#of wanting to see xue yang executed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

canary3d-obsessed · 8 months

Text

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 39 part one

(Masterpost) (Pinboard) (whole thing on AO3)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Fight Exposition Club

Wei Wuxian hollers into the smoke, saying things to provoke Xue Yang, in the hopes that he’ll come fight properly, so Lan Wangji can shank him. Wei Wuxian is figuring out a new way to be a battle couple with Lan Wangji. Without flinging a lot of yin energy around he can’t fight back-to-back with him like they did during the Sunshot campaign, but he can use his mastery of tactics to bring enemies into range of Lan Wangji’s sword arm.

Xue Yang repeatedly sneaks up on Wei Wuxian, rolling natural 20s on his stealth checks even when he’s in extremely plain sight.

Come on, Wei Wuxian. Try harder.

They trade trash talk and Wei Wuxian points his flute a lot while Xue Yang tilts his head a lot.

(More after the cut!)

This scene is tedious but it does give Xue Yang a chance to explain his motivations and philosophy. Why do we need to know? Because he’s here to provide a contrast to Wei Wuxian. Notably, he says, of his massacre of the Chang clan, “since I want to kill that whole family in Yueyang, then I wouldn’t even leave their dog alive.”

As we get to know Xue Yang, he seems to be into murdering entire clans, and it’s easy to assume he picks them at random. But in fact, his killing of the Chang clan was his revenge for a grievance, and he waited until he earned Wen Ruohan’s permission before he embarked on his massacre. He’s not an uncontrolled spree murderer, despite talking and preening like one. His killing of Song Lan’s sect was also revenge for a grievance.

The problem with Xue Yang’s murderous tendencies isn’t that they are uncontrolled or random; it’s that he has no sense of proportion, and no mercy. Contrast this with Wei Wuxian, who went on his own revenge-driven killing spree, but even as he massacred the Wens at their corporate offices, he left Wen Qing alive. And once he’d killed those directly responsible for the massacre of the Jiang clan, he turned to actively saving other Wens.

Active Listening

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji’s fight coordinator is on a smoke break, so Lan Wangji has nothing to do for several minutes except turn around trying to see or hear something through the fog. He keep this move fresh by executing it in as many different ways as possible.

You’ve got the head turn with hair flip...

the “eyes first” head turn...

the fast head turn...

and the body turn while the head stays put.

Nailed It

After conversing through the mist for a while, Xue Yang decides he’s going to try to stick nails in Wei Wuxian, like those he used on Song Lan.

Wei Wuxian’s fight coordinator is taking a nap, so he just stands there helplessly while the nails come straight at him. Fortunately Wen Ning has some moves prepped, and he comes sailing in -- flying faster than two metal projectiles, which is a neat trick -- to intercept the nails.

He squeezes them to make sure they’re dead, and drops them as dramatically as possible.

Wei Wuxian gets in on the head-turning action for a bit, until he figures out that A-Qing is helping them.

A-Qing is even better at listening than Lan Wangji is, and she knocks her stick on the ground when Xue Yang is near her.

This allows Lan Wangji to throw Bichen right through Xue Yang’s chest.

Unfortunately, Xue Yang is busily stabbing A-Qing in the heart already.

Wei Wuxian runs over to A-Qing, but he’s too late...since she’s not a cultivator, the wound is fatal.

If you find the low camera angle and the lens distortion here familiar, there’s a reason for that.

Actually, the whole situation is familiar, isn’t it?

Right down to the white clothes and the pierced heart.

Sigh. At least A-Qing’s death was part of her own fight with Xue Yang, not someone else’s story. She put herself in harm’s way to use Lan Wangji as her weapon.

Lay Down Your Arms

Speaking of pierced hearts, I feel like Xue Yang’s chest wound should be bleeding at least as much as his mouth is bleeding, but what do I know?

Xue Yang goes to attack Wei Wuxian, hollering as he does it. At least I think he’s targeting WWX; the blocking in this scene is confusing. Anyway, this gives Lan Wangji the opportunity to do the greatest fight move of his entire career.

He throws Bichen at Xue Yang, severing his arm in such a way that the arm spins around and hits Xue Yang with his own sword.

Fuck Yeah Hanguang-Jun!

Note: if you like Xue Yang’s fight scenes as much as I do, check out my fanvid over here.

Now I’ve Gotta Turn My Back on You

Once Xue Yang is unable to fight, Su-She-in-a-mask appears, initially trying to rescue him.

Su She goes to grab XY’s shoulder to teleport him out out there, but Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji react simultaneously, throwing a talisman (WWX) and Bichen (LWJ) at his hand, forcing him to let go.

So he yoinks the Yin Tiger Seal from Xue Yang’s vest pocket and them bamfs himself away, leaving Xue Yang to his fate.

Xue Yang takes a moment to contemplate how well and truly fucked he is.

Then he cackles gleefully, since that’s his response to anyone having a terrible day, including himself, apparently.

This inspires Song Lan to finish pulling himself together so that he can finish Xue Yang.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji leave him to it instead of sticking around to make sure XY is really dead this time. Remarkably, this does not result in a miraculous escape for Xue Yang, and Song Lan stabs him, mortally wounding him.

Then, as Xue Yang lies bleeding out in the road, the show pulls an amazing switcharoo, giving us Xue Yang's perspective on the events leading up to his death, explaining his perspective and giving new depth to his character. Still evil, still an asshole, but also a victim, with a temperament formed by trauma and injustice.

Flashback Time

Flashback-Xue-Yang tells Flashback-Xiao-Xingchen what he’s done. First we get him gloating as he explains what he’s done to XXC.

Then he explains why. We circle around and around until we arrive at his central trauma: the encounter with Sect Leader Chang that cost him his finger and turned him into a vengeance machine.

When he was busy carrying out his long-planned revenge on the Chang clan, Xiao Xingchen interrupted him, with Song Lan’s help, so he extended his revenge plan to include them. And because he has no sense of proportion, he wasn’t content with killing them; he wanted to destroy them, particularly Xiao Xingchen, whose idealism deeply offends Xue Yang.

Everything he did to Xiao Xingchen was basically an elaborate way of saying, “the world is worse than you believe it to be.”

His plan comes to fruition when he tells Xiao Xingchen everything he has done to him, culminating in showing him what they - together - have done to Song Lan.

Unfortunately it works too well, because Xiao Xingchen is so horrified and disillusioned that he cuts his own throat, falling dead while Xue Yang watches in horror.

Song Lan’s tiny, perplexed reaction to Xiao Xingchen’s death--the first thing he’s reacted to since losing his fight with Xue Yang--always breaks my heart.

Then things get really weird. Xue Yang is determined to resurrect Xiao Xingchen, following the same protocols that Wei Wuxian developed for reviving Wen Ning. But his version is way, way creepier.

Initially his plan is to add Xiao Xingchen to his collection of fierce corpses, because the dead are easier to control. But as time passes and XXC fails to wake up, Xue Yang becomes more and more distraught, showing what looks like a genuine attachment to Xiao Xingchen.

This doesn’t make him less of an abuser, but it does make him a lot more interesting and complex of a character.

As the flashback ends, Xue Yang’s last thought is about Xiao Xingchen giving him candy, simply out of the kindness of his heart.

Ultimately, Xiao Xingchen teaches him, at the very end of his life, that the world is--slightly--better than Xue Yang believed it to be.

The Point of It All

Of the many parallels we see in Yi City, the arc of Xue Yang’s life compared with the arc of Wei Wuxian’s is particularly important.

They each have similar talents; they each had similar beginnings. But Wei Wuxian has a kind heart and a yearning for justice, while Xue Yang is relentlessly cruel and cynical. Why?

