#why did i watch cql

[wutheringskies]

I'm reading Renegade Immortal and man... compared to other xianxia and wuxia novels, I really find Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian's story to really be about upholding your morals. Like, the protagonists of other novels are not necessarily morally bad, but they really give you a societal point of view. Like, it's bad if it's an individual doing a powerful cultivation all on his own. But in so many novels, I've read such stuff about demonic cultivation sects and they're denounced by orthodox cultivators, yet sought out for their tricks and help. Even the nicer protagonists that I really like, bloodily chase after power, and breakthroughs, using anything available to them. 'Go where the chaos is' is really a myth and nobody cares about the common people. Like, it is a common trope to kill all the common people in case they spill information. Even in lower xianxia, it's not uncommon to take revenge for what someone said about you once you're stronger.

I really wish I'd read more of xianxia/wuxia genres before reading MDZS cause then I'd be completely sold on the idea that Wei Wuxian was charming, and had done plentiful of uncalled for crimes to grow more powerful, and then I'd be struck with the fact that it's not like that at all? In some xianxia books, I've come across corpse puppets, and living puppets but like... people have one of those. Gui Dao is so unique and I really would've appreciated it so much more if I knew of the genre conventions as I do now.

Plus, with my first introduction to MDZS being CQL which made it more like a tragic sibling story - ahhh. I can totally imagine if I read MDZS right now for the first time after delving sufficiently into common tropes of cultivation genre and Chinese poems and culture, I'd be blown away by Wei Wuxian's character and Lan Wangji's heart.

[as-rare-as-trees]

Repost of a Wang Yibo in watercolor I did in 2020 taking ispiration from my favourite photoshoot of his

[shiqingxuanz]

this song is so good i'm so serious

[llycaons]

there's a lot of text in the novel explicitly talking about what a good and selfless person lwj is for always being where the chaos is post-nightless and helping people for free but that's undercut in retrospect by the knowledge that he's just looking for wwx and has ulterior motives, and he's rich so it's not like it's any great loss not to take payment. like his love of rabbits, most things that make him a Good Person exist only because of wwx, so I always got the sense he didn't really care about any of that unless it was for wwx's sake, which extended to treating a-yuan only as a memento of wwx rather than caring about him in his own right. which is fine for a character honestly, he's a flawed person, but it does make the insistence that he's such a good person all the time really annoying. the few times I really liked novel lwj for his integrity and kindness (things that we didn't see cql lwj do) was when he nodded respectfully at 'mxy' (lying on the ground looking like a maniac) and when he stopped to help that old man in the lotus seed extra. otherwise he rly does come off as fixated on wwx and basing all his decisions on him, which makes him such a weak moral presence

in cql it's also kinda there but definitely not as bad since he independently swore an oath to help those in need, since he played for the dead wens immediately after the war and clearly would have done so anyway, and imo since he accepted the cc position at great personal cost to himself (and to wwx). there's a much stronger emphasis on them being equals and both committed to justice and doing good works as cultivators together, also highlighted by their parallels to sl and xxc, and it makes his actions later seem more aligned with how he already is rather than just a desperate man looking for someone he lost and helping people only incidentally. minor, but he also liked rabbits before wwx gave them to him; he felt like he had more of a personality and life outside of wwx (which is NOT saying a lot lmao he's still very much tied to wwx in most ways). I still think the issue is there since it's kind of integral to lwj's arc, but it's softened by making lwj stronger in his beliefs and principles and interests outside of and prior to wwx

[leatherbookmark]

mother is watching the last episode of miss the dragon and mannnnn zanzan is Acting, he’s shaking, he’s making Panicked Eyes, he’s doing it all! even with the uhhh moderately complex material he was given! but ycly is like 😐 you killed the love of my life whom i protected for three lifetimes. it hurt a lot. i will now. give this pain back to you a fuckton of times. while zanzan goes from gfjhgkjshfkj emperor please save me i don’t want to die!! to just plain out AAAAAAAAAAAAAA (tortured screaming) like there’s Emotion! meanwhile our no 1 romantic interest: 😐

[pumpkinpaix]

Chapter Spotlight 4:

"Iterative Violence: English (mis?)Translations of Modao Zushi and Chen Qing Ling" by Chant Y. Ng

Describe your topic/chapter in one sentence/one meme/140 characters.

A work by any other translation would NOT smell as sweet!!! In fact!!!!

What drew you to this topic?

Hi yes it's me, your pal cyan, you may know me from such hit posts as 8k words of rage-crying about the translation of 知己 as soulmates (which is about translation as violence), or maybe that other one about translation as violence (shockingly, it's really about translation as violence), or perhaps even that other other one about how one might translate Lan Xichen's title— (you know, I think this one is also about translation as violence)

If there’s one thing you hope the fandom takes away from your article, what would it be?

