#mjty

[fiftysevenacademics]

How slutty is his ponytail?

Rating men's ponytails in wuxia/xianxia I've seen. Part 1. Part 2.

Zhang Chulan (I Am Nobody) 0/10

This is the most ridiculous, unslutty ponytail ever invented. It's almost as if a hairdresser enjoyed humiliating him. But this is how his grandpa did it when he was little, and maybe he keeps it that way to remind him of his yeye. If Zhang Chulan ever wants to lose his virginity, he's got to lose that ponytail first.

Gong Ziyu (My Journey to You) 1/10

Given that the first scene we see him in, he's chilling with a woman in a brothel, this guy really should have a sluttier ponytail than he does. His anemic, prissy little spout tells us he really does watch porn for the plot.

Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor) 1/10

This man cannot stop abusing himself, whether it's pounding poisoned nails into his body or deliberately choosing to wear this hairstyle, even when he's got the sluttiest man in the jianghu in his bed. If I were Wen Kexing, I'd hold him down and take a pair of shears to this mop and make him start from scratch.

Jiang Xiaoyu (Handsome Siblings) 2/10

This childish, bouncy, and unique little side pony is practically a character in its own right but not a very slutty one. It does suit his overly confident character, though, and could be sluttier if he would lose that god-awful fringe.

Gong Shangjue (My Journey to You) 3/10

Gege's no-frills ponytail and sturdy, angular guan want us to know that he is a dangerous man capable of violence and cruelty. Hot? Yes. Slutty? No. (Didi Gong Yuanzhi doesn't wear a true ponytail, so he's not rated.)

Murong Jinghe (Kill Me Love Me) 3/10

Like Gong Shangjue but with a more dramatic guan with a bigger hairpin to show that he's got a big dick and probably likes to fuck nasty. (I didn't finish watching this show, so maybe this isn't his best ponytail look.)

Lan Wangji (The Untamed) 4/10

Hanguang Jun's ponytail is as repressed by that ornate guan as his libido is by the Lan Clan's 3,000 rules. His ponytail screams "I am not a slut!" so loudly that it's a case of "methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Zhuo Yichen (Fangs of Fortune) 5/10

Zhuo Yichen is like a xianxia Mona Lisa. His ponytail is the equivalent of her suggestive little smile. Even when he's being brutally choked and his face stepped on, it still looks neat and tidy, like a painting.

Jin Xiaobao and Zongzhen Huaien (Meet You at the Blossom) 6/10

Canoncially slutty, Jin Xiaobao flaunts and tosses his hair and his golden guan and ribbon are an important part of the plot. His hair always looks like he just rolled out of someone's bed because he probably did. Huaien wears his ponytail in a more menacing manner and is kind of a dick about Xiaobao's hair ornament gift but in the end they agree that gays should have slutty hair.

[zhouyes]

the word freedom is too extravagant.

YU SHUXIN as YUN WEISHAN

my journey to you, 云之羽.

[phantom248]

Adventures of Zhuo Yichen in Gong Family!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Gong Shangjiu, Shangguan Qian, and Zhuo Yichen (dressed as didi) were having an another attempt at "family" lunch.

ZYC (as didi) *starts sneezing*

ZYC (as didi) *continues sneezing violently*

ZYC *hand goes immediately to his side in search of a sword*

ZYC *looks in betrayal at GSJ as he was always ordered to leave cloud light sword in his designated room whenever he came over to avoid suspicion*

SGQ *clocks the motion but says nothing about it* (in a sachrine tone): are you ok didi?

ZYC *in a rare display of his similarity with GYZ, grinding his teeth*: peachy

GSJ *worried the poor man would combust from constant sneezing*: didi has been working nonstop for last few days, he should rest.

ZYC stands at the clear dismissal and makes his way out, but trips very noisely in the way on a side table. GSJ makes a valiant effort to ignore this, while SGQ stares in blatant fascination.

