, please don't take gege away from me.

Jin Furen: Xiaoyu. You can't order the emperor. 

This is big people matters.

Xiaoyu: but A-niang, I can't live without gege! 

Yao: A-Yu, don't cry. I won't separate you two. And do you want to be a princess? 

Xiaoyu: mhm

Yao: ok then. You and your brother will live with me. And the daughter of Huangdi is a.....

Xiaoyu: a Gongzhu!!

Yao: correct.

Jin Furen: Huangdi is so good with children.

Qin Su: yes! No wonder he's everyone's favorite Huangdi. 

Yao: well we must be on our way. I have to introduce you to everyone, and show you around. 

Xiaobao: Huangdi. One thing.

I have a servant, Zhaocai. Can he come? He's like my brother actually.

Yao: of course of course. You're a Wangzi. 

Yao: Jin family, thank you once again. Contact team dimple if you need anything, and I'll be happy to help.

Jin laoye: it's a great honour to have you at our place, Huangdi. 

Yao: pleasure.

I need another caravan for Zongzheng Huaien, xiaoyu and Zhaocai

Suyin: don't worry, Huangdi. I had arranged that already.

And Huaien can go on horseback. 

Yao: excuse me? 

Su she: Huangdi, Suyin and Huaien has an rivalry going on. 

Yao: ohhh, like you and Huan?

Su she: *blush* huangdi.

Yao: haha. 

He's my son's boyfriend. He must have comfortable transportation.

Suyin: as you wish. 

Huaien: you show me so much love, Huangdi. Thank you. I had an abusive stepdad. 

Yao: oh so unfortunate! I can relate, yet it was my biological father. 

Don't worry, I'll give you a lot of love. You, Xiaobao and xiaoyu.

Huaien: *smile* 

Xiaobao: so whatever happened to him?

Yao: I have him renting out jinlintai. 

He also lives like a prisoner and my people call him the lanling demon.

Xiaobao: good for him then! Good for the lanling demon. He sounds so horrible. 

~~~ 

Jing Manor 📍 

Everyone arrived at Jing Manor. And Xiaoyu held on to Xiaobao's hand.

Xiaobao: waw. This place is massive.

Su she and Suyin: *having their own convo*

Su she: I'll show you the team dimple mansion where you're staying. You remember team d, right?

Suyin: oh yes I do.

Zhaocai: *looking at the art and ornaments that decorated the room.

Xiaoyu: would I get lost? I never seen such a palace. Gege, would we live here?

Xiaobao: yep. 

Yao: this is just the entrance. I have arranged a mansion for you. It will be your residence. Your boyfriend, Xiaoyu, Zhaocai and about a staff of 20 people will live there. Also you would have your personal chefs.

Xiaobao: ah, I can get used to this! And I'll call it HuaiJin mansion! 

Yao: lovely name. 

Qin Su: and please feel free to call us A-niang and A-Die. 

Xiaobao: got it! 

Attendants: greetings San Dianxia.

Greetings San Dianxia.

Xiaobao: hello hello! My people, haha. 

San Dianxia, you're very adorable, like Taizi.

Your dimples are gorgeous. You're a true Meng.

Xiaobao: thank you! I would love to meet your Taizi. 

Very soon!

Huangdi has the most beautiful children, with the prettiest genes.

Greetings Huaien Wangzi. 

Huaien Wangzi is gorgeous! 

Meng tastes I guess. 

Beauty attracts beauty. 

Huaien: thanks. Um don't call me Wangzi. I'm not a Wangzi again.

But you're from the Zongzheng family.

Their blood runs through your veins.

Huaien: ah yes. You really can't run from blood, but I decide to be just Huaien. 

Aww look at Xiaoyu!

She's our er Gongzhu. 

Qin Su: yes. She may be older than Hua but since that she's adopted, she'll have to he er Gongzhu. 

Yao: I can't steal anything away from Taihua. 

Xiaobao: understood. 

Xiaoyu: it doesn't really matter. I'm just happy that gege is a Dianxia now.

Er Gongzhu is still very cute.

Yao: indeed. How old are you, dear?

Xioayu: 8! And my birthday is April 15th.

Yao: oh how lovely. I'll remember.

Taihua is now 4 (yes, I wanted to skip some years) And she was born on September 14th

Let's go to the courtroom. That's where the rest of our family is waiting.

Xiaobao: ok. I'm eager to meet them.

~~~~

Yao: harem, A-Song, A-Yi, A-niang, I'm back with Xiaobao.

Jingyi: wow, he kind of resembles Rusong. 

Rusong: I kind of see it.

Let's go greet him. 

Rusong: hey, I'm Rusong. Nice to meet you!

Xiaobao: nice to meet you too! Taizi, right? 

Rusong: yup. I'm Taizi Dianxia. But just call me Rusong. Or song gege. Anything.

Xiaobao: no offense but, how aren't you stuck up? I thought Taizi Dianxias are mostly stuck up! Well except for Huaien of course.

Rusong: because I respect people, Xiaobao. You must be down to earth and friendly. 

But, Huaien? 

Xiaobao: my boyfriend.

Rusong: ohhhh. Nice to meet you, Huaien, *smiling*

Huaien: nice to meet you too, Rusong Dianxia. 

Rusong: oh we're family now. Just Rusong. 

