#and then later he learns that lwj was black out drunk

[llycaons]

ep20 (1/3): genuinely quite horrifying

generally I like the chewing of the scenery because it's usually really well done (jgy never had a bad dramatic scene), but this overacting seems clumsy to me. the actor is doing 'drunk' but really overdoing it imo. his only bad scene

oohhHHHHHHHHHH

this is so fucking tragic you KNOW she's a victim of the wens and she was so young and her fear and sorrow are all she has left of herself until wwx lays her back to rest

oh fuck I forgot about this. for all her crimes this may have been a step more than she deserved

fuck he looks SO cool. I have seen a lot of complaints about the cql necromancy not being the same as literally pulling corpses out of the ground like in the book, and while I understand the annoyance I think the smokeshow aesthetic rules and the ghosts are really cool looking

I feel like my grasp of jc and lwj is a bit weak since I've not rewatched in a while so it's nice to get some characterization in this episode. jc is not stupid or ignorant by any means, but lwj immediately realizes what's going on and explains it to him because he doesn't understand. lwj is more book-learned but he's also quicker to pick up on practical things, which makes sense given his reputation later for being a phenomenal cultivator in the field. on the spectrum of political figure to practical cultivator, jc is leaning further towards politics

jc is also a pragmatist and somewhat black-and-white in his approach, which makes sense for him given the situation but is a bit simplistic. lwj is...I would call this look uneasy. he's apprehensive, upset, and/or angry this entire episode. this is not a good time for him

jc rescues wq and her immediate thought is wwx I cannot make this shit up. do chengqing shippers really think she would ever love jc more than she loves wwx OR that he'd be happy with someone who's closer to his brother anyway

I do think it's weird that she doesn't ask after wen ning, but I assume she thinks jc is more likely to know where wwx is

this is it. this is the entirety of why their relationship wouldn't work, and why they're fundamentally incompatible people.

jc claims he can only save her. she refuses. she is not willing to abandon her brother or her people to save herself. and jc will only protect her if she separates herself from her clan. she doesn't even look at him. she thanks him and their debt is even. and she's going to leave to find her family. all the chengqing meta in the world could not explain away this simple truth about them as people.

so that was a fucking lie

okay, in fairness she did return that comb without asking for anything, but like. she was a refugee in a starving commune, he could have done SOMETHING

here it is again, lwj with unshakeable principles, not losing sight of this potential threat even though it's helping them. and jc, seeing only an ally who's helping them to destroy the murderers of his entire family. I don't actually think jc is in the wrong to think this, but the irony of when their positions reverse is always interesting. lwj adjusts his perceptions of right and wrong because he realizes that they can't account for all nuances in the world, and jc digs in deeper out of grief and anger

another neat characterization moment. jc all emotion, about to rush in and attack. lwj careful, thoughtful, observant. let's check out the situation and act based on that. tendencies they both exhibit decades later, and teach to their children

oh boy he doesn't look good. eating out of wzl's hand though. lol. lmao

I did find this scene and this revenge rather disturbing (and I think it's meant to be) but I'm certainly not going to criticize wwx for it after he lost his entire home, was hounded and torotured, was dropped into a soul-destroying abyss and crawled out for revenge. I'm a little sick of the 'revenge is wrong uwu violence makes us just as bad as them' when they were all victims of horrific violence and this is a war, and this man is personally responsible for much of their suffering. and it's not like this happens again. after this run of vicious revenge, wwx is remarkably forgiving and gracious. so you know what I think a little torture is warranted. it's not fine but it's not the end of the world

making him eat his own dick in the novel was really fucked up tho

this is very funny to me I wonder if anyone ships them

jc's face has the standard confusion/fear/upset during this scene but lwj has such a look of 'wtf' I love it

HIS SHADOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHENQING!!!!!!!!!!!!

taken aback? concerned? confused?

xz's acting in this scene leaves me breathless. literally one of my favorite parts of the entire show. the dialogue, the mini expressions, the tension between characters, the body language. whew

#cql re-rewatch #there are three parts because I love this scene so much I had to microanalyze it

[merlinsbed]

so I’m guessing su she never realizes that lwj is like black out drunk when they fight in the inn but like

what if he did learn lwj was drunk and then had to just like. live with the knowledge that he wasn’t even really facing lwj at his best he was facing him as a black out drunk who was being driven by pure adrenaline and his “you pointed a sword in wei ying’s direction and now I must kill you” instinct and su she still got his ass kicked anyway

I bet you that thought would keep him up at night

#the untamed #he probably thought he was doing so well #not winning especially not with wwx there backing up his boyfriend #but he probably felt on reasonably even footing with lwj #and then later he learns that lwj was black out drunk #during that entire fight #like the fight is literally the only thing he remembers #I think su she would lie awake every night thinking about it

