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#wrong mdzs sub
mikkeneko · 2 months
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What we miss when we don't talk about friendship (in MDZS)
I'd like to open with the statement that this is not about shipping -- none of my thesis is to say "don't ship this" or "this ship isn't real." People can and have shipped whatever the hell they want and should continue to do so for as long as it makes you happy. It's not even a question of "sure you can ship it but it's not CANON," because the MXTX canon is wonderfully good at being ambiguous and supporting multiple interpretations.
What this thesis is to say is that some of these themes and motifs to explore are about friendship, and they don't tend to get talked about much, because people are mostly focused on the romantic and sexual dimensions of a dynamic. Romantic and sexual dimensions are great, but they don't annihilate or even subsume platonic dimensions -- yes, sometimes you can be a lover and a friend, but sometimes you can just be a friend and not a lover and that's no less important. As a post I saw recently said which stuck with me -- don't remember the poster, alas, but it was something in the vein of -- "it's not about the intensity of the relationship, but the flavor of it." Platonic character dynamics can be just as obsessive and consuming as romantic dynamics, they can be discussed and analyzed separately without needing to invalidate romantic and sexual dynamics.
So! That disclaimer aside, let's talk about: FRIENDSHIP IN MDZS, and what we miss when we don't talk about friendship as a dynamic in this story separate from romantic and sexual interest. Friendship shows up repeatedly in this story with its own sub-plots and arcs and undercurrents and hazards separate from the romance that's going on, and it's mostly going on with the Lans.
Part 1: Lan Xichen and friendship
A cornerstone of this analysis has to do with a meta post I read very early on in the fandom about the Lans when viewed through a Confucian lens. Lan Qiren in particular is a very, very Confucian character, and he raised his nephews to those traditions and values. The pertinent one here is the topic of the "Five relationships" which outline the relationships that a man of authority can expect to have throughout his lifetime: self to ancestors, self to descendents, self to authorities and subordinates, self to marriage partners, and self to friends. Each one comes with a set of strictures and requirements which when added up combine to a world that is very, very emotionally taxing and extremely short on interpersonal and emotional support. He is expected to obey and submit to guidance from his seniors, but he can't ask them for help. He is expected to lead and govern his subjects, but he can never be wrong or show weakness or doubt. It's especially important, I think, that Lan Xichen is raised to expect that even any romantic relationship he might have (read: marriage to a woman) would not actually be emotionally supportive to him in any meaningful way; it would be another set of obligations to uphold, another place he would be expected to be remote and poised and never show weakness or ask for help.
The exception is friendship. Friendship is the only relationship structure Lan Xichen can have in his life that has any hope of actually being nurturing and emotionally supporting to him, a place he can let down his guard and ask for help with the expectation of receiving it. It becomes very clear from very early on that friendship means everything to Lan Xichen as a character. He enters the story with a strong, supportive friendship with one of the only true peers a man of station can have (Nie Mingjue) and it's clear that this has formatively set his expectation of what a friendship can and should be. Lan Xichen really wants to be the Friendship Is Magic guy. He believes that friendship is the best way to solve problems, and that everybody would be able to solve their problems if only they had a friendship like his, and that belief is a lot of what runs him into a meat grinder later in the story. He thinks that Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao are capable of maintaining a friendship post-war, and does not understand why they cannot, and his attempts to friend-matchmake the two of them ultimately lead both to disaster.
Part 2: Lan Wangji and friendship
The header says Lan Wangji, but this is actually about Lan Xichen again, and about Wei Wuxian. A pretty common joke in the fandom is that Lan Xichen is "the #1 WangXian shipper," that he recognizes Lan Wangji's sexual and romantic attraction to Wei Wuxian from very early on and supports him in pursuing such a relationship. It's a nice joke, but I think it misses the mark, because the looming specter of their parents' disastrous and traumatic marriage means that Lan Xichen would never approach the idea of his brother entering into a romantic relationship so cavalierly. (Lan Qiren, in some ways, had a clearer notion of what shape Lan Wangji's interest in Wei Wuxian had the potential to be than Lan Xichen did, perhaps because he doesn't have the same obsession with friendship; if he has any close friendships of his own, we're not shown them.)
Lan Xichen is not encouraging Lan Wangji to have a romantic summer fling. Lan Xichen encourages his association with Wei Wuxian specifically because he thinks Lan Wangji needs friends. Not just in the sense of any parent or adult wanting their child to make friends, but specifically in the context of these restrictive hierarchical relationships that hem in their world. Lan Xichen is afraid that Lan Wangji will be alone, and emotionally starved, and have no one he can ask for help or rely on, because that is his experience of a world without friendship. (Lan Wangji, of course, is not in the same position as Lan Xichen because he has Lan Xichen to rely on.) Lan Xichen wants Lan Wangji to have the same kind of friendship that he himself has with Nie Mingjue, and he thinks that Wei Wuxian has the potential to be that kind of friend. That is the context in which he encourages their association, and tries to arrange for them to have time together, and to become closer; not as a potential romantic partner but as a steadfast emotional and logistical support through Lan Wangji's adult life.
If Lan Xichen knew that Lan Wangji would fall in love with Wei Wuxian (had already started to,) I'm not at all sure that he would have encouraged that. In pretty much any arc past the Lan Lectures, he doesn't, both because Wei Wuxian stopped being a good candidate for supportive friendship (he's clearly got too much of his own shit going on) and because he realizes that what is developing in Lan Wangji bears very little resemblence to his own relationships. He might not outright try to sabotage the relationship but he's clearly worried about its potential to bring disaster on Wangji -- and he's very correct to be worried, as it turns out.
Part 3: Lan Sizhui and friendship
So, All Of That Happens; Wei Wuxian dies, Lan Wangji is laid low for years and seems poised to grieve for the rest of his life; Nie Mingjue dies and takes Lan Xichen's support with him. Now we come to the present day, and the present day has Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi.
Let's take a moment to step back and ask from an analytical perspective: Why is Lan Jingyi, as a character, in the story? Assuming that in a novel as polished as MDZS, each element is included for good reasons. Why is Lan Jingyi in the story and why is he Lan Sizhui's best friend? In the new world we're introduced to, the Lan are already represented, and very positively represented by Lan Sizhui. Lan Jingyi provides a convenient avenue for both exposition-dumping and sass -- saying the things that everyone else is too polite to say -- but we could have gotten that through another character (Jin Ling also plays this role) or introduced another Junior who isn't Lan, like Ouyang Zizhen. Why is it important to the story that Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi are friends?
