#cql: episode 41

[dailyayao]

[jin-zixun]

OK I need to just appreciate the boost in confidence my boy has post-timeskip like. The little smirk at the Lans while just straight up calling them out. Not even responding to WWX's inane shit talking here, just running interference like a very good boy.

Like I...

Just immediately spinning the situation against WWX, it's great. How much of this is planned? I don't know. He walks into frame like he's the hero of the day right after JGY's "et tu Er-Ge" moment on the stairs.

As he should! He is the hero of the day! And the hero of every day! If you're JGY I guess, from now on at least.

[br-disaster]

CQL's crybaby Nie Mingjue appreciation post

I always see people talking about CQL's Nie Mingjue crying constantly, and they're right to do so, but I haven't seen those scenes compiled so I thought it would be a good idea to do it, since it's one of my favorite things about this version of NMJ.

*I'll consider the times he was tearing up too because I think they're important, but i'm only considering "full crying scenes" the ones where there are actual tears falling down his face.

*It's all in chronological order.

Episode 41 - defending Meng Yao

Why is NMJ crying? Crying is his response to everything, okay? NMJ is very emotionally invested in everything he does. He's very mad these men for saying terrible things about Meng Yao while benefiting from his labour. He's so emotionally invested in everything he does.

Is it a full crying scene? No, he tears up the entire time he's scolding the cultivators but those tears don't leave his eyes.

Episode 10 - being threatened by Wen Chao

Why is NMJ crying? Wen Chao is being very disrespectful, as he often is. And it's understandable, NMJ is hurt, his home was invaded, some of his soldiers are dead and it's overall a terrible time for everybody. To be honest, though, I think he's tearing up out of pure rage because Wen Chao just mentioned what Wen Xu did to the Cloud Recesses.

Is it a full crying scene? No. I almost didn't include this one because it's very subtle but his eyes look too shiny to be ignored.

Episode 10 - expelling Meng Yao from the Unclean Realm

Why is NMJ crying? It's a very emotional and conflicting moment on top of a terrible day, on top of a very stressful period of his life. He was betrayed by his friend who saved his life right afterwards; his home was invaded and they're at war! He has every right to cry as much as he did.

Is it a full crying scene? Hell yes, and it's glorious. They even end the episode with his miserable little crying face.

Episode 41 - Everything, really

Why is NMJ crying? Everything sucks, he's defeated and hurt in front of the man who killed his father. He didn't get his personal revenge and he didn't free the world from Wen Ruohan's tyranny either. Instead, he watched helplessly as his men were murdered and now he has to watch his former deputy mock his father's death and threaten to have Wen Ruohan damage Baxia like he did with his father's blade.

Is it a full crying scene? No, only because he's being very brave about it. I have no idea how those tears didn't fall.

Episode 41 - confrontation at Jinlintai

Why is NMJ crying? Very difficult topics being discussed here. People who are way better with words than I am have already written amazing meta on how having his worldview challenged like this affects NMJ emotionally, so I won't go there. But between the song of turmoil making him more emotionally unstable and the disdain with which JGY talks about the men he killed, evoking this very traumatic moment I just mentioned on the previous crying scene; I think it's very understandable.

Is it a full crying scene? Yes! Most of the time he's holding back tears, but you can see the one dramatic tear running down his nose (on the outside of it) on the second gif!

In conclusion: he has so much to cry about, it's surprising he didn't cry more, it must have taken so much strength (or he was just crying offscreen, which is plausible, because sadly this isn't The Nie Mingjue show and we don't see him all the time)

Anyway, I am not here to claim he's not a crybaby because he absolutely is, but on the actual show we only have 2 full crying scenes. They were so impactful it feels like much more crying happened. Fatal Journey is it's own thing so I made a separate post for those tearing up, crying and emotional breakdown lovely scenes <3

[thatswhatsushesaid]

every so often i'll just be hanging out minding my own business, and then i'll remember the time i read some commentary about cql episode 41 that insisted jgy was using nhs as a human shield against nmj during his qi deviation. then i get mad and stomp around complaining about it to my lovely husband (who does not know/does not care about this nonsense but patiently listens to me anyway). at some point in the recent-ish past i could have sworn i wrote up a thing specifically detailing why nhs-as-crybaby-meat-shield doesn't track, but since i can't find my own post about it, i'm just going to make another, shorter one with some visual references.

