#little jin vs literally everyone and everything

[jinsakaiboobies]

what the fuck happened

[whyse7vn]

MIDLIFE CRISIS -

[ ot7 x reader ]

JIMIN OLD ERA

8 participants - 8 online

———————————

namjoon: why are you guys so quiet today

what did you do??

just tell me so i can fix it pls and thx

hobi: idk I’m at the studio

y/n: omw to the studio so idk x2

jk: i am at home

tae: i am also at jungkooks home (and y/ns i would never forget u my queen i love ur house) maybe yoongi got into a fight again idk

yoongi: i am watching tv

not fighting

that was one time

hobi: didn’t you break woozi’s nose literally last week and harassed scoups a week before that?

jin: he also did knock out that one staff guy last month

namjoon: he did

and luckily when the guy woke up he couldn’t remember anything and didn’t sue

yoongi: you know about all that?

stop stalking me

freaks.

hobi: people talk yoongi!!!

tae: AND HE PUNCHED ME YESTERDAY

y/n: YOU BROKE WOOZI’S NOSE??????

tae: ok but yoongi also punched ME like who even is woozi when he’s at home????

yoongi: me but if i was ugly homeless untalented and had a broken nose

jin: yoongi is woozi’s evil twin

y/n: WHAT DID WOOZI EVER DO TO YOU??

yoongi: idk a woozi

namjoon: we are getting off track

jimin jin what did you do??

jimin: NOTHING I SWEAR IT WASN’T ME LITERALLY MAKING A SANDWICH RN

jin: i was cleaning haven’t done anything promise

namjoon: who is lying to me

pls tell me i really don’t have time for this rn

y/n: i vote jimin why is he shouting never trust a man that shouts

also tae get the fuck out my house rn

and can i get a little context about this woozi situation….

tae: cant wait for u to come home #sleepover

jimin: ITS NOT ME I SWEAR ALSO I THINK I BROKE MY PHONE I CANT TAKE CAPSLOCK OFF HELP

I VOTE JIN CUZ FYM UR CLEANING

jin: it means i me cleaning?

is he stupid? anyways i vote y/n cuz she’s a sick little liar and is probably causing problems

y/n: i’m literally in a car rn i’m not doing anything

YOONGI ANSWER UR PHONE RN

yoongi: read my message i sent you :3

hobi: i vote tae

jk: same

tae: wtf jungkook

jk: sorry u are taking real long in the toilet for all i know you could of jumped out the window and stabbed 46 people

tae: no cuz ur so right

but i haven’t btw namjoon if ur wondering

namjoon: ur all stressing me out

stop arguing

and NO sex talk please

jimin: ??????

yoongi: who is arguing?

jin: and who is talking about sex?

namjoon: oh

um okay

cool

good

yoongi: freak

hobi: yoongi about to send u this song listen to it pretty pls with a cherry on top >.<

yoongi: k

jk: guys pls someone bring me bread

i ate all my bread

y/n: will get some on my way home

yoongi i stg answer ur phone

jk: blushing

yoongi: :3333

jimin: PLS SOMONE HELP ME HOW DO I FIX THIS

jin: it’s probably a issue in ur settings

maybe idk

have you checked?

jimin: WILL DO THAT

namjoon: this feel extremely wrong

is everyone ok?

hobi: yes yes

yoongi: 👍🏻

jimin: YEAH

tae: yh

jin: yup

jk: yes mr namjoon

y/n: ofc !!

but woozi is not can we pls address the woozi situation yoongi did NOT answer me

namjoon: okay

why do i feel like something is wrong then

everything is wayyyyy to calm

it’s like

domestic almost

in a strange way

its unsettling

jin: then settle? idk what to tell you

jk: domestic malewife 🥺

my dream

y/n: ????

namjoon: no one is threatening to kill anyone

ur not taking about sex

nothing about feminism

or tae being broke

no jk vs yoongi

jin vs jimin????

hobi isn’t singing

no drug talk

and not one of you is on drugs right now??

guys be fr

what’s wrong?

jk: do you want me to get high rn??????

i can do it

if you want

i can

just say the word

namjoon: no wtf???

i would LIKE if you guys told me what the fuck you’re hiding from me

jin: let’s talk about what UR hiding joon

y/n: OMG WHY ARE WE NOT CONCERNED THAT YOONGI BROKE WOOZIS NOSE LIKE HELLO?????

namjoon: what i’m hiding????

i’m not hiding anything

jimin: IS IT FIXED NOW GUYS?

tae: when life gets tough you need to fix yourself

or you won’t be fixed

jk: woah

yoongi: what?

hobi: it’s cold as fuck toady

y/n: HIS NOSE HELLO??? ITS BROKEN

jk: tell him to fix it

because if he doesn’t fix himself he won’t be fixed

tae: the way jungkook just gets it 🥺

jin: don’t lie kim namjoon

namjoon: i really don’t know what ur talking about but ok??

anyways u guys are still bothering me but not in a i want to bash my head against a wall sense like normal

but in a are they being held at gun point sense

can you all snap out of it??

jk: don’t bash ur head joon

namjoon: im not

that is my problem

yoongi: sounds like you are

namjoon: you guys did something real fucked up didnt you that’s why ur acting like this

you can tell me

i wont get mad

hobi: ok can you shut up ohmygod

jimin: LITERALLY JOON UR GREAT AND ALL BUT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT PLS SHUT THE HELL UP

jk: can you not shout pls ur scaring people

jimin: I CANT HELP IT

jk: sorry i’m just a ugly pig then

yoongi: ur so dramatic

tae: don’t worry kookie small men often carry a large amount of rage that’s why jimin is shouting

don’t take it personal

jimin: ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME??

y/n: ok so you guys really don’t gaf about woozi???

jk: what is that???

yoongi: literally

tae: y/n can you also buy cheese for us when you come back

jk: cheese 🤤

y/n: whatever….

namjoon: wow ok

so

i’ll just go then?

jk: baiiii ^^ 💞✨

namjoon: no this feels so wrong

y/n: go take a nap joon

hobi: bros just yapping away like 💀

tae: GO

namjoon: did you guys kill someone?

be honest with me im begging

jin: maybe if we ignore him he’ll go away

jimin: fixed my keyboard

thank god amen #lifeisgood

namjoon: guys

jk: i’m a man not a guy

yoongi: what

hobi: do you think maybe this is his midlife crisis?

jin: i thought the whole rap monster thing was his midlife crisis

y/n: he was like 18 then?

jin: i didn’t expect him to live long

jimin: start of life crisis

tae: maybe namjoon himself is the crisis

namjoon: you guys are my crisis

y/n: we haven’t even done anything

namjoon: can you guys do something

hobi: ur really loosing it

namjoon: don’t make ME do something

hobi: wtf is namjoon threatening me rn?

jimin: what is the worst namjoon can do be fr

namjoon: i have like 127 snipers on ur house rn shut the fuck up

jimin: wtf???????

y/n: nct core

namjoon: me y/n and tae had a threesome

jk: WHAT??????????????

jin: I KNEW IT I KNEW IT

jimin: oh my actual god

tae: I HIT I HIT GUYS I DID IT ALL OF YOU THAT PRAYED ON MY DOWNFALL LOOK AT ME NOW LOOK AT ME

namjoon: but that’s not the first time we fucked

minus tae ofc

tae: wait what

hobi: oh wow

namjoon: on jungkooks birthday last year

yoongi: laughed

namjoon: and at a sleepover we all had at yoongi’s house

yoongi: oh

jk: WHAT THE FUCK

y/n: i am going to kill you

namjoon: i have almost asked her to be my girlfriend

y/n: what

namjoon: on multiple occasions

jk: THIS HAS TO BE FAKE OMGSHH2£:£!£3:;&;’cmnfkknfmfnc

y/n: namjoon

namjoon: i’ve tried to get taehyung kicked out of the group a total of 29 times

tae: WHY WTF

????

OMG

BETRAYAL OF THE CENTURY

WHAT THE HELL

jin: LMAO that’s crazy as hell

namjoon: i have never eaten a single dish jin has ever cooked for me

jin: ARE YOU SICK?????????

I SLAVE AWAY IN THE KITCHEN

AND FOR WHAT???

FUCKING UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT

NEVER COOKING FOR U AGAIN

WOW IM SO PISSED

FUCK YOU

UGLY FUCK

namjoon: when we debuted i believed jimin was the ugliest man i had ever seen and felt physically ill when people would flirt with him because wtf were they seeing??

jimin: WOW

WOOOOOW

wow

that’s crazy actually

do u even fw us be honest

hobi: definitely fw y/n that’s for sure!!!

ok i’m sorry i didn’t mean it i don’t want to know what you have to say im sorry i just saw the opportunity PLS IM SORRY IM SORRY

namjoon: ur mother used to send me money so i would hang with you

hobi: ur telling me our sunday bonding days weren’t actually sunday bonding days 🥲

namjoon: i wanted to shoot myself in the head

jimin: what the actual fuck is happening

jk: HES LYING HES LYING THERE IS NO WUAYS HES LYINGGGGGGG

namjoon: why would i be lying?

y/n: namjoon you need stop talking

yoongi: namjoon kill yourself

jk: YEAH KILL YOURSELF

namjoon: thank you

jimin: this is by far the craziest degradation kink i’ve ever seen

namjoon: argue

yoongi: you want us to argue?

are you high?

jk: HES HIGH HE IS I KNOW IT

HE WOULDNT SAY ALL OF THAT SOBER

tae: waittt namjoons first high 💞💞💞💞

jimin: that makes sense

he don’t even know what he’s talking about rn lmao

not even mad anymore

i’m happy for u bro

namjoon: no i definitely do know what i’m talking about

i just want you guys to act normal

tae: it’s okay ur doing great joonie

namjoon: I AM NOT HIGH STOP

y/n: you have to be cuz wtf

jk: im confused

namjoon: shut up

jk: why is namjoon fighting me

namjoon: i literally slept with y/n

jk: STOP IT MAKE HIM GO AWAY

PLEASE

jin: IDC IF HES OFF FUCKING COKE RN

he’s actually so fucked up and insane for saying that TO ME LIKE TO ME MY COOKING ARE YOU INSANE??????

what a SHIT leader…

hobi: i think maybe he needs to hug a tree rn

stay grounded or smth

yoongi: bro is off the trees rn wydm

namjoon: i am “off” absolutely nothing rn maybe i’m just really concerned for you all

and maybe just maybe it’s you guys’ fault for making me have to act and talk insane so YOU GUYS can act and talk insane and make me feel at peace in life

you made me like this

all you do is cause me stress

this is ALL UR OWN FAULT

tae: i am NOT reading that essay 😭

jimin: omg we are all literally being gaslit by kim namjoon rn what the actual fuck is life

namjoon: im sick of you all

ur ageing me

y/n: i think ur ageing urself tbh

hobi: life goes on man…

tae: tbh i think namjoon is going through a bad trip rn

like tell me he doesn’t sound high as hell

jimin: you’ve actually lost it namjoon

hobi: it was bound to happen

tae: it’s okay just hold ur breath until you pass out and when u wake up you’ll be fine

that’s how i stop a bad trip

namjoon: I AM NOT HIGH FOR THE LAST TIME

jk: that’s what i say when i’m high

just saying

yoongi: this is definitely that midlife crisis

namjoon: why are you not freaking out about me literally having sex with the girl your in love with

yoongi: ur high and idc

jk: I CARE

i don’t believe you joon 😡

y/n: this is not life rn…..

hobi: are all four of you not in love with her wow thats kinda insane

y/n rizz go crazy

jimin: why don’t you all just like idk

date????

hobi: omg wait i wanna date too don’t leave me out this time 🥺🫰🏼

yoongi: i’ll pass

MY girl idk if you get that or not

jimin: but she’s-

ok

whatever

ur all fucked up idc

might as well all fuck but fuck me right???

ur girl no ur so right i need to just shut my mouth

sighs looks left looks right

idiot

namjoon: you all make me sick

jimin: literally do not care

jk: do you need a hug namjoon?

namjoon: absolutely not shut the fuck up

jk: oh 🥲

yoongi: so ur just really fucking mean high?

sucks

namjoon: IS HELL FROZEN OVER YOONGI BASICALLY JUST DEFENDED JUNGKOOK LIKE WHAT????? GUYS ARE YOU SEEING THIS???

hobi: who sold you this weed man..

we need to get them

jimin: he probably got sold cocaine got told it was weed and took it all

jin: yikes

sleep it off joon!!

namjoon: I HATE YOU ALL

omg

guys

i’m going to kill myself

….

now you say good or like do it or we won’t miss you

jin: who hurt you??

namjoon: YOU GUYS DID

YOU GUYS DO

ALL THE TIME ACTUALLY

WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING THAT NOW

jk: he wants us to tell him to kill himself?

namjoon: YES

y/n: he’s actually loosing his mind wow

hobi: he’s literally on another universe rn

jin: i’ll actually kill you instead of telling you to kill urself how about that!

namjoon: SHUT THE HELL UP

yoongi: does he want us to argue or stfu??? i don’t get it anymore

y/n: ur really like being insane rn joon

jimin: this a high that NEEDS to be slept off…

namjoon: there is no way u guys are being fr rn…

you guys are fucking with me

WHY IS IT AN ISSUE WHEN I SAY SOMETHING OUT OF LINE

hobi: you said MANY things out of line

namjoon: BUT YOU GUYS CAN TALK ABOUT HOW TAE HAD SEX WITH A RANDOM GIRL IN ALLEY FOR FREE FOOD AND NO ONE SAYS SHIT?????

tae: THAT IS NOT TRUE BTW

NAMJOON TELL THEM ITS NOT TRUE

namjoon: YOU GUYS ARE LITERALLY AT EACH OTHERS THROATS EVERY DAY AND WHEN I QUESTION WHY UR ALL BEING NORMAL I GET LOOKED AT FUNNY???

y/n: this is us normal?

