#king of not normal about his shixiong

[flowersdiceandlove]

WWX always wanted a family headcanon part 2:

Part 1

Before the war, people would always hand off kids and babies to WWX when they saw him and needed a babysitter for a little while. A Jiang disciple would look away from WWX for like one minute while they were in the market, and when they looked back at him, he had a baby in his arms and at least one toddler on each leg bc so-and-so needed to run into one of the shops real fast, and could you just watch the little angels for a second? The people of Lotus Pier and the surrounding town just knew WWX as the go-to babysitter—your kid would be safe and sound w/ that guy, no need to worry, he’d protect them to the death if need be 👍 Even so, WWX didn’t let his trailing kiddos get in the way of goofing off and causing trouble w/ his shidi and shimei. He just brought the kids w/ ‘em! It actually works out very well. WWX is amazing at taking care of everyone. As Head Disciple he also has to keep track of his shidi and shimei and make sure they’re all okay on night-hunts, so keeping track of a few little kids and keeping a baby secured to his chest and back is just more of that (multitasking king). His shidi and shimei do get annoyed by the fact that more often than not when they go out with WWX just to have fun, they end up w/ an entourage of kids and a few babies trailing their Xian-gege, but WWX handles the situations so well and doesn’t let it keep them from having fun that they can’t really complain. They do roll their eyes and sigh—especially JC—about their kid-crazy shixiong. JC thinks he’s insane for liking kids so much. WWX thinks JC’s crazy for not liking kids so much. That’s one of their disagreements that they can never seem to settle and come to an agreement on. JC is one of the only ones who always pokes at WWX for all the kid stuff, and they go back and forth in their playful arguments in circles, poking at the other’s like/dislike of kids. JYL has had to stop them from going back and forth on this matter bc there is no end to it and has them agree to disagree many times.

Now for a more angsty part of this headcanon: Bc of all this, it makes going back to normal after the Sunshot Campaign harder than WWX thought. Bc of his demonic cultivation, people are whispering and talking behind his back, wary of him and sharing scary stories of what he did in the war. They’re fearful of him and his new powers. During the massacre of Lotus Pier and the Wen’s occupation of Yunmeng, a lot of the people and merchants in the area scattered in fear of the Wen Clan. The massacre itself wasn’t completely contained to the cultivators either—civilians got cut down too in the chaos, the Wen’s not caring if the people in their way were cultivators or not (also hc the people of Yunmeng trying to hide some of the Jiang disciples who were trying to flee but got killed by the Wen for it)—leading to a lot of casualties and running of the people living there. After the war ended and the Jiang returned to Yunmeng and Lotus Pier, there was a lot of turn over of who set up shop there. Yes, there were still some of the merchants that WWX grew up with, but there were far more newcomers, both just younger generations taking over for their parents/grandparents and people new to the area all together. As such, many people didn’t know the pre-war WWX who people left their kids w/ all the time. They didn’t know the WWX who whined and bemoaned about Madam Yu banning him from volunteering w/ kids and babies, and who snuck out to do so anyway. They didn’t know the WWX who would sit down by the river w/ the women to play with the kids while the women washed the clothes and worked, ending up w/ a flower crown on his head every time and wearing it proudly bc some little girl made it just for him. They didn’t know the WWX who would go out of his way to help you w/ anything you needed, cultivation related or not, whether it was a package delivered or a roof fixed, WWX would figure out how to help you. They didn’t know the bright, boisterous, kind, helpful young man and only the one traumatized and weighed down by the war (and loss of his golden core). 

WWX could handle the adult’s wary looks and subtle steps away from him, but what really weighed down on him and hurt him further, was that parents would subtly pull their kids behind them like he was a threat to them. And the hurt worked its way further into his heart and mind when, influenced by their parents actions, the kids started avoiding him and running away from him even when their parents aren’t around. The fact that even the kids are acting this way towards him, makes the whispers that he’s a monster worm their way deeper into his mind, making him feel worse and weighing him down further. WWX doesn’t try to help out w/ the orphanage that has so many more orphans after the war or w/ the little kids and babies, thinking that if they don’t even want their kids near him on the street, they wouldn’t want him volunteering (the truth of this sentiment is up to you to decide). Even when the older residents of the town try to tell stories of the younger WWX and how good he was w/ kids, many still don’t trust the new WWX—too wary of the resentful energy wafting off of him to trust him w/ their kids.

After WWX gave up his golden core and did the whole demonic cultivation thing and people started being wary and talking behind his back during the Sunshot Campaign, WWX kinda gave up on the idea of getting married and having kids. He still held onto the dream, but it became much more of a distant fantasy (even more so than when he was younger which was already really distant). He didn’t want to subject a woman or his children to the shadow people were casting on him. This, mixed with the trauma of all that happened, made him basically give up on the idea of a family. The trauma really weighed him down, and the result of such didn’t help w/ the rumors and talking which didn’t help his gloomy mood—which weighed him down even more in a vicious cycle.

