#is mxtx once again

[mxtxfanatic]

Author of the Week: Tang Jiuqing/唐酒卿

Books I've Read:

Nan Chan (m/m)

Qiang Jin Jiu/Ballad of Sword and Wine (m/m)

Time-Limited Hunt (m/m)

Read if You Like: beautiful language, amazing worldbuilding, and charming main characters with great chemistry. I started off with QJJ, which I feel has the most somber opening that carries for a while through the beginning of the novel, whereas the other two start off a little more chill. In fact, I wasn't much of a fan of Nan Chan in my first read until they left the mountain (about 200 pages in). On my second read, I found it much more enjoyable. If I had to choose my favorite thing about this author, it would be between the beautiful language and the main pairings. The obsessions that the main pairings have for each other make me feel feral in a way that is not memeable. It very much so is a reminder that we live in very limited bodies that give off the same physical reactions to a variety of emotions that we've arbitrarily categorized as "different," and Nan Chan displays this the absolute best with its slippage between love and cannibalism. As for the language, I'd sometimes catch myself holding my breath at descriptions or images in a way I have not been able to recapture from any other cnovel author except mxtx, and even then, I feel like T97's translators have captured that more successfully in their work than mxtx's translators have for hers (looking at you in particular, mdzs full translations...). Anyways, shout out to Lianyin's phenomenal work over at https://cangji.net for that, because they've done all the full translations that are out so far, and I'm pretty sure they're working on the official Nan Chan release.

On a lesser note, I started reading Right on Target (sequel to Time-Limited Hunt) and Zisui Zhi Chen (short novel), but both have stalled in their translations near the beginning of their stories, which means I also never got to finish them. (Please, I am begging someone to pick these back up again. The completionist in me cannot take the suspense 😭)

Avoid If You Don't Like: heavy themes such as human trafficking, sex trafficking, pedophilia, torture, ect. There are just a lot of dark themes in T97's writing, and while they are not given excessively graphic description, they are major parts of story lines that cannot be avoided. I also have a language warning for Time-Limited Hunt (though I do not remember seeing this in the parts I read for Right on Target) because we get quite a few ableist r-words thrown around, and I was never prepared for any of them because each time felt like it came out of nowhere.

[quequeishere]

I AM HAUNTED BY A PAST I CAN NEVER RETURN TO!!!!! anyways

[junesfool]

this place kinda dead,,, have a mingling

[wyyvoren]

painted commission for adamwithspice on bsky and twitter!!! GYX and SQQ having a romantic smooch!

[rhiangalaxy]

Some Things Never Change...

(Piece chosen by this week's poll!)

[ID: Scum Villain Drawings. The top image depicts Shen Yuan, Shen Jiu and Yue Qi as street rats/kids. SY is the youngest and being carried piggy back style by SJ due to his legs being injured. SY is a little teary and red eyed with a nervous expression, gripping onto SJ's shoulder. SJ looks towards YQ with a annoyed/angry expression whilst YQ smiles and gestures placatingly. The bottom image depicts SY, SQQ and YGY in current/peak lord era. SY nervously smiles and has a hand on SQQ's shoulder as if to calm him down. SQQ angrily points a closed fan at YGY who has his clenched fists drawn up nervously as if to avoid getting his hands smacked by the fan. He has a slightly flustered but mostly nervous expression, attempting to placate SQQ. End ID]

[umbrvx]

a villain’s journey

[starry-bi-sky]

*stares at disciple SQQ falling into the abyss au*

oh you are so "SY-is-SJ" coded. You are so "fell into the abyss and suddenly remembered that oh i've been Shen Jiu this whole time, not just Shen Yuan. we are one and the same". you are so 'crumbling under the weight of the system and being in the abyss and the despair of never really being free and having suffered in both lives' built. you are so 'scrambling to come to terms with your existence and battling with which life is really yours, only to realize that they both are'. You are primed for going off the rails.

I'm so normal about this guys. i promise.