I WAS LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT HOW YOONGI BROKE MY FRIENDS NOSE IS THAT NORMAL TO YOU???

tae: namjoon just used that fake scenario as an example IT IS NOT TRUE

namjoon: everyday you all push me closer to suicide

yoongi: ok?

idk what you want us to do at this point

namjoon: i don’t know either

yoongi: ok??

namjoon: ok

jk: OK 😋

namjoon: i think i’m gonna go now

namjoon left “JIMIN OLD ERA”

jimin: lmao i NEED to find out what he’s smoking that was crazy

—

i hate this actually.

tags: @piw6n @jvmisvu @birdie-vhs @kooksmilitarywife @hob3loveofmylife @jujubiism @bloopkook @ratchetpizza1 @myntalks @arloo00 @watamotee33 @y2kcy3brz @taiwan0618 @indigobsessed @freyadanvers @gguksbeloved @raetf @bbsantc @winuvs @medicinemybish @bxnnyhime @leleluvsbts @baetukki @zyaaaszn @thelilbutifulthings @yojaschill @k4ngelz

[babyarmybabbles]

Run ARMY! (1st Game Part) a1 d2

[Caution: These are not full fics, or even full parts of fics for some, these are part of my writing progress archive!]

Concept: Reader won the opportunity to film a spin off of Run BTS! celebrating the boys return from enlistment, called Run ARMY!, over the course of seven days.

Word Count: 954

Notes: This chapter in particular is actually inspired by a SKZ fic on Ao3 but I'm so tired I am not going to go look for it rn. I will probably add it to the inspo list for this chapter when I make an Addition post. Thinking about games and activities for them to do is literally so difficult. Props to the production crew for Run, I could never. Writing large groups is also vv difficult T^T I'm actually pretty content with the writing itself for this chapter. Could use some clarity edits, but everything always can.

Took Inspirations from Run ARMY! series on Tik Tok by _yamanika_ and Guess The Bias! by HelloMyAlien7 on Ao3

Warnings: I don't think there's any?

Masterlist Link <3 | Prev Part Link c: | Next Part Link [Not written D:]

"Before we begin, I would like to apologize to my fellow ARMY" you tell the camera seriously as soon as the PD finishes explaining the rules to you.

You and the boys had been called into the living room of your accommodations after breakfast for the first real game of your trip. It seemed they were mostly theming the games as ones they've done before with the added twist of you. Today’s game? The iconic five sense test.

The group cracks up laughing at your preemptive apology, but you maintain your eye-contact with the camera. "I will be as respectful as physically possible." You promise the dark lens, "Please understand."

You had good reason to preemptively apologize, you thought. ARMY would go feral as soon as this episode aired, you were positive. It wasn't every day one was not only allowed, but encouraged to touch the members of BTS.

That's right, they had rearranged the five sense rest in such a way that it was you against BTS, and the consequence was that you now had to caress each member as little as you could manage and still win the game.

The rules were pretty simple - you'd be blindfolded and the members would take turns approaching you to let you try to identify them by touch. You'd have 50 seconds to guess. If you got a member correct, you'd get a point. If you got it wrong, the boys would get a point.

You think 1 vs 7 is a little unfair, but you suppose that you did represent the millions of ARMYs at home right now. Your team was larger in spirit.

When the members got over their amusement at your impending doom, you took a moment between takes, as the 8 of you settled into position on and around an armchair, to check in that everyone was comfortable. You know you'd filled out an entire questionnaire about what you did and didn't consent to, but that didn't mean you knew that information about the group.

"So, I know I'm OK with this game, but are y'all good?" You question lightly. You're dead serious on the inside, but a little levity went a long way for these sorts of conversations.

It's Jungkook who raises his eyebrow at you. "Yeah, of course." He replies simply, tilting his head at you a bit, as if confused why you'd even ask.

You can't help the half smile that crawls over your face as you explain, "It may be a cultural thing, but I just wanted to make sure you were OK with me touching y'all like that." You pause here, still seeing confusion over most faces, RM and Jin being the only ones to be connecting dots, "Y'know, since we don't really know each other?"

A chorus of enlightenment echoes around the semi-circle of men surrounding you. V in particular seems a bit taken aback, almost like he'd forgotten that you weren't close. Which was silly, because you'd literally met them for the first time yesterday.

j-hope meets your eyes with a kind and encouraging gaze. "We're fine!" He assures you, leveling you with a concerned look of his own, "as long as you are?"

"I assure you, this is a dream come true on my end." You quip, drawing a laugh out of Jimin and a mischievous grin from Jungkook. J-hope just shakes his head at you fondly.

"Seriously though," You continue, "If I'm wandering too far or in directions I shouldn't, just grab my hands to stop me. I'd rather not make anyone uncomfortable." It, in fact, made YOU a lot more comfortable to put the power to stop things in their hands.

You had so much anxiety about respecting their boundaries and it was only day 2. It was tough going from one side of a screen to another.

RM nods agreeably where he's standing and adds, "Sure, and if you get uncomfortable or need a break, just let us know." You sound your agreement to the group's approving nods.

Soon enough Suga was helping you tie a handkerchief over your eyes while you nervously wrung a secondary eye mask between your hands. You'd been handed a cute frog one by a staff member and were quite pleased by its silliness.

You already felt quite vulnerable, blinded as you were. You could feel Suga's fingers deftly tying the handkerchief and resisted a shiver as he gently smooths it and makes you're none of your hair has been caught. You jump a bit when his hand lands on your shoulder.

You feel a split second hesitation before he draws away just to pat you twice in silent signal of the completion of his task and know that he'd noticed. He's kind enough not to mention it, though, and you hope he just puts it down to nerves.

You ARE nervous, of course, of the cameras, and the members, and everything about your situation, basically, but your jumpiness really stems from how unmoored you feel as you slide the face mask on. You're robbed of one of your most relied upon sense and soon to lose a second. You can't help going quiet and still as you listen to the staff and members take their places.

It seems Suga is MCing this episode as he leads the opening and prompts the members to explain what they're up to today. It brings a smile to your face to listen to them banter and you only wish that you could see their accompanying smiles right now.

You assume you've been revealed when Suga calls out to you, so you wave with both hands and try to look more excited than anxious. You're not sure it works.

[muninnhuginn]

for all that Stranger is a very plotty series I really appreciate how it always makes the time for little character moments. things like han yeo-jin’s drawings, hwang si-mok vs food, kang won-chul’s silly office habits. and then it builds on these to give actual character insight?

han yeo-jin likes her drawings, a load of her doodles are actively anime-style which is fitting considering how much she’s into animanga, she likes to gift them and they mean a lot to her. they’re literally part of how she shows her appreciation for others, from her coworkers to si-mok. so in s2 when she’s suddenly *not* drawing? that shows something is severely wrong even before si-mok points it out. her returning to doodling later on after starting to mend the rift with si-mok therefore pulls some weight in showing that she’s healing, but at the same time, when her co-workers look over she still hides what’s she’s doing. this contrasts with her old work where she literally left post-its of her art as gifts on full display. she may be improved from her lowest state but she’s still not comfortable in her current environment.

si-mok vs food, better people than me have explained, but he’s constantly interrupted from having meals because of cases. it starts mostly as a running gag but it does get built upon. when he’s at odds with another character and they try to have a meal with him it’s inevitably cut short (kang won-chul’s s1 manager intervention, lee yeon-jae meeting the team) or he actively dislikes the food (and this part gets more blatant as he starts to express more emotions in general. initially it’s other characters who have to directly comment on or ask him about not approving of the food whereas by the time he has the meal with woo tae-ha the disgust is visible on his face). the only times he’s able to have a proper meal is when he’s started to let people in, so si-mok accepting the invite to the team meal in s1 (just before everything all falls to pieces) is a big step. it catches everyone off-guard for a reason. beyond that, there are the meetings with han yeo-jin which are some of the few times he’s actually able to have a proper meal with someone.

si-mok vs alcohol is another indicator. much of s1 is spent refusing alcohol and saying he doesn’t drink. in situations where someone else is drinking and it would be socially acceptable for him to mirror them (see eun-soo drinking alone in the pop-up bar) he is notable for how he refuses to do so. it takes most of the season for him to ‘give in’ enough to drink and when he does it shows that he may not be showing it in other ways but he has hit a low point. and that he chooses to share his history with yeo-jin when he’s in that state speaks volumes as to how much more he trusts her now. (I could speculate here about how him avoiding alcohol seems to be rooted in a not wanting to lose control kind of thing which is at odds with his whole emotionless deal in the same way his repeated lying about his pain is but that’s a tangent so I’ll leave it be) and at the end of s1 he drinks socially with yeo-jin and later on in that episode shows a full smile, showing him choosing to ease up re: alcohol is actually a *positive* development for him in some way. so him then reverting back in s2 to not drinking alcohol? it’s either his development being stunted/reverted or he’s not in the position where he’s with someone he trusts enough to drink with.

as for kang won-chul? I don’t think there’s any real *development* as such with his office habits (spinny chair, trying to get the paper into the bin), but it does demonstrate he doesn’t conform as much as he seems to at first glance. he’s a character who at first glance knows the ways this all works and blends in with it, but he doesn’t quite fit.

my point is just, the show didn’t have to bother with any of this. they could have still hit all the plot points and it would have made sense. the characters would have still stood up to scrutiny. but they chose to include all these little indicators that build up a picture of all the characters and where they are in their respective arcs. and I appreciate it so much that the show trusts the audience to complete the puzzle.

[jooyeone]

hello alice? how's everything going?i wanted to ask you what do you think we can expect from pjm1? i can't wait god it feels like i'm living just for that day when i can hear and see jimin at his peak!!!!

hiii bubs i'm sorry for answering late, but i am struggling to find an answer to this to be quite honest! out of all the members, jimin and jin are probably the ones i am the most unsure about when it comes to the musical direction they will embark on with their solo projects. with taehyung, for example, even if he hasn't released a mixtape before, it's relatively easy to imagine what his music will generally sound like, where his own music taste will take him, how he will make use of his voice, etc. same with jungkook (and ofc yoongi, namjoon and hobi are the ones who have explored their artistic side outside of bts the most, so those are quite obvious too!) but with jimin i very genuinely don't.. know..? i truly feel like this is as much of a discovery for us as it is for him since he hasn't had an opportunity to work so intensely on something that isn't for the group or as part of a group project where he has to complement or compromise with others, where it's just him and no one else, you know? that's why i hesitate giving a clear answer because the truth is, i am >so< in the dark about what he wants his music to sound like. what he said in that interview, about wanting to show the fans a more raw, explicit side of himself.. i hope that translates into him wanting to try out daring concepts both musically and visually, but maybe also lyrics that are more personal to him? something that comes from him and >his< heart instead of the group's leader, i guess? but the only two things i sort of expect from pjm1 are 1) pop genre and 2) honestly? playing it safe, i feel like? i don't know why, but as excited as i am for his album and as much as i sympathize with everyone else wanting so many elements from his music (breaking gender barriers! dance-heavy mv! taemin-esque music!)... i don't know, i'm just maybe slightly afraid that people have created these insane ideals in their head about jimin and how his solo era is going to sound like. i feel like his first solo album might be closer to a bts sound than something that is already recognizably >his< in style, if that makes sense, simply because of the comparatively little time he's spent working on himself as an artist separate from bts vs. as a member of bts. idk if i'm conveying this right, i don't mean this in a bad way at all, just in a it-takes-time kind of way. either way, i'm so very excited for his solo era literally buzzing with excitement and fear and anticipation every time i think about it and i can't wait to see and hear what he's been cooking up in that studio all these months!!!

