#mdzs final season

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Not beating the allegations.

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[gureshinlover]

Since ive been lying in bed for three days i decided to rewatch mdzs donghua and GOD it's still a masterpiece. I love it with all my heart. Mdzs is one thing i'll never ever regret watching

[uwooyoungs]

//

[fatimavelasquez]

MDZS junior.

My final piece for 4 seasons a MDZS junior zine, on twt.

[drag0nalias0]

Altight been reading today so imma put my progress here

Finished chapter 46, im at that beginning of chapter 47. About 80 chapters left

46 chapters

06:23:39

6 hours 23 minutes

Alright, im gonna get round to reading mdzs now. Ive been putting it off for months but i really wanna read it before my next birthday which is a week from now.

126 chapters i think (113 main 13 extras)

[mxtxfanatic]

3rd POV: A Tale of Two Novels

Sometimes I think about how expansive writing is even when using the same technique. Take for example the usage of 3rd POV in mdzs vs. 2ha.

In mdzs, 3rd POV is used to show readers what general society thinks about characters—who are the heroes, who are the villains, what gossip do we know, what are the tales people tell their children at night, etc.—as well as get into the heads of the actual characters to show us what they think of each other and themselves—the tales of Jiang Cheng's heroics vs. Jiang Cheng fantasizing about kidnapping people to torture; the tales of Wei Wuxian's "demonic nature" vs. his constant care for and willingness to teach those around him. In this way, even though we are usually sticking closely to Wei Wuxian and his story, we as readers are given the opportunity to piece together the truth behind these intertwining tales connected through gossip and myth-making for ourselves in the moments where the narration either zooms out slightly to expose a large picture or even completely falls into another character's orbit to reveal a glimpse of their true self to us. Therefore, by the time we get to the final arcs of the story, readers should be able to listen to a lay-person discuss a major character or event and accurately understand what of the things being said is true, what is unsubstantiated speculation, and what is maliciously-spread rumor.

2ha uses 3rd POV completely differently. On the surface, the 3rd-person narration serves to show us exactly how, though the beginning of Mo Ran's life was rough, he and those around him are actually well-meaning enough to change for the better and form healthy, loving bonds with each other. Similar to its usage on mdzs, the narration zooms out to show us that hey, maybe this event didn't go the way a character perceived it or hey, maybe Character A thinks this way because they misunderstood what Character B meant, and we know what Character B meant because we got to see inside their head briefly, as if it is softening up some of the characters in order to make way for redemption/repairing of relationships. Because of how the narration zooms in and out and flits back and forth between characters as we would expect with a 3rd POV, this completely blindsides us to how much Mo Ran being cursed with the Flower of Everlasting Hatred has actually completely tainted the whole of the narrative.

For any Adventure Time fan who's watched the Season 6 finale, that is what the curse is doing to the narration. For anyone who hasn't watched it, let me explain: in the paired episodes Hot Diggity Doom and The Comet, a comet is flying towards Earth, and slowly but surely, the color scheme is being saturated by purple. However, the transition is soooooooo sloooooooow that you don't realize that "wow, everything is purple now???" until suddenly the characters find themselves indoors and the color scheme snaps back to normal. The 3rd POV narration, in 2ha's case, is the color scheme. The curse is the comet washing everything purple. The difference with 2ha, though, is that it's actually in reverse: instead of things getting gradually more and more purple/corrupted, the narration begins to slowly but surely reveal the truth of everyone's characters and motivations until the purple completely melts away with the destruction of the last of the curse's effects, giving way for Mo Ran 2.0. However, the most diabolical part of this whole process is that without knowledge of the existence of the curse, we as readers wouldn't even have known that we had been seeing in purple the entire time! And this is where the 3rd POV truly shines in 2ha: because the story relies so much on the revisiting of flashbacks from different perspectives and reflections in an almost cyclical pattern, when we revisit certain "known truths" about the characters in the Mo Ran 2.0 section, we suddenly find ourselves going from normal view to looking at a mess of purple and going "wait, was this purple the whole time???" thus forcing us to re-evaluate everything that we were ever told about the story all the way back to the very beginning of it. 2ha uses the 3rd POV to trick readers into accepting a heavily skewed narrative as "objective truth." Because why wouldn't we see the 3rd POV as objective? That's what it's for! (Isn't it?)

