#hopefully this is appropriate

[lunanoc]

xiaoge (and liu sang if you want to) for the ask meme 👀

sorry for the late reply that I’m writing while procrastinating on other things but thank you for asking! <3

Xiaoge 

My first impression

I honestly can’t remember all that well because it was such a long time ago, but when I first discovered Daomu Biji, it was through PingXie clips on twitter from Ultimate Note, and because I had nothing to do and found them cute I ended up finding a carrd where someone gave a barebones rundown of what you had to know to not be extremely confused if you wanted to watch it. The way Xiaoge was described in it and his initial appearance in Ultimate Note made me think he was the quiet warrior stereotype that felt a lot of things strongly but just didn’t express them openly, a lot introverted and a little lost in a lost puppy kind of way

My impression now

Xiaoge to me now is multifaceted in ways I feel deserve their own separate post, but I’m going to tl;dr it as in some ways, I feel like he’s almost a subversion of the stereotypes he’s presented as. So much of Xiaoge’s character arc both in the present timeline and in past events is about his dehumanization, but that dehumanization isn’t purely about the ways others treat him, it’s also in the way he himself has become “other”. The Three Days of Silence extra goes into this the most explicitly, but the llama at the temple wants Xiaoge to carve a statue out of a stone by infusing emotion into it because he feels that “no man is a stone”, that is it say that no human being is without emotion, and only by proving that he can feel can Xiaoge prove that he’s human. But the problem is that by that point Xiaoge, both by circumstance and by design, to all intents and purposes has become a stone in some respects in terms of his distance to people on a personal level. It’s not an accident that Wu Xie often compares him to a god or to Buddha with no passions or desires of his own, because it’s what he’s been made to be, and his indifference, that’s a defining character trait, isn’t feigned. It’s genuine.

So Xiaoge’s character development very much revolves around breaking free from his identity as a tool and as something almost akin to a bodhisattva to obtain his own identity as a human being that can connect with others.

It’s more complicated than that and I’m generalizing, but I feel that Xiaoge is someone who’s inherently merciful and kind, but is also generally speaking not invested in most people on a personal level, mostly because forming a connection with anyone is an exercise in futility, both because Xiaoge’s life experience and what “fate” has imposed on him make it difficult for people to relate to or understand him, and also because that distance means most people will inevitably only want to use him. But he does care about the people who’ve successfully forged a connection with him, he just shows it through actions, not words. Is he also a little awkward in interpersonal relationships sometimes? Yeah that too

Favorite thing about that character

Probably the fact that despite everything he’s gone through he’s Daomu Biji’s goodest boy. He’s kind in a completely uninterested way. That and how much of a troll he is that’s the Zhang in him coming out

Least favorite thing

Maybe that he’s so flippant about his own well-being and bodily comfort. He tends to view himself as an extension of a purpose and is in general very pragmatic, but because of how removed from people and humanity he is, it means he doesn’t really take himself into consideration much over the people he cares about. There a bit in the Fishing King extra where he slashes his own hand open and when Wu Xie later realizes it, he asks Xiaoge if it hurts, and he replies that it doesn’t. And Wu Xie doesn’t comment on it, but his overall internal thought process is a bitter “of course it doesn’t hurt”

Favorite line/scene

Trying to pick a scene that’s about him specifically and honestly the entirety of the stories about when he’s doing his release into the wild during the Tibetan Sea Flower flashbacks. Jaded and ruthless baby, but even before he was ever Zhang Qiling he was still more humane than everyone around him despite having been used as a disposable blood bag by his own family

Favorite interaction that character has with another

Everyone’s expecting the “If I disappeared no would notice” scene with Wu Xie but you know what I’m gonna go with something else even if that scene is up there.

In the Fishing King extra when Wu Xie goes to fist bump him because they beat Pangzi at rock paper scissors and Xiaoge doesn’t understand so they stare at each other awkwardly and he ends up covering Wu Xie’s fist with his hand like ‘paper’ my heart

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

To be honest Xiao Hua or Huo Xiuxiu? You don’t ser much of those three in the same room but I imagine Xiaoge and Xiao Hua would be a very efficient, pragmatic and silent duo

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

Not entirely because I don’t think I know any character that’s exactly like Xiaoge, but a little bit Shenhe from Genshin. Emotionally restrained to the point of lack of emotion but by design, mistreated as a child, also a little bit of a troll and straightforward when confronted with people with bad intentions. Also very combat efficient.