The answer, I think, is this guy:

When Xue Yang was a hungry street urchin, he encountered Sect Leader Chang, who reviled him, beat him, and grievously injured him, setting him on the path of vengeance, murder and mayhem. When Wei Wuxian was a hungry street urchin, he encountered Sect Leader Jiang, who fed him, elevated him to a high status, and taught him, by example, to value and protect the weak.

Xue Yang responded by wiping out every member of the Chang clan. Wei Wuxian responded by tearing himself apart in order to ensure the continuation of the Jiang clan, as well as becoming the hero of the Sunshot campaign, a champion for the weak, and the cultivation partner of the most righteous dude in the Jianghu.

Jiang Fengmian wasn’t a good parent (understatement), but he was a pretty good sect leader, and at a crucial moment, he chose kindness. That moment ripples outward through families and sects, across generations, into the wider society. How a man chooses to interact with a hungry child can ultimately shape the entire world.

...damn it, Yi City, you made me appreciate Jiang Fengmian!

#the untamed #the untamed gifs #restless rewatch the untamed #ep39 #canary3d-original #that's rough buddy

183 notes · View notes

veliseraptor · 11 months

Note

I'm interested in your thoughts about the different way the show vs the novel cuts the timeline, and specifically in terms of how Jin Guangyao is framed. With the show, we're first introduced to Meng Yao as a young man making heart eyes at Zewu-jun and there's a very slow build up of suspicion over time, which allows viewers to get to know and like him more at first before...*ahem*... putting the villain hat on him. In the novel on the other hand (assuming I'm remembering this correctly), we're basically presented with Jin Guangyao as the antagonist almost from the beginning, setting him up for the reader's suspicion and dislike. On the other hand, there's a much more nuanced portrayal of his crimes (e.g. he's not responsible for Every Bad Thing Ever like in Untamed) and the reasons behind them, and an even more clear parallel with WWX as the protagonist. What are your thoughts?

Ohhh this is a super interesting ask and I actually found it an interesting counter to the prevailing Jin Guangyao narrative about his framing in the drama, which holds that he is straightforwardly being painted as The Villain, and while I don't think that's incorrect I do think in some ways it overstates its point. however, I actually think that something specifically about narrative framing (as in, not taking any content changes in mind) here might, perhaps unintuitively, contribute to why the Jin Guangyao of the novel is a more sympathetic figure than The Untamed (tries to) make him.

(once again I came out of CQL like Jin Guangyao Made Many Valid Points, Was If Not Right At Least 75% Justified so like. I actually don't think The Untamed was as good at making Jin Guangyao a Straight Up Villain as it was trying to be. I have thoughts about Zhu Zanjin actively acting against script and how you can feel him pulling against the prevailing narrative and I have thoughts about how that actually interacts very nicely with the way Jin Guangyao in every version of the story is pulling against a prevailing narrative that wants to relegate him to the margins in one way or another. but that's a major sidebar.)

holy hell I wrote an essay so putting the rest of this under a read more.

The point is that I think there's a few things happening here - I will note, first of all, that I don't think we actually are introduced to Jin Guangyao as a villain in MDZS. I believe the first mentions we get of him are actually fairly positive. I went back and checked, and he's mentioned a couple times early on just to note his position as Chief Cultivator (in pretty neutral to positive terms), then identified as the person who gave Jin Ling Fairy, and a few other times including the explanation that he executed Xue Yang to "show that things were going to be different." Pretty shortly after that is the scene where Wei Wuxian finds the kids playing Sunshot Campaign to see how Jin Guangyao is portrayed there (because that's a solid proxy for perception more broadly) and it's pretty complimentary!

"In these types of games, the role of the now-grand-beyond-measure Chief Cultivator, Lianfang-zun, was naturally very popular. Though he had come from a background that most people found too embarrassing to even mention, it was for this very reason that they sighed in admiration over how he'd succeeded in climbing to the top of the cultivation world. [...] He fully deserved the title, and could even be considered a legend of his time. If Wei Wuxian had been playing this game, he also would have wanted to try being Jin Guangyao." (Dew, Part 5)

I do think that's worth remembering, that it's not an immediate jump into "Jin Guangyao bad"; it happens pretty fast but not immediately.

However, it is true that by the time we actually meet Jin Guangyao on page he is under pretty heavy suspicion, and pretty shortly after that is the Empathy sequence, which involves a lot of heavy judgment on Wei Wuxian's part (a very unbiased narrator! of course!) of Jin Guangyao's badness. though that's also the sequence that reveals Jin Guangyao's involvement in saving Lan Xichen, his maltreatment by cultivators in general and Nie Mingjue in particular. So it's...complicated.

But in general, this kind of arc (starting with a character who seems fishy/suspicious or even evil, gradually revealing later on the more sympathetic aspects and drawing a fuller, more nuanced picture of them that's very far from a blanket condemnation and also gets a lot of sympathy from the narrative) is very characteristic of MXTX. She does it all the time, in all three of her books, with pretty much all her antagonists.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW: Shen Qingqiu in SVSSS starts out as a lecherous scum villain who deserves his horrible death and ends as a decidedly tragic and fairly miserable figure that even his #1 hater feels pity for, Tianlang-jun in same is an all-powerful demon lord, terror of the cultivation world -- and he was wrongly accused because the Old Palace Master coveted Su Xiyan. Xue Yang is introduced as a mass murderer and closes as a hand clutching a treasured candy. Jun Wu in TGCF receives the bamboo hat after Xie Lian's beaten him in a truly remarkable gesture of compassion.

Wei Wuxian himself, who is introduced in the first lines of the novel as a terrible evil that has been defeated - this one gets quickly overturned but the fact that it begins there is still significant. I could keep going.)

and while I feel like that's led to some problems in the discourse (namely, people make up their mind about who Jin Guangyao is right off the bat and then dismiss anything that doesn't suit that initial assumption as either false or irrelevant), I also think it's a pretty compelling way to lay out her characters, and does some very interesting things in terms of...challenging the reader to be willing to overwrite some of those early assumptions, being willing to make that change in how they assess a character (or person). I mean, that's a big part of the plot of SVSSS, actually: many of the problems are caused by Shen Qingqiu's unwillingness or inability to see that Luo Binghe is not the character he knew him as from PIDW - that Luo Binghe has changed because of Shen Yuan's decisions. The misunderstandings after Luo Binghe's plunge into the Abyss stem, in a lot of ways, from Shen Qingqiu continuing to assume that Luo Binghe is thinking and acting exactly as his counterpart would, instead of looking at the person who is actually in front of him.

So too, I think the reader is meant to do those same kinds of reassessments in MDZS as character details are parceled out. Notably, the information about Sisi and the Guanyin Temple statue is only revealed after Jin Guangyao is already dead. Everything has already happened, so why put that information in the text? It's one more signpost that says you thought you knew everything but there's still more to complicate the picture and make this even more of a tragedy. You see the same thing with Jiang Cheng and the golden core reveal at the very end - everything has already happened, the great confrontation has already gone down, but here's one more thing. Maybe it doesn't change anything in terms of the narrative, but it's there, it's important.

Now, the problem comes, I think, when people are unwilling to flex on that initial unfavorable impression, and I feel like particularly right now in general a lot of people are unwilling to...change their minds? on things? or to admit they were wrong or maybe making a judgment prematurely? And most obviously this is an issue irl all over the place but I think it happens in fiction, too. The irony here is, of course, that it's replicating exactly how cultivation society in-text responds to Jin Guangyao, namely by taking one thing about him and deciding that says everything about him, regardless of what he does.

