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veliseraptor · 4 years

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6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Oh boy. Just for fuckin grins I’m going to make this a really, really exhaustive list. Which means: if I’ve written more than one fic for a fandom, I’m putting it on here. (Which actually doesn’t even make it exhaustive, because there’s fandoms I’d say I’ve been loosely ‘involved in’ where I didn’t write fic, but it’s the closest I can get without this getting far too out of hand.)

Disclaimer that I am not really an OTP person, on the whole - I’m a consummate multishipper. But I’ll pick like. Up to three.

In chronological order!

Wheel of Time: Min/Rand and Mat/Tuon, though now I’ve drifted into Elan/Rand territory (or, as previously mentioned, Elan/Min/Rand).

Black Jewels Trilogy: I was mostly a boring canon shipper in this fandom (Lucivar/Marian was near and dear to my heart); shockingly I was not a Lucivar/Daemon shipper at the time though if I read it for the first time now I might be. But really I was mostly here for gen shipping the family dynamics, especially with Jaenelle and Lucivar. Soft spot for Karla/Jaenelle and Karla/Wilhelmina, though.

Caliban Leandros: Just gen shipping the central brothers (Caliban and Niko). I mean, obviously. What else would I care about.

Doctrine of Labyrinths: Felix/Mildmay, Felix and Mildmay, don’t care which, as long as they are thoroughly entangled in each other I’m happy. Also Felix/Malkar, though.

Silmarillion: Aredhel/Celegorm, very messy Tuor/Idril/Maeglin, and Curufin and Celegorm’s messy and dysfunctional relationship. Oh but also Curufin/Finrod. That’s four. So sue me.

A Song of Ice and Fire: I was a dirty Sansa/Sandor shipper. But also always the Arya and Sandor dynamic was one I loved. A real sucker for Robb/Jeyne and I still am, they were cute and I’m very sad for them.

Death Note: L/Light, and this is one where I honestly did have an OTP. Baby’s first...okay, not quite baby’s first hateship, but it was probably the first really intense one. Definitely the first hateship I wrote smut for.

Avatar: the Last Airbender: I didn’t really have strong feelings about pairings? Mostly I was just kind of “Zuko & everybody” but I think honestly Zuko and Sokka was one of the dynamics I ended up coming back to a lot. I wrote some Zuko/Mai and I did like them. If I got into this fandom now I feel like I’d be very about some Zuko/Mai/Katara. OH Azula/Ty Lee, I’m into that.

Code Geass: Lelouch/Suzaku. Is anyone surprised? I certainly hope not.

Doctor Who: Doctor/Master was really the only thing I was ever invested in as far as shipping went, though I don’t recall as I ever wrote anything explicitly shippy for them. One kind of slanting in that direction, but never went all the way. Missed opportunities, past self.

Supernatural: Sam and Dean, first and foremost; secondarily Sam/Lucifer and Sam/Castiel.

Buffy: the Vampire Slayer / Angel: Buffy/Angel, which is actually kind of surprising to me in retrospect as Buffy/Spike is on the face of it more my aesthetique? But I guess my real OTP was actually Buffy/Angel/Spike, I chased down a lot of that when I went on my Buffy reading spree after I finally watched it in high school.

White Collar: Neal/Peter/Elizabeth, and one of the only fandoms where I was blessed with a lot of content for my OT3, comparatively speaking.

MCU: Steve/Loki, Loki and Thor, and Clint/Loki, probably, though there’s a small army of ships and dynamics here that I could throw down. And I feel like I would be remiss if I did not mention Clint/Natasha as well.

Lymond Chronicles: Lymond/Gabriel is honestly my single biggest ship here, though I do love Lymond/Philippa. Also Lymond and Richard. (I mean! Are we getting the picture here about sibling relationships & me?)

The Untamed: Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, and a tie for third probably going to Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen and Lan Xichen/Jin Guangyao? But I do also love Wangxian?? god there’s too many good ones here really how am I supposed to choose.

Other fandoms where I just really didn’t have any ships: Gentleman Bastard Sequence, Dexter.

#lise memes #led lite #conversating

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farmerlan · 4 years

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Farmer Lan’s Rewatch Guide to The Untamed - Episode 6

Vanity, thy name is Lan Wangji

SPOILERS AHEAD YOU KNOW IT

HAHAHA I feel like this episode is going to be really trying for me because there are so many scenes that TECHNICALLY happen in the novel, but not in this way. There’s a lot of crafty rewriting going on here that I’m going to try my best to reconcile with what’s going on in the novel. WARNING IT GETS REALLY LONG.

[We see the trio (Nie Huaisang, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng) enjoying some Tian Zi Xiao, a famous liquor produced within the region. Lan Wangji walks in at that moment and sees the debauchery going on. He demands they receive punishment but Wei Wuxian sets a talisman upon Lan Wangji to forcibly control him. Wei Wuxian then orders him to drink and we find out that he’s a super-lightweight. Wei Wuxian takes this chance to mess around with the usually stoic Lan Wangji. We learn that the Gusu Lan’s sect headband is sacred - no one can touch the headband except parents and significant others.

Wei Wuxian counters that no one on earth is going to marry into the Lan sect because they’re so stuffy HA. We learn a little about their backgrounds - Lan Wangji claims he does not have a mother, Wei Wuxian shares that he was orphaned at 4, and his only memory of his family is of them traveling with a donkey, laughing and having a good time.]

Differences from the novel:

Lan Wangji doesn’t interrupt the party - he interrupts the morning after. After a night of drunken shenanigans, Wei Wuxian & pals are all passed out in his room when Lan Wangji strides in the next morning. Next thing Wei Wuxian knows, he is being dragged by the collar into the ancestral hall for punishment. Lan Wangji doesn’t fall prey to any talisman tricks because...he’s too good for that obvi.

In the novel, we first learn that Lan Wangji is a one-shot wonder in Chapter 30, post-resurrection timeline, as part of the Yi City arc as they chase down the other body parts of the Demonic Left Arm’s corpse. He does not drink or become inebriated in Wei Wuxian’s first life.

The actual backgrounds of both characters are correctly portrayed but this heart-to-heart conversation never happens at any point in the novel. In fact, with Lan Wangji’s general emotional constipation, many believed they were downright hostile to each other at times and I think even Wei Wuxian was unsure if Lan Wangji really returned his friendship prior to his death.

We learn about Lan Wangji’s mother in more detail in one of the later episodes so I’ll talk about it then, but Wei Wuxian’s memory of his family was brought up in Chapter 66 of the novel. Specifically, he has a flashback as he is riding on Little Apple with Lan Wangji beside him, and then asks Lan Wangji to pick up the reins in order to re-enact the scene of his mother riding on a donkey led by his father from his memory. He then laments, “Guess we’re only missing a little one to complete the picture”. Obviously, Lan Wangji has no clue what he’s up to but he obliges and picks up the reins anyway.

Re: the headband, in the novel, it’s explained at the end of the Yi City arc, so there are no scenes with Lan Wangji’s ribbon in the Gusu Lan arc. Lan Wangji doesn’t actually explain in the drama what the headband signifies, besides that it is important (I forget whether the show explains this later on). But in the novel, we learn from Lan Sizhui in Chapter 45 that the headband is meant to signify self-restraint, and the only time when you’re allowed to be *ahem* uninhibited is in front of your significant other. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too late for that, especially since he explains this the day after the juniors witnessed a rather...shocking scene in the tavern (replaced by a more tame scene in Episode 40...so I’ll talk about that then because this is getting way too long.)

