#qys

[ericaccherrys]

Who loves a beautiful trans girl

Telegram: @Ericacherryt

[mtkay13]

Pretty self-explanatory, haha. I just can't get over Wuxi and ZZS dealing drugs together. It's too good. (Guess I have to kick my own butt and start uploading everything here more seriously..... sigh)

[melodious-tear]

Xiaohai no

[geneticcatalyst]

as promised, an exploration of my one pet problem in fandom, or: misinterpretation of jby's first death (ft. zzs)

heres the thing. i occasionally see people reference what seems to be a misconception of the (english translation) text in qi ye. both the fact that its a translation and the metaphorical phrasing make it pretty clear to see why they got the wrong idea, but i firmly believe its still the wrong idea. i am by no means calling the people who got this mixed up dumb or bad, i am simply leaning over their shoulders going 'wait no bestie pls read that again pls read that one more time!!' because this is one of my favorite books and this thing is a key piece of one of my favorite things about it.

i said i was gonna pull screenshots for this post but i think it will be a little while before i get to another reread and i can't ctrl+f the google doc so im just gonna whip this out from memory. if anyone does have this particular passage on hand feel free to pop it in here. the rest of the context/explanations are just from my cursory research, im not chinese or a historian.

cards on the table. the only thing i love more than unhinged gay romances is unhinged platonic soul mates. its catnip to me. i go feral every goddamn time. and i havent stopped losing my mind about zhou zishu and jing beiyuan since that first qi ye scene. what do those guys have going on? not even sure they know but it's A Lot. ive got like 18 other unpublished drafts trying to work that out slash losing my fucking mind at the lengths they go to about each other. that relationship is at the center of both novels even if the spotlight isnt on it. so I admit that my readings are colored a bit by how much i like that they like each other!

which is why im shocked baffled and, ok, lightly salted, to see a few people make the claim that zishu (personally) tortured/killed beiyuan in his first life.

so what the text says is that after helian yi stopped trusting beiyuan (after su qingluan's accidental death), he was basically put to death. but even the emperor has to have a half decent reason to execute someone. the text describes these reasons- ten of them- as zhou zishu's masterpieces. it also refers to them as great shames to beiyuan's standing. what's happening is that helian yi has zishu frame beiyuan for treason or other betrayals against the emperor/the country. it isn't specific as to what, but it doesn't really matter, because its all fake and zishu is really good at his job. so yes, it is fair to say that zishu is the INSTRUMENT of beiyuan's death, but he didn't kill him, he just laid the groundwork.

the text goes on to another slightly confusing line where it says something to the effect of that when each of these accusations were read out in court, each line drew blood from jing beiyuan. that's a metaphor! it's just saying that his reputation was torn apart and ultimately his fate is sealed, despite the phrasing there are no literal injuries happening.

also, i may not have the timeline perfect on this part, but in zishu's introduction in the beginning of the novel, the narration tells us outright that while zishu is partially responsible for beiyuan's death, he was like. cool about it. in what seems to be the first and only time he ever steps out of line or goes against helian yi's command (!), after setting all this up but- if im remembering right- before the news actually breaks in court the next day, zishu warns beiyuan. now this admittedly doesnt do a whole lot because the only other possible option (cut and run) isn't a very good one, but it's the only thing zishu can do. he doesnt have to, but he does it anyway (!). of course beiyuan doesnt even consider doing this, he's stubborn and heartbroken, but he really seems to 1. appreciate the risk zishu took here to try to give him a chance and 2. not hold the whole set up against zishu or take that bit personally.

so what actually happened at the end of beiyuan's first life? he was sent the 3 zhang of white silk. the text does explicitly say this once, but if you're not familiar with the practice it may not click. receiving the white silk from the emperor is what happens when you're too high ranking to execute like a commoner but you've fallen from grace and are being politely asked to hang yourself in order to clear your name. and of course beiyuan, stubborn and heartbroken, does. yes, it's a forced suicide, but it isn't a murder.

anyway, its in that secret conversation, where zishu secretly meets with beiyuan seemingly to try to convince him to save himself and beiyuan outright refuses, that beiyuan promises that if theres a next life (ha), they'll get drunk together. and of course against all odds, there is and they do.

