#and actually mdzs was already popular to hate before that

[green-ray-blog1]

Troll MDZS AU (part 3 - end)

The look of betrayal in WWX's eyes when he lies paralyzed at the bottom of his cave almost makes WN avert his eyes. Ever since he came out of the haze, in this very place, it's been like borrowed time, like it'd been happening to someone else, yet he'd made himself a believer, and that time had been the best in his life. WQ was furious when she learned about JZX's death. She'd thrown a balm pot she'd inherited from her great grandfather against a wall. He'd never seen her handle it with less than both hands. Now, she's calmly explaining to WWX's horrified, panicked eyes how she's going to give herself up - along with WN - to the Jin. He seems to be attempting to struggle, or at least, that's what WN gets from the minute movement of his brow. They just stare at each other for a minute, before WQ leans over his face, her hair drawn like a curtain, then, as she stands back up, revealing a reddish messy bruise of teeth marks over WWX'S mouth. Maybe WN makes a face, because when she meets his eyes, she stops biting her lower lip, narrows her eyes at him then swiftly looks away. On the way to Carp Tower, they'll talk about other things, and if they don't he wouldn't tell.

She'd been outsmarted again. JYL'd felt so smart, inviting her dreaded brother to awkwardly fumble with an adorable toddler. No one would have been able to not picture that again, the next time her father in law tried to rally hostility against him. But WWX always does the impossible, it'd always been his blessing and his curse, and now, she wouldn't even get to know how he'd pull through again, bummer. She should hate him, but she can only muster frustration and worry. She kind of hates herself for not managing anything more interesting, and for not snuggling her face against Jin Ling more, when she had the chance, but she's felt so lonely and tired, since her husband's death, and she can't feel her legs right now, so she thinks she should be excused. While proper hate requires a certain panache, as her mother had demonstrated - or maybe that was just contempt, her thoughts are a bit blurry, she kindly apologizes - and some blood loss could make it stand out, there are... diminishing returns, and she's way past those. Oh, JC's here too, how nice. She'll just have a little nap, now.

Great news! The Yiling Laozi is dead! Who got him? His old martial brother, the famous Sandu Shengshou, of course, didn't you hear? They'd been in a black romance for some time already, since the former's betrayal, but WWX finally went too far. JC embraces the popular sentiment, even if it makes him sick. The narrative buys him little respect, by itself - not that he'd want it anyway - but it buys him fear, which is just as good. As for the truth, it's of use to no one. JC himself cannot tell where it ends and where the lies begin. What WWX wanted... certainly not JYL's death, he loved her too much. Actually loved her. The rest, though, WWX had taken with him. So what is he even grieving for? Well, if it's a black fucking romance WWX wanted, yeah he can do that. The bastard sure did everything he could to deserve JC's hatred. Every time he'd thoughtlessly let JC deal with the consequences, every time he'd denied him even that and never explained himself. So fine, he'll hate him, hate his lying dead ass while he's gone. So what if all he could do with those pitch feelings was chew on them and spit them into the lake ? Maybe if he really committed he could hate him back alive, what if that was the plan? Wouldn't that be funny? It only takes a few years before he hears rumors of a demonic cultivator haunting some obscure village. His heart skips a beat.

WWX's first few weeks coming back from the dead offered tragically little time for self reflection, yet it had been satisfyingly productive ride. No pun intended. Sure, he had gotten himself a beautiful, perfect matesprit out of nowhere, what the hell, but he'd also solved some convoluted plot by people he kind of had little to do with in the first place - well except for NHS... - met shijie's son, found out A-Yuan was alive and well and that WN was not so much alive but well nevertheless, and he'd even tied things up neatly with his dear old shidi JC. That part wasn't a foregone conclusion, as you'd imagine from the rumors of Sandu Shengshou's relentless hunt for demonic cultivators. WWX hadn't meant for JC to cling to this whole kismessis thing. It's just... LWJ gives him an inscrutable look whenever someone mentions it. It takes some coaxing for him to admit that's because WWX blushes. Every time. Ew. He... should go and visit Lotus Pier, one of these days.

[thebansacredbanned]

Tagged by @wishthefish!

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

123... somehow... oh wait i know how its bc i did whumptober

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

392,687

3) What fandoms do you write for?

Currently: The Untamed/MDZS, Nirvana in Fire, A League of Nobleman, The Blood of Youth [screaming, crying, trying please i need more people to write tBoY fic my crops are dying], The Disguiser [sometimes]. I'm also working on a few ideas for Mysterious Lotus Casebook which I finished last week

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

So these are all from back when I was actually writing the most popular pairing for a popular fandom, as opposed to now where I'm either writing the Rarest of rare-pairs or for fandoms that have <100 english fics so:

Yellow Petals - The Witcher, Geraskier, hanahaki

I Would Know Him In Death (At The End of the World) - Les Mis, E/R, les amis are reincarnated greek heroes

Butter-cup of Tea - The Witcher, Geraskier, round robin me and @nemainofthewater wrote together that I'm sure had a plot

as I reckon with the effects of your life on mine - The Witcher, Jaskier & Valdo Marx, another one by me and Nemain where I wrote Jaskier's letters and Nemain wrote Valdo Marx's

Know the Water's Sweet but Blood is Thicker - The Witcher, Jaskier is Calanthe's brother, yikes I never finished that one oops

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to (sometimes I forget though lol)! It feels nice to have some kind of interactions with other fans, plus that's how I made friends with @wishthefish so there's always a risk chance of getting to know people ;P

6) What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hahhaahahahahahahaahahahhah

ummmm all of them?

it's probably 'You left me here behind, do you not care?' which has very little room for any hope at all come the end

7) What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

this is actually harder than the angst one, somehow. like happy? are any of truly happy??

I'm restricting it to things I wrote this year and I'm going to say As we walk with the sun hand in hand from the wreck, which is the 'happy ending' stem of the Xuyao choose your own adventure thing I was working on this year

8) Do you get hate on fics?

I did once, but it was for a fandom I was already over in a work I wasn't like 100% sold on anyway and I found it kind of funny

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No but as I put in a group chat the other day "every day i inch closer to writing porn and i am not happy about it".

To be fair I don't think I'll ever write full-blown smut, and generally I find that, for what I'm writing at least, having things left implied is better bc then people can imagine whatever they want (and I don't have to write it)

10) Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I do in fact have a NiF/Untamed bodyswap crossover in my docs which I either need to write more of or decide that I'm not going to write any more of and just post as is

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! There's a French translation of I Would Know Him in Death (At the End of the World)!

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have several co-written fic with @nemainofthewater - we share a braincell so it's always a lot of fun

14) What's your all-time favorite ship?