And Xiaobao is a distant relative who's not so distant again.

Jingyi: hey, I'm Jingyi. 

You seem fun.

Xiaobao: I actually am! I love a good party.

Jingyi: awesome!! 

Rusong: same actually. I just love to hang out with friends  

Xiaobao: off topic, but Rusong you have a brilliant smile. And really deep dimples. 

You're a gorgeous future emperor. So graceful too.

Rusong: thank you.

Huaien: *jealous* 

Xiaobao: oh Huaien, you're hot too. I'm just complimenting my big brother. Haha.

Rusong: I'll show you around later. 

And you got to meet my girlfriend, A-qing and prospected concubine, Ouyang Zizhen. He's a sect leader.

Xiaobao: woww!!! 

Well as expected from taizi. 

Xiaoyu: should I call you Song gege too? 

Rusong: of course you can, Yuyu.

Xiaoyu: yay! 

To be continued~~~~ Xiaobao meets Ayao's harem. 

Then they throw a party (of course)

[elliepassmore]

Song of the Six Realms review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, quests, music magic

I particularly enjoyed the first part of this book and getting to know the House of Flowing Water. I thought all the information about the musicians, dancers, and artists was interesting, and I liked learning about the way the patronage and apprentice levels worked. I also liked the camaraderie between the girls, even if some of it turned out to be false.

Once Xue leaves the House and begins traveling with Janglang there's fewer people and less worldbuilding for a while. Like Xue, I also began to get frustrated with the lack of answers and how she was consistently left alone with nothing but her qin. There was little action for a while there in the middle so while the descriptions were nice, I did feel my attention drifting somewhat.

I did enjoy the parts about music and the musical magic Xue uses to try and solve the mystery. The poetry wasn't my favorite, but the descriptions of the songs themselves were interesting and I liked the way Xue thought about and described the musical pieces. The music was definitely interesting and I wish it and the way certain songs could 'unlock' things was more of a focus of the story. Sure, it played a big part, but I definitely wanted more music magic.

Xue is left in the dark about a lot of things and so she tends to just float along trying to learn the Meng Manor and fill her days to prevent boredom. She's obviously destabilized by the change from apprentice in the House of Flowing Water to a guest at an esteemed lord's manor, and especially a Celestial's manor. Xue really shows her mettle and personality in the beginning of the story and at the end. Her strength comes through in different ways and I appreciated getting to see the different sides of her, from her love of beauty to her protective streak. I did wish there was more plot in the middle to continue showing those sides of her though.

The other characters kind of come in and out of the story at different times, so I don't totally feel like I got to know any of them very well. Janglang is supposed to be the love interest, but aside from some mild attraction, I'm not really convinced the two are in love. Xue spends half the book thinking he's grieving a fiancé for god's sake! I did like the addition of Chenwen and and Linwei, but would've liked it more if they'd been around more. I enjoyed Chenwen's humor and the way he teased Xue, which I feel like she reacted disproportionately to.

For a book focused on figuring out what Xue's uncle and Janglang's shifu had discovered, the two actually do very little investigating and there's often little adventure to be had. As other reviewers mention, different things keep coming up as oh-so-important plot points and then end up being minor aspects of the story. Xue getting presented to the Sky Emperor (King?) and Consort but then it goes over quickly and well, and there doesn't seem to be much of a lasting effect from her performance. Likewise, there's this whole thing with Janglang's mother....but in the end she's diabolical and evil but not particularly menacing.

I also found the 'mystery' to be a bit obvious. I clued in to the 'who' as soon as they're introduced and I also clued into the red herring as soon as it came into the story as well. Unfortunately, it takes Janglang and Xue almost the entire rest of the story to figure it out, leaving me smacking my head when they trust certain people or fall into certain traps.

Overall, this is a good neutral read if you're looking for something light to occupy your time. It's entertaining enough and I find myself feeling pretty neutral on the matter. I did like it, but the beginning and ending were the most interesting to me, and things in the middle kind of lagged.

[incarnadinedreams]

Finally finished reading 2ha in all that edited-MTL-glory.

Thoughts under the cut for spoilers!

Well as should surprise literally nobody one of my favorite characters ended up being........... Jiang Xi

is Sect Leader Jiang

is canonically hot yet eternally afflicted with resting bitch face

has great fashion sense [green edition]

is bad tempered and a sharp tongue, but funny

nobody is more aware than him that they live in a society

had extremely important information withheld from him for half his life for his own good (though in his case not earth-shattering)

explicitly aromantic

willing to sacrifice himself for others without flinching, but still mad about it

great grumpy duo dynamic with bratty youth he is attempting to protect

actually pretty great after all

...I... might have a type............ he's obviously a totally different character than Jiang Cheng in a totally different story, but the parallels were enough that when I started liking him so much I facepalmed at myself a little bit.

Overall I enjoyed it. I might have the flaming hot take that it definitely could've been edited down a lot and I think would've had a bit more impact, the last third dragged a bit but that also could've been the MTL jank getting to me. I think the bones of the story are great, but some of the pacing felt off to me; the serialized format felt very noticeable/obvious to me with this one in a way it didn't with some of the MXTX works.

