#like you want them to be together? For mdzs I say a post talking about how chengyao are basically divorced/co-parenting a kid

[magicpotatothoughts]

TGCF reread new finds #1

Xie Lian actively and consciously knows that he is attracted to HC the MOMENT THEY MEET in the Ox Cart. Like it’s not just blank gay panic, he knows.

His beauty was deadly like a sword, sharp and mesmerising. Xie Lian only met his eyes for a moment, then lowered his eyes in defeat.

MATE, normally wouldn’t you continue to be mesmerised and can’t peel your eyes away? That is, UNLESS YOURE WHIPPED. XL knows that SL's looks affect him to this degree. Defeat is the key word here.

Also

The distance between them had closed too fast. he suddenly didn't know what to do[...]Xie Lian blanked on the spot. He watched as the tall and slender youth walked away with his giant bag of junk as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, and it made him mutter inwardly, Forgive my sins.

Making a rich young lad carry your things? Making him sleep in your crappy temple? That doesn't warrant the weighty thought? FORGIVE WHAT SINS Xie Lian??!!!

Many village girls saw (HC) and blushed [...] Xie Lian didn't know what they were going to ask, but felt instinctively that it must be stopped at once, and cried, "No!"

Jealous jealous boi! XL WAS POSSESSIVE after ONE night spent together at Puqi Shrine. Didn’t XL just say to SL that he will have no problem in the love department because girls will throw themselves at him? Yo, why are you cock-blocking? Everyone says HC is insane, no XL is equally insane for the other!

Also, when HC revealed that it's his real skin after the Banyue arc, XL instinctively poked him. Then

He looked at his own finger then hid it away, betraying nothing of his thoughts.

What thoughts XL ?!! Explain yourself right now!

Jumping back to OX CART scene, Xie Lian's character development was foreshadowed when they were talking about the gifting of ghost ashes.

Book 1: Xie Lian sighed. "It certainly is painful to think about, to have given everything for love and lose everything in return."

This is what Xie Lian is most afraid of! Like even thinking back to Xie Lian pushing Feng Xin away in Book 4, he definitely operated under that mindset. Love is a risk, it's something to be feared. Even now 800+ years later, he still feels that way and doesn't allow himself to get close to anyone. It just hits so much harder thinking that he operated under that for so many centuries.

Then Hua Cheng says

"What there to be afraid of? If it were me, I'd have no regrets giving away my ashes"

Which I think really changed the way that Xie Lian thought about love. Book 5 Xie Lian completely operates with Love is empowering and isn't something to be afraid of.

TGCF isn't about XL realising his feelings, literally from Book 1 it's about him wondering if it's worthwhile to act on them.

Three things, is this person worth losing cultivation over for?

He needs the reassurance that this person must reciprocate his feelings.

Then HC changed his perspective on love from FEAR -> EMPOWERMENT.

XL is soooo self-aware (unlike SQQ from SVSSS and WWX from MDZS), he's an unreliable narrator in the way that he doesn't reveal everything to the reader, especially his own feelings until he was absolutely sure that there really was both a physical and romantic attraction. I wanted to make this post to dispel the assumption for XL it was easy to forego 800+ years of cultivation. It was not? He ABSOLUTELY thought about it carefully.

#honestly without the thousand caves reveal these two gays would still be 👉👈🥺 at each other #I was inspired by grimbravado's tumblr #tgcf #mxtx #heaven official's blessing #also these are my own perspectives #take it with a grain of salt #hualian #hua cheng #tian guan ci fu #xie lian #feng xin #fenglian #TGCF meta

[mxtxfanatic]

Something that always confused me is why Xicheng is so popular. Both characters barely talk through the story, even when talking about the other in front of other people is unseen, I personally only remember JC talking about the Twin Jades as a whole and unless he refers to him as the leader/heir of the clan LXC refers to him just as a member of Jumeng Jiang.

Also, with their characters, it looks like Jiang Fengmiam x Yu Ziyuan all over again, the one that rather turn the blind eye iin order to prevent conflict x the one that only knows how to get what they want through abuse and violence (not being a surprice when it fails but still blames everyone/anyone else for it), and we all saw how that marriage ended.

Besides, LXC has canonly a close relationship with both NMJ and JGY, which simplified (really simplified) would have the known tropes of "childhood friends to lovers" and the other being the "I can make him worse" Wangxian(post-time skip ver) at the long run. Both are usually loved tropes in any fandom, and yet Xicheng managed to be more popular than those two, and it's like. . .

How? Why?

Some people join fandoms purely to ship. The logic of consistency of such a ship doesn’t matter, as long as they can “reasonably” argue that the ship “could” happen. The fact that Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng never directly interact in canon despite being in the same room multiple times doesn’t mean shit to people who believe that characters who never direct lying interact while being in the same room together is prime shipping material.

I believe this habit, particularly in English-speaking fandoms, comes from the tendency of Western media to never directly portray queer relationships, so fans must always “read between the lines” or straight up make shit up (which works well when the source material is already full of poorly-made characters) to justify seeing their queer selves in the media. In fact, two characters never canonically interacting can actually be a plus in this instance, as it means they could potentially interact in the future and therefore it’s free game to headcanon how. It doesn’t work in mdzs because 1) all the characters are well-made with distinct personalities and motivations, so you can’t just make up a personality for a character and say it is reasonably canon and 2) the work already has canon queer characters and a canon queer couple.

This is how we get XiCheng: a poorly taped-together ship for people who don’t yet realize that there is a whole queer literature that exists in both China and Western (and African, and South American, and…) nations where if you don’t like the main queer couple, there’s another work that awaits you, and you don’t have to stick around in a fandom of a work you don’t actually like just to force two side characters to kiss like a toddler with unmoving barbie dolls. The fact that the characters are canonically straight, one is homophobic, and neither would like the each other isn’t a deterrent. The fact that them being together in their canonical personalities would result in an abusive relationship mirroring the Jiang clan leaders’ marriage isn’t a deterrent. Shipping fans can persevere off of the dust of shattered dreams, and the only thing that may curb Xicheng shippers is mdzs finally losing mainstream popularity.

#mdzs #mdzs asks #anon #this was more analytical than i thought it would be #also you should never have to feel you have to justify seeing yourself in a worl you actually like #you shouldn’t have to justify your likes by coming up with convoluted things to latch onto #just admit that you like or don’t like a popular thing abd move on #but hold up while i write up how fandoms create One Story and end up booting out fans of the source material

[beansterpie]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @marley-manson! <3

I would tag people but it's late and my brain is tired so literally, PLEASE just adopt this tag meme if you see it and read the whole thing. You have my full permission to say I tagged you, even if we've never spoken lol. Go for it, be audacious.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

43,487!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Well the posted fic is a Berserk fic, but I have various other wips that I pick away at when I'm bored. Among them include Eyeshield 21, MDZS, RotE, Harry Potter (technically?). Those are the most recent ones anyway.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Chain of Dissent, she's my favorite fic <3 (she's my only fic)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yeah I try to! Though I'll admit uhhhh I haven't updated it in... fucking? two years? god, and so I've been bad about responding to the more recent comments because I feel guilty for not updating in so long :') Really gotta get back to it.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

None, because I haven't finished a fic yet lol

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far! I've gotten a couple of comments that come across as unintentionally mildly rude, but definitely nothing that constitutes as hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Well not so far in CoD, but, ahem, I have written smut in one of my wips lol. Deeply self indulgent but I guess character driven? It's mildly nasty and desperate <3

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't actually written a crossover (yet. well, recently) but they are a bit of a passion of mine lmao. I love ridiculous crossovers, and I'm talking about "a magical portal opens up and throws characters from fandom A into the world (& characters) of fandom B" type shit. I don't need the ways in which the characters interact to make sense, I just want them to be thrown together and see where it goes from there. Fish out of water shenanigans! Characters questioning their own motivations and idea of life by seeing a world entirely different from theirs!! Just like, fun shit! I also absolutely don't need for the two fandoms to be similar lol. I have a somewhat detailed Berserk/Eyeshield 21 crossover living rent free in my head so clearly anything goes.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Lol no.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I'll probably have to say GriffGuts, because it's a ship that's gripped me by the neck for the past 7 years or something, where my interest in it hasn't really waned.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Uhhhh, idk? I mean I am DETERMINED to finish CoD, so that's out. And the wips I write in my spare time are just like, things I do for fun where I don't put any pressure on myself over it. I'm not planning on posting them anywhere, and I'm not generally planning on 'finishing' them either. I mean if I do finish one, I might post it, but again, they're low key things that I'm not taking too seriously.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hm. I honestly don't consider myself a very strong writer, at least in terms of things like prose and sentence structure, grammar, that sort of thing. I think I'm pretty decent at figuring out the direction that I want the story to go, and all the individual steps that need to happen to get to that point in a way that feels organic (at least, imo.) And I like to think I'm pretty good at characterization-- having the characters behaving and reacting in ways that feel like could concievably happen in canon is generally what I'm going for.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Yeah prose, lol. I mean, I don't actually dislike my more.... utilitarian writing style, mainly because I generally prefer reading more direct writing (unless the lyrical writing is really really good), but I do think I could inject some more illustrative details and metaphors into my writing overall. @marley-manson is SO good at coming up with perfect metaphors to describe a situation or feeling, all while perfectly recreating the character's voice, and I really admire that about her writing!