See that's a. that's a question that I'm finding WAY harder to answer than it should be.

Probably E/R (Enjolras/Grantaire) from Les Miserables. Like R is still my tumblr/ao3 picture (and my phone home screen), I might now actually be in the fandom so much any more but forever in my heart etc

15) What's a wip that you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh man I just went on my posted works on ao3 and I have a les mis fencing au that I last updated in 2020. That's never going to to happen

16) What are your writing strenghts?

Lets see how much angst I can fit in a very small amount of words 😈

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle finishing anything longer than about 2k which is a pain bc I have lots of ideas that deserve a lot more words than I can focus on writing for them

18) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

It's cool when people do it (especially if they have hover-ovre translations)! I haven't ever tried and am unlikely to any time soon

19) First fandom you wrote for?

Turn! (actually the first fandom I wrote for was Hamilton but that never saw the light of day and NEVER WILL)

I'm going to tag @nemainofthewater @luzzeagain @woobifiedvillain and anyone else who feels like it!

[tonyglowheart]

The thought of CQL-centric media or spaces gives me hives these days thanks directly to the toxic parts of fandom and also CQL-onlies who ignore the novel for favor of spinning off their own theories based on ?? and how that tended VERY highly to be anti-mxtx and anti-"fujo" crowd, but like... I don't necessarily like NOT wish for that CQL scholarship endeavor to fail? bc I think it could be good for M/M or specifically danmei scholarship, potentially. But also I *highly* hope they pay due acknowledgement to MDZS and MXTX lmao, esp if they're trying to widen their scope to danmei scholarship and not just mainstreamized-adapatations-of-BL-properties-which-large-corps-capitalize-off-of-while-danmei-still-remains-kind-of-a-tightrope-of-acceptibility-by-censors-and-the-govt

[pumpkinpaix]

this is gonna sound so harsh but im legit tired of chinese diaspora people who think that bc they are of chinese descent and they have pleco they can act like voices of authority in the fandom. if modao is the 1st chinese book you have read pieces of with a dictionary, if you have never interacted with the actual chinese fandom, you are not part of the intended audience and your biased opinion is not the One And Only Valid Truth 🍵

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree | this is really hard for me to express in terms of an agree/disagree axis lol

genuinely cannot tell if you’re trying to shade me here anon lmao 😂

this got long and rambly (of course) asldkjfslj. i would love to make the excuse that it’s bc i’ve got a migraine and had No Sleep but. let’s be real i’m always like this.

ok i’ll start with where i agree: i don’t think anyone has the right to act like an ultimate voice of authority in fandom. i think different people with different backgrounds have varying realms of expertise and they should be respected when they share that knowledge, but that the instant someone starts to use that kind of power as a weapon against people they personally don’t like, i think they forfeit that privilege. no one has the one and only valid truth about a piece of media because that’s fundamentally impossible. i have definitely interacted with diaspo who behave like their heritage gives them some kind of incontrovertible authority over everyone else, and they’re fucking insufferable and often rather cruel, even/especially towards other diaspo. meet me in the denny’s parking lot and fight me for real. i’ll kick ur ass. >:c

however, I also think it’s true that there’s a lot of dismissal of heritage fans in this fandom, if that makes sense, from both sides of the equation: non-Chinese fans ignore our cultural hangups because they’re inconvenient, and non-diaspora disdain us for being not Chinese enough. that puts a lot of us in a position of feeling disrespected just for being who we are, or having our very real knowledge and unique experience as individuals devalued because of it.

regardless of my identity, I have formally studied a lot of things: literary translation, media analysis, the politics of oppression, film critique, religious studies, philosophy, four foreign languages etc. and that is all knowledge that I had to work for, and work hard for. I do have a certain measure of authority on all of these subjects over a layperson (to varying degrees), and there are going to be times when i will be more correct than someone who disagrees with me -- but I’ve also absolutely experienced people talking over that specialized knowledge because of who I am, which is, to be clear. extremely infuriating and hurtful. like, i have cried so much about it in the last 18 months. people see my racial and cultural identity before they see anything else, which is understandable to a degree, but upsetting when it becomes the basis for how my work is judged, whether positive or negative. i don’t want you to trust me blindly because i’m abc. I want to you to trust me because you have examined my work critically and judged it to be trustworthy!

so i guess this is getting into the strongly disagree part of the answer: i’ve been speaking a lot with other diaspora fans lately, and it’s been simultaneously hugely relieving and also really saddening. relieving because oh thank god someone else Gets It, and saddening because pretty much all of us, no matter what kind of diaspo we are (north american, european, SEA, taiwanese etc), we’ve all experienced a lot of pressure in this fandom, from non-Chinese, Chinese, and other diaspora fans alike. we’re all acutely aware that we are not modao’s intended audience because being diaspora vs being “from the mainland” or whatever, are actually quite different things, but modao still feels close to home. even if it was not written FOR us it is still familiar to us.

and, because so many of us are multilingual and multicultural, we end up being the bridge between the “actual” chinese fandom and the english-speaking fandom, which is largely made up of non-chinese. (sidenote: I hate it when people say things about being “actually” any identity because it’s almost always for the exact reason you brought up: to use heritage as street cred. it’s like damn, being “actually” chinese doesn’t make ur opinions any less rank. sure you might be “actually” chinese, but do you have basic reading comprehension and literary criticism skills? no? ok then sit your ass back down) many of us are most comfortable in english! so we produce our content in english! but we also DO often have a somewhat privileged access to the culture that underlies mdzs and can explain it in a language that other non-Chinese fans can understand. so it’s not surprising that people flock to us for answers to their cultural questions. and like. if we think we know the answer, it’s natural for us to try and help. this is fandom! we’re here to have fun and find community! and it is definitely a little bit nice to have my culture treated as something desirable for once instead of just like. a weird exotic curiosity that no one really cares too deeply about. and, since a lot of us are able to do things that non-Chinese fans can’t (research in chinese, for example. ask family members for help and more information etc.) we end up just having more information to share.