The Juniors in general represent hope for the world to change, hope for the new generation. In Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi, we see that the terrible loneliness that drove their seniors to disaster in the previous generation, is averted. Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi have a friendship that is close and true, and we are never given reason to doubt it. Their priorities are aligned; it's unlikely that Sect politics or personality conflicts will ever drive them apart. They have what Lan Xichen craved: a friendship that will support them through tragedy and disaster. Their friendship stands to demonstrate that in the new generation, things will get better.
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treasurechestsubs · 3 months
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Year End Big Bulk Release - MDZS Audio Drama S1 7 Mini-theatres + 3 Extras + S3 Extra - Into the Dream-End English Subbed
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Hello everyone~ :D
It's the last day of 2023! This has been a pretty busy and a fun year for us all to be able to share so many episodes of different projects we've taken up.
To end the year with something special, we have a big bulk release of 11 videos today~
We have the following for you all today: MDZS S1 7 Mini-theatres + 3 Extras- 3.5 - No 4.5 - Escape 5.5 - Ancestor's Story 6.5 - Ant 7.5 - Loquat 10.5 - Director 11.5 - Sticky Rice Porridge (The numbers 3.5, 4.5, etc. mean that these mini-theatres were released after episode 3, 4, etc.) --- Extra - 40 Million Benefits-LWJ Extra - Fear of Dogs Extra - Lan Sect Mandates
=and=
MDZS S3 Extra - Into the Dream-End the latest extra that was released by the audio drama creators on Wei Wuxian's birthday.
All of these episode can be accessed via our discord server. To request an invite to the server, please fill up this >> request form <<
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Happy watching~! :D
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wangxianficfinder · 11 months
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In the mood for a Fic...
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1. hiiiii i hope all of you are having a wonderful dayyy! for the next itmf, could i request any modern zombie apocalypse fics? I just read The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3 and now i’m craving more 😅could wangxian be the main pairing and no character deaths between them? thank youuuu ♡ 
❤️ A Corpse Called By Name by jaemyun (Not rated, 60k, wangxian, angst w/ happy ending, zombie apocalypse, zombie WWX, yunmeng trio)
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2. do you know any wangxian fics where Lan Xichen is also in love with Wei Wuxian? NOT WWX/LZ/LX, just where Xichen also falls for WWX
Melody of the Lost and Found by esama (T, 48k, WIP, XiXian, WangXian, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Grief/Mourning, YLLZ WWX, There are two WWXs in this)
Is this a Shakespearean Comedy, because I'm in love with the wrong person by firesonic152 (E, 7k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Adultery, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, Sneaking Around, Requited Love, Mutual Pining, Explicit Sexual Content, Bittersweet Ending)
Burning Bridges by Keysmashed (E, 12k, wangxian, arranged marriage, misunderstandings, pining, angst w/ happy ending, family drama, swordfighting, non-graphic smut, emotional rollercoaster, love confessions, everyone lives au)
Over and Over Again by Miss_Writers_Block (T, 1k, WangXian, WWX/Everyone, Everyone Loves WWX, Unrequited Love, except for one, and its the obvious one, Canon Compliant) there is this classic!
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3. Hello there, I was wondering if there was any fanfiction [regardless of the website] about time travel to the past wei wuxian , but when he goes back the past mdzs has to deal with his depressing or suicidal side (here I mean wei wuxian becomes younger) , or yiling laozu time travel and meets his past self and family
How did I end up with this Frozen Heart? by Grace_ShadowWolf (TaubeLePigeon) (T, 53k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel, Fix-It, PTSD, Angst with a Happy Ending, YP!WWX, twin prides of yunmeng are horrified at the relationship between their future selves, YP!WWX has short hair, Canon Divergence, Self-Indulgent, wangxian get together early, Songfic, JC Bashing, LXC Bashing)
The Wild Geese's Tomb by The Feels Whale (miscellea) (T, 66k, WangXian, Time Travel AU, fixit, Temporary Character Death)
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4. Hi! "In the mood" ask...I was wondering if anyone knows of any fics where someone (I was thinking Lan Qiren but it doesn't have to be) starts having suspicions that Lan Wangji is "following in his father's footsteps" and that Wei Wuxian isn't a willing partner in their relationship - a wrong assumption, but I'd like to see people opposing LWJ to be protective on WWX's behalf! @therealscarymarlowe
Every Mother's Son by Chrononautical (T, 11k, WangXian, Madam Lán Lives, Madam Lán Deserves Better, Madam Lán Leaves Cloud Recesses, mentions of rape/non-con between Madam Lan & Qingheng-Jun) the former Madam Lan returns to 'rescue' WWX
Unbreakable Heaven, Luminous Earth by carolyncaves (M, 96k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Secret Identity, almost to the point of uncomfortable identity theft, Sharing a Bed, Literal Sleeping Together, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Suicidal Thoughts, that's for WWX after Nightless City and is not pervasive throughout the fic, Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Sexual Content, Domestic Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Power Imbalance, mainly between WWX and JGY in an entirely nonsexual manner, oh jyl lives, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies)
Hold Truth to the Light by SoManyJacks (E, 15k, WangXian, Light Angst, Fluff, idiot plot kind of, switch!lwj, service top!wwx, Accusations of rape, False Accusations, nasty rumors, Alcohol, arranged marriage sideplot, Painful Sex, Anal Sex, POV Alternating, Light Dom/sub, Post-Canon, Based on the novel, Flip Fuck, gratuitous epilogues, uhhh also donkey)
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5. Hii! I hope you are doing well, and Mod Kay, i hope you have a swift recovery!! So, I recently read a fic with wen xu being a decent guy and i was wondering if you had anymore fics where the wen sons aren't complete assholes and actually bond with wwx?? Thank you in advance!!! @flexible-racoon
All Things Belong by kuroi_atropos (M, 64k, WIP, WRH & WWX, WangXian, WWX is a Wēn, Abuse, Whipping, Manipulations, Warning: WRH, Smart WWX, Possessive Behavior, Warning: JGS, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Past Rape/Non-con)
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6. Hi!!!! Any recommendations about wwx adopting a puppy/dog or wwx overcoming his phobia about dogs??? Thank you so much
Imprints by Lisa_Telramor (G, 47k, wangxian, post-canon, accidental puppy acquisition, humor, panic attacks, phobia recovery, JC & WWX reconciliation, poor life choices, self acceptance, developing relationship, fluff)
🧡 Rabbit Heart by Suaine (M, 56k, WangXian, during the separation in ep50, some animal cruelty (not committed by main characters), WWX adopts a puppy (YES I KNOW), Family Issues, Sexual Content)
I'm Alright 'Cuz I Have You Here With Me by wwx-lwj-ai-ni (TDKeh16) (T, 17k, WangXian, Modern AU, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, Friends to Lovers, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Facing Fears, Supportive Friendship, Mention of childhood dog attack, Pining LWJ, Oblivious WWX, Sharing a Bed)
Must Love Dogs by northebee, wingedwords (T, 17k, WangXian, Modern AU, Fluff, Humor, Light Angst, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, Panic Attack, Hurt/Comfort)
Silver bells and cockle shells by teawater (T, 97k, WangXian, Family Fluff, JC's Birthday party, Reincarnations, Pets, Facing Fears, One-sided attraction, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Night Hunts, some actual Angst, I really mean it, mainly for side charas tho)
leave all your love and your longing behind by ScarlettStorm (E, 143k, WangXian, Modern AU, no magic, Meet-Ugly, Panic Attacks, autistic lwj, neurodivergent wwx, the neighborhood asshole dog, if you’ve met one then you know, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Minor Angst, major shenanigans, Happy Ending, for everyone including the asshole dog, Eventual Smut, switch rights, Sex Toys, horny yearning, Masturbation)
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7. Do you have a list of stories with ‘modern/present’ Wei Wuxian and ‘ancient/xianxia’ Lan Wangji?