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

***Remember to go follow @wangxianficfinder, which will be the new source for these posts.  (And place to direct your Asks!)***

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1. Hello, I have been trying to find a fic since I accidentally clicked out of it. It’s set in the Burial Mounds settlement days and they start selling produce. The most popular is the black radishes, and lots of people from the gentry, common folk, etc. come to buy the radishes. @boyzcult

FOUND! @allgoodurlsarealreadytaken says this one is Arrivals in Yiling by Crystelia (G, 5k, Wangxian, yiling wei sect) Spanish translation on Wattpad here

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2. Hello! I just found your blog recently but I'm loving it. It has been really helpful. I need help finding a fic a read a few years ago. All I remember is that it was a Wangxian fic, Madam Yu trained Wei Wuxian and taught him some 'female things' (I don't consider it being characteristic of women but for the time it would probably be) and he dresses up as a dancer for a mission on a brothel. Sorry if it's not much, it has been a while. Thank you and have a good day. @multitudeofmes​

FOUND!  The Darkness Before Dawn by PsycheStellata707 (M, 114k, wangxian, WIP)

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3. hi! can i ask for a fic to be found? the most specific thing i remember is that it's post cql canon, theyre both in the habit of writing letters to each other, there's a part where wwx is drunk and sneaks into a house to write a letter to lwj to begin with something to the effect of "before i lose my nerve," and then a confession. the mode of the paper message was either a paper pigeon(?) or a jin butterfly.(in addition to my previous as, omg im so sorry i just remembered) that wwx fell off the roof (? well it was night) and was also very drunk about it. the whole exchange happened later in the fic than the beginning @xervos

FOUND! tight around my ribs by fruitys found by the asker (M, 22k, Wangxian, two part series)

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4. Do you know a fic where wei ying and lan zhan study a book of stages of qi cultivation i think and they learn how to do it together and then they show it in class because lan qiren was talking about it , but lan zhan could not get pass a stage, so wei ying said that he could not do it so lan zhan was not embarrassed. @angelastro0097

FOUND? 💖 Gentians in bloom by teawater, part 1 of the series (M, 250k, wangxian, series in progress, bookmark by MojoFlower)  **I think it might be this one, it has something super similar to that ~Mod L

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5. Do you know a fic was where we ying made their sword have like elemental powers, I think it was because jiang cheng did not have a core but I am not sure and huasiang has like a fan with wind power and fought in the sunshot campaign and his brother was impressed, i think sandu has lightning power like zidian and I think wei ying made the theory with wen qing but I not sure about that also. I also do not if it was a fix it or somo canon divergence but wei ying was like a mad genius @angelastro0097​

FOUND!   Yearning for Miles by Murahi (M, 346k, wangxian, WIP)

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6. Hi, I love your post and fic finders. There is this fic I have been trying to find in like forever! I only remembered a part though. It was like Wwx was like a vampire? He met baby Lwj maybe the time where lwj's mother recently died. Wwx bought lwj sweets and gifts and rabbits! And sent lwj in jingshi with his talisman. After some time wwx left. In the time waterbone abbys time lwj saw wwx again and hugged him tight lxc was surprised also the disciples to see the stoic jade run and hug someone.

FOUND? Under a Blanket of Black Wings by ChaoticAndrogynous (T, 19k, wangxian, vampire au, social justice, necromancy & vampirism, offstage sex, angst w/ happy ending, fluff)

FOUND? Say Goodbye by letterando (G, 3k, WangXian, LWJ & WWX, it is NOT romantic love, Grief/Mourning, Angst, Hurt/Comfort) WWX is an Immortal Ghost King

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7. Hi! I am looking for a fic where in the war. A maid gives baby A-Yuan to WWX because he was crying and inconsolable . I think he was in a war meeting or something. I’m sorry I don’t remember much about it. Only this scene. Can you or your followers please help me?