In conclusion, both Meatbun and MXTX utilize 3rd POV as a reflection of what their novels are doing and how they want readers to approach these stories. Mdzs is a story about investigating the truth for yourself rather than relying on the word of others and reputation. Thus, the 3rd POV narration hands you multiple different tales and tells you to investigate to arrive at the truth behind the misdirections. 2ha, however, is about the inability to solve a problem or save yourself if you don't even know something is wrong to begin with. Taxian-jun takes his "defectiveness" as objective fact, as does the narration taking his cue, and thus do we. Mo Ran 0.5 takes his second chance to change things, and through his transition into Mo Ran 2.0, slowly redeems himself... until all of his past crimes come back to haunt him, anyways. It is only upon the discovery of the existence of the flower, the understanding that Mo Ran was cursed with it, and the realization that our 3rd POV narrative was only telling us what Mo Ran believed and remembered through the effects of the curse, that readers are finally given a glimpse of the truth of the story, and the characters—coming to the same conclusions—are finally able to save themselves.

[linxuelian]

Anime Fest Plus 2024 Convention Experience Log - With Photos!

Hi, hello! As I've recently (as of this post, yesterday morning) attended Anime Fest+ 2024 at Tropicana Gardens Mall, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, I've decided to write an experience log about my day there! While I will be posting a few different cosplays here, since my blog is currently primarily about MDZS, TGCF and SVSSS at the moment, most of the cosplays I'll be sharing will be from these three titles. To add to the fun, I'll also have commentaries on them!

To preface, the largest anime convention in Malaysia is Comic Fiesta, an annual mecca with 70,000 attendees as of the year 2023. Anime, games and comics are popular in this country, so there are smaller cons dotted throughout the months.

Anyway, the crowd wasn't as large as Comic Fiesta. As the structure of Tropicana Gardens Mall is rather narrow, you'd technically have to file through in two to three lines to be able to walk in and out of the place.

The exhibition hall at the fourth floor hosted all performances as well as cosplay booths. You'd have to ride one of the two escalators up to the hall - plebs without a ticket are doomed to be stranded at the bottom of said escalators, unable to sop up the merriment held exclusively above.

Here are some pics though, just in case you were a pleb that day, or just didn't attend the event:

Main hall programs and booths featured mostly Hololive and sexy pretty girl cosplayers and figurines, given the regular, expected fare when it comes to the anime consuming demographic (yes, I'm calling you out, my anime-watching brothers). I didn't take pictures of the doujinshi market out of respect for the art sellers there, but I did buy a beautiful print and got some lovely free stickers from that ONE vendor who sold BL stuff among the throngs of moe girls/Genshin Impact.

Yes, there was only one stall. But that one vendor made my day! Bless your heart, sister!

Now, I'll move on to the highlight - the cosplays. Nothing fills my heart with more joy than seeing happy people wearing colorful costumes and having a blast just being part of the convention scene. To be honest, it's so common to be wearing cosplay outfits nowadays that folk don't even notice you when you're dressed up - and I say this from experience; nobody noticed at all that I was in costume (or they were far too polite to laugh at how shitty I looked LOL, I didn't even dare take pics of myself). These events usually become scavenger hunts for me, to identify the ones from series I know or my tribe (fellow MXTX fans aha!).

First up is an oldie that's a goldie - Mr. Spock from Star Trek (credit: FaceBook user Yasuhiro Orihusay):

Honestly, I did NOT expect to find any Star Trek cosplays there. My dad's a Trekkie, so this was one of the first pics I sent him at the con itself. Live long and prosper, Mr. Spock!

Next, a furry OC:

I wasn't able to get their social media account as they were waiting in line for an autograph by a cosplayer, so unfortunately I'm unable to credit here.

Furries are currently still a new thing in Malaysia - but I'm glad to see them appearing more frequently at our cons, since they do diversify our pop culture scene quite a bit. Furs Upon Malaysia (FURUM) is held annually in Kuala Lumpur. The tickets are always sold out within an hour, so it's definitely growing and also contributing to tourism (Indonesian and Singaporean furries gather there too).

Also, they're fluffy. I love fluffy things. Much thanks, furry fandom, for being fluffy!

Moving on, here's a group cosplay of Jojo's Bizzare Adventure's Six Pistols (Mista from Golden Wind's Stands, if you're wondering which season it's from):

Vibrant and very spot on! I was unable to get their social media account due to the crowd and disorientation on my part. Do try to look them up, though! They were pretty popular, so I'm sure someone would have shared some info if you're interested.