I’m just going to drop it right here that there is a flashback scene in the novel that is not in the drama. It’s right after Wei Wuxian learns about the meaning where he recounts that the first time he had touched Lan Wangji’s ribbon. In their youth, the Wen sect hosted a gathering/festival (idk what you want to call these...basically sects host get-togethers for other sects and these often last several days and can consist of many events, from banquets to hunts etc). It was during an archery competition event. Wei Wuxian initially tells Lan Wangji that his ribbon is crooked, causing Lan Wangji to feel for his headband to check, only to realize Wei Wuxian was teasing him. The next time, however, Wei Wuxian warns him that it really is coming loose but Lan Wangji ignores him as he figures Wei Wuxian is just being his grand ol’ joker self again. So Wei Wuxian reaches for it as he offers to fix it for Lan Wangji... and ends up accidentally ripping it off entirely. Lan Wangji is so upset he actually withdraws from the competition early (he still ends up placing fourth because he’s ~gifted~). Back to the present, Wei Wuxian reflects that it was a testament to Lan Wangji’s character and restraint that he didn’t immediately end Wei Wuxian’s life right there and then HA.

[The next day (let me stop here and just say the teaware in this show is to die for), we cut to Lan Qiren discussing similar happenings at the Nie sect, from where Lan Qiren has just returned. Lan Xichen deduces the water demon and snatched cultivator souls are connected.

We learn more about Wei Wuxian’s mom (Cang Se San Ren...CSSR because I can’t with how long the name is) but then our protagonists’ shenanigans are reported to Lan Qiren. Lan Qiren mets out punishment to the four of them, poor Lan Wangji included, and also accidentally reveals that he knew Wei Wuxian’s mom.

Cut to the Jiang sibs running into Lan Xichen and he tells them it’s going to take weeks to heal, and then points him to the cold springs. Wei Wuxian wants to learn more about CSSR - LOL Lan Xichen alludes to CSSR shaving Lan Qiren’s beard while she was here.

We get a scene with Wen Qing/Wen Ruohan - she seems to have discovered the Yin iron is in the water due to Wen Ning’s sudden change in appearance during the water demon hunt.]

Differences from the novel:

In the novel, Lan Qiren is called away to attend a conference the day after the pornography incident (so Wei Wuxian was NOT punished for that trick ha) and has no involvement in any of the events until the fight with Jin Zixuan.

The punishment scene was portrayed differently. Backstory is - the night before, Lan Wangji caught Wei Wuxian sneaking in alcohol again (he drew the short straw and had to buy it for his gang of do-no-gooders for the party). They fight again, but this time Wei Wuxian clings to Lan Wangji and tackles him off the border wall and onto the ground outside - which means Lan Wangji has now technically also broken the sect rules of being outside and re-entering past curfew. When Lan Wangji drags Wei Wuxian to the punishment hall the next morning, Wei Wuxian tries to pull a ‘gotcha’. He figured Lan Wangji would let him off since technically they both broke the rules and before you punish someone, you should apply the same rules to yourself. Cue Lan Wangji kneeling beside him and giving himself 50 more lashes than he gave to Wei Wuxian. Talk about holding yourself accountable.

There’s not really a lot of discussion of Lan Qiren and CSSR’s relationship in the novel - the author does state in an interview that CSSR AND Wei Wuxian both messed with Lan Qiren’s beloved facial hair, so like mother like son, but it wasn’t canon in the novel.

Jiang Cheng straight up carries Wei Wuxian out of the punishment hall on his back in the novel. Wei Wuxian’s being all finicky and “I didn’t ask you to carry me anyway” and Jiang Cheng replies, “Lan Wangji took 50 more lashings than you and walked out of there by himself! If I didn’t carry you out, god knows how long you would have laid there rolling around in the hall. I don’t think I could bear the shame! Also, stop playing victim then - get off my back and walk.” And Wei Wuxian immediately changes his tune and is all “But I caaaaaaan’t I’m so injured” LMAO.

Yes, Lan Xichen is still the biggest WangXian shipper and is indeed the person who points Wei Wuxian to the cold springs in the novel.

[Cold springs scene with Lan Wangji (they are both semi-naked in all versions besides this, also, who takes a dip FULLY CLOTHED, hello censorship) and Wei Wuxian declares his offer of friendship. Lan Wangji refuses, what else is new.

They both get sucked into a cave that is protected by ~magical guqin~ which forbids non-sect members from getting closer - oh, and there are rabbits wearing the Lan headband. Lan Wangji ties their wrists together with his sect ribbon and they are able to head up to the guqin together.

Lan Wangji plays the guqin to perform Inquiry (have I mentioned I cry tears of laughter whenever I see the guqin scenes I’m sorry bb it’s just really hilariously wrong…) Lan Yi shows up, we also see that everyone outside is looking for the two of them. Cue weird Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan scene as she slips and he catches her. The Jin Zixuan here is downright swoonworthy compared to the novel, I tell you.]

Differences from the novel:

The cold springs scene more or less follows the novel - the dialogue is somewhat different and there’s less physical contact (Lan Wangji in the novel straight up puts his hand on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder to stop him from moving around and splashing water everywhere).

There is NO CAVE SCENE in the novel. The cold springs scene in the novel ends with Wei Wuxian’s offer of friendship being rejected, and he goes “You’re not giving me face at all, aren’t you afraid I’m going to take all your clothes when I leave if you keep rejecting me like this?” and Lan Wangji of course tells him to gtfo. So, no, we don’t get the symbolic ~tying together of their wrists~ scene in the novel and we do not meet Lan Yi in the novel.

There’s no Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan scene in the novel - I assume it was done for some more relationship building between the two characters in the drama since it would be kind of weird for the show to just throw them together into a romance and arranged marriage without building up to it.

There’s a whole other origin story to the rabbits running around Gusu Lan which I’ll cover in Episode 7.

[We learn that Lan Yi is a boss ass bitch who created the Chord Assassination technique and also appears to have a fondness for rabbits. Turns out she is NOT dead - just guarding the Yin metal until she dies. Cue origins of the Yin metal - it was owned by Xue Chonghai and he was the original demonic cultivator, using people as sacrifice and controlling the Tortoise of Slaughter. He was brought down by the sects and Yiling became known as the Yiling Burial Mounds. The Yin metal was then shattered to be suppressed by the five sects, and kept a secret.

Lan Yi, in an attempt to revitalize the Lan sect, went after the Yin metal despite the warnings of her bff Bao Shan San Ren (Wei Wuxian’s grandmaster). The Yin metal cannot be resealed, so Lan Yi was forced to seal herself in with it.]

Differences from the novel:

Nope, none of this happened. Xue Chonghai is not a character in the novel at all. There’s no Yin metal, but Wei Wuxian DID come up with the Yin Hu Fu (the Yin Tiger Seal) as a weapon. We learn more about its backstory in Chapter 30, however, the novel only states that it was crafted by Wei Wuxian from a mysterious piece of metal he harvested from a monster. The power of the seal therefore really comes from the knowledge that Wei Wuxian possessed to make it - many after him had tried and failed to replicate his success following his death. In the novel, Wei Wuxian is the originator of demonic cultivation (or at least the first person to master it to such a fearsome degree), and he never controlled or sacrificed live people - only corpses.