FOUND!  Lan Yuan’s War by BurningTea (G, 180k, wangxian, WIP)

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8. Hi! I have rec for the fic finder. There was one fic with Mafia leader(?) LWJ and WWX was a pediatrician and he got kidnapped by the mafia because they thought he put a bomb somewhere

FOUND? See What I’ve Become by Vamillepudding (T, 24k, WangXian, Mob, Yílíng Lǎozǔ WWX, Hurt/Comfort, LWJ Needs a Hug, Sickfic, Protective WWX)

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9. Good day. I'm currently looking for two fics and in need of some help. Fic a) I remember LWJ tries to set the jinshi on fire and fic b) has to do with a magic garden where he revives(?) WWX. Thanks in advance ^.^

FOUND? Both A and B might be 💖From my heart's ground. by orange_crushed (E, 38k, wangxian) in which LWJ plants/revives his mother’s garden. I think the burning is towards the end of it. ~Mod L

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10. Hiii!! I hope u r doing well! So glad that ur back! Can I get some help finding a fic? I remember that LWJ is cursed to follow whatever the person tells him to do or smth like that, and JGY uses it against him and ordered him to kill WWX. It's a really good fic, but I can't find it :(( thank u so much💖

FOUND! @mikkeneko​, @vasterthanempires and anon say this is Obedient and Bellicose by thunderwear (T, 20k, Wangxian, fix-it, angst w/ happy ending)

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10b. (because I mis-numbered, oops!)  Hi! I was hoping you could help me find a fic? It’s Wangxian and was on AO3, where Lan Zhan either owns or manages a bookstore and Wei Ying comes to work there, and when he’s there he keeps trying to make changes to the store. @la-diabla

FOUND!  @itsthenerdwonder says, “10b is absolutely read me loud and clear by ana_cp but” it’s hidden behind a challenge wall called “Editing” on AO3.  The Wayback Machine captured it 2 times, but I can’t get past the ‘proceed’ page.  ***  @notsobabblespace​ provided this enhanced link (make a note of the ?view_adult=true&view_full_work=true following the ao3 address and IT WORKS.  (Half the time.  I had to start scrolling immediately to keep it on the screen.  But this is the most effective thing yet!)  ***

SIMILAR! @notsobabblespace says this reminded them of 💖Every book its reader by twigofwillow (T, 22k, Wangxian, library au instead of bookstore, post by Mojo)

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11. hi! there's a fic i'm looking for where lwj and lxc are both royalty and i think wwx was some sort of sorcerer/healer?? lxc is courting wwx at one point even tho wwx says that he likes lwj and later on lwj sees lxc/wwx kissing and misunderstands. wwx doesn't hear from him for a while and he thinks its bc lwj doesn't want to talk to him but he actually broke his arm, and lxc had already explained the situation to him. i can't find it anymore and i've tried every single tag possible ;; thanks!!

FOUND!  A Heart Made of Jade by makkurokuro93 (E, 67k, wangxian)

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12. Hello! I am looking for a fic that I have lost! I can’t remember whether it was a time-travel or a canon divergence fic, but Jiāng Fengmian was alive. For some reason WWX had been denied having ownership of any land and is later gifted some? There’s a scene where JFM says something about how WWX is not responsible enough for any real kind of leadership and WWX over hears and is sad. But he’s gifted a city later and he and LWJ move to a house there part time? Then at some point they find Xuanyu of Slaughter eggs and end up raising baby snake-turtles? It’s a rather unique fic; I can’t believe I lost it. Thanks in advance! @shapeshifters-anon

FOUND! 💖 Gentians in bloom by teawater, part 1 of the series (M, 250k, wangxian, series in progress, bookmark by MojoFlower)

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13. Hi! I've been looking for a particular one shot. WWX wakes up after jumping off the cliff and finds himself in a modern hospital, and they think that he's a victim from golden core trafficking, because there's evidence of the removal, and the general starvation. JWY is reluctantly immortal, and they transfer the core back. Thanks! @rebeccabobecca

FOUND! ❤️ Confusion by Vrishchika ( Not rated, 5k, wangxian)

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14. Thank you for all your hard work! I'm trying to find a modern AU fic where LWJ and WWX meet because WWX has a pet rabbit Suiban that keeps escaping. JC was in it too, I think he and LWJ are coworkers. @ldyliberty

FOUND! Mod L thinks (and @justgot1​ confirms) it might also be The Bunny Next Door by detailsinthefabric (E, 43k, Wangxian, fluff, soft, bottom!lwj) 

FOUND! @notsobabblespace says this could be The Late Great Custody Debate by stiltonbasket (G, 9k, Wangxian) or

SIMILAR!  Summer Rain by Sweetlittlevampire (T, 15k, Wangxian, cottagecore)

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15.  Here's one for your next Fic Finder post: It was a WX modern AU where the magic element was the first time you touched someone you loved, it left a colorful mark on their skin. Wei Wuxian had no marks at all, which made him think he was unlovable until Lan Wangji investigated the matter. It turned out to be either because of a generalized curse or because of one that YZY put on him (there may have been two different fics with the same premise, I am not positive?) @mikkeneko

FOUND! @xervos says this one is leading tone by silencemostofall (M, 32k, Wangxian, angst w/ happy ending, soulmates)

FOUND! @notsobabblespace says it could also be pastel by antebunny (G, 3k, Wangxian, angst w/ happy ending, soulmates)

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16.  Hello you precious being! May I ask for help finding a fic? I recall LWJ & WWX is caught being frisky in a conference or smth, but WWX is disguised so the disciple who caught them thought LWJ is cheating and then suddenly clueless LWJ is the receiving end of many glares and people are subtly being mean to him. Thank you in advance mojo!

