#and wwx who thought lwj hated him just blue screens and is like

[trensu]

hi!! i really enjoy reading your wangxiantics episode recaps, so thanks for taking the time to do those for us! if you had to place only ONE wangxian kiss in the untamed canon, what moment would you put it?

WHAT AN INTERESTING QUESTION!!! I purposely held off on replying this ask until AFTER i had finished my wangxiantics guide so I could make absolutely certain of my answer!

So after some thought, if I could place only ONE wangxian kiss in the untamed canon, it would absolutely have to be in the last episode. 

At this point, lwj has already come to terms with his romantic feelings for wwx. He’s matured, and he has a better understanding of who he, himself, is as a person. He’s weathered the storm and come out still standing, y’know? As for wwx, he’s finally finally achieved some sort of inner peace. Not completely, mind you, bc that’s a heck of a lot of emotional and mental trauma to work through, but he knows his family is safe now. He knows that all the shit that went down before his death wasn’t solely due to his own mistakes and character flaws. Some of that weight he’s been getting crushed under has been lifted. Finally, in this episode, all the external conflict that was constantly pressuring our boys and shoving them around from one place to the next, is all resolved! They’ve got no one to answer to except themselves!

Having the kiss in any other episode i think would’ve just created more conflict and tension (of the un-fun variety) bc there was either already SO MUCH happening  (post resurrection) or the boys just wouldn’t have been in the right emotional/mental state for it to lead to anything good (pre- and post-sunshot campaign). So it has to happen in this last episode, where they both know themselves and where they stand in the world; where they both have experienced all those trials together and apart and are able to decide that yes, even after everything, the person they want and trust and love is this person right here. 

Now, as to WHERE in the last episode the kiss should be, it gets a little trickier. I don’t want it right after they escape the Temple of Doom bc that could just be played off as split second thing resulting from an adrenaline rush. Then I thought maybe when it’s revealed that lsz is wen yuan but i felt that that might take away focus from wwx’s realization that he didn’t completely fail the wen clan, and that all his efforts, all his sacrifices, culminated in the wonderful talented boy before him. So i scrapped that idea.

Finally, I decided that the best place to put that kiss in this episode would be during their heart to heart on that boulder near the waterfall. After wwx tells hanguang jun that he truly deserves that title and lwj replies that wwx deserves it too. I think the kiss would fit perfectly there bc then their separation wouldn’t have been so painful. It wouldn’t have been a kiss goodbye. It wouldn’t have been a “do you love me?” kiss. It would’ve been a “my love is with you always no matter the distance” kiss. It’s a promise that even tho they have to go separate ways in a bit, they will always end up here with each other; bc the world is vast and full of wonder but it holds only one home for them and that home is when they are with each other. 

ALTERNATIVELY:

@theuntamednarrator came up with a super adorable option. They could get kisses during their meal at yiling! You all know how a-yuan holds the title for Greatest Wingman, right? so in this scenario, he really goes all out. He insists on Xian-gege giving him a kiss on the cheek, and wwx is hardly gonna say no to that request. So he happily leans down to give his precious little a-yuan a kiss on the cheek. 

BUT THEN a-yuan is adamant that xian-gege ALSO has to give rich-gege a kiss. RICH-GEGE CAN’T BE LEFT OUT, THAT’LL HURT RICH-GEGE’S FEELINGS AND THAT’S NOT VERY NICE! So wwx would laugh nervously and be like “kids, amirite?” and brush his lips against lwj’s cheek. It happens in the span of, like, two seconds. He just dives in and barely, barely grazes his lips against the soft skin of lwj’s cheek before he’s back on the other side of the table talking loudly and fiddling with his chopsticks.