[yiifu]

bunch of thoughts on the art styles in mdzs & tgcf visual adaptations:

i think out of all the four visual adaptations in mdzs and tgcf (i haven’t taken a look at anything from svsss yet) i love the art style of the tgcf donghua the most. it’s kinda ghibli-like but still sharp enough to give the characters some really great expressions. so obsessed with hua cheng’s donghua design (especially his true form like ??? just .... screaming over how perfect it looks). i haven’t watched it yet but i’ve seen mvs and edits and i just know that this san lang character design is going to be my all-time fav. a little childish, sly, secretive. you can see it in his eyes and his little smirky smile. very nice. i like it.

mdzs manhua was great overall, i just preferred the style from the first half compared to the second half (or what i like to call the black-haired version vs the brown-haired version). the art style peaked during the yi city arc imo. my fav manhua character versions: lan xichen, nie mingjue, xue yang, song lan (Obsessed with his manhua design), xiao xingchen, wen ning (his chibis are so precious).

mdzs donghua art style is very good for action (somehow it reminds of me those older animes e.g. ghost in the shell or perfect blue), it really grew on me a lot after watching the whole thing. idk how to explain it but the donghua eyes are a lot more fancier than the manhua style. some character designs i liked better in the manhua version - e.g. jin guangyao (he’s my absolute fav in the donghua i love his pre-chief cultivator design so much), jin ling (he became cuter somehow), jin zixuan (they really nailed his brooding temperament very well), in fact most of the major lanlingjin characters were just amazingly done in donghua. also wen qing, madam yu are a lot more imposing when you see them animated. some characters like sizhui, jingyi, huaisang, jiang cheng were equally great for both adaptations. 

i still prefer the yiling laozu and lwj hairstyles from the manhua though (just a personal preference!). maybe cos it looks cleaner? especially for wwx’s yiling laozu hairstyle. in manhua version it’s really sleek and straight. for lwj i just liked the general flow/shape of his hair in the manhua better than the donghua.

also for yi city quartet i’m manhua version all the way. i mean all the other iterations of xue yang are very nice but so far no other version of xue yang has topped his manhua design for me :) 

ok last one is the tgcf manhua this took me a hella long time to get used to it (i’m still getting used to it actually) - it’s very VERY pretty, like a painting. i won’t deny that. but it’s a little harder to see the expressions since everything’s so impressionistic-like. still, everyone here looks so goddamn beautiful so i’m sure as hell not complaining. xie lian looks like a doll i just keep stopping at every panel to examing the details of how they drew his hair and his lips and eyes like ... gaaahhh so!!! pretty!!!! and if hua cheng in donghua version is cute, the manhua version of hua cheng is intimidating as hell. his face is literally perfect i actually wanna cry admiring it. i’d combust if anyone who looked like that even gave me a glance. 

like, if i were to give an analogy, the tgcf manhua is high art, luxury dining, high-class food, something along those lines. the art style just screams rich which is suitable for a story about gods and immortals, it’s just that i’m slowly adjusting to all that gorgeousness and still getting used to it.

also on a side note i am very unhealthily obsessed with this fanmade song for tgcf called ‘pleased god’ that i came across in a compilation playlist and i’ve been looping it pretty much the whole day at work ;-;

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 25, part one

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Holy crap, Episode 25! We’re halfway through! *Cue Bon Jovi*

Hunt Invitation

After taking a nice long break to watch Word of Honor pick lotus pods, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli return to stressing over the shitshow that is the post-Sunshot cultivation world. Jin Zixuan has come to invite them to the Phoenix Mountain Hunt, with a special invitation from his mother to Jiang Yanli. Jiang Cheng reacts to this in a mature and reasonable manner, while Wei Wuxian...doesn't.

On the surface, Jiang Cheng has matured in recent months; much more than Wei Wuxian, with his secret burdens, has. But it's only on the surface, as we'll see later in the episode, when Jiang Cheng's insecurity will take the reins.

Jin Zixuan is adorably pleased by Jiang Yanli's acceptance of the invitation. Wei Wuxian is less pleased, but sort of tries to suck it up. 

Jin Zixuan kind of undercuts the romance of his errand by asking Wei Wuxian for the Yin tiger amulet as soon as Jiang Yanli is out of earshot. 

As always, Jin Zixuan makes an impression by being the best Jin currently in existence, but the Jins are terrible. JZX is working to advance his dad's ambitions, and as such he is currently Wei Wuxian's enemy.  

(more after the cut)

Opening Ceremonies

There's a bunch of cultivators arranged for the opening ceremony. Later someone will say that this is more than 5 thousand people. Ok, sure.

As I've said before, it's best to think of it like a theatre production and assume the other 4,900 people are offstage or, you know, painted on the backdrop.  

The young lead cultivators from the four main clans are standing together. Nie Huaisang is trying out some new body armor.

The clan leaders are seated up on the stage, along with Jin Furen and Jiang Yanli. Unfortunately Jin Furen doesn't seem to have a personal name that I can discover. Her title Fūrén ( 夫人)  means she's the primary wife of the head of the family, according to this excellent meta. 

So “Madame Jin” is a decent translation...if you're French?  I feel like instead of English subtitles including borrowed words from French (”Marquis” in NIH), Greek (”Water of Lethe” in WOH), and other European languages, we could try borrowing Chinese words instead. Jin Zixuan's mom is titled, not named, Jin Furen. Since we don’t know her actual name, I'll call her that and abbreviate it JFR.

Wei Wuxian's childishness continues at the opening of the hunt, as does Jiang Yanli's encouragement of his childishness. I know she's had a rough couple of years, and it's understandable to want to baby her little brother out of a sense of nostalgia. But it's not good for him, and she shouldn't do it; she should encourage him to be more mature, just as she does with Jiang Cheng.

War Crimes Contest

Jin Guangyao says they're going to have an archery competition, and they're going to liven it up by endangering some prisoners. These prisoners are Wens in Wen cultivator uniforms, meaning they're not the noncombatants that were being hunted down earlier. But they’re still helpless people in chains. 

There are three different reactions when the Wen prisoners are brought out.  All the Jins are pleased, or neutral. All of the Jiangs, including Wei Wuxian, are upset.

The Nies and the Lans, what we see of them, are a little shocked, but not obviously upset. Based on those reactions, it seems like this is a maneuver that in-world is considered shocking and cruel, but not necessarily unethical or immoral.  Shocking, cruel displays of power are pretty normal in this world; remember when Wen Chao lit a Lan cultivator on fire just to say hello, and nobody complained? 

This whole scenario, of course, has been designed to provoke Wei Wuxian. One major goal of this event, and the whole reason for wanting Wei Wuxian to come,  is to get the Yin Tiger amulet.  Making him lose his shit in front of 100 5000 cultivators is a good step toward compelling him to hand the amulet over.  

We see Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli both signaling Wei Wuxian to keep it together, and he takes a step back and tries to chill.  

Meanwhile, Jin Zixuan seems annoyed by all this, and goes to take a shot at it, making it clear from his demeanor that this is easy and JGY is making a show of nothing. 

He hovers in the air and makes a perfect shot, pleasing most of the crowd and impressing Jiang Yanli. 

Then his cousin Jin Zixun taunts the crowd, challenging anyone to do better.  This presents a bit of a problem for Wei Wuxian. For the sake of the Wen prisoners, Wei Wuxian should just take this taunting and let the contest end, if no-one else is willing to take a shot. But for the sake of the Jiang Clan’s status, and his continued control of the Yin Tiger amulet, he needs to put the Jins in their place.  

Every Day is Blindfold Day

This moral dilemma is resolved with an abrupt tonal shift, where the humanitarian concerns of all parties seem to vanish. Wei Wuxian flirts embarrassingly with Lan Wangji and then goes as far over the top in besting Jin Zixuan as it's possible to go.

The flirting hits differently, incidentally, when you edit Jiang Cheng's annoyed reaction out of it: 

Lan Wangji doesn't seem embarrassed by Wei Wuxian's request, despite it happening in front of 100 5000 of their fellow cultivators. He looks Wei Wuxian straight in the eye for longer than necessary before turning away; it’s not exactly stern disapproval. We’ll get very used to this look, in Wei Wuxian’s second life. 

Fortunately, Wei Wuxian carries a blindfold with him wherever he goes, (gifset here), and he is such a good cultivator he can hit 5 parallel targets simultaneously without even holding his bow straight or tightening the string.

(OP fixed the angle of the bow for this gif, which is why everyone is standing on a hill in the background).

Everyone is pleased by this shot except Jins Guangyao and Zixun; even the Jin cultivators are clapping, and Madame Jin is presumably this happy any time Jin Guangyao’s plans go wrong.

With that they start the hunt. Jin Zixun challenges Wei Wuxian to do the whole hunt blindfolded. Wei Wuxian agrees, but the censorship committee said no, apparently, so we don’t get to see that.

Flute Hunting

We do get to see Wei Wuxian luring monsters into his nets by being too sexy for his robe, too sexy for his robe, and playing the flute.  

We also get to see Jiang cultivators looking puzzled while random monster roars happen in the woods around them. We do not get to see any monsters, which is probably just as well.

Jiang Cheng is annoyed and concerned, muttering "I told you not to overdo it" which means he didn't, you know, tell Wei Wuxian NOT to do this, just not to do it quite so well. Jiang Cheng knows what Wei Wuxian’s abilities are and he is making use of him, as he should, but he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions. 

Tree Confession

Wei Wuxian sees Lan Wangji and starts to say hi, but then he has a desaturated flashback to Lan Xichen telling him to back off, so he stops himself.  But then Lan Wangji comes over to talk to him.

Lan Wangji starts off talking to him about his latest anti-resentment musical discoveries, and Wei Wuxian pushes back, even calling him Lan Wangji, but gently.  Wei Wuxian asks "who am I to you?" and Lan Wangji turns the question right back at him, then waits a looooooong time, eyes downcast, while Wei Wuxian thinks of a serious answer.

Wei Wuxian says "I used to treat you as my zhījǐ" --which, as we’ve discussed before, is variously translated soulmate, confidant, intimate friend--with a strong meaning of "the person who truly knows me." Lan Wangji says "I still am." Coming from Lan Wangji, who NEVER says how he feels about Wei Wuxian or about anything, really, this sounds a lot like a confession of love. 

It definitely takes the form, visually, of a love confession, as Lan Wangji speaks, then gazes at Wei Wuxian while he waits for a reply.  Wei Wuxian's reply is this:

I don't think Wei Wuxian is oblivious (I'm speaking strictly of CQL, not MZDS, as always with these posts; they are different works). I think he loves Lan Wangji back, and knows it. But Chenqing and everything it represents are between them.

Lan Wangji is quite literally NOT his zhījǐ any more, because he doesn't truly know Wei Wuxian right now. He loves him desperately, but he doesn't know about his core, and hasn't accepted his cultivation method.  So Wei Wuxian answers his confession by showing him Chenqing, effectively declining to accept his still-conditional love.

Snake Measuring

Next we get terrible hetero courtship in the form of Jin Zixuan finding snake discharge on the ground and talking to Jiang Yanli about comparative snake measuring. Seriously: that is the actual conversation that they are having.

Jin Zixuan boasts for a bit, and then awkwardly tries to ask Jiang Yanli on a date. When she turns him down he gets mad, because he's a typical heterosexual dude even though he's secretly a delightful person...very, very secretly. Jiang Yanli, for her part, can't string a fucking sentence together to save her life whenever he's around, so she's not helping their mutual understanding. 