FOUND! Anon says this one is ❤️A Flower in Bloom (or Wei Wuxian Crashes a Party) by UmbrellaMartialGod (E, Wangxian, post-canon, crossdressing, post by Mojo)

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17.  Hello, there is this fic where..WangXian is punished with 20 discipline whips and they share it by half. But because WWX doesn’t have a core, he can only take a few and LWJ end up receive the rest of the punishment..Can you help? 🥺🙏🏻Thank you in advance! @yellowridge 

FOUND! By yellowridge themselves - Ch.8 from Back To Gusu by Museaway (M, 58k, Hurt/comfort, Married life, Corporal punishment, First time, Canon Divergence)

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18.  Hello, do you know the fanfic where JC is demonic cultivator while JYL was the sect leader and WWX was already married to LWJ. At qionqi path exept for xuanli it was wangxian child A-yuan (1st month?) celebration. LWJ was injured badly but alive when he went to meet JC in qionqi path. WWX was devasted. JYL tried to talk to him that JC didn't mean it that it was not JC fault, but when LXC found out what she was doing to his brother in law telling him in his emotionless state he was furious.

FOUND! @allgoodurlsarealreadytaken says this one is Down with the Yiling Laozu!! by Marinelifeclub (T, 6k, Wangxian, role reversal, major character death, not jc friendly, wx happy ending)

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19.  Hello! I can't find a fic that I read once, maybe you or your followers can help? It's a modern AU and WWX was in a cult, a-yuan was born, and then he left because no one was taking care of a-yuan properly. He's not sure if a-yuan is his kid or not, but he loves him. The fic happens after he's clean and reformed, trying to take care of a-yuan, the cult stuff is the backstory.

FOUND! both @vthx and @immoralq say this is Like a House on Fire by KouriArashi (T, 82k, Wangxian, modern au)

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19b. Hi there! On your next fic finder could i please ask help on finding a fic. It was a wangxian mpreg(?) or something like that. Wwx and lwj had a lovechild (lwj didn't know about him) alongside a-yuan but instead of lwj finding them they're adopted by a woman in a village near the burial mounds and during the years wwx was gone jc through jin ling find them. Wwx also believed that both of them were dead and they reunite at burial mounds when the juniors were kidnapped. Thank you :) @ebbster2012

FOUND! Lost children by EonaSPN (T, 42k, wangxian, LSZ & OCs, JL & LSZ, canonical character death, canon-typical, violence, post-mpreg, LWJ doesn’t find a-Yuan, secret child, ABO)

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20.  Hello love your blog!!! Thank you for doing this. I'm looking for a fic where Jiang Cheng strangles Wei Wuxian like in the field when it was raining scene and like he thinks he killed Wei Wuxian and then he meets Lan Wangji who was going to help them and tells Lan Wangji that he killed Wei Wuxian but when Lan Wangji goes and checks finds him alive but barely? It's not the fic by qiankun_pouch but it starts exactly like that but Wei Wuxians alive in the one I'm looking for. Thank you! @mybestfriendisacinnamonroll​

FOUND! @mondengel​ thinks this one might be a star called sun by thelastdboy (E, 53k, wangxian, songxiao, jiang siblings, WIP)

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21.  Hi! Can I ask for a fic? It's an AU, where LWJ turns into an animal (bunny, if irc) and any who gets a token or smth around his neck would win his hand. It's not the one set in canon AU, and WWX doesn't know LWJ beforehand. WWX arrives at caiyi, and just hangs around, and knows the bunny's significance, and as such doesn't touch the token? Thank you!

FOUND! Mod L and @notsobabblespace​ think this is ❤️heartkeeper by postingpebbles (G, 7k, Wangxian, my bookmark, shapeshifting!lwj, cute)

SIMILAR!  it’s you, it was always you by myung (G, 8k, wangxian, my post)

*both these stories are based on this tumblr comic and/or this tumblr post by pakastekaappihomo

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#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

[thedoubteriswise]

okay so. I am a smart adult with many important responsibilities. I have good taste and care about things that matter. for this reason, I’ve been trying to identify where in cql canon wangxian manage to fuck.

because they definitely do; I like a good post-canon getting together fic as much as the next guy, but it’s just not realistic.

allow them. it’s already been so long.