Embarrassed, ZYC stands up and finally makes his way to the door, only to slam in it at the very end with a force that rattles everything in the room. SGQ is unable to hold her flinch back, still very fascinated at this rare clumsiness. GSJ only sighs.

"I should escort him back, maybe he is too sick."

SGQ is way too fascinated to stop him. He makes his way to his didi, and grabs his arm and leads him out.

Few moments later, a splash sound rings out, followed by a muttered question from GSJ about where the puddle of water came from despite not raining for few days. It was almost drowned out by a frustrated growl.

"That. Damned. Monkey!"

[valarinde]

You lose this round. MY JOURNEY TO YOU (云之羽)

[kholran]

My Journey To You || 1.16 -Elder Yue, the three forms of Moon Slash look much more powerful than the three forms of Snow Sabre. -Look at you. If you see Young Master Xue next time don't... Don't forget what you said. You have to say it loudly in front of him again.

[sombredancer]

How to be a more interesting character than the Main Hero (Pt.2)

Shangjue and his didi (pt.1/2)

Shangjue has a strong bond with his cousin (whom he counts as his brother), but their personalities are very different and it makes their relationship really interesting.

"Of course, you can interrogate Yuanzhi-didi." For Shangjue the rules mean more than his personal attitudes, so, as his beloved didi happens to be a suspect, Shangjue voluntarily hands him over to be locked up in prison and later denies the possibility that he could plant an evidence in order to deflect suspicion from him. He says, that he would avenge didi if he would be unjustified tortured to death by the Main Hero (it means, he thinks it`s possible as a result of imprisonment), but does nothing against rules to protect his didi. And it hurts didi a lot and makes him think that he isn't good enough to be protected by Shangjue, because it is natural for many people to go against the rules in order to help loved ones. But so is the core of Shangjue`s personality: between his personal feelings (for his didi) and the rules of the clan he will definitely choose the second (because he isn`t a person yet, he allows himself to be only a clan function).

His didi Yuanzhi is a full opposite to him. He values Shangjue the most and would definitely do any wicked thing to help him. He is cunning and ruthless, but Shangjue deals with his fierce spirit and teaches him a lot of things, including how to respect elders.

"Elder Yue is someone who you should respect."

Didi is very perceptive to every act of love from Shangjue, as we can see in the scene with the conversation about a spy`s token, and later, in the conversation about Secret Trial of Adulthood, and he is very jealous to everyone who can get attention from Shangjue, too, because of his absolute insecurity in that he can be loved by him and can be his didi instead of deceased one. This little story about them, a paper lantern and a poisoned porridge broke my heart (I thought Yuanzhi died and was very upset during my awaiting for the next episode):

Yuanzhi thinks that Shangjue cherishes the most only those who are not around him anymore, and maybe it`s because of his trauma. He believes he was the reason Shangjue’s mom and brother had died, because he was the last one who came to the shelter’s gate, and Shangjue’s brother got an opportunity to sneak outside and met his doom.

But he is wrong thinking that deceased ones are more important for Shangjue than alive ones. Yuanzhi thinks in an egoistic way, he can`t imagine love can be shared among many people in someone`s heart. Shangjue didn`t stop loving his mom and brother but he also loves his didi as much as he loves them.

"Brother!!!"

"Stand off!!!"

"Blood..."

And we can see it in a flashback, when young Shangjue says that the best thing he could receive is a didi (which is Yuanzhi).

Unfortunately I can add only 30 GIFs per post, so there will be part 2/2. Shangjue. Introduction Shangjue and his didi, Pt. 2 Shangjue and his fiancee

[rapha-reads]

My Journey To You is fun because I'm rooting for everybody, no matter that each side is actively trying to kill the others. Gong Ziyu? Baby who deserves better and to be valued at his true worth. Gong Shangjue? Tragic emo boy who should be allowed to murder everyone he wants. Gong Yuanzhi? Psycho puppy. Pat pat. Your gege loves you, stop being dramatic. Gong Zishang? An actual queen, no I don't take criticism, that girl should be crowned leader of the family actually. Yun Weishan? A goddess. She can do whatever she wants whenever. Shangguan Qian? Listen I don't trust her, she's sus, but she's also badass so whatever her mission is, I hope she makes it.

