#ling ya

[dan-fei]

[aptericia]

Shang & his babies

[atamascolily]

I made two versions of this meme, so you can pick your preferred Lang Wu Yao ship:

Ling Ya is the ultimate wingman.

[chipsncookies]

I love Ling Ya as a concept and character, hes so cute and funny ^^ I'm glad Lang can depend on him for everything, including performing, swordfight, and even talking to people, what a helpful friend 🎸💖🫶

[jafndaegur]

Kiss Goddess of Death

Thunderbolt Fantasy Fic

Lang Wu Yao

Everyone say thank you to depressed music witch and his talking guitar/j for single handedly curing my writer's block. This train of thought from what happens in Ep 1 had me in a choke hold and wouldn't let me go.

Breathe in.

The air is acrid, a tepid metallic that is rank against the nose. Lang Wu Yao moves to cover his nose with his sleeve only to pause. He stares at the two demons before him. They laugh and scorn as they walk, bodies sashaying through the nebulously grim terrain.

"Oy, kid. You okay?" Ling Ya's voice is distant, echoing faintly at the recesses of his hearing.

His heart thunders viciously against his chest; every fiber, every nerve, roars at him to turn the other direction and leave. This place is poison. It's lethal to humans like him.

A human like him?

"Lang?" Ling Ya's voice is an echo, a dull whisper of its usual presence.

Lang Wu Yao pictures Shang, so burdened by the Sorcerous Sword Index, a man standing in the sunlight; a silhouette of himself, never allowing himself the freedom to be truly lit. Every detail of power, every etching of his masterful strength hidden to keep others safe. That is a human. Someone doing his best with the unfair cards given to him.

His hand clenches, and he sucks in his breath again. The air is acrid, and tepid, and he forces himself to savor it. To accustom himself to it.

That demon Azibelpher, his father, brings him to a trial; one to prove himself. One that not just anyone can claim victory over.

"A mere human won't be able to defeat such a vicious beast," Azibelpher warns with a sneer.

Ling Ya's fury roils off its body in waves. "Dammit, that was your goal all along?"

Closing his eyes, Lang listens. Really listens. He senses the monster as it screeches in wrath; the snide triumph in his father's voice; the air nocking faint melodies against Ling Ya's strings. He breathes out.

If Shang Bu Huan is the silhouette before the sun, then Lang is the shadow cast to the ground. A voice that mimicks the tone of a man, a voice that mimicks what it means to live. Perhaps this has always been his curse from the moment of birth. Even so, it is up to chance that leads his heart with such an unforgiving grip.

He knows that even if he forgoes the path well trodden beneath the effervescent warmth of day, even if he transforms into something vicious, and cold, and demonic like Azibelpher—the song in his heart will guide him back to the light. To the sun. To the hand that always seems to reach out to him, despite the burden it already bears.

"I've long since steeled my resolve," Lang grits out, reaching for Ling Ya as the pipa transforms into his sword.

[mostspecialgirl]

edgeless blade vs iphone

[dazzlerazz]

@aptericia

BU HUAN IS NO.1 DAD YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND.

Might touch up on some places later but for now I'mma leave it as it is. I really wanted to draw something for myself since this last bit of the semester has been killing me. So have some puppet boys!

[snarkspawn]

it's missing wenzhou hours friends

happy lunar new year!! 🧧🧨🐉

[twistedappletree]

[danmeigirl]

🫰🏼 hard to move on from these two

[313i]

i miss ling yao i’m thinking about him

edit: i miss edling too i just didn’t realize edlinf was on this post

I’m shit posting on main (Ling Yao edition)

I’ve made over 50 of these

[dan-fei]

[aptericia]

My babies, but even babier

[atamascolily]

@aerialsquid asked for my thoughts on Ling Ya's survival in Thunderbolt Fantasy S4, so let's go!

tl;dr: Lang Wu Yao and Ling Ya are a package deal, I'd be very surprised if Ling Ya was on the chopping block for good.

From their first cameo at the end of The Sword of Life and Death, Lang and Ling Ya have always been together. Even before Ling Ya was Ling Ya (at least in his current form), he was an important component of Lang's life. Lang taking up his mother's pipa marks the start of his journey in Bewitching Melody of the West, and the movie ends with Ling Ya revealing himself coupled with Lang's own self-acceptance and actualization. There has never been a time when the two were separated, and I can't imagine it would start now; Lang losing Ling Ya would mean the loss of his self (and that was evident even before 4x01 confirmed that Ling Ya is the manifestation of Lang's demonic powers). Even without taking the complex nature of their relationship into account, what's a bard without his lute?

Interestingly, while a pipa was present in the original "T.M. Revolution" puppet that eventually became Lang, Ling Ya came much later, when The Sword of Life and Death was in development. I think Urobuchi recognized from the beginning that Lang was fundamentally incomplete without someone like Ling Ya to balance him, and he was right on so many levels.