I hope that people think harder about how impossible it is to translate a text, and that they choose to extend more grace and compassion to authors and translators alike. A translation is not a window but a painting. Also, I'm manifesting better pay and respect for the work of translation into the cosmos. Please consider this a memo I am posting on the great message board of the universe. Thank you.

What is your MDZS/CQL origin story? (i.e. how did you come to this text?)

Started watching, made some gifs, read the book. Had a breakdown. Bon appetit.

Favorite adaptation, if any?

Audio drama! The love, care and effort put into it continues to astound me. Sometimes, to get the sound of a dizi hitting the ground, you gotta throw a dizi on the ground, y'know?

If you were isekai-ed into MDZS/CQL, what sect affiliation would you choose and why?

Please let me live my life in peace, I am but a feeble scholar.

Most compelling relationship in the text?

Twin Jades!!!!

Chaotic one-sentence pitch to get your friends into MDZS/CQL?

*gripping you tightly by the shoulders* don't

If you could ask MXTX one question, what would it be?

你最近怎么样啊？

Anything to say to potential readers of the collection?

Thanks for checking us out! It's been a wild and unpredictable (four-year!!) ride but everyone worked very hard on their parts. Means a lot even if you're just here for our little promo. :) If you'd like a copy of my contribution for classroom use, please do reach out!

You can find Chant (cyan) here on Tumblr @pumpkinpaix.

(FAQ) (all posts on Catching Chen Qing Ling)

[lurkingteapot]

Every now and then I think about how subtitles (or dubs), and thus translation choices, shape our perception of the media we consume. It's so interesting. I'd wager anyone who speaks two (or more) languages knows the feeling of "yeah, that's what it literally translates to, but that's not what it means" or has answered a question like "how do you say _____ in (language)?" with "you don't, it's just … not a thing, we don't say that."

I've had my fair share of "[SHIP] are [married/soulmates/fated/FANCY TERM], it's text!" "[CHARACTER A] calls [CHARACTER B] [ENDEARMENT/NICKNAME], it's text!" and every time. Every time I'm just like. Do they though. Is it though. And a lot of the time, this means seeking out alternative translations, or translation meta from fluent or native speakers, or sometimes from language learners of the language the piece of media is originally in.

Why does it matter? Maybe it doesn't. To lots of people, it doesn't. People have different interests and priorities in fiction and the way they interact with it. It's great. It matters to me because back in the early 2000s, I had dial-up internet. Video or audio media that wasn't available through my local library very much wasn't available, but fanfiction was. So I started to read English language Gundam Wing fanfic before I ever had a chance to watch the show. When I did get around to watching Gundam Wing, it was the original Japanese dub. Some of the characters were almost unrecognisable to me, and first I doubted my Japanese language ability, then, after checking some bits with friends, I wondered why even my favourite writers, writers I knew to be consistent in other things, had made these characters seem so different … until I had the chance to watch the US-English dub a few years later. Going by that adaptation, the characterisation from all those stories suddenly made a lot more sense. And the thing is, that interpretation is also valid! They just took it a direction that was a larger leap for me to make.

Loose adaptations and very free translations have become less frequent since, or maybe my taste just hasn't led me their way, but the issue at the core is still a thing: Supernatural fandom got different nuances of endings for their show depending on the language they watched it in. CQL and MDZS fandom and the never-ending discussions about 知己 vs soulmate vs Other Options. A subset of VLD fans looking at a specific clip in all the different languages to see what was being said/implied in which dub, and how different translators interpreted the same English original line. The list is pretty much endless.

And that's … idk if it's fine, but it's what happens! A lot of the time, concepts -- expressed in language -- don't translate 1:1. The larger the cultural gap, the larger the gaps between the way concepts are expressed or understood also tend to be. Other times, there is a literal translation that works but isn't very idiomatic because there's a register mismatch or worse. And that's even before cultural assumptions come in. It's normal to have those. It's also important to remember that things like "thanks I hate it" as a sentiment of praise/affection, while the words translate literally quite easily, emphatically isn't easy to translate in the sense anglophone internet users the phrase.

Every translation is, at some level, a transformative work. Sometimes expressions or concepts or even single words simply don't have an exact equivalent in the target language and need to be interpreted at the translator's discretion, especially when going from a high-context/listener-responsible source language to a low-context/speaker-responsible target language (where high-context/listener responsible roughly means a large amount of contextual information can be omitted by the speaker because it's the listener's responsibility to infer it and ask for clarification if needed, and low-context/speaker-responsible roughly means a lot of information needs to be codified in speech, i.e. the speaker is responsible for providing sufficiently explicit context and will be blamed if it's lacking).