of course lwj completely blue-screens for a solid minute right after. in fact, his brain is only rebooted bc a-yuan wants a kiss from rich-gege. wwx tries to tell him off (bc omg lwj doesn’t like to be touched and he’s already pushed the limits by giving him a kiss to begin with!) but lwj has yet to say no to anything a-yuan requests and he’s not about to start now. So he gives a-yuan a kiss on the forehead but a-yuan explains that no, “rich-gege you did it wrong, you have to kiss the cheek!” and lwj would be all serious about it, “my apologies. i will attempt to do it correctly” and then gives him a kiss on the cheek.

and wwx feels a swoop in his belly bc a-yuan turned to look at him and he knew in that moment that a-yuan is going to tell lwj to kiss him. and wwx just...can’t have that happen right now and he’s wondering if flipping the table and running away can be explained as a freak side-effect of demonic cultivation (except wait no, that would just make lwj mad bc lwj hates demonic cultivation) and OH THANK GOD, THE PERIMETER ALARMS HAVE BEEN TRIPPED, BETTER RUN BACK TO THE BURIAL MOUNDS.

...

So there you go anon! You get my option and TB’s option, lol, a two for one deal! Althought, i must say, I am curious as to where others would place that kiss, given the option...

[naanima]

The Untamed /陈情令/Chen Qing Ling Spoilers

It has been 84 years since I last updated.

I started watching The Untamed (陈情令/Chen Qing Ling) sometime in the past few days.

Time is an abstract concept at this point. I have had little sleep, screeching on discord, and too much social contact.

I went into this expecting dumpster trashfire level of entertainment. But holy fuck it is legit good.

I'm so stunned, a BL live adaptation with a good script, good production design and sets, a really great BGM that actually enhance a scene rather than being intrusive. I also really love the cinematography. A decent to good ensemble cast, and main leads that have chemistry. And OMFG, the TIGHT PACING. Holy fuck, a BL c-drama that has amazing tight pacing. The latter half was so fucking addictive, tight, and just so good.

The negative: the way they shot the fight sequences were fucking horrible. In the long shots you see how cool the fight choreography were but THEN ULTRA CLOSE UP AND YOU SEE SHIT ALL. For a xianxia genera this was extra frustrating.

The use of whatever filter that made the whole show look cold and blue. Urgh.

And now I have to talk about the two leads; the drama made me like Wei Wuxian, I went in basically going Xiao Zhan is cute, at least this trashfire show will have eyecandy. I really really disliked WWX in the book (I also found the book to be so bad) but the drama MADE ME LIKE WWX WHO IS NOT A FUCKING DUMBASS. I want good things for wwx. What a fucking surprise.

Now to Lan Wangji... so I found the screen caps and vids of LWJ to be so ugly. His face is just too much, his eyes droopy, and his STEAM BUN CHEEKS IS SO URGH. And now I'm basically, I WILL LOVE YOU, YOU LOVE FILLED FOOL, BUT I CANNOT UNSEE YOUR STEAM BUN CHEEKS. We all must accept the faults and imperfections. I still AGONISE about his face. But fuck, I adore lwj, who thought he could be a real person as opposed to the book version of him - a paper cut-out BL top with a penis. I did not give a shit for him at all, but OMFG!!! LWJ IS GREATO!

I basically want all the fics about lwj being treated well, or being gang/banged, whichever one happens is good for me!

This is a really good live action adaptation of a BL novel and it makes me have hope for the future of this genera. As a person who disliked the book because it was so juvenile in its main leads - I wanted to bash wwx's head in and found lwj forever boring.

I know there are people who hated it because of the acting, and I have to say each their own I suppose. There were definitely issues with overacting and it was at times obvious that both wyb and xz didn't have the necessary tools to pull off certain emotions. But they both have really good instincts in regards to posture and emoting. I'm very exited at the potential I see in them. To me their acting wasn't any worse than most of the young actors in Chinese dramas barring the exceptional few (Liu Haoran).

But fuck, lwj can have my heart.

I found myself like most of the ensemble cast from the young kids (Jinyi the little shit) to Lan Xichen (dude deserves so much better). But fuck, I find a lot of my heart hurting for Jiang Cheng.

And When Ning made me laugh so hard.