(just like this goddamn post turned out to be, let’s do a cut)

right. so initially it looks like you could place this right after the time skip in episode 33, because it shows us that wwx is with lwj in cloud recesses. we know that he spent the night in the jingshi because he wakes up there the next morning before he goes for a nostalgic tour of his old school.

and also visits the cold spring, where lwj is mostly naked. nice.

but wait! wwx is surprised by the scars on his back and chest. that seems like something he would have known about if they’d already been naked together the night before, so I’m going to say they did not fuck immediately upon wwx’s return to cloud recesses. okay, fine, they’re taking things slow, that’s cool.

maybe they could work it into the next night, then. oh wait, lqr is injured and... staying in the jingshi? for reasons?

I don’t know why. he must have his own house in cloud recesses, and it’s probably at least as comfortable as lwj’s, but here he is. he lives to stop his nephew from getting laid, I guess.

the next day they do some Q&A with the kids and determine that they need to head to qinghe to figure out what’s going on with this sword thing. great! we love a romantic road trip, plenty of alone time. but they also have to do their jobs, and then jin ling needs to get rescued from a wall of dirt, and jc is unfortunately there being himself, and then they have to grill nhs about his tomb full of angry sabers, etc. etc.

with all that going on, their next obvious chance is at the inn immediately after interviewing nhs. this evening has already included:

wwx gazing lovingly at lwj from afar

lwj carrying wwx on his back

lwj pawing at wwx’s robes trying to deal with his cursed leg

lwj helping wwx up the stairs, serving him wine, fixing his flute, and generally being at his beck and call

a very sexy and homoerotic duet

and now they’re alone and drooling over each other as usual. this seems like a plausible spot, right?

it does! but no. after they go back to the nie basement o’ swords and hear the backstory on nmj’s death, we see them walking in yueyang and lwj asks wwx how the curse mark on his leg is doing. wwx says it’s almost healed, which may or may not be a lie, but his inner monologue says:

he’s more concerned about the wound on his arm from the sacrificing curse, which lwj doesn’t know about, because wwx won’t tell him and they still haven’t been naked together.

also, this silly teenage shit doesn’t make much sense unless they’re still dancing around each other.

you guys love the sound of opportunities as they go flying past, don’t you?

right after this, lwj gets drunk. I’m aware that Stuff Happens in the novel scene that inspired this bit, and they do incorporate some of that into the show by having lwj commit petty larceny and admit that he “likes rabbits” as part of the softest and most loving conversation in human history oh my god

but lwj goes to sleep right on time, and the next morning, wwx is laughing and reassuring him that nothing happened.

after this, it’s time to go on a fucked up field trip with the kids in yi city, so they don’t really have any time alone for a few episodes until they’ve finished that and everyone is back at yet another inn. I wonder if they learned something about wasted chances and poor communication from this miserable songxiao story?

maybe! look, they’re being cute and domestic. there are currently no material barriers preventing them from having sex, nor will there be any specific evidence later on proving that they didn’t.

but they’re still firmly in mystery-solving mode and the juniors and lxc are floating around. the vibe isn’t quite there. if I were to pick the most solid reason why I think they’re saving room for jesus at this point, it would be the tension that happens when wwx again asks how lwj recognized him. lwj asks why his memory is so bad, and wwx replies that he wishes he had a bad memory. even though they’re comfortable and happy being together, there’s still some fundamental distance remaining. there’s no sense of romantic resolution. that was actually a point against all their previous opportunities as well; they’re all very sweet, but none of these feel like the place in a story where the romantic leads Officially Get Together.

okay, off to koi tower! shit is getting extremely real. everyone’s busy insinuating that they recognize wwx, but no one is saying it explicitly. wwx isn’t supposed to be here. the guy he’s pretending to be also isn’t supposed to be here. he and his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s brother are trying to figure out if his boyfriend’s brother’s boyfriend is a murderer. no one is comfortable and the political intrigue leaves no time for fucking in front of anyone’s salad.

I guess there’s plenty of time to make dozens of armed guards and like half the people they know wait while they have a romantic moment, though.

could they be more in love? And that sure feels like a romantic resolution that might be followed by narratively-earned sex.

ah. no, unfortunately wwx gets stabbed again. this certainly sucks, but it does have the helpful consequence of making lwj take him back to cloud recesses, where they are mostly alone and as safe as they can be in the circumstances. now there’s even more tenderness and also some plot-justified touching and skin exposure. plus, lwj just made a very public declaration of love.

too bad wwx has probably been unconscious since he started coughing up blood in the forest near lanling. he’s also still visibly in pain. fresh abdominal wounds tend to kill the mood.