When WWX ran away w/ the Wen to the Burial Mounds and was able to help w/ A-Yuan, he was very happy about it, and felt that caring for A-Yuan like he was was the closest he would get to being a father. I also headcanon that the Wen up there in the Burial Mounds w/ him practically adopted WWX and doted on him constantly. He loved them and they loved him. They were totally down for the idea of WWX actually adopting A-Yuan, but WWX got weird whenever the prospect was brought up (and I hc that they did try), deflecting the conversation bc he didn’t think he was good enough. A-Yuan still loved WWX as a father figure and WWX loved A-Yuan as a son. Granny Wen loved WWX like he was just another of her grandchildren. If WWX was younger, they would have officially adopted him as one of them, so as it is, WWX keeps his Wei last name, but when they set up a family shrine for their ancestors, they make tablets for WWX’s parents there too. WWX actually starts crying at this. (Again, it’s bc as I put in part one, WWX only ever wanted a family that he could actually call his own, and by putting his parents’ tablet in their family shrine/whatever it’s called, they were acknowledging WWX as part of their family.)

[mejomonster]

Jin Mi from Ashes of Love, Xuanji from Love and Redemption, and Tantai Jin could all start a club about how it’s going having no emotion growing up

Jin Mi: was going great, excellent, until her friend went missing. Was still doing great, gender didn’t matter to Jin Mi and neither did ridiculous romance, but the people around her SURE thought it SHOULD matter so. ;-; it’s not going great for our babe.

Xuanji: doing AMAZING. she WAS bullied for the no feelings thing, and also nearly frozen to death, but her dad does love both his daughters AND xuanji’s sister babies her AND she’s got a shixiong looking out for her, AND a very sweet demon boy becomes her friend and is very willing to help her too. So a lot of her bad times (at least before the plot’s rolling) are more to do with her willing to suffer Endlessly for friends. she is bullied but like... when her sister ling long is intent to kill the bullies there’s only so much damage they can do, with ling long there to attack them and try and comfort xuanji after in her abrasive way. Xuanji also has quite a knack for accumulating friends anyway, which also helps. perhaps the worst part of the whole ordeal is mr. Abusive Controlling Gaslighting ex-from-another-life Bai Lin creeping around and STILL trying to control her, and the lack of emotions make it just that Bit extra hard to notice the red flags he’s throwing off and recognize the way she’s getting trapped.

Tantai Jin: honestly would’ve maybe done alright (i’m only in ep 4 though lol) if only bitches hadn’t CONSTANTLY wanted to harm him. Dad blamed him for his mom’s death and that’s not fair, so starvation and bullying here they come. The Jin palace likewise were just DICKS because to be mean to Tantai Jin was to do what the king would be happy with, then he got traded as a hostage where YET AGAIN the king would appeased if he’s suffering since he’s a hostage. So everywhere the poor kid went people wanted to beat him for status perks. Then to top it all off, poor kid can’t cry just like xuanji, and that made one of his maid caretakers think of him as a monster instead of just different (which sure didn’t help), that made the people beating him feel they could keep beating him hoping for more of a reaction, and just ;-; He seems like if he’d been given ANY friend or nice sibling, like xuanji, he would’ve probably did fine. But he didn’t have anyone on his side from like the one maid leaving onward to until he got his crow friend so. :c To top things off? Of COURSE he attached to Xiao Lin, the first ORDINARY person treating him NORMAL. And Xiao Lin had the status to make punching Tantai Jin not worth the social benefit of doing so. I would like the acquaintance friendship/admiration/parallels but differences explored more (both princes but one can feel and one cant, one has a mom who’s favored and one is an orphan whos hated, one seems to do only good in society’s eyes while the other can’t do ‘good’ even if he behaves the same). I really like the idea to parallel these two. I love this kind of writing. I’m also thinking... Xuanji could’ve been quite similar to him given the same childhood situation (and vice versa he probably would’ve turned out quite heroic and sweet if he’d had steadfast close emotional connections growing up like xuanji).