here they are. (zanzan stop looking at the camera, you're supposed to be a professional.) i wish i could make gifsets because the stills don't quite show you what's happening. but imo this is a perfectly analogous moment to the 'beguiling boy' section of the novel, where nhs is fully prepared to throw himself onto the burning pyre of all his most treasured personal possessions after nmj has set them on fire. the only reason he doesn't burn more than his hands is because jgy is there to grab him and hold him back.

in this moment, nhs is struggling to get out of jgy's grip because he wants to go to his da-ge--the same da-ge who just finished hallucinating that jgy was pulling a mcu loki maneuver, and was wildly swinging baxia around trying to kill him. if jgy had let go of nhs in this moment, nhs would be badly injured--just like what happens in the novel during nmj's qi deviation--or worse.

--- this post has been added to my dreamwidth meta archive here: https://thatswhatsushewrote.dreamwidth.org/8336.html

[qinghe-s]

what’s his name?

[id: two gifs of nie mingjue from episode forty-one of the untamed. both show him from the shoulders up in a deciduous forest, the trees in the background green. nie mingjue is turned to the left, and in the first gif he turns slightly toward the viewer to speak. in the second he blinks slowly before raising his gaze, looking towards but past the viewer with slightly parted lips. end id.]

[howpeacefulislwj]

Episode 41

Lan Wangji maybe kind of Regrets letting Wei Wuxian’s Mind wander off in the middle of Hostile Territory in the body of a Very Charming but also Extremely Shreddable paperman. 3/10

Lan Wangji, aggressively: Anyways, here’s Clarity. 2/10

Lan Wangji tries out a Concerned Face on Wei Wuxian. He’s had a lot of opportunities to practice this one. 3.5/10

Wei Wuxian talks a Mad Game for a dude who was Not Responsible for taking down Literally Any of These Dudes. Lan Wangji is too busy working on a good Fighting Scowl to contradict him. Plus, you know, it’s nice to let Wei Wuxian have A Little Fun. 5.5/10

Lan Wangji has Absolutely No Patience Left. He’s got his Most Dangerous Scowl on, that Eyebrow Slant is Murderous, and it’s time to Throw His Sword at Strangers. 4/10

Lan Wangji explains using Meaningful Eyebrow Positioning alone that they have Located Nie Mingjue’s Head. Somehow this Works! Lans! 4/10

Ah yes, the Small Jiang Wanyin. The Ungrateful Child who has a Dog that Wei Wuxian Hates and Fears. Lan Wangji is not inclined to listen to the Small Jiang Wanyin. 4.5/10

As if today couldn’t get any more Annoying, Noted Loser Su She has turned up to Sneer at Everything. Look at the Sheer Judgement in Lan Wangji’s Eyes, that Pure Dislike. And Su She deserves it. 3.5/10

[januaryisnotanartist]

[ctl-yuejie]

paper man!Wei Wuxian coming back to Lan Wangji

[deliciousscaloppine]

The Untamed, Episodes 10 & 41 Nie Mingjue & Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao (Wang Yi Zhou, Zhu Zan Jin), director Wai Man Cheng

[razberryyum]

[lzswy]

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why Lan Xichen is ranked first on the list of best-looking young men in the cultivational world.

“Yao, your playing is also quite good outside Gusu. If you could be instructed by some famous musician, you’ll make great progress very soon. - There’s a famous one right before me.”

[dailyayao]

[thatswhatsushesaid]

CQL/The Untamed, episode 41

bonus:

[mostlikelytofangirl]

I just listened to the finale of the mdzs audio drama and I’m so impressed by the way JGY’s actor delivers his lines, especially JGY’s last words addressed to NMJ. I love all adaptations of mdzs and Episode 41 of cql made me start shipping nieyao in the first place, but this one really strikes at the heart of JGY’s hate, love, and unhinged devotion to NMJ.

RIGHT????

I sadly don't know who the voice actor is (I think he's now voicing Xie Lian in the tgcf donghua?? Don't quote me on that one tho orz), but he is SO GOOD.

He can convey such emotions, man! And especially when it comes to nieyao bc those two have an entire collection of Feelings(tm) for each other, and they move throughout the entire spectrum at any moment and even simultaneously, bless them :').

And until the very end, it's so abundantly clear that JGY still has so many emotions about NMJ, even at that point, literally at the end of the rope, it still shines, one of the persons that impacted him the most in life and death ;u;

[canary3d-obsessed]

Master Post - The Untamed

All of my CQL original content! This consolidates & replaces my previous CQL masterposts. 