Oh yeah, I fucking hate Xue Yang, I have no sympathy for him. He should have been strangled at birth. Xiao Xing Chen deserved fucking better, do did Song Lan.

Also, fuck Jin Guangyao. Just fuck him. I get why he did it, but just fuck him.

The last stretch of episodes was so tight and so addictive. It was one giant fucked therapy session.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the series. It had no right to be as good as it is. Look, it ain't the best drama series and it sure ain't gonna win awards, and it is not flawless. But, what it is is an actual good adaptation of a book, a BL xianxia book at that. And I hope BL live action in the future look at this - take the good and change the bad (those fucking wigs. Urgh.).

I'm also noodling fic ideas.

But also send me fics where lwj gets banged by wwx or others. I'm good with either... Or both.

[trensu]

Episode 4: or the One with that Many Minutes of Wangxian Screen Time

Not too many long wangxian scenes, my friends, but let’s hit the highlights

MOMENT 1: wwx catches lwj’s eye during class and gives him a cute little grin paired with an equally cute little wave and duck of the head. 

But LWJ IS NOT CHARMED! Not our precious ice prince. No, this guy gives him a cold, immediate shutdown because LWJ is a Disaster Gay™ at this point in his life. Also bc the only reason he noticed wwx here was because wwx was whispering with nhs

He’s very annoyed. Because wwx is being rude in class. Not for any other reason.

Boring lecture happens, boring plot stuff happens, blah blah, wen chao exists suddenly and we all hate him blah blah

Okay, one non-wangxian note here because i just noticed this: LWJ WAS READY TO THROW DOWN WITH WEN CHAO. LIKE, HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR LECTURES??

THAT'S WHAT GETS YOU RILED UP, LWJ?? REALLY?? INSULTING YOUR STUDY MATERIAL???

LWJ IS SUCH A NERD LOLOLOL

Okay, Moment 2: outside of class, wwx says hi to lwj loudly and with biggest most sunshiney grin to have ever existed, waving his arm all big and exaggerated to catch lwj’s attention because lwj is walking purposefully to somewhere, who knows/cares where

HE’S SO ENTHUSIASTICALLY SAYING HI TO LWJ?? LIKE SO EXCITED!! LIKE SOMETHING THAT’S NOT A PUPPY BC DOGS, AS WE KNOW, ARE HORRIBLE (according to wwx; i have no strong opinions on dogs. I’m a cat person)

I cannot emphasize enough how adorable wwx is here. 

LWJ just Nopes right out of that greeting, tho

He was hit full force, point blank with that sunshine smile and storms off at a different direction than what he was originally walking towards (which happens to be opposite of where wwx is)

And he’s so angry about it too? Like, his expression doesn’t change but it definitely radiates annoyance

“I HATE THIS STUPID AWFUL PRETTY BOY WHO STOOD UP TO WEN CHAO, THE GUY I WAS GONNA SUCKER PUNCH FOR INSULTING MY FAMILY’S ANCIENT FANTASY CHINA SUMMER SCHOOL.”

“GOD WHAT A NUISANCE HE IS. IT’S DEFINITELY HATE THAT I’M FEELING. LOATHING, EVEN.” *insert Wicked the Musical reference here*

This all happens in like, the span of a minute, btw. That’s the entire length of the wangxian moment here. We’re getting table scraps and it hurts

Lol, WWX immediately decides that LWJ must have bad hearing bc who on earth would ignore him, the ever so charming and handsome wwx?

Also, can i just say that the blue sash wwx has to wear for their school uniform IS UNSeEMLy?

YOU CAN’T JUST DRAW MY ATTENTION TO WWX’S ITTY BITTY WAIST LIKE THAT

MY NERVES CAN'T TAKE IT.