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

thousand autumns donghua, episode 6~

shen qiao: bro why did u poison me? :) yu ai: lol what?? POISON?? whaaaat??? no waaayyy, i would NEVER!!! here drink something i prepared with my poisoner hands pls shen qiao: 🎶MAYBE I SHOULDN'T SAYS CÚNLA!🎶 past!yu ai: yes…..YES! DRINK IT!! DRINK THE POISON BOOZE!! BAHAHAHAHAAHAAAA >:D past!shen qiao: bby bro ilu, actually ur just as good as i am, so u look after everything for me, ok?? if i die u take over my position and everything will be great, i trust u with my whole heart :) :) :) past!yu ai: ….....uh-oh ngl yu ai has a really cute face??? actually i might…..i might think he's a teeny tiny bit cuter than shen qiao?? I DON'T LIKE HIM MORE!! but idk i feel like….maybe they fussed with shen qiao's face a bit TOO much and got a weird effect? (i say this as someone who often fusses too much over my drawings' faces and ends up with a weird effect ;A; it's a curse 😔) NOOO SHEN QIAO DON'T GET SICKER!! poor bby sorry i criticised ur appearance so much ;A; awww he doesn't want to be bros anymore ;A; i find it interesting how he's willing to be forgiving of strangers, but not his former bro. not that the former bro really deserves it, bc he's being awful ;A; but its interesting to me, how different ppl approach betrayal!! I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT U SHEN QIAO. TELL ME UR SECRETS PLS. yan wushi is so relatable lol. he watches all this and goes 'what an idiot!' and it doesn't even matter who he's referring to, bc he's right lmao shen qiao poor bby ;A; he cough so much ;A; someone get my mans a glass of water ;A; HOLY SHIT YU AI JUST ATTACKED HIM WTF???!!!!! DID DID HE CALL HIM A-QIAO AS WELL?? WHAT A RUDE JERK!! THAT IS UR SHIXIONG, U BRAT!! >:V yu ai: 'i don't want u to leave!' *makes shen qiao spit blood* 'i don't want to hurt u!! come on bro, just stay here with meeeee uwu' ITS THE OLD MAN! HE'S HERE!! aww he help shen qiao up ;A; so cute ;A; uh sir u need to learn to take 'no' for an answe--OK NVM HE'S JUST WHISKING SHEN QIAO AWAY BY THE WAIST ONCE MORE THAT'S FINE. I GUESS yan wushi, king of evils??? LMAO more like king of dramatic hoes 'the evil gang' ….idk what i expected it to be called really DID HE JUST DID HE SLAP YU AI FOR CALLING SHEN QIAO 'A-QIAO'????? THATS AMAZING a bit hypocritical BUT STILL AMAZING AND HILARIOUS DO IT AGAIN!! DO IT AGAIN!! he's such a badass omg ;A; also he has such great accessories!! such good taste in fashion rly!! lol now it's yu ai's turn to spit blood!! serves u right for being a jerk smh lol i LOVE these random side characters who just look like normal ppl in comparison to these bishounen pretty boys. 10/10 artistic choice oh we've met a new friend! yuanchun! hello sir!! he's quite handsome, even if his spine is made of jam SHEN QIAO WILL U WHIST I CAN'T HEAR THEM OVER UR INNER MONOLOGUE yws: i'm gonna help u, then hurt u, then help u again, then ruin ur day and make u cry >:) shen qiao: …….. :( get me out of here pls :( yws: *evil laughs triumphantly* i just want everyone to know that every time yan wushi evil laughs, i laugh too🤣 'YOU SHAMELESS GUUUUYYYYY!!!!!!' amazing oh ok we're we're just gonna fight now. ok cool fellas, is it gay to touch fingertips with ur bro while wreathed in spiritual energy?? GHOST SWORDS!! i do love these pretty sequences with all the martial arts…..stuff lol. i wish i were clever enough to describe it but. just know that it's all very spiritual and neat ;A; aww shen qiao is so cool ;A; ilu my lad! ur a good boi!! WH SSIR SIR WHY ARE U GRABBING HIS FACE LIKE THAT WHOOOAAA UR GETTING REAL CLOSE TO HIM THERE SIR oh i see, the devil whispering in ur ear is actually yan wushi trying to make u be his wife, it all makes sense now!! yws: A-QIAO COME BE EVIL WITH ME. IT'LL BE FUN A-QIAO I PROMISE. WE CAN BE EVIL TOGETHER A-QIAO. I WILL BE THE EVIL HUSBAND AND U CAN BE MY EVIL WIFE A-QIAO. ARE U THE ONE FOR ME A-QIAO??? I THINK U ARE THE ONE A-QIAO. A-QIAO the old man moves fast, not like he's got unlimited time left i guess OH MY GOD HE'S LITERALLY CARRYING HIM AWAY LIKE A BRIDE in summation:

✨THESE BITCHES GAY✨

[tk-duveraun]

airplane has a problem (PG-13)

okay, he's shang qinghua, he has a lot of problems

but he kinda has an imminent death problem, rather more imminent than mbj and perhaps more grusome.

you see, sqq has been possessed.

everybody knows it. some people are even saying it. not only is sqq possessed, but the demon who's replaced him clearly knows who his son is. fake sqq has taken on a his own little demon duckling to take over the world with.

obviously zhangmen shixiong knows sqq is possessed; he just can't prove it yet. but prove it he will. because sqh knows exactly which deus ex machina this demon is using to get past hong jing and the other possession checks. he wrote it for lbh to infiltrate the sect before razing it to the ground.

and here's the thing, when yqy remembers the artifact that will reveal this demon, it's gonna lead to a whole investigation. it's gonna lead to extreme paranoia, it's gonna lead to airplane getting found out and locked in the cells beneath qiong ding if he's lucky and transported to the water prison in huanhua if yqy is more angry than he cares about the sect reputation, which is highly likely. that's his own star-crossed soulmate that got taken over, zhangmen shixiong will not be taking prisoners at this time.

under normal circumstances, airplane would just set up a rube goldburg machine to make lqg kill sqq accidentally or on purpose, but fake sqq has sniffed out that lqg is the biggest threat and befriended him (okay, sure, zhangmen shixiong is actually the biggest threat, but it doesn't take a protagonist iq to realize he values sqq's body even if the soul is wrong)

but in the end, it's not too, too hard.

