#mdzs book 4 spoilers

[sillygoofyqueer]

Anyway, does anybody else think that instead of Wei Wuxian just being a bit of a dick to Wen Yuan when he incentivised him with the idea of toys and not getting them, he was actually giving Lan Wangji a chance to not appear so scary to the boy? Like, Wen Yuan was terrified of the stern and cold Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian could have noticed this and decided to create a situation where Lan Wangji looked like the good guy. And so, he asks Wen Yuan - out of nowhere - about some toys, then proceeds not to buy them, leaving Lan Wangji feeling sorry for Wen Yuan and taking initiative to ask the kid which toys he wanted. Of course, you could completely disregard it, but I think it's quite sweet, because Lan Wangji seemed quite distressed at Wen Yuan's tears, so Wei Wuxian decided to fix it.

[vultureboi]

Dudes… I just finished reading MDZS Night Flight part 1 in book 4.

-SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT-

The angst. The grief. Oh my god. He fucking… Wen Ning killed him? ;-;

Okay, first of all, I gotta say. These books are great at making you side with the main character even if their actions are seen as “evil”. You can relate and you feel the characters logic. But then every other character in their world hates them and assumes the worst. People lie and deceive and leave Wei Wuxian the bad guy in every scenario. Like- the dude just wants to help people who deserve help and get rid of evil people. That should be a good thing. Yeah maybe the killing part isn’t so great. But my god.

And then that clan copying the Wen clan with the branding sticks? wtf? I’m so glad Wei Wuxian has the guts to be direct and not afraid of consequences. He literally told off this guys sins in front of all the head cultivators as if he was talking about the weather! Then they say that he’s the one in the wrong? Bro. That’s so cruel.

And Lan Wangji standing up for him? Hell yeah! He understands!! Sort of…? But like- he knows he means well! He’s not evil! He’s trying to make things right!

[yulen-the-ghost]

Wei Wuxiang 🤝 Wu Ming

Being eaten alive

[ladyhavilliard]

skewer xie lian (tragic) vs skewer wei wuxian (horny)

[whoviandoodler]

thinking about that scene where wwx comes back from the burial mounds and gets into a fight with lwj over demonic cultivation and how like. absolutely heart-breaking wwx turning to demonic cultivation was from lwj's perspective. here he was, trying for months to get his head around wwx being a rule-breaker but a just man, insolent but very skilled, trying to come to terms with his feelings for someone so... essentially un-lanish. and he finally did (i'd say around the cave arc, because I believe that's the first time that he didn't go back and forth and very seriously stood by wwx to protect him)... but then stuff happened- wwx comes back, this time not wielding his sword, but wielding something that lwj has been taught his entire life is irrevocable evil, by the looks of it for nothing but a whim or a laugh. here lwj had decided to protect wwx and to stand by him, and then wwx goes and... well, seemingly does the exact same thing lwj's mother did- turned to evil just because, or for the convenience of power. do you know what that must've felt like? the terror lwj must've felt, not only because of the price dark magic would have on wwx, but because lwj was in his father's place all of a sudden, the mc in a story that had been used as a lesson of the greatest sin his entire life, committed to protecting someone who did evil. he must've- i don't think there's anyone who could've resisted it- sworn to himself at some point during his childhood that he would never do something so shameful as his father, that he would always stand with good and against evil, and wwx was good, he was certain of that, and he placed his heart at wwx's shrine thinking that it was the rightest thing to do, only to find that it had all rotted somehow. i think this inner turmoil, the shadow of his parents' mistakes, was what got him to wait so long- too long- until he stood with wwx fully again, moreso than just the fact that demonic cultivation was seen as evil and he was taught to fight it.

[liverbiver9]

The more I read danmei in my monthly book club that I otherwise wouldn’t have read or even known about, the more it becomes painfully clear that most of the mdzs fandom (and possibly the other 2 mxtx fandoms but I’m not as well versed with them) have not interacted with the genre at large beyond mxtx, and it shows in the meta analysis people make (especially westerners).

And I am not excluding myself here! So much of my initial assumptions and interpretations of mdzs has changed after reading other danmei authors, especifically the less western-internet-popular ones.

My point is this: when reading a book from a culture that is not your own and in an unfamiliar genre, it will be impossible to grasp all the intricacies and subtleties nestled within the narrative and characterization until you’ve become more familiar with the culture and genre itself.

Don’t limit yourself to mxtx. There are more and more danmei being translated into English by publishing houses and even more are fan translated.

If you’re looking for a place to start, I have some recommendations!

1. Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai.

Literally one of my favorite books I’ve ever read in my life, and I’m an English major. It is only 2 books and both are already published, so you won’t have to wait. The most tender, loving relationship I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. The translation is phenomenal, and it feels very similar to Jane Austen in its diction, plot, and characterization. I literally cannot explain with words how much I love this book.

2. To Rule in a Turbulent World by Gu Xue Rou

This series is just being translated and published, so it may take a while for the other books (I think 3-4?) will be out, but don’t let that scare you away! Without too much spoilers, the vibes of this first book reminds me of Harvest Moon games. Also a very sweet and tender main couple. Plus, this book is written by a male author!! Pretty rare in danmei, at least to my knowledge.

3. Thousand Autumns by Qian Qiu

Pretty dense with lots of philosophy, poetry references, and a more traditional wuxia world. This series is finished with 5 books in total. I had a hard time reading the first book, mostly because I didn’t connect that much with the mc at first, but I loved the world building and all the information I learned. I did eventually start connecting with the mc and ended the series fully besotted! Not a quick or easy read, but a worthwhile one.