It doesn’t particularly matter if Lan Wangji meets present day Wei Wuxian thanks to being immortal, suspended animation, time travel, dimension hopping, or something else. It’s just the clash of modern and ‘ancient’ sensibilities that makes it fun. I’m delighted every time I come across one!
(I’m not really sure what I would search for to find more of that sort of story myself, since the mechanism of their meeting has been so different each time I’ve found one). @ladysunami
take me back to a time by DizziDreams (T, 143k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Modern with Magic, Time Travel, Sharing a Bed, Angst with a Happy Ending, Student!WWX, Time-Traveling Wizard!LWJ, Slow Burn, Character Death, Angstreference to abuse, Canonical Character Death, Canonical Abuse, Canon!LWJ, Canon-Typical Violence, Mutual Pining, Chronic Illness, Not A Fix-It, Case Fic, implied 3zun, Transmigration, America, [Podfic of] take me back to a time by dreamhazer)
The Life Cycle of the Frog and the Fish by Aerlalaith (T, 53k, WangXian, Reincarnation, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Sort Of, Reincarnation, Mystery, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Illnesses Curses, References to Illness, Modern with Magic)
Wrong Turn, Right Place by diamondbruise (E, 71k, WangXian, Time Travel, kind of, modern wwx, cultivator lwj, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Jealousy, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Cultural Differences, Miscommunication, LWJ Has a Big Dick, Anal Sex)
an impromptu visit to the city by bosbie (T, 12k, WangXian, Modern AU, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Fluff, Humor, First Meetings, Falling In Love, Getting Together)
That Nasty Wei Wuxian by Avescor (T, 38k, WangXian, Modern AU, Time Travel, shirtless lwj, Chaotic WWX, Disaster friend JC, Character Development, Pre-Relationship, Adorable teenage cultivators, WWX messes with Cloud Recesses, Unreliable Narrator, chaotic evil WWX, Smoll WWX, trying to cope LWJ, Life lessons from an internet troll)
the song remains the same by la_muerta (T, 4k, WangXian, Reincarnation, Post CQL-canon, Angst with a Happy Ending)
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8. itmf lwj breaks down crying in front of wwx, bonus point if we get to know wwx's reaction towards seeing the usually-stoic lwj suddenly showing so much emotion
Regrets by antebunny (G, 37k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Time Travel, Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Descriptions of Love, and other squishy feeling, Angst with a Happy Ending) maybe regrets by antebunny, towards the end lwj cries and they confess😊
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9. Hi for itmf are there any fics that takes place after Wangxian marry and while on a night wwx gets hurt badly and this leads to jc and wwx reconcile with Lwj taking care of wwx
Thanks! @elainaparker
can people untie themselves, uncurling like flowers by annemari (T, 19k, JC & WWX, WangXian, Post-Canon, Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation, Family, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together)
some good mistakes by Lise (T, 18k, WangXian, JC & WWX, JC & LWJ, Road Trips, (terrible road trips), Post-Canon, Rescue Missions, Hurt/Comfort, ish, Awkward Conversations, POV JC, JC & WWX Reconciliation, (ish they're working on it)
Hindsight by Unicornelia96 (M, 15k, JC & WWX, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, POV WWX, Hurt WWX, Burial Mounds, reference to possible cannibalism, Cannibalism, Major Character Injury, Serious Injuries, Angst with a Happy Ending, ish)
Although I'm not sure if any of my recs for 9 are specifically after they married. Pretty sure they're from before, but still post-canon
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10. Can u pls refer fics which are similar to divulgences by ataraxistence
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11. For the next ITMF do you have any fic where both LWJ and WWX died and are brought back to life? Bonus points if their families feel guilty about what happened
The Young Masters of Four Seasons Manor by gaotamao (G, 91k, WangXian, WenZhou, YeRong, Time Regression fix-it, WKX raises monstrous sons, Not Jiang Sect Friendly, No Golden Core Transfer) but without the bonus point op mentioned
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12. hii! im itmf fics where wangxian kinda know the other likes them before Officially Getting Together, like in canon, or similarly if it's more of a gradual falling together than a big shocking confession. thank you!!
❤️ I Started From the Bottom/And Now I’m Rich by x_los (E, 58k, wangxian, incidental and hilarious wwx/others that only result in death not anything sexual) it is a crack fic kinda, with wwx time travel. But wwx acknowledges mentally their romantic tension and the potential for something, before a wangxian typical confession occurs
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13. I was wondering is there any fics where after getting told off by lwj to not pester him anymore wwx does exactly that and stops paying him so much attention but it bothers lwj for some reason and he doesn't. like. that. at all.
Twitter threadfic by @/Cosmicmilktea
The Taste Of Cherry by chiyukimei (E, 6k, WangXian, Cherry Magic AU, Not JC Friendly, Lots of kissing, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Soft LQR) has a brief (very brief) moment like that
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14. Hi i m in the mood for a fic for social media aus specially those that has those fake posts or smthing but any works thanks!