I was skeptical once gates of space and time started getting involved because I don't generally enjoy time travel as a trope, but it wrapped up pretty well without too much timey wimey stuff getting involved (more on the spacey wacey side?). I did like the ultimate resolution, perhaps a *little* deus ex machina with the final resurrection but whatever it's a romance let them be happily ever after, and I thought the ending chapter/final note was quite lovely and touching (Xue Meng my beloved).

I do think some people make a bit too much of a big deal out of it being ultra dark; obviously the tone is going to be darker than your average fantasy romance but wasn't nearly as bad as I expected from seeing how people on Twitter and Reddit were always freaking out about it. That's usually how it goes when people make a big deal about 'dark content' though (obviously the content warnings should definitely be heeded! Just the hype builds it up to be more than it really is, as someone who doesn't have trouble consuming content with those topics).

Anyway: ultimate conclusion was that it was a fun read, wtb abridged version, but overall enjoyable. I'll probably have fun with some fannish content for it because there's some great art out there, but not feeling the 'my brain is trapped I am utterly obsessed' a la post-MDZS haze (that has endured for uh... years now) and I'd probably put it below TGCF as well for 'how much do I want to seek out fannish content for this series'. But definitely glad I read it.

[tiianwens]

NAME: Chu Wanning | 楚晚宁

MEANING: 楚 chǔ – clear; neat; pain; suffering. 晚 wǎn – evening; night. 宁 níng – peace; tranquility.

TITLES / NICKNAMES: Beidou Immortal ( 北斗仙尊), Yuheng of the Night Sky ( 晚夜玉衡 ) / Yuheng Elder ( 玉衡长老 ); Chu-fēi (妃 for consort/concubine, by Taxian-jun), bǎobèi (by Mo Ran), Immortal-gege (by one really drunk Xue Meng).

BIRTHDATE: 09/08

SPECIES: it's really complicated but he's human for all intents and purposes

NATIONALITY: chinese

GENDER: male

PRONOUNS: he/him

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: demi-romantic

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: homosexual

FAMILY: Huaizui of Wubei temple (former master / creator), Xue Meng, Shi Mei & Mo Ran (disciples count as family)

PARENTS / SIBLINGS / CHILDREN: —

SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: Mo Ran/Mo Weiyu (for every verse)

EYE COLOR(S) : dark amber / phoenix eyes (shape)

HAIR COLOR(S): black

HEIGHT: 178-180 cm

BODY BUILD: slender but strong, with a notably slim waist and defined muscles

FACE CLAIM: Luo Yunxi

POTENTIAL FATAL FLAW: rage, rage, rage; often letting his heart rule his mind, especially as a response to injustice

THREE HEADCANONS:

• he tends to become an absolute miserable wreck, cranky and childish, whenever he gets sick (which happens a lot), but as there's usually no one to take care of him, he's pretty used to biting it down and still forcing himself to function. same goes for injury — no matter how grave it is, he'd much rather struggle on his own than ask for help. it's so engrained in him that sometimes it takes him quite a while to realize that asking a medic for help is an option.

• despite following the path of abstinence and not giving much thought to passions and desires, he's been aware of his attraction to men since his teenage years. but it never bothered him, partly due to growing up on the mountain away from the world where such matters were never discussed at all — the very concept of homophobia was unknown to him for a long time.

• depending on the amount of memories he retains in different verses, he never plays guqin in public/in the presence of others, and only ever uses it as a weapon when needs be. the incident ruined the tranquility of music for him.

three things your muse likes doing in their free time    ⎯⎯

• inventing / building mechanical devices, particularly those that can be used by common people to defend themselves from ghosts and demons;

• reading whatever he can get his hands on, writing to kill the time (letters that won't be sent, as Chu-fēi);

• embroidery (on rare occasions).

a phobia your muse has    ⎯⎯

heights. he never uses his sword for flying unless it's really unavoidable and he's supported by Mo Ran. losing his husband, as he's lived through it before.

one thing your muse regrets    ⎯⎯

not being able to see and prevent the rise of Taxian-jun in time, not being able to defeat or restrain him later on even after exhausting all his power. there are too many things that he blames himself for, that are not his responsibility nor his fault, but going into deep meditation that one time and not being able to stop Mo Ran from trying to protect him at the cost of his sanity is definitely top of the list.

people your character likes  /  loves    ⎯⎯

his disciples (albeit not in the same way + softly removing Shi Mei from the list), Xue Zhengyong and Madam Wang, Liu-gong (as the only person who always stayed kind and respectful towards him as Chu-fēi), Nangong Si, Ye Wangxi.

tagged by: stole it from @cuckoo-among-beasts + mixed with this thing i did for wwx once. tagging: whoever wants to do it!!

[ssuminshan-official]

《Team dimple + hauisang, chilling at night》

Xue yang: the deed is done.

Su she: ahahaha good.

Mo xuanyu: what about guanggoile?

Su she: he's sleeping.

The guy literally sleeps on a mat lol.

Huaisang: a mat?!!

Su she: nah, I lie. He sleeps on a couch.

Yao: what are you guys up to.

Su she: we snuck into his room, and stuck drawings of Madam Meng all over his wall while he was sleeping.

Yao: *laughing* oh my goodness

Mo xuanyu: also we let some people go near his room to talk about a made up story to scare him.

We told them to say that the spirit of empress- goddess Shi still haunts Jing Manor. And she would appear to those who had angered or pleased her.

If you anger her you'll see her picture all over your room and your tea will turn red.