You MAY repost any gifs or images from ANY of my “Restless Rewatch” posts as long as you credit me (Canary3d) or my blog (@canary3d-obsessed) somewhere in your post or comment. For non-Restless Rewatch images, please ask me first. (If you’re using Tumblr’s weird gif feature there’s no need to ask because that embeds a credit and it’s impossible to tell if it came from a RR post or not). 

Restless Rewatch Gifs and Memes

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 |part 6 (Jiang Cheng) |part 7 

Restless Rewatch Full Posts

Now also on AO3: Restless Rewatch: The Untamed by Canary3d

I’ve updated these links with gaps between the A and B parts, so hopefully they will work properly in the phone app, unlike before. If they’re still not working, please drop me a note, thanks!

Ep 42 (part one) and (part 2) and (part 3) (NEW)

Ep 41 (part one) and (part 2) and (part 3)

Ep 40 (part one) and (part 2)

Ep 39 (part one) and (part 2) and (part 3) 

Ep 38 (A) and (B)

Ep 37 (A) and (B)

Ep 36 (A) and (B) 

Ep 35 (A) and (B) 

Ep 34 (A)

Ep 33 (A) and (B)

Ep 32 (A) and (B)

Ep 31 (A) and (B) 

Ep 30 (A) and (B) 

Ep 29 (A) and (B) 

Ep 28 (A) 

Ep27 (A) and (B)

Ep26 (A) and (B) 

Ep25 (A) and (B) 

Ep24 (A)  and (B) 

Ep23 (A) and (B) 

Ep22 (A) and (B) 

Ep21(A) and (B) 

Ep20 (A) and (B) and (C) 

Ep19 (A) and (B) 

Ep18: (A) and (B) 

Ep17 (A) and (B)  

Ep 16: (A) and (B)  

Ep15 (A)  

Ep14 (A) and (B)  

Ep13 (A) and (B) 

Ep12 (A) and (B) and EXTRAS 

Ep11 (A) and (B) 

Ep10 (A) and (B) 

Ep09 (A) and (B) 

Ep08 (A) and (B) 

Ep07 (A) and (B) 

Ep06 (A) and (B) 

Ep05 (A) and (B) 

Ep04 (A) and (B) 

Ep03 (A)  

Ep02 (A) 

Ep01 (A)

Restless Writing Prompts 

Clipper’s Guide to The Untamed

Mo Dao Zu Shi Adaptations Available in English

Parallels

I love digging into the many, many visual, stylistic, and thematic parallels in The Untamed.

A cave, a baby, a fever 

Wrist Holding: Parting & Reunion

The Blurry Sword of Doom 

Bichen at Wei Wuxian’s Throat 

The Honor of a Glance (more of a “see how time changes things” than a parallel, exactly) 

Troublemaker (ditto above) 

Letting Go

Arm Holding on Mount Yeet - Gif Overlay Challenge

Protective Lans

Putting Lan Zhan to Bed  

A Gentleman’s Revenge

Answer Me

When the Man Comes Around

I Am Leaving

You Touch It You Buy It

The Sky is Vast and the Earth is Wide

Pay It Forward

Wen Ning’s Boat Rides

(Here’s a cut so I don’t kill your dashboard)

Holding on/Letting go

Don’t Cry

Having a Spat, Yunmeng Style

Like Father, Like Son

Let Me Carry You

Never

Great Idea, Thanks Bro

Assorted Gifs & Memes & Stuff

Mood: Serious

Lan Wangji Watching Wei Wuxian, Episode 33

Wei Wuxian screaming with Xiao Zhan’s voice 

Rainy Argument 1 | 2 | 3 

Rainy

World’s Second-Worst Party Guest

Wei Wuxian is here to  make you feel better

Yu Ziyuan’s daughter

If you don’t trust me, how can you help me?

Do You Want Revenge?

Wei Wuxian Blindfolding Jiang Cheng

Contemplating the Future

Which unlucky family’s place did you take?

Hands, Episode 16

Zidian Beatdown

A Man Should Have Scars

Trauma Survivor Wei Wuxian

Mood: Neutral

Reciting the Lan rules at the Wen indoctrination

Question and Answer Time

Lan Zhan, do you like rabbits?