To turn to CQL, now...I'm going to be talking about narrative structure from an Anglophone perspective because that's what I know, and that's the part of fandom I primarily engage with, recognizing that what I'm going to say about story patterns may not hold true in Chinese literature; I've read too little of it to say.

I actually think it's interesting that I actually think, while CQL is on the face of it presenting a more sympathetic look at Jin Guangyao to begin with, by putting it in a linear order where the viewer more or less knows what's going on with him through the course of the whole story in chronological order is actually in some ways a villain edit in and of itself without the extra dumping of all the bad things ever being his fault. I say that because that's actually, as a narrative arc, a very familiar one in terms of the path it follows. "Innocent young man falls into villainy" is a classic villain creation trope - and while often it can make for a sympathetic villain it is very much a story that arcs from good > bad > dead.

When it's set up in that linear sort of way, aligned with that sort of familiar path, the reader (viewer) is almost set up to expect what comes; as soon as episode 10 rolls around and Jin Guangyao does something questionable, there's an easy and immediate jump to "oh, so he's going to be one of those" and from there everything he does must be, by the logic of that familiar story, part of that path. He can't get better from there; that's not how it works. He can have a redemptive moment before death, perhaps, but overall once that downward arc begins, the expectation isn't that it'll reverse, and it's a challenge to convince people not to view the rest of the character's story - and potentially back-read into their previous actions - in a suspicious light at best or an actively hostile one at worst.

(Interestingly, I have thoughts/feelings on the way that Wei Wuxian's arc interacts with that sort of story path, which is to say as I've talked about before Wei Wuxian's first life is classic villain origin story. "A smart, clever young man with a healthy dose of hubris acquires sinister powers, gradually gets more unstable and separated from society, and ultimately goes full villain" is the basic outline of Wei Wuxian's story before his resurrection, and that is, I want to emphasize, a villain story. Obviously it doesn't end up framed that way, but viewed from outside that's what it is. The fact that he's extricated from it and gets another chance doesn't actually unwrite that - it gives him another chance.)

So CQL!Jin Guangyao might start out as a more sympathetic-seeming figure than MDZS!Jin Guangyao does, but by virtue of the linearity of his arc on screen (following a familiar narrative path to an inevitable end), I think he's pre-set up to be intractably cast in the villain role, where MDZS!Jin Guangyao, because the reveals of information about him are non-linear, wobbles more. Because the reader doesn't have all the information it (potentially) forestalls making final judgment, or at least calls for a reexamination of judgment. That interrupted arc, with its side trips and detours and glimpses of another story in which Jin Guangyao could've been the protagonist (the brothel flashback occurs to me), makes it potentially a little less easy to mark Jin Guangyao in the villain box and keep him there for forty episodes.

I would say, in general, that the novel encourages a more sympathetic read of Jin Guangyao. But I do think what you've noted here is worth remembering: CQL doesn't present him as a villain or even as sketchy from the start, and the difference is clear in the form of two characters who project "I'm a bad person!" in every scene they're in from the beginning: Wen Ruohan, and to a lesser extent Jin Guangshan.

#conversating #flamingwell #jin guangyao #lise does meta #the sad queer cultivators show #thanks for giving me the opportunity to spend FAR too long writing this and looking up quotes and shit #much appreciated way to spend my afternoon #instead of working

115 notes · View notes

iamwestiec · 2 months

Text

Writing Patterns Meme

I feel like I would've called this the Opening Lines Meme, but I'm not in charge around here so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ tagged by both @bladedweaponsandswishycoats and @tavina-writes thank you kindly

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

"Shizun, please, let me help." Luo Binghe's eyes were big and wet, and it was completely unfair how weak that made Shen Qingqiu, especially now. It Does a Body Good - Scum Villain, Bingqiu, lactation kink pwp for Tit4Tat

"Come on in, Rex," Anakin called out as the door to his temporary rooms slid open. These were nicer accommodations than they'd had in a while, all things considered. a different intimacy altogether - Star Wars, Anakin/Padme/Rex, first time threesome, also for Tit4Tat

First, there are kisses. A Tender Shoot Unfurling - Love Between Fairy and Devil, Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua/Changheng, a polyship remix for Multiamory March

In retrospect, Wen Ning should have realized that something like this might happen. Novel Avenues of Empirical Research - MDZS, Wen Ning/Nie Huaisang, body discoveries of a horny nature for Cursed Clutch Exchange

Sizhui is pleased to discover that he loves traveling with his Ning-gege. wanting spills out - MDZS, Lan Sizhui/Wen Ning, soft fucky somno, also for Cursed Clutch Exchange

Somehow they always seemed to be running away from gunfire and explosions. Medically Inadvisable - Trigun, Vash/Wolfwood, a comedy of errors for Misinterpreted Tropes flash

Her husband always looks so fucking pretty in a skirt. Fucking Pretty - MDZS, Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan, genderplay pwp for Bulletproof

If someone had told Mo Xuanyu just a few years ago that she'd be living in Jinlintai as an officially-recognized sister of Jin zongzhu and apprentice practitioner of the ghostly path, she never would've believed it. things are happening every day - MDZS, Mo Xuanyu & Xue Yang, a slice of a very trans modern cultivation AU, for MDZS Genderfuckery

The first thing I noticed was the color of the sky. It was that really pretty ice blue right before the clouds in that one post, you know the one. I Died and Got Transmigrated Into WHAT???! - Scum Villain, OC/Shang Qinghua/Shen Qingqiu, some absolute nonsense for Birthday Bash [I am making the executive decision to skip some even sillier Birthday Bash masterpieces lmao]

Shen Yuan was having a hard time meditating. New But Not So Strange - Scum Villain, Liu Qingge/Shen Yuan/Shen Jiu, trans ace queerplatonic sex pollen times, for Amperslash (and a bonus, because I just like this one:)

Sister Felicity was stricken one morning with the undeniable and utterly ruinous realization that she was in love. Like a Wellspring, Her Love Overfloweth - Original Work, nun/demoness, piss kink with feelings for Flash Flood

What have we learned?

I like a one-liner, and I tend to start by declaring that A SITUATION IS UPON US and then rewinding a bit to look at how we got here.

Fairly even split between past and present tense, and usually a close third POV unless I'm Intentionally Doing A Bit.

Less dialogue than I expected! Usually when I do this one, I have a bunch of: "Opening words," they say, as the Situation comes to a head, "and then the second, longer half of that sentence."

Let's do @sandumilfshou @jaggededges123 @theindianghost and @livingmeatloaf, plus whoever else would like to play!

#first lines #writing patterns #tag games #westie writes #pleased with the spread of fandoms here too tbh

12 notes · View notes

admirableadmiranda · 1 year

Note

So, I read an answer you have given to another question about WWX owing the Jiang Clan debts and you mentioned Changse-Sanren having a debt owed to her by Lan Queen, Jiang Changze and Jiang Fengmien. And it brought up a question I had. In the Xuanwu of Slaughter when WWX is distracting the beast so the other Sect Heirs can escape and Su She pulls his shit and LWJ jumps in to help WWX and gets caught in the mouth. WWX jumps in to save him (bless these chaotic gays😮‍💨) Would it not be reasonable then to assume that the Lan Clan owes WWX a debt for saving LWJ, but the other Clans/Sects do as well for saving their heirs lives? And IF they do, how can the Clan/Sects that claim to be 'righteous' and 'honorable' move against WWX later? Is it all just hypocrisy? Or is there more going on here that a common western reader wouldn't understand?

Hi anon! I will do my best to answer your question clearly as we are moving beyond things I know super clearly.