I think this sometimes results in a tendency for fandom at large to put heritage/diaspo fans on pedestals and tout them as authorities (or use our conflicting viewpoints as ammunition in fandom drama) when the diaspo in question have repeatedly stated that they should not be taken as authorities on something -- and then, once you reach critical mass, your reputation starts to precede you, and I think there’s a lot of misconceptions of how a lot of diaspo act in this fandom simply because of that phenomenon. most of us know that we’re not ultimate arbiters of some kind of cultural gateway, and it can be very tiring both to be treated as such when we insist we are not, and then punished by other people who assume that we acted like we were.

i don’t think there’s a benefit in trying to keep en fandom and cn fandom totally separate, and I also think it’s unfair to consider the cn fandom the “real” fandom. i think that way lies deeper misunderstandings, gatekeeping, etc. i think we can definitely acknowledge the differences between them, but i think trying to make meaningful connections between fandom circles is really valuable! i don’t think i’ve ever made it a secret that modao is my first cmedia fandom? so it’s also the first time i’ve had reason to interact with chinese fandom, which has been super enlightening and interesting! i’ve made some super cool friends and learned a lot about how fandom works in china, how it’s similar and how it differs from the fandom i’m familiar with.

and then, kind of circling back around, there’s also a bit of a sense like, okay, so if diaspo don’t belong in the CN fandom, but we can’t talk about our own culture with some degree of confidence in EN fandom, then like..... where do we go...? if we see EN fandom doing something that contradicts our cultural knowledge, do we just. not say anything? do we not count unless we’ve already ingratiated ourselves to CN fandom? that’s probably where the core of my strong disagreement comes from, because criticism of diaspora fans as like, acting above their station so to speak, feels just like a tired continuation of the same shit we’ve had to deal with for our whole lives, being told we’re not good enough for anywhere and that we should just be quiet and keep our heads down and get over it. that our opinions, despite coming from a unique perspective with a unique relationship to the subject in question, are less valid or real than “actual” chinese people, you know? and sometimes i see that and im like lmfao just sneer at me for being jook-sing and leave then if you’re so eager to think of me as lesser.

so yeah, basically im of a few minds: true! diaspora fans don’t get to throw their weight around just because they’re diaspo. they don’t get carte blanche to act like bullies or try to shape the fandom to their own personal liking and crusade against people who disagree with them. they don’t get to pretend their heritage makes them superior to everyone else, and i think western diaspora especially need to be careful when asserting any kind of moral lens over the text to acknowledge that we have our own biases to interrogate. i am not immune.meme etc. on the other hand, this vein of criticism tends to put all diaspo in a bit of a double-bind, and also, however unintentionally, plays into the general, continuous trend of dismissing diaspora for being diaspora, and i’m really not about that. i don’t think that’s the motivation behind opinions like this, but i do think that when the basis for the argument hinges on the idea that diaspora are not “real” chinese, no matter how much I too have beef with certain diaspora fans, the argument needs to be revisited. 

(ko-fi)

🍵 ((un)popular) opinions meme

[songofclarity]

what do you think of the idea of Wen Yuan being Wen Xu’s son/ Wen Ruohan’s grandson ? it’s one of my fave headcanons since Wen Ning didn’t say which older cousin is Sizhui’s father.

I absolutely love Wen Yuan being either Wen RuoHan's son or grandson, Anon! It's a canon compliant headcanon or at least a heavily insinuated canon that Wen Yuan comes from his family branch.

Wen Ning says, "Y-You really l-look like a distant relative of mine..." to Lan SiZhui as they are traveling to Lotus Pier (ch. 83, ERS).

And earlier we are told that "[Wen Qing] wasn't a daughter of the Qishan Wen Sect's leader, Wen RuoHan, but instead the daughter of one of Wen RuoHan's cousins. Although they were far cousins, Wen RuoHan had always had a close relationship to this cousin of his." (ch. 60)

Plus a general: "Every day when [Wei WuXian] was free, he played with the toddler Wen Yuan, son of Wen Qing's cousin." (ch. 74)

I highly doubt the specification of distant relative/far cousin was used by accident or just a hand-wave since it's not used for any of the other Wen relatives. We have no idea how Uncle Four or Granny Wen are related to anyone else, for instance. I do headcanon Granny Wen being closer to Wen RuoHan's branch than to Wen Qing's since she is already Wen Yuan's guardian and caretaker when we first meet her. Imagine Granny Wen fleeing Nightless City with Wen Yuan after Wen RuoHan's death only for them to end up falling into the hands of the enemy anyway!? My heart! 💔

I will confess that, depending on what flavor I'm in the mood for, I headcanon Wen Yuan as either Wen Chao, Wen RuoHan, or Wen Xu's son lol

Wen Yuan is a toddler when Wei WuXian first meets him, making him around 2 - 3 years old. The Sunshot Campaign lasted three years, which means Wen Yuan was born either right at the start of the Campaign or a full year later.

Anon may have excluded him on purpose since he's the least popular choice, but I will say that I kind of prioritize Wen Chao as being Wen Yuan's father since we are explicitly told that Wen Chao has a wife. While it's described that him picking a new lover every six months is his routine, that he goes from honeymoon phase to being tired of them during that time is just his norm, I like to consider that him picking his wife's servant this time around wasn't merely out of natural rotation of lovers.

If his wife were pregnant, it's not illogical that a young man under twenty would go for the pretty woman batting her eyelashes at him while she holds back his wife's hair during another bout of morning sickness. Morning sickness traditionally lasts the first trimester, so the specification that Wang LingJiao will be dropped after six months matches well with the projected due-date. Wen Chao sending Wang LingJiao ahead of him to Lotus Pier could easily be because he was taking care of business (and a heavily pregnant wife) at home before he dashed out the door again.

That Wei WuXian then gives up everything to repay his debt to the Wen while at the same time protects and entertains the son of Wen Chao, who turned Wei WuXian's life to hell in the first place, is delightful to me lol

The second person I headcanon as being Wen Yuan's father is actually Wen RuoHan! This is my favorite option and warms my heart ♡ although at the same time it makes me very sad.

MDZS focuses a lot on characters losing siblings and parents and friends, but barely touches upon losing a child. Madam Jin and Jin GuangShan are described as having wasted away before they finally died over the loss of Jin ZiXuan, but we all know Jin GuangYao was done humoring them by then and their deaths were likely caused by poisoning (Jin GuangShan was weakened before his grand finale send-off and Madam Jin's cultivation was strong enough to maintain her in her youth and thus inedia should have preserved her longer even while depressed. These two did not die of grief.)

So Wen RuoHan gives us room to explore the grief of losing a child and having to restart a family, whether it's for the sake of protecting Clan lineage or for his own need to have a family. This also paints a rather intriguing picture of Wen RuoHan's position within his sect that he was comfortable and supported enough to have a child after such a great loss (Wen Chao and Wen Xu's bodies were vandalized and then never returned to him) and in the middle of a war (baby booms happen after wartime).

We're never told if Wen RuoHan's policy to attack the Sunshot Campaign changes after Wen Chao and Wen Xu die. It's both sweet and sad to imagine him playing with and caring for his little son while the Sunshot Campaign knocks on his door.

(Wen RuoHan should not be blamed for centuries of Wen Sect policies. Upholding family tradition is as true for him as it is for Nie MingJue and Jiang Cheng. He is never shown to have conspired to take over anything, much less the world. Let him have a family to love!)