I’M NOT AS REPRESSED AS LWJ. I CAN’T JUST IGNORE IT.

mOVIng ON

Moment 3: TURTLE TIME. WWX, that rapscallion, pins a hand-drawn cartoon turtle on lqr’s back. Which ofc mortally offends LWJ, who shoots him a glare that can level armies as he snatches the drawing and disintegrates it with the weight of his Disapproval

Almost immediately after this, we get...

Moment 4: OUR FIRST PAPERMAN  (okay that's a lie bc we saw a type of a paperman in ep2 but this one is the first one in his chronological life time and DEFINITELY the first wangxian paperman)

Cute little red paperman that wwx sends to CLIMB ALL OVER LWJ

Like, NOTICE ME LWJ LOOK AT ME LWJ LWJ LWJ LOOK I’M HERE

Little Red Paperman makes it to LWJ’s shoulder before LWJ heartlessly grabs it and crumples it into a little ball of Repressed Gay Rage

Okay, so Moment 5 is actually a series of stolen glances .

Lqr calls on WWX to answer some questions in that way teachers do when they think you’re slacking off and not paying attention.

LWJ starts sneaking looks at the first correct answer WWX gives, like “oh, he’s clever??”

WWX ofc is preening at each question he gets right

LWJ sneaks another glance, Grudgingly Impressed.

LQR then calls on LWJ to answer a question that stumps WWX so ofc LWJ shows off his brain for a bit too. He’s all smug about it, like so what if wwx is clever, i’m smarter and therefore superior to him

BUT THEN WWX challenges LQR with a question of his own (it’s foreshadowing, but whatever we don’t care about that rn)

And SHOCKINGLY LWJ cuts off his uncle to righteously answer WWX’s question (I’ll SHOW HIM TO ASK WEIRD QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT MAKE ME QUESTION THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS)

LWJ then sneaks ANOTHER look at WWX because HE CAN’T KEEP HIS EYES OFF HIM FOR SOME MYSTERIOUS UNKNOWN REASON 

The only reason he stops sneaking glances is bc his uncle kicks wwx out of class, thus ending Moment 5

But then lqr immediately gets the ball rolling for Moment 6 by sending LWJ after WWX to make sure WWX doesn’t skip out on his punishment (writing lines, no kinky sex stuff)

Moment 6, our last wangxian moment of the episode: Sword Fight by the Waterfall.

Okay, maybe fight is too strong of a word. It’s more like LWJ startles WWX, who is in deep thought for plot-related reasons, so WWX whips out his sword to attack before he really thinks about it

LWJ blocks it (gracefully) and pulls out his sword as well. There’s a couple of sword clashes (against A GORGEOUS BACKDROP IN THE FORM OF A WATERFALL, LIKE SERIOUSLY EPIC ROMANCE LEVELS OF BEAUTY)

And the episode is over.

Like, okay, there’s Six Moments of Wangxian content but they’re all, like, barely a minute long?? Except maybe for Moment 5, but that’s because i squished together several tiny moments of stolen glances

SHOW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHY ARE YOU NEGLECTING MY EMOTIONAL NEEDS. THIS IS A HATE CRIME, I’M CALLING THE COPS

Return to Masterpost

[trensu]

Can I just! I've actually thought about a Sailor Moon AU since Winter and I gotta say, I wanted it to be that way around too BUT if we say Wangji is Tuxedo Mask who conveniently shows up out of nowhere and lovingly stares at Sailor Moon while she's dying and Wei Ying is Moon, we can have NHS as Venus because the two are canonically disaster friends who don't study. Wen Qing is Mars for me, NMJ may be Jupiter (or Pluto). Ning is probably Saturn, cute but deadly and died once but came back.

Look friend, this sailor moon au is a playground open for all!! it can hold ALL the versions of sailor moon aus.