So basically with life debts is that they are owed from a person to a person. Jiang Fengmian owes Cangse-sanren a life debt, so this is why him taking in her son would be closest to repaying it. Jiang Cheng owes Wen Ning and Wen Qing a life debt, which is why he should owe it to them to help and it speaks poorly of him that he doesn’t. Given what goes on during the Xuanwu cave, the debt would not be owed by the whole Lan Clan, but just Lan Wangji to Wei Wuxian, with the caveat being that a life debt can be repaid for example by taking in their child, which is somewhat what we get with A-Yuan, BUT!!!!

You say even yourself in your question that they save each other multiple times, so you’ve sort of got your own answer there. They have no debt to each other both because they are good people who would do this regardless and because they are mutually saving each other at the same time. A life debt is usually sprung when someone who isn’t in the same situation comes in to help at personal cost anyway. This is why the one between Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng and the Wen Siblings exists; Wen Ning was not involved and chose to get involved to save them. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were both trapped in the cave, so there’s no debt, only an alliance.

As for how the Lan could turn on him at the siege? It is largely hypocrisy, a poorly translated motto (@jiangwanyinscatmom please help me I have forgotten exactly what the Gusu motto actually means) and (in my opinion extrapolated from hints in the text and an interview with MXTX where she says what happened at Wen Ning’s execution was not an accident) the manipulation of the Jin in order to get them at a position where they would move against him. I firmly don’t believe it’s coincidence that when Wen Ning went berserk at his execution that him mostly killing the Lan and Nie that were there despite the lion’s share of events caused to him were caused by the Jin, and the fact that they already had Xue Yang who Wei Wuxian compares the needles in Wen Ning’s head and Song Lan’s head and verifies that they are the same, it’s not a difficult theory to justify. The Lan do give into mob justice, but I do believe they were dragged in by Jin manipulation to get all four great clans on their side for the siege.

That does not make what they did excusable, but it’s certainly not a chain of events that I see easily repeating especially given what happens in MDZS proper. The fallout of Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao’s sworn brotherhood will definitely have an impact on the clan that will likely shake out for the better in the future.

As for whether the other clans owe Wei Wuxian for saving their heirs’ lives? I mean probably, but it’s hard to say. Again, they were all trapped in the same situation, Wei Wuxian included. But incurring a life debt isn’t just as easy as helping put someone in trouble. You have to do more than just be there at the right time.

Also Lan Wangji would never want Wei Wuxian to feel like he’s holding some kind of debt over him. :P he gets very mad about that.

#mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #asks #anon #anon asks

66 notes · View notes

jiangwanyinscatmom · 11 months

Note

So I was reading this manhwa 'who made me a princess', idk if you know about it so brief description of it is a modern girl transmigrated into a book after her death, and its a princess who is disliked by her emperor/king? (forgot title) father and was eventually executed, anyway what i was trying to get at is that to show how terrible the father was there was entire scene where he killed all the concubines in cold blood after his wife's death (in webcomic there is no reason or readdressing of this fact afterwards, idk about the novel) so some of the fans were discussing that to show he changed as the comic was trying to portray, how powerful it would have been if he bowed down in front of those he killed, if he at least tried to make up for it. And idk looking at that discussion made me think if an attempt at post canon jiang cheng redemption (idk man maybe jiang yanlis ghost came to haunt him or some other reason where he tries i guess, maybe an older jin ling who is now stable in his position as the jin leader is the one who breakdowns and yells how much of a murderer/blood jiang cheng has of innocents on his hands after being approached by some poor family member of someone jiang cheng killed, the person is an old grandmother who asks 'my grandson was taken by sect leader jiang as a disciple he hasnt been back since, i hope he is well' and poor woman doesnt know the kids been tortured and killed and so jin ling says unless you apologize to them, unless you at least try to face your actions, dont call me your nephew again/i wont call you my uncle) jin ling (and just to be safe he tells wei wuxian all about the dates when they are going in case something goes wrong cause he trusts wei wuxian to help if things go south with jiang cheng) goes with him to prevent jiang cheng from lashing out if the families dont want to do shit with him, and to make sure he tells the truth of it and maybe its a finally wake up call for jiang cheng, because any time he even thinks of blaming wei wuxian he remembers how much of a clown he is ALA the temple scene and has no other choice but to face his actions if he wants to keep a relationship with jin ling. What are your thoughts on it?

I do think, in regards to Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng's relationship, his love for his nephew is to show that it isn't too late to show in actions, his own dedication to someone. Admittedly, I do not think Jin Ling has the heart to disown or think his uncle is a monster, as many do reasonably view him as readers. As he had said with his narration:

Somehow, there didn’t seem to be anyone he could blame or anyone he could hate. Wei Wuxian, Jin Guangyao, Wen Ning—he should hold every one of them responsible for his parents’ deaths. He had good reason to loathe each of them. But they all seemed like they’d had their reasons, and it left him unable to hate them.

But if he didn’t hate them, who could he hate? Had he deserved to lose both parents at such a young age? Was this how he would be forced to live—unable to seek revenge on his enemies, but also unable to loathe them without qualms?

He couldn’t take this lying down. He couldn’t help but feel aggrieved. How he yearned to perish with them and be done with it!

For many I don't think they see as Jiang Cheng being served enough of his own retribution. But not all of it is always putting someone in the worst possible situations to be reaped. The world of "demonic cultivation" is the realm of Xue Yang, not of Wei Wuxian, and is something that has been in underground existence even before Wei Wuxian. But don't know if Jin Ling would technically by these stories, as everyone has their reasons. It's about the healing over anything else that he eventually tries to grow with and become less ignorant through. This is already seen as he chooses night hunts with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji mentoring with no mention of Jiang Cheng kicking up a fuss. It is a very small thing, but small things are all that can be used to achieve a better world and life. Jin Ling, I feel at least, does not want anything to do with further condemnation that will only cycle a hate that will not be satisfied unless you as a person decide to move on from it.

Jin Ling does know what his uncle is like, horribleness and all, but, love is also trying to stay with them and having the fortitude to stay with that person to hope they can be for the better. Jiang Cheng, will never be kind or fully capable of initiating remorse, but his actions are enough for Jin Ling to comfortably and finally be allowed to flourish, without the weight of self-doubt. Support, in that, is really what Jin Ling needs over wanting further condemnations for those that he loves and cares for.

A lesson ironically learned from Wei Wuxian a man he stated to hate so much, yet learned to love.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jin ling #the end of the book is meant for healing and care #a turn of what made the characters that grew up in condemnation and rumors dealt with #the younger generation has the chance to choose to let that go #forgiveness and support is always harder to offer than retributions

25 notes · View notes

mxtxfanatic · 5 months

Note

I know you are probably not in a tgcf mood at the moment but I was wondering how you felt about the comparison between Xie Lian and Hua Cheng and Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang respectively.

I always feel a bit ragey when I see the comparison between Hua Cheng and Xue Yang and mostly insulted on Hua Cheng's behalf but I also sorta always feels uncomfortable with the comparison between Xiao Xingchen and Xie Lian I can't really explain why so I thought another opinion on that would be interesting.

I’m in a tgcf mood, especially since the official translation just finished and I can finally remove my spoiler tags 😁

Anon, as someone who is not that deep into the tgcf fandom, I would like to tell you to run as far away from whatever pit you’ve found yourself in, cause wtf?????? Those two couples are literally nothing alike, not even surface-wise. How is mass-murderer Xue Yang the same as Hua Cheng, who sacrificed his eye to save a group of random strangers? Xiao Xingchen and Xie Lian match in morality, I guess, but Xie Lian is with Hua Cheng because he knows him and loves him and sees that he is morally good, while Xiao Xingchen was taken advantage of by Xue Yang, whom he wanted to execute, due to his blindness (CAUSED BY XUE YANG) to kill innocents, which caused him to commit suicide. What about these two situations is even remotely similar except to woobifying villain stans?