4. Ballad of Sword and Wine by Tang Jiu Qing

The first book is out for this series, with the second being published later this month. It’s going to be a long one like tcgf, so it is a commitment read—but absolutely worth it!! Lots of palace politics and more Taoist-focused martial arts (think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). It is both fast and slow burn (I know that doesn’t make sense now; trust me, it will later on) and the main character is SO FASCINATING!! I want to study him like a bug. The overall characterization is phenomenal. The cast can be… intimidating, as there are a LOT of named characters, but they’re mostly there for world building (and the world building is fantastic!). Also, the translation here is GORGEOUS. You can tell it was translated by a writer, or at least someone who’s read the whole text (you’d be surprised…)—everything is so vivid!

[robsterskellington]

This is different from what I'd usually ask, it's just a new interest of mine lol. So, my cousin and co-writer, got me into a certain series which got me invested in other things, so I'd like to ask:

If you'd like to say why, please feel free!

Mini ramble about my own interest under read more lol

(Minor spoiler for the Heaven Official's Blessing donghua)

Okay, so my cousin gets me interested in stuff by talking about them, because due to personal issues, I have problems taking recommendations from people. He needed to show someone something that made him laugh, and I was the first one who came to mind as he knew that even without context, it would make me laugh:

It was a clip of Qi Rong in the English dub shouting: "I should've hunted down those rent boy fucks and chopped off their nasty, diseased twat spears!!"

From that clip alone, I ended up watching the entire dubbed donghua and reading all eight novels within 4 months. I was absolutely in love the entire time. Recently, I binge watched the donghua and read volume one of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, and again, I'm in love. I haven't started reading or watching The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System just yet, but I do have volume one and intend to read it as soon as I've finished MDZS.

The characters are all interesting in their own ways, and I honestly just feel happy to be motivated enough to read again. Ever have that feeling where you want to read but just can't be bothered? I read volumes four and five of TGCF on my days off from work, a full novel one day and the other the next. I just didn't want to put the books down, and I was glad that my cousin could talk to me about it and I could completely understand.

Anyway, I'll shut up now haha. Thanks for those who read!

[orenji-iro-no-sora]

Thoughts on TGCF Vol 2

Vol 1 | Vol 2| Vol 3| Vol 4| Vol 5| Vol 6| Vol 7| Vol 8

*Spoilers*

Firstly, the pace of the books has been just right. I could feel the tension rising gradually. After an almost light hearted investigation in the first book, this one definitely got more and more thrilling (and serious) but it didn't feel sudden at all.

Eming and good times in the Ghost City

I'd say one of my favourite parts of the second volume were the Hualian moments in the Ghost City. It was definitely the calm before the storm though. I could feel my heart racing when Hua Cheng appeared from the curtain. How did the author add so much tension when all they were doing was shaking a dice cup, I don't know!

Eming, the scimitar that could destroy heavenly officials, is childlike and sweet. I imagined it would be fierce because Jun Wu warned against it, but MXTX used it to show how different Hua Cheng is from what people think of him.

I theorised that maybe with Hua Cheng missing an eye, it probably belonged to the scimitar and Eming possessed his child spirit and could express emotions that Hua Cheng repressed. But that's just a theory and probably wrong considering that the spiritual instruments of MDZS all had a life and personality of their own so it's not possible for Eming to somehow have a part of Hua Cheng in it. Also in Arc 2, only one of his eyes was visible, so maybe he was blind from the start. I think this will be revealed later on.

Powerless Gods

With more insight into Ling Wen and her inability to get devotees despite being one of the hardest workers in the realm, and the Wind Master having to take up a female role, even the Gods are not spared from sexism, prejudices, and gender expectations. It's obvious considering their worshippers are humans who have been conditioned by society, and like Xie Lian says: "Who cared whether you were a god or a ghost? You were whatever people believed you to be."

At the end of the day, for Gods, worshippers carry the most power. While devotees fear the Heavens, they are the source of the official's "merits". Xie Lian was right to question the power dynamics between immortals and worshippers. Officials are helpless in how people perceive them (like Feng Xin lol), and they're powerless when it comes to mortal matters. They can't interfere and they can't influence.

And this truth, I believe, is one of the biggest sources of conflict for Xie Lian. He understands better than anyone that he's powerless (and yet powerful) which is why he fears disappointing others and doing the wrong thing (as he has already gone through it all in the past) and which is also why ascending for him, in my opinion, is a curse. He believed that by walking the path of the cultivator, he could become the saviour of his people. That his determination and goodwill could and would lead to eternal peace.

But in reality, there's no point to his ascension. The world carries its own fate and he can't change destiny. He's even more restricted in what he can do as he's no longer a mortal. While insults and harsh words can't stop him, as I believe Xie Lian has always been very confident in his virtue, I think they hurt just the same because he couldn't live up to his own convictions and they're a constant reminder of his shameful past.

Both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng aren't what they are rumoured to be. The kind of people they are, and how they have been perceived by others do not align. But that's pretty much the case for all characters. In reality too, people always see what they want to see.

However what's interesting is that Xie Lian and Hua Cheng have been imagined to the opposite extremes of the spectrum. To Lang Qianqiu, Xie Lian was a saint. (I'd admit that when he asked Qianqiu to not venerate him, I realised I had done the same.) To others, he was a failure and Hua Cheng was the devil. But both of them were more than that.