[muzsmocsing]

See this?

very demure ✅ very mindful ✅

very cutesy ✅ non-violent ✅

Keep this energy guys. Please.

[hiyogdh]

distinguished qing jing peak lord, whose presence is as imposing as cang qiong mountain

[neatnete]

they're bonding

[phoenixcatch7]

Honestly I'd really like to see a mxtx3 story where wwx and xl work with Sqq to reveal sqq's true backstory and the system to lbh.

I mean, think about it!! One of the biggest problems with scum villain is how even though they get together, unlike the other couples bingqiu is still left with all these huge secrets that massively affect them both. Lbh is left believing he married his mercurial abuser, that his suffering passed some sort of indefinable test that proved him worthy of basic rights. That Sqq threw him in the abyss of his own volition. That Sqq was really sacrificing his life and not faking his death with intent to survive.

Sqq is left knowing all these things but unable to act on them, unable to tell his husband about his own past, unable to explain his actions, never able to fully let his guard down because he's supposed to be shen qingqiu. He can't even tell his own husband his original name!! If he could have, he would have, even if only in the extras!

But can you imagine???

A meeting of bingqiu, wangxian, Hualian, for whatever reason, and as the three (actual) protagonists chat and gossip and get to know each other, as they talk, Sqq is at ease enough to slip up and finds out he can talk about the system to anyone from outside pidw! Not just sqh!! Maybe not completely, but he can mention some, and the other two, concerned for their new friend, are clever enough to tease the rest out. They're horrified. Sqq is resigned but freshly hopeful.

And so begins Mission: Save Sqq's Marriage!

(Sqq would very much like to contend the title but he is out voted.)

I'd just love to see the three of them (with unquestioning aid from their husbands) get up to hijinks and face existential horrors on a quest to help bingqiu get the closure they need. And moshang too, I guess XD.

It'd also be very, very funny to have them all in the middle of the latest traumatic and/or mortifying scene look around at the other two like 'hey, aren't you supposed to be freaking out now? This is normally the part people start screaming' and the other two are like 'I mean I guess?? We've got things to do though' like kings of unflappable repression right there.

(and lbh and lwj having vinegar-offs while hc is sighing dreamily watching his husband make semi decent friends for once)

Like there's a bunch of crossovers but none really scratch that itch, you know? The main characters of all 3 mxtx?? There's so much potential for Truly Unhinged Shenanigans!! Wangxian visiting pidws wife plot filled world and disappearing into the wilderness for a full week, coming back with every single piece of clothing they brought ruined. Hualian go visit mdzs and and no one believes xl is a diety and hc chomping at the bit to kill them for the injustice. Bingqiu going to tgcf and lbh getting mistaken for a calamity, or Sqq falling into the one wife plot kidnapping or something intended for a diety.

But seriously imagine Sqq complaining about something and wwx and xl immediately going 'that's not right! You deserve better!!' and Sqq is like 'no it's fine I'm used to it' and the other two slam their fists on the table like 'no!!! If [husband] was forced to keep that kind of secret I'd hate it!! You two deserve to be properly happy!! Let us help! We can fix this!' and start working with zeal and vigor while Sqq trails along embarrassed half heartedly muttering 'it's not that bad >:/'.

And when it works (presumably some clever loophole they stumbled on) and bingqiu are tearfully kissing they share a low five without looking. Or that one meme where the person getting kissed holds their hand back and their wingman enthusiastically high fives it but there's two wingmen XD!

I don't knowww but it'd be such a good premise! Ripe for character interactions!! Fluff! Crack! Angst! Daytrips and pouring their hearts out to people who'd really understand! Xl wwx and Sqq bestie team up! Meeting moshang! Wwx info dumping about his monster index categorisation to an enthralled Sqq! Xl and Sqq bemoaning etiquette while wwx laughs at them! Xl and wwx having intense discussions about morality and righteousness! All three of them laughing at how oblivious they were about their husbands, each trying to one the other two for Dumb Moments They Should Have Realised (Sqq wins by horrifying the other two)!