but hey, the injuries on this show are only as serious as they need to be to move the plot forward and facilitate gentle h/c scenes, so by evening he’s looking perfectly healthy and walking around under his own steam like nothing’s wrong. I guess that problem can be ignored moving forward.

lxc then offers the the most devastating highlights of lwj’s backstory, like, all at once. it’s nice that he includes a flute solo to give wwx a second to process this mountain of terrible information. what the fuck.

there he is! the most devoted man in the whole world! turns out they can actually be more in love after all.

and then the following scene... look, I’m lazy and I don’t know how to make gifs, but screenshots cannot properly convey how good it is. you all know. the hesitant way wwx approaches, the slow and gentle piano version of wangxian, the two of them watching the snow together, it’s. ugh.

remember how I was talking about how the last scene with no material barriers was an unlikely candidate because of the lack of romantic resolution?

well, here’s wwx still being cagey at the beginning of this conversation.

and here they are in the middle of this conversation, having some epiphanies about the course of wwx’s life - I love this shot for a lot of reasons, but I extra love it because it shows wwx out in the snow, with lwj as the safety and warmth waiting behind him, god this show goes hard, holy shit

they both recall their vow to live with a clean conscience and internally say some very corny things about each other because they are both So Much, and then,

ah, what the hell. he can say it out loud after all. romantic resolution accomplished.

and then the camera slowly pulls away as wuji plays.

a slow zoom out? swelling music? listen, I am a connoisseur, I know a tasteful fade-to-black indicating a sex scene that won’t happen on camera when I see one. at last, we have a winner!

now you may think this post is finally over, but I actually have one more piece of evidence for you - the next scene shows the two of them the morning after, meditating behind a screen in the hanshi while lxc is waiting for jgy to show up.

before wwx got de-cored, he was a pretty powerful cultivator, right? the chances that he’s just bad at meditating or that he can’t stay focused on this task seem slim to me. so why does he keep falling asleep?

well. he had kind of a late night.

#yes I do have a lot of time on my hands #the untamed #cql #wangxian #meta #my meta

[butterflydm]

The Untamed Rewatch (ep 6)

Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode

aka in which WWX as a friend comes with many benefits *winky-face*

Yeah, this is definitely the episode where WWX goes from thinking of LWJ as an uptight person to poke fun at and try to provoke and starts thinking of him as a person with deep emotions hidden under lock and key. This is also the episode when WWX decides he actually wants to be LWJ's friend and starts working towards that goal. He does still provoke LWJ after this, but that's more due to his natural personality rather than intentional poking to get a reaction.

We learn more about schooldays WWX here, as we see that he and Nie Huaisang have a simple knock code for afterhours hangouts. The three bros are hanging out drinking and eating peanuts. They're all fairly drunk, judging their behavior. Jiang Cheng and WWX needle each other about their potential marriage prospects. Jiang Cheng apparently has QUITE a laundry list of requirements for his future marriage partner. Maybe. Jiang Cheng. Babe. Maybe this is why you don't have one in the future. Maybe your standards aren't realistic. So, we've got: beautiful, tender, diligent, can run a household, good family, quiet, frugal, not too high a cultivation level. It does seem like Jiang Cheng wants someone who will run everything behind the scenes but never challenge him — possibly because his parents' marriage is so contentious? 

We don't see many healthy & happy marriages on-screen in the drama overall — Madame Yu and Jiang Fengmian argue in front of their children (among other issues), Jin Guangshan and Madame Jin don't need elaboration, the parents of Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji have a very messed up story even if you look at it as generously as possible, the Mo family don't seem terribly happy either tbh and also raised a bully and continued to cosset him into adulthood, Jin Guangyao and Qin Su, well…

Two of the happy marriages we see end in the early death of both spouses, who leave behind a small child who needs to be raised by others — WWX's parents, and Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan. The only real exception is MianMian and her husband, who do appear to be happy and are also still alive by the end of the series, but obviously that can't serve as an example to any of our characters in the flashback episodes. Am I missing any examples of good marriages?

All of which is to say… if Jiang Cheng does have issues with marriage and maybe even sets his standards so high because he's hesitant to get married at all, I can understand why.

Lan Wangji comes in and breaks up the… party, and WWX takes advantage of him turning his back to place a talisman on him that forces him to act under WWX's control, which is definitely not a good thing for WWX to do. WWX does seem surprised that it worked but this ties into one of the main things that the… eh, evil, I suppose, characters do, which is turn other people into puppets to act through. I do think WWX learns his lesson here with this talisman, not because he himself was punished over the event, but because it meant LWJ got punished when he didn't deserve it. WWX, for all his trickster tendencies, does have a strong sense of fair play.