Xie Lian's frustration: the injustices despite kindness

In this sense, they both were their truest versions with each other. Which is why, when Xie Lian, finally, finally expressed his frustration and anger, it was to Hua Cheng.

Throughout vol 1, I was waiting for Xie Lian to express some irritation or anger or something that wasn't gentle acceptance. If he had fought Jun Wu after his ascension, he must have been pissed. And there's so much in his life that was unjust that there's no way he wouldn't be. Maybe 800 years is enough to get over it, I said to myself, but there must be days when it hits him. Every step he took, he took to save the common people but saving the people didn't coincide with doing the right thing.

For me, the most important part of the second book was when Xie Lian talked about the injustice of the Guilded Banquet. "He simply felt deeply wronged. He’d acted with such benevolence, but he didn’t receive equivalent kindness in return... I just don’t think it’s right for someone to have been kind but still meet a bad end. I don’t think it should have ended up this way."

Truer words have not been said!! I think one of the hardest aspects of doing the right thing, the kind thing, being morally and ethically inclined is that in this world, benevolence is rarely reciprocated. And I needed Xie Lian to say it. And he did. And I was glad that he admitted to it all.

Because despite knowing that kindness will not guarantee paradise, it may even lead to chaos, to him (and to me), it's still the right thing to do. That's why he wanted Qianqiu to continue being kind, even when the consequences were nonsense. That's why he'd take the blame and bear the responsibility.

Flowers and Butterflies, the cyclical nature of Hualian's fate

Finally, I really wanted to talk about Hualian and their intertwined fate. When Xie Lian saved Hua Cheng during the procession, he appeared like a white ethereal butterfly. And later when Hua Cheng rescues him, he uses his butterflies (deadly to others but gentle to xie lian) to break into Heaven. 'Hua' means flower is what Xie Lian saves at first and what becomes a symbol of his gentleness. And then later, Hua Cheng is the one who sought flowers and protected Xie Lian.

Also Hua Cheng is said to bring misfortune to all those around him and Xie Lian is the darling of the Heavenly Emperor. But he ends up believing that he's unlucky and causes harm to everyone near him and isolates himself while Hua Cheng always says that he's the luckiest.

In a way, their fates have been reversed. But also, they directly or indirectly brought fortune/misfortune in each other's life. Maybe it can be said that Xie Lian's ascension, which I think was his misfortune, was a result of Hua Cheng's star of solitude. Maybe Hua Cheng's power is Xie Lian's blessings. Or maybe everything has been fated and destined to happen exactly as it happened. Either way, I think it's neat.

[joys-of-everyday]

On the fifty shades of morally grey

So quick thoughts on how MXTX writes morally grey.

Sorry, I mean, excessively long meta post on how MXTX writes morally grey. Light spoilers for all three books.

A gazillion caveats to begin with. Firstly, I don’t want to argue about whether character x is morally good, bad, grey, pink or whatever. In my books, arguing about whether someone is or is not morally grey is like arguing whether a colour is green, blue, teal, or turquoise – we’re arguing definitions. To add to that, I’m not saying that concepts like ‘this person is overall good’ doesn’t exist, but I would posit that a morally unquestionable person does not exist. Secondly, I also don’t want to pass moral judgements on any of the characters. That’s for a different post. I strictly want to focus on the storytelling techniques that make the reader think ‘hang on a second, are they good or bad?’. Thirdly, this whole post is mainly based on How Arcane Writes MORAL AMBIGUITY (9 Methods, 4 Rules) - YouTube. Great video, great channel (no knowledge of Arcane required). Would recommend if you are interested in story writing techniques!

1) The information gap and the poor narrator

Best example is Shen Jiu from SVSSS. We barely know anything about Shen Jiu. Almost everything we know is from SQQ’s notoriously unreliable perspective, so we’re left to fill in the gaps ourselves. Depending on exactly how those gaps are filled, you can get two completely different people. E.g. Did he have designs of NYY, or was he just ridiculously misunderstood? Who knows! We’re never told. Even if we were told, we should doubt it because it’s SQQ telling us.

2) 4D characterisation

Schnee’s video goes into this in more details, but this is where you build two narratives on top of one another. Best example is Jin Guangyao from MDZS. Is he an underdog who did what he could out of his situation and tried his best to be a better person working for the good of the common people? Or is he a selfish, manipulative, ambitious snake who at every stage pretends to be good in order to win the favour of those around him? The point is that both narratives make sense in the story. There are moments that lean more one way or another, but you can never quite pin him down completely.

3) Moments of weakness

Best example is Xie Lian from TGCF. On the whole, XL is a wonderful human being who you 100% want to root for. Except��� there was that one time he made a mistake. He let his hurt and pain overcome him; he became hurtful himself. The point here is to add in just a few ‘moments’ which fundamentally impacts how the rest of the world perceives them from that point forwards. They are forever trying to redeem themselves, forever weighed down by what is a tiny proportion of their life. The underlying question is ‘is a moment of weakness a moral failure?’

Another good example is Qi Rong from TGCF. On the whole, he’s a piece of s***. But then there are moments when he’s a genuinely good father to Guzi, and that’s confusing.