If you please her, the place will brighten up.

Su she: then I secretly slipped some red cinnabar into his tea.

Xue yang: we added that, if one had exploited her, she will come and castrate them right there.

Huaisang: spooky right! I know that he'll turn cold.

Yao: you four are so crazy. And I love that. Hahahaha.

Now guys, what if A-niang appear to him?

Huaisang: how??

Xue yang: Jiggy! Are you going to??

Su she: dress up as Madam Meng!!!

Yao: of course I am!

Mo xuanyu: that's so cool!

He'll shit his pants!

Yao: that's what we want, lol.

Xue yang: and you resemble her a lot!

Yao: exactly.

Huaisang: aw, foxy is so mischievous.

Su she: and use your hulijing powers too!

Yao: that's a must.

Su she: I'll give you a teleportation talisman.

And one to disguise your voice.

Yao: thank you so much!

~ Some minutes after getting ready~

Yao: *dressed as a woman* team dimple, how do I look!!

Su she: awwwww sooo beautiful.

Xue yang: smoking hot!

Huaisang: cute!

Mo xuanyu: I think I'm straight.

Can someone make a person straight?

Yao: heehee.

You are all so cute and kind.

Now I got to go.

Su she: Huangdi......well, Huanghou, some of your guards are hidden near that area, so that they can protect you from evil guangshan if he dare tries to do anything.

Don't worry, they know the drill, so they'll address you as empress instead of emperor.

Yao: lovely.

~~~

《The haunting, lol》

Yao: *hides in jgs's room

Jgs: *wakes up from his sleep* No!! *panting*

Gosh it was just a nightmare.

That evil emperor's minions keep talking nonsense, and having me dreaming it.

Yao: *throws a fire talisman, which lit a few candles*

Jgs then let out a scream when he saw the Meng Shi posters.

*now whose prank is this!!

Tea. I need tea. I'm feeling thirsty.

*pours tea* oh my goodness!!! Why is the tea red!!!

*laughing nervously* evil emperor. You did a good job scaring me. Which one of your team dimple did this. Hehe.

Yao: *walking in, as Meng Shi.

His hair and clothes blew fiercely, while his ornaments, hairpins and eyes glittered in the moonlight seeping through the curtains.* you fool!!!!

Jgs: haha......ha....you prost*tute, what are you doing here? And you posted your fanart all over my wall.

Yao: *knocks him off the couch, with his power*

Jgs: n.....now how did you do that!

Yao: *dimpled smile*

Jgs: you wh*re! Go from here!

Yao: is this how you greet me, you insolent being!!!

Jgs: who are you then!

Yao: I'm Shi Huanghou!!! The goddess of Hulijings!!! You dare cause atrocities towards my son!

Jgs: *whimpering* that bastard. He deserves that treatment.

Yao: the one who brought success to the Jin sect!! Who listened and obeyed your stupid demands without question!!!

This is how you repay him!

Jgs: leave from here! Get out

Yao: everywhere is mine, you fool! I can go anywhere I wish! I can take that couch away from you, and make you sleep on the cold floor!

Jgs: no no. I'm sorry, Madam Meng.

Yao: Shi Huanghou!!!

Jgs: *covers face* Shi Huanghou.

Yao: *knocks over a jar of water and sausage*

Jgs: *sweating* n...no.

Yao: this could be you!!

Jgs: no...I'm not afraid of you! Get that away from me.

Yao: *uses his spiritual power, to toss him across the room, by his neck and hair*

Jgs: *screaming for his life*

Yao: no one will hear or help you!!!

Jgs: stop! Stop!!

You evil thing!

Yao: how dare you!

Is this how you speak to a highly elevated hulijing goddess!! I can rip your core from your body!

Jgs: noo, not the core.

Yao: you don't even use it!

Jgs: *shivering in fear* stop, stop throwing me across the room like your rag doll!

I beg you, goddess of Hulijings.

Please.

Yao: *drops him*

Jgs: ouch! You could have dropped me more delicately.

Yao: why the hell are you here!

Jgs: your son and Zixuan had hired me!

Yao: I see! Serve them properly!!!

And have some respect!

Jgs: I can never!

Yao: you never learn, don't you! You mistreated my A-Yao!!

And how dare you exploit me and innocent women*

*pulls out knife* guess I must chop it off.

Jgs: *covering his crotch* no no, empress. Not the baby maker. Stay away from me. Move.

Yao: *sauntering ominously*

Jgs:  stay away!

Yao: *starts chasing him*

Off with your dck!

Jgs: you're insane!

Yao: ahahahahahaha. 

Jgs: nooo empress!

Yao: I will castrate you!

Jgs: Please, spare me, empress! That's my manhood!

Yao: you're a creature! Not a man!

Jgs: empress, please. I'll do anything you ask ok! Do you want jewelry?! Should I light joss paper for you?!

Yao: you're unworthy of serving me! And you are broke! I don't want anything from you!

Jgs: *sobbing*

Yao: fine then. I'll spare you ok. But if you even look at my A-Yao in the wrong way, the dck comes off!!  

And you will sweep the steps of my temple!

Jgs: oh gosh, you know I don't like to clean.

Yao: then get used to it.

Jgs: ok ok. I will attend to the emperors ok. Just don't castrate me.

Yao: fine then.

I'll be watching you.

And if you don't think I am, then look at A-Yao's face and you'll see me.

Jgs: this.....this Yao do resemble you *shivers* doesn't he.

Yao: *disappears*

Jgs: *faints*

~

Next morning......

Jgs: *wakes up and checks below* whew! It's still there.