There is also the question of who is Wen Yuan's mother in this case. Same mother as Wen Xu and Wen Chao? Another wife? A lover? The Qishan Wen Sect is not short of people wanting to cozy up to Sect Leader Wen, as we have seen. Wen Chao reveals to us that there is some fear of assassination, but Wen RuoHan seems rather negligent of that threat. Although the other sects might hate them, the inner-workings of the Qishan Wen appears to be a safe and supportive one. Wen Yuan was born from at least an agreeable union, but ideally a happy one~

Although you mention him first, Anon, Wen Xu is the last of the three that come to mind when I think of Wen Yuan's father! Which is amusing because I also know Wen Xu is considered the popular fandom choice whenever I see this topic come up. As I mentioned in another post, there is something poetic in the circular way Wen Xu destroys Cloud Recesses and tells the Lans that the Wen will help them rise from the ashes followed by Wen Yuan raised from ashes of the Wen Sect to find new life in the rebuilt Cloud Recesses.

But whether Wen RuoHan was his father or his grandfather who took the role of father after Wen Chao/Wen Xu died, he would have been the first and only father Wen Yuan truly knew. Wen RuoHan looks like he's in his twenties, so calling him father rather than grandfather wouldn't be unexpected for a child to do, either.

Which brings new insight into this moment when Wei WuXian brings Wen Yuan out to play with him in Yiling. Wen Yuan calls Wei WuXian brother (Brother Xian), so he's definitely not calling out for him in this scene...

When children were scared, they always called out to those they were close to. And so, sobbing, [Wen Yuan] called, "Dad! Dad..." (ch. 74, ERS)

Crying out for Wen RuoHan!? My heart! 💔

[franniebanana]

CQL Rewatch - Episode 3

I just love their outfits here, and since I didn’t comment on that in the last episode, I wanted to say it here. I love the whole color palette they used for Lotus Pier. The donghua goes heavy on the purple and black, but I really love how they incorporate lavender and teal and other blues. It’s just very pretty and soft and relaxing. Such a nice place. I keep having a debate with myself about where I’d rather live. I think I’d be more comfortable in the Cloud Recesses, but I’d never be able to deal with all those rules!

Ah, yes, everyone’s favorite peacock. He played this part so perfectly: just this pillar of grace and poise, except when he’s around Jiang Yanli, and he just becomes butter hahaha. I like his son a lot better than him, but he and Wei Wuxian have some great scenes together, and it’s fun to see him grow alongside everyone else. He’s not just a mindless clan member who does everything he’s supposed to. He’ll stand up and fight for justice too.

It’s easy to forget (myself included in this) that Jiang Yanli is the oldest of the three of them, especially in this show. She’s so much smaller, so soft-spoken; she isn’t going to be the next leader, because that’s Jiang Cheng, being the male heir. But this is one of those scenes where she really is the big sister. Wei Wuxian is fighting with her fiancé’s retinue, Jiang Cheng is just trying to stay out of it and be polite, so she has to step in and put an end to it. I love when Jiang Yanli gets some screen time and lines, and isn’t serving soup. Don’t get me wrong—I like seeing her take care of them, but it’s more mothering than being a big sister. I think the moments when she’s standing up for her brothers and for herself are really special. You can’t blame Jiang Cheng or Wei Wuxian for loving their shijie so much.

Gotta love Wei Wuxian taking every opportunity to throw some shade at Jin Zixuan. I love all of it, and I eat it up—I am the target audience for snarky Wei Wuxian. And at this point, Jin Zixuan just ignores him—good on him. He keeps that up for all of a few days.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

YOU FORGOT THE INVITATION!

Sorry, but the first time I watched this, I wondered why there was this big close-up of something with “Lan Clan of Gusu” written on it. I’m a dummy, okay?

Omg they translated ge-ge as “buddy.”

Okay, but here we go! Shut out of the Cloud Recesses. Also, where did they change? I kept thinking they changed at the tavern, but when they left, they were wearing their same Jiang Clan clothes. So, somewhere along the way, they put on their pretty white robes. I’ve got nothing else to say here, because we’re about to see another great entrance from Lan Wangji.

I love how his entrance is accompanied by the guqin. His presence is so ethereal, so otherworldly, yet he’s so grounded as a character. He turns everyone’s heads, including Wei Wuxian’s. I love that Wang Yibo is in reality shorter than Xiao Zhan, so they gave him platform boots to make them more even. But the height and stature gives the relationship a whole different dynamic.

Anyone who knows me knows I love my yaoi/BL. I could go on and on about my favorites, but I won’t do that here. There’s one thing I don’t like about it, and it’s that you can always tell who the top and bottom is just by how they look (sometimes artists subvert this, which I love!). The donghua for MDZS does this (I haven’t read the manhua, but I have seen some screenshots, and I think it also does)—Lan Wangji is so much bigger than Wei Wuxian. And while it’s aesthetically pleasing, it just bugs me, okay? I like the idea of Wangxian being roughly the same size and height—I don’t really know why, I just do. Also I definitely headcanon them both as switches at this point.

I don’t think Lan Wangji would have given Wei Wuxian the time of day if he hadn’t heard this. He’s already impressed that Wei Wuxian picked up on the weird stuff/wicked sorcery going on—he’s made a mental note of him. I’m sure he’s a little disappointed that Wei Wuxian immediately gets on his nerves, but he still pauses before leaving.

Lan Wangji is never going to be a fast friend—he’s not going to be anyone’s best friend right away. You need to gain his trust and that does not happen overnight. Though the setting is anything but realistic, their relationship and the steps it goes through are incredibly realistic. They grow together—they grow on each other (it’s not as if Wei Wuxian really cares about Lan Wangji at first either—think of how many times he calls him a fuddy-duddy. I think his main goal for quite some time is to get on Lan Wangji’s nerves and tease him. Wei Wuxian is used to charming his way in and out of things, but he can’t do that with Lan Wangji).

Yibo’s piercings! That’s it. That’s why I took this screenshot. But, weirdly, I always look at stuff like that.

He has such a swagger here, going up the steps, but I think it’s really just Xiao Zhan trying to climb the stairs without tripping on his costume. XD

It’s funny how surprised Wei Wuxian is to have the silencing spell used on him, even though he had been put under it earlier that day. Frankly, I don’t blame Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian hit him with a bit of a sucker punch there, implying that the girls only liked him for how he looks and that they’d be disappointed by his demeanor.