Lan Wangji attempts to hold Wei Wuxian back from beating Jin Zixuan’s ass yet again, but eventually JYL wants to leave, JZX tells her to wait, and WWX intervenes. Why doesn't Jiang Yanli have a maid or Jiang cultivator with her while she's on a date, incidentally? These kids are confused about whether they're doing feudal patriarchy or whether they're doing modern social life.

Jin vs. Jiang

Wei Wuxian jumps in between Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, which JZX objects to. Jin Zixuan has no fucking business objecting and Wei Wuxian is 100% right, at this point. As soon as WWX shows up JZX should hand her off to her Shidi, bow, and leave her the fuck alone. Instead, he draws his sword on Wei Wuxian, and kind of on Jiang Yanli since she's right behind Wei Wuxian.  Fortunately, Lan Wangji blocks him. 

This instantly blows up into a Jiang-Jin Clan conflict, with Jiang Cheng unfortunately absent since he let his unmarried sister go off in the woods alone with the son of the Cultivaton world's most famous lecher. It looks like it’s a personal conflict, but since Jin Zixuan already told Wei Wuxian directly that Jin Guangshan wants his amulet, any arguments between them are part of a larger power struggle. 

Cousin Jin Zixun comes running up to start shit. Wei Wuxian pretends--I am SURE he's pretending--not to know who he is. The dude hassles Wei Wuxian every time he sees him; Wei Wuxian is a troll, and right now CJXZ is butting in to something that doesn't concern him. Rather than argue, Wei Wuxian insults him by telling him he’s not memorable.

Jin Furen shows up with several maids and cultivator dudes in tow, which is the proper way for a highborn woman to wander around in the woods. She also brings Clan Leader Yao, because if it's Wei Wuxian Blaming Hours, Yao is going to be there.  

I initially found the deep friendship between superhot Yi Zuyuan and dumpy Jin Furen implausible, but then I remembered that my lifelong bestie is a smokin' hot redhead with impeccable fashion sense, while I am a roly-poly nerd.  Friends don’t always match. Also, Jin Furen's actress, Hu Xiaoting, looks like this: 

...so she is actually hot in real life. Not as hot as Zhang Jingtong (who plays Yu Ziyuan) but literally nobody is as hot as Zhang Jingtong. Don't @ me, you know I'm right.

This is a heck of a long scene, so we’ll pick it up in part two! 

Soundtrack: Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Writing prompt: Newly-divorced, cold-hearted CEO Yu Ziyuan buys an apartment next door to newly-divorced, warm-hearted pastry chef ...uhh let's call her Jin Dàngāo (蛋糕), sure. She can name her business after herself. 

They discover their daughter & son are in the same college class, and so they meet up over coffee....several times...trying to matchmake their hopeless, hapless kids, while bonding over their own terrible (former) taste in husbands. Who will Cupid strike first, the kids or the moms?

[plan-d-to-i]

Plan do you think the JC before and during the cloud recesses era would make the same choices as the one when wwx returned after 16 years?

We see glimpses of his character before the war in the novel, about how he had tried to limit wwx and always berated him. We know about how he believed what his mother said because he found her the most relatable and the most similar to him. How he considered what she said facts and learned to see the world with her lens.

I sometimes related the outbreak of war as the end of their childhood innocence, of all of them. (ofc this is different for wwx, who unlike others has known the loss of protection at a tender age and knows what struggling everyday to survive really means.)

And as i remove the lens of childhood from JC, i can imagine him becoming the JC he becomes who does everything the canon JC does post war.

Also, JC's character had been stagnant during the 16 years and not embraced to grow up as time and life went on, preferring to hold on grudges and not acknowledging his debts and faults. He had become the second version of Madam Yu, something JFM always tried to avoid by guiding him in his childhood.

So, Plan, do you think the JC before and during the cloud recesses era would make the same choices as the one when wwx returned after 16 years?

I really forgot to mention this but in the assumption, the younger JC would know the facts of what happens in the future.

For example, he would know JYL sacrificed her life to save WWX.

What would his reaction be? Something is making me think it might be the same but mixed with disbelief at what will happen, but i really want to know from another person.

(I mentioned disbelief because before lotus pier was captured, before his golden core had been taken, JC had not really known the loss of something or someone. Something tells me that he will not believe this happens and would try to think he can stop it. Like doing something similar to running into a situation without thinking about it's consequences, because given how disbelieved and broken he was at a golden core's loss, he should've known it would happen when he knew he was handing himself to wzh. i don't think he really thought his golden core would be taken.) 2/2

[One quick note, the donghua decided to show Wen Zhuliu's core crushing power in the indoctrination camp so everyone would be aware of his ability. In the novel it's not shown. jc finds out about it after he is captured and he and WWX realize the literal meaning of "Core Melting Hand" vs just like a nifty figurative title like YZY's "The Violet Spider"... who doesn't actually turn into a purple arachnid...].

Anyway back to your story. I think if jc knew what would happen in the future he would either kill WWX or chase him away from YunmengJiang Clan. He would think if he did that he could prevent everything bc in his mind it's always all WWX's fault. Then jc could just die in the Xuanwu cave along w Jin Zixuan and almost every other disciple and sect heir. Let's say in my head canon of this scenario LWJ MIRACULOUSLY, gets away bc they Wens leave him for dead as they're retreating/running for their lives from the turtle that has chomped almost everyone. LWJ wakes up alone, still notices the leaves in the water and saves himself, bc there's no one else to save.

LP is destroyed anyway bc YZY still loses her shit when WLJ strolls in to set up the supervisory office and jc is still missing- let's say JFM is off trying to find jc instead of their swords this time and when he gets back his house is on fire...

As for WWX, he might have been passing the time as a rogue cultivator. He'd probably join the war after news of what happened at Cloud Recesses and LP spread. Let's say during the war LWJ and WWX grow closer and realize all that tension between them could be... something else. Maybe after the war he'd meet XXC like he dreamed of! LWJ is very happy for him although a pebble might suffer a little bit. I'm sorry anon, I'm not terribly good at what ifs haha. xx

[chalkrevelations]

OK. Ep 26 of Word of Honor.

(As always, spoilers, so scroll past and come back, if that’s not your bag right now.)

You know what? Let’s defy expectations and start with Xie’er and his Awful Yifu for this one, since apparently we’re going to spend the obligatory mid-episode extended emo-porn scene on Awful Yifu spinning, spinning, spinning his web of lies and deceit as he works his hardest to keep gaslighting the hell out of Xie Wang. Oh my god, Xie’er, you know the truth already, you don’t have to get Tragicomic Ghost to confirm it, you just don’t want to believe it. No, things will never be settled, and you know it. YES. Yes, he IS humiliating you. He also murdered your yimu, who you appear to have had some affection for, if your tone of voice when you said “Yimu …” means anything, and it probably does, with someone as affection-starved as you are.

So, all of this booted me straight back into the parallels between the Zhao Jing-Xie Wang relationship and the Prince Jin-Zhou Zishu relationship. Zhao Jing has effectively eliminated literally murdered any competing relationship in Xie’er’s life, just as Prince Jin was willing to let Zhou Zishu’s sect get entirely killed off, leaving ZZS alone and isolated. Awful Yifu explicitly compares the Scorpions to Tian Chuang, which touches on a comparison of Xie Wang and Zhou Zishu that’s always just lying around to pick up, as two young prodigies heading mega-successful assassin organizations (plus the fact that they seem to have crossed paths enough in the past for ZZS to know something about the Scorpions and to be very interested in going to their lair and messing up shit, even when he’s worked so hard at leaving everything else from his palace life behind). Zhao Jing also talks about how he relied on Xie Wang above everyone else and presses hard on themes of secrecy, anonymity, and darkness – “I had you support me in the dark” – that echo the motto of Tian Chuang: “Shadows without traces. Entry without exit. Know everything. Be everywhere. Prince Jin requested me to accomplish these four things when I created Window of Heaven,” Zhou Zishu said back in Ep 1. And now it’s also the poor yifu stories, about how Zhao Jing was in a terrible situation and just trying to help, but this unreasonable woman wouldn't let him, just like Prince Jin was in a terrible situation but couldn’t do anything because the previous Prince Jin wouldn’t listen to reason. Oh, and the hugs. We’re doing the hugs, just like Prince Jin when he really truly no really needed his cousin Zhou Zishu’s help so badly because who else could he depend on. (Stop touching them, you scumbags.) We’re family, you know, and that makes you special to me. Zhao Jing: Don’t abandon this relationship. Prince Jin: How can you leave me when everyone else has left me?

So, all that happened.

Meanwhile, we’re getting the repetition of the theme “Don’t fail me and I won’t fail you,” in the Xie Wang - Zhao Jing – Luo Fu Meng storyline, and I don’t know if this is worded as a mutual pact or as an “if, then” scenario (i.e., mutual agreement to just not fail each other, vs. if you don’t fail me, then I won’t fail you), and I think it’s been translated both ways in the subtitles. At any rate, I submit that it’s the ZZS/WKX relationship (and possibly the Cao Weining/Gu Xiang relationship, as its parallel) where we’re actually seeing this exact theme of faith and loyalty play out, although I don’t know if that will ever be made explicit in the text of the show. I’d actually go even further and say that, at least for Zhou Zishu, at this point, it could be said that “Even if you fail me, I won’t fail you.” I mean, let’s look at this: Just as Gu Xiang does in a previous ep, Wen Kexing’s response to the new big gossip in the jianghu re: Ghost Valley is NOT to tell his fiancé anything about his past, but to beat it out of town for home before Zhou Zishu (Cao Weining) can hear anything about it. Just as Gu Xiang does, Wen Kexing continues in stealth mode, and wow, ZZS’s face when he walks away after WKX claims he couldn’t find the painter in town, but don’t worry, he totally heard about this other guy he’s gonna go see eventually. Wen Kexing. He knows you are lying and yet he continues to respect the boundaries you are setting anyway. (He’s not happy about it, though. He’s kind of pissy at dinner. Poor Chengling.) He’s opened up to you about his deepest darkest secrets and failures and awful deeds, without blinking, trusting that it wouldn’t scare you away, with absolute faith that you’ll continue to be there. Maybe instead of waxing poetically mournful about the sunset (of your relationship), you could return that faith and let him know who you are. I realize you continue to be terrified of getting what you want, so terrified that all you can do is mentally and emotionally curl up into the smallest target possible, protecting all the tenderest and most vulnerable places, but we are in the place for healing wounded animals, and I really need you to get off the mental hamster wheel and THINK.

Anyway, while I don’t think ZZS could have gotten away with this lack of poker face as head of Tian Chuang – although who knows, maybe that’s actually the reason they cover their faces – I appreciate the acting/directing choice to have these expressions happen anyway, to clue us in that ZZS is a really smart guy, and he (unlike Cao Weining) knows what WKX (A-Xiang) isn’t telling him. (Also, it means Zhang Zhehan’s face, doing things. Anything. Whatever he wants to make it do … Anyway.)

Something’s got to break loose soon. Meanwhile, a few random thoughts:

Does … does that opening scene of Wen Kexing dreaming of protecting his puppy from those little brats have shades of his adopting A-Xiang, with related shades of his own shixiong-shidi relationship with Zhou Zishou that maybe possibly influenced his adoption of A-Xiang? I now have this mental image of him telling this story over family dinner, and A-Xiang as Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally: “I’m the dog?” Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger enters, and baby WKX is already smart enough to recognize Stranger Danger and not give out his name. If Drunk-Like-A-Dream shows you your greatest desires, what tf does all this mean? (Also, I think at the point where everyone in your household needs downers to sleep, it might be time to consider some therapy.)

If Tragicomic Ghost actually did go to the Healer Valley for treatment, it would explain that odd comment about not being able to saving WKX’s dad in a previous ep.

Finally, I know, Fan Shishu, A-Xiang is delightful, isn’t she! Nevertheless, you’re giving her some strange looks over dinner that I find possibly a bit concerning. However, in the dictionary under “cinnamon roll” there’s a picture of Cao Weining. I CANNOT with the way he and Gu Xiang look at each other. I love them so much, it makes me actually, literally clutch my chest with joy.

[missholland]

WangXian VS The World

We all remember the final confrontation with Jin Guangyao happening throughout the final 3 episodes of The Untamed. This is where the biggest secrets were revealed and WWX’s name was officially clear. 