Is this a mouse or a rat? Guess based on context clues! High-context languages can and frequently do omit entire parts of speech that lower-context/speaker-responsible languages like English regard as essential, such as the grammatical subject of a sentence: the equivalent of "Go?" - "Go." does largely the same amount of heavy lifting as "is he/she/it/are you/they/we going?" - "yes, I am/he/she/it is/we/you/they are" in several listener-responsible languages, but tends to seem clumsy or incomplete in more speaker-responsible ones. This does NOT mean the listener-responsible language is clumsy. It's arguably more efficient! And reversely, saying "Are you going?" - "I am (going)" might seem unnecessarily convoluted and clumsy in a listener-responsible language. All depending on context.

This gets tricky both when the ambiguity of the missing subject of the sentence is clearly important (is speaker A asking "are you going" or "is she going"? wait until next chapter and find out!) AND when it's important that the translator assign an explicit subject in order for the sentence to make sense in the target language. For our example, depending on context, something like "are we all going?" - "yes" or "they going, too?" might work. Context!

As a consequence of this, sometimes, translation adds things – we gain things in translation, so to speak. Sometimes, it's because the target language needs the extra information (like the subject in the examples above), sometimes it's because the target language actually differentiates between mouse and rat even though the source language doesn't. However, because in most cases translators don't have access to the original authors, or even the original authors' agencies to ask for clarification (and in most cases wouldn't get paid for the time to put in this extra work even if they did), this kind of addition is almost always an interpretation. Sometimes made with a lot of certainty, sometimes it's more of a "fuck it, I've got to put something and hope it doesn't get proven wrong next episode/chapter/ten seasons down" (especially fun when you're working on a series that's in progress).

For the vast majority of cases, several translations are valid. Some may be more far-fetched than others, and there'll always be subjectivity to whether something was translated effectively, what "effectively" even means …

ANYWAY. I think my point is … how interesting, how cool is it that engaging with media in multiple languages will always yield multiple, often equally valid but just sliiiiightly different versions of that piece of media? And that I'd love more conversations about how, the second we (as folks who don't speak the material's original language) start picking the subtitle or dub wording apart for meta, we're basically working from a secondary source, and if we're doing due diligence, to which extent do we need to check there's nothing substantial being (literally) lost -- or added! -- in translation?

[accio-victuuri]

merry christmas to us turtles, my gift to you is this clowning post for yibo’s new song ( i am not here ) concept poster. of course, we have multiple cpns already with this material alone. lol. i’m sure we will know more when the track is released and other bts stuff. reminder to enjoy the song & if it’s cpn leaning or not doesn’t really matter. we are here to support yibo and this is his yearly “gift” to fans 🎁

as with xz’s we album art, our minds immediately went to the cql connection. it’s too easy! this is because the chinese title is 我在 which is i’m here but the english title and what’s on the poster is i am not here ( possible explanation of why this happens is at the end of this post ). it could be that these two lines are in the song — anyway, the “i am here” is something that lwj said 🥹🥹🥹🥹

in the novel, this has more weight and makes me wanna scream actually 😭😭😭😭

i will just include here the part/s in the novel that people are referencing:

Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian called out. Lan Wangji’s breathing wasn’t as steady as it usually was—it was slightly short, probably from overexerting himself in hand-to-hand combat while carrying Wei Wuxian on his back. However, the tone with which he answered him had the same steadiness he’d always possessed, and it was still that word: “Mn.” After that, he added, “I’m here.” Hearing those two words, a feeling Wei Wuxian had never felt before spread into his heart. It was like an ache. His heart throbbed a little, but it was also a little warm

LAN ZHAN…” Wei Wuxian murmured. He reached out and grabbed one of Lan Zhan’s sleeves. Lan Wangji, who had been keeping watch by his side, immediately leaned over to answer him softly. “I am here.”

Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian mumbled. Everyone was overjoyed, thinking he was about to wake up, but Wei Wuxian’s eyes remained tightly shut. Lan Wangji, on the other hand, looked as he usually did. “Mn. I am here.”Wei Wuxian said nothing else. He nuzzled against Lan Wangji, as if feeling safe and reassured, and continued to sleep.

The moment Wei Wuxian heard the dog, his hair immediately stood on end and he shrank into Lan Wangji’s embrace. Scared completely out of his wits, he cried out. “Lan Zhan!” Lan Wangji already knew to hold him. “Mn!” he assured him. “I am here!” “Hold me!” Wei Wuxian pleaded. “I am!” Lan Wangji replied. “Hold me tight!” Wei Wuxian then specified. “I am!” Lan Wangji confirmed.

and if you think about it— this is what wyb is to xz. he is there. even when is not there physically, he is. and vice versa 🫶🏼

plus the photo of yibo with his eyes closed, similar to lwj. personally, it’s making me so jealous of his eyebrows again 😤😤😤😤

fans are also going back to that one post of xz that said i’m here, good night! and when you connect that to the goodnight song that we think is a bjyx inspired track. and now yibo releases i’m here.

if you wanna clown some more, you can say that wyb’s song is sort of an answer to goodnight. cause xz’s more about not being with that person physically but he cherishes the goodnight they share with each other at the end of the day. and wyb is saying i’m here / i’m not here. ybo’s caption for the teaser is “Close your eyes and the colors of the world bloom in your heart. The distant blur and the real reunion at hand.”

so it’s a reunion? being together after some time apart? Close your eyes? Sleep and you will see me there cause i’m in your heart too. but don’t worry, we will be together soon.