demon sqq got poisoned with Without-a-Cure, which still works on a demon because the deus ex machine he's using is really powerful and airplane wants to know how he got it, but it's somehow his fault, since he's the only one ruining the timeline, so he also doesn't

but back to how it ends. sqq isn't allowed to go on missions alone. airplane carefully orchestrates two perfectly tailored night hunts. one to keep lqg busy and one that is both too good for demon sqq to resist and too urgent to wait for lqg to come back.

airplane also causes a series of small crises on most of the other peaks because what good is being in charge of infrastructure if he can't make it fail to his advantage when he needs to get someone alone.

the mission itself is the spotting of a clear-eyed pure-moon dragonwasp. it's blood is one of the few things that can break the deus ex machina concealing demon sqq and there's no way he's going to let someone else harvest it and use it on him, so sqq signs up and airplane is the only peak lord available to go with him.

sqq clearly knows airplane is colluding with demons. the demon can probably smell it on him. fake sqq is cold and actually acting like real sqq, which is ironic or something close to it.

airplane wait until they've killed the dragonwasp and bottled the blood, then he opens a jar of black hell fire bottled itself from the abyssal regenerating chicken (and wow the anti-fans had hated that name. he'd laughed himself sick at the comments back in the day)

the black hell fire isn't real fire, it's a demonic fire that burns up spiritual and demonic energy and, whoops, with Without-a-Cure, guess it's deadly! damn, can't believe they ran into something like that. airplane doesn't like being half-numb from his exposure, but hey, he needs plausible deniability. he uses a fancy demonic talisman, charged by his king, to slash fake sqq through the neck.

he stuffs the used talisman in the bottle that held the hell fire and drops both of them into his 'garbage disposal' qiankun pouch (he'd invented it himself! he's so proud). he pries the bottled dragonwasp blood and pours it on demon sqq's body for the big reveal.

[Congratuations! Congratulations! Congratulations! User 02 ELIMNATED. + 10000 B-Points o(^＠^)o]

I guess he really wasn't Shen Jiu

[sixteenthshen]

my rant on episodes 31/32

I feel so conflicted about them.

On the one hand, I wanted to watch the shared horse scene so much. On the other,  there were so many inconsistencies and WTF moments. I can't bring myself to touch those episodes again to make more gifs, which is such a pity because WKX falling down the cliff? SO PRETTY. 

Spoilers behind the cut. If you do follow the drama with Chinese fans, you’ll probably have heard the same things like a million times. To save yourself more angst/stress, skip my post. 

The upside is that the director took the fans complaints to heart. They were making edits until 2am last night. I heard it’s already live, but I’m still trying to prepare myself. There’re some things that can’t be fixed >< 

*hopes for the best on Tuesday* 

In episode 11, WKX wanted to tear the Scorpion assassins into ten thousand little itty bits because ZZS had some blood on his lip, which made me mentally scream so much from joy. In episode 31, he  LETS Duan Pengju, that evil dickface(TM) go, just like that? Where's the rage? Where's the anger? Do you see the colour of ZZS's face? Can you see what he's wearing? Do you know what dickface did? 

Although it's a very touching moment when WKX decides to acknowledge the shixiong/shidi relationship, it's super weird that the ghosts are behind. I mean, I suppose it can make sense if we focus on the fact that he's planning to "retire" from being the big bad CEO of Ghost Valley. But it seems careless to expose a weakness in case someone tries to take advantage of it since they have to kill you to get to be the new CEO. 

There's no follow up on the injuries sustained from being tortured by the evil dickface(TM). How could they make WKX seem so callous? Maybe a scene where ZZS asked Wu Xi to hide his injuries from WKX, but WKX's right outside. He overheard ZZS telling Wu Xi to hide it from him, so he pretends not to know. *cue angsty scene for WKX here* 

The only thing related to injuries was when Wu Xi said ZZS could be saved from his self-inflicted nailing. Okaaaay. What about the piercing of the scapula? (穿琵琶骨 (piercing pipa bones) - it's supposed to cripple your martial arts ability until you heal ok) 

WKX suddenly decides to go off and be a career man, which is perfectly fine. But he suddenly has Gu Xiang watch over ZZS like a hawk, not letting him drink. (Seriously, I forgot if this belongs in TYK or if this is yet another thing stolen from Sha Po Lang) Where is WKX showing any concern over ZZS's total loss of 2 out of 5 senses? I ASK YOU MS. SCRIPTWRITER. What have you done to WKX's character??? Poor WKX, poor ZZS. 

And did everyone laugh off the fact that ZZS can't taste, so why should he drink wine? Ok, I can make myself accept this if I remind myself that ZZS would not like people making a fuss and pitying him anyway... (but shouldn't someone, anyone care???) 

We get many hints that WKX has a sneaky scheme, but he doesn't tell Gu Xiang, his closest friend since childhood. He doesn't talk to his soulmate about this either. 

WKX and ZZS's dialogue just before he falls down the cliff... Seriously reminiscent of Silent Reading, when Fei Du makes the same self-flagellating confession & Luo Wenzhou stops him. 