I’m gonna confess that you’re putting much more thought into this than i ever have. You want to match up characterizations? You want to stick close to canon? ASTOUNDING!! I FULLY SUPPORT YOUR ENDEAVOR!!! However, speaking for myself here, i have not actually watched sailor moon since i was ten years old (which...like...it’s been a while since i was ten lol) so i have ZERO KNOWLEDGE of characterization or, like, the general plot. I only remember the Aesthetic. and to be 100% upfront with you, my reasons for this au are COMPLETELY SHALLOW. Literally i came up with it bc i wanted lwj in a skimpy sailor scout skirt. Like, that’s it. That’s the reason. XD XD XD

(okay, also, i guess i thought it’d be funny for him to do the magical girl transformation full of dazzling sparkles and upbeat music all while sporting a completely flat expression, BUT MOSTLY I WANTED LWJ IN A SKIRT. LET LWJ WEAR SKIRTS AND BE PRETTY AND GET SWEPT OFF HIS FEET BY WWX!!! HE DESERVES IT!!!!!)

I do, however, LOVE the idea of wen qing as sailor mars!! It’s great!! It fits her fiery personality perfectly!! I’m pretty stuck on jc being sailor jupiter tho bc LIGHTNING, but i’m assuming sailor jupiter is not as grumpy as jc (bc who is, really?) so I can understand why you’d want someone else as jupiter. I never thought to include nmj as a sailor scout, but let me tell you HOW MUCH I LOVE THE IDEA. also, I did NOT know that sailor saturn died at any point and came back, but since that’s the case, you’re ABSOLUTELY CORRECT that wen ning works as sailor saturn!!

Now, then, i’d like to make the argument that lwj and jzx work as sailor moon/sailor venus disaster friends. HEAR ME OUT, I SWEAR IT’LL MAKE SENSE (hopefully). Lwj and Jzx may not be conventional disasters like wwx and nhs are, but I posit that they’re Disasters in Rich Boy ways. They’re respectable! They’re raised to maintain appearances!! But they’re ALSO ridden with self-doubt and anxiety!!! So when they have a Disaster moment, they don’t have meltdowns like peasants. No sir, they’re far too dignified for that.

Instead, jzx gets EXTRA STUCK UP AND SNOOTY whenever he experiences complicated emotions. For example, omg jyl just smiled at me what should i do I’LL POINT OUT HOW RICH I AM AND LOOK DOWN AT HER, FRANKLY, MEDIOCRE CLOTHING. (to which *I* personally respond with, shut up jzx, jyl is a GODDESS AND MAKES ANYTHING SHE WEARS LOOK HEAVENLY).

as for lwj, his default is to go completely blank-faced and stare unblinkingly at whatever is making him experience awkward feelings. mostly this happens whenever wwx is anywhere remotely close to him. wwx looks at him and says hi and lwj’s brain goes OMG, WWX IS SO HANDSOME AND CHARMING AND HAS SUCH A NICE VOICE AND PRETTY EYES OH GOD AND SUCH KISSABLE LIPS while his face stays :| and doesn’t ever actually respond to wwx’s greetings.

jzx and lwj commiserate over their shared ineptitude. like, jzx just kind of...leans his face against the wall after jyl leaves and hates himself while lwj stands next to him and judges him for it. he doesn’t say a word out loud, but jzx says “shut up!” anyway bc lwj is thinking VERY LOUDLY about how much jzx screwed up. “you’re not any better!!” he’d say and lwj would respond, “i have never made wwx cry.” and jzx would just groan and kinda die a little inside.

and whenever lwj experiences the blue screen of death bc wwx accidentally makes eye contact with him or whatever, jzx laughs under his breath. lwj blushes and the tension in his shoulders ratchets up to 11 but he still levels jzx with a glare that jzx has unfortunately grown immune to. jzx says, “at least i’ve spoken to jyl. i haven’t heard you say a single word to wwx this entire school year.”

....and this reply has gotten away from me so i’m gonna finish it up now lol. basically what i’m saying is that YES nhs and wwx are disasters and therefore work as moon/venus (presumably. again, i don’t actually remember characterizations lol) BUT jzx and lwj are ALSO disasters of a different flavor and we should DEFINITELY exploit that even out of the context of sailor moon XD XD XD