the thing about the idea that some people might think that zishu killed beiyuan is that after that nothing between them makes sense. even if it was at helian yi's request, i just cant see that not permanently damaging the friendship, i don't think beiyuan could immediately pick back up being best friends in the seventh life with that memory in the way. why would zishu go out of his way to warn beiyuan one day if he was perfectly capable and fine with killing him the next? why would beiyuan not only be happy to meet zishu again in the seventh life but also go out of his way trying to save zishu's? none of their other interactions really make sense if you believe there was a murder done there. idk. it clouds the whole throughline of the story which is that they have a bond!

i think maybe people think it is in character due to the other ruthless murders, and they're not wholly wrong, but that's the kicker for me. zishu will murder all kinds of innocents no questions asked, but he's suddenly trying to give an out to his coworker and drinking buddy? hello? thats insane, and that's the point.

furthermore, if you think maybe it would make sense for helian yi to have beiyuan violently killed (since it keeps fucking happening later), i actually have to become helian yi's lawyer for a moment here and say that that doesnt make sense either. helian yi is sitting on a throne gained by shadowy means but he's the Good Guy Ruler and that reputation is important. hes not a cruel person and he may have become paranoid but he still has a shared history with beiyuan. plus, even the emperor has to abide by a certain amount of decorum when he wants to have people killed, especially when that person is also a high ranking member of court. beiyuan's status is basically second only to the royal bloodline, he's essentially the prev emperor's godson, as well as a previously close confidante of helian yi himself. the white silk was regarded as a privileged, dignified means of offing someone. helian yi is perfectly within social acceptability to do this to beiyuan with the pretext of beiyuan's disgrace. but it would be pushing the boundaries for the good and just emperor to suddenly have one of his top advisors and members of high nobility brutally killed like a common criminal. he could probably do it, but it would reflect on him and his reputation too. he could do it in secret, but would have to cover up the disappearance of a prominent court figure. it just makes sense to use the white silk as the neatest, most acceptable legal justice channel here. maintain emotional detachment, be polite, everybody's honor gets honored and such.

so that's the ted talk. theres even some beautiful fanart on here of white-haired first life beiyuan holding the white silk! he wasn't tortured or outright executed, and he chose to obey rather than escape or fight the false claims of treason even though his friend tried to give him the only out he could manage. to interpret things differently really skews the character motivations and plot for everyone- beiyuan, zishu, helian yi- in a way that warps the story out of believability, imho.

[anotherdescentintomadness]

Péi nǐ dào shìjiè zhī diān (Gank Your Heart)

WANG YIBO as Ji XiangKong (2019)

See the OST photoshoot

And a little treat: WYB dancing on set with the cast —

[inonibird]

“The only regret I have is selling my soul to spineless scum like you.” — Chapter 10 of Part Four - Collector of the Sahuldeem series has been up for over a month!

...and I’m just now posting art for it, haha, oops. :’) As I said, I’ve had a few things going on IRL that have needed my attention (and I’ll be posting about the biggest of those things quite soon). This big ol’ RL event is still in-progress, so not as much headway as I’d like has been made with Part Five - Martyr, but rest assured that it is still on the horizon. Also a hell of a Q&A backlog.

In the meantime, enjoy this weird art~

[mvsicinthedvrk]

@intxthevxid said : 54 - Qi Yan and Gideon

(#54: red wine supernova-- chappell roan)

"She showed me things I didn't know," Qi Yan informs the other. And given that the amount that she didn't already know about overseeing and running events in this building was very low to begin with, they're strong words of approval from Qi Yan. It's not a White House event, more White House-adjacent, but it's important for it to go off well regardless, and that's why it's important to check in with everyone: "I'm certain she could help you answer any questions you might have about the position. Otherwise, you can find me, and I can direct you as well."

[annoyangle]

I know you perceive and internalize stuff differently than humans and that it all happened a trillion years ago, but I still wanted to say that I’m sorry about the whole poisoning thing. It’s fucked up you went through that and you didn’t deserve to be blinded for seeing stars. I’m glad you got out of there. Sucks for everyone else, but like. skill issue on their part honestly.

YEAH. I MEAN, WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

IT'S ME. I'M LAUGHING NOW.

ALSO HOW I LEARNED TO REGENERATE MY EYE THE FIRST TIME. DON'T ASK FOR SPECIFICS.