I also want to get better with having characters like, doing things while they're talking. I find a lot of the conversations I write happen between characters just kind of standing around, which obviously is fine but I'd like to construct scenes with a bit more specificity in the future.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Wait so like, say in a fic that is otherwise written in English, having a line of dialogue written in Spanish when a character is speaking it? I... don't have strong feelings about it one way or the other I guess lol. I mean ideally the line(s) written in the other language are correct lol, and not just badly google translated or something.

Though you know, now that I think about it, I feel like it would work best between languages that use the same alphabet (which does end up narrowing the possible languages down quite a lot) because that way the reader can still sound out the dialogue even if the don't understand the language, which could emulate what the pov character is experiencing. Whereas if it was a fic written in English, and then had a line written in, say, Japanese, the reader wouldn't even be able to sound it out so it's kind of a brick wall. (Unless there's footnotes, but that tends to be a little more clunky in fic than in a published book with pages).

If the readers are supposed to understand the dialogue written in another language, like two characters suddenly start speaking in said other language and we're meant to keep up with the conversation, then I feel like it's just easier to translate their words in whatever language the fic is written in otherwise.

But yeah idk, I think with intent and good execution, anything can work, but it could also be done in a way that's more annoying than anything.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I think. It was neopets LMFAO. I remember writing a fic when I was like 10 about Hannah (the adventurer) and Jacques (from the maraqua plot comic) as a romantic couple because I was annoyed at the time that there were multiple fics about Hannah and Garin (or whatever his name was, also from the maraqua plot) getting together even though I thought Garin was BORING and they were just shipped together because they were both usuls (which are overrated imho), even though Jacque was obviously better.

... I may have had a crush on Jacques.

But the first fic that I think I posted anywhere was for Xiaolin Showdown lmfao, probably also when I was 10 or 11 or something. I wrote like four separate fics for that show.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Yeah it's CoD lol. It's the longest thing I've written so far, and I'm overall still very proud of it. I'd probably go back and change some things in the first chapter because it reads a little clunky and like, abrupt to me now, but I'm not doing that until I finish the fic. Allowing myself to go back and edit stuff before I've even finished the story seems like a road to ruin lol.

#tag meme #marley-manson #ty for tagging me! this was fun #but now i am yawning all over the place so I gotta sleeeepppp #have work in the morning rip

[toomanytakennamesagh]

Ohhh random gush post cuz I can’t seem to focus on my essay after reading the latest chapter which filled me with SO MUCH DELIGHT. I just gotta let these words out cuz they’ve been festering in my brain for a bit.

SVSSS and Moshang fans are probably familiar with this name, but for anybody who doesn’t know (cuz ley’s be honest I don’t have a lot of followers and this is probably gonna get buried under a bunch of other Tumblr posts), Tossawary is a pretty active SVSSS author. I love them so much. Like, they post on Tumblr pretty regularly, draws art, AND writes amazing fics. I feel like the SVSSS fandom struck a goldmine with them.*

More under the cut cuz this got a bit long? And there may be some spoilers to their fics. 

The thing I love the most is how they always seem to complete their fics? And this gives me SUCH a sense of security? Because I HATE feeling the pain of seeing a discontinued WIP so much, but with their stories I get to enjoy the joy/agony of waiting for new chapter updates without having to worry about whether or not it will actually finish.

(And this is no hate to authors who DO have unfinished WIPs, okay. Even if they’re unfinished, I’m honestly glad it was put out in the world for readers to enjoy. Please don’t see this post as a bash, because you’re great too.)

They also write one of my most favorite versions of Shang Qinghua and Mobei-jun? (And Moshang in general.) Like, they perfectly capture the mess and hilarity of the ship, the REALLY BAD miscommunications and weird history together. They write meta posts and fic ideas about Mobei-jun’s family history and thought process, and how he would come to fall for a weird guy like Shang Qinghua. 

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! Because they also create lovely OC’s (Luo Jiahui and Peng Hongpeng, I’m staring directly at you). Like, they add to the stories perfectly, they’re properly fleshed out, and their relationships with Shang Qinghua are wonderful. 

The relationships--romantic or platonic--in general are great. THEY GOT ME TO LIKE A SHIP I WASN’T ORIGINALLY EVEN INTO (cough shang qinghua x yue qingyuan). They gave me a lovely familial dynamic between Shang Qinghua and Luo Binghe!** THEY LET LBH’S MOM SURVIVE, AND HAD SVSSS!LBH MEET HER!***  

And as someone who’s a sucker for worldbuilding, Tossawary fleshes out the history and setting of the SVSSS/PIDW world beautifully. I have a thing about reading the day-to-day tasks and stories of life on Cang Qiong Mountain, and how the world works outside of that. Like, yes please, tell me more about what the Peak Lords talk about in their meetings. I actually do really want to know about the kind of requests/documents/dealings Shang Qinghua has to deal with.

Anyways some of my favorite fics:

Nothing to Me, Nothing to You-- A SVSSS and MDZS fusion featuring Cloud Recesses Shang Qinghua and Yue Qingyuan, and Wen!Mobei-jun. It features a lovely friendship between YQY and SQH, and Moshang slowly getting closer and acting like dumb teens. 

Stepping Up- Currently on chapter three, and inspired me to write this post in the first place. IT’S AN DING LBH GETTING (kinda) ADOPTED BY SQH! AND DISAPPROVING OF MBJ! Just watching his protective mode go on sqh is a delight, they deserve to be in cahoots. THEY DESERVE TO BOTH BE CARED FOR. 

the ability to remain sober and gracious- I’m a qijiu simp okay. Even if this fic isn’t romantic, I still love how the argument turned out. And how that argument even started hehe. 

Catch a Falling Star- It’s a Stardust/SVSSS fusion. SY is the star, and he’s going on a road trip with lqg and lbh. Need I say more? 

love to the ones i’ve never met- This fic’s synopsis BROKE MY BRAIN FOR A BIT. I WENT FERAL WHEN LJH AND SVSSS!LBH MET! WHEN LBH GOT TO SEE THE PINTWILF UNIVERSE! I’VE WANTED THIS SO FOR MUCH. HE DESERVES TO HAVE A FAMILY AND GET MOTHERED AGAIN. 

Anyways if you haven’t read their fics please do. Tossawary if you ever read this post just know your hard work is appreciated and very much loved. 

*Also not to say I don’t appreciate other svsss/moshang authors, because I DO. The fandom is full of amazing talented people, and I delight in all their creations. 

**I have very strong VERY SPECIFIC FEELINGS about LBH having close platonic relationships. That boy needs friends and family, he’s suffered enough in canon!  

***It was everything I ever wanted

#svsss #Tossawary #moshang #mine #personal #mxtx #don't mind me I'm just here admiring their mind

[xxhappy-chickenxx]

Fandom lads to get to know better ✨

tysm for the tag, @wretchedamaranth!!

3 ships you like:

VegasPete (Kinnporsche The Series): In a surprise to no one, these two have my whole body and soul. Just when I think their hold on me has passed, I see some fic/post/tweet/picture and I'm right back where I started.