In the novel, Lan Yi is indeed the only female cultivator to have led the Lan sect, and the creator of the Chord Assassination technique. This was covered as part of the introduction to the technique in Chapter 55 before Lan Wangji uses it on the Tortoise of Slaughter. We learn that due to the cruel nature of it (used to eliminate or suppress many of her enemies), not many people speak fondly of her but there’s no denying the power of the technique. However, that’s all we get - there’s no back story with BSSR or anything of that sort.

Overall Thoughts:

I have none because this post is already long enough hahahaha

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #魔道祖师 #lan wangji #wei wuxian #cql #the untamed #episode 6 #recap

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omegaqueencas · 4 years

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Day Two • Library Pavilion (21/01)

For WangjiWeek2020, @wangjiweek

Ship: Wangxian

Rated: E/NC-17

Warnings: A/B/O dynamics; Alpha!LWJ; Omega!WWX; going into heat; dub-con because of the dynamics of the thing; mating; reckless teenagers; Lan Sect being dicks; first time; underage; inappropriate usage of a library; Lan Xichen is the biggest wangxian shipper tbh and the best bro.

It took a moment for Lan Wangji to realise what the amazing smell filling his nostrils was. He frowned and looked up from his book, eyes falling on Wei Wuxian, who was pouting and copying the rules of the Lan Sect for the third time that week.

Wangji knew exactly what to do, he knew exactly how to deal with this situation, he knew exactly what the procedures were… And yet, he couldn’t move.

This wasn’t the first Omega going into heat he had smelt, but he had never felt as affected as he was now. His cock was already growing hard, and it was clear that Wei Wuxian was only in the first stages of his heat. The only thing in Wangji’s mind was to mate, to get that Omega under him and knot him, impregnate him.

He tried his hardest to make these thoughts disappear, even attempting to meditate, but as the seconds passed, the stronger the smell was, and the quicker his heart pounded in his chest.

To make matters worse, Wei Wuxian groaned, and it was such a beautiful sound that Wangji had to close his hands into tight fists to control himself.

“Lan Zhan~.” Wei Wuxian called, and Wangji couldn’t help but look at him. Wei Wuxian was blushing, sweat starting to form at his hairline, and he was still pouting, and Wangji wanted nothing more but to kiss those beautiful lips. “I’m bored!” He groaned again, lying on top of his table.

Wangji ignored him, returning his attention to his book – trying to return his attention to the book, because his mind was still thinking dirty things about the boy near him. If Wei Wuxian didn’t notice what was going on with himself, Wangji wouldn’t be the one to tell him – technically, he should do just that, maybe call a Senior to help with such situation, but Wangji not only knew he wouldn’t be able to move without jumping Wei Wuxian, but he also couldn’t imagine leaving him.

“Lan Zhaaaan~!” Wangji almost jumped out of his chair when he realised Wei Wuxian was at his side, moaning his name, face completely red. The boy was so close, his smell so intoxicating that Wangji felt frozen into place, eyes locked on him. “Lan Zhan~.” He moaned again, one hand coming to hold his arm.

[ continue reading here ]

#wangjiweek2020 #happybdaylwj2020 #wangxian

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jiggie · 4 years

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I give you... Lan Xichen

LAN XICHEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN 🥺🥺🥺 thank you reid!!

under cut!

How I feel about this character

oh my god where do i even begin . I THINK SO DEEPLY ABOUT LAN XICHEN I AM GOING TO GIVE MYSELF AN ANEURYSM.. i love him so so much, there is just a deepness and subtlety to his character it makes me wanna CRY i feel so gently towards him

i love the elements in his character regarding judgement and his parallels with lan wangji, his view on life and the lan rules, his good intentions vs how things turn out i just adore everything about him . a king, truly 🥺

All the people I ship romantically with this character

jiggy </3 </3 </3 </3 im sorry. im married to xiyao i love their relationship it absolutely kills me

i also lowkey love 3zun as well though it’s a bit second banana to how i love xiyao

My non-romantic OTP for this character

LAN WANGJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 the relationship between them jsut.... oh my god......... my heart........... two autistic legends

also, of course, lan sizhui!!!!! uncle zewu-jun 🥺 and lan jingyi as well!! i want to see the juniors interact with xichen </3

My unpopular opinion about this character

he is NOT a himbo </3 though xichen is very soft i think there are some very sharp edges to his character and that’s what makes him so interesting, i don’t like it when people call him dumb

i do not agree that he is the “biggest wangxian shipper,” i think at the beginning he was but by the end i just can’t help but think his feelings towards wei wuxian are bound to be complicated as hell

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i wish he had gotten a hug 🥺

i want to see him pet some rabbits with lan wangji

like i said for jiggy, i would have loved to see what went down when he was saved by him during the sunshot campaign!!!

i’d like to know more about xichen post-canon as well </3 i just wanna check on him

#gay-pepsi

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trishmilburn · 5 years

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An Exploration of The Untamed’s Romance & Mystery, Episode 6

Disclaimer: This post and others in this series will be filled with loads of spoilers if you haven’t seen The Untamed, the Chinese drama based on Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). My chief interest in doing this series as I re-watch the drama is to chronicle the development of the romance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, but I also highlight the progression of the mystery that helps bring them together. Keep in mind that I’m writing these posts with the knowledge of what’s going to happen throughout the series and having read the novel. If you’d like to read my examinations of previous episodes, links are provided at the end of this post.

On to Episode 6…

We begin with Nie Huaisang sneakily knocking on Wei Ying’s lodging at the Cloud Recesses with what we assume is a prearranged secret knock. When Wei Ying asks what took him so long, Huaisang says he went to get peanuts. Our sweet, pre-calculating Huaisang was late because of snacks. We soon see that these peanuts are to be washed down by Emperor’s Smile as Wei Ying, Nie Huaisang and even Jiang Cheng sit around talking, Wei Ying and Huaisang waxing poetic about how much the love wine. Chronically surly Jiang Cheng tells them that if they like it so much, they should just stalk the smell of wine to find their immortal partners. And now I’m imagining Wei Ying drunk and seeing Lan Zhan as a giant jar of Emperor’s Smile.

Jiang Cheng’s comment leads to Wei Ying teasing him about all the stipulations he has for his own partner in life, which of course doesn’t sit well with his brother, who starts to chase Wei Ying around the room. Enter Lan Zhan, who arrives just in time to see the three of them wrestling on the bed. Lan Zhan calmly asks what they’re doing, probably thinking that they’ve never had such upheaval at the Cloud Recesses until Wei Ying showed up. The boy just can’t stay out of trouble.