4) Well-intentioned idiot

Trying to do the right thing and absolutely failing. Best example is Wei Wuxian from MDZS. His intentions are always good. There are extremely few moments where he is selfish or overly cruel. He is always fighting for justice, always self-sacrificing, always kind. And yet the outcome of his actions is pretty bad. The underlying question is ‘should you judge a person based on their intent, or on the consequences of their actions?’

(btw the name of the method is from schnee’s video. No shade on WWX. He is very smart… well, unless it comes to LWJ’s feelings.)

5) Excuses

Yes, they’re bad. But we feel sorry for them! Almost everyone fits into this boat, because doesn’t MXTX love trauma dumping? As one example, let’s look at Jiang Cheng from MDZS. JC’s behaviour towards WWX is pretty bad on its own. But given the context of his childhood being compared to him, of having his self-esteem brutally crushed by both parents? Knowing how much he’s done and sacrificed for him, how much he truly cared for him as family? It hits different.

A small point: ‘excuses aren’t enough’ we say a lot (and I agree, to an extent). But compare, for example, Jin Guangshan vs Xue Yang. JGS seems to be a power-hungry asshole for absolutely no reason. On the other hand, put XY in different circumstances and we feel like he might have been a better person. Just as food for thought, there was a Japanese monk Honen (1133-1212) who said: ‘The good person can reach the Pure Land, so of course the evil person can as well’. The point being that the people who struggle with anger and hate because of their circumstances are most in need of salvation.

6) World building and presenting hard questions

What is acceptable sacrifice in war?

Is it okay to make a super dangerous weapon for the sake of deterrence?

How much personal responsibility does someone hold for a lifetime of circumstances pushing them towards a morally questionable path?

What are the responsibilities of a leader – to do what is right, or to do what is best for their people?

The world of MDZS is imperfect. It’s full of horrors and disasters, as well as a mob of outsiders all trying to impart their opinions despite knowing little about the situation. An imperfect world presents unanswerable questions. We see the characters struggle with these questions, come to decisions, and make mistakes, all naturally arising within the complex world that’s been presented. 

TGCF does this most explicitly. We literally have Kemo and Pei Xiu arguing about the ethics of war and XL concluding that it’s a Hard Question. In fact, every backstory of every Heavenly Official presents a new Hard Question. I don’t know if I like this method over the more subtle style of MDZS, but I have Thoughts about the storytelling styles of both (long story short, I love them both for different reasons).

7) Worlds are colliding

A slightly complicated method that takes a huge amount of set up. To summarise, set up two arcs that we the reader both feel invested in. Then set up a point where the ‘good’ outcome of one is the ‘bad’ outcome of another. For MDZS, we have 1) JC and WWX’s brotherhood arc. 2) WWX standing up for justice arc. They’re both merrily developing all the way through the conflict with the Wens… right until the moment WWX has to make a choice: stand up for justice and leave JC behind, or to fulfil his promises to JC and turn a blind eye to the injustices against the Wens. The decision is a lose-lose scenario because of the way these arcs have been set up.

8) Spectrums, Spectrums, we love Spectrums

Gongyi Xiao is a cinnamon roll. As is Wen Ning and Quan Yizhen. Meanwhile, the Old Palace Master? Literally no redeeming qualities. Wen Chao? Absolute scum. Then there’s everyone lying somewhere in between. We like Lan Wangji more than JC (I think that seems to be the case for most people?) but we certainly like JC more than JGS. Having a spectrum of morality is important because it gives us reference points to contrast and compare. It also emphasises the moral greyness of everything, because sure, Mu Qing isn’t a noodle like Shi Qingxuan, but is he worse than White No Face?

9) Spectrums aren’t enough – adding depth

Almost all of WWX’s moral ambiguity comes from the fact he has hard decisions to make. And for each of these decisions, the outcome is murky. He developed a new technique to fight against the Wens, but at what cost later down the line? He defended the Wens and gave them a few years of life, but was it worth it?

Compare with JGY. JGY does a lot of good. He also does a lot of bad. The magnitude of both lists is ridiculous. Sure, you wouldn’t usually find someone who’s killed most of their family members in any way likable, but how often do you come across someone who literally ended a war?

So one way of creating moral ambiguity is to make each decision difficult, but another way to go about it is to just… make them do loads of things. Like loads of things. Good things, bad things, all the in between things. Judging each thing is not that hard, but then trying to judge the overall person based on it is extremely difficult.

10) Pulling from the real world

Often, moral questions in fiction is hard because (surprise, surprise) moral questions are just hard full stop. Idk enough Chinese history and culture to accurately pin down all of MXTX’s references, but things like stupid misunderstands leading to conflict, poverty and inequality, less than ideal family situations, the horrors of war… these are all things that happen irl. No matter how fantastical the setting, grounding moral conflicts in reality makes us feel more emotional and invested.

Anyway, I hope that was an enjoyable rundown! This is an imperfect list, so comments, criticisms, suggestions greatly appreciated!