ZZS draws his sword and stands beside WKX. What is going on?! How does he still have his martial arts ability? Did months pass since WKX saved him from evil dickface (TM)? Nothing makes any sense!  

ZCL's hidden weapon is what forces WKX over the cliff. If ZCL did not know about the sneaky scheme, then WTF is this kind of scriptwriting? ZCL's character turned from a good, young child to a prop-causing drama and angst. Even if he felt betrayed, was he not there to see how depleted WKX made himself trying to save Han Ying? Did he not see how WKX tried to keep his shifu safe? Or taught him how to fight? Did ZCL become stupid all of a sudden just to create angst? 

 It only makes sense if ZCL knew about the scheme because of all the info he was privy to, such as Zhao Jing as the villain behind it all (when he heard WKX and ZZS talking). How would he go from knowing that to thinking ZJ should be the new head of the alliance? As a matter of fact, how could Shen Shen?  

Ye Baiyi has to be in on it unless WKX suddenly gained so much martial arts ability in the short time since they last fought. I mean, it only makes sense that WKX got so much stronger because he got injured by YBY, then depleted his strength saving Han Ying. 

So ZCL, YBY, Scorpion King and his buddies, fellow ghosts, possibly Shen Shen... WKX only kept it from the two people closest to him? The two most likely to do something stupid when they find out? *flails at this logic* 

The scene where ZZS's nails magicked their way out of his body... It's so awkward!!! I mean, we're supposed to feel emotional, but the special effects are just awful. I tried not to skip through it, I failed. 

So now what? ZZS essentially sacrificed himself to help WKX complete his goal. He gave up on his chance to be saved to fulfil WKX's pursuit of revenge (and take revenge for WKX's death). And it's all because of a misunderstanding. 

Between ZZS's nails and the ZCL-issue, I'm drowning in dog blood. What happened to WKX and ZCL's characters/personalities???? 

Also episode 32 is VERY choppy, it seems like we’re jumping to scenes randomly, the flow isn’t there. 

I can only say that the "Priest" spirit is gone; it's not a bad drama by any means. I'm still watching & I'm still going to buy the new episodes on Tuesday. But the random angst and abusive scenes inserted without no reason nor much logic are very un-Priest-like. 

I feel a little cheated about the scriptwriter being a fan of Priest. Priest's novels always feature couples who communicate. The supporting characters can come off flat in a drama sometimes because they're so normal. They don't have ridiculous backstories that make them tragic villains, and they behave logically. 

The angst "created" in Priest's novels makes sense. Characters don't suddenly change their personalities so that we can watch something exciting. The "dog blood angst/drama" is the big failing of so many Asian dramas. *CRIES* 

Now, the GOOD & HAPPY STUFF. 

WKX SAVING A-XU. *heart eyes* 

NGL, no matter how short it was, I liked the horseback scene 

There was a cute moment between Qi Ye and Wu Xi, scriptwriter knows how to ship!! & knows how to make it clear who’s gong/shou lol. 

THE HAIRPIN SCENE. IT’S EVERYTHING.

Even though I’m 90% sure the no-alcohol thing is copied from Sha Po Lang... I have so much love for Gu Yun and ZZS that it made me happy. My drunkards <3 

Did I mention WKX looks extremely pretty when he falls down the cliff? How do you fall so prettily? Plz teach me. 

WKX also looks pretty fake-dead. ZZS looks pretty when he’s heartbroken

I ship xiangcao so hard even though I know what’s gonna happen. (Cao Weining & Gu Xiang) They’re too cute.

I love the Poisonous Bodhisattva, I thought the Tragicomic ghost would be my favourite because of how gorgeous she is, but she’s too tragic & not enough comic. Poisonous Bodhisattva is my new goddess.

[westiec]

I posted 2,368 times in 2021

92 posts created (4%)

2276 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 24.7 posts.

I added 1,484 tags in 2021

#the untamed - 405 posts

#mdzs - 243 posts

#wei wuxian - 157 posts

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Longest Tag: 124 characters

#anyway ace queerplatonic soulmates wangxian who are the most annoying married couple anyone has ever met own my entire heart

(I think I stole that one tbh...)

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

June 4: ace Wen Ning

making a home with your immortal QPPs and finding words for yourself

read on ao3

🖤🤍💜

Wen Ning never really had the words for what it was he felt for Wei Wuxian.

Fascination, certainly, from the first time he'd wandered over to where he was practicing archery, complimented his form, made a few suggestions, and then scampered off again like a whirlwind. Loyalty—outsize in its intensity, he could admit later—that made him want to help him, even against his own clan, when Lotus Pier had been captured. Devotion, gratitude, and a little hook of connection in his gut, after Wei Wuxian had rescued his family and raised him from death. There was just a draw to him, before he'd died and after, that made Wen Ning want to be by his side.

A-Jie had asked, once, in those grey days at the Burial Mounds, whether he loved Wei Wuxian. He thought about a little bundle she had carried close to her heart that was gone, about the way Hanguang-jun had looked at Wei Wuxian as he was leaving, and he shook his head. "Not like that." She gave him a sad sort of smile, then, and he wished he had better words to explain.