Gremlin BF twitter thread by nyanxian this one is one twt, but one of my faves (Podfic: Gremlin Twitter Boyfriend by bluegeekEM, cantarina, duckgirlie, EosRose, exmanhater, fleurrochard, GoLBCollabs (GodOfLaundryBaskets), Gondolinpod (Gondolin), isweedan, knight_tracer, nyanxian, Opalsong, RevolutionaryJo, Rhea314 (Rhea), Rindle, sisi_rambles, Syr, Vorvayne_reads (Vorvayne))
My mom says I can marry whoever I want, and I want to marry this random guy I met on tumblr by Admiranda, miixz (T, 45k, WangXian, WN/OFC, MM/MM's Husband, Modern AU, Social Media, Chatting & Messaging, Texting, Getting to Know Each Other, Getting Together, Falling In Love, Fluff, Female WN, Internet Fights, Implied Reincarnation, modern au with cultivation, not the jc friendliest because of our fandom opinions but he's not really here)
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15. Yoooooo!!! Love you all, thankful for all the hard work you do for us fans! I don't know if this is ITMF or a compilation-related but I noticed the last time-travel compilation (part 3) is from over a year ago. Have any new time travel fic hit the charts over the past 12+ months? 😁 @kimboo-york
Never Again by Hauntcats (T, 67k, WangXian, WQ & WN & WWX, Canon Divergence, Angst, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Time Travel Fix-it, Not JC Friendly, Dark, BAMF WWX, mentions of abuse, Canon JC traits, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Cw for character death)
❤️ the thing with feathers by RoseThorne  (G, 43k, wangxian, Transmigration, Time Travel Fix-It, Illnesses, Family, Scars, Memory Loss, Angst, Fear, Recovery, Sharing a Bed, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Parent YZY, Referenced Sexual Slavery, Blood and Gore, Sexual Tension, Arranged Marriage, Grief, Adoption, POV Third Person, POV Alternating, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Good Parent LQR, Clairvoyance, Butterfly Effect)
The blame game by apathyinreverie (T, 13k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, possessive LWJ, oblivious WWX, fluff, romance, golden core reveal, golden core fix-it) 
Here With Me by iamwish (T, 58k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon-Typical Violence, Period-Typical Homophobia, Bad Parent YZY, POV WWX, POV LWJ, POV JC, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, WWX Has PTSD, and also depression sometimes, Unreliable Narrator) 
Lessons relearned by Iamnotawriter (T, 44k, WangXian, LQR & WWX, Not Madam Yu Friendly, Time Travel Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inventor WWX, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, No Golden Core Transfer, YZY Bashing) 
Pocketful of Soul by Jenrose (T, 182k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, BAMF MXY, MXY Lives, Genderfluid MXY, MXY Backstory, POV MXY, If At First You Don’t Succeed Try Try Again and Again and Again, Wangxian Speedrun, times three because time travel, Found Family, Genius MXY, Genius WWX, Not particularly JGY friendly, CQL-based) 
Ad Oblivione by Baph, HikariNoHimeWriter (M, 70k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, POV Multiple, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Identity Reveal, Golden Core Reveal, Cultivation World Critical, Not JC Friendly, Abusive YZY, Angst with a Happy Ending)
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16. ITMF Wei Ying raising jin ling canon divergence/ canonverse/ alternate Universe. All will do @whateverweilanlovechild
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17. Hi!!! I hope you all doing well! I just wanna ask for a recommendations (if there is one) about Lan elders forcing LWJ to take in someone (a girl) to atleast bear his child (it doesn’t matter to them if LWJ is married to WWX as long as lwj bears an heir). Thank you so much for your hardwork!
The light of you will stay by orphan_account (M, 74k, WangXian, LWJ/OFC, Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage between LWJ and Fem!OC, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Canonical Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst, Wangxian is endgame, the consumation of the marriage is mentioned, there is no explicit het sex here, Implied Het Sex, because pregnancy)
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If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what  you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack,  whatever - it’s all good!***
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songfeng-shuiyue · 1 year
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A line-by-line translation of one of the most romantic and heartbreaking scenes in cql
⛈ Why Wei Wuxian said what he said, for Lan Wangji’s ears alone ⛈ And why this scene and its dialogue are absolutely Everything™️
Let’s go!
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Ok so! Let’s first recap what happened in this scene, which takes place over episodes 26 and 27. Wei Wuxian had earlier gone with Wen Qing to rescue Wen Ning and the other survivors, and he had been leading them to safety when Lan Wangji appeared.
Lan Wangji had tried to convince him that he was walking down an unorthodox path (离经叛道) with little chance of recourse. Wei Wuxian had then reminded him of the binding promise (孰强孰弱 又孰黑孰白 这难道是我们誓死守护的诺言) they had made together in the lantern scene in ep7. And then, this.
1. 如果我和他们之间必有一战 
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This literally translates to “if there must be a battle between me and them (the rest of the clans/众玄门世家)”. 一战 carries the implication of a single, deciding battle of a great magnitude.
2. 那我宁愿和你决一生死 
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“Then I would much rather duel you to the death”. Let’s break it down. 
🗡 决: duel, or (to) decide. In this context, a final duel to decide their fates. 🗡 一: single, one. Not a fight to take place over multiple bouts — each party will give all their strength, and the outcome will be taken as final. 🗡 生: live, alive. Only one of us will survive. 🗡 死: die, death. And the other one will die.
Put together, the implication is, “I would much rather meet you in single combat, where only one of us will walk out alive.” Why is this significant? It shows the high regard Wei Wuxian places Lan Wangji in. Here, he’s putting Lan Wangji above everyone else he knows in cultivation society: elders, family, other high-ranking cultivators. In these dire circumstances, he’s choosing to cast aside everyone else’s opinions and values — except for Lan Wangji’s.
It’s neither cowardice nor arrogance. He’s simply saying, “You are the only one whom I still hold in high regard, whose values and opinions I respect, and whom I view as an equal in every way.” They’re bound by a shared understanding — the lantern promise.
3. 要死
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“If I must die (to pay for what I did)”
4. 也至少死在你含光君的手上
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“Then at least I would die by your (Hanguang-jun’s) hand”. Again, this shows the depths of Wei Wuxian’s affection and regard. Who is Lan Wangji to him, but his 毕生 (lifetime) 知己 (zhiji; intimate companion)?