~~~

Yao: *elegantly walking with team dimple, and yes huaisang too*

Su she: you look so happy today, Huangdi.

Is it because of your performance?

Mo xuanyu: Yao gege you're so amazing.

Xue yang: and hot.

Yao: *smiling* right. I feel elated, leaving him petrified.

Huaisang: lol I could imagine

Xue yang: did you castrate him?

Yao: no, but I threatened to.

Su she: lol.

Xue yang: that's like our foxy master.

Yao: wait till I tell Zish.

Meanwhile.

Jgs: *entering* Fuying. You're *gulps* Huangdi's attendant right?

Fuying: yes. And I shouldn't speak to you.

Jgs: why?

Fuying: because you're the enemy of Jingjing. Hulijings see you as a Lanling demon. And speaking to you is like treason.

Jgs: cut the crap, and listen. I saw empress Shi last night.

Fuying: aww really?!

She's revered here.

Jgs: the woman.....the ghost! Haunted me last night. I experienced her full wrath.

Fuying: well you deserved it.

Jgs: what?!

Yao: *arrives with his entourage*

Fuying.

Fuying: *running to his side* Huangdi.

Yao: was he troubling you?

Fuying: no Huangdi.

Jgs: *trembling* empress Shi!!!!

Yao: what happened to you? Have you lost it?

Jgs: s...sorry boss. Just don't let empress Shi hurt me. *kowtows* please!!!

Yao: we love respect. Maybe if you respect us then you'll be safe.

Jgs: the baby maker too?

Xue yang: aka his dck, Jiggy.

Yao: yea yea, that will be safe too.

Now get off from the floor.

Jgs: yes boss.

Zixuan: can't a person get some peace and quiet? Why is he screaming so early in the morning.

Jintang; your majesty, it's 9am.

Zixuan: oh you know that I'm a late sleeper.

(*zixuan wakes up at 9am, while Yao wakes up at 8am or 7am)

Jgs: *screams when he sees Zixuan*

Zixuan: *startled*

Has he lost it?

Yao: wondering the same thing.

Mo xuanyu: can't loss what he doesn't have.

Su she: lol. Diabolical Jins.

Xue yang: best kind of Jin Siblings.

Jgs: y...you look like your mom, Zixuan.

And you look like boss too.

Zixuan: yea so?

Jgs: will Madam Jin come to haunt me too?

*cries* I don't want to see Madam Jin!!! She'll hurt me toooooo.

Zixuan: she's still alive, and is living in Jinlintai remember.

Jgs: would she threaten to castrate me?

Xue yang: oh heck yea she's coming for those bagaballs.

Jgs: why are they all coming for my g*nitals!!!! Why do they want to chop it off.

Zixuan: ugh!I don't have any time for this. Where's your composure old man?! We are in a palace!

Yaoyao, *grabs A-Yao's arm* team dimple, let's go have some tea and breakfast.

Yao: right.

Let's go.

Jgs: how should I help you two?

Zixuan: no need. We'll call you when we need you.

Yao: can you go cut some bush in my backyard? It's looks outgrown and ugly.

Jgs: sure sure! But boss, which backyard? You have two backyards.

Yao: the left wing. Where the koi ponds are. Oh, an you can feed the koi afterwards. They're vegan by the way. Tata.

Jgs: vegan fish?!!

Yao: did I stutter?!

Xue yang: even the fish here are divas?

~~

~having tea and breakfast~

Zixuan: now what happened to him?

Yao: *tells him the whole story, along with the various names made up by team dimple*

Zixuan: *laughing* oh my goodness! Yaoyao!! *pinches cheeks* you mischievous little foxy!

Su she: now he can perfectly do his job without insulting you two.

Zixuan: marvelous.

Mo xuanyu: you and our Yao gege deserves the world.

Xue yang: definitely do.

Zixuan: Yaoyao is so powerful and genius.

Yao: oh Zish, I'm flattered.

  

Zixuan: finally guanggoile learns some manners

Yao: yes!

@verycatbluebird

[madtomedgar]

I always like thinking about what would have happened if NMJ hadn't gone to check on MY and just. Hadn't caught him killing that asshole captain. No messy break up, but also possibly no spy MY? I feel like he probably still would have wanted to go and help LXC when he heard about the Lan attack, but NMJ would have had to approve this if MY is still in his employment (I think he would tho). Lots and lots of different things all from one tiny difference.

hmmm. I think it depends on how Meng Yao handles releasing Xue Yang? Because my interpretation of that scene (whether the writers intended this or not, this is the only way I can make it make sense) is that Meng Yao decided to release Xue Yang so that Wen Chao wouldn't destroy the Nie Sect, because he didn't think it was a safe bet that Nie Mingjue would win against all of them plus the Core Melting Hand. But Wen Chao has to know that Xue Yang isn't in their custody anymore for this to work. So either Meng Yao has to bring him to Wen Chao publicly and loudly, against Nie Mingjue's express orders, or he has to try the "oh no! Xue Yang has escaped!" publicly and loudly. If it's the first one, I think he knows he isn't getting out of this intact, but has decided he's ok with dying to save his sect leader. If it's the second... I don't think it holds up to scrutiny, because he tells Nie Huaisang he's going to check on Xue Yang, and it was his responsibility to look after the prisoner. He's not really come into his own yet, and I think if faced with a choice, at that point, between Nie Mingjue thinking he's incompetent and Nie Mingjue thinking he's disobeyed him fatally, he'd choose the latter.