A headcanon about that character

I don’t know if I have a really big one besides I like the headcanon that Xiaoge is ace or demisexual? I have a hard time picturing him having had any kind of romantic relationships and to be honest even casual sex doesn’t feel likely to me just because even that requires having some form of interest in the other party which Xiaoge doesn’t ever really seem to have. But who knows what he might have had to do out of necessity or if there were people he’s forgotten

A song that reminds me of that character

This is really hard but I haven’t found anything more fitting than ‘The Ghost on the Shore’ by Lord Huron

An unpopular opinion about that character

I had to think about this a little but if I had to pick something it might be the fanon perception of Xiaoge as a ‘feral cat’ that Wu Xie and/or others have ‘domesticated’. Part of it is personal interpretation, because I feel like he’s hardly feral considering outside of crisis situations he’s probably one of the most chill characters in Daomu Biji. But it also feels… I don’t know dismissive? To be calling him that when Xiaoge being out of touch with most people on a personally involved or intimate level is the fruit of so many things outside of his control he’s been subjected to. He’s spent the better part of his life being subject to the whims of an unnamed entity that uses him as it sees fit for an agenda the reader only knows exists let alone what it entails. He’s seen people at their most vile, been used by people in the most vile ways, and that mixed with his sense of duty as Zhang Qiling and his age (though he was already jaded even as a teenager before he was ever made into Zhang Qiling) has made him into someone who wanders the world without any real connection to the people in it. For a very long time Xiaoge just ‘existed’ in the most literal sense, and just because as a result of that he doesn’t care about social niceties (why would you care about face and other people’s attempts to maintain the façade of it in a cutthroat business like tomb robbing?) or knows or cares how to maintain relationships doesn’t make him ‘feral’.

Plus calling him ‘domesticated’ veers a little too much into dehumanizing him as if he’s some animal Wu Xie (or someone else) tamed and that answers to his beck and call. As if the entire point of Xiaoge’s story arc isn’t that Wu Xie is the first person he can remember who ever persisted in forging a connection with Xiaoge until Xiaoge was forced to realize he cared and felt a connection with another human being. As if the conclusion of that wasn’t him making a gamble on Wu Xie’s sincerity that he would come and pick him up in ten year’s time, as if Xiaoge choosing to stay in Yucun with him and Pangzi isn’t Xiaoge reciprocating that sincerity with his own, making an active choice to stay and call somewhere ‘home’ for the first time in his life.

I might be looking at this too deeply but it rubs me the wrong way

Favorite picture

Hard so I’m not picking absolute favorites just ones I like. For book Xiaoge I like versions of him that look similar to this:

(Source)

And for drama Xiaoge there’s so many good shots of all the versions of him, so looking at the most recent version of him in the Misty Creed movie, this one shot is 10/10:

(Screenshot courtesy of @shaish)

Liu Sang

Disclaimer: Since this is tagged, apologies in advance to Liu Sang fans. I’ve tried to be as reasonable as possible about my opinions, but that being said be warned I don’t like him, so if you'd rather not see any negativity about him, feel free to skip

My first impression

My introduction to Liu Sang was through fandom, both fanon, fanfic, and discussions about him that I’d seen/read before I ever watched Reboot, since I started with the dramas. From how people talked about him I was pretty hyped about him I’m not gonna lie, and I definitely got the feeling he was an important character, so seeing how loved he was, I was looking forward to seeing him for the first time in canon.

Then once I started watching Reboot my first impression kind of yoyo-ed around. There was a little whiplash from the gap between how fandom presented him vs. how he acted at the beginning of Reboot towards Wu Xie and Pangzi especially, but I figured given people liked him he probably got better. And to be fair he did! On my first full watchthrough of Reboot I ended up feeling pretty neutral about him, not in a negative sense, but more like how I tend to view most of the more minor characters (like Xiao Bai for example since we’re talking about Reboot). I appreciated he got character development and was left with a general “yeah he’s alright” impression

My impression now

Full disclaimer, I’ve only read half of Restart the book so far, so I can’t fully talk about book Liu Sang beyond his appearances in the South Sea King’s tomb and the immediate aftermath of that. I can talk more about Reboot the drama Liu Sang though.