I SWEAR. 😭😭😭😭😭

ALSO THIS TYPE OF DESIGN:

and how their song titles have two characters. we and i’m here. it goes well together.

and pretty much like how hu ge used “we/us” in his caption before. the same happened with this track. what a coincidence! 👀👀👀👀

Lastly, i found someone explaining why there is a difference in the direct translation. We had experience with this in GG’s songs form his wo men album. In the same way that the english titles of Chinese movies almost always is not the direct translation.

If the Chinese name is "I’m here” and the English name is "I am not here", this may be due to the following reasons:

1. Cultural differences and artistic conception: When Chinese and English express the same concept, they often have different language styles and cultural backgrounds. Sometimes Chinese names may focus on conveying a certain kind of meaning & artistic conception or emotion, while English names are more direct or have reverse meanings. For example, the Chinese name "I am" may convey a sense of presence or some kind of presence. The English name "I am not here" may be intended to express an emotion or theme of absence.

2. The double meaning of the work: It is possible that this work focuses on a certain theme (such as existence, positioning, presence) in Chinese, but in English it uses negative sentences. The expression conveys the opposite meaning, thereby creating a certain sense of contrast or suspense. This naming scheme may be intended to pique the interest of viewers or readers and encourage them to explore the work and the deep meaning behind it.

3. Translation strategy: Sometimes in order to adapt to the habits and aesthetics of different language markets, translation will take a certain degree of freedom. The translator may think that the English "I am not "here" can better capture the essence of the original work in a certain context or can more effectively resonate with English audiences.

4. Difference in context; if "I Am" is a contrasting or symbolic name, then the English name "i am not here" may be related to the content of the story. For example, a character may not be physically present, but still "exist" or "affect" the story on other levels.

In short, the differences between Chinese and English titles may be due to differences in language and culture, or may be due to the creator or translator's attempt to better convey the theme or introduction of the story. A choice made based on the curiosity of the audience.

There is also this interpretation:

The philosophy of "presence" and "absence" of emotions:

The combination of the two can also be understood as a philosophical reflection on presence and absence. "I’m here" can be seen as a declaration and guarantee of love, meaning that even if you are not together in a space, two people can still perceive each other mentally and rely on each other; and "I am not here" faces the physical absence in reality and is an emotion.

Self-expression on the Internet means that although you are not in front of the other person, you are still with them in your heart. It symbolizes the silent understanding and spiritual bond between long-distance lovers. Even if they cannot always appear in each other's lives, their hearts will always be with them.

Resonance in long-distance relationships:

Summary:

For couples in long-distance relationships, "I Am Here" may be the singer's promise to his lover - "I am here, no matter where you are"; while "I am not here" It is to Acknowledge the difficulties and helplessness of reality, "Although I am no longer with you, I still care about you." The two combine to express the unique experience of long-distance love: between love and absences, there are both firm commitment and deep longing and helplessness.

The combination of "I am here " and "I am not here" shows the emotional tension in long-distance relationships. Together they express a profound emotional state: that of being physically. We are not together physically, but our emotional and spiritual connection is strong. "I am here” represents deep love and firm commitment, while "I am not here" is a positive statement.

Acknowledging the sense of distance and absence in long-distance relationships. Together, they convey a sense of emotional persistence and acceptance of distance from reality, while also demonstrating that even in absence, Love still exists and is still real.

The Chinese and English names of this song are not only a true portrayal of the emotion of long-distance love, but also express the two aspects of love - persistence and absence, presence and loss, embodying the duality in long-distance relationships. No matter where we are, our hearts will always find each other.

THIS IS ALL GUESSWORK/CLOWNING. The title could change. There could be a completely different meaning than we think. It’s still so early but this is what’s fun with being a turtle and doing cpn <3 don’t take it seriously! Again, what’s important is we will get a new song! 🙌🏼

source/s

[br-disaster]

CQL's crybaby Nie Mingjue appreciation post

I always see people talking about CQL's Nie Mingjue crying constantly, and they're right to do so, but I haven't seen those scenes compiled so I thought it would be a good idea to do it, since it's one of my favorite things about this version of NMJ.

*I'll consider the times he was tearing up too because I think they're important, but i'm only considering "full crying scenes" the ones where there are actual tears falling down his face.