Right in Front of Lil Apple’s Apple Salad 

Jiang Cheng and his facial expressions 

Besties

Wei Wuxian wants you to know: you’re awesome

LWJ looking at WWX

I adore you//Fucking hell

Color Palette Challenge

Blindfolded

The many loves of Wei Wuxian

Significant Glances

Flute Fixing

Study Time in Yiling

Single Plank Bridge (Untamed/Yanxi Palace)

Soft Papa

WWX Jumps into Battle

Wen Siblings @ Burial Grounds

Flower Boys

Flower Boy Nie Huaisang

Fisherman Nie Huaisang

Kicking Your Ass: Teen Edition

Kicking Your Ass: Adult Edition

This Beautiful Hothead

Mood: Silly

The Adventures of Paperman 

New Problems Have Appeared 

Let’s have a cooking sequence but make it terrible 

That Twitter/Tumbler Meme but it’s CQL 

Reactions to Sisi’s Story, Ep 45 

Wangxian Communication

The Untamed as Dear Prudie Letters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 

Curses, cockblocked again

The Tuber of Disappointment 

Wei Wuxian & Wen Kexing

Wen Qing and the Lan Nymphs

No Time for Necromancy

When the landlord says it’s ok to repaint

How did you express the pain (WOH spoiler!)

The Untamed as Psychology Today Articles

Voice Actor Wang Kai Yelling at Xiao Zhan

Half-Incorrect Subtitles

Wangxian Brothel AU 

Nie Mingjue Yells Merry Christmas

Wei Wuxian making out with his Lunch

Wei Wuxian x Unnecessarily Erotic Drinking

Nie Huaisang Reporting In

Strong Hanguang Jun

Jiang Cheng’s Purple Jammies

Wei Wuxian searches Xue Yang

Adolescent’s observation

Failmaster Lan Qiren

Oh No He Noticed

Super Regularly

Oh Crap! Act Normal!

Emergency Hairpieces

Acceptability Review Meeting Episode 45/46

Acceptability Review Meeting Episode 45

Fanvids

Drinking, Drinking, Drinking

Xue Yang/Dandy Highwayman

Fight Moves/You Spin Me

Wei Wuxian/Not an Addict

Fanfic

Fractured Spirit (Warning: EXPLICIT)

Other Stuff

Adoption meta

[veliseraptor]

Okay I'm new to this fandom and I'm a bit confused. Did Xue Yang and Meng Yao know each other? Did Meng Yao free him?👀Do xue yang know he has a parentage that dabbled in demonic cultivation?

congratulations, anon! you have hit the nail on the head of one of my perennial aggravations about cql-canon specific details, which is to say ‘what the hell is the deal supposed to be with meng yao and xue yang in qinghe?’

there is no real indication that they might have known each other except some meaningful side-eyes going on that don’t make a lot of sense in context other than, maybe, pre-flagging the idea that meng yao is ~problematic~ and ~untrustworthy~ I guess? (which, ask me how I feel about the idea that everything jin guangyao does forever is bad and sinister, regardless of timeline, effect, or motivation). but there’s no real, substantive indication (up until the empathy flashback in ep 41, I’ll get there) that they are familiar with each other, or that they actually do any collaborating at that point.

you could definitely headcanon them as knowing each other previously based on the fact that they both grew up in less than ideal circumstances, shall we say, but I don’t think there’s any evidence for it in-text other than aforementioned meaningful side-eyes. in fact, canonically we know where they both grew up locationwise and it wasn’t in the same place. but like, seriously.

(and holy shit this got long, I’ll spare you all with a read more. also: I have broken my usual ‘referring to jin guangyao as jin guangyao always’ rule for the sake of this post given that it is specifically about the era where he is going by meng yao, but it did feel really weird.)

speaking specifically with what we see in text (in episode 10), we see meng yao argue against executing xue yang, but only after wei wuxian has done so first. the next explicit link between them is when meng yao leaves the fight between wen zhuliu and nie mingjue saying that he’s going to go check on xue yang; following that, we’re told that xue yang has escaped and meng yao claims he saw the captain free him.

which is, considering the fact that he’s killing the captain at the time, a highly suspect statement to make.

there’s no reason for meng yao to be working with xue yang at this point! there’s just not! it doesn’t make sense for him even from a purely self-interested standpoint and, again, at this point in canon there’s no actual reason to believe that they have any prior familiarity.