The problem with my general impression of Liu Sang now is that it’s very polluted by my interactions with his fans. I won’t get too much into that because this is supposed to be about Liu Sang the character and not the Liu Sang fandom (because yes there absolutely is a Liu Sang fandom that exists as a subset of the Daomu Biji fandom), but to keep it short, the version of Liu Sang that I find is pushed forward a lot by his fans is a version that doesn’t correspond to either the drama or book version of him, and is instead heavily steeped in widely accepted fanon to the point it’s almost a different character sometimes. And that widely accepted fanon version is something that his fans have the unfortunate habit of being very pushy and single-minded about, and it’s caused a number of issues and rifts within the wider Daomu Biji fandom.

Keep in mind this is all my personal feelings and doesn’t necessarily reflect on every single person who likes Liu Sang as a character, but to get back to the point, it means that my overall impression of Liu Sang now is a pretty negative one. Full transparency (if it wasn’t already obvious) I don’t like him, and while I do find what I’ve seen of the book version of him has the potential to interesting, and I can absolutely appreciate that, not to mention the genuine character arc he gets in the drama, because of how his fans act about him, he’ll never be a favorite 

Favorite thing about that character

In the book so far what I find most interesting about Liu Sang is the ambiguity of his past and of his intentions. He’s initially presented in a way that’s puzzling in hindsight, and while part of that I think you can put down to Restart being a weird time for Wu Xie in general, there’s little clues that makes you wonder what his deal is and that his role in the story might be more than meets the eye.

He’s introduced as a consultant Wu Erbai trusts the competence of, and Pangzi is immediately incensed by him in ways that are almost uncharacteristic. Because Pangzi (in the books at least), is someone who regularly puts up a loud front and throws jibes at people when he doesn’t trust them in a way that’s both testing but not too aggressive to instigate a conflict unless the other party is openly hostile. But with Liu Sang he’s immediately, and to Wu Xie without apparent reason, extremely hostile and vitriolic. You learn later that Pangzi has heard sinister rumors about Liu Sang, and you infer from there the vitriol is coming from Pangzi wanting to keep someone potentially nefarious and ill-intentioned to a sadistic degree away from his friends. But you also later see him again when he listens to thunder at the beach in front of the guesthouse Wu Xie and co. are staying in, and Wu Xie’s observations give you the impression there’s something deeper going on. In Wu Xie’s words, he doesn’t like him, but he’s intrigued by what he represents (and not gonna lie I am too)

Least favorite thing

Besides the egregious fanon version of him I’m not touching on because it’s not actually canon, ironically I find early drama Liu Sang to be worse than early book Liu Sang. To be fair I don’t know how he evolves in the book, but in that Liu Sang is more focused on his job, and apart from his one iffy moment in the car where he’s constantly trying to snap pictures of Xiaoge without his consent (to which both Wu Xie and Pangzi react with variations of yelling and kicking his seat in), he’s really not doing anything questionable, unless you count being in on Wu Erbai’s test as questionable. Drama Liu Sang however by this point not only throws jibes around at both Wu Xie and Pangzi, but uses Wu Xie’s terminal illness as a leverage point to mock him and almost gets Wu Xie and Pangzi killed because he thought it was funny. Which is honestly at odds with his book character that’s actually very professional, because none of that is professional

Favorite line/scene

Uhhh I don’t know that I have any? Maybe the part in Restart where he walks out into the thunderstorm to listen to the thunder and Wu Xie watches him until it triggers a moment of self-reflection. It’s not really about Liu Sang so much as it’s about Wu Xie and his headspace, but it’s a meaningful scene

Favorite interaction that character has with another

Ok I’m not gonna lie that one moment in the Reboot drama where Liu Sang tells Xiaoge he’s his biggest fan and Xiaoge of all people takes a moment to emote because he’s that confused and baffled by the direction the interaction is taking is hilarious

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

Maybe Xiao Bai? I haven’t seen them meet in the book, but arguably in both that and the drama especially both Liu Sang and Xiao Bai are mirrors of each other in terms of what they represent in relation to Xiaoge and Wu Xie respectively. Plus their interactions in the drama were wholesome

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

I can’t think of one to be completely honest

A headcanon about that character

I’m going to call this headcanon for now since I’m not done Restart the book so I can’t be sure, but I like the idea of book Liu Sang just being an ornery bastard with his own nebulous agenda. Let the man be a bastard! Bastards can be interesting too! 

