#maester of spreadsheets

[veliseraptor]

Top five spiciest untamed opinions!

man, I've been in my own little corner of fandom for long enough that I feel like I struggle a little to parse what is spicy of my opinions and what isn't, but here's a go at it

The Untamed is a show with complex, morally grey characters that's telling a slightly different but not inherently inferior story. Maybe I'm just a bit defensive about this, and I have with time come to appreciate a lot of things about the novel over the way they play out in the show, but The Untamed was the first version of the story that I fell in love with and I think at least some of the criticisms of it overstate the degree to which it morally simplifies the story. I think, whether because of requirements of censorship or other reasons, that the moral messiness of the story is subtler, I don't think it's absent, and while Jin Guangyao in particular falls victim to a pretty intense villain edit the narrative still has plenty of sympathy for him (even if the audience, all too often, does not). I think it's telling a slightly different story (as others have discussed), but I think it's a strong adaptation that still works with the underlying themes of the text.

However, that being said, The lessening of Wei Wuxian's culpability, as in the introduction of the second flautist, weakens his character. I feel like the character of Wei Wuxian as we see him in The Untamed still has the recognizable flaws of the character from the novel - I think the degree to which they're sometimes claimed to be toned down is overstated, which I think I've written some about before. He's still at least a little arrogant, causes problems, has a definite temper, and doesn't always respect other peoples' choices, among other things. But what The Untamed does do is remove some of his culpability, or at least temper it - both for Jin Zixuan's death and the massacre at Nightless City, which are two moments that contribute to a strong tragic arc in the first life, which makes for a more powerful (imo) arc in the second life. Removing, or at least lessening, Wei Wuxian's culpability for Jin Zixuan's death and Jiang Yanli's death makes him more a victim of circumstance than of his own human flaws, and at least for me, a character who is doomed by their own flaws is a far more compelling one than one who just happens to fall victim to outside forces. It makes him, I would argue, more passive and less of an active force, and I think the culpability for those two deaths - and the loss of control that causes it - makes for a more powerful narrative than that of a man who is victimized by someone else's actions.

Jin Guangyao was a good Chief Cultivator. I see people talk about him as though he was corrupt and evil and just plotting all the time, but the Bad Things™ he does mostly happen before his tenure as Chief Cultivator and, even taking those into account, have a limited impact on the world at large (with the exception of Nie Mingjue's death, but even that I would argue has more personal repercussions than broader political ones). As far as his responsibility for the cultivation world at large, we have no evidence prior to his downfall that he is negatively perceived by people, except for the fact of his birth/origins.

this is more MDZS-related than Untamed specific, but: MXTX deserves praise for writing "problematic" and messy queer sex, but it's just not hot. I don't have a whole lot to add on this one, but one of my least favorite parts of some corners of The Untamed fandom are people who are thoroughgoing MXTX antis who are quick to cry about the ~problematic~ aspects of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian's sex life (which, honestly, I think are overstated a lot of the time, as is the weirdness of the sex scenes); however, in my opinion, the sex scenes as they stand just aren't very sexy, and I don't think that's intentional (as it arguably is in SVSSS). The sex scenes may be a shortcoming in the text, perhaps, but not the one certain people think it is.

this is again a stronger argument in the novel but I think it's present in the show as well: Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian are "there but for the grace of god" foils, but not in the sense of Jin Guangyao being "Wei Wuxian if he made bad moral choices" but in the sense of "who Wei Wuxian could've been if his circumstances were different." I've definitely written about this before and how much it drives me nuts the way people treat narrative foils in this story in general as Goofus and Gallant style duos, but this is a specific one. I think Jin Guangyao is an example of a story that runs alongside Wei Wuxian's, but ends in a different place, and I think the story isn't saying that he ends in that place because of something inherently worse about Jin Guangyao, but because of the way his circumstances happen to diverge from Wei Wuxian's in specific key ways. In some ways his ending is even a near beat-for-beat rewrite of Wei Wuxian's death, and Wei Wuxian receives the grace of a second life not because of any inherent merit, but actually because of his bad reputation. I think this goes for Xue Yang, too, actually.

I absolutely know I'm forgetting things and there are probably things back in my bitchy opinions tag that I could dig out, but here's at least a few that came to mind.

#conversating #maester of spreadsheets #lise has opinions #none of these feel so bitchy they need to go in the bitchy opinions tag but just in case i think i'll #lise's aggressively bitchy opinions about irrelevant and unimportant matters #lise memes #top five meme #the sad queer cultivators show

[poorlittleyaoyao]

in the recesses of my main blog, I rediscovered these screenshots of Zhu Zanjin getting into his JGY feelings while watching Fatal Journey, and I thought everyone should see if they haven't.

(also, if anyone has a link to the video these came from, PLEASE add it, because my past self didn't save it!)