[arsonisticscholar]

Your mxtx posts are getting to me. I am so intrigued by the fanart. So my question is

Where do I start? 👀

Ooooo heheheh

Sorry I kinda went on a rant there but I hope this helps lol

(Post typing I kinda went on a little rant but you can decide depending on the info I put in there, I’ll cut it for the sanity of my followers and I’ll separate the different sections a bit and highlight what each section talks about. Veeery mild spoilers but one is a plot ‘twist’ that gets exposed in the first book and one is a content warning so. But also they all have a bit of violence which gets graphic at times so keep that in mind)

Ok there’s three different series by mxtx in release order: scum villain self saving system(svsss) (idk the Chinese name oops) the grandmaster of demonic cultivation or mo dao zu shi (mdzs) Heaven officials blessing or tian guan ci fu (tgcf)

I won’t include major spoilers but there’s still stuff like typical trigger warnings that I might want to add

Ok there’s a few different ways you could read them depending on how familiar/comfortable with different things

~~~

The easiest thing to say no for reading is sex, and while there are no plot points that you’ll miss by skipping anything and only once has there been a sex scene outside of an extra chapter this still could be important for some so I just wanna be sensitive. If you’re not totally comfortable with sexy stuff or want to build up to it go in this order:

Heaven officials blessing (nothing explicit, some innuendos and references and implied and it does happen but it’s never descriptive at all, I wouldn’t feel morally objectionable if I gave it to a young teenager)

The grandmaster of demonic cultivation (explicit extra chapters, is not generally sex related during the main plot)

Scum villains self saving system (has an explicit sex scene during the main plot, has multiple sex scenes in extra chapters, and has casual references to sex and sex jokes throughout)

~~~

If you’re not super familiar with Chinese names or words (idk you’re nationality but I’m American and white and it took me a minute for sure) or if you’re not familiar with xianxia terms then read in this order

Scum villain (mostly sticks to courtesy names so only one name per character, doesn’t get too deep into politics, and doesn’t rely to heavily on genre knowledge for worldbuilding without explaining it)

Heaven officials blessing (has like three different names per character, gets pretty deep into those Heaven officials drama, but easy enough to follow once you know the characters, relies a little on the reader already being familiar with the genre but does enough of its own worldbuilding that it’s honestly fine if you were familiar with Chinese names then this would be the easiest to rawdogg and understand what’s happening)

Mo dao zu shi (uses both given and courtesy names and nicknames and every name under the Sun to refer to a character, gets suuuuper deep into inter-sect drama, and got a little hard to follow at points keeping track of family trees and which sect was where and that guys sister is who’s wife?? Might need a whiteboard idk, also most of the worldbuilding is around the politics and sects relationships so if you don’t know much about the genre might want to pull up the fandom wiki)

~~~

If you wanted to know the length of each series it’s

Scum villain (4 volumes, 3 main plot 1 extra chapters)

Mo dao zu shi (5 volumes (eng ver.) 4 1/2 main plot second half of 5 extra chapters I think? Or 4 main plot 1 extra chapters)

Heaven officials blessing (8 volumes, first 7 1/2 main plot ends the 8th vol with extras)

~~~

And ik you said you were curious about the fanart so if you’d like visuals to help decide,

Top left image: on the left is Luo Binghe, on the right is Shen Qingqiu/Shen Yuan/Shizun(just teacher but a lot of the time people in the fandom just call him shizun lmfao)

Top right image: on the left is Xie Lian, on the right is San Lang/Hua Cheng

Bottom image: on the left is Lan Zhan/Lan Wangji/Hanguang-Jun, on the right is Wei Ying/Wei Wuxian/Yiling patriarch

~~~

I personally read them Heaven officials blessing, Mo dao zu shi, scum villain

My favorite to least favorite is scum villain, Heaven officials blessing, Mo dao zu shi

The most popular are mo dao zu shi, Heaven officials blessing, scum villain

~~~

The content that exists for each series are:

Heaven officials blessing:the original completed book series, season 1&2 with 3 on the way of animated series, live action in production, audio drama with upcoming episodes, and a few volumes of comics

Mo dao zu shi: the original completed book series, a completed (but heavily sensored) live action show, season 1(?) of an animated series, completed(?) comic series

Scum villain: original completed books, season 1 of a 3D animated show, actually that’s it I’m starving

[expertnuerodiver]

So I finished Book 3 of MDZS not long ago and hear are my opinions so far

Before you click continue reading, please know that this will contain spoilers for books 1-3 of MDZS, don't say I didn't warn you. With that, also DO NOT spoil book 4 or 5 of it for me. Thank you :)

Book 1 was a fun read, all the little things Wei Wuxian said to Lan Wangji made me laugh. It was interesting seeing the plot thicken with the corpse collecting and learning about Wen Ning. Wei Wuxian being scared of dogs and hiding was so cute and funny, I love him.

Book 2 was just gut wrenching and crushing. Xiao Xingchen? Song Lan? A-Qing? They deserved better I just felt so bad. Also, why the hell do people ship Xue Yang and him? Like I can see the possibility of unrequited love, but that is it. Oh yeah, what will Song Lan do to Xiao Xingchen's soul after nurturing it?

Book 3 oh mercy on me. The kissing scenes? The past of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng? Literally that was so intense. All the names and titles are also starting to make sense to me after reading. I am very excited to see how this will go. How long will Lan Wangji protect Wei Wuxian from those around them?

I hope that they get a happy ending, but knowing MXTX, that won't happen.

[reileinaxiu]

Finally obtained the elusive volume 7 of TGCF(It was a calamity and a half trying to find it anywhere in any bookstore when I already had volume 8 for ages (3 months). I binged read everything where I left off from volume 4. I'll be rereading at leisure when I have better time.

Warning ⚠️ Spoilers ahead. Go read the book if you haven't.

Anyways I'm here to gush about the weird roller coaster that was TGCF. HuaLian shall forever have my heart when it comes to best romance journey excluding all the weird add-ons and hanger-ons that was the heavenly court and JW's overall mindf*ckery that he calls favor.