It’s such a popular trope (enemies to lovers), but I don’t think that makes it inherently bad or less effective as a storytelling device. On the contrary, when done well, it can make or break a story. As I said earlier, their relationship is very realistic, yet has enough fiction to make it fun. I watch these early scenes with a big old grin on my face, and I’ve seen this one probably around four times now, maybe more (I keep watching the Special Edition for all that wangxian goodness).

Okay, let’s watch as Wei Wuxian digs his hole deeper and deeper. The look on Lan Qiren’s face this entire time is priceless. Like, who is this miscreant who just barged in here, telling me how he is breaking all the rules and expecting me to feel bad for him? Meanwhile, Lan Xichen, with a smile: I won’t blame you for breaking the rules, but let my brother who hates you decided your punishment, okay? Thanks!

Peak comedy before it gets all serious again.

She’s so gorgeous!

But I’ll be frank with you all, I don’t like that they expanded Wen Qing’s role in this way. She was one of my favorites in the book, but shoehorning her and Wen Ning into the Cloud Recesses kind of drives me nuts. And then the stuff with Jiang Cheng, while kind of cute, just doesn’t really hit right with me, and I don’t think it was executed well at all after a certain point—but I’ll babble about that when the time comes. So, while I appreciate expanding female roles, I didn’t really care for this bit in the Cloud Recesses. I would have been fine with them adding scenes of what she was up to with the Wen Clan—that would have been really cool, actually, because we don’t get to see much of anything other than the Nightless City. And maybe I’m biased because I quite enjoyed the archery contest stuff in the book that they kind of piecemealed in the show.

It sounds like I’m just whining about this show, but I actually really enjoy it.

I like this moment between the twin jades. We don’t get a ton of these and this one is particularly quiet and peaceful. The contrast between them and Jiang Cheng/Wei Wuxian is so stark—the twin jades are so formal and a little stiff, while the twin prides are off the wall, hitting and teasing each other—but this doesn’t make either one less caring than the other. What’s obvious from this scene is how much both of them care about each other: Lan Wangji wants to do what he can to help, because he knows how much pressure is on Xichen, and Xichen is just worried about his younger brother. Even though you don’t find this out until later, you can tell that the two boys had to grow up very fast. Neither one had much of a childhood, and I think Lan Xichen does take on a bit of a father role to Lan Wangji as well.

Other episodes: 1 | 2 |

[anaisonfire]

@pumpkinpaix‘s extremely good meta about class in MDZS made me think about how, in-universe, the Sunshot Campaign is presented as a We The Good Guys against Them The Bad Guys. And while that gets deconstructed in the story and even more in the fandom at large, I still feel like... there’s a leftover vibe of it, that most people still treat it (the story) as a Good Guys vs Bad Guys when it. isn’t. At all.

I mean, ultimately what is the Sunshot Campaign? It’s a bunch of powerful rich people fighting to bring down that other powerful rich guy because he decided he wants to be The Most Powerful Rich Guy of them all. The Five Great Sects become the Four Great Sects. Nothing actually, meaningfully changes.

This has obviously been pointed out before. However I think it’s not just an element of the story - the hypocrisy of the sects, which is much talked about in the fandom - but also a theme of everything that happens.

The whole story is very... inner-world focused. What I mean is: it’s not a story about great societal change; by and large, the story ultimately affects only specific people, our cast of characters.

For the larger population of Ancient Fantasy China, nothing much changes. The popular Super Bad Guy to hate is The Wen Sect, then The Yiling Patriarch, then Jin Guangyao (who are all reviled for daring to go against the greater cultivation world, albeit in different ways). It’s very much a cycle and not only doesn’t it change within the story, it’s a cycle that not one character has an explicit motivation of changing. There isn’t anyone with a goal ‘Down with the system!’. JGY, who could have had that as a motivator, instead wants to become a part of the upper class. And like, he does do good for the common man (the watchtowers, which I love as a concept and an indication of his character) - but his personal ambition still takes precedence over any desire he might have had to make the world better.

Even the Sunshot Campaign, which was a war and therefore necessarily affected a whole lot of people, is still ultimately not very relevant to the interests of the common non-cultivators. It’s fought by cultivators, for the interests of cultivators. At the end of it, the status quo is still upheld and the same system is still in place.

Even WWX, with his Wen Refugees, doesn’t set out to change the system. He does come to care very much about the injustice of the camps and the Wens’ treatment specifically but I don’t, at any point, get the feeling from him that he feels particularly strongly about the injustice of the system in general. I do think he becomes aware that the whole thing is pretty BS, if not after being reborn, then for sure after the whole mess with JGY is done - but even then, he doesn’t set out to reform anything or change opinions. He’s going to fight against specific instances of injustice when he sees them in the world but other than that, he’s going to mind his own business and live his happily ever after married life with Lan Wangji. (To be clear, this isn’t a criticism, I’m not trying to say that he’s #problematic or anything.)

What I’m trying to get at is that none of the characters we see ever have the Betterment Of Society as a goal they work towards (as the meta linked points out, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan set out to create an alternative, not to fix what’s already here). All their motivations, their goals are ultimately very personal.

In CQL, the story comes off as way more concerned with and focused on society and the way things are/should be, whereas in the novel, any point that’s made about that is secondary to the characters’ personal stories and journeys. I could call it outer-world focused vs inner-world focused, I suppose. Which isn’t to say one’s better than the other! I just find it an interesting thematic distinction.

I don’t think I have a greater point, I just think that’s neat and something that’s important to keep in mind when talking about characterization or analyzing the text!

Idk this might be splitting hairs or preaching to the choir but I needed it spelled out clearly for myself and maybe someone else will also have a ‘!!!’ moment if they read it so I’m putting it in the tags :’D.

(also sorry @ OP if you don’t want to be tagged, i’m not sure what the etiquette is for when you get inspired by cool meta lol)

[welcome-to-the-gay-bar]

So I we started to watch Attack on Titan again after many years and I’ve just finished season two and before starting season three I wanted to take a trip down memory lane and look at all my old favourite AOT fan fictions from 2014 (and see what’s popular nowadays that I may have missed, since wow, a lot has changed since I was last present in this fandom and compared to what’s happening in the current episodes season one was tame).

I’ve noticed a huge divide between fanon and canon and I kinda wanted to ruminate on this a bit.

Eren’s character in the show isn’t my favourite. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still fond of this brash idiot, but he’ll never be my favourite. He falls into this shonen protagonist trope of being hot headed and ill tempered. He doesn’t take advice, he’s not going to listen to plans or authority, he always thinks he’s right and only follows his moral compass, and to tie it all up he’s not even that strong. He can’t back up the threats that he’s laying down and yet he always rushes into situations with fists flying and never thanks or appreciates the characters (Mikasa) that get him out of those tricky situations. The only way to get through to him is to physically beat him down and even then it may not work if he hadn’t already somewhat respected you (Mikasa again). This character type is seen so often in shonen and I’m really not a fan, I like the cool and calculating protagonist better. Someone who has the power behind their threats and doesn’t rush into situations. Again, I like Eren, but I think it’s the other characters in the show that balance him out and the plot itself that makes me like Attack on Titan.