*It's all in chronological order.

Episode 41 - defending Meng Yao

Why is NMJ crying? Crying is his response to everything, okay? NMJ is very emotionally invested in everything he does. He's very mad these men for saying terrible things about Meng Yao while benefiting from his labour. He's so emotionally invested in everything he does.

Is it a full crying scene? No, he tears up the entire time he's scolding the cultivators but those tears don't leave his eyes.

Episode 10 - being threatened by Wen Chao

Why is NMJ crying? Wen Chao is being very disrespectful, as he often is. And it's understandable, NMJ is hurt, his home was invaded, some of his soldiers are dead and it's overall a terrible time for everybody. To be honest, though, I think he's tearing up out of pure rage because Wen Chao just mentioned what Wen Xu did to the Cloud Recesses.

Is it a full crying scene? No. I almost didn't include this one because it's very subtle but his eyes look too shiny to be ignored.

Episode 10 - expelling Meng Yao from the Unclean Realm

Why is NMJ crying? It's a very emotional and conflicting moment on top of a terrible day, on top of a very stressful period of his life. He was betrayed by his friend who saved his life right afterwards; his home was invaded and they're at war! He has every right to cry as much as he did.

Is it a full crying scene? Hell yes, and it's glorious. They even end the episode with his miserable little crying face.

Episode 41 - Everything, really

Why is NMJ crying? Everything sucks, he's defeated and hurt in front of the man who killed his father. He didn't get his personal revenge and he didn't free the world from Wen Ruohan's tyranny either. Instead, he watched helplessly as his men were murdered and now he has to watch his former deputy mock his father's death and threaten to have Wen Ruohan damage Baxia like he did with his father's blade.

Is it a full crying scene? No, only because he's being very brave about it. I have no idea how those tears didn't fall.

Episode 41 - confrontation at Jinlintai

Why is NMJ crying? Very difficult topics being discussed here. People who are way better with words than I am have already written amazing meta on how having his worldview challenged like this affects NMJ emotionally, so I won't go there. But between the song of turmoil making him more emotionally unstable and the disdain with which JGY talks about the men he killed, evoking this very traumatic moment I just mentioned on the previous crying scene; I think it's very understandable.

Is it a full crying scene? Yes! Most of the time he's holding back tears, but you can see the one dramatic tear running down his nose (on the outside of it) on the second gif!

In conclusion: he has so much to cry about, it's surprising he didn't cry more, it must have taken so much strength (or he was just crying offscreen, which is plausible, because sadly this isn't The Nie Mingjue show and we don't see him all the time)

Anyway, I am not here to claim he's not a crybaby because he absolutely is, but on the actual show we only have 2 full crying scenes. They were so impactful it feels like much more crying happened. Fatal Journey is it's own thing so I made a separate post for those tearing up, crying and emotional breakdown lovely scenes <3

[danmei-confessions]

I think reason why we have so many fanons is also because of people reading mdzs or watching cql as if it were a palace drama, like the whole 'yzy's position was threatened by wwx ("rumored illegitimate") so her feelings are valid' (when thats not possible even if such was the case) or the whole jgy 'was doing every shitty thing to survive' because such a character being illegitimate child in palace dramas would actually be at risk of being killed by concubines and all that, but considering it cultivation world hes not doing for 'survival' but for literally power and position in jin sect as a recognised son, he could walk away from it all the same as mianmian did if it was really about no choice but hes power hungry thats the whole point

.

[misscellophane-ao3]

Story title: Judge Wei (AO3 link)

Fandom: MDZS/CQL

Pairing: background WangXian

Words: 780

Warnings: None

Tags: Judge WWX, Bailiff LWJ, Lawyer NHS, Lawyer JZN (Zixun), Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, sort of inspired by a mix between judge Judy and the original nightcourt, POV LWJ, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, Modern with Cultivation, I actually haven't seen a single episode of either, but I have seen occasional clips

STORY -

"All Rise for the Honorable Judge Wei."

A loud noise of shifting chairs and shoes tapping the ground sounded throughout the room as everyone stood up. Lan Wangji kept his gaze firmly on the man standing at the defendant's side of the courtroom, even as he heard the swish of robes and the creak of a chair.

"You may now sit."

This was not the time to get distracted, he was a bailiff, he needed to be ready to take care of any problems and not get distracted by how handsome Wei Wuxian looked in his court attire.

Which would have been easier if the Judge wasn't hissing his name and waving him over not even two seconds after sitting down.

He kept his face passive as he walked over, ignoring the whispers and stares of everyone else in the room, hoping his hair covered the pink curling over his ears as Wei Wuxian leaned close to whisper "Whose the defendant's lawyer over there? I don't recognize him.".