...

197 notes • Posted 2021-06-04 18:58:07 GMT

#4

June 21: a (very) belated bisexual awakening

Read on ao3

"No, I mean..." They'd been having this conversation for awhile now, and Wei Wuxian still didn't understand what Jiang Cheng was so worked up about. He growled out a frustrated noise, then took a deep breath. "Okay," he said, "let me try it this way." Wei Wuxian put on what he thought of as his Patient Shixiong Face and hoped this attempt would actually make sense. "You know how sometimes a really pretty girl—like Liu-qianbei or that jiejie who sells tanghulu—makes you... feel things?"

Was Jiang Cheng... just now noticing people like that? Wei Wuxian supposed that, like the lotus flowers on the lake, different people blossomed at different times. Perhaps none of the older disciples had felt comfortable having this talk with the Sect Heir? Wei Wuxian could be a good shixiong and reassure him what he was feeling was normal! He nodded encouragingly. "Or like Yinzhu and Jinzhu, yes! That's very normal, Jiang Cheng; it just means you're growing up!"

Jiang Cheng turned bright red. "You are ONE WEEK OLDER than me! Wait—Yinzhu and Jinzhu?? I don't even want to know what— anyway, that's not the part I'm asking about."

...

283 notes • Posted 2021-06-22 04:02:27 GMT

#3

June 24: canon-era trans Lan Wangji 🏳️‍⚧️

featuring smol Twin Jades, supportive ally Lan Xichen, and Good Uncle Lan Qiren

Read on ao3

"That's the part of Cloud Recesses where the female disciples stay," Lan Huan answered. "When you are older and begin lessons, you will join our shijies and shimeis there."

The wrongness of that statement stopped Lan Zhan in his tracks. "No," he said, looking up at Lan Huan for a sign that he was joking—he always had a special smile when he teased Lan Zhan, so he would know—but finding only confusion. "Gege, why would I live with the girls?"

"Well, because you—" Lan Huan began, then he stopped. As though he were working out a riddle, he asked slowly, "A-Zhan, aren't you a girl?"

That wasn't a good joke OR a good riddle. "No," Lan Zhan said, starting to worry that his brother was more confused even than he was.

...

287 notes • Posted 2021-06-25 00:48:43 GMT

#2

June 27: Nie Mingjue, ace king

asexual Nie Mingjue, queer Lan Xichen, what even is flirting, rated T

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Contrary to popular (Huaisang's) belief, Nie Mingjue can in fact tell when people are flirting with him.

It's just, well, easier to pretend he doesn't. Nie Mingjue's a big, buff guy, so when he's friendly and affable and cheerfully misinterprets any flirting, then women tend to assume he's gay, and men tend to assume he's straight, and neither is quite right, but either way, he's planted himself solidly in the bro zone once more without any awkward conversations or needing to turn anyone down directly.

Which is why he can't quite figure out Lan Xichen’s deal.

...

309 notes • Posted 2021-06-28 05:29:44 GMT

#1

June 9: Ace Rights Wangxian!

I would broadly classify WWX here as "sex-favorable asexual" and LWJ here as "grey-ace/demisexual (Wei Ying specific)"

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🖤🤍💜

Wei Ying likes everything Lan Wangji does. Lan Wangji knows this to be true, because Wei Ying tells him, in exactly those words, every time Lan Wangji draws his husband close and asks what he would like.

But.

Perhaps there should be no "but"—Wei Ying is vocal, even loud, in his enthusiasm for all the ways Lan Wangji touches him, all the ways he takes him apart and feasts on the sight and sounds and sensation of his body.

But when Lan Wangji asks his fantasies, hoping to fulfill Wei Ying’s desires as fully as Wei Ying has fulfilled his, they are games, stories, often moments from their own past or clichés from romantic tales or erotic literature, and if playacting is the shape of Wei Ying’s desire, then Lan Wangji will do his best, but.

The jingshi glows warm tonight, and the day has been a good one, and when Lan Wangji draws Wei Ying into his lap and asks, "What would you like from me?" and Wei Ying replies, as he always does, "I like everything Lan Zhan does," Lan Wangji pauses.

"Wei Ying," he asks, "is there nothing in particular you desire from this husband?"

...

🖤🤍💜

#PrideMonthSnippets Masterpost here!

410 notes • Posted 2021-06-09 19:28:53 GMT

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[chromeskiesstuff]

The Killing of Three Thousand Crows Recap EP 1 三千鸦杀

This drama has been a huge blast - I am 8 EPs in and the plot, characters are wonderful and refreshing. The main leads are a hoot themselves, being very hilarious and have their own unique personalities. Props to CGI and costume theme who does their best to make it realistic while in budget, in particularly the costumes feel so natural and pretty.

So just a brief introduction:

This is a Xianxia adaptation from novel of the same name. Xianxia = it involves immortals. Our heroine, Yan Yan, or with her adult/real name Qin Chuan (覃川) is a mortal princess of her country and it has been destroyed by the demon people. Her people are slain and she vowed to kill off each and every demon people to bring peace to her people.