Anyway, here's a White Mage from Final Fantasy (credit: https://www.instagram.com/yari_hayashi/):

Final Fantasy's one of the older franchises, but it's definitely rising again due to the new FFVII remake. I thought he was Garnet until I saw the blond wig. Bless the mages, healing power plus!!

Next in line is one of my all-time favorites, Sailor Moon (credit: https://www.instagram.com/jiahuab0719_cos/):

I'm a Moonie so seeing a Sailor Moon made me pretty excited! I don't see too many Sailor Moon cosplays even in Comic Fiesta - cosplays at our conventions are pretty seasonal and tend to follow trends, from what I've seen. She definitely caught quite a bit of attention with her wings, too. I saw her getting stopped quite a bit, so I'm glad I got a pic before a line formed!

Aaaand! I've saved the best for last! I'll be showcasing the MXTX stuff now. To start off (with a bang), here are two cosplayers of the number one seasonal love interest of the BL world, Hua Cheng a.k.a. San Lang Didi (Grown Up Version):

Credit: https://www.instagram.com/karry.1213/ (donghua version) and https://www.instagram.com/kopiii_cos/ (manhua version)

Remember how I said cosplays at Malaysian conventions tend to be pretty seasonal? Well, the current flavor of the month for the BL world is definitely TGCF - and the hottest flavor is now San Lang didi. You're going to get stopped for photos pretty often for dressing up as this flashy guy, and for good reason too. Donned in striking red, Hua Cheng is the Ferrari of the danmei world.

I overhead Kopiii_cos' friend saying so many people have been asking for photos! Viva Fafa!

Next, we have the ever beautiful WangXian couple cosplays:

Credit: Wei Wuxian (https://www.instagram.com/purple_384/) and Lan Wangji (https://www.instagram.com/anson1510/)

WangXian's a staple when it comes to the MXTX fandom. There's nary a person who doesn't love these two soulmates, and with these elaborate costumes, they've certainly stolen the show! They were the first couple I saw at the entrance of the exhibition hall, which makes sense since there was an OTP contest going on that afternoon.

Moving along, we have the main character of his story, the Crown Prince of Xian Le, Xie Lian (credit: https://www.instagram.com/arkutagwa/):

I gotta admit that this Lian's the sweetest of the Xies so far. Had a field day calling each other cute (what can I say, we both had cute personalities)! Gotta love that charming dimpled cheek, bless!

Speaking of cute, there's also this whole cute pose thing going on with certain attendees (credit: https://www.instagram.com/chzesin/):

I won't lie - I didn't recognize the character at first. But with the dark-gray-to-white ombre, black and red colors to tell you that's a Wei Wuxian, I'm just going to take a gamble here and deduce that yes, that is indeed a Wei Wuxian and include it. Let me know if you don't think it is.

Last but not least, we have our MXTX OTP group:

Credits: https://www.instagram.com/ayafvrvv/ (Luo Binghe) and https://www.instagram.com/close0402/ (Lan Wangji) - the rest didn't share their social media accounts but they did say you can find them through each other's accounts.

Turns out they're a group who'd entered the OTP contest that afternoon. If you're wondering, no, Binghe isn't paired with air (this is Bing-mei, not Bing-ge). There was a large number of attendees that day as it was Sunday, so their Shizun was still looking for parking. I'd gotten lucky since I'd arrived there just as they'd opened up Basement 3 so ZOOM I parked near the escalators with plenty of space to spare. Until today I chalk it up to being last-minute dressed as Xie Lian, the god of good luck for hobos like myself (or, according to popular belief, Hua Cheng's blessed every Xie Lian cosplayer out there no matter how much we look like we've just stepped out of a jungle). I also had plenty of space to sit for a lovely lunch of salad and green tea!

Granted, there were actually a few other Xie Lians there as well (he's the current flavor as well), but I didn't want to chase after them from afar since the flow of human traffic in this particular mall wasn't too conducive for trying to get pictures, unlike KLCC's garden. Usually, more fans are dressed as the two main characters, Wei Wuxian and Xie Lian - or the shous/bottoms in popular danmei. Surprisingly, I actually saw quite a number of gongs/tops this trip round.

So as a bonus, here's a pic with all our dandy gongs/tops together:

A dashing lot, aren't they?

Anyway, this wraps up my experience log as an MXTX cosplay hunter! Hope you enjoyed it! Bless!

[youhideastar]

Deastar’s 5 Most Re-Read Fics of Last Year

My New Year’s resolution was to rec more, so I’m starting with my 5 most re-read fics of the past year!