As much as I love watching JGY manipulating everyone with words until his very last breath and Nie Director finally coming out as the ultimate final boss, somehow I was left just a teeny tiny bit underwhelmed. Why? Because this whole arc with so much talking has to follow the incredible confrontation at Burial Mounds arc in episode 44 and 45.

Has this beautiful man ever failed us before?

The Untamed writers are absolute genius in foreshadowing events. The key here is to put episode 44-45 in comparison with what happened in episode 32-33: the infamous bloodbath at Nightless City. Let’s look at the similarities: literally all major clans’ cultivators were in one place together, publicly shitting on WWX without knowing they were all played like ‘puppets’ by JGY, WWX playing flute, LWJ slaying baddies to clear the way for his man. Both times, there were random faces talking about how they hated WWX, prompting our dense-in-love antihero to go ‘Urmm... who da hell are you?’.

Dig a little deeper, back then at Nightless City, WWX was under a lot of influence from Yin Iron and it messed pretty hard with his temperament. Being accused of a bunch of stuff he didn’t do, his response was quite negative - laughing, crying, provoking, actually killing a guard in front of everyone’s eyes. 

16 years later at Burial Mounds, his expression is completely different: calm, clear, challenging others instead of provoking, and let’s not forget his cheeky wit that we all fell in love with!

You’d think ‘Man, only if he did that back then’. Well, if he did, we would not have the latter top-notch 17 episodes to finish the series. He honestly could not anyway, not just because of Yin Iron’s influence, but also having to walk that lonely path alone i.e. WWX vs the world. It’s no longer the case in episode 44, because LOOK AT HOW POWERFUL THIS SCENE IS:

WangXian vs the world, and not even LWJ’s Grand Master could get him back to stand with the mainstream. What comes after this is a series of diss by the righteous cultivators aiming right at our Hanguang Jun. Still, LWJ did not flinch even for a second. His commitment and determination to stay by WWX’s side is stronger than everything, even the so-called orthodoxy. WWX, now empowered with the trust and support from his soulmate, slowly unfolded the dodgy events and exposed Su She’s motive. The whole solving murder mystery bit inside the Demon-Subdue palace was outstanding: WWX’s smart tactics, LWJ’s silent aids whenever his man needs, Su She losing his shit, Lan Qiren’s annoyance toward the ‘evil’ man who corrupted his nephew, Lan babies’ loyalty with WangXian, everyone’s reactions throughout the big reveal.

What makes me enjoy this arc a lot more than the final 3 episodes is the action. OH. MY. GOD. As soon as WangXian flew out of the palace and landed in the middle of Burial Mounds’ ground like absolute gods, I actually became convinced NOTHING else in the world mattered anymore. Yes, we already saw LWJ pushing people out of WWX’s way before in episode 32, but this time, their connection and flawless collaboration is simply invincible. Just recall the moment WWX playing Chenqing with red eyes and tears on his cheek, versus the moment when he confidently plays the bamboo flute next to Lan ‘protect my man, engaged!’ Wangji.

As usual, LWJ did not talk much in this arc, but his contribution is instrumental in assisting WWX. Unfortunately, it’s not really the case in the final arc at Guanyin Temple as his role seemed to be reduced greatly. In true WWX fashion, he sacrificed himself for the ‘irrelevances’ (in Jiang Cheng’s words), even though they have literally been chanting for him to be killed. But does it matter to him? I can comfortably say ‘Nope, screw it’. Because just in the previous episode, after learning about what LWJ endured over 16 years waiting for WWX to return, he already established that in this life, having LWJ as his soulmate is enough, he will listen to his heart with a clear conscience. Without LWJ’s love and devotion, I’m certain the tragedy in episode 32-33 would repeat itself.

Arhhhh so beautiful!

That’s my take on what I consider the best final showdown in The Untamed. These days I don’t really rewatch episode 48-50 in detail, apart from WangXian entering Guanyin Temple and the last struggle between JGY and LXC. But episode 44-45 is definitely my feel-good go-to storyline. It’s a grand unspoken upgrade of LWJ’s declaration of commitment in episode 42 when WWX’s identity was revealed in Jinlintai. It truly gives me a massive feel of satisfaction.

[xxxrubytuesdayxxx]

If you turn Jimin down...

Word Count: 1,022

Credit: My ex-flatmate also wrote the majority of this section during another of our late-night, cross-continental writing sessions.

Disclaimers: This is part (50) of a Choose Your Own Ending!

Start here:

“Not helping  Jimin,” you tell him softly. He looks a little disappointed, but shrugs his acquiescence and sinks back into his chair. 

“I wouldn’t even worry about it anyway, noona,” he comments. “They don’t seem too keen on us being in those variety shows these days so Hitman Bang is probably just trying to be diplomatic. Everyone knows JK is too young and flighty to make a convincing reality-show husband. That’s probably why he’s offering him as tribute. You know - seem willing, but offer something that he knows won’t work out.” His eyes sparkle with mischief, and you wonder, not for the first time, why people don’t realise there’s a lot more going on in Jimin’s head than he’s given credit for. It’s how he gets away with that innocent demeanor whilst making jokes that would make a whore blush once the cameras stop rolling.

Turns out he’s right and Hitman Bang gets to keep the tv producers on side whilst making sure that his golden goose BTS is kept free to produce their own content and before you know it they’ve got a whole new schedule lined up and Jeongguk is sneaking into your room on a regular basis whilst Joon faithfully turns a blind eye, even if just to keep the peace.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I need shelves,” Namjoon announces.

It’s Sunday night at the Bangtan household, and having spent the entire weekend filming the next few Run BTS episodes, the boys decide to stay in. All the heads in the living room turn to look at the source of the voice, standing in the entryway, holding a KAWS figure in each hand.

“Get one of the runners to handle it,” Yoongi suggests with a shrug, going back to his laptop. “We have too much to do this week.”

“It’s better to build it yourself,” Tae says, “have that sense of accomplishment, you know?”

“Sure,” Yoongi replies without looking up.

“Hyung,” Jeongguk pipes up, “I’ll help you look for a toolbox.”

“We have a toolbox?” Jimin asks curiously.

“Yah, there are seven able-bodied men in this apartment,” Jin answers confidently, getting up to help the search, “I’m sure one of us has a toolbox.”

About 20 minutes later, shoulders slumped and with a heavy sigh, Jin concludes rather defeatedly, “None of us have a toolbox.”

You all decide to go out the next day and make a trip out of it. You, Namjoon and Jeongguk will head to IKEA; Jin, Hobi, Tae and Jimin will be putting together and buying a toolbox at a nearby hardware store. Yoongi opts to stay in and hold the fort in case any unexpected assignments turn up. Both of your groups have two bodyguards assigned to them, dressed as civilians - making you look like just another group of friends running errands on a regular Monday.

Making your way through the familiar IKEA maze, the three of you stop often in the room displays and wait for Namjoon as he looks around. You quietly watch as Jeongguk weaves through the furniture in these rooms, picking the smaller things up and inspecting them before putting them back down, knocking on the wooden tables to get a feel for them. He’s quiet and contemplative, but he’ll smile warmly at you every time your eyes meet.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” you ask him, taking a seat on one of the couches. He moves away from the table lamp he was looking at and flops down next to you.

“Hm, not really,” he says, “just thinking.”

“About your new place?” you ask, referring to the multi-billion-won apartment he bought just a month ago.

“Yeah, I haven’t furnished it,” he laughs awkwardly. “I was thinking maybe it’s about time.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” you say to him, “you live in the dorm anyway.” A part of you assumes it will be easier for you guys to have privacy if he spends more time at his new place, but the other part of you worries that since you live in the dorm, the situation might turn out just the opposite.

“Will you help?” he asks quietly, “look at things with me?” Your heart softens at his request. “Since I don’t know room dimensions yet, maybe we can just look at things I might need,” he says with a shrug.

“Your apartment is empty, you’re going to need literally everything,” you laugh gently.

He laughs as well, “I know, noona! I mean, help me with where to start.”

“Kitchen,” you say determinedly, getting on your feet, “let’s go.” He springs up and gives you that cute smile you love, at the same time towering over you.

The two of you spend the rest of the afternoon hypothetically decorating Jeongguk’s apartment. He walks up to a mock kitchen and tells you he likes it, asks you what you think. You try not to visibly melt when he suggests a custom wardrobe with some extra few drawers - for you. You tell him you like the idea of a series of rugs in the living room; he reminds you that neither of you enjoy vacuuming very much. You suggest a few couches, and the two of you proceed to test each one. You debate on lamps, white vs yellow.

The three of you - with the bodyguards lingering a few feet away - end up at the queue to pay with a trolley of Namjoon’s flat-packed shelves and a few odd bits in hand. Along the way Jeongguk has grabbed photo frames for Yoongi, empty food containers for Jin and a watering can for Taehyung. In his pocket sits a piece of paper with Swedish furniture names scribbled haphazardly onto it, in your handwriting. Standing in line at check-out, you think back to the several moments in the day where he had included and considered you in his future living situation, and watching him talk to Namjoon excitedly about blinds vs curtains, you feel your heart warm. You could get used to this. Maybe it’s finally time to ask Big Hit if there’s any chance you and he can date, if you both keep things discreet.

If you tell Big Hit that you and Jeongguk have feelings for each other If you keep it on the q.t.

[rhysand-vs-fenrys]

Could you do a thing about who The Untamed characters are? Your weekly posts and such are good, but I was wondering what their context is?

-Sure!! I’ll put it under a “Keep Reading” so it doesn’t flood anyone’s dash :)

**I usually reblog Untamed asks to my Untamed fandom page as well, so this note is for followers of Wuxian-vs-Wangji:: I’m avoiding spoilers in these descriptions and trying to simplify things into a format non-viewers can follow, so please do not comment with spoilers.

I also limited the list of characters to those in 10+ episodes, which left some fan favorites off the list.

Main & Major Characters Throughout the Story::

Wei Wuxian // Wei Ying (Informal Name) // Yiling Patriarch (The Sage of the Burial Mounds)

Think... Battlemage Necromancer.

Uses the dark flute Chenqing to draw out and command the hate and resentful energy of the dead, weaponizing it against his enemies.

Adopted by the Yunmeng-Jiang Clan Leader after his mother (a rogue cultivator) and father (a beloved Jiang servant) were killed in a monster hunt.

Considered by Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng to be no different from a blood sibling.

Killed on the Cliffs of Heavenly Nightless by his brother Jiang Cheng while committing suicide in the first 5 minutes of the show; Resurrected via a rare and dangerous spell by madman Mo Xuanyu 16 years later.

In the Present Arc, Wei Wuxian dons a mask so others will not recognize him (laughably the mask fools absolutely no one but he Commits to the Look) and pretends to be the insane outcast Mo Xuanyu.

Lan Wangji // Lan Zhan (Informal Name) //  Hanguang-Jun (The Light-Bearing Lord)

As younger brother to the so-far childless Clan Leader of the Gusu-Lan, he is the Clan Heir and commands a position of high power and respect worldwide.

As he and his older brother are seen as the pride and joy of the Lan Clan, they are referred to worldwide as “The Twin Jades of Lan”.

Considered a paragon of righteousness and virtue.

Joyless, friendless, and isolated from others at the start of the story, but develops first a begrudging respect for- then love for- Wei Wuxian.

For 16 years he refuses to accept that Wei Wuxian is dead since no body was recovered. Lan Wangji travels the world and throws himself headfirst at chaos both to protect the common people and in hopes that Wei Wuxian will appear.

In the present-arc, acts as a teacher and guide to the Junior Disciples of the Gusu-Lan.

Particularly skilled in a Lan musical technique called “Inquiry”, in which a guqin (zither) player mixes spiritual energy into a song and plays notes as a coded language to commune with the souls of the dead and ask them questions. Lan Wangji also develops a proficiency for an extremely rare and difficult form of guqin magic where he can literally attack people with the sound and power of the instrument.

Wei Wuxian’s own use of music to control others seems to have been heavily inspired by the Lan magics, though theirs are mainly in the vein of healing and suppressing darkness.

Jiang Wanyin // Jiang Cheng (Informal Name) // Yunmeng-Jiang Clan Leader // Sandu-Shengshou (Master of Three Poisons)

Most commonly referred to only by the informal name “Jiang Cheng”

Beloved brother- and eventually bitter enemy of- Wei Wuxian.