So I think even if Nie Mingjue hadn't walked in on him killing the captain in CQL, he still has a good chance of getting banished for betraying his sect leader, even though in doing so he saved the sect. Mostly it would come down to a values discrepancy, where Nie Mingjue would think that the sect should have taken the risk and paid the price if they couldn't defeat the Wens in order to uphold honor and "justice," (Justice in this case meaning punishing Xue Yang and honor meaning not giving into Wen demands), while Meng Yao thinks that it's worth it to let this random criminal go and make a show of kissing the ring if it allows you to live to fight another day while saving those you care about.

It is, however, a less severe values discrepancy than "you killed one of my dudes and tried to pretend you didn't to do something shady that I don't get" vs. "I did this to save you and he was the eggshell in this omelette metaphor. Also he sucked so I refuse to feel bad here." Which has interesting implications for later.

Because Nie Mingjue sees Meng Yao as someone who has a strong moral code and sense of loyalty, but one that doesn't align with his own and who he therefore can't in good conscience keep around. He doesn't see him as a snake. So in the original in Nightless City, he's livid when he sees Meng Yao, but it's really confirming what he already suspected, that Meng Yao was always an opportunistic social climber who would kill anyone and tell any lie to get his way. (This isn't true but I think it's what canon NMJ thinks).

However, in this au, it would be a major shock! Because how could the person who gladly sacrificed his own position and was prepared to sacrifice his life to protect Nie Mingjue and his sect turn around and join up with the people trying to destroy him! He would be so confused! This could either throw him for such a loop that he just kind of sits there with a dumb look on his face while plot happens, OR more likely, he feels EVEN MORE betrayed than he does in this moment in canon. So there's a good possibility that Lan Xichen couldn't talk him out of killing Meng Yao, and instead of whacking the pillar, he does in fact cut off Meng Yao's head in that scene.

However, I love Meng Yao and don't want him to die in this au, so we'll say that doesn't happen. I do think he'd be easier to convince that Meng Yao had been spying for them the whole time, and had been doing underhanded things in order to help. Because this is something he's already demonstrated he does when he wants to protect the people he's loyal to. Nothing (in Nie Mingjue's mind) is too far for him in such a case. And he doesn't like that, but I think he can respect it.

Which means that post sunshot he doesn't fixate on Jin Guangyao as this evil snake betrayer lurking, waiting to strike, plotting nefarious deeds for no reason. Which honestly might mean that Jin Guangyao doesn't feel the need to hasten his death, so Nie Mingjue dies naturally of big sword rage brain disease within a year of when he dies in canon.

And then you have no revenge plot. Jin Guangyao continues building watch towers and exchanging sexually charged bows with Lan Xichen until they decide to retire and live out their old age being schmoopy and domestic and writing duets together. Nie Huaisang hopefully eventually figures out how to run his own sect. Lan Wangji continues making a name for himself as a sad hero. Lan Sizhui never learns of his true heritage. Wen Ning stays... wherever he was before. Etc etc. Yeah.

[greenandhazy]

don't mind me, I'm just thinking about this concept again and talking through some difficulties

so I'm really committed to the idea of WWX dying and coming back in roughly the same circumstances as canon, and in the intervening years MY and XY being imprisoned (or in XY's case "imprisoned") by the Lan and the Jin respectively and then getting their "fuck yeah the boys are back in town" moment. I also think MY needs to be involved in getting the burial mounds settled, both because that fits his skillset and because I quite like the idea of him going "fuck this I'm out" during one of those big meetings and getting to truly stick it to his father.

BUT of course this causes issues with the whole resurrection plot, because if MY shows his colors before then, obviously he's not playing "Cleansing" for NMJ and causing a qi deviation, so what is the overarching reason for the resurrection?

THE SWAP SOLUTION:

the first thing I toyed with was the idea of swapping the function of Nie Mingjue and Jiang Yanli's deaths in the narrative. Mingjue dies in Nightless City (protecting Huaisang maybe?), Huaisang is the sibling who gets the big "Wei Wuxian, go to hell!" moment before he dies, Jiang Yanli is killed afterwards by... someone... and Jiang Cheng is the sibling who convinces Mo Xuanyu to make the sacrifice so Wei Wuxian can help him find/prove who killed her.

potential problems:

I mean no offense to Yanli but it seems like she probably dies in battle easier than Nie Mingjue, so there's a believability issue there

in the case of her being DELIBERATELY killed rather than accidentally--who the hell would want to do it? from what I've seen so far she's universally beloved

that character would also have to step in and fill the Big Bad Mastermind role the JGY holds in the canon narrative, which requires competency that most of the other Little Bads don't have

does Jiang Cheng have the subtlety to go the Huaisang route? (counterargument: does he need the subtlety? maybe he goes around for a decade shouting at people to try and solve this mystery, and the second WWX is back he storms up to him and is like "hi yes hello it's me the guy who brought you back, tell me who I can stab on behalf of my sister.")