A song that reminds me of that character

I honestly can’t think of one right now

An unpopular opinion about that character

I could probably go into this for a hot minute but everything surrounding the sanitized fanon version of Liu Sang that’s both in my opinion inaccurate (despite being presented as accurate) and absolutely in your face unless you take extreme pains to block out pretty much everything to do with him. To be clear, what people like is their business, but unpopular opinions aren’t called that for nothing, and this entire post is meant to be about my feelings, not objective facts.

That being said, fanon Liu Sang to me is woobified to a level that completely erases any traces of his actual character to cater to a very specific view of him that’s as far as I can tell made to be palatable. His fans make a concentrated effort of pushing forward, in my experience sometimes aggressively, what’s essentially a sanitized version of him that glosses over or deliberately erases any unsavory aspects of his character.

Which to be clear I have no problems with, most of if not all the characters in Daomu Biji are fundamentally imperfect and flawed, some to the point where other less niche (in western fandom spaces anyway) fandoms would label them as ‘problematic’. It contributes to making the characters complex and more human in my opinion. Which is why it’s kind of sad that Liu Sang has been reduced to being the fandom’s (or part of the fandom’s) ‘poor little meow meow’ who’s suddenly inherently likable.

Again, if you like that then that’s your business. The only reason I have strong feelings about this in the first place is because Liu Sang fans have, in my experience, the bad habit of shoehorning that version of him into everything, and by that I mean to the point of encroaching on other people’s lanes in ways that are incredibly tone deaf. It also feeds into the general problem the Daomu Biji fandom as a whole has of assuming that everyone is ok with anything and everything, and doesn’t believe in personal boundaries. But anyway, the point here is that I don’t like fanon Liu Sang, and the only reason I’m talking about him is because of this ask

Favorite picture

I also don’t really have one

[radical-zelenka]

Star Trek fans, I need your help connecting with the fandom! I've been out of fandom for years and only getting back into it in the last couple of months. How do I make Star Trek friends these days? Are there certain tags y'all are using, or maybe a chill discord server to join?

(TOS is my fav and I love to be insane about Spirk but I do love all the trek series and I don't care to get caught up in shipping drama or anything like that)

[royalarchivist]

I say this in the kindest way possible, but I think this style of prose is more appropriate for a personal account rather than an update account. I have no idea who's being talked about half the time. 🥲

[ Tumblr meme via @mikaikaika ]

[antennabot]

Gone insane

[worlds-4th-best-dad]

🍫Best Halloween Candy Poll🍬

Alright, so, I was taking a break from work, when I overheard a little discussion between my subordinates regarding which Halloween candy is the best. Things got a little heated and I chimed in to make sure nothing escalated. Even after the discussion was formally over, they still argued which candy is the best. So, to make sure this debate ends once and for all, I decided to make a poll asking Tumblr to choose which candy is truly the best of the best. Feel free to reblog this poll for a larger sample size. (So that this has enough credibility to keep their traps shut about the topic...)

[pfhwrittes]

the room they put you in is comfortable enough. or it would be to anyone that didn't have your enhanced senses.

you can smell the lingering remnants of aftershave, the mildew that's yet to bloom in the corner of the room, and a sweaty forgotten sock under the bed. not exactly pleasant.

then there's the complete lack of privacy. again, not yours. no one has bothered you since the leader of the little pack of men had situated you, despite the scottish one's burning curiosity that rose of him in a cloud of pheromones. but everyone else's.

you can hear through the flimsy plywood door as the handsome one and the captain pass your room, talking lowly amongst themselves about what to do with you. the handsome one arguing that you should be turned over to the police, clearly you were a missing person. the captain pushing back in that low grumble, stating that "ghost" had a feeling about you.

ghost is a problem. the behemoth in the balaclava had clocked you on the mountain. his eyes on you had sent the hair on the back of your neck prickling. intuition instinct flaring to life.

and now he's waiting outside the door to your room.