Wei Ying’s reaction to the local rule enforcer showing up? Of course, he tries to get him to join in the fun, even tugging on the arm of Lan Zhan’s robe with his fingers. Seriously, this is cute flirting, and Wei Ying is too dense to realize it. Predictably, Lan Zhan says alcohol is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses, and Wei Ying proceeds to basically call him a fuddy-duddy again. Lan Fuddy Duddy tells them to report to the Discipline Hall for punishment, thus sending Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang running out looking as if they are about to toss their cookies. But Wei Ying, not ready to stop being mischievous yet, slaps a paper talisman on Lan Zhan’s back. And just like that Lan Zhan is docile and under Wei Ying’s control. Soon, however, Wei Ying realizes why Lan Zhan doesn’t drink. One tiny cup of wine and he passes out drunk! When his head lolls over on the table, we get the first moment of Wei Ying touching Lan Zhan in a tender way when he lightly touches his face. Realizing that Lan Zhan won’t be able to make it back to his own room, Wei Ying puts him to bed, then has a bit of fun by having Lan Zhan call him Elder Brother. But we see how ingrained the protection of the Lan forehead ribbon is when Wei Ying tries to touch Lan Zhan’s and Lan Zhan swats his hand away. But when Wei Ying tells him that it’s crooked, cute drunk Lan Zhan bolts upright and tries to straighten it. Again, Wei Ying tries to help. And again, Lan Zhan swats his hand away, saying that the headband is important. Only his parents, wife or child can touch it. This is important. Remember this.

Wei Ying says that the Lan Clan has so many rules, who would want to marry Lan Zhan? He tells him that he’s going to be single for life. This is heartbreaking to me as a viewer because I know what Lan Zhan is going to go through during those sixteen years between Wei Ying’s death and his second life. He is going to be alone and thinking he will be for the rest of his life, all with the knowledge that he never told Wei Ying how he really felt. It’s part of the reason why he spends every day of those years playing “Inquiry” on his zither, trying to connect to Wei Ying’s spirit but without success.

Another heartbreaking moment is when Lan Zhan responds to Wei Ying’s jab with, “That’s fine.” I have to wonder if this is partly because of his parents’ sad story but also possibly a part of him acknowledging that he likely won’t get married because he’s not attracted to women. Wei Ying seems stunned by this response and continues to tease, saying Lan Zhan’s father probably so dull that his mom is bored. When Lan Zhan confesses that he doesn’t have a mother, it takes a few moments and some unthinking comments before he realizes what Lan Zhan means and sees the sadness that a non-drunk Lan Zhan would never show to anyone, least of all this frustrating young man next to him. To offer empathy and in another effort to make a connection with Lan Zhan, Wei Ying shares how his parents died when he was only four. The only memory he has of them is his mother beside him telling a joke as Wei Ying rides on a donkey. This is one of those moments when doing this re-watch has helped me make a connection I didn’t before. That memory probably feeds into his affection for Little Apple. There will be other such “aha” moments later in this episode.

Next we see Lan Xichen talking with his uncle after Lan Qiren has returned from the Discussion Conference. Qiren reveals that similar strange things have been happening in Qinghe, the seat of the Nie Clan, as have been happening in Gusu.

Then we’re back to someone knocking on Wei Ying’s door again, which wakes him up after his night of drunken revelry. But then he remembers there is evidence of said drunken revelry and Lan Zhan is still passed out drunk in his bed, at least until his rolls out into the floor, still completely out.

When a Lan disciple reports to Qiren and Xichen that Wei Ying and some others were drinking the night before, Qiren angrily says Wei Ying is just like his mother, which Xichen finds quietly humorous – at least until he hears that Lan Zhan was among those drinking.

Oh, here comes the punishment part of the misbehavior cycle. Wei Ying doesn’t understand why Lan Zhan insists on receiving punishment when it wasn’t his fault that he drank. Wei Ying tries to plead with Qiren not to punish his nephew, but the Lans seemed determined to go through with the 300 beatings on the back with one big-ass ruler called a ferule that is more like a plank. Also, 300 strikes? Wow. Even Xichen admits this was an excessive punishment when he encounters Yanli helping Wei Ying and also comforting Jiang Cheng, who got 50 whacks with the big-ass ruler. Qiren was obviously more upset by Wei Ying’s continued mischief and his corruption of Lan Zhan, Qiren’s star pupil, than by the actual drinking. Xichen tells Wei Ying that it will take about two weeks for his wounds to heal but says he’ll send him to a place that will help him heal faster. Wei Ying asks Xichen how Qiren knew Wei Ying’s mother, and Xichen responds that the two were classmates.

We haven’t seen the Wens in a while. Let’s see what they’re up to. I’m sure it’s nothing good. Wen Qing is communicating with Wen Ruohan via magic talisman, telling him about the waterborne abyss and how Wen Ning’s eyeballs turned white. Wen Ruohan determines this means the Yin Metal his conniving self is looking for is in the water.

Oh, we have arrived at the section of our program known as Naked Lan Zhan. Hee hee hee. Lan Zhan is soaking in the cold water springs to heal his wounds. Remember Xichen telling Wei Ying he’d tell him where to go to help heal his wounds faster? He had to know his little brother would be there, too. I’m telling you, Xichen is the biggest WangXian shipper there is. And for someone who was hobbling along with his arm around his sister’s shoulders not long ago, Wei Ying sure does move fast once he sees Lan Zhan in the pool. Not to mention how excited he is. Poor dense Wei Ying, all he knows is that he wants to be close to Lan Zhan without having a clue why.

Lan Zhan, at least on the surface, is less thrilled by having his solitary soak interrupted, especially when Wei Ying comes sloshing into the water with more enthusiasm than poor repressed Lan Zhan has ever expressed in his young life. Lan Zhan, now clothed, asks how he came to be there, and Wei Ying says that Xichen sent him. Lan Zhan has to be wondering by now why his big bro keeps pushing the two of them toward each other. Like a big, happy puppy, Wei Ying tells Lan Zhan that he really wants to be his friend. Of course Lan Zhan says he doesn’t want it. Yeah, sure. Then comes some hilarious unintentional innuendo when Wei Ying says there are lots of benefits to being his friend and then starts to take off his clothes. Um, friends with benefits, perhaps? Lan Zhan asks what in the world he’s doing, even though he himself was naked in that pool a little while ago. As he starts to leave, Wei Ying quickly says he won’t take off his clothes in an obvious attempt to get Lan Zhan to stop running away from him.

Wei Ying starts telling Lan Zhan, who did indeed halt his departure, about Yunmeng and says if Lan Zhan comes to Lotus Pier, he’ll gather lotus seed pods and water chestnuts for him. Yes, totally something you’d tell a guy friend to entice him to come visit you. Lan Zhan, still aloof, says he’s not going, to which Wei Ying thinks he’s sweetening the pot by saying there are a little of pretty girls in Yunmeng. Oh honey, that’s not going to help your cause.

Wei Ying senses something strange and asks Lan Zhan if he senses it as well right before Wei Ying is pulled under the water. Lan Zhan grabs Bichen and starts after Wei Ying, but then he’s pulled under as well. They tumble into a secret cave below the cold water pool, and Lan Zhan looks genuinely surprised at its existence. As they ventured further into the cave, Lan Zha spots a guqin/zither and heads toward it. Wei Ying follows, but the guqin sends out a wave of magic, knocking Wei Ying back off his feet. It continues to do this, a method called chord assassination, until Lan Zhan uses Bichen to halt it.