(’but lise what about the flashback-’ yes I’ll get there.)

if you want my personal reading, which I think is compatible with the text as we see it, it goes like this:

1. xue yang quickly notices meng yao as a potentially interesting person. I don’t think it’s about seeing him as an ally or knowing him from anything beforehand - I think it’s about seeing him as interesting and kind of funny.

2. meng yao registers that there’s a distinct possibility of nie mingjue dying and/or the wen sect attacking the nie in force and decides to short-circuit that by just freeing xue yang himself, because he knows nie mingjue won’t do it but if xue yang’s gone then that (at least temporarily) solves their wen problem.

my evidence for this is based around the timing of when meng yao leaves to “check on” xue yang (mid-fight, specifically after wen zhuliu, inarguably a greater threat, takes over from wen chao), the fact that he looks definitely concerned when he does so, and the fact that, given where he is at this point, letting xue yang out otherwise makes no sense.

this does not strike me as the face of a person who is a-plottin some sinister business, and this isn’t a face he’s making at anyone, either; this is pure ‘ah fuck this ain’t good’ expression.

(yes, yes, I know, episode 41 flashback, I told you that we’d get there.)

3. meng yao frees xue yang, probably hoping he can make it as bloodless as possible; xue yang, in xue yang fashion, makes it as bloody as possible; meng yao sees his chance to do something about the guy he has always hated and who has repeatedly undermined him, and who probably also caught him in the middle of an incriminating action that nie mingjue would absolutely not accept as justifiable.

4. xue yang bounces, leaving jin guangyao caught holding the sword and surrounded by several dead bodies.

and then they don’t see each other again until xue yang ends up at jinlintai at some unspecified point down the timeline.

regarding the episode 41 flashback (see? I promised!), the view we get of meng yao talking with an unspecified person heavily implied to be xue yang doesn’t make sense in some very critical ways that also align with the selective editing that nie mingjue’s memories seem to have done on incidents we previously saw from a (presumably) omniscient perspective. many people other than me (see here, here, and here for some examples) have written eloquently about the disparities between the scenes as we see them in earlier episodes compared to what we see in the flashback, and how that suggests at least some unreliability of nie mingjue’s memories despite their presentation, since they are visually coeval with the rest of canon, as equally reliable. 

(what would be different if the empathy flashbacks were in some way visually demarcated, I wonder? it’s a thought. I like that they’re not because unreliability of narrative/narrator is such a theme, but.)

ANYWAY, regarding the section where we see that conversation between the captain and meng yao, now with bonus mysterious feet (implied to be xue yang) - a few things stand out to me.

one: nie mingjue has no way of having seen this - no personal access to what he’s supposedly seeing in his own memory. this suggests the possibility, at least, that this is a fabricated assumption of a memory. (”I believe this happened, and this is how I would reconstruct it happening.”)

two: possibly more significantly: the scene as played here doesn’t fit with canon as we see it in episode 10 itself. the scene with the captain and meng yao, as we see it earlier, includes here several additional lines of dialogue. considering the other discrepancies within the empathy flashback with previously seen canon, episode ten’s version, by virtue of not taking place within a (flashback of a) flashback and within the pov of an extremely biased character, could be read as more reliable.

see also: the flashback with the captain seeing meng yao talking to someone (implied to be xue yang) is placed directly after nie mingjue accuses meng yao of plotting with xue yang - an accusation he doesn’t make in the scene as it originally plays in episode 10. this is another place where there are several lines of dialogue that weren’t present in the earlier version of the scene, inserted apparently seamlessly into the record.

taken together, with the above where it does not make sense to me that meng yao was ~plotting~ with xue yang prior to freeing him as a way of getting the wens off nie mingjue’s back, I’m inclined to think that moment in the episode 41 flashback is a nie mingjue-generated presumption of what must have happened, rather than a factual account of what did.

meng yao’s choices in episode 10 make much more sense - as someone who, if nothing else, is definitely interested in preserving his position as part of the nie sect, but who also values nie mingjue’s life at that point enough to take a sword to the chest for him - if you don’t take that at face value.

regarding the second part of your question about the xue yang/xue chonghai connection - cql seems to indicate that he has some awareness maybe, based on his conversation with wei wuxian in episode 37? at least, he has access to Lore involving the yin iron that others were unaware of

and had one piece in his possession apparently pre-canon.

but honestly that’s a bit of cql canon that I pretty much ignore completely and sometimes forget about, though there are certainly interesting things that can be done with it.