#tgcf asks #mdzs asks #anon #well this ruined the day #you gotta run away from the dark side anon #those people are not well

15 notes · View notes

allthelittlecreepycrawlies · 1 year

Text

SangYao Horror(Ish) Ideas, Part One

When Meng Yao goes to Koi Tower for the first time, it's discovered (to his surprise) that he's part monster. A disgusted Jin Guangshan decides that banishment is too nice a punishment, but execution might lead to people discovering the boy was his.

Not wanting Meng Yao anywhere near Koi Tower, he has Meng Yao dragged off to some falling-apart mansion of a disgraced magistrate near the border and sealed in, then offers a bounty to anyone who can kill the monster "haunting" the house. Many try, but Meng Yao, having realized his own father is sending assassins after him, taps into his monster-y powers in a desperate bid for survival and kills any comers.

Eventually, he's forgotten about by everyone except his father, who despises the fact that he's not dead yet.

Years later, Nie Huaisang is caught in a wild thunderstorm that blew in as he was escaping from a kidnapping party of Wens. Terrified, exhausted, wounded, and now soaked, he ducks into the first empty house he comes across, passing out almost the moment he falls across the threshold.

The pursuing Wens, realizing where they are, see this as a bonus opportunity. Not only can they recapture the Nie heir, they can force Jin-zongzhu to owe them for getting rid of his little problem.

One strides forward and grabs the unconscious Nie Huaisang by the hair, but then there's a growl out of the shadows

----------

Grimm's fairytale-style au where Nie Mingjue is poisoned and stolen away by Wen Ruohan and Nie Huaisang comes across a fox named Meng Yao who can get him back, but only piece by piece.

And because magic must be equal to magic, Nie Huaisang has to give up bits of himself in return.

He cuts off his hair to make silk for trade.

One by one he breathes his talent for art, his love of birds, his cheer, and his cleverness into pearls.

He gives up the color of his eyes (and some of his vision) to be made into paint.

When he finally has Nie Mingjue back, stitched together and healthy, he is hardly recognizable as himself anymore.

Worse, there is still one thing missing, Nie Mingjue's memory.

Unable to prove they are brothers, Nie Huaisang goes back to Meng Yao and begs for help one more time, but despairs that he has nothing left to trade.

Meng Yao points out that's not true: if he agrees to be a fox's bride, that will be enough for one last magical theft. Though unsure of what he's getting himself into, Nie Huaisang agrees.

When Meng Yao wraps him in a robe made from the silk he traded, pins his hair up with combs decorated in the pearls, and paints his face for the ceremony, Nie Huaisang finds himself restored to his old self.

Both brothers are now whole and Nie Mingjue is free and back in his realm, but of course there is one more catch.

A human claimed by a magical animal must remain in the den during the winter months, as they will grow too cold and die without being close to that magic. In the harsh climate of the mountains, with the wedding taking place just before the first snow, Nie Huaisang has to wait an entire half a year before being able to see whether or not Meng Yao upheld his end.

(Fortunately for all involved, he did. Who would risk cheating such a devoted bride?)

----------

Meng Yao initially planning to pull a kill and replace on Nie Huaisang because he wants the other boy's better life, but eventually deciding to lock him away instead. He insists it's necessary so that he can keep refining his imitation, but really he just wants to keep a pretty bird for himself.

----------

Thinking about the relationships between old school horror actors and like, sangyao where they've been trading off hero and villain roles opposite each other for a decade and they hate each other outside roles but they have fucking amazing on-screen chemistry and then one day in makeup, Xue Yang is finally like "God, just fuck him already! You're making me look sane, you want it so bad!"

And Meng Yao is so offended by the idea but shit, now it's stuck in his head and won't go away. They have to do a vampire scene next! He has to bite Huaisang with that thought in his brain!

The tension ramps up! The audiences love them, the producers love them, the directors are encouraging it and Meng Yao is pretty sure he's losing his mind.

Even more maddening, Nie Huaisang either can't tell or is damn good at pretending not to notice and Meng Yao can't figure out which is worse. Either way it comes to a head at a swanky party. Nie Huaisang starts on their usual snippy back and forth, and Meng Yao just kinda snaps a little and drags him off for what everyone thinks is gonna be the catfight of the year.

It's not.

At least not in the way they’re thinking.

----------

Urban magic AU where the Nies have to keep Huaisang hidden because he was born with Level III regenerative magic and if word gets out there are a whole lot of vampire clans (like the Wens) or other cannibal types that would do anything to get their hands on him as a food source.

Meng Yao is a daywalker via his mother, a distant Wen cousin who fled from the family, but he has no idea because she was always extremely careful about what she gave him to eat. So when his hunger gets forcibly awakened, he understandably reacts with blind panic.

He has no idea how he ended up in this weird hospital-like building, but when someone attempts to grab him, he reacts with newly-grown fangs.

When the terror and hunger subsides, he finds himself a bloody mess with an equally-bloody and dazed young man in his lap and several guns aimed at his head.

His captors don't believe that he arrived by mistake, especially not when he went for their most closely-guarded asset. But his victim, who apparently healed up just fine in seconds, vouches for how shattered his mental state was when he showed up.

It's ultimately decided he won't be killed. But he can't be allowed to just waltz out, either. Since Huaisang seems to have taken an odd shine to him despite being attacked, it's decided he'll be the young man's new personal caretaker.

They'll put him back on the diet his mother had used, but having been awakened, he'll have to have blood at least every few days.

It gives him a weird little feeling of mixed pleasure and endearment when Huaisang volunteers to be his regular meal.

#mdzs #sangyao #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #nie mingjue #wen ruohan #xue yang #ideas #blood tw #long post

17 notes · View notes

mostlikelytofangirl · 1 year

Note

Scenario: A-Yao loses the ability to lie convincingly for 48 hours. Any 48 hours of your choice. How screwed is he?

Oh man.

You know, I took this long in replying bc the potential of this premise is HUGE! My boi can get grossly screwed up in many ways :')

But since I love him, how about it plays in his favor in the end. Kinda sorta xD

---

Whatever dumb experiment Chengmei had been conducting on his own was obviously guaranteed to backfire. Jin Guangyao should have known that leaving the delinquent unsupervised was a terrible idea.

And now here he was, having to deal with the aftermath of a talisman that very much exploded in his face earlier that day, and in front of the one person who didn’t need more reasons to distrust him.

At least the mysterious effects of the talisman had made themselves clear enough.

“Of course there is nothing wrong, da-ge,” he said, feeling the unnatural pull of his muscles as he forced a smile like he never had to before. He couldn’t even control the inflection of his voice!

Nie Mingjue was staring at him with his brows deeply furrowed. On a normal day, Jin Guangyao would internally roll his eyes at the unnecessary mistrust but, that day, he would admit that he, too, would be suspicious if he was da-ge.

Which was unfortunate, to say the least, since he had just altered the accursed song!

“Then why have you been so silent all day?” da-ge asked.

Because I can’t trust my own body.

“Because there’s nothing to say,” Jin Guangyao replied as a nervous chuckle escaped him despite himself. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to disturb you from focusing on Clarity.”

“You have been tugging at the same cord since I asked.”

Jin Guangyao had no control of his facial expressions as he surprised himself fidgeting with the guqin.