#'this is how you talk about Cassius and Macbeth' said maester-of-spreadsheets as she linked me this video in 2021 #YES aND WHAT ABOUT IT???

[titleleaf]

💫!!

💫 What is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

Ngl, my favorite kind of feedback is stuff talking about setting details or dialogue exchanges they liked! (And my favorite kind of critical feedback to receive is structural feedback on things like pacing and tone.) But my favorite kind of comment construed as broadly as possible is when people talk about my fics in relation to one another or just mention them when we're talking about what we're reading/writing/drawing -- it's really nice to be remembered like that.

#maester-of-spreadsheets #ska writes a thing #ask memes

[mtvunplugged1996]

🎧

🎶 Symphony No. 6 in F Major by Ludwig van Beethoven

#thank you for asking! #asks #maester-of-spreadsheets

[aethelflaedel]

tag game: tag 9 people you'd like to get to know better

tagged by: @maester-of-spreadsheets !!

last song: I'm not actually sure. I've been quite ill today so I haven't really listened to anything. probably the rover by led zeppelin?

currently watching: ink master. high quality tv

three ships: arghhhh.. I think I'd have to go with olicolm (the thick of it) because they're insane. jonsatin from asoiaf, and ilithyia and lucretia from spartacus, since they're murderous lesbians. yay!

favorite color: changes a lot, but as of right now, I'd have to say teal or navy.

currently consuming: lucozade. it's my instant sickness cure

first ship: oohhh god.. probably something from pokemon. used to be a massive may/drew shipper when I was like, 10. also something from fairy tail maybe (was an anime tween)

relationship status: sooo single. like, 'might swear myself to celibacy for the rest of my life if I don't meet someone soon' single

last movie: serious answer? poor things. silly answer? zombies 2..

currently working on: not much., since I'm really just dedicating myself to revising and studying atm. oh, I am thinking about finding somewhere to get my first tattoo done and drafting up a little design! I think I'd like a medieval manuscript style bird.

no pressure tags: @whiskeywitch @loogabarooga @airmanslament @starkwoes @ulfrsmal @laymedowninsheetsoflinen @kingslionheart @solidsnakecake @communistyoda :)

#miraposting

[queer-ragnelle]

Tag game: tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better

Tagged by: @snowrassa :^)

Last song: I Like Boys by Todrick Hall

Currently watching: Merlin 1998 (again)

Three ships: Ragnelle/Gawain the otp obviously, followed by the Lovesquare (if you know, you know), & then I have to give it to Aziraphale/Crowley considering I got them tattooed.

Favorite color: black or green, if that wasn't obvious from my blog.

Currently consuming: Nothing.

First Ship: Kikyo/Inuyasha probably. Or maybe Bulma/Vegeta? You see, I have a type of ship....

Relationship status: I've been with the same person for [redacted] years. Double digits.

Last movie: .....Excalibur 1981 (don't look at me)

Currently working on: editing book 2 of my epic, illustrating a cover for book 1, an Arthur/Gwen/Lance AMV, & helping @waleweinn with the newest chapter of the super awesome Quest For A Different Grail! Go read it!<3

Tagging: @i-dont-know134, @nekomaidmordred, @invaders-forever, @mayapleiades, @jewishlancelot, @maester-of-spreadsheets, @sir2dtrash, & anybody else who frequents the Arthurian Theater!

#tag game #my post

[vonlipvig]

Tagged by @varenychenko thank youu!

Last song/piece I listened to: What's it take to get your number? Hurry up, it's getting cold! Hurry up, it's time for supper, order up, I'm HOT TO GO!

Last book I read: I finished House of Leaves earlier today. I teared up and everything, even if I'm not sure I understand. But man, was it an incredible experience.

Last film I watched: Rewatched Oldboy (2003) dir. Park Chan-wook the other night! FUCKED UP CINEMA I LOVE YOU!

Last TV series: Pretty sure the last show I watched was Survivor, since S46 is airing rn. Still making my way through Mad Men, though, only two seasons to go!

Last video game: Suzerain (specifically the new Kingdom of Rizia DLC), I fucking love this game so much, I'm having the time of my life discovering this new DLC. Totally reccommended if you enjoy politics sims/strategy games, with heavy emphasis on story, dialogue, characters, and worldbuilding!

Last thing I googled: Google maps, sorry for the boring answer lmao.

Last thing I ate: A tiny slice of days-old easter ring-bread cake since SOMEONE ate the last bit of ricotta cake I wanted to eat...

Sweet, savory, or spicy: Love all, but sweet.

Amount of sleep: 7-8ish hours, pretty good!

Currently reading: Just finished HoL, so I still don't know what I'm gonna start. Maybe I'll give 'The Deep' by Nick Cutter a try!