How Wei Wuxian was appointed as the youngest cultivator to be appointed a judge, ("I swear I only applied as a joke, Lan Zhan. I don't know what happened." Wei Wuxian exclaimed as he set his sword down on the stand behind his new desk, "This is so weird, you know, even A-yuan was speechless when he heard and he's six. He shouldn't even know what a judge is.") and he would probably never know.

Cultivation Court wasn't much different from the regular style of court besides the fact that it consisted of cultivators and thus cultivator style lawsuits, meaning more magical/supernatural issues, which is why the judges needed to be strong cultivators with proper understanding of the cultivation world and it's rules, not just the law. Only 3 people have been appointed this year, making it a total of only 25 judges currently in the entire cultivation world, it was indeed a very difficult job to get.

Yet, despite what his mischievous and flirty personality would imply, he was harsh yet fair when it came down to it, he never let anyone get away with bullshit in his courtroom. It was impressive to watch. The innocent loved him and the guilty despised him.

("Watching him in court reminds me of Judge Judy sometimes." He remembers Huaisang commenting once, "Though he's much hotter when angry." He immediately ignored the suggestive eyes the Nie then gave him over his fan. He would never admit that he later looked up this Judge Judy and could admit Wei Wuxian did remind him of her in some ways. Lan Wangji thought Wei Wuxian would always be the better judge though and it had nothing to do with his massive crush on the man. Mostly.)

Lan Wangji bit back an instinctive look of exasperation as he replied quietly, "That's Jin Zixun, Jin Zixuan's cousin."

After a pause at the blank look on Wei Wuxian's face he added a touch reluctant, "The Peacock."

Now, Lan Wangji disliked Jin Zixun just as much as practically anyone who ever met him, but even he found it funny how Wei Wuxian could completely wipe a person from his memory despite seeing them almost every other week. Especially since Jin Zixun has got it into his head that Wei Wuxian actively had it out for him.

Lan Wangji knew for a fact that Wei Wuxian immediately forgot he even existed once out of his line of sight, and merely found the man mildly annoying when reminded of who he even was.

"Oh. The Peacock. No wonder he has an ugly face." Wei Wuxian nodded like that was a completely normal thing for a judge to say about a lawyer they were meant to be impartial to while in court.

In Wei Wuxian's case, it unfortunately was.

"Judge Wei, If we can start court now." The prosecutor, Nie Huaisang, cut in, hiding his face behind an unnecessary yet beautiful ornamental fan. Lan Wangji was sure he used such pretty fans to hide his sharp wit and the snarky looks he shoots at people during court but Lan Wangji was not one for gossip, nor did he actually care, so he'll never outright ask the Nie.

"Right yes," Wei Wuxian cleared his throat and sat up straight, Lan Wangji stayed close by but at a more reasonable distance now, bichen a steady weight across his back as he watched the Jins carefully.

"The Case of Hua Su Estate VS Cultivator Jin Hong will now begin."

The gavel hit the wooden base loud and ominous.

This courtroom was about to be a blood filled circus, it always was when it came to the Jins.

[travalerray]

honestly never having watched CQL beyond the part where WN gets randomly possessed (???) at Biling Lake is pretty funny because I hear the most random of things about it later. what do you mean there's a conversation between Lan XICHEN and Wei Wuxian where LXC is all "Wei-gongzi pls come back to Gusu so that my didi can chill" in his previous life and Wei Wuxian wipes off Jiang Cheng's tears in the Guanyin Temple. How did the XiYao meeting end up as a sexually charged gift exchange. What do you mean they had Lan Yi and Baoshan Sanren as tragic lesbians. What is a Yin Iron. Why does half the cast know demonic cultivation. Why is Wen Qing getting dramatically threatened to spy in the Cloud Recesses. WHO MADE LAN WANGJI THE CHIEF CULTIVATOR

[wangxian-the-zhijis]

This is CQL only as I haven’t read the novel or watched the donghua. I REPEAT: THIS IS CQL ONLY.

Hi! So it’s been established here that lwj did A LOT of significant things that the story chose not to show.

Written in that post is: Lan Wangji saved A-Yuan and Wen Qing and that’s why he was late at the Battle in Nevernight.

There are a few more things that I want to say:

Lan Wangji spoke up for the Wens. He openly expressed that the Wens should not be executed.

For those who are saying that Lan Wangji is just as useless as anyone who did nothing for the Wens, then stop. Because HE DID something. You could argue that he didn’t do enough. But what else do you want him to do? Battle the Jins himself and lose his life? Point is, if you check the deleted scenes, Lan Wangji, in fact, DID battle the Jins (even the Lans!!!) in order to save Wen Qing’s life. He’s so much better than those who literally did nothing and let the Jins do as they please.

This was already stated in the linked post above but I’m still gonna put it here: Lan Wangji saved A-Yuan BEFORE Wei Wuxian died. Not after.