Chen Yi/Ai Di (Kiseki: Dear to Me): This is a more recent obsession because I finally got around to watching the series and THEY'RE JUST SO GOOD I NEED MORE!!! I've been doing research here and there abt how to write Chinese names in fic since I don't want to fuck it up and once I get that down it's canon divergence time!!

Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian (MDZS/The Untamed): This is my longest-held ship (also shamelessly plugging my sideblog) and not to be dramatic but I will never get over them!!! I think they don't occupy as much 'active blorbo' space in my brain bc they had a more resolved ending, but if I'm thinking or talking about god-tier ships as a whole, they're always on my list.

First ship ever: Ever ever is hard because I feel like I've been shipping characters together since the beginning of time but I will say the first time I thought about characters interacting with each other outside of any 'canon' was Batman and Catwoman when I was like 12 😅

Last song you heard: Magician by Lexie Liu!! (Car crash and flashing/strobe warning for the mv!!) I'm so late to this train bc the song was released like a year ago but IT'S SO GOOD!!! The sound and story is absolutely captivating!

Favorite childhood book: My memory is horrible and I'm sure child-me could give you such a detailed answer because I was a huge reader! One of my favorite series was the American Girl Doll books, and I think Kit was my favorite.

Currently reading: Nothing beyond what's required for my grad program 😭 I'll get back into it eventually, and for now, I have fic!

Lately I've been obsessed with Not Lost, But Found and Tune of Discord by puckbaes, won't be pretty, won't be sweet by blue__jay, and It Was an Honest Loss by YourKnightOfRage!!

Currently watching: The original Star Trek! I know people ship Kirk and Spock and listen... I get it 👀 Might have to do some digging on AO3 pretty soon, but for now I'm enjoying the silly alien costumes and taking a shot every time Kirk takes his shirt off.

Currently consuming: Beef with scallions from my favorite Chinese restaurant 😋

Currently craving: Nothing right now, but I was craving allergen-friendly donuts yesterday and got them delivered 🤌 An expensive but satisfying decision!!

Tagging @thisautistic and @thisnightsrevels if you would like!! But no pressure 💗

#tysm for the tag!!! #one thing about me is i love sharing my opinions lol #tag game

[leatherbookmark]

a tag reply to this poll in a post form, because i forgot tumblr eats tags :(

we don't know anything about either of the nie mothers... but honestly any of them living would probably make the situation better for the new sect leader!nmj. he would probably still die of the saber illness, but at least he would have had a mom, although i'm not sure if a nie mom still living would have changed anything re: nhs's revenge. would she encourage him? discourage? or would she one day ask sect leader jin for a talk because she's worried about a-sang and like... put poison in his tea? idk!

the inclusion of xy's mom is interesting, because this is like the first mention of her i've EVER seen in this fandom. i do obviously think he would lead a happier life if he wasn't a homeless orphan. and i do want him to be happy! but at the same time. i'm sorry to say it. but i do love crunchy little bastard a-yang. it's a bit like those aus where mme lan escapes with the lads in tow and cssr+wcz survive as well, and they somehow pick up ms with a-yao and they all raise their kids as wandering cultivators and everyone's happy. like YEAH but where's the crunch! the emotional issues! it's kinda boring when no one's insane(ly troubled) :0 s-sorry;;

cssr... are we only saving her or her and wcz? well, either way wwx doesn't end up at the lotus pier, and both he and the jiang siblings probably have less Troubled minds. maybe they're still friends because i guess yzy wouldn't mind THAT much if jfm's Very Much Married friends came for a visit. yknow as compared to... the actual situation

mme lan is actually interesting because we don't really know what would happen to her if she. well. didn't die (for whatever reason). like, iirc in mdzs qhj died after the wens attacked the cloud recesses, and i think he was still in seclusion during that time. this could mean that mme lan's situation would be similar. just... locked away and unable to leave even when her sons are of age. now it would be interesting if she used the wens' attack to run away on her own (if it was possible). maybe she and lxc could have ran away together and now THAT'S an idea for a fic!! i doubt she'd want to go back to the cloud recesses after the war so i think lxc could just... help her settle somewhere and visit her, with lwj or jgy, from time to time. idr if she was a wandering cultivator like cssr or if that's fanon, but she could do whatever she wanted! finally for the first time in Twenty Fucking Years !! GOOD FOR HER.

MENG SHI... i'm seeing some voices that meng shi surviving would make everything much much less murdery which... i'm not so sure! i don't think meng yao the meng yao could have earned enough money to buy his mother's meds AND pay off her debt to the brothel. in this case even if meng shi lives to find out the great cultivator jgs had her son (his son!) kicked down the stairs of the jlt, and changes her mind about him... jgy still desperately needs to free his mother and still make her proud. and the jin sect is the richest. it's entirely possible he still strives to be accepted only to commit Fraud and pocket 1/4th of a golden napkin fund to free his mother and buy her a safe and comfortable house somewhere. and then he'd still need the money to send her.

he probably would have chosen to kill jgs earlier and in a different way -- or maybe he wouldn't kill him at all if his mother was there to tell him that it doesn't matter and that it seems jgs never cared about them after all. maybe jgy would just resign himself to working himself to the bone for a father that gives less of a fuck about him than the nie captain/jin commander/etc! because he can’t really... quit, because in his case, after all he’s already done, with all he already knows about jgs and his ambitions, you can’t really walk away because you’re a potential danger! even as a son of a sex worker! not that a kicked out of the jinlintai for the 2nd time!jgy would be particularly revenge-focused, but. still.

also, if jgy decided to “quit” and still lived, somehow, either way his good opinion would be pretty much ruined. if jgs gets rid of his heroic bastard who won the war, there must be something REALLY wrong with him. i imagine it would be rather difficult to find a well-paying job in circumstances like these. on the other hand... lxc could offer both jgy and ms free living quarters in the cloud recesses, as thanks for saving his life and rebuilding his home. jgy wouldn’t be the ~lan-furen~ (sighing forever that the fandom is so set on using this term but ah well) but rather a regular disciple, or perhaps a guest disciple. i... think this would be better than nothing? and as a disciple, he could still technically rise thanks to his own merit and not because someone Up There feels this or that way about him. success!

of course, a perfect situation is jgy shanking jgs earlier and in a slightly different way, but even then i’m wondering because like... i’m not sure if everyone in jinlintai would be ok with jgy installing ~a prostitute~ in there as the current sect leader’s honourable mother. on the other hand, i don’t want jgy to be forced to send her off somewhere safe but remote! i want them to be together! on the other other hand there’s still the qin su situation. although maybe like... maybe meng shi could help there? i don’t know. wait, what was the question again

IN CONCLUSION i would save them all, just because i want them to live (duh) and everyone deserves a living mom who loves them. BUT the poll is merciless, so if i have to choose i’d like to pick an option that’s the most interesting to me, and that’s mama lan and meng shi. and meng shi wins, but not by a large margin! in my dreams there is a long, good fic where they both live :’)

#shrimp thoughts

[llycaons]

i really like your thoughts on cql/mdzs so i was wondering what are your thoughts on wei wuxian and wen qing? i feel like cql gave them such a great and developed friendship but the fandom ignores it SO much, it's so upsetting. they were best friends imo. and i feel like if wen qing came back post canon, she and wei wuxian would still be close

thank you, anon! I feel like it depends what parts of the fanbase you're around. a lot of my mutuals love wq and wwx, and a lot of fics I read feature her as wwx's best friend, or at least someone very close. but it's a big fandom, and plenty do ignore her in favor of other characters - after all, wwx is close with a lot of people

but I love wwx and wq, their story is so powerful and tragic. I agree that it's a rich friendship, right from the very beginning, wq immediately clocking wwx as Younger Brother and seeing his kindness towards wen ning, starting to like him despite herself, to sheltering him and the jiangs after the wen attack - something she may have done for jyl, but imo not for jc. and wwx sacrificing everything - his home, his reputation, his family - all to protect wq and her family. it's build on the humanity of these two characters who helped each other when no other person in the world would have, at great cost to themselves. and they built and co-ran a little village there in the burial mounds arguing over what vegetables to grow and who does laundry. it's some of the sweetest domestic scenes we ever get, and it's in the midst of all this death. wwx may have been the one to make living in the BM possible, but I always loved how wq was a groundbreaking genius in her own right. mad scientist buddies, indeed

and wwx and wq were similar in other ways. wwx is a tragic figure, but wen qing is arguably even moreso. from her first appearance, she seemed to carry a melancholy with her, like she knew she was doomed from the start and it tore her heart because her family just meant so much to her. her decision to turn herself in felt like the inevitable conclusion of a painful life, though not one without its joys. I can't even say how much it ruins me that her last words to wwx were significant enough for him to repeat them in his new life to his nephew and partner. it kills me how little she's talked about postres despite wwx clearly loving her deeply, and missing her, and probably seeing a lot of himself in her (and vice versa)

finally, I absolutely agree about them being friends postres, had she survived! their dynamic in BM made it clear how well they worked together and how well they knew each other, how they looked after each other and took care of each other. I can see her coming back and wanting to remain independent, though. I don't think she ever liked being in anyone's debt, and that's probably part of why she turned herself and her brother in. but if coming back was a fresh start for wwx, then it would be for wq as well. free to live their lives independently and parallel, seeing each other if they like but no longer bound in life and death together. I think it's clear how much wq loved wwx, too. but that return to normalcy probably would have been welcome