One of those fancy multi-purpose tools in human form (the Tooliest of Tools)

Thanks to his parents, has a massive inferiority complex that usually leads to violent outbursts against his adopted brother.

Like Lan Wangji, cannot accept that Wei Wuxian is dead as only charred bones were found where he fell. Spends 16 years hunting down any whisper of Wei Wuxian or demonic cultivation and executing any demonic cultivators he finds. 

Feels both extreme hatred and guilt towards Wei Wuxian.

Wears a purple snake bracelet-and-ring combo on one hand, the spiritual tool Zidian given to him by his mother. Zidian takes the form of a whip that strikes not only the flesh, but the soul of a person. It can instantly destroy any spirit possessing a body.

Wen Qionglin // Wen Ning (Informal Name) // The Ghost General

Almost exclusively referred to by the informal name Wen Ning.

Considered to be a weapon- or pet- of Wei Wuxian’s.

A young cultivator who Wei Wuxian resurrected from the dead and who acted as his subordinate during the rise of the Yiling Patriarch.

Fiercely loyal to Wei Wuxian in both life and death.

Black veins and eyes mark him as one of the ultra-rare Living Dead. Not a mindless zombie slave (Ghost-Puppet), but a fully conscious reanimated human capable of independent thought and action.

In battle, Wei Wuxian will use his flute Chenqing to focus resentment and hatred through Wen Ning and give him enhanced abilities, control his actions, or calm him.

Other Figures: Both Past and Present Arcs

Lan Xichen // Lan Huan (Informal Name) //  Zewu-Jun (The Grand Overgrowth Lord)

Clan Leader of the Gusu-Lan and elder brother of Lan Wangji.

Though he is Clan Leader, often deferrs to or is advised by his Uncle Lan Qiren (who HATES Wei Wuxian).

As he and his younger brother are seen as the pride and joy of the Lan Clan, they are referred to worldwide as “The Twin Jades of Lan”.

The most respected Clan Leader in the world for his kind and fair nature. Often acts as an arbitrator in disputes.

Uses a white jade flute to calm and settle angry or resentful energy around him. Wei Wuxian is his dark reflection.

Willing to give anyone a chance due to his pacifist nature. Does not feel hatred towards Wei Wuxian but rather tries to understand what drove him towards darkness and help guide him back.

Ships Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji relentlessly and often finds ways to push them together early on.

Nie Huaisang (No formal/informal name) // Nie Clan Heir // Nie Clan Leader

Half-brother of the Nie Clan Leader Nie Mingjue, later becomes Clan Leader in his place.

Despite being first heir to- then leader of- a Clan that prides itself on brute strength, Nie Huaisang is a kind and gentle soul who prefers the arts and artistic pursuits.

Religiously carries around a fan and never holds a sword.

Sweetheart, goober, and close friend of Wei Wuxian. Even in Wei Wuxian’s fall from grace, never bears him any ill will as Wei Wuxian never does anything to harm him. 

The only major (still living) character not at the Battle of Nightless where Wei Wuxian dies (though his brother Nie Mingjue was present).

Informally titled “The Head Shaker” as Clan Leader due to his indecisive nature. Whenever asked questions he frequently shakes his head and says “I don’t know”.

Considered a weak fool by many, but he is frequently advised (and coddled) by Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao.

Jin Guangyao // Meng Yao (Informal Name) // Lianfang-Zun (Hidden-Fragrance Master)

Originally a servant of the Nie family, taken in by Nie Mingjue.

Bastard son of the Jin Clan Leader Guangshan and a prostitute, is consistently demeaned and debased for his parentage. The only ones who show him respect and kindness are Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen.

Half brother of Jin Zixuan and Mo Xuanyu (the madman who resurrects Wei Wuxian)

While a servant of the Nie Clan, Guangyao frequently acts as a buffer between ultra-masculine Nie Mingjue and his softer half-brother Nie Huaisang.

Nie Huaisang may be thought a dumbass by most, but he’s *Guangyao’s* dumbass, and thus Guangyao consistently shows care towards Nie Huaisang.

Other High-Profile Characters:: Both Past and Present Arcs (Noted by their names)

**Some will say I’ve left names off this list, but to avoid getting into EVERYTHING  everyone does, I’m limiting this to characters in 10+ episodes. This leaves some fandom favorites off the list but this is only meant to be a basic introductory guide. 

Sorry to fans of Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, A-Qing, and Wen Yuan.

(Past Arc) Wen Qing (women do not have formal vs informal names or titles)

Wen Ning’s beloved elder sister.

Distant cousin to the evil Wen Ruohan and Wen Chao, and thus holds a prominent position within the Wen Clan. In the novels I believe she is said to be the 4th most powerful person in the entire Wen Clan (Behind Wen Ruohan and his two sons).

Considered to be the greatest physician ever produced by the Dafan-Wen, a clan of healers subjugated by the evil Wen Clan.

Her loyalties lie exclusively with her little brother Wen Ning, and she will do anything to keep him safe and protected. On her own though, she does tend towards the side of good and acts against her Clan when she is able to do so without putting Wen Ning at risk.

(Past Arc) Jiang Yanli (women do not have formal vs informal names or titles)

Beloved elder sister of both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian.

Eldest daughter of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu.

Eventual wife of Jin Clan Heir Jin Zixuan and mother of Jin Clan Heir Jin Ling.

Engaged to Jin Zixuan since infancy, though he is initially dismissive of and even cold towards her.

The Peacekeeper of her family, Jiang Yanli protects Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng from her emotionally (and sometimes physically) abusive mother.

Acts as a mediator of disputes between her two younger brothers. Jiang Yanli is very much the glue that binds the family together.

(Past Arc) Jin Zixuan (No other name given) // Jin Clan Heir

Only *acknowledged* child of Jin Clan Leader Jin Guangshan, though he is the half-brother to a large number of bastard siblings.

These siblings include Nie servant Jin Guangyao/Meng Yao and Mo Xuanyu (the madman who resurrects Wei Wuxian)

Eventual husband of Jiang Yanli and father of Jin Clan Heir Jin Ling.

Originally a haughty and arrogant young lord, he is dismissive of his lifelong fiancee Jiang Yanli and frequently disparages her (leading to violent fights with her brothers).

Is very much disliked by both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng (for his treatment of Yanli).

A semi-professional dumbass, maturity comes to him slower than most.

(Present Arc) Jin Rulan // Jin Ling (Informal name) // Jin Clan Heir

One of the so-called “Junior Squad”, a handful of Junior Disciples from different Clans who band together to fight the bad guys (Ancient Fantasy China Power Rangers).

The only child of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan.

In episode 2 it is revealed that Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan died tragically just after his birth.

Largely raised by his uncle Jiang Cheng with some input from uncle Jin Guangyao. As uncle Jiang Cheng has the emotional stability of a spoon, Jin Ling tends to be rash, arrogant, and rude. He is kept isolated from other youths of his age and thus has no friends.

Accompanied everywhere by his dog Fairy, a spiritual beast (more powerful than a normal dog).

Also a nephew of Wei Wuxian, though Jin Ling was a newborn when Wei Wuxian died and thus has no relationship with him.

(Present Arc) Lan Sizhui // Lan Yuan (Informal name)

One of the so-called “Junior Squad”, a handful of Junior Disciples from different Clans who band together to fight the bad guys (Ancient Fantasy China Power Rangers).

As Lan Wangji’s chief student, Lan Sizhui is heavily favored by the normally cold and detached Wangji. He is therefore the de-facto leader of the Lan Junior Disciples.

Sizhui is warm, kind, and caring. He never speaks ill of others and even tries to be kind to Jin Ling while the other junior disciples (including Lan ones) generally scorn the other boy.

Regardless of if he is posing as Mo Xuanyu or after he is “outed” as Wei Wuxian, Lan Sizhui is always very respectful and kind towards Wei Wuxian. He considers him a wise senior and feels at ease when Wei Wuxian is nearby.

(Present Arc) Lan Jingyi (No other name given)

One of the so-called “Junior Squad”, a handful of Junior Disciples from different Clans who band together to fight the bad guys (Ancient Fantasy China Power Rangers).

If Lan Sizhui is the de-facto leader of the Lan Junior Disciples, Jingyi is Sizhui’s second. The two are best friends and are almost never seen out of one another’s company.

Snarky, sarcastic, and big-mouthed, Lan Jingyi is the “Wei Wuxian” of the Junior Squad. He has yet to meet a cultivator he isn’t willing to talk back to, be that “Mo Xuanyu” (Wei Wuxian) or even Jiang Clan Leader Jiang Cheng.

Lan Jingyi is also highly intelligent and is the first to question if “Mo Xuanyu” is truly insane or just someone pretending to be so. He makes other accusations throughout the story that at the time see unfounded but are later proven correct.

Mortal enemy of Jin Ling (if by ‘mortal enemy’ you mean bitchy and reluctant friend)

(Past Arc) Nie Mingjue (No other name given) // Nie Clan Leader // Chifeng-Zun (Scarlet-Blade Lord)

Clan Leader of the Nie Clan in the “Past Arc”.

Elder half-brother of Nie Huaisang.

Nie Mingjue is hard on his half-brother, as the Nie are renown for their warrior skills and Huaisang is more of a lover than a fighter.

Nie Mingjue is close friends with Lan Xichen, and often visits him for guidance. Lan Xichen is his closest friend and confidant throughout the story.

Nie Mingjue is a powerful and ruthless cultivator (against his enemies, he’s no sociopath) and often loses his temper. 

He is closely bonded with his broadsword Baxia, and she often moves on her own if he is particularly enraged.

(Past and Present Arcs) Xue Chengmei // Xue Yang (Informal name)

Most commonly referred to simply as “Xue Yang”- his formal name may not be in the show at all.

A low-level thug taken in by the evil Wen Clan and used as a sort of private hit-man.

Xue Yang is brutal, ruthless, and merciless against anyone he crosses paths with. Holds particular disdain for powerful and righteous clans, as he was maimed by a low-level Clan Leader.

Is missing his pinky finger because of an “accident” he suffered as a child and thus wears a glove on one hand.

Initially Xue Yang is introduced as a “guest disciple” of the Wen Clan, but later he branches out on his own.

(Past Arc) Luo Qingyang // Mian-Mian (nickname)

Though it is not customary for a woman to have courtesy vs informal names, Luo Qingyang is almost exclusively referred to by the nickname “Mian-Mian” throughout the series.

A guest disciple of the Jin Clan and direct subordinate of Jin Zixuan.

Mian-Mian originally is shown to be haughty and fiercely loyal to Jin Zixuan, though she often finds ways to assist Jiang Yanli get closer to him throughout his Dumbass Phase.

Mian-Mian is a tough and outspoken female cultivator, sometimes even standing at odds with her own clan.

(Past Arc) Wen Chao (No other name given)

The vicious, cruel second son of villain Wen Ruohan.

Distant cousin of Wen Qing and Wen Ning. He frequently takes Wen Ning as a sort of hostage to guarantee Wen Qing’s compliance with his demands.

Wen Chao is arrogant and haughty. He considers himself superior to all other disciples because of his clan. 

He is the main antagonist of Wei Wuxian in the “past” arc, and considers it part of his duty to destroy Wei Wuxian and the Jiang Clan for their refusal to bow to his family.

Frequently appears together with his mistress Wang Lingjiao (a wife is mentioned but never shown) tormenting or directly torturing younger cultivators.

[farmerlan]

Farmer Lan’s Rewatch Guide to The Untamed - Episode 1

HERE WE GO I am strapped in with my Topo Chico and ready to take on Episode 1 of The Untamed. It’s going to be wild. I have no idea what I’m doing. If you’re reading this and have a better suggestion on how I should format everything, feel free to tell me because right now this is just the diary of a madwoman.

CAUTION: Due to the chronological differences between the novel and the drama, there will be instances where I bring in references further along in the novel and/or drama to explain what is going on, so there will be spoilers if you haven’t finished the series.

[Starting scene – there’s a voiceover of people rejoicing over WWX’s death, we see a chaotic battlefield and people fighting over the Stygian Tiger Amulet (here forth abbreviated as the STA because abbreviations are my jam). WWX commits suicide by falling off a cliff, LWJ tries to stop him and then JC sends him to the depths of hell. Flash to the present when some storyteller is narrating this story, and we’re told 16 years has passed since the Nightless City incident and WWX is seemingly gone forever – although his body has never been recovered despite extensive search efforts.]