When he saw A-Yuan, he didn’t have the arm injury he got from the Battle in Nevernight. When he was defending the Burial Mounds, you can see the blood on his right arm, which indicates the presence of the injury he got from the Battle in Nevernight. So this means that he saved A-Yuan before he got his arm injury— before the war— before Wei Wuxian died. So for those who’s saying that Lan Wangji only redeemed himself after Wei Wuxian’s resurrection, you’re wrong. He has always been on Wei Wuxian’s side since day one.

I’ve seen people say that Lan Wangji probably didn’t have any contribution during A-Yuan’s growth since he was recovering. Wow, idk where they got that from. They must know better than A-Yuan then?

A-Yuan openly expressed that he adores Lan Wangji. When he and Wen Ning reunited, he kept talking about Lan Wangji. A-Yuan himself said that Lan Wangji is his father/brother figure, which means that HE IS a big part of A-Yuan growing up. Look, just because the director didn’t show it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Who says that a man can’t show love and affection to a child just because he’s injured?

Lan Wangji leaving Wei Wuxian at the end wasn’t uncharacteristic. He doesn’t deserve the hate he gets because of that.

Y’all hated Lan Wangji for leaving Wei Wuxian in the end. It’s probably censorship, I agree. But for me, it wasn’t uncharacteristic. I wish you all to stop being WangXian-centered for a while and think of what just happened. Lan Xichen is currently experiencing a very devastating heartbreak. I think the reason why Lan Wangji couldn’t leave with Wei Wuxian was because he wanted to take care of his brother. Y’all hated MDZS Lan Wangji for leaving Lan Xichen just like that when he’s experiencing what Lan Wangji experienced 13/16 years ago but now that CQL Lan Wangji prioritized Lan Xichen, y’all still hated him? Whatever Lan Wangji does, he always gets hated, doesn’t he?

Lan Wangji is very dedicated to Wei Wuxian but let’s not forget that he still has a life outside Wei Wuxian. The reason why he was able to let Wei Wuxian go on his own was because Wei Wuxian’s life wasn’t in immediate danger anymore. He wasn’t a target anymore since the entire world probably heard of the news already that Wei Wuxian was actually innocent. Lan Wangji had to take care of his brother. He had to take up the role of being the sect leader. And he became the Chief Cultivator, which majority of you think is uncharacteristic. I don’t really have a say about him being the Chief Cultivator but please stop limiting Lan Wangji to what you’ve seen him capable of doing. He is surely capable of growth.

FOR THE LAST TIME: THIS IS CQL ONLY.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

I just finished watching through season 3 of the mdzs donghua fully and why do people praise cql for the romantic undertones when the donghua exists and did it much better

Hi there!

I am going to be completely honest here and say it's because a lot of them initially came from American live action media fandoms from 2005-2016 that very much thrived on mean spirited queer content baiting that the fans could transform.

Ironically I came across something from twitter today saying "fanfiction is taking back wonderful characters and worlds from problematic authors", and it made me sad. Because this is how the scape of American media is still like, the "subtext" of not really queer content is put on a pedestal because "I" can make what doesn't exist, better. It can be argued censorship was pushed to a certain limit, but it wasn't due to the writers and producer of CQL in the long run, it only is the bare shadow of the novel due to backlash and the film crew needing to resort to reshooting and edits of what had been a straight washing of the actual gay main characters.

The first season of the donghua, which preceded CQL by a whole year, can be debatably said to be able to get away with more risqué content due to the medium of animation, and tencent animation productions are very notorious with this and had the grace of being an old IP before the massive wave of mainland censorship restrictions regarding overly sexual content.

But the sticking point for me personally, is that even with censors the staff of the donghua hadn't tried to change the core relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji being the most important part of the others life as what the interviews for CQL's head scriptwriter tried to do when she said "it had to be changed to heavy familial ties" and thus the expansion of the Jiangs. It's morbidly word for word the same as a lot of American comi-con panels back in the day that the same fans hated from American productions.

It's taking the same crumbs from 15 years ago and trying to call it more. When the donghua did what CQL didn't by at least keeping Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian together and the others most important and not needing to explicitly say this or animate it by book text. As well as somehow needing to still say that the subtext is more romantic than the overt. Personally, I am tired of that when I have something in a televised form of my favorite romance that doesn't relegate them to the zone of platonic only zhiji who can never be together, and shows them on screen going to a home they made that they can go to when they want together always, and what others say doesn't matter.

I'm tired of taboo love and I think that the donghua understood the "to hell with that" message MXTX constantly made with each of her romances regarding that and what polite society would think about my love.

[pumpkinpaix]

Spotlight 1:

"Introduction: The Single-log Bridge"

(interview questions answered by Alberto)

What drew you to this topic?