#asks #thanks for the ask! I love to ramble

[ao3-kintou]

hi kintou!! I'm a fan of homesick for a mountain's song and I'm also a fanfic writer so I'm suuuper curious about the fanfic writer ask! so honestly I wanna ask you everything lol but I'll calm down. I'm curious about questions 1, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 21, 29, 30, and 3, 4, 31 about homesick. lol that's a lot so feel free to answer as little or as much as you want!! I love your work, thanks for sharing <3

Hello! Thank you for sending me your asks and thank you for reading and enjoying my fics! This will be fun ((:

1. What’s your favorite character(s) to write for?

Sasuke Uchiha, still and maybe for forever. It's starting to become a close call with Lan Zhan/Wangji from mdzs though. I love their silence and their conflicted feelings. Writing them is like soothing a quiet pain.

11. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

I would say... not plot driven. Slow. So much happens because nothing happens (or we realise so much has happened, because nothing happens). It's like quiet mornings for talking. Like making space, like a calm after a storm?

Also, somehow, uncontroled and messy (which i do not see as a bad thing per se, but bless @kemperrose for beta reading).

12. Who is your favorite author? 

It's Ali Smith! Her style is uncontroled, witty, engaged and completely unique. Don't ask me what her books are about, I won't know, but oh i love them so much. Also! I love Louise Gluck so much rn, especially her book Averno (I posted some Averno fragments earlier). Then for fanfic writers I mainly love @kinomiakai (:

13. When did you start writing fanfic? 

I started writing Naruto fanfiction when I was 13, which is 11 years ago! I started by writing/posting Shikamaru centric fics. I wrote snk for a while instead of Naruto though.

17. What fanfic tropes do you gravitate to writing for? 

This won't come as a surprise but: domestic fluff or hurt/comfort. I used to write so so many dumb Coffee shop au's and Farmfics as well hahaha.

18. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

I can't edit while writing bc I will get stuck but when I want to continue writing (say, after writing 1k and falling asleep) I'll reread what I wrote the day before to get inspired and edit that part. I read all stories 1 more time before publishing them though.

21. Is there an idea you’ve always wanted to write, but haven’t yet?

Hmm.. not really? I have been thinking about writing a farmfic / small village fic that is more in a modern setting. I would love to write another multi chapter slow fic where they're just in nature. Maybe one where Sasuke rents Naruto's bnb cottage?

29. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Honestly, I brainstorm and outline very little. Literally answering something like question 21 is as much as I have before i sit down to write. So, the sitting down and doing the actual writing. I'm a very "go hard"/blunt writer. I sit down without having any idea what will come, and I write a lot of my fics in one sitting, starting at breakfast and forgetting to sleep in the evening.

I also love going through @kemperrose 's edits bc she's so funny and I make so many stupid little dutch mistakes (we've been working together since Your name, and what that really means, so for exactly a year now)

30. Do you write down all your ideas? What makes you decide to write one versus the other?

Nope! If I want to write a fic I just think of something and get started. Most of the time I also upload it even if it sucks a bit.

3. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from Homesick for a mountain's song story/chapter? 

Yes, I certainly do! My ultimate favourite scene is the ending scene of chapter 5, where they say sounds together. I think it's such a small scene (in it's energy) but the most powerful one.

I also love the scene where Kana hints that she thinks Naruto and Sasuke are in a relationship and that she accepts them/sasuke in chapter 3. When she says: ‘A lot of people become incapable of loving, because of what the world has done to them. It’s a blessing if you still can, even if it’s the last thing you get to keep.’  and ‘I just want you to know that we don’t mind. You and Naruto are always welcome with us. We’re not going to judge you, even if he starts living here permanently.’ 

4. Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of Homesick for a mountain's song? 

Hmm.. not really? I changed Sakura a bit while editing. She was a bit more rude to Sasuke in my first versions, bc I wanted to add it to what made Naruto felt conflicted, but I made her more calm eventually. I think that Kishimoto did his female characters dirty, and I don't want that in my fics. I only gave her the normal amount of guarded.

I ended up not writing the party where they "marry". Though i thought about it, I wanted to keep the ending small. The altar for their parents made it to the sequel, but I could say the same for that.

31. What was the development process of Homesick for a mountain's song like? 

Oh.. hmm.. so basically I wrote this story while I was at home with a burn-out, in my graduation year. I was the most broken version of myself when I started this story, and I honestly believed it saved me and me as a writer. I've always been good at enjoying small things and I've always been a calm person. Homesick gave me a place where I could show myself I still had that in me.

With that said... the proces was me getting up way too late, or way too early to watch the sun come up bc I couldn't sleep, and sitting down to write this. I had no plan. I just sat down and wrote. I think it was a distraction and it made me happy. I wanted to write 5 chapters at first, but since me and my readers got attached to the slow chapters it turned into 6 and then into 8.

I posted every chapter right after writing them, and the comments motivated me a lot, though i never expected to get so many. To write this fic, but also to try and write my final work. So... yeah... i think i lived with this story. I somehow ended up still graduating, and it was the same week when i uploaded chapter 8.

Replying to your other ask: know that we're together on that one! Ichiko Aoba makes me feel so nostalgic... or shall I say homesick haha, for nature, for this softness, for late converstations or quiet, for the small things in life. May you live softly! And of course you're always welcome to come find me.

Thank you so much for these questions and your kind words!

#fanfiction asks #sns asks #homesick for a mountain's song #kintou

[thedarkone121]

Shower Thoughts Regarding A Crack Pairing I’m Slowly Coming Around To

I am back on my BS and ramblings for story ideas. Will I write? Maybe. We’ll see how my muse and the future looks. But for now, let’s see me ramble on about the crack pairing that I’m slowly taking seriously that I thought of when I was in the shower.

So, I have been in a new fandom that’s just recently released its fourth season in Mandarin: MONKIE KID! Amazing show, love the animation, story arcs, and characters. MK is now a character I want to protect and put through the ringer at the same time. And he is one of my main subjects for this post.

Next, I am also in uh... Fandom that is known for its discourse in a few of its tags. Mo Dao Zu Shi... Alright, no more beating around the bush. I do love the story and the characters. I think having TONS of morally grey characters in one setting is amazing because it really forces you to think. That said, I do not enjoy seeing all of that discourse in the Jiang Cheng tags. Like, for the love of Pete, let people enjoy what they do and don’t like about a character! Don’t go on this whole martyr thing on who’s right and wrong! It’s a fictional story we all enjoy!

Very sorry to all the Monkie Kid fans who are stumbling upon this, by the way.

Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I am talking about these two surprisingly different fandoms. Well, it all started with a shower. Now, I am not the type to think of story ideas while I shower. Those mostly come from running to my destination or having a back and forth between with one of my buddies. However, I had an idea sprung up upon me when I was enjoying my shower.

MK getting in a relationship with my MDZS OC, Jin Yuehua, Jin Ling’s twin sister.

What spark this idea, you may ask?

Well, for the most part, it came from the realization that a Monkie Kid and MDZS crossover could work out. They both tell stories that are set in China. Just think of some time/dimension portal for plot’s sake and we got ourselves a crossover.