Wei Wuxian has always wanted his life to mean something; for his actions to have as large and positive an impact on others if possible. It’s why he makes such a lofty promise during the lantern scene (许我魏无羡能够一生锄奸扶弱,无愧于心).
I’ve previously written about the lantern scene moment here.
There’s an element of strength, conviction, and agency in 要死也至少死在你含光君的手上 that is not appropriately conveyed in the passiveness of the subtitles “if I am doomed to death, at least I could be killed by you”.
He’s principled enough to know that he is morally in the right for helping the Wens. And so, he wants his death to mean something as well. In that case, who better to kill him than the person he holds in the highest regard, the one who deeply knows his heart?
This is Wei Wuxian. This is a man who would rather die a hero protecting people less fortunate than himself, at the hands of someone he loves and who understands him, than lose his life to an army of people who have branded him as a traitor and a criminal.
5. 不冤了
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This is an interesting one. 冤 means “wronged” or “to be wronged”, so put together, this implies “(at least if you kill me), I would not (have to die) wronged”. He’s expressing a wish here: to die with honor, to die gently, and to die loved.
Put together
“If there must be a battle between me and them, then I would much rather duel you to the death. If I must die, then at least I would be dying by your hand, Hanguang-jun. That way, it wouldn’t be an injustice.”
Further reading
My critique of the cql subs for this moment, ep 6 (para 276-278)
MDZS characters’ word choices and speech patterns (note that this is mainly novel-centric)
A recording of myself reading out Wei Wuxian’s earlier line where he tearfully asks Lan Wangji about to the promise they had made together
Original post on Twitter
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aeternallis · 4 months
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It's been hanging out in the back of my mind for the past few months, but I think the reason why it's so hard for me to interact with the kpts fandom on here (with the exception of a very select few people) is because fanon has taken over to such an extent for kpts that subsequently, a lot, and I mean A LOT of the cultural context in this show has been erased because it's just easier to do so to a story with a modern setting, as opposed to a historical one, yknow?
And with that ease comes the resulting of some of the most...colorful interpretations and HCs that ngl, definitely hints at a more western mindset, than anything else.
Which is not necessarily...a surprise, based on what I've seen this site do to Asian media in general. Hahaha. After all, this is the site that said Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha is a pedo for marrying his ward, that Kaname from Vampire Knight is "ewww incestuous" for being in love with his distant ancestor. This is the same site that said JGY from MDZS did nothing wrong (ever), and thinks LWJ can't talk properly and speaks like Netflix's terrible subtitles.
And last but not least, this is the site that thinks dom/sub and top/bottom discourse is #immature and #feteshization when in reality the Asian BL subculture is literally built and maintained on this very important distinction of pairing order, which transcends who's sticking who in the ass, and has more to do with interpretation of characters as the author's explicit intent.
MXTX isn't being a whiny bitch when they say they hate it when their pairings are switched, it's because by switching up their pairings, you erase the literary importance of the gong love interest, and why MXTX positioned them that way. There's a reason why every single one of the MXTX novels is written from the POV of the shou, yo.
But, anyway.
I'm not Thai. I'm Filipino-American, who grew up in the Philippines for a good portion of her life and regularly goes back, and who is still somewhat fluent in Tagalog. And the borders of SE Asia contains within it a wonderful blend of so many different cultures that there are some scholars who, although dedicate their entire lives to studying this region, will never be able to fully grasp the cultural nuances that just aren't easily translatable to English sentences.
Having said that, there is still a set of cultural values and norms that unites this region AS Southeast Asia. I will definitely say for my own experience with kpts, one of the biggest factors as to why I fell in love with this show is because there were so many things about it that reminded me of my own upbringing, the cultural values and experiences that I grew up with, that makes this show special to me.
But Tumblr being Tumblr, it's no surprise that as always with non-western media, the cultural nuances are minimized or outright forgotten entirely.
In which case, KPTS is yet another victim to this inevitability, alas alas.
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little-smartass · 11 months
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1 and 8 for mdzs?
the character everyone gets wrong
OH BOY. hmm. I'm gonna have to say JGY. so many people want to reduce him to Poor Little Meow Meow or Evil Babykicking Villain when he contains multitudes!!!! he is capable of immense narrative-shaping love and devotion, AND he is capable of horrifying heartbreaking violence and deception! reducing him to simply one or the other does a HUGE disservice to his character. notable runner ups: LXC (yes the himbo meme was amusing but please tell me you don't actually BELIEVE he's an idiot) and NMJ (he is also able to contain multitudes you guys come onnnn try harder)
8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about
okay, this is something I've noticed across a lot of fandoms but appears to be specifically prevailent in the untamed - "you have to justify writing an m/f pairing (irrespective of if they are queer) by making the woman peg and/or dom the guy every time" like. really lads. really. please grow up. I am a fan of most of the dudes in this show who regularly get paired with women having a very enjoyable bottom and/or sub time, but you guys know that it's not a rule, right? because I don't think that some of you do. it's very Late 90s Strong Female Character of you, and I say that in the most derogatory way.
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13. worst blorboficiation
honestly? WWX. JGY gets mischaracterised a lot but at least his fans are willing to ADDRESS that he did fucked up shit. discovering wangxian fans out in the wild who are incapable of understanding nuance and truly earnestly believe that, because he is the protagonist that means that WWX is a pure, innocent, never done anything wrong cinnamon roll is bizarre, nevermind how fucking many of these people there are. truly terrifying.