Differences from the novel:

In the novel, there is no mention of clans trying to fight over the STA during the bloodbath at Nightless City. It’s definitely true that the existence of the STA and WWX’s unchecked power led to the actions of the Nightless City, but it was a combination of multiple events that led up to the battle, and not an explicit cause and effect.

It is also explicitly stated during Chapter 1 as people recount the tale of WWX that he destroyed the STA prior to his death.

In the novel, it is stated in Chapter 1 and confirmed by WWX himself (in Chapter 43) that WWX’s death was caused by his own power rebounding upon him and he ended up being torn apart by his own undead creations. So unfortunately the epic cliff scene was entirely scripted for the drama.

13 years has passed in the novel vs. 16 years in the drama. I can’t remember if there was an exact reason why they switched up the timeline, but just know that the timeline of the novel series of events itself is also very confusing and I will probably do a post with my take on it sometime later.

[Cut to present – WWX is summoned by MXY’s sacrifice, there’s some weird mask action going on, WWX creates a ruckus at the arrival of the Gusu disciples, they set up shop with the Demon Summoning flags, tell WWX to go wait inside and then they wait for the spirits to come their way.]

Differences from the novel:

The mask does not exist in the novel. In the novel, the body that WWX is summoned into is that of MXY’s, and MXY is a different person in every way from WWX in terms of face, height, etc. So everyone who sees WWX thinks he is MXY up until he finally reveals himself. It’s obviously a stylistic choice made to reflect why no one can recognize WWX in the drama series even though they are played by the same actor, because otherwise I can see how it can get confusing for viewers.

WWX is shown to be playing the WangXian melody in the room but this does not happen in the novel, although it does lead to a pretty epic snark from my favorite boy LJY about how awful WWX’s playing is (which IS in the novel, but happens later in the story instead). WWX does NOT use a flute at all until the Da Fan Shan arc in the novel. Also Jingyi, never stop being you.

It is not explicitly mentioned that MXY went to Lan Ling Jin sect in the novel at this current point, only that he was accepted as a disciple by a sect before being kicked out. We find this out later.

Other than that, the scenes with MXY closely follows the novel up until the Demonic Left Arm (DLA) to show up.

[WWX is hauled in to confess his crimes by Matriarch Mo, things go to shit in about 3 seconds and the disciples realize they need to call for backup STAT, the flare for LWJ is sent. WWX realizes this needs to end fast in order to avoid meeting LWJ and exposing himself. A-Tong becomes possessed by the DLA, dies, and then the DLA possesses Matriarch Mo. Attempts to restrain her fail and WWX revives the other now-undead Mos to fight her.]

Differences from the novel:

The sassy verbal takedown of Matriarch Mo by WWX is indeed in the novel and just as great.

The drama identifies the black marks on the victims’ necks as being caused by the STA. There is no such scene in the novel. Basically, there is no mention of the STA being the cause of ANY of this, because in the novel, it’s not.

In the novel, the disciples send flares for back up but are uncertain how quickly back up will arrive, and they definitely did not specifically call for LWJ. However, WWX realizes he needs to intervene to end this quickly because the spirit is too powerful for the disciples to deal with, and he can’t leave the Mo household until the revenge curse put upon him by MXY is lifted (i.e. until everyone MXY wants dead is dead).

A funny scene that gets left out of the drama is: Matriarch Mo leaps to attack LSZ, who can’t dodge in time. Instead, WWX literally KICKS LJY into her path because he knows that the Gusu robes are imbued with magical protective spells, so he basically used LJY as a human talisman as a last resort. LJY did not find this funny, and WWX plays the “I didn’t do anything, I have no idea what I just did and I can’t be held culpable because I’m batshit crazy” card. Ah, my boys.

 [LWJ appears just as Matriarch Mo appears to have gotten the upper hand, and subdues her with the POWER OF MUSIC dundun (also sensually massaging the guqin strings helloooo). WWX is hiding but HE IS HERE for all of his boo’s actions. LWJ clarifies that the DLA is a spiritual sword ghost with traces of the STA, everyone gasps because didn’t WWX die? OR DID HE NOT? Time will tell, my friends. Anyway, with the DLA subdued for now, LWJ hears the footsteps of WWX running away and chases after him but sees nobody. He thinks….”WEIYING IS IT REALLY YOU??” WWX A MYSERIOUS PERSON (to be revealed...but OK it’s NHS I told you there would be spoilers) gives money to the storyteller, and then we see WWX with Little Apple and he has one more wound left on his arm, indicating there’s someone else he needs to kill on behalf of MXY.]

Differences from the novel:

In the novel, WWX leaves the moment he hears LWJ’s guqin and does not stay to spectate.

See above re: no mention of what caused this, and certainly no discussion of the STA.

There’s no mention of LWJ suspecting that it is WWX in MXY’s body, or even suspecting that he has returned at all.

In the novel, the four wounds left as a physical reminder of the body count for the revenge curse is for the three members of the Mo family and for A-Tong. Therefore, WWX leaves the Mo family effectively free of his debt to MXY, but in the drama, he is shown to still have one remaining person left to kill…dun dun dun.

Storyteller man is not around in the novel – consider him a convenient voiceover tool for the drama ha. Thanks to the @redisthecolouroffate​ for the catch, I missed this but this is also the episode where NHS first shows up to reward the man for his storytelling, which is a nice bit of foreshadowing done by the show which is not in the novel at all.

Overall Thoughts

The drama does a really good job of setting the tone from the beginning. There’s not too much deviation here compared to the first five chapters of the novel (which covers this whole Ep 1 arc) since the majority of it was to set up the premise for the show and introduce our main characters.

The main difference here is we can see the drama is already setting itself up for the STA to play a much bigger role than in the novel. In the novel, our protagonists really have no idea what is behind the DLA at this point, and they certainly don’t immediately assert that it is a ‘sword ghost’ that has been tainted by the STA. In the novel, the only explanation for the DLA at present is in Chapter 5, when WWX notes that the spirit is more powerful than most, given that this spirit has already claimed three lives in the span of a few hours. WWX also deduced that this was the arm of a person who died by dismemberment, and to summarize the novel, the ghost arm is effectively trying to find the rest of its body. Until then, it moves between ‘live hosts’ like a parasite.

Also – WWX is also noted to be wearing badly applied make up in the novel but not in the drama. It is clarified in Chapter 1 that MXY was homosexual and was kicked out of his cultivation sect as he harassed a fellow male disciple and is now basically a gay lunatic, which is unfortunately not a great look in ye olden days.

Lastly, cute tidbit in the novel in Chapter 3 that didn’t make its way into the drama – WWX secretly marveled at LSZ’s knowledge and manners, and wondered “Who in that godforsaken, old-fashioned place (referring to the Cloud Recesses) could have brought him up/taught him so well?” OH YOU’LL FIND OUT WHO HA.

[jaggedcliffs]

midnight-mismanagement replied to your post “Look I know I watched the exact same scene 33 episodes ago and I know...”

oof yeah...so much more painful the second time around...cause now we have context...and emotional attachment to the characters....

Okay I actually want to talk about this scene and the first two episodes in general, and effect they had on me while as I watched the series (until the timeline catches up). 

Because obviously my first reaction was confusion - we’re dropped about 3/5s into a story, with very little background, then jumped 16 years into the future, and introduced to a whole host of characters. I had to look up information just to get my bearings and figure out who was who.

Then when the flashbacks started, I rushed through those first 10 or so episodes, because the events of episodes 1-2 seems so unrelated to the past. Sure, we’re re-introduced to the characters, and shown the contrast between Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji and their relationship to Wei Wuxian then vs. now, but we don’t much see how they connect to the tumultuous first scene. As they slowly build the world and the characters and the story unfolds, the events of episodes 1-2 get shifted to background.

Then during the fight against the Wen Clan in episodes 12-20-ish, the events of episodes 1-2 are confusing once again, but only because of the dissonance between Wei Wuxian in the past and how people will describe him in the future. In the Wen Clan episodes, Wei Wuxian is a heroic figure - fighting injustice at every turn, helping the members of the other clans, literally defending innocent maidens, and refusing to give an inch to the Wen clan's injustice. And you wonder how he can be so hated in the future, when he seems so firmly on the side of good...

...which then becomes evident when the Jin Clan begins to take the Wen Clan’s position in the mid-20s. These episodes show that, maybe, the reason everyone hates Wei Wuxian is less because he’s evil, and more because the establishment is. And also because he's now practicing a strange, powerful cultivation that other people aren't too fond of (and are rather afraid of).

And that last stretch leading up to Wei Wuxian’s death is the worst. You can almost see the through-line from episode 27 to episode 33 as the series slowly, cruelly, and thoroughly breaks Wei Wuxian. There’s a sense of dread because you know everything will turn out terribly - Jiang Yanli will die, Wei Wuxian will be driven to suicide, Jiang Cheng will try to kill Wei Wuxian. For all his heroic deeds, attempts to do right, and protecting and saving of the innocent, Wei Wuxian will end up hated years into the future.

But you also know that we’re going to immediately hard-cut to 16 years later, where Wei Wuxian is back alive! You know that an hour after his resurrection, he’ll be pretending to be nuts while solving mysteries and running intellectual circles around everyone!

The first 2 episodes tell us that things don’t end with the hero dying. There’s more story to be told. If there’s more story to be told, we know there’s a chance for things to get better. And so there’s hope, and the knowledge that there’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel. Even though it doesn’t hurt any less to watch Jiang Yanli die, or Wei Wuxian kill himself, or Jiang Cheng try to kill him, we know things don’t end here in the darkness. The first episode is a promise that yes, things will hurt. But it also promises us that afterwards, things will get better.

[somepinkthing]

So here's my take on the JGY vs NMJ question. And fair warning, it is a bit harsh to both of them but particularly to JGY because a) this post was originally just about him and b)... well.... all the cold-blooded murder.... and stuff

I'll be honest, both NMJ and JGY are way too extreme and unwilling to budge or listen imo. But if pushed, I would say NMJ is the less extreme one. NMJ is less extreme than JGY just based on what he asks of people. NMJ expects honesty and for people to own up to their actions. He takes it too far but you can still understand the basis of his thinking. JGY wants people to excuse his tendency towards murder because of what he felt at that moment. A little harder to swallow

NMJ's problem isn't that he's wrong but that he doesn't know how to mitigate himself enough to listen to JGY or take in other factors. He doesn't know how to explain his own reasoning back either. He is on the side of justice and ideals, almost naively so. He doesn't hear what other people are saying, doesn't see that reasons are important even if they aren't excuses. He needed to be more empathetic but that doesn't neccesarily mean he should have changed his opinion. Right theory, wrong approach. It's good to have a strong sense of justice but less good to let it overtake your rationality and ability to hear what others are saying

On the other hand, fandom tends to paint JGY as mild in comparison. Like this guy isn't one extreme or the other. He was just in the middle. I wholeheartedly disagree. JGY is the other end of the spectrum. Ideals and morals don't exist so he'll just do anything he wants. As long as his reason makes sense to him, it should make sense to everyone as long as he's given the chance to explain. Anyone who refuses to see his side is either being naive or arrogant. In that sense he is equally as unwilling to understand other people's emotions as NMJ was. JGY is a character that facinates me both with how well he's written and the varying reactions he draws from people. But sometimes its hard to find sympathy for him. Tbh he's off the rails and a bit delusional

And the truth is, neither of them could have changed these things about each other. There is only so much one person can do to change another. Did LXC's pleas reach either of them? Did NHS's? Did Qin Su or Su She's love change JGY? It made an impact, sure, but ultimately it was up to the two of them to do something about it. And while we acknowledge that NMJ was didn't think about JGY's point of view, I'd argue JGY was just as bad. He just could not understand why no one would show him the sympathy he thought he deserved, why NMJ would be angry at him for doing the things he did. In his mind, the world somehow owed him something and he refused to see it any other way. He could consider other people's point of view but he was just as bad as NMJ when it came to truly understanding