Once he’s safe, Wei Ying notices several white bunnies which are wearing the Lan forehead ribbons. Thinking how the forehead ribbons are connected to their wearers and offer protection, he calls out to Lan Zhan, who, coming to the same conclusion, uses his forehead ribbon to connect his own wrist with Wei Ying’s. Remember that whole conversation earlier in which drunk Lan Zhan said that only his parents, wife or child could touch his forehead ribbon? Yeah, they’re married now, LOL. Okay, not really. That comes later. But it is significant that Lan Zhan is willing to create this connection between them to protect Wei Ying. He could have told him to just not approach the guqin anymore, but he willingly connected himself to Wei Ying instead. It’s an important first step made by Lan Zhan, who up until this point has done whatever he could to distance himself from Wei Ying, his antics and perhaps an attraction he either has not yet recognized or has no idea how to handle.

Now connected to Lan Zhan, Wei Ying is able to accompany him as Lan Zhan sits at the guqin and plays “Inquiry” to connect with any spirits nearby. This song will become important in their future investigations during Wei Ying’s second life as well as when he’s dead and Lan Zhan is desperately trying to connect to whatever is left of him. They now hear lots of voices of the clans attaching another sect and calling out to destroy the Yin Metal, something that neither of them has ever heard of. Next comes a section of the show that feels as if it was a confused blur to me during my first viewing but has many “aha!” moments during this second viewing.

Lan Yi, a Lan ancestor who was the first and only female leader of the Lan Clan, shows up and tells them that the Yin Metal is cursed and that she’s a part of its cursed history.

Meanwhile, Xichen tells Qiren he’s sent people out to look for Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, who have been discovered missing now. There is worry that whoever is behind the nefarious things that have been happening may have taken them. We see Jiang Cheng telling his obviously tired sister to rest by the river while he continues to search. After he and the other searchers leave, she slips on a rock and starts to fall backward but is caught by Jin Zixuan. Though their relationship is strained, it’s obvious these two are smitten with each other by the way they look into each other’s eyes for long moments before pulling apart. Jin Zixuan tells her to be careful and then leaves with his clan members to resume his own searching.

Back in the cave, Lan Yi reveals that she has used all her spiritual energy to suppress the Yin Metal and then tells Wei Ying and Lan Zhan the history of this dangerous artifact. Once upon a time, the Yiling Burial Mound (which we’ll see more of later in the story when Wei Ying becomes the Yiling Patriarch) was once a spiritual mountain and cultivator Xue Chonghai was the state preceptor with the strongest magical power. This was one of those light bulb moments for me since it hit me that this guy must be an ancestor of Xue Yang, who we’ll meet later on in what is known as the story’s Yi City Arc. After all, Xue Yang’s work with the Yin Metal would make sense if that kind of work has a history in his family. Wen Ruohan probably knows about the connection and thus why he recruits Xue Yang to work for him.

Anyway, Xue Chonghai was the first to use the Yin Metal, which was a natural treasure that could absorb nature’s natural aura, to absorb the resentment of the humans he sacrificed for this purpose. With this Yin Metal, he controlled the Black Tortoise of Slaughter and slaughtered many sects. Wei Ying deduces that in response the five great sects joined forces to kill Xue Chonghai. When Lan Yi says that Wei Ying is indeed very smart, Lan Zhan glances briefly toward him. Despite Wei Ying’s misbehavior, this is the second person Lan Zhan respects (the other being his brother) who have had positive things to say about him.

We see a brief flashback of a crazy looking Xue Chonghai when the sects arrived to take him out. The first one in the door was Wen Mao, the founder of the Qishan Wen Clan of which Wen Ruohan is now the head, and Xue Chonghai says that he’ll meet the same kind of end.

Lan Yi states that the slaughter of the sects turned the spiritual mountain into a burial mound, and the Yin Metal had absorbed so many spiritual consciousnesses that the resentment was too strong to be eliminated. Xue Chonghai had tainted it forever. The fives sects agreed that the only way to suppress its power was to break it into pieces and hide it, and never tell any of their descendants about it. Obviously, Wen Mao didn’t keep his mouth shut because Wen Ruohan is having visions of using it for dominance over all the sects, thus ensuring it will leave more death and misery in its already horrible wake.

So we’ve gotten more information about the mysterious Yin Metal and some first steps of Lan Zhan warming a fraction toward Wei Ying. He might be able to convince himself he was just doing his duty in protecting another cultivator in that cave, but the fact that he used his forehead ribbon to literally tie himself to Wei Ying was significant, even more so than he realizes.

Previous posts in this series:

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

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gayhatsune · 4 years

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people who reduce lan xichen down to ‘the ultimate wangxian shipper uwu’ really urk me....cause he was more like ‘wei wuxian my brother has been in love with you for over a decade and it has done nothing but cause him pain so like the least you could do is recognize his feelings 😒’... like obviously he wants his brother to be happy and hes a very forgiving person but he also witnessed thousands of deaths caused by wei wuxian and he himself was almost killed by him, something tells me he might not be his biggest fan

#idk i just dont like when cool characters get reduced down to one trait that isnt even that based in canon #🤷i mean do what u want but its very annoying kajdksjdka #mo dao zu shi #static screeching

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thatgirlonstage · 5 years

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I had, for some reason, a dream that someone asked me what my thoughts were on what Lan JingYi and Lan SiZhui/Wen SiZhui’s relationship would be like in some sort of AU where Jin ZiXuan’s death and the massacre at Nightless City never happened so the Wens were still just living in the Burial Mounds all this time and A-Yuan never joined the Lan sect.

And my immediate, dead certain response was, “if you don’t think Lan ‘Biggest WangXian Shipper Since XiChen’ JingYi wouldn’t jump headfirst at the opportunity to play out a Romeo and Juliet starcrossed lovers situation with the mysterious kid from the forbidden sect then I don’t think we even read the same book.”

(Not That Lan JingYi knows what R&J is, but, yknow, the principle of the thing stands)

And then I immediately woke up

Anyway how are all of you this morning

#mdzs #so like... AU fic where WWX sends A-Yuan to the cloud recesses to study #because they’re the only ones who will take him #and then A-Yuan and LJY start a relationship #so of course LWJ and WWX reconnect trying to negotiate the two of them wanting to be together #WSZ and LJY see whats happening immediately #and are like ‘ew our dads gross’#but also look at LWJ and WWX #look at each other #and realize ‘oh god they’re never going to figure it out are they’#‘oh god we have to help them or this will drag out FOR OUR ENTIRE LIVES’#LWJ & WWX are busy trying to be supportive parents #WSZ & LJY are busy trying everything in their power to force the two idiots to confess to each other #WWX keeps making (in good spirit) jokes about having raised a cut sleeve #WSZ: *looks into the camera like he’s on the office*#LXC and LJY end up scheming together once LJY realizes LXC knows #LXC: OH GOOD MAYBE YOU CAN MAKE HIM FUCKING SAY IT #LXC: I’VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THESE IDIOTS TOGETHER FOR TWENTY YEARS

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redbayly · 4 years

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Lan Xichen, pulling his brother aside: Hey, sooo, if you keep ignoring the bathhouse-like steam surrounding you and Wei Wuxian, you could find yourself in permanent friendzone. So, are you gonna, as they say…[Xichen smiles as the theme of “Kiss the Girl” starts]…Kiss de boy? Huh?