Compare this to fanon where his default character is happy ray of sunshine who’s a little bit naive. It’s a rather jarring comparison but I also don’t necessarily dislike it either. To me canon and fanon characteristics are almost completely seperate. If I had to always think a d compare fan fiction to canon I probably couldn’t read it. I read about happy fanon Eren and see canon angry Eren and to me they are two completely different characters - two completely different people even. If I had to read fan fiction about canon Eren I can 1000000% say that I just wouldn’t. I couldn’t. I’d be totally bored. As I said before, I like Eren but it’s the people around him and the plot itself that makes him bearable. I can watch a show about him because it takes less time and emotional energy, but I couldn’t invest in reading a book about him (which is why I haven’t read the manga either).

This isn’t even exclusively towards Attack on Titan. Back in my Teen Wolf phase I noticed how different canon and fanon characters were. Small secret - I was knee deep in the Teen Wolf fandom before I realised that I hadn’t actually watched an episode of Teen Wolf. One of my mutual’s reblogged TW artwork that was linked to a story and from that I never looked back. When I actually did get around to watching TW I can honestly say I was more than a wee bit disillusioned. Derek and Stiles are obviously not the main characters and I was prepared for that, but then they barely interacted, and when they did interact it was nothing like what I had read about - nothing like what their fanon characters or interactions were like. I can honestly say that I never made it past the first season - the show just wasn’t for me - but I was still thoroughly invested in the fandom for another year or two.

Something about fanon Sterek dynamics just did it for me, their characters and relationship was just so on point for what I wanted, and this is kind of when I came to accept that canon and fanon can be so different that it almost feels as if it’s two pieces of completely different media. I mean, fanon has its own set of rules, it’s own character tropes and story arcs that even completely different authors with completely different stories somewhat instinctively know to follow. I think that’s amazing, but it’s also a double edged sword. See these first two examples were of shows that I A) never watched/finished before reading fan fiction, B) don’t necessarily love love the characters in canon. That means that fanon is more appealing because it takes something I don’t care too strongly for and changes it to something more appealing. But what about when fanon takes something I love and cherish and remoulds it?

I want to briefly take this time to talk about something I’ve dubbed “the twink affect”. When you take a character that’s originally strong willed, self sufficient, and somewhat masculine and you pair the, up with someone EVEN MORE strong willed, self sufficient, and masculine - the “Alpha male” of characters if you will. I find that fanon is incapable of seeing two strong men together in a relationship and will eventually slowly twinkify one of them. Make them smaller, softer, lonelier, less self sufficient and more reliant on others, they need to be taken care of, they’re now a ball of sunshine that’s radiant and joyful, they’re cotton candy that melts on your tongue. You put them next to the pairing you ship them with and instead of seeing two strong men you see a bear and a twink. That’s definitely what’s happened to the two characters/pairings mentioned before and I honestly didn’t mind because I wasn’t protective of the source material, but when it does happen to a character I love it’s the most frustrating thing in the world, and I can’t even complain because I’ve already reaped the benefits from other fandoms. (I am going to complain though, this is my blog and I can do what I want mum.)

I’m going to talk about Mo Dao Zu Shi. Beautiful story that I love in (almost) all its various adaptations, but I’ve noticed the ever slow changing of fanon’s Wei Wuxian. For anyone reading this that hasn’t read MDZS (or if anyone’s reading this at all, I am expecting to just be shouting into the void at this point) Wei Wuxian dies - not a spoiler, it happens at the very beginning of the story - and comes back to life in the body of Mo Xuanyu. Mo Xuanyu is small malnourished and twinky - he even canonically wears makeup (or at least has it in his possession, I’m getting the various adaptations confused and I can’t remember if in canon Wei Wuxian woke up in Mo Xuanyu’s body already wearing the makeup or if he just finds the tin of makeup in Mo Xuanyu’s possessions). Wei Wuxian’s character is also a bit of a tease, and now he’s alive and unburdened by the past he’s much freer now than he was in the past, couple that with the fact that he’s pretending to be Mo Xuanyu (a character who is rumoured to be gay and also a bit insane) he goes all out in pretending to be a shameless flirt, and it’s honestly hilarious, I love his character. So in a sense he has all the makings of a canon twink and I’m really not here to shame on those who portray him that way while he’s in Mo Xuanyu’s body.

My personal issue is with the same extreme twink portrayal while he’s in his original body. In his original body Wei Wuxian is BUFF. He’s hunky, he’s in the top five most eligible bachelors, he’s *car honks* woof woof bark bark *whistles* puurrrr, he’s one of the most powerful cultivators of his generation, he’s a genius too. He’s hunky. He still has the cheeky shameless character, but when you compare him to the male lead Lan Wangji, they’re about the same size and strength. My favourite type of fan fiction in MDZS is fix it/everybody lives nobody dies/no war/etc etc. Basically stories where Wei Wuxian keeps his original body. The fanon twink portrayal of him being so small and soft and weak while in canon he’s one of the strongest and smartest urks me in ways I can’t explain. It’s not what I want, not what I’m looking for. I love him for who he is in canon and to see his character so distorted by fans of the original work is frustrating. I just want to read about Wei Wuxian as a jock with his equally buff and tall nerd boyfriend.

I want to pause here and say that I have nothing against authors that write him in a twinky way, I respect your work and your characters (and as I said before I’ve reaped the benefits of other fandoms twinky character portrayals numerous times), if I read a fic that I’m not happy with the characterisation I just close the tab and move on so absolutely no hate to anyone who enjoys this character type. I’m just ruminating on the fact that I’ve been seeing it happen more and more often lately to the point where I’ve kind of bounced the fandom and am sticking to other works like Scum Villain that haven’t yet twinkified too much (there will always be one or two stories in every fandom that twinkify and honestly? I respect that. Authors said twink rights ONLY, good for them).

Mo Dao Zu Shi isn’t the only fandom I’ve been in that I’ve negatively reacted to fanon. Another one would be Batman (I love Tim with all my heart and I love him getting treated nicely but damn I sometimes wish people would remember how freaking strong and amazing he is too), 2Ha is another I’ve started to see “twinkified” (although I don’t mind seeing Chu Wanning being soft and taken care of, he is canonically called handsome and masculine and he’s quite tall too), I’ve even seen the canonically “top” character (and that seems so weird to write oml) be twinkified by fandom because they want to see him get bottomed for ~equal rights~ because apparently bottoming is seen as a “woman’s position” to them and they’re trying to be woke by switching the sexual positions up but failing to see how misogynistic and homophobic that take is (imma stop myself here because that a WHOLE ‘nother can or worms to be opened right there).