Forget cross country kidnappings and being locked in a room! Where is my protagonist trio getting into trouble on a self imposed mission to help their friend! Let their magnetism for insanity shine!!

[spottedgardeneelstan]

i didn’t think it was important enough to draw, but i want you to know airplane IS getting french fry grease all over shen yuan’s neck.

[princessofxianle]

"hm? I wonder why the donghua team added in Feng Xin's immediate reaction to Lang Qianqiu breaking his right arm with his left?" bc its not in the book

*ahem* Feng Xin in Book 2... seem familiar???

And heres the original scene...

[mxtxfanatic]

Repayment but Not Just Repayment or a Meta on the Wen Siblings' Sacrifice

Wen Qing and Wen Ning's sacrifice is probably one of the most under-discussed topics in the fandom. A few have tackled it from the viewpoint of debt—which is true and valid—but I will be coming at it from the angle of love, because although there is a debt that ties Wei Wuxian to the Wen siblings, it is inseparable from the genuine affection they each hold for him. Let's start with Wen Qing's last words to Wei Wuxian:

Wen Qing interrupted him, “I’ve never really said such things to you before. But now that it’s today, there are indeed a few things I should say. I really won’t get a chance to say them after this.” ... Wen Qing, “I’m sorry. And, thank you.”

—Chapt. 77: Nightfall, exr

Throughout the novel, characters seem to have a negative response to being told "I'm sorry" and "thank you" in serious conversation, as both seem to imply a tie of debt and accepting ownership of the debt. Jin Ling refuses to thank Wei Wuxian for saving his life or apologize to him for being disrespectful despite all the life-saving. Lan Wangji has a negative reaction to Wei Wuxian thanking him in many different scenes in the novel, so much so that Wei Wuxian comments on the fact that a lot of their bad separations were precipitated by Wei Wuxian's thanks. Even here, Wei Wuxian has a negative reaction to Wen Qing's words, especially as they come at the end of her speech about how the repayment she asked of Wei Wuxian has unintentionally led them all down a path of no-return. But Wen Qing isn't using it in this way.

As discussed here and here, the Wen siblings actually love Wei Wuxian outside of the circumstances they find themselves in. They do not tie themselves to him because of debt but because he has proven himself to be honest and genuine in a way that the other cultivators they had previously come up against had not. At the same time because of the debt, the relationship between the three is fraught with things that cannot be said lest they be misunderstood. Wen Qing never verbally thanks Wei Wuxian for bringing her brother's consciousness back; instead she treats his wounds and helps put together a family banquet in his honor where she even personally serves him food and alcohol. Wen Ning never verbally thanks Wei Wuxian for rescuing his family and bringing him back; instead he continues to act as his physical protector in both of Wei Wuxian's lives. Neither of them apologize for having implicated Wei Wuxian in the plight of the Wen remnants, as that would have been incurring another debt that Wei Wuxian would likely not accept. However, when the tentative stalemate with the cultivation world is broken with Jin Zixuan's death, none of that matters anymore. They are all at the end of the line and must make a choice: throw Wei Wuxian to the wolves or sacrifice themselves. They choose to sacrifice themselves in the hopes that it will spare Wei Wuxian:

Wen Qing’s voice was calm, “Wei Ying, we both know. Wen Ning is a knife, a knife that scares them, but also a knife that they use as an excuse to attack you. If we go, without the knife, they’d no longer have an excuse. This entire thing might finally be over.”

They can finally say what they want to say, which is that they appreciate what Wei Wuxian has done for them, that they see all that he has sacrificed, that they are willing to match that level of dedication, and that they, too, are willing to risk themselves to protect him as he had been doing for them for up to a year, now. For once, the "thank you" and "I'm sorry" isn't meant to emphasize a debt-repayment relationship. It is meant to liberate Wei Wuxian from them.

[wyyvoren]

commission for @biinaberry by their friend!! had a lot of fun with this one! ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

[anne-bsd-bibliophile]