Note: no time to quote anything doing this by memory since I've already stashed my books in the depths of the overly cluttered cabinet that is my bookshelf. Some other time.

The giant mecha fight between divine statue XL and the Heaven Capital was so out of field I felt like the book just added a new genre late into the story. But it was awesome all the same I think my favorite part was when HX's bone pets came to their support.

I just can't get over the fact how profound and all-encompassing HC's love for XL is and that clear moment when XL realized HC's identity(WM), that he was seen so completely in not only his highest but also his lowest most self-loathing destructive moments did XL knew that HC is the one and only person who he can wholeheartedly surrender himself to and love. XL also knows that HC is probably the only one who would ever forgive and accept every part of him even the part that he can't forgive and thinks unworthy. HC would probably say there was nothing to forgive in the first place.

HC dispersing after the final battle just broke my heart for XL. 😭 Dear MXTX knows how to write angst and stab in our vitals where it hurts. There reunion was so heartwarming I'm running out of appropriate adjectives. They should never been parted like that ever again. I would have loved to see more of their fresh reunion interactions where XL utterly spoiled and gave into anything HC wanted.

The extras were also too funny I could barely read them straight with how mortifying some of it was.😂 Nice to know every divine statue got their partner 🤭😏. Happy to have finished this close to HC's birthday.

I was hoping XL coffin trauma would be addressed at some point but I'm happy we got something in the extras, not as lighthearted as I thought the extras would be 😭

The art in the last volume is the best so far 🥰😍. Anyone else screamed upon seeing the blatant HuaLian kissing and domesticity. I sure couldn't not with my mom in the same room 😅. But I really wanted to, it felt like HC got a hundred times more sexy with his prince taking kisses in his arms 🤭🤭🤭

Too many thoughts on the matter! I'll circle back to this in the future I've still got 2ha, Thousand autumn to follow and I haven't finished MDZS novels to my great shame 🙏😖

Next time my dearies.

[agendratum]

i preordered the kaleidoscope of death booooksssss they are real they are comiiiiing

they have danmei listed among the genres and a phrase "original author's text" in the description on the website heheheh (even tho i think the owner of this publishing house is a despicable silly man in a jester hat and have little respect for him, sometimes i have to give it to him) (even tho he (allegedly?) cut out the sword fucking from mdzs extra for no reason at all basically, since they were the pioneers of danmei in russia and no one gave a shit about censoring them back then)

but also i think the summary for the books on this website maybe spoilered something about the plot for me a little bit very slightly, but i don't know anything anyway and i should go back to watching spirealm anyway, this hiatus from watching anything has been going on for too long anyway (edit: "anyway" count - 4)

[tanatola]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Oh um! Thank you for the question, I do love that kind of thing, love writing it out... Honestly I think I can track almost a lot of my fav characters to just yaoi but whatever, I'm valid!! Also there might be some spoilers here since it's difficult to write 'why' without them. Sorry for long text, I like rambling about my favs. 1) Currently as is obvious it's Geto Suguru from JJK, I think he just combined a lot of the things I like in a way that really works for him and for the story... The inherent romance in being dead before the main plot even starts, ahh. Also the complexity behind his fall into villainy is sooo well-written, having so many reasons and chains of consequences that lead him to it, a slow and easily preventable descent into tragedy, it's so appealing... I truly believe he could have been saved and dissuaded at any point in his life, even during the events of jjk0, but people who cared about him didn't understand him, while people who did understand him didn't care enough (or actively planned to take advantage).

2) Kaeya from Genshin, similarly because he's a very contradictory character with a lot of inner demons and a tendency towards self-destructive behavior. Also back then the kaeluc of it all forced me deep into researching chinese terminology and similar examples in fiction which made playing Genshin a much more educational experience than one would expect lmao... Honestly I didn't love what the game did with him in the last few years, mostly ignoring the more serious and cunning aspects of his personality and story and focusing on the cute and insecure little trickster persona, it's very ehh to me. But in my heart I still love the version of him that made me obsess for over a year.

3) Jimmy McGill from Better Call Saul. Again, something about preventable tragedy and how difficult it is to tell where his actions can be traced back to his childhood and family relations, where he was forced and where he chose to make bad decisions himself, he is my poor meow meow 100%. Also has the benefit of being in a well-written show.

4) Princess Carolyn from Bojack, honestly it should have been Diane but Diane struck too close to home for me, while PC is a 'safer' to love option. Highly competent in professional areas, utterly delulu in others, one of the most caring characters in the cast... <З I also just liked her VA a lot, plus she's like a power fantasy in a lot of ways... Super great at her career, loving partner, realising her dream of having a baby, I mean yeah. Not that I want a baby, just that she got everything she wanted by the end, nice.

5) Wei Wuxian from MDZS, same with being dead before the story starts djkgdkjg, also a necromancer and a disaster, need I say more. I think for me a big factor of why I like him is that despite being a talented genius with a steady moral compass he absolutely failed at... everything? Lost everything he held dear or wanted to protect, when revived he doesn't even have any specific goals in the new life he was given. But his endless positivity means that he didn't mind taking that second chance anyway, and as a reward at least learned in detail why his first life fell apart, and also gained a devoted husband in the process, good for him. A rare happy end among things I like actually,, I mean I actually have words to say about the 'happy' part of it but well, as happy as it could have been for him.