1 and 2: Blooded Crown and Misethere by Astolat (The Witcher)

Look, I don’t even go here. I’m not even in this fandom. I first read these before the TV show had come out, and let me tell you, it made said TV show very disappointing. But I have re-read these two fics (they’re not related to each other but they’re similar enough that I’ve grouped them together) probably 10 times each over the years. I absolutely fucking love their twisty-ass plots. I love the “what if Wolverine and Machiavelli fell in love” takes on the characters. I love the combination of humor and deadly serious political shit going down. I have a problem and it’s that I can’t stop reading these fics and probably never will.

3: i’ll be your girl by plonk (The Untamed/MDZS, ~30K)

This fic is everything. It’s funny. It will make your heart sore and tender. It has smoking hot sex scene after smoking hot sex scene. It’s pining while fucking (top three trope for me!). It has the absolute most ridiculous premise, and then executes it beyond your wildest dreams, never losing sight of how ridiculous it is. Said premise: Wei Ying seduces Lan Zhan, who he thinks is straight, while dressed up as Britney Spears for Halloween. They continue to hook up, with Wei Ying in a series of themed seasonal drag outfits, while Wei Ying falls in doomed love with a straight guy (or so he thinks), and Lan Zhan tries to figure out what the hell is going on but is too gone on Wei Ying to stop. My all-time comfort object fic.

4: All Old Things Are New Again by The Feels Whale (miscellea) (@thefeelswhale) (The Untamed/MDZS, ~52K)

This fic is WAY too long to be a habitual re-read, but that never stops me. “Full-time necromancer and part-time cam boy, Wei Wuxian, finds himself unexpectedly homeless. An enthusiastic patron comes to his rescue. Conversely: Immortal Cultivator Lan Wangji has been waiting a long time for his deceased husband to be reincarnated again. In retrospect, he should have anticipated that this is how it would go.” It is SO satisfying to watch Wei Wuxian slowly lower his (very reasonably raised!) guard and let Lan Wangji take care of him; in many fics, that trope ends up stripping away Wei Wuxian’s inherent badassery, but not here: this Wei Wuxian is so smart and capable and tough as nails, oooh, I like him so much!!! And it does not hurt that the numerous, exquisite sex scenes feature a delightful blend of (a) my favorite all-time kinks and (b) stuff that is not on my usual menu but that magically rocks my world as applied to these characters in this story.

5. This Tornado Loves You by FeelsForBreakfast (@rabbitcrimes) (The Untamed/MDZS, ~9K)

Want to get way, way up close with Lan Zhan’s brain while he realizes that his ferality about Wei Ying does, in fact, go up to eleven? This is the fic for you. I can’t do better than the author’s own summary: “Hanguang-jun is dating a mild mannered, non-cultivator named Wei Wuxian. The Yiling Laozu rolls up to a nighthunt on a motorbike, no relation at all to the previous statement.” This author’s Lan Zhan/Lan Wangji voice is so fucking good, it makes me mad. And SO FUNNY – I have read these jokes probably a dozen times and they STILL make me laugh out loud. The awesome modern cultivation worldbuilding is so casually done that you sleep on how good it is. Finally, this fic is tagged “you will say ‘Yiling Laozu hot’ or your money back,” and let me tell you: you are NOT getting your money back.

[sandradaffodils]

I WILL UPLOAD THE FINALE CHAPTER OF SEASON ONE OF MY MDZS FANFIC TODAY!!!!! ARGHHHHH! THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE AFTER 2 OR 3 MONTHS!!! SO KEEP YOUR EYES ON AO3 TODAY!!!😭🫡

Though I will edit the previous chapters for grammar mistakes and others. So look out for those.👀

Also I started selling photocards already!! Thank you for the commissions!!! I hope more of you will support me!! 😭🙇‍♀️

[piosplayhouse]

Whenever people say stuff like "WOW MXTX FANDOM IS GETTING FED!!" I excitedly go to check if they finally announced scum villain season 2 and it's always just more mdzs merch releases

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Who put these kids here?

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[southernwolf16]

After coming across SVSSS-related stuff on the blogs I follow/stalk, I finally gave in to my curiosity and checked the donghua.

I tried reading the novel a while back, but it didn't entice me that much so I didn't finish it. I think seeing the donghua helped spark my interest again.

Then I held back from watching Ep 10 for the past week and started reading the novel. I'm almost finished with it.