Ling Ya is Lang Wu Yao's daemon (pun intended)--a fundamental part of himself that takes on separate form. To put it in Jungian terms, Ling Ya is Lang's animus, who embodies everything that Lang is not and yet belongs to him--is him on every level that matters. This is why Ling Ya always knows what Lang is thinking, why he gives voice to what Lang cannot or will not say--not to mention all the Freudian slips! The animus is the source of creativity, of passion...the fullest expression of Lang's spirit through his music, which is something that they make together.

Outside of fiction, most people do not have their animus as a separate entity, but even in-universe, Lang is exceptional in many ways. Ling Ya's existence is perfectly understandable given the nature of Lang's powers and heritage--but I think it's also because of the horrific abuses he suffered at his mother's hands.

Bewitching Melody of the West is absolutely heartbreaking because it's very clear Lang is projecting all of his doubts about his mother--all the criticisms of her, all the truths he knows deep down in his soul are correct--into Ling Ya, so he can block them out and ignore it. Or to put it a slightly different way, he's disassociating in response to trauma.

Or to quote that scene directly:

Voice: Come on, I know you hear me. Làng Wū Yáo: Be quiet. I don't hear anything. Voice: You sure seem to be answering me, if that's the case. Làng Wū Yáo: There's no one here but Mother and I. If anyone else was around, they'd have to be some kind of demon. (my emphasis) Voice: Even a demon would be worried if they saw what she was doing to you, kid. Làng Wū Yáo: Mother said the demons lurk within our hearts… so your voice doesn't belong to anyone!

Mother said the demons lurk within our hearts. Post-S3, this is a chilling admission that Lang's mother truly loved Azibelpher, and she blames herself for being deceived by him. Love is a weakness, love is a weapon, and she is determined to ensure that Lang won't suffer the way she did, even if it means damaging him in the process. But it's also a huge hint about what Ling Ya truly is... he is the demon that lurks inside Lang's heart and always has been. The call was coming from inside the house the whole time!!!

For Socrates, a daemon was a little voice within that whispered to him of the truth. For Lang, his daemon takes the shape of a wisecracking uncle, the humorous and caring father figure he has never known and desperately craves. (In Jungian psychology, the animus/a usually manifests as the opposite gender of the personality in question but in my interpretation the gendered aspect is far less relevant.) Lang's early life is so thoroughly dominated by his mother, it's not surprising to me that he creates a male figure to counter her voice. Ling Ya is the "small still voice" that always gives excellent advice, and most of the problems in Lang's life come directly from ignoring him.

As of 4x02, Lang has fallen into Azibelpher's trap and overbalanced, transforming into a demon as the previously repressed side of his heritage awakens. I can see why people are worried that something might happen to Ling Ya, and the danger is real. Nevertheless, for all his reputation for painful twists, Urobuchi's character deaths aren't solely for shock value--they always serve a narrative purpose. Which begs the question, what exactly would be gained by Ling Ya's death, beyond merely hurting the audience (and Lang)?

And while there's no question that the story could go there, and there are themes that could be explored from this, the other question is: Is that what Thunderbolt Fantasy is really about? And unless I've very much misjudged this show, I think it isn't.

TBF might have its tragic elements, but the story is not, ultimately, a tragedy. Having Lang go berserk because Ling Ya sacrificed himself might be dramatic... but if Ling Ya is truly a part of Lang, then I can't imagine him staying down for long. If Ling Ya is gone, Lang will find a way to bring him back...because that's who Lang is and always has been, and thus far his arc has always involved him becoming more conscious and open about their relationship, rather than less.

I think Lang's arc going forward will culminate with him accepting and balancing his dual nature, and finding his true purpose in life, with a corresponding transformation both Ling Ya and himself. However, I don't think this will necessarily require Ling Ya to disappear entirely, because for better or worse, Lang is most truly himself when the two are together--they are two halves of a whole. And while it's possible Ling Ya might be absorbed into Lang and the two become one person in the end, the end result would be so different from the character(s) we've known up to this point that I'm not sure I would recognize him anymore.

Could it happen, though? Absolutely. But I'll be very surprised if it does--not in the "who could have seen this coming?" way, but in the "wow, I really did not expect them to go there" way, because it runs so drastically counter to everything Lang has been thus far. Maybe I'm wrong about everything and Urobuchi will permanently break up the band.... but if so, I'll believe it when I see it.

[chipsncookies]

Practicing drawing them bc i have brainrot bfbddbdh

[boarloved-art]

do not fucking become a 4 seasons manor disciple, worst mistake of my fucking life. my mentors are making out instead of teaching me how to fight.