[rat-pagi]

Kaleesh Week Day 5 - Wives

Downtime between battles leaves Vekka jai Kandakis (that is, Qy's adoptive grandmother) and her lovers with some time to spend together.

Well, without people shooting at them, anyways. (Vekks is the one in the middle, the one at her left is...maybe Rallia? And idk the name of the one sitting below her, but I'll call her Mechanist for now)

Vekka jai Kandakis! I think I've spoken on Qy's grandmother once before, but she's a a bit different in the weird little AU I've got going on for Kalee. For one, she's fighting the Yam'rii, not the Bitthævrians (though the Bitthævrians are on the Yam'rii's side, and inter-planetary politics, etc. etc.), and she's more or less, the victor, driving them off of Kalee for...well, at least a little while (eventually, they get trickier, then come back at about the time Qy is born). So how does that happen? And who the heck is Kandakis anyways? She was born the heir to the jai clan, back before the jai clan was a big deal (that actually could probably be attributed to her more than anyone else), and most of the Kaleesh alliances were formed. Kalee was under attack and the Yam'rii were, by all accounts, winning. When she's in her late teens, her father is killed in a largely unwinnable battle and she takes on leadership of the clan. Haunted by his death, which she had been there to see, the already intense young khan starts a relentless, terrifyingly well-planned campaign against the Yam'rii and does what no one one had managed yet-- to win. And then win again. With each success, narrow as they often were, other clans started to turn to the jai for leadership in the chaos and atrocity of this invasion, forming the first kolkpravis. With the diplomatic bonds, however, came the need for generals, and with generals came, for the first time in Kandakis' life, comrades. Some of whom, like the two women in the image above, she loved.

As more and more of Kalee came together (excepting some isolationists, such as Aschal-Kalee, home of the San clan), the khan--now khagan--'s victories continued, and they managed to push the insectoid colonists from their base on the equator of the planet, and into their last and largest stronghold Ti'rrinoa in one of the small islands between the southern Tarili islands and Grendaju to the south. This, at last, earned the khagan the name she is best known by-- Kandakis, or, "favored one", as the intervention of the dead was said to have played no small role in her ability to re-take almost all of Kalee, and moreover with no losses among her spouses and closest generals. Yet this was soon to change. The kolkpravis mounts its first assault on Ti'rrinoa, yet this time, the Yam'rii had prepared, and, sending a desperate message to their homeworld, secured a small star destroyer from the Republic which fires upon the Kaleesh forces. The loss of life is immense, and includes, not just one but all of Kandakis' spouses. She has known grief-- known it many times before, but not in this magnitude. When she looks up at the sky and sees not the stars, but the ship that stole her lovers' lives, she vows, quietly, below her breath. to burn the entire stronghold to the ground. The plan, in some ways, is simple. She surrenders herself to the Yam'rii, knowing well that they will bring her before their leaders on their homeworld for execution-- from a shuttle that departs from the destroyer above. If she looses her bonds-- and she does-- she can fight her way to the bridge and, should the gods grant her this one last favor, send the entire ship crashing into the stronghold below. It's an act of sacrifice, yet in some ways also a rejection of her own life-- for Kandakis does not know how to start again, after the loss of those who she had loved for so many years. And yet-- the gods grant her one more favor than she wanted, asked for-- she survives. Rising from the wreckage, she rejects the role of khagan, the aftermath of the war, even her name, for Kandakis seems but a cruel joke after all she has endured. Instead, she takes the name Kull-- the Kaleesh term for the dead that wander, unable to reach their kin in the stars--and returns to the steppes she had once grown up on, hoping to find some solace in their stark beauty. Instead, she meets a young Kaleesh, angry at the world, and far, far too eager to be a part of the ashes of her life.

(Also, tagging @zyanova-- I know you mentioned you'd be interested in hearing more about Kandakis and I am late but it is here at last Hope you enjoy it!)

[deepestbluesky]

i think for this month, im gonna do something different. instead of hwz thoughts of day get ready for...

SHL women thought of the day: au in which liu qianqiao ends up in tianchuang rather than in ghost valley. she’s hiding, trying to get as far away from yu qiufeng as possible, and what’s a better way to get away from jianghu sects than to go to jinzhou? and zzs would absolutely notice someone else using siji disguise techniques, and i think she’d be a perfect tianchuang recruit: already skilled in something, absolutely no one will notice if she disappears, basically wants to disappear anyway. she wouldn’t give a shit about jin-wang but that’s okay, she doesn’t have to. what she needs now is a different life to slip into and tianchuang provides that for her very comprehensively.