Half of them are trying to kill the other half, other half who's trying to decode the mystery of this fucked up family, and when they're not plotting mutual murder they're actually being very sweet. It's fun.

[waitingforminjae]

gong shangjue and gong yuanzhi really was one of the best dynamics to happen in recent television

[kanjichris]

my journey to you? more like my journey to yuri

[qoomakuma]

literally gong shangjue and shangguan qian

[shewholovestoread]

My Journey To You - Thoughts and Impressions Part 2 of 2 - The Characters

Part 1 HERE

The format of the post will be as follows:

1) Yun Wei Shan

2) Gong Zi Yu

3) Their Relationship

4) Shangguan Qian

5) Gong Shang Jue

6) Their relationship

Spoilers below, beware all who enter.

Yun Wei Shan:

On paper, Yun Wei Shan seems like a perfectly fine character, she's empathetic, kind in an unkind world and willing to go to extremes (even putting her life on the line) to protect those she loves and cares about. The problem is just that though, in a book, we would have access to her thoughts and her perspective which would make for interesting reading. But when viewed visually, it's not as compelling. Visually, you have a character who seems to have the range of 2 expressions and there's no sense of internal conflict. Take her 'allegiance' to Wufeng for instance. From the very beginning, we the audience, can tell that she's not truly aligned with them or their ideology. She doesn't agree with their methods and if not for her foster sister, Yun Que she would have quit long ago. Not even the poison that Wufeng uses to keep all their assassins in check, would stop her.

What I will commend her characters for is her innate kindness. She is kind in a world that should have snuffed that light out a long time ago and yet, it persisted. This was in no small part due to her bond with Yun Que. She wasn't simply a dorm-mate, a fellow assassin. She was a sister in every sense of the word. She had someone to care for and protect. Even her mentor, Han Ya Si, is not like the cold and unfeeling mentors we meet later. You can tell that he genuinely cares about those under him. For all intents and purposes, he raised these women since they were children and unlike the others, he doesn't view them as tools to be used and then discarded when no longer useful.

When she goes to the Gong Family as a prospective bride, we also know that Yun Que is dead, her one tangible tie to Wufeng is gone. She's now thrust into this family that Wufeng claims is their arch-nemesis but throughout the show, we never find out what her actual mission is, what is she after? Why was she sent? She's clearly not supposed to kill anyone. Evade discovery but then what? We never find out. But because she's not particularly loyal to Wufeng, there's never any sense of conflicting desire inside her. So in that sense, she becomes a very one-note-character.

In terms of character growth, there is very little. Throughout the series, her one desire for freedom which, in a sense she does achieve (if you ignore the last 5 minutes of the show) All her life, she's been told what to do and that love is a weakness. At the end, she chooses to stay with Gong Zi Yu and embraces her love for him and those around her.

Gong Zi Yu:

Gong Zi Yu is perhaps the weakest link among the four main leads. If Yun Wei Shan's growth seemed negligible, Zi Yu's felt unearned.

I understand what the writer and director were going for, they set him up as a contrast to the other clan warriors who are cold and calculative, he was warm and kind. He starts off the series as someone who doesn't much care for the Gong family traditions, preferring instead the company of courtesans, he likes poetry and music. However, with the sudden death of his father and brother, he's thrust back into the family and worse into the role of Sword Wielder (SW), the leader of the Gongs. To officially become the SW, he must pass 3 tests and this is where things become a little strange. He passes them with ease and it feels unearned because while others who trained their whole lives took considerably longer to pass those tests, he came in with essentially no training and aced.

Now, you can be special but the fact that you are "special" must be made noticeable in text, like foreshadow it, or leave subtle clues that hint at it. The show does none of this and instead just asks the audience to believe it. That is not how you write a compelling character.