Currently watching: Kinda already answered, but I'm also rewatching Press Buttons And Talk's plauthroughs of the Ace Attorney trilogy (currently making my way through fucking Big Top, eugh)

Tagging @xek-xek @facetsofthecloset @minervacampbell @ancient-lesbian @maester-of-spreadsheets @callmekamel @monarchisms @bagadew @staybeautifulmp3 @harta @illusion-of-sea-axes and whoever sees this and wants to do it ofc!

#thank youu i love doing these hehe #tag game #Spotify

[sickfreaksirkay]

tagged by @maester-of-spreadsheets thank youu <3

Last song listened to - disenchanted by mcr

Last Book Read - blood of elves by andrzej sapkowski (i was reading this while waiting in a queue and the person in front of me recognised it because she’d watched the witcher show and i got to be a nerd and talk about it for a while with her!!)

Last Film - keep the lights on (2012) ow :(

Last TV- lucifer

Last Video Game- does minesweeper count?? if it doesn’t then stardew valley

Last Thing Googled - york medieval studies (i have a university offer from the uni of york and was wondering if they have a medieval department)

Last Thing Ate - marshmallows

Sweet Savoury or Spicy - sweet

Amount of sleep - 7 hours? ish?

Currently Reading - the wedding of sir gawain and dame ragnelle

Currently Watching - camelot (1967)

Tagging - @ripmyfictionalfriends @cwilbah @callmesirkay no pressure!!! <3!!

#never done one of these before on my old blog i always forgot #also yes im doing a stem degree but am planning to harass the medieval studies department of whatever uni i go to because it’s my true love #personal

[bonos-grindcore-sideproject]

Regarding my previous reblog, @maester-of-spreadsheets reminded me that Bono nearly quit U2 (and disbanded it!) when he was in thrall to a Christian sect in 1980-81! I think my brain just refuses to retain that fact. 😂

[lilyavara]

Tag game!

Tagged by: @maester-of-spreadsheets and @onetrueharem so I've really got to do this now, right?

Last song: let's go with current earworm - Keddakari from the Raavanan ost. Such a compelling beat. It's in a playlist I made with extremely danceable Indian songs and we've been listening to that a lot lately.

Currently watching: I watched a very ancient Murder on the Orient Express last night - from 1974. I was so tired I fell asleep during the denouement. Still better than Kenneth Branagh. Fight me.

Currently consuming: Breakfast was challah bread with butter and banana jam and Indian instant coffee that was actually mostly cocoa. Banana jam = love. I'm trying to eat my way to feeling better.

Three ships: I am currently obsessed with The Locked Tomb, so Gideon/Harrowh of course. And everything involving Pyrrha. And Lucy/Lockwood from Lockwood & Co. Jay just finished the books, so I'm thinking about them again. I am really a very predictable shipper.

Favorite color: Got to be blues and greens, since that's what most of my pottery is. I know that's a wide range but I'm bad at picking favs

First ship: I don't know. Probably some Malayalam movie? Or Enid Blyton, lol. I have always shipped. It's the primary thing I get out of media.

Relationship status: Married. Just got to 10 years, which makes me feel old. In a good way. Mostly.

Last movie: See above

Currently working on: Applying to engineering jobs, which is soul killing. Also, hedgehogs.

Tagging: @onionjulius @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly @corseque @elwing @blueandbluer @notsosilentsister @roohdar @tearitar @little-corners @ahappychap

#about lily

[veliseraptor]

writing patterns tag game

tagged by @ameliarating and before that by @feralkwe like a week ago whoops

including a couple longer running wips on here even though it feels a little weird to do so...

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 posted fics and see if there’s a pattern.

Xiao Xingchen met his future boyfriend in an alley by a dumpster, semi-conscious and covered in blood. (from Redux)

Porsche called him late in the afternoon on Thursday when Vegas was reviewing some accounts and trying to figure out where he wanted to start carving out his niche. (from Undercut)

He meant to finish it. (from Walking Far From Home)

Song Lan was accustomed to isolation. (from the poison in your bones)

Xue Yang didn’t even start wondering if something was up until the daoshi were seven days gone. (from fierce spirits bite back)

Bad fucking luck. (from make this house a habit)

Kinn sort of liked having a baby cousin, even if Khun hated him. (from Tilted Axis)

So. He was back. (from jiggety-jig)

Vash is… (from that unknown orchard)

It wasn’t that Pete disliked Vegas’s college friends, exactly. He hadn’t even known Vegas had college friends until they’d rolled into Bangkok three days ago with very little warning. (from Drift)

based on these (and based on what I know about myself in general) I prefer short sentences, mostly with minimal context. I think I am generally a bit of a...not completely in media res person but at least a "drop in the middle of an emotion/texture rather than event" person, at least when it comes to fic. there's a few of these that establish more about plot, which actually surprised me a little.

I tag...hmm. @curiosity-killed, @highladyluck, @paradife-loft, @brawlite, and @maester-of-spreadsheets if they are so inclined, and beg your pardon if any of you have already been tagged.