Lan Wangji, sits and lets out a groan of frustration: Urgh, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Xichen. This thing with him is just so big. I feel like a kiss with Wei Ying could just…go on forever.

Lan Xichen, staring: …What has happened to you?

#lan xichen #lan wangji #lan huan #lan zhan #wei wuxian #wangxian #lan xichen is the biggest wangxian shipper #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #incorrect untamed quotes #incorrect mo dao zu shi quotes #redbayly

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jiangrightsactivist · 5 years

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What are your fav ships for MDZS? Are you a multishipper or more of an otp kinda person?

Thank you for the question! (Yayyy, I get to ramble a lil’ now.)

Of course I ship WangXian most!…it’s been quite the bumpy road for me in regards to my opinion of their portrayal in the donghua, but I’ve grown to genuinely enjoy them now. However, by nature, I’m a multi-shipper,.

I’ve had my criticisms of MDZS in the past, which I accept now–but I wish there were more canonically-supported “pairings” in the series other than just WangXian. I’ve read before that Mo Xiang Tong Xiu said that WWX and LWJ are the only gay characters intended in the universe, and that’s a little disheartening regarding the missed opportunities for the potentiality of other ships and characters (as well as for “real” LGBTQ representation), but I guess that’s when fandom comes in, right?

That being said, I actually multi-ship WWX with quite a few other characters, though I accept the canon and consider WangXian the true pairing. I like WWX/JC and WWX/Wen Ning (I am frothing to draw more Wen Ning in the future). Jiang Cheng–my favorite character–getting any sort of love is awesome, too! I enjoy JC/Xichen as much as anyone, and it’s pretty amusing to think about Jiang ironically managing to bag the “more attractive” Lan brother between Xichen and Wangji…. (*insert Kim K gif* It’s what he deserves).

I also adore 3zun (Xichen/Guangyao/Mingjue)! I can’t really say what I ship between those three yet…but please note that Nie Mingjue is my second favorite character, behind JC. I got a lot of ideas. *wink wink*

Finally…and this might be controversial to say…but I LOVE bottom!Wangji. I know it doesn’t make sense in the canon at all because that dude, for better or for worse, single-handedly brought the 90′s-yaoi seme trope back to life--but viscerally imagining *that*…is wonderful. ;) Though obviously I love bottom!Wei Ying, too…that spicy lil’ minx! One of my biggest wishes for this series is that WX was canonically a versatile couple, but it is what it is. (Again–that’s when fandom comes through and makes the save!)

I know I might lose some followers for this post, but please understand that these are my opinions, all from a place of care + love.

#Mo Dao Zu Shi #I don't usually tag my replies because I don't want to get in the way of actual content in the tag #but I'm sorry I'm going to tag this one because I'm throwing it out there kind of hoping there may be some others who feel the same way as m #I know I'm never gonna be a super-popular MDZS person but I'm just going to try to Be Myself here #messages #<3333

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peerless-soshi · 5 years

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I'm just curious, what do you ship in mxtx novels? ;)

I hope you have some time because it’s gonna be a long answer, hahaha :D

There is something amazing about the way MXTX writes romance because I end up falling for every canon and implied canon couple. I just… love them all? And I usually don’t like romance driven stories. As much as I am a shipper, I often get annoyed or bored with excessively romantic plots… Let’s be honest, most love cliches are irritating. And dull. But MXTX writes so enjoyable and heartwarming love stories… I fall in love with her characters’ love.

I shared some of my thoughts about Wei WuXian/Lan WangJi here. Yes, at the beginning I didn’t really like them… Shame on me? But I am not the biggest fan of cold and distant love interests who are way too cool for you. And the way he first acted towards WWX - taking him to Gusu despite his objections, closing him in his room - not gonna lie, I was disappointed by it. Look at me now. WangXian is OTP for life. It’s perfect. Give me a man like LWJ. MXTX expanded their story and with every new detail I loved them a little more. It’s just… such a deep, honest and selfless love story. So romantic in its simplicity. In loyalty. All epic events are taking place on one line while the developing relationship between two main characters is beautiful because of how close it is to our hearts. It’s not about epic fights but rather about small gestures and moments they share. And wow, I am amazed by the way MXTX crafted them. Every scene with WWX and LWJ is powerful. How do you put so many feelings in your writing?

I think Luo Binghe/Shen QingQiu gave me the most complicated feelings, hahaha. First I wasn’t sure how to feel about their relationship because there were some things I kinda disliked? They grew on my after side stories, when I saw their love on the finale stage, but I also got used to them. I like their development and enjoy a lot of interactions between them. In the end, it’s a story about two people making mistakes, over and over again, and I may be a little impatient and in need to see them happy ;) But BingQiu is also a great ship and I love it from the bottom of my heart.

I still can’t say much about Xie Lian/Hua Cheng because I’m not up to date with Heaven’s Official Blessing. Sorry! But they give me vibes of another couple that I will love more than nutella. Who doesn’t like some good, tragic and loving stories? They seem to be a couple diving in the endless world of love and care and I am all for that after some angst. Yes, I’m giving MXTX a credit of trust.

I’m still laughing at how much I ended up shipping Shang Qinghua/Mobei Jun. I feel my sense of humor is to be judged… But Airplane side story made me laugh out loud and promoted Airplane Bro to one of my fav MXTX characters. Even if it was short, I’m in love in MoShang development. I think MXTX wrote MBJ similar to LWJ - introduced as cold and cool and ending up as a not so cool fool. But please - the King made Airplane ramen. He probably stood in the kitchen in all his majesty and tried to cook, even if he had no idea how to do it. Who wouldn’t fall for this?

Another side ship I like a lot is Jin ZiXuan/Jiang Yanli. I’m still so sad that we didn’t get a side story with them… I would love to read more about this relationship, especially about the love letter mentioned by MXTX as a trivia. They are precious. And they have potential. Truth be told, they somehow remind me of MoShang - again, ZXY appears to be a very unapproachable character until he falls in love and makes a fool of himself. I’m dying to know just how many times he made something stupid in front of his wife.

From crack couples, I like Lan XiChen/Jin GuangYao. I admit, I was lost the moment I saw spoilers and JGY’s last words. Even if I don’t like him, it really hurt, and raised my feelings towards this ship up to the sky. What’s more, looking at the Lan Clan, LXC will need to work hard to beat his family tradition of falling in love with murders :)

Ning Yingying/Liu Mingyan, anybody? I don’t know, after this whole bullshit with Sister Liu covering her face because she was so beautiful that men couldn’t talk to her normally, I felt the urge to give her to girls. I hope Airplane Bro will accept it. Sister Yingying spends too much time in the manly world, she needs a female friend and Sister Liu was shown to build friendship with other girls so I think it’s a good match.

I would be a big, big liar if I didn’t admit that I have a soft spot for both Wei WuXian/Wen Ning and Shen QingQiu/Liu Qingge. Maybe I won’t demand a love triangle since canon couples are perfect… But still, I like their dynamics, I like them together, I find them a nice alternative.

For the bravest who stayed with me until this point, Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang..Of course I don’t mean it in the ‘get married, be happy’ kind of shipping. They shared a very complicated bond, absolutely incomparable with any other fictional relationship I can think about, and MXTX put a lot of work to show them together. I don’t want to talk too much now - I have a Xue Yang analysts in my drafts and I’m too lazy to finish it - but I appreciate darker motives and the way MXTX led this subplot.