“T-this? Hmm, I just… have been very busy,” he blurted out, unable to force his gaze to meet Nie Mingjue’s. “I said I was going to make sure that Xue Yang got punished, didn’t I?”

And he might just seriously consider killing that pest for real after the mess he had gotten Jin Guangyao into!

“You have always been busy, yet I have never seen you twitch. This isn’t like you.”

“Aha, I-I think these recent days have been particularly challenging.”

The smile —if he could even call it that— was starting to ache in his face, and he couldn’t look Nie Mingjue straight in the eye for more than a quick glance as the man merely kept on staring.

“Then leave already, you would be of no help in this condition,” Nie Mingjue eventually declared, and for once, Jin Guangyao was grateful for his da-ge absolute lack of tact.

“Yes, might be for the best,” he agreed, standing up. “I will come back tomorrow.”

Hopefully, Chengmei would have found a solution, or the effect would have worn off by then.

It didn’t.

And da-ge was not alone when Jin Guangyao reappeared the next day.

“Hello, A-Yao,” er-ge greeted him with that gentle smile of his, yet with obvious reservations as he gestured to Jin Guangyao to approach and take a seat with them. “Da-ge said that you have been displaying some odd behaviors, is everything alright?”

Oh, gods, not this again.

“Yes! Yes, er-ge, everything is perfectly fine,” the exaggerated enthusiasm of his voice was honestly insulting even to himself, and he could swear that he felt a tic in his eye.

As expected, his two sworn brothers shared a look.

“See? He’s been acting like this since yesterday,” da-ge said.

“Hmm. A-Yao, you know that you can trust us if something is in your mind.”

What was in his mind was that he needed to get Nie Mingjue to qi deviate before the deadline for Chengmei’s execution arrived, and he couldn’t do that if he didn’t keep on playing Turmoil, which was impossible if Lan Xichen was right there!

“I told da-ge already that I have been terribly busy uhm… assisting father in various endeavors of personal interest, yes.”

“Didn’t you say it was because of Xue Yang?”

Damnit!

“Uhh, he is… one of those endeavors— is it getting warmer here?”

Why on Earth did he say that?!

Er-ge and da-ge looked at each other again, now with open puzzlement and preoccupation. That was it, Chengmei had managed to not only get himself killed, but Jin Guangyao, as well, for the mistake of trying to save him.

“I told you that kicking him had been out of line, da-ge.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

… wait, what?

“Listen, this is my fault,” Nie Mingjue told him and, for a moment, Jin Guangyao thought hallucinations were another effect of that stupid talisman by the way da-ge seemed truly remorseful. “You exasperated me that day, and while I stand by my arguments… my final remark and actions were completely unwarranted. It has been hard to control my worst impulses, but now your head is all messed up by the contusion. I’m sorry.”

Wait, what!

As it turned out, the talisman not only affected his mannerisms when he tried to… choose his word strategically, but also when he wanted to conceal his emotions. Try as he may, he couldn’t school his expression to something other than the bewilderment he felt and how touched he was to hear Nie Mingjue, of all people, apologize to him!

When was the last time someone did that?!

“I…” his lip trembled too much to properly elaborate, and his voice came out as a weak whine, prompting his two sworn brothers to stand up and relocate by his side.

“Don’t force yourself,” er-ge told him. “The damage to your head must be taking a toll on your body.”

“Yes, something is clearly wrong with you.”

“Y-you don’t think this is another of my wicked tricks, da-ge?”

“What reason would you have to act like you are spasming whenever you speak? If anything, you always took pride in your shallow pretty words.”

Nie Mingjue frowned, but there was also a hint of a smirk on his lips.

“A-Yao, if you allow me, I could use some Lan medicine on you.”

“B-but… Xue Yang…”

Da-ge sighed.

“We can see that matter on a later date, it is obvious that you are not well.”

Er-ge placed his hand on Jin Guangyao’s arm in an encouraging gesture, and he could have broken down in tears right there and then. Lan Xichen could end whatever that talisman had done to him, he could buy time with Nie Mingjue until he thought of a better solution to the Chengmei predicament.

“Thank you,” he said and, finally, his smile didn’t feel like a grimace. “Maybe er-ge could also take over and play for da-ge instead. This A-Yao would hate to mess up Clarity in this state.”

#replies #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jin guangyao #lan xichen #nie mingjue #I guess this counts as another tumblr prompt :'D #fix-it #I suppose #idk man it's fun to explore random aus #guess this also qualifies as #me is writing

20 notes · View notes

lansplaining · 1 year

Note

Why didn't the murder of Chang Ping cause more shockwaves? Someone murdered in the most cruel way possible the last surviving member of a dreadful case concerning Xue Yang (which JGY believes to be dead), a demonic cultivator (which might get Jiang Cheng's attention), who was presumably executed by the Chief Cultivator precisely for the crime of murdering said Chang clan (so Nie Huaisang may want to snuff out a bit to get dirt on him). Lan "goes where chaos is" Wangji is presumably out of the ice by then, so he might want to take a look as well.

And even after the "investigation" concluded the sword used for the crime was Shuanghua, wouldn't that still cause a lot of talking? The last male disciple of Baoshan Sanren became a dark evil overlord, and if Xiao Xingchen really is the man responsible for this snafu, they might as well start looking for him to make sure he won't cause trouble in the future!

It does seem to have been a pretty massive deal! But I guess there are a few factors here.

Chang Ping had already been pressured into recanting, which I think can't be overlooked as a factor that would have taken the pressure off, first because some people would probably just accept the recantation, and those who were suspicious of it would probably recognize that it happened because somebody pressured him in a very compelling way, and what if they decided to turn that pressure on anyone else who spoke out about the matter? There's also Chang Ping himself turning down the pressure (quote from the wiki, I think from the official translation): "What can I do aside from this? If I don't tolerate it, the rest of our clan's people wouldn't be safe for long. I'm really grateful, Daozhang, but… please don't help me anymore. Now, helping me would be harming me. I don't want the Yueyang Chang Clan to end yet."

So Chang Ping has deliberately turned attention away from the case by the time he's murdered, and presumably brushed off anyone who tried to raise it or help in the interim. Suspicious, obviously, and he doesn't even try to hide it! But see above-- what would happen to anyone else who tried to push?

The fact that it's supposedly Xiao Xingchen does seem like it should be compelling, and I actually do kind of like how the donghua frames the whole thing as this "what the hell, why did Xiao Xingchen murder somebody?" mystery at first. But the fact that he's this wandering rogue cultivator seems really key-- nobody knows where to find him, nobody is responsible for him, and now there's nobody alive to pressure anyone to do anything about it. And then he doesn't seem to cause any further problems, so it's easy to forget.

It's intended in large part, I'd argue, as commentary on the society at large: without someone as blunt and righteous as Nie Mingjue applying pressure, cases like this just... disappear. Xiao Xingchen took revenge on the guy who recanted his accusation on a murder XXC really stuck his neck out to uncover, seems a bit out of character, but oh well, people change. Seems like he got it out of his system, not our problem.

I do think documented Bright Moon and Gentle Breeze stan Lan Wangji of CQL could easily have gone to investigate, but it does seem like this may have been relatively recently after he left seclusion. And honestly one of my favorite performance moments in CQL is how even just talking about this whole situation clearly just makes Lan Wangji so, so sad. At the end of the day, maybe he was showing a bit of side of him that's more like Lan Xichen: he couldn't change it, so he just didn't want to know.