What I’m trying to say is fanon is a double edged sword and I’ve definitely enjoyed some and hated some. I think it’s important to seperate the two. I do think it’s annoying for fandoms to be flooded with mischaracterisation when you actually do like the original characters and I wish there was some way to seperate fandom into “actual canon fans” and “fans of fanon”, but I don’t have a solution and I’ve definitely contributed to the problem in the past so for that I’m sorry.

I don’t know how to end this long ass rant, I don’t know what the goal was in writing this, but taadaa ~ here’s my exceptionally long take on fanon.

[procrastynol]

I wasn’t tagged, but I’ll take the invitation from @theghostcaptain and just hop on the train to answer some questions about my writing. So, I guess thanks are in order? 😉❤️

AO3: @Procrastynol

Fandoms

Currently I’m trapped in the MDZS hell (focusing on songxiao, but pretty much everything else is also go, wangxian, 3zun, anything) with a side of SVSSS and FF7 (mainly tsengru and/or turks centric). I’m still working my way through the huge load of danmei, so maybe things like TGCF, 2HA or SPL will soon join the list.

Other things I can’t seem to let go of include FF15, Mass Effect, Dragon Age and a hint of Marvel and Star Wars. If you want to go really far back, you can add LotR and Hobbit to the pile.

Where You Post

You can find all of my fics on AO3 @Procrastynol

​I rarely use tumblr anymore, mostly for keeping all the links to my fics organised in one place - and to read meta that will shred my poor heart. My main social media is Twitter, so if you want to yell at me, please go over there and feel free to do so.

Most Popular Oneshot

Conflict of Interest (FF7, tsengru, domestic fluff and dogs)

I started this one on a whim in August 2020 because A) the hype for FF7 Remake was real and B) plague times, yay! It got me back into writing fanfiction after not having done so for several years, and I’m still surprised how positively it has been received among the people who read FF7 fanfictions. A follow-up is currently in its early drafting state.

Most Popular Multichap

None (so far). But I have something brewing for my songxiao gang, so I’ll just be a little tease and tell you to stay tuned for more until Summer 2021. 😉

Favourite Story You’ve Written So Far

Untethered (MDZS, songxiao, character study xxc)

That is my November/December/Christmas-procrastination baby, which started out as a midnight word vomit I wrote in a desperate attempt to find sleep. It only grew from there, and it has become my first deep dive into the character of Xiao Xingchen and the canon setting of MDZS. To this day, it just blows me away how well this story is received despite its length and the rather limited songxiao bubble. I’m really proud of what I did here, and it has been a while since I could say that about anything I have written.

Fic You Were Nervous to Post

Frostbloom Flowers (MDZS, modern songxiao, flowershop AU)

This was my absolute first fic for the fandom, and my second fic in total after the unexpected “success” of Conflict of Interest. I was so scared to get the characters or the setting wrong, even more so since this was a prompt fill for the songxiao Secret Santa event. It has done surprisingly well, so well actually, that I have turned this into a series that I will continue this February.

How You Choose Your Titles

They either come to me or the don’t. Really, there is almost nothing in between. Sometimes a poem, a line, a lyric, an image, SOMETHING sparks my imagination and the title is the first thing I have.

If it is the other way around, the idea usually revolves around a certain dialogue, scene, setting, etc. that I want to explore and I really struggle finding a title for it once the fic is finished. There are rare instances where a title comes to me simply while working on a fic, but mostly it’s hit or miss. If it is the latter, I usually sit in my room and decide to name stories after the first thing my eyes land on 5 minutes before posting them. 😅

Do You Outline

90% of times I do. Especially larger works or multichaps need an outline. I sometimes try to write non-chronologically, and I have a really hard time doing it, so the outline becomes my LIFELINE. It allows me to skip over parts I find hard and just put the famous [get there] in certain spaces, knowing I can come back later to flesh them out because the outline guides through this process.

For oneshots, I sometimes freestyle, but even then I usually write down a few lines for the scenes/dialogues I really want to include and put them in the corresponding order, so I have a goal to work towards to and don’t start meandering around.

I hate doing them, though, even though I largely depend on outlines.

Complete

All of my fics are complete at the moment, but I have two on-going series that I’m feeding with new entries in irregular intervals.

In Progress

I have some WIPS, but none of them are in the process of being published right now. But there are a few things I’m working on, so follow me to the next paragraph if you want more details on that. 😁

Coming Soon / Not Yet Started

Curiosity killed the Cat [WT] - which is a MDZS multichapter fic I have started working on last December. I really wanted to try writing a case fic for once, something more than just drama and romance (although drama and romance will still be very much part of this). Plotting a murder mystery is really new to me and sometimes exhausting, but so far I’m having a lot of fun doing it. I don’t want to spoil the details, but it will definitely focus on pre-canon songxiao and a mysterious haunting/murder they encounter during their travels.

Another thing would be the continuation of the Egret Flower series. Currently I’m finalising the second part, writing on part three and four has already begun. Part two will feature songxiao going on the date that has been teased in the first part, Frostbloom Flowers, and part three is currently giving me a hard time because I decided to include some wangxian - we’ll see how it goes.

I’m also trying to feed the Shinra fandom a bit, since it got me back into writing literally days before I got swept away by MDZS and danmei hell. But tsengru still holds a place in my heart, has done so for years, and so Conflict of Interest has now also been turned into a series, It’s me or the Dog, and the second part for this series is also outlined already and just waiting for me to flesh it out.

Upcoming Work You’re Most Excited About

Curiosity killed the Cat [WT], definitely. I have only ever finished one other multichap in my life, and I plan to complete this one before I start posting it, to feed my lovely songxiaoists in regular intervals (and to make sure this entire case fic works and does not go up in smoke halfway down). But since this involves so many new things for me at the same time, I’m equally excited and anxious to finish it and start posting it.

Tagging

Since I’m pretty much inactive on this platform I find it a bit hard to tag someone. I think @wangji-string might have something to offer, at least if they haven’t participated already (although if you don’t feel like doing this, please feel free to ignore me). I’ll just leave it open to the rest of you whoever read this and may find it interesting - if you want to do this, please, feel free to do it! 😉

[tangerinechar]

MDZS ML au??

seeing as how I'm way deep in mdzs hell already, I came up with a MDZS miraculous ladybug au. As if I don't have enough fics to write already.