He's also probably the least mature character in the show (and I'll get to big reveal in a bit) but his blatant disregard for the Gong family protocols more than once, illustrate his cavalier attitude. Another way of looking at this is that he breaks tradition because he wants to create a better world for the generations to follow but all of that gets negated at the end.

The big reveal at the end, where we realise that everything that happened since Yun Wei Shan's reveal as a Wufeng assassin, was his grand plan does not make sense one bit. It comes completely left of field with little to no set-up at all. There was no foreshadowing, no little seeds left by the writer/director, little things that the audience could notice upon rewatching the show. In their effort to be ‘unexpected’, they sacrificed coherent story-telling.

Even his relationship with Yun Wei Shan is boring. I get that it was meant to be sweet but sweet will only take you so far especially in a show where the tone is anything but that. I know we're meant to swoon because of how steadfast he is when it comes to her but there are times when it seems straight up stupid. She is an assassin who has infiltrated his family and her mission could possibly be to kill him or someone close to him. Unlike the audience, he doesn't know that she is kind and even if he sees it, how can he know that it's not a facade? This also makes it seem like their relationship has no stakes, like what could she possibly do to make him doubt her or vice-versa.

I know you could be thinking, "but this is a healthy relationship." Okay but how is it healthy? It would have been if they explicitly trusted each other and communicated (like a Dream of Splendor, now that was a healthy relationship) but Zi Yu and Yun Wei Shan don't do that either, at least she's not always honest. If we're meant to believe that they do indeed communicate, then we need to see it, you can't plug it in as an extension of a previous scene and call it a day.

One of the best ways of making a compelling couple is the push and pull of the relationship and this ship had all of the ingredients; The Assassin and The Target, both suspicious of each other but inexplicably drawn together, so much sexual tension and angst. Instead, all we got was bland love at first sight and then sticking through it.

Shangguan Qian:

Shangguan Qian is the other assassin sent by the Wufeng (why send only one when you can send two and double your chances of success) and her character is infinitely more delicious than Yun Wei Shan's.

Shangguan Qian is very hard to pin down and stays so till pretty much the end of the series. Her motives are complex and you can never tell just whose side she's on. I also love the way she gradually warms up to the Gong brothers. I think that Wufeng feeds it's assassins a lot of lies about the family and her being with them, i think starts to dispel some of the myths.

She is also set-up as a foil to Yun Wei Shan. Where Wei Shan is kind and straighforward, Shangguan Qian is cold and unpredictable. Her demeanour makes sense when you look at her relationship with her mentor, Han Ya Qi, who in contrast to Han Ya Si, does seem to view his pupils as expendable. He recognises, correctly, that the only person Shangguan Qian cares about her is herself and that's because of the world she was raised in, caught in a perpetual dance between survival and death, there was little time for luxuries like love.

But even here, the show and Shangguan Qian surprise us. At the end, we learn that Han Ya Qi did take steps to protect Shangguan Qian and when he is at death's doorstep, alone, she does come back for him and tries to save him. The Shangguan Qian we met at the beginning of the series, would have left him there to die without a backward glance. Her time with the Gongs and especially with Yun Wei Shan and Lady Wuji, gave her glimpse of what life could be like, it's subtle but it's there. Every time Wei Shan helps her without asking for anything in return, there's always a beat where you can tell that Shangguan Qian is wondering what her motives could be. She never trusts the other women fully, they are after all Wufeng assassins but I do believe, by the end of the series, her opinion of them is kinder at the very least.

I also loved how unapologetic Shangguan Qian is. She's not sitting there wringing her hands, fussing over things she has to do. To her knowledge, if she fails her mission, she dies. Her mentor doesn't seem to care beyond training her, she has no one to fall back on. She has a job to do and she's gonna do it to the best of her abilities.