[yeliuxi]

⚠️Which wip your most likely to finish or update next?

I crave knowledge 👀

👀 I have several QY fics in the making for Qi Ye week, which posts in June. I thiiink the one that will be posted on day 1 is my Jing Qi + fatherhood feelings (MC and his adopted son)

[princessofxianle]

I CANT FUCKING BREATHE THIS IS SO FUNNY

[mtkay13]

Miss Jiu and Grandma Zhou!! Liang Jiuxiao's first appearance in Qi Ye is pretty iconic, as he is disguised as a pretty girl to sneakily attack Jing Beiyuan --which happens to be a massive failure because for all his qualities, Jiuxiao is not an assassin.

Qin Huaizhang, Zishu and Jiuxiao's master, was known to have no eyebrows. I know that several of us in the Qi Ye community like to run with that info and imagine that he was also accustomed to turning himself into a woman. We also know that Zishu says that being too beautiful attracts attention, and disapproves Jiuxiao's crossdressing practices. From there, I like to imagine that while Jiuxiao admired their master's transformation skills, Zishu felt his own way about it and tried to prevent Jiuxiao from following their eccentric master's footsteps. Despite his best efforts, though, Jiuxiao persevered and once his shixiong was out of sight, allowed himself to have fun with it. I think that Jiuxiao just thinks it's both fun and a very clever way to disguise himself, since noone would suspect him if the makeup is good enough. I personally don't really think much more of it. "Grandma Zhou" isn't really a thing, nor ever shows up in the books -- we do know that when Zishu does crossdress, it is rather as a plain, older woman. I like to picture him forcing Jiuxiao to disguise himself the same way and Jiuxiao suffering from it, lol. Side note about Zishu (because I can't help myself) : a few bits from here and there in TYK could lead to interpreting him as being rather conservative when it comes to genders, and because he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, I like to go for that interpretation. While I don't think he looks down on Jiuxiao for enjoying looking pretty, I do think that he finds it futile and silly and absolutely unhelpful. (thing is, he got the network to have courtesans gather info for him, Jiuxiao doesn't ù_ú)

Since I love Jiuxiao as a bright and fun personality, I think that having Miss Jiu really reflecting that is nice. Here was my first, and much less thought-out, version of her.

(Note the very important, VERY VISIBLE blade that I didn't keep in the illustration above because I don't think he carries a visible blade around all the time hahaha he's stupid but not that much.)

[jamopi]

My original Blues n’bass music. Made with 90’s, early 00's

“bad gear” worthy hardware.

BOSS DR-202 drum machine

Yamaha QY-70 synth/sequencer

TASCAM M06 analog mixer

Lyrics and Bass by Royal Smith

[geneticcatalyst]

don't think I will ever actually be over the introduction scene in qi ye that essentially just goes omg best friend yeah he did get me killed in the previous life but he was cool about it hi best friend! and that first read is as normal as that scene ever gets because when you get more context it only gets wilder in a way that makes me completely insane.

i just never fucking get over whatever it is that makes a guy who's been wholly devoted to helian yi's cause, following every order, doing anything necessary, up to and including bloody betrayal of people he knows personally (see Jiangs, although I dont know if that's consistent in first life) without a fucking second thought, decide that THIS is where hes drawing a line in the sand? on another level it doesn't even change the outcome of the plot if he goes along with it and doesn't warn jby that hes being set up to be executed- jby has already decided to accept that death- it doesn't matter.

except to show one thing and i'll suggest a second thing also: 1. there is a really, really powerful bond there. like be real who the fuck are you going to risk your own life for to go behind the emperor's back on the slim chance he might survive? what makes this the one person you won't stab in the back? hello? which leads directly to 2. as ive just said. that's wild. like that is not normal behavior. which kind of leads to a thesis that the author goes on to articulate for Another Full Novel, specifically that zzs is a sort of normal looking guy right up until he does something completely fucking unhinged out of nowhere. and that just. continues to happen.

[inonibird]

“Just a little spice. Well. A little of this stuff goes a long way.”

—

Chapter 8 of Part Four - Collector of the Sahuldeem series is up!