-wei ying as Blackie, the holder of the Black Cat miraculous and adopted son of the powerful Jiang family.

-lan zhan as Ladybug, the holder of the eponymous Ladybug miraculous, spare heir to the Lan Corporation and new kid in school.

-jiang cheng as Monarch, the holder of the Butterfly miraculous and heir to the Jiang family, and jiang yanli as Honeycomb, the holder of the Bee miraculous and the heart of their three-person team.

-nie huaisang as Kitsune, holder of the Fox miraculous and the biggest source of gossip at the Rich Kid(tm) academy they all attend.

+Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue as supportive older brothers who know their siblings' superhero identities

-Wen Ning as Tortoiseshell, the holder of the Turtle miraculous and the shyest theater kid you'll ever meet. Wen Qing as the one girl who knows everybody's identities.

-she acts as technical support and backup for the superheroes

-(and used to be their medical support, too, before Ladybug showed up)

-Jin Zixuan is given the Peacock miraculous by jiang yanli, much to wei ying and jiang cheng's amusement, and becomes Iridescent.

-Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue, and Jin Guangyao form the Venerated Triad of the intersection of academics, arts, and athletics... they all attend the same college

-lan xichen as the prodigal student who's studying to become an international diplomat, nie mingjue as the captain of the martial arts team and future world champion, jin guangyao as the stunning musical talent (and holder of the rat miraculous.)

-some of the miraculouses are passed down by families, the jiang fam has the butterfly miraculous, the Jin family has the rat, etc.

-the Stunning Six (or the superhero seven, after lan zhan enters the picture) as they might be called, protect Shanghai and are pretty high-profile. Despite that, they manage to keep their identities well hidden.

-thanks to the magic of the miraculous, it'll stay that way

-nobody in the superhero group knows who Ladybug is

-except Wei Ying, who found out purely by accident

-aside from that, jiang yanli keeps her identity hidden from her teammates (except her brothers and Jin Zixuan) because she doesn't want word to get back to her parents

-Jiang Cheng uses his powers to create a body double of jiang yanli, because their parents would never allow her to moonlight as a superhero

-but everybody knows anyways, from how wei ying and jiang cheng are so protective of her.

-aside from jiang cheng, wen ning, and jin zixuan, the miraculouses were found hidden in their schoolbags or in their rooms one day.

-along with a note that warned them of unrest in shanghai and the danger to come, and a brief explanation of the miraculouses.

-everyone you meet either loves Ladybug or loves Blackie or both, and most everyone ships it too

-Ladybug is like

-the last person you'd imagine to be the co-leader of the superhero group, and so popular with the general public as well

-he's cold and stone-faced and super efficient, and has 0 tolerance for the media

-Blackie is charismatic and knows exactly what to say at all times and loves talking to his fans, on the other hand

-so they become the twin symbols of peace very quickly, Blackie being the sun, reassuring and comforting and confident, while Ladybug is the moon, scarily powerful and distant.

-jiang cheng, jiang yanli, wei ying, and lan zhan are the offensive

-nie huaisang, jin zixuan, and wen ning are the defensive

-out of all of them, Wen Qing, Nie huaisang, wei ying, and lan zhan end up doing the strategy and plans

-jiang yanli and wen ning provide moral support and food

-if anything goes wrong, the jiang family home is the unofficial meeting place for planning

-jin guangyao uses the miraculous of the rat

-he's the heir to the Jin family, but he has more nefarious plans in place to ensure his succession and consolidate his power

-the main superhero gang is in a rich kid high school

-can you imagine the efforts they go through to conceal their identities

-I mean, once things start going south they have to find a place to transform and deal with any new developments, trying to stop jin guangyao's underhanded plans

-all without skipping class or breaking any rules

-the place ends up being the empty science classroom on the second floor

-Blackie is the biggest flirt ever, but once Ladybug arrives he only has eyes for him

-half the net ships them ("look at how Done Monarch is with them! And how supportive honeycomb is being here! Don't you dare tell me they aren't trying to set Blackie up with LB.") And the other half is thoroughly convinced that they hate each other.

-But no matter what your view is, you can't deny that their teamwork is amazing

-Honeycomb is an actual goddess

-who knows, maybe lan xichen gets the dragon miraculous and nie mingjue gets the tiger, if they ever end up needing more backup

-Wei ying's costume is black with red accents around the ears, tail and gloves. Along with his baton, he carries a flute with him that, when used with his miraculous, can speak to animals. 

-Lan Zhan's costume is also mostly black, with red areas cut out on his sides, spirals decorating the legs and his neck. His hair gets tied up in a ponytail during the transformation, but he keeps the white and blue ribbon. his costume comes with a circular shield on the back that expands to become a pair of wings. his mask is black with red swirls.

-jiang cheng has a very practical outfit, with a violet tuxedo jacket that flares in the back, dark grey pants and fitted black boots, a sword at his side, a protective leather vest and a darker purple shirt with white tie. his hair is adorned with a braid and bun held in place by a butterfly clip.

-jiang yanli has a poofy sunflower yellow skirt that has two layers - a gauzy yellow layer and a solid black inner - along with a yellow top that has fluted quarter sleeves with black swirls, black gloves and leggings, and rusty golden boots. she also gets translucent wings that let her fly. Her mask has a honeycomb pattern.

-instead of a flute, nie huaisang gets a fan. he can attack with it, creating gusts of wind, and create illusions by flipping it. he gets decked out in full-on fantasy robes that vary from pale orange and yellow (outer robe and pants) to white (inner shirt and boots) to vivid sunset orange (inner robe). his mask has paw-prints under each eye.

-wen ning's costume is mainly a deep emerald green with lighter accents in shell patterns on the sides of his legs, arms, and stomach. His shield covers much of his back, like lan zhan's, and can be used to fly. His hair gets swept into a bun.

-jin zixuan's costume is much like nie huaisang's, except with a darker blue-green-brown color scheme and less inconvenient. his robes turn colorful as they reach the ground, and his mask fans out on the sides of his head like a peacock's tail.

-you can often spot Honeycomb and Ladybug soaring through the air at night, accompanied by Monarch and Blackie if you squint hard enough

-superhero gang getting up to shenanigans around the city and Nie Huaisang filming it all, uploading it to his weibo account

-Nie Huaisang, after videotaping a transformed jiang cheng falling into a river and Blackie hissing at it while Monarch yells for help: I have no regrets

-they all frequent this one tiny bubble tea shop, both as students and superheroes

-Wei Ying, uploading a group photo of them on a skyscraper at sunset, drinking bubble tea: the secret to gaining superpowers is good bubble tea

-Wen Qing doubles as their social media manager

-just, superhero!mdzs gang being happy

...my hand slipped.