When we realized this would be the first scholarly book on The Untamed, we wanted to prioritize writers with lived experience and cultural backgrounds most pertinent to an initial discussion of it!

Was there anything you were surprised to discover while researching?

For me personally, I was surprised to see all the records that The Untamed kept setting as we wrote, revised, and submitted the collection! Some of the sources cited here were added quite literally the week before our deadline.

Did researching/writing your chapter change how you saw the text, the fandom, or the media? How so?

We had to pull together conversations on a lot of different topics for this introduction, and it was very neat to see the big picture coming together.

If there’s one thing you hope the fandom takes away from your article, what would it be?

I hope that English-speaking fandom in particular comes away with a better sense of how complex production was and how much nuance there is to the show. I've seen a lot of discussions that try to read CQL in the way they would a show made in the US or EU, and that just misses so much of what this show is doing!

What is your MDZS/CQL origin story? (i.e. how did you come to this text?)

I (Maria) started watching CQL after seeing it all over my dash and getting rave recommendations from friends in a wide variety of other fandoms! From there, I branched out into the novel and other danmei texts, both webnovels and dramas.

Favorite adaptation, if any?

The live-action drama will always hold a special place in my heart because this is how I first encountered these characters!

If you were isekai-ed into MDZS/CQL, what sect affiliation would you choose and why?

This is such a tough question XD I think I'd have to say Qinghe Nie because I admire their leadership and I'm most drawn to their style of cultivation!

What’s your favorite fictional trope in MDZS/CQL?

Soulmate tropes will always get me! Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen are my very favorite characters and that relationship is so compelling to me: I also love how Xiao Xingchen forms a little found family in Yi City for a time, later on :,)

Chaotic one-sentence pitch to get your friends into MDZS/CQL?

Picture this: disaster gays reunite after dramatic death and reincarnation, then have the slowest slowburn while dealing with post-conflict politics!

If you could ask anyone who worked any adaptation of MDZS/CQL one thing, who would it be and what would you ask?

To any cast member, I would be so curious whether they anticipated how big and visible the show became!

If you could ask MXTX one question, what would it be?

What do you think of how popular your work has become?!

What is one (1) book/media you would recommend to a MDZS/CQL fan? Tell us about it.

Word of Honor, in case there's anyone hasn't seen it yet (heart eyes)

Anything to say to potential readers of the collection?

On behalf of myself and co-editor Yue, we truly hope you enjoy it!

You can find Maria on Twitter/X @MariaKAlberto.

(FAQ) (all posts on Catching Chen Qing Ling)

[add1ctedt0you]

ChengQing for the ask game?

Ship It

What made you ship it?

Your posts lol. No, but seriously! I watched the donghua, then I read a ton of fics ( mostly Xicheng fics lol, being jiang cheng most popular ship on ao3) and then I read the novel, so I never even thought about them as a thing. Then, jc brainrot made me install Tumblr and I saw one of your gifset! I didn't quite ship them back then, but the more I thought about it, the more I could see the appeal! So, now, is one my top three ship! Also, this art lives rent free in my head. Idk why, I just like it!

What are your favorite things about the ship?

The families feud plus the noncon of it all lol. I like how both of them are complicit in each other's loved ones deaths! Wen Qing looked the other way while the jiang were massacred, jiang cheng did the same (if not worse, if you think that he actively participated in the wen remnants killing!)

I like thinking about them struggling so much to connect, because it's my favorite kind of relationship and because I think it works quite well with them?? Out of the other characters, imo, they could understand each other as no one else!

Both are pragmatic leaders, put in dire situations from almost the first time we encounter them. Both can read a room and understand where the wind is blowing... So, I think, they will look at each other, pondering the other's choices and think... 'yeah, I'll have done that too' (thanks cql for validating me!). So, their mutual understanding, plus their compassion (wen qing) and ability to get over something for loved ones sake (jiang cheng), create an interesting dynamic!

Also. She rearranged his guts. He's her greatest creation! People thought wen qing was a crazy bitch for theorizing a golden core's transfer (while clutching in fear their stomach so hard). And she managed it! She proved them wrong!!! Wen Qing should wake up every day looking at the face of the man she reinvented. I don't make the rules.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Mmm, I think my unpopular (???) opinion is about how they work together. Wen Qing is kinda momming her ill softhearted brother (cql!wq more, but the novel hints at it too imo), she works for years under her megalomaniac uncle and then, girl has to take care of her family (plus an alcoholic wei wuxian). Let her rest! Let someone take care of her!!!

And tbh, jiang cheng's problem isn't that he has too much responsibility (like, yeah, it's a problem lol. But imo, taking care of his sect it's jiang cheng's way to show love), his problem is that no one (wei wuxian) really let him take care of them! Let him have someone to pamper with his embarrassing devotion!