But, imo, the main reason of this choice on the part of the drama is because they need WWX to see through some of LWJ's emotional walls and start to see him as a person rather than a rulebook now, in the flashback, because they want to make sure to establish a mutual bond in the past as well (which I feel is related to their attempts to sidle around censorship rules since they know they won't be able to do the kisses or the "I really wanted to sleep with you back then" type moments). 

It's also about the rule of unintended consequences — WWX wants LWJ to relax and stop being so fussy over the rules, and instead he gets something completely unexpected that throws him for a loop and makes him reconsider who LWJ is as a person. He learns about the importance of the forehead ribbon, and he sees LWJ's loneliness and sadness.

There are a couple of different ways I can take LWJ going "yeah, that's fine" to WWX telling him no woman is gonna want to marry him: first, that he's not attracted to women and he knows and accepts it or, second, that having seen what happened with his parents, the idea of staying single seems more attractive than the idea of being married. Going back up to 'not a lot of examples of happy marriages in CQL' (there might be more in the novel), again, and LWJ would know about even fewer. His only real example of marriage is a set of matched cages, his and hers.

The moment when WWX realizes that LWJ's mom is dead is beautifully-played, I think.

He realizes they have something in common and confides to LWJ. Now, since we know LWJ is a black-out drunk in present-day, he probably doesn't remember anything that happened after WWX had him take a drink (which is why he doesn't already know why WWX is afraid of dogs when they talk again about it in the present-day), but WWX doesn't know that when he tells LWJ about his parents and about living on the street. 

We do also get WWX talking about his bad memory here — he says that he thinks he should be able to remember his parents, but mostly he remembers is the trauma that happened afterwards. From what I've read of people's posts about the novel, WWX's bad memory is used differently there but, in the drama, it seems to be tied to trauma overwhelming other things. And we get the flashback to tiniest bb!WWX with his parents and I die. It's so cute. He confides in LWJ and essentially begins the process of adopting him as a friend.

So, the Lan Qiren & Lan Xichen scene makes me wonder, and this might be answered later but, Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue must already be friends at this point, yeah? They're both young sect leaders and Lan Xichen speaks highly of NMJ's integrity to Meng Yao. It's either implied or said flat-out, I think, that Nie Mingjue has sent Nie Huaisang to Gusu to study for multiple years, so obviously Nie Mingjue thinks highly of Lan sect's teachings as well. So, like, they had this established friendship going on that Jin Guangyao gets in the middle of and ultimately taints in a way by using Lan Xichen's teachings as the way he learns how to kill Nie Mingjue.

That's really sad!

Anyway, the bros (plus poor innocent LWJ) get busted for sneaking alcohol into the Cloud Recesses and other shenanigans and we learn that WWX's mom acted the way same when Lan Qiren knew her. They never talk about it on-screen during the time of the drama, but I like to think at some point, post-canon, WWX is able to weedle stories about his mom about Lan Qiren. Let me have my dreams! I'm not sure if Lan Xichen also met her at some point — he would have been pretty young since she died when WWX was a kidlet and he doesn't say anything about it, so probably not — or he's just amused because he thinks WWX is amusing.

Lan Xichen's face is so shocked when he learns Wangji (apparently) took part in WWX's secret drinking party. Like, he wanted WWX to be friends with his brother and maybe teach him to have fun, but this result was not expected! And since LWJ doesn't tell them what really happened and WWX gets cut off before he can explain, does LXC continue to think that WWX talked his brother into drinking with him or does he assume something more along the lines of what really happened?

So, I'm not sure if I need to say this or not but: I'm not a fan of violent punishments; I don't think they teach anything useful. But since the show doesn't really depict them as successful in that way, I don't necessarily have an issue with them being part of the narrative any more than I have issues with other violent choices by characters, if that makes sense? But just to make my own position on it clear, I guess! I don't think an authority figure hurting someone under their care is justified because that person broke their rules.

Anyway, Lan Xichen obviously doesn't hold WWX's apparent influence over LWJ's actions against him, because he points WWX in the direction of the cold springs, where he already knows his brother is chilling. 

We get the first scene between WWX and LWJ after WWX has decided they shall Now Be Friends. I've gotta say, this scene has the same energy as Darcy's first proposal to Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice: I'm about to insult you (/your family) and don't realize at all this might be off-putting when I ask for a deeper emotional bond between us. And, much like with Elizabeth, I don't blame LWJ for being… 'no'. Like, WWX literally just said "hey, I thought you were boring but have now decided to give you the honor of being my friend". He's basically trying to neg LWJ into a friendship, it's a terrible approach.

I think we also get our first Gay Panic moment from poor LWJ here as his annoying, arrogant, stubborn-as-hell crush looks like he might strip in front of him. And then talks about the pretty girls back home. Poor LWJ.