[glacier-shrimp]

Done with our favorite Spider-Boy! Spiderling? Spider... What was his name again?

Avengers paper cutout 6/?

[linkito]

kiss prompt #20: on a scar.

this is also scarian. i'm thinking hhau :3c and grian's newly acquired scars (which i guess doubles as #21, on a place of insecurity?)

Grian knows it’s silly to be so insecure over something ultimately so inconsequential, but it’s an amalgamation of several things, really, only made worse by the emergence of these new scars across his face. 

And it’s also horribly ironic, given that he’s neglected his wings for months on end, letting them gather dust and debris, secretly hoping that perhaps it’ll be enough to make him less desirable to the humans who seek out his feathers. It’s ironic that now he’d let something like facial scars bring him down, something that blatantly displays the damage that has been set on him. 

No one would want damaged goods, after all, right?

He ought to be happy about that, right?

Maybe he would feel that way if he had any say in their development, if it had been self-imposed like the time he’d desperately torn out his feathers, trying to hide the vivid purple that stained his body, but— 

It’s Scar’s steady hand that snaps him out of that sea of thoughts before it can spiral, his calloused fingers gently tracing over Grian’s cheek, giving the scar tissue the same tender treatment, almost like nothing at all was different. 

It’s a silly thing to be insecure about. To be insecure about it would be hypocritical. He’s never had a problem with the scattering of scars across his partner’s body, after all— why would he? It’s one of his favorite activities to trace over them, to map them out over his skin… much like Scar is now. 

“Scar,” Grian starts, but he stops at that, unsure of how to proceed. His voice is strained and hoarse. He feels like he can’t actually breach this topic, not without inadvertently insulting Scar with anything he could possibly say. 

It’s shallow, it’s stupid, it’s—

It’s something permanently strewn across his face reminding him of the time he thought he was abandoned. When he was alone and scared, left with only the severe chill of winter and the taste of blood on his tongue. 

Grian doesn’t want to be reminded of that.

He doesn’t want Scar to look at him and see someone different, someone irreparably damaged after just one week spent apart. What if that makes him less desirable to Scar now as well? 

(He knows he’s being ridiculous. He knows, he knows, but he can’t help it. It hurts. It hurts so so much.)

“Grian,” Scar replies after a moment, undoubtedly recognizing the moment Grian gets pulled back under by the torrent of his endless anxieties. He presses closer, offering himself as the tether keeping Grian afloat, foreheads touching so all Grian can see is the boundless affection present in his bright, green eyes.

It almost burns to look at.

Grian can’t look away.

Wordless tears form at the edges of Grian’s vision, but then Scar is speaking again, uttering something so bizarre that Grian is at a complete loss on how to respond, leaving his tears frozen in place as his eyes widen with confusion.

“Thank you,” Scar says, once again brushing his thumb over the mark next to Grian’s eye. His touch is gentle as always, which sets something in Grian toppling, and the tears fall, one by one. Some pool at the tips of Scar’s fingers, slowly streaking down his skin.

Scar is undeterred by it, smiling softly as he leans in and kisses the marred and tear-streaked skin. Grian can’t handle it. 

“Scar, what—“ he manages to choke out before losing his voice to a weak sob, his lips quivering as Scar leans down to press a kiss to the scratch on his chin as well. “Scar.”

Scar hears the unspoken question, and he hums softly against the fragile skin. He answers, but it leaves Grian with even more questions, unable to understand. “You survived.”

Grian opens his mouth, but nothing aside from a ragged breath escapes, because how is he supposed to respond to that? 

He cannot even begin to comprehend why Scar felt compelled to thank him of all things while tracing over his scars like they were something precious— something to be grateful for? celebrated? Grian doesn’t know.

But when he looks at Scar, he sees nothing but sincerity. An honest adoration. Genuine relief that he can look upon Grian’s face at all. That they didn’t lose each other.

And although he may not comprehend, Grian finds that he wants to. He wants to see what Scar sees, because somehow, despite everything, Scar still sees something beautiful when he looks his way. 

Grian’s heart swells and with another broken sob, he falls forward into Scar’s welcoming arms.