choose violence ask game
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jumpscaregoose · 10 months
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HI I FOUND A GOOGLE DRIVE WITH S4 SPECIAL SUBS GOING TO BE ANNOYING AGAIN. SPOILERS BELOW
the sound design the SOUND DESIGN I never noticed how good it is but akjwieuhhsknjkebd LOVE IT. you can never go wrong with a good sound design
once again the ost slaps. still not over macaque's leitmotif in the group attack thing
THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE MEMORY AND PRESENT BEACH SCENES MAN I'M GONNA EXPLODE
who are the scroll guys. do they have any association with the book of life and death? are there more scrolls with other functions? will this be another three season arc or just two? so many questions
we still don't know everything that happened between wukong and macaque (and also the exact timeline of everything unless I am stupid) excited to find out more in s5
I really need to research what golden cores actually are (unless subs mistranslated) because I saw that and my first thought was "like in mdzs???" so rn I'm assuming that's probably a Thing because lmk and mdzs are both chinese media
we really got lucky with the red son in s3 specials I hope they do more with him literally ever. since the samadhi fire arc seems to be wrapped up idk how else he'd be a major character but c'mon man
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chanrizard · 3 months
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rewatching mdzs and the first link i opened was the japanese dub with english subs i can't tell you how wrong that felt adhejdjs
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ruiconteur · 6 months
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tag someone you want to know better
tagged by @extraordinarilyextreme, thank you~
favourite colour: pink maybe? i like softer shades/colours in general
last song: 天下 all under heaven by 成毅,曾舜曦,肖顺尧 liansanjiao
last movie: blade runner: the director’s cut
currently watching:
异人之下 i am nobody (2023) [thanks susu for the rec lmao]
莲花楼 mysterious lotus casebook (2023) [rewatch for subbing]
你好星期六 hello saturday [my comfort 综艺节目 <3 very behind on this though]
the matrix [i forgot which version i downloaded]
to be watched: [for my own tracking purposes too lol]
说英雄谁是英雄 heroes (2022)
少年歌行 the blood of youth (2022)
琉璃 love and redemption (2020)
长月烬明 till the end of the moon (2022)
關於我和鬼變成家人的那件事 marry my dead body (2023)
苍兰诀 love between fairy and devil (2022) [hate that title. anyway i dropped this but maybe i’ll pick it back up. who knows]
lupin (2021-) [i need to actually start practising my french for class]
currently reading: [oh god here we go. if you tried to guess which of these i’m reading for class you would probably be dead wrong lmao]
various short stories by ted chiang but currently on “story of your life,” “the truth of fact, the truth of feeling,” and “the lifecycle of software objects”
hexwood by diana wynne jones
a memory called empire by arkady martine
bēowulf tr. maria dahvana headley
eros the bittersweet by anne carson [this has been on hold for so long lmfao]
huis clos by jean-paul sartre [also on hold for almost as long]
他们都说我遇到了未知生物 they all say i met an unknown lifeform by 青色羽翼 [i may have put this on hold]
魔道祖师 mdzs by 墨香铜臭 [this was also put on hold]
天涯客 tyk by priest [on hold. yes again]
multiple academic articles, but the ones i’m most interested in currently are “be of knightly countenance”: masculine violence and managing affect in late medieval alliterative poetry and batman: under the red hood and ‘subtitling’s a carnival’: new practices in cyberspace
a whole bunch of lhl fics (mostly in chinese)
currently listening to: [added because i wanted a space for my audio dramas]
魔道祖师 第二季 the second season of mdzs [on hold]
天官赐福 第一季 the first season of tgcf [陈张太康老师.............. you have my entire heart and i haven’t even heard you as hua cheng yet]
师弟还不杀我灭口 my shidi still hasn’t killed/permanently silenced me [also put on hold........ you may be noticing a certain pattern here]
currently working on:
莲花楼 mysterious lotus casebook fansub and assorted translations related to that
lots of academic things because i’m very behind oh god [thank you procrastination]
perhaps...... a difang 清明节/tomb-sweeping fic 👀 we’ll see
current obsession: do i even need to say it. translation + 莲花楼 mysterious lotus casebook
tagging @bat1lau4can4 and anyone else who wants to join! i’m not sure who’s not done it yet lol
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k1201a · 2 years
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I usually like your takes on things, how chill you actually are and like you replied to that anon, how I at least don't remember you calling people names over all these fandom "issues". Now, the only thing that bothers me is how I feel your talking about the wrong people when saying things like 'their r*pe fantasy' and so about this issue in particular and I also feel that even if someone explain to you why you got the wrong people, you won't at least give them the benefit of the doubt?
People who really is into dark tops, into dom/sub and all that... believe me, they leave mdzs alone and are better into other things. They're the first one who know about what they like. So of course they don't think lwj is the darkest, toppest top or w/e, lol. They still can like wangxian but I personally never seen them talking about them as the darkest couple in danmei. What's more, they actually recognizes that's wwx the one into things while lwj more into just favoring him? Haha.
The people who usually is this eager to talk about lwj "noncon-ing" wwx and morals in sex are the ones that are part of the anti movement. The ones that hate mxtx for being a "dirty fujoshi". The cql onlies who celebrate censorship and say cql did a better job with the characters and made their love story ~more beautiful~ and talk about kinky this and fetishization that in a negative way. The ones that think fiction shouldn't even portray anything sexual between same sex characters apparently.
And no, it's not that they secretly have a r*pe fantasy (while it happens in different areas, it's not true that every time people claim to dislike something is because they actually like it deep down)... in any case they're secretly, and not that secretly, homophobic.
I don't doubt that there are, like in every fandom, people who lacks reading comprehension and people who projects a lot on character. And as a result of this combination you get people who will write some fic about dark lwj... but usually the ones who are all the time babbling about how he kissed wwx without his consent and so are the ones who see it in a negative way, the antis I mentioned or even people who think "you can like dark but critically!".
Meanwhile, the people who genuinely ha a r*pe fantasy whether irl or in fiction, and prefer more intense romance and dark tops and cnc are chilling in other fandom from works that gives them exactly that (like, just for instance, most people I know who likes that and like mxtx, if they have to joke about a top being too intense with his feelings is about lbh and not lwj... just as I saw people who likes svsss better complain about how people are always comparing the 3 books and showing him in a bad light because most people luckily recognizes lwj is the most sensible of all them and the one who doesn't have a dark side or something)
I'm not really following, you mean anon was a mxtx hater? if they were, they shouldn't be upset by what I said. if they hate lwj, and thinks he's a dark sadist rapist, and he's disgusting, why were they upset I called dark lwj boring? if you mean anon was not into rape fantasy, then they shouldn't be upset I called rape fantasy boring.
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piethemoon · 1 year
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J'ai publié 1 873 fois en 2022
C'est 184 billets de plus qu'en 2021 !