The tiny part that prompted this? It’s the idea of Jin Yuehua and MK visiting the other’s world and seeing each other like one of those sneak-out-the-window dates.

And just like that, I was done for.

The more I thought about this idea, the less it became a crack ship for me. I just think these two together is sweet and I love the parallels of Jiang Yanli’s own daughter falls in love with a himbo of her own. Though — to people who are in both fandoms — we all agree that MK is way better than Jin Zixuan when it comes to a first impression 😆

And, yeah. I don’t know what else I want to say. I would like to add in more but I think the fact I don’t have a lot of Jin Yuehua’s own story out there on my Tumblr is really preventing me from going into the details of her and MK’s relationship. Maybe I’ll post a few out-of-context pictures of them together and slowly make most about what would be Jin Yuehua’s role in the canon of MDZS.

We’ll see. Until then, I hope everyone has good day of just enjoying fandoms. Ya got that, discourse?

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk #mk #lmk mk #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #crossover #mdzs oc #jin yuehua #jiang zhengya #Darky Talks #oc x canon #mk x yuehua #jin ling twin sister au

[eyes-of-mischief]

weekly fic recs | 26

prompt: recovery

fandoms: aftg, bnha, mdzs, mp100, tgcf

aftg

Odd Eye by tdashshirts

(rape/non-con)

Andrew spends most of his childhood thinking he is a psychopath. He is not. Andrew is, and always will be, just Andrew.

leave the room (with a little dignity) by moonix

(mature)

They’re not a couple. That sounds too trivial. Even best friends doesn’t really describe it. They’re—Neil is Andrew’s person, just like Andrew is Neil’s, there’s no doubt about that. It’s just that Neil is too broken to fulfil all of his functions, and so they make do.

water under the bridge by Acai

It's been months since Baltimore. Sometimes it visits Neil, regardless.

Andrew helps.

bnha

i'm a cautionary tale on the risks of being born by orkestrations

Heroics is all he’s ever wanted. A hero is all he thought he would ever be. In middle school, when he’d come so close to giving up, when he’d truly started doubting that he could ever be a hero, he hadn’t been able to see a way forward. He’d been pulled out of that before he could do anything, Toshinori had found him and saved him from himself, but now… Now, he’s twenty-eight and facing the same problem once again. Who is he, if he’s not a hero? Who is Midoriya Izuku outside of the trappings of heroics?

Izuku takes the first step towards healing: he admits he has a problem.

mdzs

where the shore meets the sea by pale_and_tragic

The world is too bleak and too loud and too lonely. Lan Zhan, exhausted, sinks away from it.

(In which Lan Zhan isn’t coping quite as well as he thinks, which becomes all too clear when Wei Ying returns from the dead.)

you are safe / loved / worthy / enough by everythingispoetry

One of the more timid-looking posts, in pale greens and creams and yellows, says Hello, I'm managing to be fairly high functioning right now but I'm really not doing as well as it may appear, and Lan Zhan feels as if someone sneaked into his mind and read his most secret thoughts, the ones he's never even dared to admit to himself.

(Lan Zhan falls apart and finds himself through the most unexpected means.)

a kind of emptiness by ScarlettStorm

(explicit)

“Lan Luan-daifu says it looks like you’ve been undereating for months.”

“I eat!” Wei Wuxian protests. “You watch me eat, Lan Zhan!” Why is he protesting? He knows exactly what he’s been fucking up, and Lan Zhan almost certainly has the shape of it if not the details. The words stick in his throat, fishbones to choke on, and he drinks more soup in a sullen attempt at washing them away.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan says, setting a hand on his too-wiry thigh. There’s a whole sentence in the name now, layers of meaning, and he says some of it out loud with, “What’s wrong?”

The fight goes out of Wei Wuxian. It’s finally easy to surrender: Lan Zhan knows. It’s humiliating, but he knows. “Ah, Lan Zhan,” he says quietly. “It’s… complicated.”

Lan Zhan nods, his hand petting over Wei Wuxian’s leg in comforting arcs. “Then we can work together to fix it,” he says earnestly. “Tell me?”

Or: Recovery is complicated.

mp100

Of Cold Hands Reaching by UncannyCookie

After six months in Mogami's mind world that weren't even real anyway, Mob returns to his old life.

Everything is fine.

tgcf

Let Ruin End Here by betts

(mature)

They don’t hang out. They’re not friends. The only time they talk is nights like these when Hua Cheng has no one else to turn to. Nights he takes a sledgehammer to rock bottom.

Or: Hua Cheng leaves his shitty family behind, and goes to the only place he knows he's safe.

#weekly fic recs #prompt #recovery #aftg fic recs #bnha fic recs #mdzs fic recs #mp100 fic recs #tgcf fic recs

[questionable-decision]

I agree with your opinion on LBH! Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of respect for MXTX, but the way SQQ and LBH's relationship was written, even in the extras, was horrible. It'd be one thing if that was the point, but SQQ still leaves CQM for him, still sleeps with him, still marries him, etc... and none of this is really treated as a bad thing despite everything. You can only blame Xin Mo so much. And I know it's a danmei, but since the story is all about subverting tropes anyway, I think I would've much preferred it if LBH had actually left on a sort of journey of self-discovery, only to return maybe months or even years later sometime in the extras and see where his relationship with SQQ goes from there before eventually marrying him.

Listen I received this ask ages ago and really debated whether or not I was going to post it and go into my 3-4 big problems with Bingqiu and then inevitably have to follow it up with "but I like LBH" and "Listen, I'm okay with Bingqiu if it's funny but as a serious ship...I have opinions" but I did not want to get into a Debate just yet.

Suffice to say: I agree with you! There are a lot of problems that can't really be excused. Also you saying you think LBH should go on a journey of self-discovery also changed how I decided to frame LBH's arc at the end of my Laments of a Sellout Author fic so THANK YOU! And I agree that it would have been a good solution! Like them getting together and LBH getting over everything happens so fast, there's no build up, and so much of that fast pace serves as a kind of "punishment" for Shen Yuan. Because that's the subversion, he turns the harem guy gay and now he has to deal with it hahahaha (sarcasm). But like, (and I said I wouldn't get INTO IT but....) that's one of the things that I thought could have been handled better. I understood the choice that MXTX made (which I think many people don't) but I think it could have been done differently. Like even just a time skip where SQQ at the end promises to wait for him and we skip to 2 years later at least acknowledging LBH did SOMETHING for his own mental health or whatever. It could have been integrated.

The other thing is that people will be like "oh, so a ship has to be healthy for you to ship it?!" like, for me? Unless both people are evil, like, yeah. But that's me. You can dislike a ship for a lot of reasons. For MDZS I'm not a huge fan of Wen Qing/Jiang Cheng for no real reason. I don't think anything negative or positive of the people who ship it, I just don't see it. No one would say that me not shipping that is a comment on the shippers.

In general, if a person is saying "I don't like this ship" that's not the same as saying "YOU can't like the ship." But if someone is going to say "freedom of speech" applies to shipping (🙄) then it also applies to criticism of that ship. So for me, I like the dynamics of serious ships to be more equal and less creepy. If you don't, okay! You're free to talk about that but you don't need to come to ME and act like I'm stopping you from doing anything. Anyway: Bingqiu is funny though. You have to give it that.