Lastly but not the last, I deeply love every joke with Jiang Cheng forever alone uncle.

#asks #I really talk too much don't I?#mo dao zu shi #scum villain #fandoms talk #also let the shipping wars begin

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trishmilburn · 5 years

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An Exploration of The Untamed’s Romance & Mystery, Episode 5

On to Episode 5…

We pick up where we left off at the end of Episode 4, with Wei Ying and Lan Zhan fighting at the back of the Cloud Recesses. Wei Ying tells Lan Zhan he thought he heard something and thinks someone might have snuck in. Lan Zhan grabs him and hauls him off to the library to serve out his punishment for being a bad boy.

Once in the library, we see bad boy Wei Ying copying the oh so many Lan Clan rules, and being very bored while doing it, so he starts to watch good boy Lan Zhan as he reads a book. Of course, “WangXian” is playing on the soundtrack and Wei Ying, even unknown to himself, looks smitten. But honestly, who wouldn’t be? Have you seen Wang Yibo as Lan Zhan? But I digress.

When Wei Ying compliments Lan Zhan’s calligraphy, he gets no response. After saying “Lan Wangji” a couple of times, he says “Lan Zhan” louder and finally draws his future love’s attention. But when he asks why Lan Zhan finds him so annoying, he once again gets no answer. (Here, I’ll answer for Lan Zhan: It’s because he’s drawn to you, and it annoys the fire out of him because you’re so not his type – or so he thinks.) Though Wei Ying apologizes for everything he’s done wrong so far, he points out that it’s not all his fault. After all, Lan Zhan hit him first the night Wei Ying snuck into the Cloud Recesses, bringing alcohol with him. He then gives us some more foreshadowing for when the story turns darker by saying, “I’m that kind of person who wouldn’t raise his hand against others unless they strike first.”

He asks Lan Zhan if he’ll give him the honor of looking at him (yes, this is totally a bro thing to ask), but Lan Zhan just tells him to copy the rules one more time because although Wei Ying has apologized, he feels no remorse. And then he uses the muting spell on Wei Ying yet again.

Next we see the brother-sister duo of Wen Ning and Wen Qing talking, and we get another reference to there being something wrong with Wen Ning. Wen Qing laments that though their family has practiced medicine for generations, she can’t even treat her own brother beyond the medicine he already takes. Then she promises him that she’ll take him away from Heavenly Nightless soon. We get another clue that he’s in danger there, that he’s being used or abused so that Wen Qing will do what Wen Ruohan wants her to.

Now back to the library, where this time it’s Lan Zhan looking up from his book to glance at Wei Ying working. But Wei Ying isn’t actually copying rules; he’s drawing Lan Zhan because, again, that’s totally a bro thing to do. No, Wei Ying is totally crushing on Lan Zhan but is just too dense to realize it yet. All those stares and grins and need to get closer to Lan Zhan, ostensibly to be the friend of this guy who isn’t giving him the time of day, are giving it away to anyone with a single clue. But, to give Wei Ying a bit of an out, who would have expected him to crush at first sight and on a guy when he’s always flirted with girls? When Wei Ying shows Lan Zhan the picture he’s drawn of him, Lan Zhan pronounces him “extremely childish.” What I think is really going on here is that Lan Zhan is wondering why someone would want to draw him. Perhaps he’s even touched somewhere deep inside, but he’s not self-aware enough to acknowledge that. But when he re-opens his book, any goodwill toward Wei Ying that might have been beginning to flicker is doused when he sees not the text he expects but a pornographic drawing. And that brings about the biggest expression change in Lan Zhan so far. His eyes go wide, and he leaps to his feet with an indignant “Wei Ying!” This all amuses Wei Ying mightily, and he tells Lan Zhan that he doesn’t believe he’s never seen anything like that before. Lan Zhan responds by telling him to get out of the library so they can fight, but Wei Ying says that fighting is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses, which just makes Lan Zhan angrier. So angry that he shreds the naughty book, much to Wei Ying’s anguish.

Next we see Wei Ying by the creek telling Nie Huiasang and Jiang Cheng about what happened in the library and how he thinks it calls for a celebration that he was the first one to cause Lan Zhan to lose control that way. Jiang Cheng, predictably, says that it’s nothing to be proud of and, “Our family’s reputation is gone because of you.” Wei Ying tells him that he already apologized to Lan Zhan but that he didn’t accept it and muted him. “What’s wrong with me teasing him?” Nothing, sweetie.

They suddenly become aware that something odd is in the nearby trees, and Wei Ying throws a paper talisman that direction. One of the Wens’ spying birds, which looks like it’s made up of black smoke, takes flight. They wonder why it’s there. Nothing good, that’s for sure.

Lan Zhan is telling Xichen that the energy barrier at the back of the mountain keeps getting disturbed. Xichen asks if he’s been able to determine who has been back there, and after a telling hesitation he admits it’s Wei Ying. Again we see one of those knowing grins from big brother Lan when he sees how much this information bothers little brother Lan. I think Xichen has been shipping WangXian since he first saw those two in the same room together. Lan Zhan asks if he should strengthen the barrier, but Xichen says it was set up by their ancestors and should be fine as long as “she” doesn’t go there. Lan Zhan asks, “She?” But Xichen says they’ll talk about that later. The she is a big reveal later down the road.

A Lan disciple, Su She (hate that guy, you’ll understand why later), shows up and tells the Lan brothers that a villager from Colorful Robes Town (also known as Caiyi) reported evil water spirits causing trouble in a nearby lake.

Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng go to see Yanli at her lodgings but are surprised when Wen Qing is the one who opens the door. You can tell Jiang Cheng is harboring a crush of his own when he grins like a fool upon seeing her. I don’t blame him. She’s beautiful. This crush makes me sad though because I know what lies ahead for them – sacrifice for her and betrayal for him. Despite the fact that I’m eventually going to want to knock Jiang Cheng into next week for being such a damn, self-centered fool, even fully hating him for a while, there’s this other part that harbors the fantasy that if things had just gone a different way he and Wen Qing might have found happiness and made beautiful babies together.

They learn that Wen Qing is there because Yanli hasn’t been feeling well. When Wen Qing sees the close, affectionate bond between Yanli and Wei Ying, it reminds her of her own bond with Wen Ning.

Next we see Wei Ying, Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing catching up with the Lan brothers, asking to go along with them to deal with the water monsters for the experience since they don’t have classes for the next few days. Lan Zhan says no, that it’s against the rules and there’s no need, but Xichen overrules him to Lan Zhan’s well-contained but obvious surprise. (Shippers gotta do what shippers gotta do.) When Wen Ning shows up, wanting to go as well, Wen Qing tries to get him to go back and rest like she told him to, but Wei Ying speaks up for his archery skill and that he should be allowed to come along. Xichen agrees to let him accompany them as well.

While on the road to Caiyi, Lan Zhan asks Xichen why he’s allowing the others to go with them. Xichen replies he could tell Lan Zhan wanted the two young lords of the Jiang Clan to come along. He asks his little brother, “Isn’t that so?” Lan Zhan says nothing in reply. The fact that he doesn’t disagree with his brother shows that Xichen can read what he’s thinking despite what he says.