6) Grantaire from Les Mis, this one is just very personal I think, a cynical drunk who never accomplished anything in his life, am I right dfjgnkdfg...,, Him being a typical asshole but well-educated and sentimental, loving Enjolras and all of his friends but giving 0 effort to actually supporting their cause, still managing to do the right thing in the end, it's ahh т_т Also I'm still obsessed with him mentioning studying under Antoine-Jean Gros in one sentence which led me down the rabbit hole of researching what real life Gros was like, spoilers he drowned himself in Seine after his artistic career went into decline. You can really see why looking at his works but that makes it all the more upsetting... Like not because of some 1 specific failure but just a lack of artistic progress overall, which his mentor, peers and students couldn't help but comment on... Anyway this isn't about Grantaire anymore but also kind of still is! 7) Vriska, I named my second cat after her!! Honestly one of the better written characters in Homestuck I think (im thinking the first five acts), just everything about her is perfect to me. A huge bitch of course, but at her core just a teenager with pure ambition and insecurities born from consequences of her actions, always trying to prove herself no matter how much she hurts people around her. And yeah like always with characters I like, so many opportunities for her to go off the doomed course, but either herself or manipulative adults always redirected her back, and that was always supposed to be the 'main' timeline, doomed by the narrative etc. The tragic nature of her friends-to-rivals-to-enemies with Terezi was also just sooo... And that Terezi didn't even care about that rivalry as much as Vriska did, or at least pretended that she didn't... Sighh....

8) Granny Weatherwax from Discworld, my favorite old woman. What's so great about her to me is that she's like all those other characters I like, an asshole who wants to solve everyone's problems, always tempted to react emotionally, do the wrong thing,... But she just doesn't, and she's been choosing to be good ever since she was young. The appeal of a powerful witch holding herself in check, mmm, she's just so much more introspective, complex and relatable than say Gandalf in LOTR who had the same issues. Iconic role model honestly.

9) Harry Du Bois from Disco Elysium, or at least specifically the communist well-natured version of him you can play as djkfgdfkfg, not that it erases his complexities and masculine asshole ways but... I mean yeah, he's a cop and an asshole no matter what, but the sheer potential he holds... No matter how low he's fallen, his sentimentality and his empathy, being so in-tune with people and the city, it all leads to a blooming hope for humanity I suppose. That you can get better, always, and not only a-la Grantaire by dying. Of course, you can also always get worse, too, but that's the other inevitable side of the coin (I still haven't played the fascist route since it makes me too sad).

10) Leo from Pandora Hearts! Again I didn't really love how he ended up, but ahhh :^) His unlikely friendship with Elliot, agreeing to becoming his servant to stay by his side more, not realising that he's dooming his friend by doing so, yandere-ish personality plus secret pretty eyes, I mean. Classic flavor.

[moondal514]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 People

Thanks for the tag @jaywalkers <3. I love your list of characters, you’ve got great taste : )

Rules: name 10 of your favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people to do the same

1) Andrew Minyard from All For the Game

My blorbo of all time probably. No character has given me brainrot and writing inspiration the way he does and likely no character ever will. This post sums up his appeal perfectly

2) Lan Wangji from Mo Dao Zu Shi

My newest blorbo from my most recently joined fandom. What can I say, I’m a sucker for incredibly queer competent stoic prob neurodivergent men that are absolutely insane about one person. When I watch the MDZS donghua, I literally have to pause every time he comes on the screen just so I can stare at him a bit, so you could say I’m a bit obsessed

3) Kim Theerapanyakul from KinnPorsche

He’s this weird little guy that is simultaneously the most competent character in the show and the biggest cringe-fail loser. He looks so suave and cool on the surface with his whole Taylor Swift by day mafia prince detective by night thing but then you realize he’s actually a complete nerd with a whole ass literal murder conspiracy board hidden behind a giant selfie portrait of himself and I love him so much (also he’s played by Jeff Satur, who makes my aesthetic attraction senses go haywire, but that’s neither here nor there)

4) Kyuzo from Samurai 7

My 1st fictional crush and prob my earliest blorbo. My type in favorite fictional male character (hypercompetent stoic character that doesn’t talk much with bonus points for iconic hair) can 100% be attributed to him. His story was the earliest villain redemption arc I can remember encountering in media (this was the 1st anime I ever watched so I was like 4 or 5 when I 1st saw this guy) and so for me I always think of him when I see people talking about iconic redemption arcs (sorry Zuko)

5) Midorima Shintarou from Kuroko no Basket

At the peak of my high school sports anime phase, this guy was my favorite. He’s tall, he’s green, he’s an anime glasses character™️, he’s tsundere, he’s prissy, he’s weird af, he’s got one of the most bonkers basketball skills ever, and he’s even an astrology girlie. What’s not to love

6) Merlin from BBC Merlin

BBC Merlin is the fandom that sucked me in at a time where I thought I was growing out of fandom and fanfic (spoiler alert: I very much was not) and it’s responsible for completely changing my relationship with fandom into something much more intense than it was previously. And it’s all thanks to this funky skinny wizard man who for whatever reason captivated me enough that I read hundreds of thousands of fan-created words about him for nearly a year and a half

7) Jasnah Kholin from The Stormlight Archive

She’s one of the rare canonically asexual female characters, and she’s even from a major fantasy book series too! I fixated on this character long before I knew I was ace (though perhaps that should’ve been a clue lol), mostly because I just thought she was so cool and I found her whole “why would I want a relationship when I’m busy with all this shit to study” attitude so relatable

8) Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender

I wanted to be her so badly when I was a kid y’all have no idea. She just made such an impression on me because she’s so cool and so strong but also unapologetically and obviously feminine and that really struck a chord with young me and is prob the reason why I didn’t really have a “not like the other girls” phase cuz she was revolutionary for little me’s idea of how a “girl” can be. To this day she is the character that to me has the coolest powers ever

9) Cassandra of Troy from Greek Mythology

It’s prob weird to include her but I was a real greek mythology girlie (in that I was into it before Percy Jackson came out) and Cassandra has always my favorite. The tragedy of her story has always been very appealing to me and upsettingly relatable in a lot of ways

10) Kym Ladell from Purple Hyacinth

Ms. Kym one of those characters that’s ostensibly the comedic relief except nope she’s hiding oceans of pain under her smile. She’s got trauma and a tragic backstory that she hides from the rest of the main characters in one of the strongest “this is fine” performances you’ve ever seen

Tagging: @stabbyfoxandrew @alcego @paradoxolotl @halfpintpeach @justadreamfox @wulfrann @quensty @ittyybittybaker @seasy33 @nanatsuyu

[lanchang]

I posted 674 times in 2022

99 posts created (15%)

575 posts reblogged (85%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mulians

@sangchengs

@m0ntaigne

@farmeryushi

@6o6

I tagged 430 of my posts in 2022

Only 36% of my posts had no tags

#tgcf - 138 posts

#textp - 73 posts

#ask - 22 posts

#prev - 20 posts

#sangcheng - 20 posts

#mdzs - 11 posts

#guardian - 8 posts

#xie lian - 7 posts

#mqfx - 6 posts

#jun wu - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#literallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyytyyytytyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i dont think that xie lian calling feng xin and mu qing "precious jades" means that he thought of them exactly like property or anything but they were his bodyguard and his servant and i think that relationship was reflected in that line. he valued them in a lot of ways, both as friends and as two people who were close to him very skilled and well-trained. and i also think that the precious jades line is sweet like awww youre 15 and you think your two best friends are the most special people in the world <3 and youre right

37 notes - Posted February 7, 2022

#4

47 notes - Posted March 16, 2022

#3

[ID: a screenshot of fu yao and nan feng from the TGCF donghua standing next to each other with slightly dumbfounded expressions. overlaid top text reads "second guesser 🤝 face-value assessment" bottom text reads "idiot moves"]

74 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

#2

who is the most femme camp queen pussy cunt cunt slay character in either mdzs or tgcf 🎤

RATING TGCF CHARACTERS BY HOW FEMME CAMP QUEEN PUSSY CUNT CUNT SLAY THEY ARE

DISCLAIMER: i dont know what im talking about. minor spoilers for book 3

XIE LIAN: has had at least one femme moment but idk about camp or queen and only a little pussy but pretty cunt cunt and slay overall. half credit for being the flower crowned martial god and half off for being a trash god of scraps 5/10

HUA CHENG: femme (known to take the form of a sexy evil woman) ✅️ camp (mayor of ghost city) ✅️ queen (mayor of ghost city) ✅️ pussy cunt cunt (youve read the book) ✅️ slay (c'mon) ✅️ overall 100000/10

MU QING: he is not femme he is vain and insecure he is not camp he is actually very self conscious he is not queen but well maybe a little queen and very pussy cunt cunt slay. 8/10

FENG XIN: unfortunately basically none of these words apply to him but he gets a point for suggesting that xianle citizens get jacked to combat human face disease that was kind of a camp moment imo 1/10

QI RONG: femme❌️ camp ❌️queen❌️ pussy cunt cunt ✅️ slay ❌️would have had more points if he was pink but hes green. i reformatted this post and forgot my rating umm 3.5/10

JUN WU: he is SO not femme camp queen pussy cunt cunt slay he is incel daddy dom 2014 tumblr -100000/10

SHI QINGXUAN: perfect score but didnt die like hua cheng so no extra credit 10/10

HE XUAN: he did die so +2 but not camp or pussy so -2 overall also 10/10

YIN YU: tbh even less femme camp queen pussy cunt cunt slay than feng xin except for when he told quan yizhen to kill himself 2/10

QUAN YIZHEN: none of the above 0/10 which is also a perfect score in a different way

LING WEN: all of the above AND girlboss but didnt die 100/10

PEI MING: tbh also kinda incel daddy dom 2014 tumblr but he canonically fucks so only like -2/10 (sorry to pei ming likers i am not one of you but he is very funny)

SHI WUDU: im gonna be real i havent reread black water arc in like 2 years i dont remember his personality very well at all ummm 3/10 he gave cunt he served he died

i cant think of any more characters ���️

75 notes - Posted December 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

mulian is sooooo complicated like god.... platonic or romantic whatever the case its just tragic how mu qing thought xie lian was too good for him like how could they ever actually be friends BUT at the same time he also didnt think the gap between them was fair or fitting of their actual skills and xie lian occupied this very specific place in society that mu qing was always so far away from no matter how hard he worked (as mortals) and yet even though mu qing KNEW that he wasnt actually that far below xie lian he still didnt think any of that or their entire relationship meant they could be friends.... AND despite all that he still in awe of xie lian the whole time he thought xie lian was amazing.....

92 notes - Posted February 4, 2022

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