#ask answered

15 notes · View notes

songofclarity · 2 years

Note

Why on earth do people think that XXC is paralleled with LXC when XXC and NMJ have so much more in common? It’s especially annoying because some people (typically NMJ haters) assume everyone in the fandom agrees that XXC = LXC and make uncomfortably ableist arguments that XXC’s physical blindness was the same as LXC’s inability to realize the truth about JGY before it was too late.

Only in a short summary do we hear about Xiao Xingchen dragging Xue Yang to Koi Tower trying to get him punished/executed for his crimes. Only in a brief mention do we hear that for a while Xiao Xingchen was a thorn in the Jin Sect's side. Only in a quick sentence or two do we hear that Nie Mingjue rushed over to help him and they were a team fighting vehemently for exactly the same kind of justice against the same dominating power.

So it's very easy to forget who Xiao Xingchen was before he suffered tragedy and physical trauma which led him to withdraw from fighting the big fights on center stage. Xiao Xingchen's active scenes exist in Yi City and show him as being a calm, thoughtful, and pleasant person like Lan Xichen, thus the parallels begin from there and expand when Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao enter the picture.

Their situations are definitely interesting examples of how we accept people into our lives without knowing everything about them! But yeah…

Xiao Xingchen blinded himself as a consequence to his actions that led to Song Lan being harmed. He expected to be alone from then on out, and so he was caught by surprise when two strangers wanted to stay with him. A-Qing never told Xiao Xingchen the extent of Xue Yang's dangerous behavior or about the murdered civilians, so Xiao Xingchen had absolutely no reason to doubt or question their funny, delinquent roommate might seriously do anyone harm.

Lan Xichen blinded himself with the belief that he knew Jin Guangyao better than anyone. Nie Mingjue told him that Meng Yao had killed one of their allies and Lan Xichen defended Meng Yao by calling it all a misunderstanding. Meng Yao killed Nie cultivators and further harmed Nie Mingjue, and Lan Xichen defended Meng Yao by suggesting the ends justify the means. Stories creep up here and there over the years that Lan Xichen brushes them off because he insists Jin Guangyao is a good person and the world is just biased against him for his background.

Xiao Xingchen had a physical blindness while Lan Xichen had a cognitive/emotional blindness. If Xiao Xingchen could just see the man sitting in front of him, he would immediately know the danger at hand. If Lan Xichen could just open his mind and listen to what other people were saying about the man sitting in front of him, he would understand the danger at hand. Xiao Xingcheng's tragedy is that he didn't get any red flags to warn him while Lan Xichen was getting a new red flag each week. They are not the same.

#i am very passionate about my xxc and nmj parallels lol #altho i'm finding it funny how many asks i get #complaining about x or y in the fandom #but oof y'all we gotta to rise above it!!#this is a safe space for nie fans tho i got you #mdzs thoughts #anon #asked from above

18 notes · View notes

thatswhatsushesaid · 1 year

Note

i am fascinated by how antis ascribe perverse intent behind the few things that JGY really DID do more or less under duress-- the torture, like you say, and the weird implications that he somehow wanted/enjoyed/was into incest

I know I answered another ask related to this one a while ago and so was trawling backwards through my posts in search of it, but alas, I can't find it. but yeah, there is such a trend in the tags around antis insisting that jgy is just into the monstrous stuff that he ends up forced to do, even though the evidence suggesting this just does not exist in the text. and yes, I'm including the villainous friends extra in this mix, because if you look specifically at jgy's reactions to the grotesque things that xy joyously does to the tingshan he, it's pretty clear that he's enduring it because 1) daddy said 'jump,' and 2) do you want to be the one to get between xue yang and his fucked up human anatomy experiments?

seriously, xy is the one calling the shots in that extra when it comes to deciding just how the tingshan he are executed.

content warning for canon-typical xue yang body horror fuckery:

like... is he complicit in this nightmare? absolutely. does he hold some responsibility for it happening? sure. is he deriving any pleasure or satisfaction from what is happening? 👆👆👆 objectively false.

it's the claims the antis make about jgy being seriously into the idea of being sexually intimate with his own relatives that makes the the angriest the more I think about it, because not only is there zero textual support for it in any adaptation of the canon, the antis always pose these statements as somehow being objective facts about the nature of jgy's 'true character.' like they have somehow tapped into something grotesque and base in jgy as a character that is indisputably true, and then leverage that claim as proof of nefarious intent behind anything else he does, like the torture or the demonic cultivation stuff for example. just some of the screencaps of these shitty takes I've collected over the last few months:

I'm sure that each of these posters had more choice content to share prior to my snagging screencaps but, well, most of them have blocked me now so 🤷‍♀️ can't go back to see if they've said more stuff, or changed their opinions. but this level of vitriol directed at the one character in the entire cast born in abject poverty who struggles his entire life to claw his way out of it definitely makes me feel some kind of way.

#asks answered #he did crimes??? good for him 😌#not going to drop this one in the tags this time #mdzs meta

20 notes · View notes

veliseraptor · 1 year

Note

Please tell me all the reasons xxc and nmj wouldn't get along, I'd love to hear that as a rant

I kept meaning to get back to this one and then forgetting and then going "oh I should answer that" and then going "but I don't want to be too bitchy" and then - and anyway that's why this took me like two months to answer.

basing this more on novel canon than cql, because that's where I tend to see the comparison being made more often, I think because they're more directly in contact in one specific scene.

so I think why people say this is basically because they see nie mingjue's "xue yang must be punished/killed" and xiao xingchen's "xue yang must be punished/killed" and also look at nie mingjue's relationship to jin guangyao and xiao xingchen's relationship to xue yang and go "oh so they're morally aligned and are parallel to each other :)" and that's just! not true!

for one thing, and I think this is something that gets lost a lot - xiao xingchen does not live within the hierarchy and structure of cultivation society at large, and is in fact not a huge fan of it. he and song lan are actively trying to do their own thing! that is part of xiao xingchen's problem specifically - he walks into great sect politics with the expectation of justice and runs headlong into, well, politics. and a big part of that is that he doesn't have a whole lot of respect for power if he sees that power as unjust or acting badly: despite pressure from the Jin, "neither coaxing nor coercion had budged Xiao Xingchen."

I think then people look at nie mingjue's showing up and arguing for the same and take those two things as equivalent, but they really aren't, because while nie mingjue is younger than jin guangshan and therefore owes him respect in that sense, he is also a sect leader and approaching from a far more equal position, which is why he can get away with actively threatening violence in a way that xiao xingchen...couldn't. nie mingjue has power, even if it ends up not working for him; xiao xingchen doesn't.

furthermore, I think another important distinction between the two of them is around the question of violence. specifically in the scene around xue yang's initial trial (ish), the distinction between xiao xingchen's bringing xue yang back to jinlintai to ask for him to be punished (by the sect whose responsibility he is), versus nie mingjue's attempt at direct personal execution, including an attack on jin guangyao when he doesn't get his way. again, some of this is likely based on power dynamics (nie mingjue, again, is closer to equal status and therefore has more allowance to step into jin guangshan's affairs), but I think some of it is a difference in approach, too, and inclination. I think it's also notable that (at least in translation) xiao xingchen doesn't specifically say that xue yang should die ("severely punished" is the phrase), as opposed to nie mingjue going for outright beheading.

so I think presenting them as similar/aligned in this scene, basically, is overselling it.

it's not that I think they would hate each other, or anything. I just don't think they'd be friends, or particularly see each other as allies. xiao xingchen occupies a space outside of the social order; nie mingjue, I would argue, is deeply wedded to the social order as it stands. xiao xingchen has a loose sense of the importance of traditional hierarchies of power; nie mingjue is very much embedded in those hierarchies of power and believes in upholding them.

furthermore, looking at the nie mingjue/jin guangyao dynamic versus the xiao xingchen/xue yang dynamic, I think the idea that they're narrative parallels really falls apart. nie mingjue is jin guangyao's superior officer and continues to perceive himself as an authority over jin guangyao; it is his job to correct his behavior and discipline him as he sees fit. xue yang is a criminal that xiao xingchen apprehends, and xue yang turns around and takes revenge on him for interfering. the latter are much closer to equals, at least in the way they perceive each other, and xue yang's revenge on xiao xingchen is considerably less motivated by self-preservation.

they're just not similar except in terms of very specifically both having the opinion "xue yang must be punished" and being willing to push against jin guangshan to do something about it, which isn't a lot to build on for a relationship of any kind, and I have a hard time seeing them vibe personalitywise.

boy this got long. you did ask for a rant though so I guess you got one? climbing down off my soapbox now and going back to my yi city cave where I belong.