THE FUGITIVE SOLUTION:

the other possibility is that, contrary to my first instinct, MY and XY aren't immediately captured when WWX dies. they manage to escape and evade capture for a while, and figure out a way to kidnap/murder NMJ in a way that's more aligned with canon before being caught--but their role in NMJ's death isn't discovered at that time, so Huaisang still gets to have a few years of fuming before deciding that MY's nice cozy seclusion among the Lan isn't enough of a punishment, he needs to be exposed and his beloved dead brother is going to do the exposing for extra drama. this also has the convenience of letting this-Meng Yao keep canon-Jin Guangao's "the bad guy at the center of the bad stuff" role.

potential problems:

believability again. absent slow qi poisoning, can two canonically weak cultivators take down Nie Mingjue? (counterargument: I keep forgetting to give Xue Yang a shard of Yin Iron in this verse but ig that would help.)

also, a major clan leader who has had public beef with two wanted criminals while they're on the run. does anyone need to be told whose fault it is?

I haven't figured out how I want this verse to end fully, but... it kind of leaves Meng Yao in a darker place than I want? like I do really like the idea of MY/WWX/XY being beloved by the common people in spite of everything the great sects say, and I feel like having the three of them uncover an act of corruption among the sects and having a "see! we told you so!" moment is a more satisfying ending than having Huaisang go "see! he's a murderer just like we've said all along!" and having the public go "we don't care." it's just a little anticlimactic.

THE SPY SOLUTION:

Similar to the above, except in this version, everyone knows that Xue Yang fought on WWX's side, and thinks that Meng Yao actually opposed him--he basically went from spying on the Wens for the Sunshot Campaign to spying on the Jins (/the other great clans) for his brother and the unaffiliated cultivators running the proto-watchtower/refugee camps. he could have been funneling money into them from his official position, and while Xue Yang is imprisoned (or "imprisoned") in this verse, Meng Yao is essentially in the exact same position as he is in canon--Jin Guangyao, popular Chief Cultivator, secret murderer. also makes it a bit more believable that this refugee camp idea would be feasible.

potential problems:

again with ending on a darker yet anticlimactic note. kind of exacerbated, even, because in the first version we at least have the momentum of Meng Yao being freed from seclusion whereas in this version he's already in a good place

it means I have to give up my "Xue Yang loses it on the battlefield and Meng Yao has to calm him down" scene AND my "Meng Yao tells Jin Guangshan and every member of the cultivation world to go fuck themselves on behalf of his brothers" ideas and I really, really like those.

THE SIMPLE SOLUTION:

I go with my original plan for MY & XY--they ally publicly with WWX, get captured, get imprisoned, but because of the timeline, NMJ doesn't die and Mo Xuanyu gets the idea to resurrect WWX all by himself. the fourth person he's meant to get revenge on is Jin Guangshan. added advantage is that... I'm not planning on writing a huge 100k fic of this, just a handful of related oneshots in a series, and this is an ending I can probably toss in somewhere for background purposes without having to do this whole THING.

potential problems:

it leaves MY and XY with not much to do for most of the time jump. might feel anticlimactic as well?? idk

it would definitely frontload a lot of the drama, because right now the majority of the ideas I have are for pre-death, and this would mean that the ONLY thing WWX has to do in his second life--no hunting down body parts, no Yi City arc, etc--is wake up, draw the OBVIOUS conclusion of "one of Jin Guangshan's bastards wantts me to kill Jin Guangshan" and boom presto, he's done. doesn't exactly show off much, does it?

right now I'm leaning to either the Swap or the Simple solutions... I do really like it when I can make an Alternate Universe fic that preserves as much of the original as possible in creative ways, so the Swap is fun for that, but the Simple is also good for like... stopping myself from going WAY overboard? and also might leave the door open for some endgame 3zun which would be cool......... I'm gonna keep musing.

[beneath-a-moonlit-lake]

There is not enough contempt in this world that can be felt when reading about Jin Guangshan.

Each time Jin Guangshan appears in the book, I become a Madam Jin stan. Yes, I know she's abusive. No, JGY did not deserve to ever be on the receiving end of her violence.

She deserves far more attention for showing us how her slimeball of a husband should really be handled. It's not an accident that JGS is introduced as a man who is terrified of his wife.

Jin Guangshan is a misogynist and a deeply spoiled and entitled bully, but he is also a coward who cannot handle direct confrontation. Madam Jin makes it impossible for him to mess with her by being loud, angry and confrontational with him. There are no concubines in the Jin Clan for a reason. Just look at the bullshit that JGS pulled off by bringing Mo Xuanyu back to the Jinlintai in order to threaten JGY. If JGS thought he could 'put Madam Jin in her place' by pulling that nonsense with a concubine he absolutely would have done it.

Jin Guangshan backs down when you confront him. He might not concede the case entirely, but he always gives way. Madam Jin gets angry about Meng Yao turning up and off JGS goes running to do something about it. NMJ wants Xue Yang dead? JGS can't tell him no, and ends up having to lock XY up and delay relentlessly until JGY murders him. Wei Wuxian confronts him over the Wen remnants and the Yin Tiger Tally and the only thing that JGS can do about it is to throw a giant pissbaby temper tantrum.