Do I think NMJ could have taken some time to understand nuances? Explained his own reasoning better? Oh absolutely. NMJ could have taken a step back on multiple occasions. But ultimately, he was also right. Or at least not wrong. The fact that he didn't approach the accusations he made correctly does not mean JGY is somehow the sympathetic party. Don't get me wrong, I hear what JGY was saying. I agree that there are things that people born into comfort and power wouldn't understand about the other side. That there are some things people feel they have to do because of their lack of security. But there are also some very basic hard truths that exist for everyone that JGY seems to think doesn't apply to him. You don't turn to premeditated murder when life gets unfair. You don't get a free pass on everything just because you did it for your dad. Desperation is not an excuse for abandoning morality. Or for murder. JGY should not have killed that jin guy. He should not have stabbed someone trying to help him. He should have taken at least partial responsibility for xue yang, at least enough to speak up and stop his father from allowing XY to escape or not helping him do it. But he'll never see it that way. In his mind, he never had a choice. In his mind, to choose to do the right thing is never an option. In his mind, people only don't understand his reasoning because they are arrogant and look down on him. The idea that he'd sound insane to literally anyone, that his motives are beyond the point of comprehension, doesn't truly register with him. To the bitter end he somehow believed LXC owed him love and understanding. To the bitter end he was unable to see why he would horrify people

Even people empathetic to JGY were disgusted by him in the end. WWX, LXC, NHS, LWJ, JL--all of them saw his POV but they still knew. In the end, there are things that you can do for recognition and to make yourself feel better and there are things that you can't. Lines are crossed by pretty much every character but JGY shatters the line between morality and monstrous with alarming regularity purely for his own gain and, here's the kicker, with no intention to stop. Because JGY doesn't truly consider other people's point of view either nor does he think he was completely wrong. If NMJ is one extreme, JGY is just the other side of the same coin. JGY didn't listen to others, didn't really try to understand how his crimes affected others, and wouldn't consider that he was in the wrong even despite knowing how despicable his actions were. He says he knows he was but the way he acted in the end showed that he still thought that his reasons were sound. That at least he had a reason. That's what made him especially dangerous imo

[darkzorua100]

In works of fiction, one of the hardest things to do isn’t so much as writing a solid story but trying to find a way to end it with a satisfying conclusion. It could be a happy, sad, or all of the above as long as it fits the story that you have building up to at this point. After all, this is the last thing your viewers are going to be seeing. The last big take away before they have to move on. What is going to be the legacy of this fiction? A ending can make or break a series after all. Just look at Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V for example. Looking back at it, it was such a groundbreaking entry into the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise for being the first series to make all the Extra Deck Summoning Mechanics relevant to the story instead of pushing them off to the side for the newest one in Pendulum at the time. It was a huge nostalgia trip by paying homage to the past series that came before it from using their locations for the different dimensions to bringing back past characters, in a way anyway, to the forefront. There is just so much more I could say about that spin-off but to put it in a nutshell, ARC-V just did so much right at the time but of course we all can’t forget that damn ending. The way that ARC-V ended just left pretty much everyone who had watched it from the very beginning with such a sour taste in our mouths. I don’t think I need to explain why, anyone who has seen the final knows exactly what I’m talking about, but yeah, it goes to show that a finale leaves a lasting impression and is pretty much why, even to this day, a majority of people consider ARC-V to be the worst Yu-Gi-Oh series to date. 

So with all that being said, how did Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains finale do? Was it able to wrap everything up into a perfect little package with a nice bow on top? Well honestly, the package itself was a freaking mess and a half but I will say the bow on top wasn’t half bad for what it was worth. We all knew with Vrains ending way to early compared to the previous series that things were going to be getting rushed at the end but I will say that even if things were rushed, and it wasn’t the most satisfying ending they could have given us, what they did give us still left me feeling fulfilled and with Vrains being the absolute train wreck that it was, at the end of the day, I’ll call that a win. 

So let’s start off with the final part of the Playmaker vs Ai duel. These two really were just full on neck and neck that it literally came down to their aces (because yes, Decode Talker is Playmaker’s true ace monster of show) batting each other, once again like from the opening, with Yusaku only being able to pull out the win in the end because Ai wanted to make sure that he was going to be able to finish him off during his turn. If his greed didn’t get the best of him, he would have actually won. That is actually really crazy to think about. At one point, just before Playmaker summoned Accesscode Talker, I seriously thought he was going to summon a Link 8 since he had the total Link Rating on his field with his three monsters plus Darkfluid being a Link 5 but nope, he summoned basically his new combination of the six Ignises in the form of a Code Talker (which all seem to be model after an Ignis anyway). I mean how he was actually able to summon out Accesscode was kinda BS but that’s just normal BS when it comes to the final duels in a Yu-Gi-Oh final. I’m still questioning how in the actual world did Yusaku not deck himself out during this duel. Seriously just how many cards did this boy go through? Way to many from the looks of things.

Now let’s talk about Playmaker and Ai scenes. My god, those shouldn’t have hurt as much as they did. Just at the beginning when Yusaku was telling Ai about how the bonds between others were the things that created the future, not predetermined simulations, and how Ai just couldn’t understand it just hurt right off the bat because I can understand why Ai can’t think that way. Just like he told Yusaku, he is data. To find a situation to a problem is all he knows. To base something with nothing to support it makes no sense to him especially when he can’t chance it. He has seen the alternative and my god, Ai. We didn’t even see the full simulation play out (but what we did see is definitely getting censored in the dub no questions there) but I could already tell what exactly played out. If Dr. Kogami was right about anything, it is that it is inevitable for humanity not to turn against artificial intelligence out of fear that they would one day surpass humanity and try and take us over or just kill us on the spot. I think the future we saw in that simulation was just that with Yusaku trying to convince them that Ai was no danger to humanity and well....we all saw how well that ended. Honestly I lowkey wished we got to see more of that simulation just to see the moment that Ai snaps and murders anyone. Because lets face it, Yusaku literally is the only family that Ai had left at that point. If something happened to him, Ai was actually going to snap. And it wasn’t even if something terrible would happen to him. Yusaku is still human while Ai is an artificial intelligence. If nothing happened to him, Yusaku would have just aged over time and eventually pass away while Ai would always remain immortal which once again would probably lead to a snap. I honestly don’t blame Ai for picking the path that he did in the end. Even if Lightning never showed him the first simulation, I don’t think it would have been long before Ai would have put the pieces together and start doing his own simulations. Ai was just a goner since the moment he was created as a A.I. with free-will. As for his death scene, I almost did start crying because things shouldn’t have had to have ended this way. I don’t care what Yusaku said. You should have took the fusion deal, young man. It worked out pretty freaking well for Judai and Yubel. Heck, regardless how stupid it was, the Yuu Boys and the Bracelet Girls were all still their own individual people too. I don’t see how that would be any different for you two, especially considering that Ai came from you, Yusaku. I have a lot of feelings about this but I will say that the moments that really hurt for me was when Ai asked Yusaku if he was a good partner, to which Yusaku answered “yes”, and when Yusaku explained to Ai that his name meant “love”. I actually didn’t think they were going to explain the meaning of Ai’s name in the show but I’m so thankful that they did but damn, that freaking hurt! Also Aiballshipping is canon. I actually find it hilarious that Ai stole Yusaku from Ryoken at the last second XD

As for everyone else’s endings. As much as it is still the most convenient bullsh*t ever, I am happy that Jin was able to move on after freaking years of being tormented by his PTSD and by Lightning in season 2 and is now happily working with his brother at the hot dog truck just like Kusanagi always wanted. I’m glad that they are slowly starting to make up for all the time that they have lost together because of this one incident. Aoi seems to be doing okay but I won’t lie, I was bit salty that Miyu wasn’t with her when she was visiting the brothers since it seemed like the perfect opportunity for them to be together and to show that their friendship is still strong after all of these years. Like what the heck? If they are going to force this stupid storyline on us, at least commit to it damn it! It has been three months and wait? Is she still in the damn hospital? Like we literally don’t know what happened to Miyu after all of this and I just find that infuriating but what’s new there? Akira is now CEO of SOL Technologies and I’m kinda mixed on how to feel about this. I mean we all were expecting this since the very beginning but again it is one of those things like what happened to Queen? Vrains threw away the rest of the Chess Pieces long ago but Queen was still a character. I mean I like to think that Queen just up and give Akira the company out of fear of being attacked again by someone else in the future but it is still one of those things that you wished you knew what happened to her as to how Akira got this position. It seems that Vrains has continued to grow and expand during this three month time skip and I don’t know if it was intentional or not but all the connections make it look like The Arrival Cyberse @Ignister and if that truly was the case that was a really nice detail to add, Vrains. Emma and Kengo seemed to have teamed up as a brother and sister bounty hunter team in the network which is fitting. Go is back to being his entertainer self to please his younger fans. I’m planning on giving my full thoughts about Vrains sometime later this week hopefully so I’m get into more detail about him and everyone else there. The Knights of Hanoi are taking Takeru’s declaration to heart and are watching over Link Vrains from Ryoken’s freaking cruise ship apparently while Ryoken and Spectre are watching over everything inside of Link Vrains. Now that Vrains is over, I officially have to ask. Where the actual hell is Ryoken getting all of this money from? Correction, WHERE IS HE GETTING ALL OF THESE BOATS FROM?! Geez and I thought we as a fandom were the shippers. This boy has a freaking navy of them in hiding.

HOMURA TAKERU GOT HIMSELF A GIRLFRIEND! MY BOY IS GETTING LAID TONIGHT! 

No but seriously, before they showed the duel disks and just them sitting on the bed, my brain went places. The dialogue did not help. Yes my brain is extremely dirty but that’s besides the point. 

ENTRUSTSHIPPING IS CANON! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I like to think that wherever Flame ended up in the A.I. afterlife, he is looking down at Takeru with a proud smile during this moment. I also just find it fun that since Kiku doesn’t have an avatar, if anyone knows her in real life sees her in Link Vrains with Soulburner, they are obviously going to put the pieces together real quick about who Soulburner actually is. I’m in just such amazement right now over this even though I had any idea that something like this was going to happen. During the closing interviews from the VAs, Kaji Yuuki made a comment about how we were going to be seeing Takeru getting “unmasked” during the finale and I just knew that something like this was going to happen and I was not disappointed at all. I’m sorry but I just have such a huge sh*t eating grin across my face because of this. 

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY MADE THIS CANON!

How is it that Kiku, a freaking SIDE CHARACTER, ended up being my favorite female of Vrains? I don’t know, I’m just going to move on before I start freaking out again about these two being so freaking adorable. 

I do like how Naoki, as soon as he saw these two, makes it his new goal to get himself a special someone of his own. I don’t know how that’s going to work out for him but hey good for him.

And as for Yusaku, the shows ends with him going on some kind of journey, leaving his final fate obscure which is pretty normal for a Yu-Gi-Oh series as they did the same in the past with Judai and Yusei. My guess he’s going around the network to try and find a way to bring back Ai and maybe the rest of the Ignis.

Speaking of which, the last scene we get of this series is that Ai is apparently alive. Maybe. Who actually knows. He could be in A.I. heaven for all we know but if that’s the case I feel they would have shown us a scene of him being greeted and welcomed by the rest of the Ignis but what we got of him instead was him in his eyeball form looking to be restored. Man Ai is literally like a cockroach and I am saying that in the nicest way possibly. He gets his data eaten by a dragon, tore to pieces by a Data Storm, destroyed by a powerful program, and even kills himself by his own hand and yet he still lives. I am very curious to know if anything is going to come from this reveal, such as if YGO 7 actually is a crossover series, or if this was just the writers giving us a break and letting us know that Ai is still alive and there is hope of him returning. I mean I’m happy he is alive, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like it would have just been fine keeping him dead with the rest of the Ignis. Because if he is still alive, won’t Ai just try and kill himself again? Seems kinda counterproductive but I digress.

So yeah, I very much enjoyed the final episode of Vrains. The series had a lot of problems, and I mean A LOT of them, but it had its shining moments, such as this. Like I said, I’m planning to go into more detail about my full thoughts about the series but when it comes to its ending, I think it delivered what it needed to. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains. You were a freaking struggle to watch at times but you were a joy to have around all the same. I guess the best compliment I can give you is that you literally are Ai. You are insufferable at times but you had your charm that kept me coming back for more and I’m sad to see you go just like I was with Ai.

Now it is onto Yu-Gi-Oh 7th and who knows. If it actually is a crossover series, Vrains might just be back sooner then we expect. I hope so because I’m not ready to say goodbye to my meme-lord and my fire child and his new girlfriend yet! I don’t think it has fully hit me yet that Vrains is actually over and it is going to suck when next week comes around and there is just no more episodes.