The Male Lead is Jiu Yun (九云), a powerful young immortal who has a crush on her, and he has seen through her ten lives/ previous reincarnation.

We started off with our male lead, Jiu Yun and his friend. His friend ponders why he is sharing with him a drawing by his Shifu/Master and what is it about.

He replied that this was about a war where drums are beating, and bones anre piling up. He also said he didn’t understand the meaning of the drawing for thousand years.

The cinematography is pretty amazing and the narration done by Zhen Ye Cheng (yes our Male lead does his own dubbing along with Zhao Luo Si) is nothing short of haunting. The sequence is written in a semi-classical format, and its a thing of beauty when it combines with great cinematography, great colour combinations, great symbolism (eg drums that reinvigorate a dying party) , great prose and great narration. Look at her red robes flowing in harsh winter while hitting the drums. Maybe I should translate this part later :D

His friend retorted. “It’s normal for mortals to be in war”. He replied "I finally met her yesterday. I have been searching for her for a thousand years” while the screen switch to her facing her enemies alone. 

I presume she didn’t survive. Based on some notes on the novel this was her past life. Anyway I really dig these prologues as of late as its normally shot wonderfully and in a simplistic manner + introduce the whole thing.

The scene switched to an enormous paper bird flying down to a city.

I love the design of the paper bird. Its delicate. Can I have one for a Mercedes?

Our heroine slept at class, slacking off  from learning paper folding spells which is a secret skill of Dali royalty. He also scold her that she have already learn for a year but she knew nothing.Her Shifu challenges her to make ten paper crane. 

She could fight with Bai Qian with tardiness though what Bai Qian did is even more crayy

She defended herself that paper folding spells emphasize on making it freely/casually. Under her shifu threat, she back off, saying she can do it anyway, but instead she made a frog.

The sequence is amazing btw. The CGI is really on point here :D

The paper container too is delightfully designed. Along with the sunscreen panels at the background

The set design and the headdress. Its amazing. Look at the Peach blossom background :D. And I enjoyed her acting a lot. She displays the right amount of mischievousness here :D

Our princess met with her brother and to cheer her up,  her brother shows her a painting he obtained. She said the painting is fine but not worth two to three thousand coins. 

Yeap. It looks like regular drawing even from my POV. But I hope whoever drawing this is not offended T_T (based on TMOPB the artist will normally on set whenever their artwork is shown)

He asks her to look at it carefully. Soon the garden turns into winter, and winter plum blossom starts blooming, and sometime later it turns back to normal. She excitedly asks him where he obtains the painting. He told her he obtained it from the famed painter, Gongzi Qi (公子齐).

Cue hilarity ensured of Gongzi Qi being synonymous with celebrity, full-on with fans dying to have his artwork and to see him,  and her brother the prince being very excited to obtain one. While looking for the artist, a scroll appears on his hand and he looks both happy and confused.

Here’s how he describes Gongzi Qi:

Gongzi Qi, he was rumoured to be extremely handsome, with one of the kind drawing skills. He was rumoured to apply rare immortal spells to his artwork.

She muses that man is too proud. And if Gonzi Qi said his art skills are his second-best skill, then his music skills should be out of the world. Her brother said he wrote a song titled East Wind Peach Blossom Flower .. nope it's half a song not a full song (WTF XD) and he refuses to write the other half, saying that no dancer will be able to dance this song (I see you Gongzi Qi, you are tempting her). Indeed our princess is up to the challenge and asks her brother to request him to finish the song so she can dance to it.

The siblings then visit their cousin, where her brother advises her not to be rude. Apparently their aunt and cousin are attending their mom’s 40th birthday celebration.

After greetings and praises, the two women throwing barbs at each other, we know that Xuan Zhu (玄珠，the cousin) recently start to learn immortal skills under a mysterious teacher. Their barbs become a quarrel, causing their companions to try to rein them in. Yan Yan excuses herself. The quarrel continues as both are tugging a purple handkerchief. 

A man came in. Yan Yan seems to be jealous that this guy (Zuo Zi Chen, 左紫辰) seems to come here to visit Xuan Zhu. He clarifies that he is here on behalf of his father to see her cousins. She instantly brightens up and let him go. 

OK, first crush? And guy seems to be interested.

At the court, the King seems to be really worried about Tian Yuan, as they have usurped three countries around Dali. He is also worried as his prime minister Zuo (Zi Chen dad) applies for retirement at this time due to health. He announces that he will pay a visit to Prime Minister Zuo.

Our Prime Minister seems quite healthy (healthier than the king!!) and performs some ritual that's clearly demonic.

This is performed in front of a satan like figure. That's demonic even in Taoist book right?

Our prince got the sheet music, but with a bet from Gongzi Qi: She must be able to perform it, else he will make her a laughing stock. While visiting the prime minister, she took the opportunity to visit Zi Chen. She blocks him from visiting the king. Instead, she wants him to ask him something on the new music sheet she obtained since he is extremely good with music.

uwuuw the music sheets are so pretty

Zi Chen was amazed since he never saw such complicated tunes. There is a catch though. The verse she pointed out is rather bloody and will cause the audience and the performer to feel very sad, totally inappropriate for a birthday celebration. He answers the way to go is to change the tunes from a sad tone to a happy one.