It's so different from MDZS. I find myself laughing most of the time. Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan edition) are such disasters. I'm sure the more senior fans have already written eloquent posts about how codependent they are, Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan's relationship, why Cucumber Bro and Airplane Bro transmigrated to the novel they read/wrote, why the System exists in the first place, writing what you're passionate about vs writing what'll bring in money, and who is Jiang Cheng's counterpart in SVSSS, among other things. I think I read a post suggesting it's Liu Qingge? Or is it Shen Jiu?

Anyway, back to the donghua. I hope I'm not alone in saying I like the character design. At first it was a little jarring---maybe because I'm not used to watching CGI---and the donghua isn't actually 100% polished a la FFVII remake (on a side note, someone joked that Yue Qingyuan seems to be from the PS2 era). Regardless, I appreciate the design since it gave me an idea how the characters look like.

Which is why I'm a bit surprised when I started trawling the SVSSS tags here at Tumblr and saw art depicting Luo Binghe as a curly-haired, big-muscled mountain of a man. Perhaps this is influenced by Western taste? I'm not an expert in Chinese literature or culture, but in some pics I've seen from Cdramas those of demon blood who play major roles don't have the physique of someone who can crack walnuts with their biceps. Think Wang Yue (Wang Zhuocheng) from Legend of Chongzi and that actor from Love Between Fairy and Devil. Furthermore, Luo Binghe is described as a pretty boy in the novel so at this point, I'm of the humble opinion that the donghua got his body type right. And I subscribe to the standards of beauty from the source culture.

Okay, going back to the donghua Ep 10. As we say here in my country, papunta na tayo sa exciting part---I'm going to see Luo Binghe get pushed down the Endless Abyss by his beloved Shizun. Oh, the angst, the drama.

Nope. Nothing of the sort happened.

Oh, so they saved it for Season 2 [Tries to find Season 2]

[Season 2 not yet released] 😨

What. The. Hell.

I held off finishing Season 1 because I thought Season 2's already available. The site where I watched the donghua said Season 2's release is 2022.

Dude, we're two months' shy of closing 2023. 😱

Season 2, where art thou? 😭

[askew-d]

Hello...Have you watched Haikyuu movies? It's great....And we got lots of Kuroken moments and "that"one Kagehina moment.... So, as Kagehina shipper, have you ever ship Hinata or Kageyama with other character? For me, I have read Kageyama with Oikawa fic (I enjoy it but not really into that ship, all the time thinking of Iwaoi) and Hinata with Atsumu fic (one of my friend love that ship, wrote a fic and asked me to read them). And as much as they're all good, my otp will always be Kagehina. Like they were made for each other and it has to be them...

Do you also have other ships that you love from MDZS and TGCF? Sorry, if you asked me this, I have at least 8 ships in total from those two series, all of them are non canon (Xuexiao, Xiyao, Zhuiling, Beafleaf, Fengqing, Quanyin, Peihuang, Xuyue)....

Sorry for this random and long ask, hope you don't mind....

hello, anon!! sorry i am late for this, hope you understand. life has been crazy, haha. anyway, let us go: i did watch the haikyuu films and recently in was at the cinema with a friend watching the dumpster battle, let me tell you i was OVERJOYED!!! heavens, i could not control my anxiety. though my friend also likes the anime, she isnt as obsessed as me and didnt even finish the last season when we talked about watching the brand new release, so i had the OUTSTANDING experience of rewatching it with her so we could buy the tickets after!! i lost count of how many times i watched it and how many times i made other friends try it out (at some point, i recommended it to even one of my students during a totally unrelated discourse, hahahaha, hope he shares his opinions once this winter break finishes).

since i watched haikyuu about... five years ago? i must have rewatched some seasons more than ten times. its my comfort show! love every film also. about the ships, kagehina is my endgame, but i definitely love kuroken, iwaoi, bokuaka and sakuatsu (though i consume kagehina content much more). of course every ship is valid, i cannot judge anyone, however, i personally cant see hinata or kageyama with anyone else and do not read stories too focused on other relationships :) i can comprehend why fans see something with oikawa and kageyama, or even oikawa and hinata (considering their interaction in rio), but i do not settle with it in my heart. its just profiles and options, anyway! dont mind, dont mind.

i agree with you. for me, they are soulmates through and through. perfect for each other. one is the promise, the other is the anchor. they might be one of the couples i have seen anywhere that matches each other's vibe the best.

about mxtxt works, my favorite side ships are moshang and beefleaf. i can see the appeals in each one you mentioned, but i just never quite got interested to the point of reading about it, sorry!! some of them maybe its because they did not have a finale extra shot, or at least they were not as spoken/seen together as they were individually. for fengqing, though i like them as a side couple in hualian fanfics, i never quite got engaged in their story together, many times they just annoyed me (god, im scared of saying that and people coming at me, but there you go). but i know they have their values and some interactions i could almost forget my light, petty resentment for their actions and laugh along. beefleaf though? mobei-jun and his creator shang qinghua? heavens, i wanted to see more of them.

so, this is it! do not worry about asking whatever and whenever you want to ask. i love coming here to answer them when i have the time. thank you!! hope you can spot a nice sunset and take a relaxing shower today.