They get yoinked into the cave where Lan Yi is holding the Yin Metal. I'm guessing this is all added since the Yin Metal wasn't a plotline in the novel, but it's a fun time (I mean, not really for the boys; they're pretty cold and wet). The show uses it as an excuse to put in some things they probably couldn't have otherwise sneaked in like WWX and LWJ getting tied together with the sacred forehead ribbon, plus it's also used to jumpstart the extra flashback stuff related to the drama-only Yin Metal plot. It's used to give us exposition in a way that's interesting for both us and the characters, plus there are bunnies.

Oh, they mention here that playing Spirit Inquiry is passed down through the family, and I remember I think that Lan Sizhui says that he's been learning it when we get to the future? That's so cute. If my memory is correct, hah.

Meeting Lan Yi and all the stuff with her is great. I understand (from what I've read of them) why some people have issues with the Yin Metal storyline in general. Obviously, as I was watching it without knowing it was drama-only, it did really work for me and it still does so far. WWX is less of an absolute genius, as he doesn't invent the discipline of demonic cultivation, but he does end up being the only person who is able to practice it large-scale without getting eaten up by it (... on his second try, but still). 

Instead, what the drama does is set up several cautionary tales/parallels for WWX. The sects joining forces to destroy the current master of demonic cultivation becomes a reoccuring theme — first with Xue Chonghai in the distant past, then Wen Rouhan in the early/middle flashback sequence, then Wei Wuxian at the end of the flashback sequence. 

Lan Yi was, apparently, the only female head of Lan Sect, but she did invent the cool musical technique that gets passed down from generation to generation. Lan Yi is a very likable character. She's polite and helpful and she raises bunnies and she readily admits to her mistakes of the past. She also has been working hard to try to mitigate the damage caused by her big mistake. She's a good person, but not perfect.

We also see the contrast here between Lan Yi and Lan Qiren — WWX essentially makes the same kind of suggestion here that he does in Lan Qiren's classroom but where LQR got angry and indignant over the idea, Lan Yi is sympathetic because she'd wondered the same thing. And one main difference between them that Lan Yi brings up is that she felt like she needed the edge because of the sexism she had to face as a female sect leader.

The first of our WWX-LWJ relationship parallels pops up here too — Lan Yi's one true friend was Baoshan. Lan Yi was young and aggressive, needed an edge, wouldn't listen to other people telling her that resentful energy was too much to handle, thought she could handle it all on her own. Baoshan was worried that the resentful energy would end up controlling and damaging her instead. It's a fairly blatant parallel. I really like that LWJ's parallel is the teacher of WWX's mom and WWX's parallel is LWJ's ancestor. Much like the other parallels we will run across, the story of Lan Yi and Baoshan ends more sadly than WWX and LWJ will; it's a cautionary tale. But even their endings do echo what happens at the end of the flashbacks — after Baoshan fails to stop Lan Yi from using the Yin Metal, she goes into seclusion and separates herself from the world emotionally, while Lan Yi is wounded and unleashed something dangerous she can't control.

So.... Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji go missing together. For hours. When they get found (in the next episode), obviously Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen find out where they really were but… what exactly does everyone else think happened to them? When they were missing together. For hours. And come back soaking wet with LWJ's sacred forehead ribbon wrapped around their wrists and unharmed (...and shoeless). 

*gazes off into the distance*

*thinks about how all the disciples learn about the forehead ribbon in lessons*

*thinks about Jiang Cheng's reactions in the future when WWX ditches him for LWJ*

*gazes off into the distance again*

In the search scene, we get another moment when Jiang Yanli is Feeling Poorly. I swear, that girl is sick every time we turn around. I want to give her a warm blanket and have someone else feed her soup for a change. Ah, we get Jiang Cheng's first empty threat about breaking someone's legs here (chronologically-speaking). Honestly, Jin Ling is such a reckless kiddo. Despite having literally zero of WWX's genes, I feel like he gives Jiang Cheng WWX flashbacks all the time.

Speaking of Jin Ling, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan get a classic romantic trope when she slips and he catches her in his arms (a romantic trope that WWX enjoys with LWJ many times in the future, bless). I've been wanting to keep an eye on him and his assumptions and his reactions to her. They do quite a bit of staring before they break away, and it does look like he's feeling something too. But then he immediately flees. It's a miracle he ever managed to marry her.

Next time: Lan Wangji falls in love; Wei Wuxian gets himself kicked out of the Cloud Recesses.

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#mdzs meta #the untamed #wangxian #the untamed | chen qing ling #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian | wei ying #lan wangji | lan zhan #cql rewatch