#I mean this also gets into what we mean with about what 'shipping' people is. Thinking their dynamic is interesting? or #like you want them to be together? For mdzs I say a post talking about how chengyao are basically divorced/co-parenting a kid #in jin ling and that IS an interesting dynamic and it would be funny in a modern AU for people to think they're together because they're #situation of 'our siblings died so now we are splitting custody of our nephew' is so wild that of course people would be like #'oh you're not together? you're divorced?' which is funny because Jiang Cheng would hate it and Jin Gaungyao as SO much hang-ups #but like do I SHIP it? not really. Would I read a modern AU chengyao fic like that? It would depend on the protrayal of JGY #and his crimes and whether or not I thought at the end it would be healthy. But will I reblog a hilarious meta about it? Will I say #'lol yeah'? Would I read a non-shipping fic of it exploring that dynamic? Would I even read a brief comedic fan comic about it? Yeah #So then what does it all mean? What does any of this all mean? I think having specific definitions of shipping that are NOT all #encompassing would be helpful for these discussions. It's like the pro-ship vs anti thing. Those terms are meaningless. This is not a #true dichotomy but a specturm that people fall on and assuming a 'universal' stance wrt to these things makes all discussion #pointless and asinine. We should go back to critical thinking/dicussions and not 'what team are you on' type discourse #Anyway I might make a Bingqiu Thought post one day. Centered around 1.) Binghe dates his abuser and has no friends #2.) Shen Yuan's consent/interest is often extremely questionable #3.) LBH is low-key manipulative (acting sad and pathetic to get what he wants etc) but never acknowledge this #4.) the way that Bingqiu literally solves the plot is unsatisfying to me because it's external rather than internal #One day these thoughts will come to light

[mxtxfanatic]

Hello new followers, welcome or welcome back from twitter (or another side of tumblr)! This blog is dedicated to mxtx novels but I will eventually branch out to other danmei and hopefully baihe (once one I actually like gets a full translation…). You can call me Ima, and I use any pronouns. I’m in my late 20s, and while I don’t think I post anything nsfw outside of fics on here if memory serves, I definitely talk about mature topics and will likely not engage with you on them if I realize you are underage. On that note, I’ve currently read:

SVSSS (fan and official translations)

MDZS (exr and multiple partial fan translation)

TGCF (fan translation)

2ha (cobbled-together fan translation)

Yu Wu/Remnants of Filth (fan translation)

Qiang Jin Jiu (fan translation)

Nan Chan (fan translation)

Time-Limited Hunt (fan translation)

Golden Stage or Golden Terrace as the official is called (fan and official translations)

Mistakenly Saving the Villain (fan translation)

The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Palm Fish (fan translation)

After I Married the Disabled War God as My Concubine (fan translation)

Thousand Autumns (fan translation)

Mist (fan translation)

This is not an exhaustive list. I’ve now read enough where making a list makes no sense 😅SVSSS and MDZS are my current obsessions as the books that I read on this blog (and you can find those posts under the #human reads mdzs or #human read svsss tags), so most of my recent posts are about those novels. I also have read Yu Wu (under #human reads yuwu, but if you don’t want spoilers, I also have the spoiler tag #yuwu spoilers). However, I am currently reading through different translations of TGCF (postponed). After this, who knows? Any books that I liveblog will have a #human reads [title of book] tag, though I won’t have that for all of them.

Things you should know if you want to continue following:

I don’t take kindly to rudeness, but I’ll engage respectfully even if it is in disagreement as long as overall discussion is friendly/polite

I like the characters of all these books in their canon iterations. That means I love the stories’ heroes as heroes, villains as villains, and all canon characteristics in their proper places. I don’t begrudge people their fanon, but don’t try to force me to “see the light” on any villain in any of these books by treating it as canon. You will not find a villain stan here 😭 (I do complain about common fanon interpretations, though, so if that’s not for you, then no hard feelings.)

If you comment on one of my posts, I’ll likely respond to it. Keep this in mind if you are someone who wants minimal interaction.

Been going through some major life changes this year, so my presence here may be spotty. Can’t predict when that’ll happen or how long I may or may not be gone, but just a warning.

I will not deal with terfs, transphobes, homophobes, or racists. You will get blocked on sight.

This is a side blog. This means that I cannot:

send asks

respond to comments in my notes through my notes (I circumvent this by screenshotting if I want to respond, so again, keep this in mind)

like others’ posts or comments from this blog (even if I really want to…)

follow any blog from this blog

I can, however:

receive and respond to asks

reblog and comment on posts

receive and respond to DMs

I think this is all I want to say for now. My final note is that I love interaction! Reblog! Comment! Make tags! Send asks! Or just like things if that makes you comfortable. Welcome to the blog dedicated to my very rambley thoughts lol

#any typos are unfortunate #but i think this is it #hello people! #hope you enjoy your time here!

[tonyglowheart]

Whenever I see someone quoting MDZS or MXTX, I immediately think, “well, what was the original Chinese? Is the person quoting contextualizing the original words that MXTX used? Or are they basing their interpretations off an English translation that they can only contextualize based on the translator’s word choice and the connotative meanings of the translated text?”

Here specifically, I was curious about a thing I glanced from a post by orion-flux in the mdzs tag, about MXTX calling Jiang Cheng a “product,” and went to find the transcript of the interview again that I think everyone references, and found that the term she used is 作品.

*作品 - creative work, literary work. literary, artistic, or intellectual production.

Additionally, with the rest of the context of the interview - the previous question is asking after JC & WWX’s relationship and MXTX’s authorial intent, and to my interpretation wanting MXTX to discuss how that might go up against some fan reception (the “question”/comment is actually “I think/I’ve seen some readers particularly hate/despise Jiang Cheng’s role(/this character that is Jiang Cheng)” lol) - I think what MXTX is saying here is less commenting on her authorial intent, and resisting the invitation or compellment to fall into parasocializing with her character. The gisted English response is only given as “The Jiang Cheng in my eyes… The Jiang Cheng in my eyes… I see him as a product, a project.” - but the Chinese given is a bit more than that.

我眼中的江澄……我眼中的江澄，就……其实没怎么样，我写文还是比较客观的。我看他……我看他就、就像是在看一个作品。

“The Jiang Cheng in my eyes... the Jiang Cheng in my eyes, is just... to be honest it’s not particularly one way or another, when I write I’m actually still quite not-biased/objective. (When) I look at him... (when) I look at him, and I see/it’s just like looking at a 作品*。

So, I’m actually more inclined to think that MXTX is not saying here that he is a “product” as in a product of his environment, but that, when pressed about how she sees the character and in the context of her being asked about authorial intent vs fan reception - she demurs instead of doing what some authors do where they wax poetic about how their characters are like real people to them, and says she sees him as a (piece of) literary work/character.

Also what’s interesting to me is, I think the original question of “那大大眼中的江澄是什么样的呢，您眼中的江澄。” Is slightly more intimate than/personal than the English of “how do you see them” comes off, it has a bit more of a tone of, “how are they to you” with an ethos tone than just asking what their analysis of the character might be.

Last note, to forestall any rehashing of controversy - yes I know this section has the controversial-in-some-circles “sensitive to gay relationships” word choice by the translator here. I’ve talked about this line already here and how I think the English word choice carries connotations that aren’t present in the original, the translation’s not technically incorrect if you’re looking at it word by word, but I think together the English doesn’t serve the original context/connotations properly and puts people trying to take the English at face value at a disadvantage.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mxtx #jiang cheng #translation talk #new post bc I'm literally only engaging with one aspect of the post not the whole argument #so I don't think it's fair to potentially muddy up the OP's Activity/notes when they have a lot more stuff going on in their post #I do think there is something interesting to say about Jiang Cheng being a ''product of his upbringing'' #my main priority here is more to get people to engage critically with translations and think about the gaps in understanding that arise #when you're working off an interpretation of an original text but trying to ascribe that meaning back to the original #the thing is that translation is an act of interpretation and not a simple transcription #meaning is inevitably changed lost or recontextualized #before it even reaches the reader who then recontextualize it further to their own understandings #(sitting here somewhat lmfaoing at myself bc you know those academia publication feuds of like... 'a response to xx' lol #yes we are all here at tumblr university dot edu) #again yes I am very consciously commenting on methodology here not the discussion within the post I'm referencing #but also this is a general thesis/stance I take to engaging with text in translation. this is a particular example of such

[angstymdzsthoughts]

I posted 706 times in 2021

670 posts created (95%)

36 posts reblogged (5%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.

I added 1,577 tags in 2021

#mdzs - 393 posts

#reply - 298 posts

#wei wuxian - 292 posts

#lan wangji - 188 posts

#lack of reply - 103 posts

#jiang cheng - 82 posts

#lan xichen - 73 posts

#character death - 64 posts

#lan sizhui - 44 posts

#lan qiren - 40 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i was going to have wwx tell jyl and is shocked when jyl is like 'yeah i already knew he felt that way about you thanks for rubbing it in'

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

WWX takes the Wen siblings place. He throws the shattered Seal JGS wanted at the bastard's feet and declares that he surrenders. But, denied the seal and the General he wanted, JGS cannot accept such a dignified win for WWX. He has to make a show of this to repay the destruction of the seal-"I mean, my son." They gather the clans, and humiliate WWX as part of his execution. Cut his hair, beat him, force a kowtow, try (fail) to break him. LWJ & JYL arrive too late. They are held, &can only watch

I need a fic of this. I also need the cultivation world to be divided on his punishment. Half are saying that Jin Guangshen has gone too far and that this is no longer about justice for his son and the other half say that Wei Wuxian deserves every humiliating torture that he is given. 