57 billets créés (3%)
1 816 billets reblogués (97%)
Les blogs que j'ai le plus reblogués :
@notenoughgatorade
@captain-flint
@swingsetindecember
@wwfits
@ittlebitz
J'ai étiqueté 1 649 billets en 2022
Seulement 12% de mes billets ne comportaient pas de tag
#kinnporsche - 523 billets
#art - 341 billets
#vegaspete - 112 billets
#wwdits - 94 billets
#mdzs - 94 billets
#eurovision 2022 - 94 billets
#eurovision - 86 billets
#ofmd - 74 billets
#kinnporsche memes - 74 billets
#the old guard - 68 billets
Longest Tag: 122 characters
#im not sure what i would hate except from a show that wouldn't respect the canon story and the canon chaoticly funny vibes
Mes billets vedette en 2022 :
n°5
Since yesterday's episode, I've seen many comments about the bj scene and how Kinn better spoil Porsche next time because Porsche is always giving and never receiving and like... First of all, that's not really how sex works. You can definitely receive and take at the same time. But also I strongly believe that Porsche totally get off on pleasing Kinn
56 notes - publié le 19 juin 2022
n°4
What I love about the ending scene in the 7th episode is the way Porsche is in control. He has Kinn right where he wants him and you can tell how exhilarating it is for him, and how smug he looks
84 notes - publié le 22 mai 2022
n°3
I'm so glad that Stefani Robinson and Yana Gorskaya stood their ground to keep the "This is especially important for the women, when you’re an expert in something and a man is explaining it to you: Strained eyes, big smile" line!
131 notes - publié le 24 août 2022
n°2
It's interesting that many of us saw the bathroom sex scene as Kinn's way of apologizing to Porsche but while Apo seems to agree with that, he also add (in the new BTS) that Porsche felt that he "was wrong and wanted to make up for it [...] He wanted to apologize by helping his significant other to release that out". So basically, this sex scene was a way for both Kinn and Porsche to ask for and receive forgiveness and honestly I love it so much I'm-
154 notes - publié le 27 mai 2022
Mon billet n°1 en 2022
KinnPorsche English Subbed Interviews Masterpost from 2020 to August 2022
I didn't include their Be On Cloud content since it's basically their official yt channel.
Part 2
2020?
Audition-Casting Process
MileApo in front of the audition room waiting for their turn
January 2021
SoSatSeoulSay with the old cast
February 2021
Excerpt of the News Plus Variety Interview
Shopee Live with Mile & Apo
Star update interview with Bible & Build
ZoomDara Interview with Bible & Build
March 2021
Excerpt of the Zokzakdara Interview with Mile & Apo
Press Conference with the old cast
SoSatSeoulSay with Mile & Apo
Shopee Live with Mile & Apo
May 2021
Kazz Acting with Apo & Mile
When Bible&Build sulk each other (IG Live) with Bible, Build & Job
June 2021
Build Birthday Live with Bible (rough translation)
July 2021
How Mile Apo make a phone call to each other
November 2021
Newsway Interview with Bible & Build
December 2021
SoSatSeoulSay Press Conference with the cast
February 2022
Voir l'intégralité du billet
361 notes - publié le 30 mai 2022
Obtenez votre année 2022 en revue sur Tumblr →
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wrongmdzssub · 4 years
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26.) Someone needs to give Wei WuXian a pat in the back :(
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wangxianficfinder · 8 months
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hi! i have a question. i seem to recall wwx and jc planning to plan the best wedding ever for jyl, so when wwx couldnt attend her wedding, he's sad bc of it too. is this in any of the canons? novel, donghua, audio drama, cql, manhua, anywhere? or was it just a headcanon i saw, or something i read in a fic? i'd appreciate it if anyone remembers the exact source of canon that has that info (if it exists at all), but if not, i just need some kind of confirmation that at least one of the canon does contain that info. thank you for your help!
I believe Wei Wuxian mentioned it to Lan Wangji when he tells Wei Wuxian about her wedding during their lunch together in Yiling, right before Wen Ning wakes up. As far as I know, it's in all of the adaptations, but i haven't seen the Donghua, Manhua or the Audio Drama so don't quote me on that. I distinctly remember it being in the Novel though, so it's at least there.
If I am wrong, please correct me, I read way too much fanfic lol 😅
Edit: IT'S IN EP 29 OF THE UNTAMED! I JUST CHECKED 😂 around 6 minutes and 50s in, while they are eating together, Wei Wuxian says,"Lan zhan, Do you know? My senior sister, she deserves the best man in the world. I and Jiang Cheng once said we'll make my senior sister's wedding one that everyone praises on mentioning for a hundred years. None would be equal to it. I'll watch my senior sister marry with absolute splendor." (Used the YouTube subs so may not be exact) I think fanon expanded on the quote and that's where the idea that WWX and JC planned their sister's wedding together came from.
- Mod C
---
evadingreallife said: 1/2 I'll be honest, i cant find it. Ive been running some word searches through my copy of mdzs and the closest thing ive found is this quote from wwx when lwj first tells him jyl is getting married:
2/2 “Lan Zhan! Do you know? My shijie, she deserves the best person in the world.”
He slammed the table. On his slightly drunk face was pride, “We’ll make this grand banquet one that everyone admires and praises, even after a hundred years. None would be able to compare to it. I’ll watch my shijie married with absolute splendor.”
Lan WangJi, “Mn.”
Wei WuXian laughed bitterly, “Why did you answer? I won’t be able to watch it anymore.”
Maybe cql expanded on this? Bc i remember it too but ive read so many fanfics that i may as well be mistaking it with some kind of frankencanon
Ah, that's actually the quote I was thinking of! I might have also misremembered it if it's not expanded in the Drama 😅 - Mod C
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deus-ex-mona · 2 years
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hi, welcome to part 6 of the fedora friday speedround!!
this time, dai and minami are… flexing(?) in front of a hard-to-swallow truth! it truly is a sad day for rain… and for mona…
will mona ever get her rights, as far as honeypre is concerned? only time will tell…
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tonyglowheart · 3 years
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Hi, if it's alright with you there's a translation bit I want to ask about. From what I'm seeing on social media and on various translations of MDZS, 氏 always seems to be translated either to "clan" or "sect", and there are the rare instances where two parties get into a disagreement over it. What would you say is the more accurate meaning? And can both clan and sect can be used as translations of "氏" without any conflict of meaning?
Hi! Okay so. Let’s unpack this lmao.
氏 more technically translates to “clan,” “family,” or like as a term used to refer to “kinship” relations. It doesn’t.. really translate to “sect”? if you looked it up in a dictionary that’s not what it would say at all. *however.* It’s also not without precedent for there to be cultivation sects within what I’d say is, like, “wuxia classical canon” in which the sect name IS the [location][family name]氏, like what you see in MDZS. Look at the sects listed until “Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils” in this EN Wikipedia lists page.