#lise memes #confessions of a frustrated writer

[poorlittleyaoyao]

erudite morning discussions with @maester-of-spreadsheets

[titleleaf]

My girl was just thrashing against her restraints like SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR BOYFRIEND! SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR BOYFRIEND! SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR BOYFRIEND!!!! and that’s what it’s like for people who have to hear me talk about David Dastmalchian characters. I want only good things for this creepy little lady.

#maester-of-spreadsheets #ska watches a thing

[invaders-forever]

Tagged by @maester-of-spreadsheets thanks <3

Last song listened to - Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

Last Book Read - Exiled from Camelot by Cherith Baldry IT'S SO GOOD YOU GUYS!! AMAZING literally the best it's Kay Gareth and Gawain pov and everyone loves each other and sdtghdfjndduhcduijh

Last Film - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Last TV- The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, quickly becoming one of my favorite shows for it's ability to address things waaay better than expected for a show from the 1950s and because it keeps putting lancelot and his little buddy in situations>=)

Last Video Game-Balders Gate 2, I'm working my way through spell hold two rooms at a time 😅

Last Thing Googled - Tumblr...... (Grail maiden is second last for something more interesting lol)

Last Thing Ate - Taco Bell lol

Sweet Savoury or Spicy -Sweet

Amount of sleep eh like 4 or 5 hours? I don't know exactly but it was hard to sleep last night and I don't feel like I got quite enough

Currently Reading - nothing really, I'm planning on reading the Percival continuations there is some juicy Kay content lol

Currently Watching - The Adventures of Sir Lancelot

Tagging: @fuckmylife-iwillnevertrustyou , @bean5prouts , @daliathewitch , @spider-droid , @some-sort-of-siren but no pressure =)

[onetrueharem]

Tag Game: POV You’re in a Horror Film

tagged by @maester-of-spreadsheets​

create your look here

find out what role you’d play here

I got the killer:

oh, you're the one doing all the killing. you're the violent little guy with a chip on your shoulder, the undead nightmare with a mind only for revenge, the unhinged psycho who just likes to inflict pain for fun. either way, you're the catalyst of this whole narrative, the lynchpin on which the entire plot rests. you either die in the end or live on through numerous sequels, prequels, reboots, and spinoffs. 

tagging @givequinnaknife​ @growgills​

[mistoffeleesisawitch]

Tag 5 comfort characters and then tag 5 other people

Tagged by @oneeyedaemond thank you!!

Man this was hard to pick just 5, I have too many that are all over the place. I guess I’ll choose the ones I’m really into right now

Alicent Hightower (F&B and HOTD)- One that I’m sure is a surprise to no one. She just fascinates me, especially in HOTD. Forced into a terrible position and having to make the best of it. Torn apart by her love for people doomed to kill each other. And I always have a soft spot for devoutly religious characters I get lesbian vibes from

Marya Bolkonskya (War & Peace and Great Comet)- Speaking of devoutly religious characters I get lesbian vibes from. I can’t forget Marya now that I’m reentering my War & Peace phase for like the fifth time. Absolutely miserable but still genuinely trying to be a good person. She’s had it rough but has tried to not let that turn her into her into a cruel or bitter person (I do not acknowledge the epilogue)

Guinevere (Arthuriana)- Blorbo from my medieval manuscripts. I’m in love with every version of her. Ambitious, influential, romantic, mean, I love her. Her adultery was cool and funny and Arthur isn’t good enough for her. She’s goes through so much but each version just comes back again. I too would fall obsessively in love with her if I were Lancelot.

Wanda Maximoff (Marvel Comics not MCU)- I will defend her with my life. Her poor character has been everywhere and dragged through the mud but no matter what she’s still a character whose been through constant hell and still wants to help people. Dealing with an immense amount of power no human should have, she’s doing her best okay?

Apple White (Ever After High)- I’ve loved her since Middle School. She is awful and self-absorbed and incredibly privileged but also well-meaning and loving and dealing with a lot of pressure. She’s deeply motivated by her past trauma and her belief that people will actually die if she doesn’t follow her destiny. She’s kind of a mess and all I want is for her to grow. Also another repressed lesbian who while not religious in the normal sense, is still devout to her beliefs in destiny. I might have a type

+Bonus for my other War & Peace blorbo Sonya Rostova- Sonya goes through so much and doesn’t let it destroy her. Deeply loyal and loving, especially to a family that doesn’t deserve it. Also maybe questing her gender identity a bit. I’m gonna save you Sonya im gonna get you out of there. (And I still don’t acknowledge the epilogue)

Tagging @rusalkascave @prodogg @maester-of-spreadsheets @princegarin @prince-aemond-targaryen (no pressure!) and anyone else who wants to!

#tag game #alicent my beloved