[vivilingriphyn]

Love the art!

Though I must know, why is Skybound your favorite season?

Reasons why Skybound is my favorite season.

It has stood up to the test of times, especially in my mind in the most unhealthy way possible.

It's the only season where it has STUCK to me since I was 6 and to this day it was only season that keep popping back up and the season where it pulled something in my child brain and the start of my spiral on thinking more fudged up Scenarios in my heads, alternate possibilities and more way to make the season even more messed up than it actually was and as a kid back then that watched cartoon 24/7 and watching that season of Ninjago felt fresh and something I couldn't properly understand back then and that uncertainty of what the fudge was happening made me eat up that season out of pure curiosity and need to understand what was happening, quickly spiraled into an obsession.

That even my child self became quickly aware of and never spoke of Ninjago ever again since and stopped watching but it NEVER made me stop thinking about Ninjago ever since then if I see a lego my brain would immediately think of Skybound and begin to delude myself that, that lego piece was Jay and my brain would spiral once again into my internal world of fanfics, and even when I finally first joined fandoms like undertale, mdzs etc. if I have enough time to myself, my brain would quickly turn to Skybound every chance it gets.

My obsession turned to annoyance but also began to turn to fondness once more and into acceptance, that I just accepted I will never escape Skybound, that the first ever fandom I ever joined wasn’t undertale but Lego Ninjago before I even understood what fandoms were. And Skybound will forever be stuck with me for the rest of my life just like how Jay's trauma from Skybound will forever be stuck with him for the rest of his life.

Nadakhan might've not succeeded in breaking Jay entirely, but definitely succeeded in making me give in and accept that I will never escape from Skybound in the 10 years that I been obsessed with it to an unhealthy degree but it will still forever hold a precious place in my heart, because I wouldn't be the self aware fudged up person that prefers fanfics over canon that I am today.

Thanks a lot Nadakhan :)

Also this is just the major reason why it's my favorite season. Because I have such a goldfish memory but Skybound has clung to my brain for so long that it can just become my favorite JUST because of pure resilience alone. Also because I've been fighting to forget about Ninjago but Skybound and my Brain said no so it's the season that takes the number 1 spot for me when it comes to Ninjago.

And I honestly wanna say more but also can't say more as to why It's my favorite. I feel like I need to rewatch the season after 10 years just to refresh my memory. And ask that question to myself. Just why?

And finally answer questions that my child self couldn't ask others out of fear of being too out of place and being teased and bullied for something I held strong feelings and passion towards back then and now I'm coming back to this now and of course my immediate thing that I do the moment I walk a back into this fandom is to go I went to Ao3, went to filter, and immediately typed in “Jay Walker” and “Nadakhan”

And God I never felt more happy reading fanfics of these two for the first time. In 10 years of my obsessions finally coming to fruition and I will EAT UP every skybound fanfic, headcanons etc. out there.

Also Skybound was the season that securely made Jay my favorite character. And yes I've also been obsessed with him for over 10 years ever since I first watched Lego Ninjago, like a fudging yandere that has no other reason to love their senpai just to be able FEEL something.

Wodnwkdnas I'm probably just spouting out pure nonsense, and an empty meaning and reasons as to why I love Skybound but, eh people love things for various of reasons so I might as well tell as to why since you asked, also gave me an opportunity to rant so… Thanks! ^^

Also here's a WIP for a Skybound Drawing I'll be doing, that'll maybe be posted in the future along with some of my personal Headcanon that's related to skybound, cause when you've been obsessing with a season for over 10 years without rewatching it and basing everything from you goldfish memory, make you think a lot, especially a lot of headcanons ╮⁠(⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)⁠╭

[irrealisms]

Game Over. Try Again? liner notes

fic here if you haven't read it!

first thing i want to say is: this fic is heavily inspired by Samsara / 輪迴 by ForgivenMemes. if you're an mdzs fan and can handle the content warnings, go check it out.