Girl is clearly enamored with him and his skills. He turned around and ask whether his modified tunes sounds right. She thinks it's great. And she gifted him a hairpin, helping him to wear the new hairpin. She finishes pining the hairpin and touches his face. He reciprocates by grabbing her hand tenderly

OMG I must say this scene is so well done. Very tender, and little words need to be said.

After she left, his father looks for him. He looks anything but friendly. He asks whether he knew the reason the king came. Oh gosh, the prince is way too naive. His father is clearly plotting about something. But he is a young man in the midst of meeting his first love, maybe that's why he didn't catch on the shenanigans.

The Princess is totally unaware of the plot tho, she happily shares her joy with her maid, Aman and hoping for the day Zi Chen will marry her. She also declares that she will be able to conquer the tough music sheets and it will prove Zi Chen's musicality is superior to Gongzi Qi. 

At night Gongzi Qi visited her, leaving her a note. She wakes up and declared again that she will win their bet. Gongzi Qi hears her in the court garden and leaves with a smile.

It seems like the budget is spent on the prince wardrobe. His gear looks very natural and menacing ha. But the candles deco is totally inferior to TMOPB Ye Hua house. Maybe the Demon People are saving the $ for war?

Yan Yan dance is stellar, she interprets the music sheets beautifully, with peach blossoms,snow and leaves. The audience including her brother, Zi Chen, and Gongzi Qi are amazed.

Oh wow the music is wonderful. It reminds me of TMOPB EP30 Peach blossom scene OST - the warm and sweet feel kinda touch. And the dance is shot beautifully. Although I think some of the dance moves are done by a professional dancer? Not a problem imo since one of the most beautiful performances in cdrama history is choreographed by a dancer.

And YESSSS.... his wardrobe is really on point here and the angles the cinematographer take is really good. He is not your conventionally attractive lead so I understand that some angles will not stand out. Kudos to the production team!

The dance ended and Gongzi Qi was shocked that she changed the ending of his sheet music. HA, SO YOU KNOW SHE IS GONNA PERFORM AT HER MUM’S BIRTHDAY BASH PARTY AND YOU WRITE HER A BLOODY TUNE? lmao he is pissed and serves him right XD. And what's wrong with your bestie XD? He seems to have a tendency to pine after a married woman.

They met Shifu who seems to be their ShiXiong (Elder brother disciple). Shifu reminded Gonzi Qi that since he is an immortal, he shouldn’t involve with mortal matters especially when Yan Yan is still very young. Gongzi Qi asks if he insists on doing it? Shifu replied that her fate has been decided and he shouldn’t go against fate. He seems to accept that decree and he hands over a huge scroll of painting, requesting Shifu to pass it to her.

Note: The reason why Shifu is able to involve is that he owes a debt to the Dali Royal family per the book.

At night the city is being attacked, and Yan Yan wakes up feeling happy and refreshed. She saw the painting scroll, both her and her maid marvelled at the painting and she told her maid that she wants to go outside alone to visit Zi Chan.

Meanwhile, Zi Chan father sent his son away “ For praying in the temple. Do request for glory at Royal Court”. His son wonders as his dad will not need it because he is retiring. His dad replies smoothly that it’s for Zi Chan. Zi Chan wanted to pray for his father’s health, and his father praised him lightly, sending him away. Looks like he is sending him away for safety. 

COMMENTS

I have been waiting for this drama for some time, and luckily they are no longer stuck in broadcasting hell. This EP has a lot to unpack, introducing the background and characters. I feel this EP wonderfully introduces multiple characters while making Yan Yan and Zi Chan characters unique. Yan Yan character is sweet while slightly spoiled, she is still very charming herself, and have all the characteristics of a well-loved high born lady. Zi Chan too stands out as the highly ranked son, with his politeness and his crush with Yan Yan being really subtle. Plot-wise it is interesting and hopefully, the revenge plot won’t be too over the top later. The drama is also not afraid to insert some modern jokes (AHEM CELEBRITY ARTIST) while feeling super natural in doing so.

 The magic spells they introduce are fairly unique too (paper magic) which can be quite handy. The brief introduction of paper cranes and paper frogs are delightful. The costumes are delightful too. One of the difficulties of cdrama production is making costumes natural relative to the period and making it beautiful. I love Zi Chan wardrobe here because he looks great in it while not making him too prince-like. Likewise I like that Gongzi Qi wardrobe are slightly more fancier than a normal immortal /Taoist disciple (YEAH HIS WEIRDASS WAYS) but not that fancy.

I think one of the downsides for this drama is the set production. Some of the sets like the snow scene are totally beautiful, while at some parts its so obvious the wood is made of plastic, or the garden looks too tropical. That being said I understand cdrama fantasy budgets are tight + high likelihood of delayed broadcasting, so these downsides are relatively minor, plus the cinematography team is killing it, so I think in overall any fan of xianxia should watch it.