I can picture Nie Mingjue being pissed about it. If you’re going to punish someone for a crime then do it! Wei Wuxian should have been given a trial by a non-biased sect, judged, and executed for his crime! None of this! This madness is just Jin Guangshen taking out his rage!

Lan Xichen agrees but is silent. He thinks siding with Nie Mingjue would mean turning his back on Jin Guangyao who can do nothing to stop his father. He avoids the entire issue and does his best to keep Lan Wangji from storming in and rescuing Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng is beside himself and torn too many ways. His sect is still not strong enough to oppose the Jin and they have his sister and nephew. If Jiang Cheng tries to stop this then Jiang Yanli and Jin Ling could suffer for it.

Jiang Yanli is a prisoner in her home. She isn’t allowed near Wei Wuxian, her mother in law never leaves her side, and she is told nothing about what is happening to her brother but she still hears whispers. People talk about the horrible public punishments that her A-Xian is being put through and they ask each other when sect leader Jin will finally be satisfied and just put him out of his misery.  She can do nothing to help him.

Wei Wuxian... endures. He tells them nothing about where the Wens have ran off to and refuses to tell them anything about demonic cultivation or how to recreate the seal. He does not weep and he does not beg for mercy they won’t give and most importantly he does not break. He refuses to give Jin Guangshen anything he wants because the more time he spends focusing on breaking Wei Wuxian is more time for the Wens to run as far as they can.

390 notes • Posted 2021-05-03 14:00:42 GMT

#4

WWX and LWJ reconnect after several years apart. Thy go on a date and spend the night together only for WWX to wake up alone. He tries to contact LWJ, because he'd never just leave, right? He finally reaches LXC, and asks how LWJ is doing. LXC looks heartbroken; LWJ died three years ago.

These are the times when the ability to interreact with ghosts bites you in the ass :)

397 notes • Posted 2021-01-26 15:01:02 GMT

#3

Not exactly angsty but you know that scene where WWX takes a drink for LWJ when Jin Zixun tries to force it? Well, it turns out that Jin Zixun slipped some form of Rohypnol (or the xianxia equivalent) in that drink and while it was only supposed to affect cultivators at a slow rate, since WWX didn’t have a core, he faints almost immediately.

Wei Wuxian throws back the wine in one go. He gives the angry Jin Zixun a smug smile and is in the middle of a snappy comeback when his voice turns slow and slurry. His smile drops and Wei Wuxian stumbles back a step before righting himself. Lan Wangji can only watch while Wei Wuxian's eyes roll back before he goes boneless. He catches Wei Wuxian just before his head hits the floor.

The party quickly descends into madness. People are yelling and throwing accusations of attempted murder at the Jin who are trying to deflect. Jiang Cheng summons Zidian and looks ready to kill. Lan Wangji ignores all of it.

His hand is on Wei Wuxian's wrist checking his pulse and searching for even a wisp of spiritual energy. There is none.

399 notes • Posted 2021-04-17 14:01:27 GMT

#2

corporate spy!au what if wwx doesn't die, but jgy takes him as a hostage and threatens to kill him if they don't let him go. (i couldn't handle the major character death)

Detectives go to search Jin Guangyao's house in search of more incriminating evidence. Not the home he shared with his husband Lan Xichen but a remote cabin that had been left to him by his father. They find enough to put Jin Guangyao away for life, but the biggest find was a man left to die inside a locked room resembling a dungeon.

434 notes • Posted 2021-01-20 12:22:50 GMT

#1

Fem!WWX au, where JFM gets her engaged to JC as an excuse to attach her to LP while she comes of age. YZY is desperate to get her out of LP not because she hates her, but because she sees the way that her husband looks at the 15yo WWX with lust, who would’ve thought that her husband was like that pig JGS? When WWX goes to gusu and starts liking LWJ, she grabs the chance to marry her before the lectures even finish, and if JFM dies some time after the wedding nobody will suspect it was his wife.

"You know your mother and I met when she was just a few years older then you are now," Jiang Fengmian said with a smile. From a distance someone would think the way he pats Wei Wuxian's head was parental affection, but Wei Wuxian is close enough to see the intensity in his eyes, the way his hand lingered, how his fingers dug into her hair enough to pull. She is careful not to flinch. She doesn't want him to know she's uncomfortable, doesn't want him to think he should move whatever plans he has for her up before she becomes frightened and runs.

"I swear, you look more and more like her every year," he says, not for the first time. Wei Wuxian is fifteen. Jiang Fengmian met her mother when she was nineteen. Wei Wuxian has four years. Probably less.

Yu Ziyuan watches from a distance and she burns with disgust (Not jealousy. Never jealousy for a literal child who should never receive such looks from a man who raised her). She sees the look in her husband's eyes when he looks at his young ward- the fever of obsession, the intensity of his desire growing every passing day. She has four years to find a match for Wei Wuxian. The further away from Lotus Pier the better.

It's not as easy as throwing Wei Wuxian at the second son of a minor sect. The match has to be so much better then her current one that it won't be an insult to Jiang Cheng and their clan. It has to be someone who would be willing to fight for her despite her arranged engagement. The Lan clan have a history of being romantics.

She insists that Wei Wuxian go to the Lan Sects lectures with Jiang Cheng. She argues that it is her duty as head deciple. She demands to know why her husband doesn't want Wei Wuxian to go and he backs down and bends to her will.

The night before they leave she visits Wei Wuxian's room. "You will do everything in your power to find a husband among the Lan clan," Yu Ziyuan orders her. "The higher in status, the better. Do you understand, girl?" Wei Wuxian, for all the love she has for her home and her family, knows she will never be completely safe in Lotus Pier. She agrees. Yu Ziyuan gives her an approving look. "It would be best," she continues in a tone that isn't as harsh as normal. "if we have a reason to rush the marriage."

Three months later they receive an urgent letter from Lan Qiren demanding they come to the Cloud Recesses. Yu Ziyuan hides how pleased she is when he tells them that Wei Wuxian had been caught in his younger nephews bed with evidence of debauchery on her thighs. Jiang Fengmian is near apoplectic with rage and needs to leave the room for some air. Once her husband steps out Yu Ziyuan pushes for marriage. After all, the Second Jade of Lan has so clearly ruined their head deciple for marriage to anyone else. Lan Qiren is visibly pained when he agrees.

Later, Yu Ziyuan goes to where Wei Wuxian has been kneeling all day as a part of her punishment. She had no doubt that both she and Lan Wangji had recieved brutal beatings after being discovered and would likely be put in seclusion for months. Perhaps just until they find out if Wei Wuxian is pregnant or maybe until the day of their wedding. She leans in and whispers "You did well." It is without a doubt the highest praise she has ever given the girl.

Wei Wuxian's smile is a small, tired thing. She has tarnished both her and Lan Wangji's reputations with this. She doubts the Lans will ever forgive her for ruining their younger jade. Lan Wangji may hold resentment against her for the rest of their lives for seducing him. But she will be able to sleep at night without jumping at every sound and setting up dozens of traps and locking barriers in her room in fear of her uncle trying to visit her. It will be worth it.

603 notes • Posted 2021-10-05 15:01:42 GMT

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#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[rainbowsky]

Do we really need to always look back to CQL everytime we talk about Web & XZ? CQL is an old news. We have more interesting and much better contents now. Why bother to always go back to it?

Web has Louyang to look forward to. It looks great. The costumes, the visual, the detective-libe story looks so promising Let's not forget Being A Hero, a very challenging role for him. And of course SDOC4 where we can see Web looks so relax and happy aside from DDU.

XZ has Oath of Love and The Longest Promise to look forward to. These two are FAR FAR SUPERIOR and more recognized literature works than CQL. Read the novels and you'll see how amazing the romance in these 2 are. Easily the best romance stories (perfect) for XZ. Then ADLD which shows his amazing range as an actor. Very challenging since it's a stage play with a very long running time. We still have Ace of Troops too which we have no news about it.