some Actual Time Loop (rather than time travel) concepts that didn't get written: zam's last week of the server, from bedrock box to the wormhole. vitalasy on two birds/deliverance day.

however i did a lot of thinking about, like, who or what is causing the time loop? why? how can they break out? and eventually came to an answer: they're the ones causing the time loop, because they just keep trying and trying to make this work, long after it has become obvious that it can't work, because they love each other. so i wrote this instead. i could have given it a happier ending where vitalasy eventually breaks the time loop by Letting Go and Moving On to Season Five but this is thematically speaking ... the story we already got in s4? in canon, at the finale, vitalasy is able to let go of zam and move on to s5. so i wanted to make him a bit worse. also im obsessed with [cycles you cannot break and are trapped in forever].

it had to be vitalasy or zam because subz, after like two loops, would Simply Not Invite Zam. tbh. and out of vitalasy and zam, one of them already has Miscellaneous Glitch Powers, so.

relatedly: you don't get to see much of this in the fic but spoke (a) does not know what, exactly, vitalasy is doing to the server (b) does know that he's doing something. spoke would NOT be happy about the time travel. he worked so hard on the apocalypse!!!! it's the END of season four not the "okay now time to go back a few months". come on vitalasy where's the narrative catharsis

another fun fact from planning: if it had been a time loop proper and not time travel as controlled by vitalasy, they would've suspected spoke as behind it, but it absolutely would not have been spoke. spoke does not care enough about eclipse poly drama to put you in a time loop about it sorry guys

vitalasy paces a lot in this fic. that's a pretty common stressed/trapped animal thing. you see foxes do it a lot, in fur farms or pseudo-sanctuaries or generally abusive living conditions.

he also spins! that's just a vitalasy trait. watch any vod with vitalasy in it from a non-vitalasy pov and note how much he spins. it's a good trait. i wish i had included more of him spinning but i couldn't find a ton of good spots for it so he only spins once.

you know the thing life series fans say. "[character] never left [location]." none of eclipse federation ever left eclipse federation. now you may say, zam did very much leave eclipse federation, it was kind of a big deal that zam left eclipse federation? which is true! however. in the life series sense, none of them left eclipse federation, in that none of them are at all over it.

i think a lot about post-betrayal s4 eclipse federation. they're still hanging onto it. they hang onto it after and despite zam's betrayal, long after it's clear that it can't exist again like it did before. they keep trying and trying and trying even as it only becomes more and more apparent that the trying doesn't help. because they love each other. and that's what this fic is about.

sparrow called this out in the comments but. the multiple meanings of 'zam made their bed'. zam made their bed (physically, he placed it and designed it.) zam made their bed (physically, he made the covers nicer.) zam made their bed (he made this relationship what it was, you can't get rid of him without getting rid of that.) zam made their bed (now lie in it.)

i like the note of vitalasy putting his hearts in a chest for them at the end. he doesn't even know if subz and zam will keep existing in this timeline! and he didn't label it 'for subz'. zam is planning on betraying him that day and he still left the hearts for him, too. man!

also it's in glowing dyed ink to be a little reminiscent of All The Sign Rooms. my beta kelardry added that detail :3

here's a secret: i can, actually, imagine possibilities that went differently and ended up happier for eclipse. (most of them are "vitalasy replays subz's suicide enough that he successfully finds a way to get subz to agree to stay alive".) however, at that point, the fic would become canon divergence rather than time loop, so instead i made subz's suicide more of a fixed point. sorry vitalasy!

[tavina-writes]

Just there to say, loch 2017 fight scenes are the best thing ever!! I like them SO MUCH. so, I am wondering, very foolishly, how is jin yong writing style? Does he write great combat scenes?

Also, I am insane over how everyone can teach everyone?? I remembered in mdzs a part where it is stated that people can't learn different cultivation styles, or their cultivation will be compromised. It's an interesting world building. Like, loch world building is quite different from mdzs. It's such a great drama!

omg I am SO GLAD you're also hyped up on the fight scenes. The fight scenes in LOCH 2017 are spectacular and SHOULD be hyped. Everyone has very distinct and VERY cool fighting and I adore it.

On to Jin Yong's writing style and combat scenes, I think this depends a number of factors, but I really love Jin Yong's writing. It's a bit difficult to get across in translation, but there are some REALLY great imagery and poetry in his work and honestly it's a crying shame the translation has a hard time getting this across. I think the best way I can describe it is that it's evocative? Sweeping?