When we see Lan Zhan and Wei Ying shown to their room at an inn along the way, I wondered why exactly these two are sharing a room. Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to share with their brothers? But maybe Xichen and Jiang Cheng get private rooms since Xichen is his clan leader and Jiang Cheng is next in line to be his. It won’t be the last time – or the most memorable one – that Lan Zhan and Wei Ying share a room at an inn. (This is an even truer statement when referring to the book, which includes a scene that had to be left out of the drama unless they wanted to be shut down by the government censors immediately and perhaps even locked up.) They are shown to their present room by perhaps the laziest innkeeper ever. Despite the fact that he says they’re the first guests he’s had since the lake started eating people, and thus he’s had plenty of time to clean the room, he hasn’t done so and tells them to do it themselves. Rude!

Meanwhile, another fisherman is taken under by the mysterious lake monster. Dude, why are you night fishing on a lake that’s eating people?! I guess Nessie was hungry.

The next day, Wei Ying asks Xichen if he thinks the evil water spirits and the spiritual absorption issues are connected, but he doesn’t really get a satisfactory answer. So after offering Lan Zhan a drink while Xichen walks ahead, he asks Lan Zhan if there’s been any progress with the spiritual absorption issue. Lan Zhan responds simply, “None.” Oh, Lan Zhan, man of few words. Wei Ying says he feels as if Xichen knows something that he’s keeping from them, and he sees something in Lan Zhan’s expression that says he thinks the same. But when he presses Lan Zhan on this point, Lan Zhan simply takes his jug of wine and pours it out on the road, saying, “Drinking alcohol is prohibited when monster hunting.”

They arrive at Blue Spiritual Lake and board boats, typically one or two people per boat. Xichen is in the front, and there are four people in his boat, Su She among them. But I had to laugh at the last boat filled with seven people. I imagined the director saying, “Okay, all you unnamed Lan extras, in this boat.” I wouldn’t have been surprised if they ended up being eaten, the redshirts of Gusu.

So we’re on a foggy lake looking for man-eating monsters, and still Wei Ying looks over at Lan Zhan wearing that “I like him” smile. Then he notices Lan Zhan’s boat is displacing too much water, meaning that one of the monsters is hanging onto the bottom. So that the creature doesn’t catch on and either get away or endanger Lan Zhan, Wei Ying pretends to goof off by using his paddle to fling water at Lan Zhan. As soon as Lan Zhan leaps from his boat toward Wei Ying’s, the creature flips his boat. Wei Ying walks forward to be next to Lan Zhan and says that he wasn’t purposefully splashing water at him and that they can be even now. Lan Zhan moves away and says for Wei Ying to stay farther away from him. Xichen’s little knowing grin comes out again at this interchange. It really is like Wei Ying is flirting and Lan Zhan is determined not to return his feelings. This distance he puts between them is more evidence that Lan Zhan deliberately puts up a barrier around himself, physically and emotionally.

After Wei Ying kills one of the monsters, which I have to say looks like sentient seaweed, with his sword, Lan Zhan looks reluctantly impressed and asks him the name of his sword. When Wei Ying replies that it’s Subian (translated as “Whatever”), he has to explain that it is indeed the sword’s name, not that he’s just saying, “Whatever” in a flippant way.

One of the weedy monsters attacks and injures Jiang Cheng’s leg, and Wen Qing leaps over to his boat to treat him. Cue more crushing by Jiang Cheng. Pretty cultivator girl has healing skills. What’s not to like, right? Well, other than her kinfolk back at Heavenly Nightless.

When the creatures start gathering together, trying to lead all the boats to the middle of the lake, Lan Zhan says all the cultivators should immediately return to shore. Then Wei Ying figures out that the creatures are forming a waterborne abyss that will suck all the boats under, so Lan Zhan says they should abandon the boats and ride their swords. Everyone leaps up into the air to board their swords except Su She, who sends his sword into the abyss, trying to kill the creatures. (Oh, why couldn’t he have gone with that sword?) When he’s unable to recall his sword to escape, Wen Ning moves forward to help him. Seeing this, Wei Ying dives down to save Wen Ning. But when Wen Ning turns around and his eyes are completely white right before he faints, this shocks Wei Ying. Lan Zhan realizes the danger all three men are in and dives down to bring them all up into the air. That Lan Zhan, he’s handy to have around. But Wei Ying, being Wei Ying, has to tease a bit and asks why Lan Zhan is holding him by his collar when he can hold his hand instead. But Lan Zhan replies, “I don’t like touching strangers.” Well, that’s nonsense, Wei Ying basically says because they are well-acquainted. However, Lan Zhan disagrees.

Xichen plays his magical xiao and sends a spell toward the abyss. Right after, we see another of those freaky Wen smoke birds flying away. Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all.

Back at the inn later, Wen Ning is still unconscious and Wei Ying is checking his eyes, which are back to normal. When Wen Qing enters the room, he asks if Wen Ning had any past experiences that make him so easily affected by evil spirits. When she doesn’t answer, he figures he’s hit close to the truth. He gives her a protective amulet for Wen Ning and leaves.

Jiang Cheng is walking through the village when he passes a vendor hawking hair accessories. When she tells him hairbrushes symbolize yearning, he pauses. He’s certainly been yearning. We’re going to see the comb he buys again.

Once Wen Ning is awake, they all go out on boats in the canal that runs through the town. The way they don’t have to paddle and the slow pace at which they are moving reminds me of the It’s a Small World ride at Disney World. Wei Ying is reclining eating loquats like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Xichen, who is in the boat in front of Wei Ying’s along with Lan Zhan, asks his brother what he’s thinking about. Lan Zhan replies the waterborne abyss. Xichen wears another one of those tiny knowing smiles right before Lan Zhan admits that what Wei Ying said about there possibly being a connection between the lake monsters and the spirit absorption isn’t unreasonable. He asks Xichen if there are any clues about a connection, and his brother replies that he isn’t sure but hopes there isn’t. Because if it’s what he thinks then it’s possible they might not be able to stop it.

Meanwhile, Wei Ying gets that flirty mischief in his eyes again and calls out to Lan Zhan, who is standing ramrod straight (as opposed to Wei Ying’s reclining), to have a loquat and tosses it at him. Lan Zhan catches it, says no thanks, and tosses it back, all without looking at Wei Ying. Xichen says that if Lan Zhan wants a loquat, he can buy a basket full. Lan Zhan says he doesn’t want it. Yeah, I feel like we’re talking about more than fruit here.

The parting shot is Wei Ying grabbing a couple of jugs of Emperor’s Smile and tossing down payment as he passes. Considering the fact that Lan Zhan poured out the wine he had earlier in their trip and the Lans are right in front of him, I can imagine the look of mischief, sneaky satisfaction and barely contained laughter on his face as he does this. It’s also both sad and sweet when I think about how much Lan Zhan’s view of Wei Ying’s love for this particular alcohol will change as the story progresses. But for now, we’ll just enjoy the gradual development of their feelings for each other.

Previous posts in this series:

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

#the untamed #wei ying #wei wuxian #lan zhan #lan wangji #wangxian #lan xichen #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wen ning #wen qing

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