Do we really need to go back when they themselves have move on? We need to move on too.

It's funny, I was just saying a lot of similar things to someone earlier today.

Although I'm not convinced that the novel of OOL is so much better than MDZS. Tastes are pretty subjective and it's hard to make claims like that in such a broad way. I've heard very mixed reviews of the book OOL is based on. A lot of people describe it as a very het, very cheezy melodramatic story. True, that sort of thing has a broad appeal, but I'm not the target market.

I haven't heard much about the story The Longest Promise is based on, but the same applies. These things are a matter of personal taste.

Having said that, I'm really looking forward to all of their new dramas and projects, and while I will likely skip some of the overtly propagandistic ones, I can't wait to see them perform in other roles. OOL is near the top of that list for me. I can't wait to see GG in that role.

To me, The Untamed is great not only because of GGDD, but also because it's just an excellent, excellent drama with an outstanding cast. I've watched it, in its entirety, 4 or 5 times, plus I watched the Special Edition (which I did not enjoy as much - it felt hacked apart). I am a fan of the show, make no mistake about it. I even own the official photo book. I know I will watch it again. I love the show.

But when it comes to fandom about the show - all the meta and gifs and fanart and discussions and, to a lesser degree, the BTS - my eyes glaze over a bit, I can't lie. I feel like I've seen it all before a thousand times - the fandom is oversaturated with all of this - and I'm just more interested in what GG and DD are up to now. They both have exciting things happening in the here and now.

The Untamed will always be special to GG and DD, and to BXG. I mean, that's a given. It's where all of this started for a lot of people, it's where GGDD had a chance to work together. It's a great show, and they both gave outstanding performances. It launched both of their careers into the stratosphere - no one can deny it (although some solos certainly try). As queer actors, this might very well be the only queer role they ever get a chance to play.

But it's also been 2 years since it aired. In the world of entertainment, 2 years might as well be 2 decades, and that's only a slight exaggeration. It's old news for a lot of people who saw it around the time it originally aired.

Of course, there are always new people discovering it and new people coming to the fandom, so there will always be turtles in particular for whom all of this is brand new and exciting. We are probably always going to see people bringing it up as though it's new. Because it's new for them.

I hope we can all try to empathize with their enthusiasm and try not to put too much of a damper on it. I do my best in this regard. I'm still happy to take asks about the show and the BTS (although my memory of some of those things is going to be rusty).

At the same time, I hope turtles - old or new - will at least try to branch out and experience some of the other material GG and DD have created, and try to support 'the whole, individual man' and not just the relationship between GGDD. There's a lot of content out there. If you can't find it in your region try some of the unofficial sites like Dramacool.

If you haven't seen The Wolf yet, you're missing out. If you haven't been watching SDOC, you're missing out. etc. etc.

However, as I've said many times - everyone gets to be a fan in whatever way works for them. If The Untamed is new for you and you want to enjoy it, enjoy! If it's old to you but you're still attached and don't want to move on from it, enjoy! If it's the only thing that interests you about GGDD, enjoy!

But please recognize as turtles that GG and DD will be moving forward in their careers, and they will talk about/feature the show less and less in their posts over time. They will emphasize new content and move on from The Untamed, at least in terms of what they highlight in interviews and social media. This isn't a 'suppression of the show', it's just time marching forward.

Recognize that a lot of the fans will be moving forward as well. There will inevitably be some people who are sick of talking about it, who find it old news, or who are more interested in other things. This isn't a 'conspiracy of silence', it's just time marching forward.

Don't let yourself feel threatened by any of that and behave in ways that disrupt the fandom when the show isn't highlighted in the way you expect it to be. Don't make up scary stories in your mind about what you fear might be 'the real' motive behind this. The simple truth is, not everything about them is going to be about that show, and that will only become more true as time marches forward.

And that applies both ways. Like I said, I hope those of us who have mostly moved on will try to be empathetic to those for whom the show is new. I hope we can all try to respect each other's approaches and not be warlike about it.

In the end, we all just love these two fools, and if we focus on what we have in common we might find any friction melts away.

Important note

Please don't take this as an invitation to hit up my inbox with anti-BXG hate, messages denigrating The Untamed or BXG, etc. etc. Anyone sending me such garbage will be insta-blocked. If you are anti-BXG and hate The Untamed, please don't follow my blog or engage with my inbox. Stay in your own lane.

#the untamed #fandom reflections #bxg perpectives #ask

[ladyqueth]

Let’s talk about things that make WWX’s donghua character song 造化 (Zao Hua) amazing.

(If you haven’t heard it before, go!  Do it now!)

To start, the music is gorgeous.  You’ve got a dramatic intro, then the instrumentation drops to almost nothing, then builds back up across the verses.  It’s the same melodies but the instrumentation changes everything.  The first half-verse is very quiet, reflective.  At the start of the second verse, there’s an almost militant quality that I love, followed by the soaring strings right before the second chorus. The second repetition of the chorus is so much more intense than the first.

Within the overall buildup, there's a lot of ebb and flow. It's very dramatic.

Then, of course, the lyrics!

[Disclaimer: I am absolutely not qualified to translate this song.  I’m not trying to present a full translation, just translated snippets - tending on the literal side - to help non-Chinese speakers (among whom I count myself) appreciate what I’m talking about. Particularly questionable translations in italics.]

First, duality is everywhere.

Now, Chinese is full of compounds that are created by putting together words of opposite meaning, so their presence alone isn’t anything notable.  But there are lots of them.  (A disproportionate number, I feel, when compared to other MDZS song lyrics.)  And it’s not just in individual compounds.

Look at the hook(?):

宿命浅 情义深 造化 Our destiny was shallow[1], our feelings were deep, such is my good fortune

Which is immediately followed by:

风无羁 月无暇[2] The wind is without restraint, the moon is without flaw

Some examples of the frequent use of antonym compounds:

葬是非功过 Bury the right or wrong, merits and demerits

又一程 是非曲 善恶谣 Another journey, songs of right and wrong, good and evil

And then you have the epic bridge:

善与恶 后人说 孰真孰假 Good and evil, later generations will say who were true, who were false

神与魔 谁定夺 一分高下 Gods and demons, who determines the score as high or low

  Next, look at the way the chorus evolves. It's so beautiful, and it captures WWX's happy ending!

(I've read people say that the song is about his past, present, and future, and I think that's right. But it would take translating the whole song to fully capture that, and I'm already pushing my limits, so I'm just going to highlight some shifts in the chorus between the first two and the final repetition.)

Originally:

不羡仙 不谓侠 贪一世潇洒 Wanting a life confident and carefree[3] 宿命浅 情义深 造化 Our destiny was shallow, our feelings were deep, such is my good fortune 风无羁 月无暇[2] The wind is without restraint, the moon is without flaw 辗转几场冬夏 满坞莲花薄 Lotuses are scarce in the pier 葬是非功过 空牵挂

Becomes:

不羡仙 不谓侠 又一世潇洒 Another life confident and carefree[3] 守情义 何必问 代价 Why ask the price of honoring our feelings 笛无羁 琴无暇[2] The flute is without restraint, the qin is without flaw 同奏一曲年华 云深不知处 Cloud Resesses 你我的归途 Our way home 已无涯 is boundless

The change from Lotus Pier (basically) to Cloud Recesess! I can't. Every time.

  So that's about all that I can manage. Many thanks to @spicychickenyang for fielding all of my Chinese questions - she probably could have written most of this post herself with how much I pestered her.

  And, uh, I ended up with footnotes: [1] The implication of "shallow" destiny here is that fate was not on their side. [2] This is a typo in the lyrics! 暇 should be 瑕. [3] As far as I can tell, 潇洒 has a lot of nuance, and also is like one of WWX's signature adjectives, so I'm not going to spend more time here trying to do it justice.

Postscript: I randomly learned today that the phrase 不羡仙 in the chorus, which played no part in my gushing here, is a literary reference. (x)

#mdzs #mdzs donghua #mdzs music love #wei wuxian #I totally spent so long on this post and was so relieved to post it that I forgot to tag #mdzs translation #I'm not worthy of that tag but Imma put it anyway #and then y'all real translators can come and help me out