For example:

Though the two’s laughter had gone, their faces still carried a smile, the valleys quietly echoed back the sounds of two people laughing. Northern Beggar and Western Poison have been adversaries for many years, they hated each other, how could it be that they ended up dead together on Mount Hua. The two of them were enemies when they were alive, just before they died they were hugging each other, laughing. All the feuds and arguments that they have had over the years were finished over a laugh! - Return of the Condor Heroes, Chapter 11: A Pause From Roaming

or:

Tuolei gazed at Guo Jing's back, which became smaller and smaller. Like a dark shadow on the vastness of the desert, [he] finally disappeared on the southern horizon. - Legend of the Condor Heroes, Chapter 38: Secret Order in the Embroidered Pouch

As for the fight scenes themselves, I think they're often really dynamic and fun to read about (though the narrator LOVES digressions into historical stuff surrounding the fight scenes; I could talk about the LOCH narrator all day but I'll contain myself since this post will be REALLY LONG regardless) and they're very detailed, but they do kind of rely on the reader having some genre knowledge -- what certain acupuncture points are/where they are/strong visualization abilities to figure out where everyone is/etc.

On to your second paragraph of thoughts: actually! Well, okay so I think there's a slight difference between being a cultivator and like, being a LOCH style martial artist. This is fermenting in my documents somewhere re: society related meta but typically in cultivator novels, cultivation (of Qi, internal energy, etc) is separated from the martial arts bit (which weapon you fight with, palms, fist, sword etc). MDZS is a bit complex in that it doesn't really uh, distinguish between these two things and also doesn't really care much about say, "this sect has these specific specialties and moves" etc.

But basically: the way you cultivate your qi in these sorts of novels is typically sect specific and very secretive and incompatible with how other people in other sects cultivate their qi and this is actually no different in LOCH! But for like, external martial arts -- how you punch and swing a sword or be able to do x or y -- that tends to be transferable between people of different sects and you even have characters who are easily capable of imitating what they see from other sects/reverse engineering how a character can do x move or y move. (Huang Rong in the book is a great example of this!) Specific moves are also very heavily specialized to specific sects (the 18 Dragon Subduing Palms are a Beggar Clan specialty, etc) -- so people in Jin Yong universes are able to recognize each other's sects and maybe even specific shifu(!) by the types of moves they use if they're seasoned jianghu travelers. Which. Also can't happen in MDZS bc MDZS doesn't really care about this sort of thing.

What's happening to say, Guo Jing in LOCH regarding so many people being able to teach him stuff, is that:

His qi/internal energy basis is from the Quanzhen Sect which is Taoist and the most orthodox sect in the martial world, which means he's got a very mainstream and well established internal energy basis and can very easily incorporate anything that is Taoist philosophy related regarding how to cultivate qi. (The 9 Yin Manual was developed by a government minister who read too many Taoist Philosophy Manuals, Zhou Botong, while not a Taoist Priest has long been affiliated with Quanzhen and his own qi cultivation philosophy also aligns with orthodox Taoist cultivation practices etc).

A lot of the moves that people are teaching other people in this story are external martial arts moves. How to punch, how to use this particular weapon, etc. Most of this is not strictly, in Jin Yong philosophy, linked to your internal qi cultivation. These are therefore, easily transferable.

We actually get an example of what happens when you try to cultivate qi via a way that isn't compatible with how you know how to cultivate! When Mei Chaofeng and Guo Jing meet at the cave in Zhao Palace early on in the story, she's actually suffering from a qi deviation that blocked her ability to use her legs because her qi cultivation basis is an unorthodox method based on Peach Blossom Island's personal philosophy, and she'd been trying to work out instructions on how to cultivate qi in the 9 Yin Manual which was Taoist philosophy based and actually heavily injured herself while doing it! Which is why she can't walk or use her legs.

This is all explained in the novel by our helpful narrator friend who is the most bonkers of all the narrators I've ever met. Narrator friend will tell you all #TrueFacts but they WILL drop some out of the 17th story window and never ever come back to address this ever again bc narrator friend doesn't care and refuses to explain themselves if they don't want to. If narrator friend told you it's 100% factually true, but. At What Cost. (Imagine if you will, you're being told a very long and rambling story by a friend who, if you ask them to expand on a certain thing will sometimes go "oh we don't have time for that! MOVING ON THOUGH, let me tell you about the politics of late stage Song Dynasty China, you want to know that right?????")

:D Thanks for the ask Mar! I'm glad you're having a good time with LOCH 2017.