I must also talk about the actress, Lu Yu Xiao, and her performance. Her character is someone who is always on alert, always plotting her next move, carefully observing those around her for weaknesses she can exploit. She goes from seductive to hurt to unaffected in a beat and conveys it all through her eyes and the minutest of facial expressions. Her performance is so understated and it's a pleasure to watch.

Gong Shang Jue:

Gong Shang Jue is the resident emo dude and he is easily one of the best characters in the show. He makes no bones about his opinion of Zi Yu and for the most part, his criticisms are on point. He is an also incredibly traumatised character, having lost his mother and younger brother during the previous Wufeng attack. His zeal, therefore, to find and root out any and all Wufeng assassins who could have infiltrated the family makes sense, he's already lost the people closest to him, he doesn't want to lose any more. He is so single-minded that he doesn't even spare his own prospective bride when he suspects her of being from Wufeng.

Unlike Zi Yu, Shang Jue realises why the Gongs put in the protocols that they did. At the beginning of the show, he is painted in a more antagonistic light (this is to land the big reveal at the end) but you can see that Shang Jue doesn't really care about power. His quest for position of SW, is more about keeping his family safe and he believes that he is the best candidate for that job.

His cold exterior only ever cracks when he's with his other brother Gong Yuan Zhi (he's the resident psychopath) With Yuan Zhi, you can see what Shang Jue could have been like, if not for the events of the past.

The relationship between Shang Jue and Shangguan Qian is a treat to watch. There was so much sexual tension between them, so much suppressed yearning, I loved it. Theirs was such a cat and mouse game with each constantly trying to outwit the other.

Is it a healthy relationship? Not really, he literally interrogates her and threatens to torture her even more if she doesn't talk. But he's not someone who is demonstrative of his emotions and feelings, like I don't think he knows how to open up. But with Shangguan Qian, his cold heart begins to thaw and you can see that in their interactions.

Every time, Shangguan Qian initiates physical intimacy or tries to, you can see the confusion on his face and the inner conflict. On the one hand, he doesn't fully trust her and is suspicious of her motives, but on the other, there is a part of him that genuinely likes and yearns for it. There are instances where he wants to reach out to her or touch her but always holds himself back.

Shangguan Qian is also only ever honest with Shang Jue, she tells him the truth and I think a lot of their later interactions (at least on her part) are largely genuine.

They are also unnervingly similar to each other, both owe their allegiance to something larger than themselves and are shaped by their trauma (Shangguan Qian with the loss of her entire family and Shang Jue with the death of his mother and brother) They are drawn to each other despite everything because they see that they are the only people who are capable of understanding exactly what the other is going through.

What differentiates them however, is that while Shang Jue is driven by loyalty, Shangguan Qian is driven by vengeance and therein lies their greatest obstacle, the one thing that neither is willing to compromise. They are so beautifully written and executed that, even knowing that it could never work out, they still make the audience root for them.

And yet, by the end of the show, they are both fundamentally different people. Shang Jue chooses to let her go when he finds out she's pregnant and instead of going back to Wufeng, Shangguan Qian chooses to stay in a small isolated house with azaleas planted around the house. She chooses to peace and safety for her unborn child over her thirst for revenge.

If there is to be a season 2, a Shangguan Qian and Shang Jue reunion is inevitable and I for one, would love to see how that unfolds...

[rose-tinted-vision]

in honor of my previous reblog: here's a mjty fic idea that I never really got around to writing

[zhouyes]

YU SHUXIN as YUN WEI SHIAN & ZHANG LINGHE as GONG ZI YU

my journey to you, 云之羽 [ TRAILER ]

[yueqingyuan]

终角浅 lyric translation

🌙 alas, the night was young

My friend @/congeebrain on Twitter did a lyric translation for Gong Shangjue and Shangguan Qian's OST song~

Also credits to @/dimsumplingg for suggestions/editing

[valarinde]

— Ge. MY JOURNEY TO YOU (云之羽)

[kholran]

My Journey To You || 1.04 -My surname is Yue. -Yue as in "mountains"? -Yue as in "the romantic moon".