But 氏 itself does not mean sect, I wouldn’t say, and the usages I’ve encountered before in, like, harem dramas or such, use the term to indicate family, clan, kinship relationships, etc. In harem dramas for example (I’m specifically referencing harem dramas bc that’s the specific examples I have off the top of my head lol,,), you’ll see female characters referred to by [Family name]氏 if they’re not being referred to by their titles or whatnot, and it means something like... clanswoman of [Family name] in this usage. like.. referring to her by her maiden name. (which has its own complicated politics involved and I’m not getting into that here, just as a like... related aside to this example)
I haven’t read much as far as the “classics” of the genre to say what’s typical or not, which also means I don’t know if the cited precedents in earlier wuxia novels treat their 氏 as more of a sect or a clan, or a mix the way mdzs does. But I do think that MDZS, at least, does somewhat conflate clan & sect in how the sects are treated compared to the handful of other danmei cultivation novels I’ve read. MDZS’s “sect” situation is a bit more feudal in the sense of having a founding families who are in charge of certain city-states/regions, and have followers who are part of their city-state and so are members of the “clan” but who aren’t actually a part of the clan in the sense of bloodline or familial kinship goes. Non-blood members of the “clan” are not literally adopted into the family in order to be part of the respective cohort, which is what makes it more like your typical cultivation sect within a wuxia or xianxia setting go. At the same time, you still have your differentiation of the ruling/founding family within the “sect” (which goes by the clan name). If it were just translated as Clan, I can see this becoming more and more confusing for an Anglophone, especially if they don’t have experience with the genre, genre conventions, or cultural conventions. But again I can’t speak for if this is “typical” in the genre or even how the specific texts that might be considered a sort of “wuxia classical canon” treat the 氏 there, and how that’s “typically” been treated in translation (like whether the English translations of these other novels tl as clan or sect, for example). I could look into that more, and like as far as due diligence goes I probably should, but I feel like I can answer your questions without reaaallly delving into all of that at this moment, so I’m gonna  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If someone does know better and wants to correct me, please feel free.
Regarding MDZS specifically: I believe the choice to translate 氏 in MDZS as Sect was a specific choice that ExR made (who like. c’mon we all know they did in fact set a lot of translation precedent with their tl). If I remember correctly, I believe that ExR actually translated 氏 to Clan or sth like that at first, but then decided to change it to Sect to go along more with “typical” cultivation novels terms (isn’t there an A/N somewhere to this effect?). I actually don’t have an issue with this translation choice, lmao, I think it helps clarify some of the issues an Anglophone unfamiliar with the genre might have, or like help combat some of the connotations of using “clan” that might confuse an Anglophone. I think in English, “clan” tends to have strong kinship meanings, and like a cursory look at the look-up for clan mentions something about “common ancestor” and how in some societies clans would be exogamous, which means their members cannot marry each other. That is not the case with cultivation sects more generally, and not even the case with MDZS sects even tho it acts as a sort of deconstruction of the genre or as a sort of “proto-xianxia” society evolving out of more feudal structures. Anyway, cultivation sects don’t really follow this kind of organizational idea, and MDZS also does have discussions of the significance of bloodline within each respective Sect, which imo would warrant the distinction in translation choice. It also makes it easier to indicate who you’re talking about when you’re talking about, like.. “inner disciples” or “outer disciples” like Gusu Lan has, slash is extra helpful when the other Sects don’t already have this kind of in-built distinction in terminology.
I also kind of like this particular translation choice ExR made because I think the “Gusu Lan Sect” or “Yunmeng Jiang Sect” format lends it a formality to the naming that something like “Lan Clan/family of Gusu” or “Jiang Family of Yunmeng” kind of lacks.
(Rando note: some more “common” terms that “translate” to sect are 派, and 寨 and you’ll see some others like 帮, 教, or 门 and so forth. Each of these don’t... exactly translate to “sect” on their own but Chinese characters don’t always act as individual “words” with one-for-one translations; they sometimes are morphemes which need to be put together with other characters for form words, but can still lend the meaning of common word-constructions even when used individually, depending on context. If you looked up “sect” in an EN>CN dictionary you’d get results like 教派, 宗派, 门派, and more, which take on the meaning of “sect” depending on context and usage)
tl;dr: no 氏 does not translate to sect, per se; if you just asked me out of the blue I’d say it’s “clan” or “family” and/or referring to other kinship relations, including like a “maiden name” for women, as with the harem drama example above. *however*: there’s precedent for the MDZS-style “sect” naming structure within wuxia classical canon as far as referring to established organizations in a given novel go (caveat of I don’t know that much about those or how it’s treated in the text or in translation), and within MDZS usage I can also see why ExR made the decision to translate it to “Sect” when referring to the overall collectives, bc the members of the “sects” include not just the bloodline family members but also non-bloodline disciples who are followers of the sects, and I actually don’t think it’s a bad translation decision. It helps formalize the English translations of the “sect” names, and makes it clear(er) to an EN audience we’re talking about cultivation sects, and also helps to create a distinction for when we need to discuss the main “clan” (i.e. ppl of the bloodline of the founding families of each respective sect) within each respective “sect,” especially where other sects don’t make the distinction between “inner” disciples and “outer” disciples the way Gusu Lan does (a distinction which imo also is helped by calling the greater organization a “sect” and not a “clan,” bc otherwise we’d. probably get even more wank from anglophones arguing that “oh disciples are literally adopted into the family!!!!!!!!” and honestly there’s only so much bs I can take lmao. we already get enough “wwx is LITERALLY adopted” wank as is).
Kind of a last note and also a more context-dependent on the target-language-side approach to translation: I think the treatment of translating 氏 to “sect” as far as MDZS usage goes is, like, considering more certain “canonized” translations of certain terms & concepts from Chinese to English; with here the idea of using “sect” is because that’s the more “canonized” translation for a collective of ppl following a certain school of learning/thought in a cultivation setting.
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fantasiavii · 4 years
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Today on “I made this task take so much longer than it should have”: I forgot google translate had a scan text function and spent several minutes carefully copying Chinese characters from the subtitles in a way I hoped was correct enough and which I would be able to replicate when writing them into google translate. I then remembered the scan function and used it to read the subtitles instead. I did it with both the simplified and traditional subtitles, all to discover that...yeah google translate still sucks and I understand nothing more than I did before
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