This man is not a credible threat. The two people who should have a great deal to fear from him - his wife and his bastard son, are barely even wary of him. His real power comes from his place in the social hierarchy, the insistence that people have on upholding said social hierarchy, the easy answers and assumptions that can be made, and the excuses that JGS provides for people to be the worst versions of themselves.

JGS did not order Meng Yao to be kicked down the stairs, he just told the servant to get rid of him as quickly as possible, and look what happened to that poor kid. He decided that he didn't want to acknowledge Meng Yao when he turned up at the Jin camp during the Sunshot Campaign, and some captain took it as an excuse to treat MY as a subhuman being and take credit for all his hard work.

Treating JGS like a scheming mastermind with WRH's powers treats everyone who enabled him in the book far too kindly. He only got his chance to scheme against WWX because everyone took it for granted that WWX was 'arrogant' rather than consider that there might have been a real problem with the treatment of the Wen Remnants.

The man had to gamble with the lives of his son and Jin Zixun just to get a chance of attacking WWX. Yes, the impoverished guy whose reputation was in tatters with no allies and no social protection. That is a huge L as far as political maneuvering goes. Readers don't care about Jin Zixun because he only exists in the story to be annoying, but that guy is basically the Second Young Master of the Jin clan. He's the Jin's equivalent of Nie Huaisang or Lan Wangji! JGS took advantage of his son and daughter-in-law's invitation but somehow assumed that either of them would be immune to being dragged into the mess and look what happened?

The last time in the story where prominent Young Masters were so exposed in politics was when WRH was actively waging war on the Sects. It was not a win when all the rich and important kids had to attend the Wen Re-education camp and basically just hope that nothing would go wrong. It would not be a political or narrative win if NMJ had to risk NHS's life or if Lan Qiren had to put the Twin Jades at risk to gain some benefit for their clans, but that exactly what JGS was doing.

The Jianghu should have respected Madam Jin a lot more.

[evilvillainapologist]

So I've finished Book Three of 2ha and I have thoughts... 

They're going to be negative, so I won't tag this, so it won't show up in the 2ha tag. I'm also putting it under a read more. (It's not about the rape.) 

So they're back at that situation. Rip in the fabric of thingie, evil ghosts coming into the world, somebody is getting shanked. Chu Wanning lets Mo Ran bleed out, fixes the rift. Up to here, all good. 

And then. 

This fucking book. 

Ruins everything. 

Suddenly, we learn that Mo Ran misunderstood something. 

Chu Wanning wanted to save Shi Mei, wanted to save Mo Ran, but he had to stay away for their safety, so it was never his fault. He never did anything wrong! 

What kind of lazy, sorry-ass excuse for a plot twist is that, ffs! 

CWN was never wrong in the first place! Of course he would have chosen to protect the rest of the world, including everyone from the sect, even at the cost of one of his disciples! 

That was the whole beauty of it! That he had to make this incredibly hard decision and he made it and now he has to live with the consequences. 

The whole issue between him and Mo Ran has never been a misunderstanding, it has been that they never fucking communicated, never bothered to understand each other, that Mo Ran took that one moment of pain in his life and used it as an excuse to be the biggest fucking piece of shit you can imagine and never even considered that maybe what he did was worse, so, so much worse than what CWN had done. 

And now he has the chance to go back and do it better. But he is still stuck in that same fucking mindset, right up until that point he realises it was a misunderstanding. 

What were those first two books even for??? What were those two years in which they grew closer to each other, learned to be by each other's side peacefully, that could have served as Mo Ran's character growth, if not a huge slap in the face the moment we learn it was all just a misunderstanding. 

No need for character growth then. No need for Mo Ran to learn anything. 

It could have been his chance to realise, he did not have to go down that same path again. Maybe have him be in a similar situation. I mean, he was, already, watching Chu Xun sacrifice his own son to save the rest of the people. It could have been his chance to start an actual emotional connection with CWN and outgrow his hatred, not because it was a misunderstanding, but because he learned to forgive. Maybe could have learned that CWN hated himself for that decision, was plagued by it, yet still had to stand by it. Learned to make different decisions, learned to actually talk to that person he had by his side for ten years. 

But hey, no need for any of that. After all, it was only a misunderstanding. 

Everything, every single little thing they learn about each other in those three books, they learn either while one side is not aware of it (Xia Sini) or from another person (Xue Meng). They never learn to actually communicate with each other; Mo Ran simply holds on to his irrational hatred all this time, without ever questioning it. 

And that hatred? 

What is the author trying to tell us about how justified that hatred is by turning CWN's decision into a misunderstanding? That it was actually justified? That Mo Ran was right to hate CWN the way he did, if only it hadn't been a misunderstanding? 

CWN had to be perfect, flawless, not make a single wrong decision, he had to sacrifice himself and die for Mo Ran, unblemished, for the author to consider him worthy of Mo Ran's love. 

What kind of fucked up, lazy writing is this??? 

There were a lot of parts of that story I still liked. A lot of the scenes were still quite nice, even though the author is clearly not experienced enough to make the story stand on its own without the CP, and even though she tends to overexplain things to the point that they grow tedious. A lot of the NPC dialogue could have been cut. But still, it was a fun read. 

But that plot twist? Made me lose all trust that she could bring this story to a satisfying end.