[dragondawdles]

forbidden pudding

[studentbyday]

50 days of routine (october 30, 2024 - december 19, 2024)

an attempt to physically and mentally survive the remainder of this semester. motivation has been dwindling and motivation drops even further when i feel like i've failed because i can't stick to a routine nor figure out how to be sustainably productive! 😓😖 so here we are with...a challenge? 😅🫠

there'll be a checkpoint for updated goals 32 days in (dec 1) 📍because after that, i start reviewing for finals full time…

updates ~daily with my forest 🌲 for the day or week so far and the everyday stuff i want to keep track of or celebrate! 🍾 because even on the days i feel like there's nothing to celebrate, i bet there is if i just...stop comparing myself to others and lower my expectations (progress > perfection) enough that i can truly appreciate life as it happens and just...live. 😖🥀🌹

here's what an ideal week would look like...roughly. i expect things to shift around a little if not a lot, especially as life unfolds and i get into the nitty-gritty of the schedule, but what's non-negotiable is daily movement, as consistent a sleep schedule as possible (bed by 9, up by 7)...and by nov. 3 (end of this week) or nov. 10 (end of next week), i'm hoping to also add the stuff in dark green, the purple, wind-down time after dinner, and hobbiting time as higher priorities too... my main goal for these 50 days is to figure out a sustainable routine that leaves me feeling fulfilled and satisfied with the direction my life is taking. 💃🏻🎶

by cbt i mean since therapy isn't really accessible for me rn i'm going to read about it and/or fill out a workbook 😅

[itspileofgoodthings]

one of my favorite things about getting older is that I’m just more sure and more confident in taking control in social situations and making other people feel at ease. I really love it!

[colourofthekites]

Does it jiggle?

does that answer your question?

[emilyjuicybooty]

[if-loki-was-a-fox]

forgot how to do proper anatomy and proportions so I drew a guy I don't need those for 👍

[mantisgodsdomain]

The Job Board system, which in terms of overseeing tends to fall somewhere between the Explorer's Association and the mail service, is a system that allows bugs across Bugaria to send off jobs to any bug who might take them. It is known primarily for its incredible efficiency at copying and posting jobs throughout Bugaria, as well as its ability to take down jobs that have been completed within a day of their fulfillment.

Just about any bug can post a mission through this system, with some light checks to make sure it's legitimate, and just about anyone can take a mission - with some caveats. The more difficult a mission is marked as, the more likely you are to need to show some proof of ability- occasionally very eclectic proof of ability. While an Explorer's Permit can allow you to shortcut almost all low-end requirements, anyone who isn't registered in the system will have to repeatedly prove aptitude for low-end jobs, which can get exceptionally annoying very fast, particularly as the Job Board and publicly accessible jobs tend to be almost exclusively to the low end of things.

Technically an extension of the Job Board system, the Bounty Board handles a lot of relatively high-paying jobs, often put up using communally-raised funds rather than a single person. While the Job Board gathers jobs of comparatively low importance, and allows them to be taken by anyone, the Bounty Board is specifically for jobs that are anticipated to be difficult enough to need a whole crew of bugs.

The requirements to run an outpost of a bounty board are significantly more rigorous than the standard job board, as applicants going after these jobs are much more rigorously vetted - an Explorer's Permit will often serve as a way to help you shortcut the line, putting all of your prior accomplishments in easy reach and allowing the certified offices that run these jobs to make an easy background check on you.

Alternatively, of course, some less legitimate venues can piggyback off the certification of an actual office, pretending to be another location and allowing you to shortcut the entire certification process to obtain the reward without having to prove your capability to do a job. Technically speaking, jobs taken in Doppel's tavern will show up as being taken from the bounty board office run by Utter - though this establishment doesn't technically have a physical location.

Unlike with a typical bounty board mission, you also get paid up front upon providing a specified part of the slain monster, rather than having to wait for the kingdom you're working in to certify the danger is gone before wiring you your reward. Also unlike with a typical bounty board mission, the house will take a certain cut of your reward. These venues may also take "unofficial" bounties - organized by parties who can't or won't go through the official venues to get a problem handled, or simply by people who are hunting for specific parts of a monster. You won't be tested as thoroughly before taking the job- but your client won't be, either.

[ladyblackbirdart]

NOSE BOOP