#conversating #oddeyesight #sacrificing tags for the sake of not wanting to argue about it #alas.#should i tag stuff like this 'nie mingjue negative' maybe #i don't think i'm being unfair though #i don't think this counts as meta #i guess i'll tag this as #lise's aggressively bitchy opinions about irrelevant and unimportant matters #more mdzs than cql but for organization #the sad queer cultivators show #maybe i'll come back and tag it later

47 notes · View notes

hulijingemperor2 · 5 days

Text

Some time later, A-Yao, Xichen and team dimple became drunk.

Also, team d were untied.

Xichen: *singing while laying on the floor*

Yao: *laying on Xichen's chest in his fox form.

Xue yang: xuanyu. Is it like illegal to hump a fox?

Mo xuanyu: it's ok since that it's Yao gege.

Xichen: do you guys see my hickeys? It's beautiful isn't it?!

Su she: I HAVE MORE THAN YOU!!!

Xichen: oh really?! And what does that prove, Sushiiiii. *laughing*

Su she: that Yao huangdi loves me more!

Yao: you two, shut up. You have 8 each.

Xue yang: Jiggy can you bite me?

Yao: no.

Mo xuanyu: he becomes more savage when he's drunk. LOL!!

Yao: *morphs back into his human form*

Xue yang: Jiggy, what should I do to get you?

Yao: *opens fan*

Xichen: *hugs* Jiggy.

Mo xuanyu: Lan lips I'm not Yao gege!!! Get off!

Xichen: oh shoot. That's why you don't smell like peonies.

Mo xuanyu: you're very rude, you know.

And I'll beat you up.

Xichen: try. Come at me bro.

Mo xuanyu: whoever knocks out someone's teeth first gets Yao gege.

Su she: I'm betting all my money on mo xuanyu!!

Xue yang: nah. Lan lips is a beast when he drinks alcohol.

Su she: I remembered Lan zhan fought me when he was drunk. Maybe lipsy is the same thing.

Xue yang: freaky Lans.

Su she: I want to elope with Huangdi while they're fighting.

Xue yang: same!

Yao: *sitting while sobered up*

Mo xuanyu: you fight like a girl, Lan lips.

Xichen: *grabs hair*

Yao: *fanning himself* you don't know how silly you all look.

Qin Su : *enters* lol what's going on here. Team D!

Yao: I'm watching them fight over me.

Qin Su: well that's normal. *massages his scalp* as my Yao Huangdi is really attractive after all.

Yao: exactly. Come. *supports her* have a seat.

Qin su: sure.

Yao: are you comfy?

Qin Su: yea Huangdi.

Su she: *blushing* Miss Qin.

Xichen: who?

Qin Su: me! You shameless Lan!

Mo xuanyu: *sitting on Xichen while wrestling with him* Other woman! Hiiiiii! Can you give me a hairpin so that I can stab Lan lips?

Xichen: noooo. I think I'm afraid of sharp objects!

Mo xuanyu: big coward.

Qin Su: aren't you a cultivator?

Xichen: but I'm a baby in the eyes of Jiggy.

Qin Su: *rolls eyes*

Xue yang: Lan lips, tell me more. I like to hear you talk when you're drunk.

Xichen: I want A-Yao to step on me with his execution boots again.

Qin Su: again??

Yao: *laughing*

Su she: I know right.

Qin Su: Juniors still partying?

Yao: yup. So we decided to party too.

Qin Su: *laughing* in the torture chamber??

How devious and attractive of Huangdi.

Yao: team dimple's suggestion.

Qin Su: they're wild. But crazy for you!

Anyways who won't be.

Yao: exactly. Shall we all go to another room? The torture chamber isn't good for you and the baby.

Come team d. *holds Qin Su's hand*

Xue yang: coming Jiggy!!!!

Xichen: right behind you!!!!!

Mo xuanyu: Yao gege called ME!

Su she: yea Huangdi, we're coming!

~~~

In one of their living rooms~

Yao: *preparing tea* do you see Song'er and A-qing? They're are a cute couple?

Qin Su: yes. They're really adorable.

But A-qing is a bit crazy.

Yao: hmm, I agree. But she's in good shape.

She is witty, intelligent, a little respectable, loving.

Qin Su: I hope she's taking the relationship seriously.

Song'er isn't ordinary! He will soon inherit an empire for himself.

Yao: well let's see.

Yet I have high expectations for her.

one thing what hurt me was when she sold A-Song's gifts that he give her.

Qin su: how dare she!!! No one does that to my Song'er.

Yao: relax. She stopped doing it.

And will never do it again.

Qin su: good.

Qin Su: the harem is pleasing to the emperor.

So now, I just want to be a mother-in-law to A-Song's girlfriend

Yao: *laughing* and you're keeping your eyes on her?

Qin Su: yes.

Xue yang: wow Susu. You're tough.

Qin Su: I promised Yao Huangdi to love him, support him and take care of our family.

And taihou has a lot of expectations for me.

Plus she'll be the future Huanghou.

Yao: *smiling* how ideal of you.

Mo xuanyu: you don't get that from team dimple, Yao gege?????

Yao: of course I do. You all are very supportive.

Su she: awwwww. Huangdi!!

Yao: tomorrow is that soiree with the elite fox spirits.

Are you still up for it?

Qin Su: yes, but I don't think I'll stay for the garden party.

Yao: I understand. Should we have A-qing represent you?

Qin Su: ah, good idea. But she has to meet them first.

And maybe we can see if she's a good host.

Yao: and compatible with Song'er. I see.

Xue yang: *hugging A-Yao* you two are so hot and intelligent together. *sniffs* and you smell nice too.

Qin Su: chengmei.

Xue yang: you know you're wondering why I'm simping for you instead of Spicy Qingqing.

Wen Qing rejected me because she feels she's too hot.

But you're hella beautiful too. Gorgeous just like Jiggylicious.

Step on on me some time, Qin su!!!

Yao: *lifts chin* only I can step on you, yangyang.

Xue yang: better yet. Jiggy. *licks lips*

Susu, you can drill that brat as hard as you like, as it's a tough world out there.

And I won't get mad.

Qin Su: good. Because you better live with me drilling her.

Xue yang: yea I'll live with you.

Qin Su: that's not what I meant.

Xue yang: I dream of living with you and Jiggy in a cottage with one bed. But unfortunately Jiggy is an emperor and wouldn't like a small cottage.

I have to be a hitman and earn money to buy a mansion for 'his majesty' over here.

Yao: *rolls eyes*

Qin Su : dream big i guess.

I only love A-Yao though.

Xue yang: but I'm hot. But I don't blame you tho. Jiggy is Jiggy.

Susu, do you have any candy?

Qin Su: no.

Xue yang: fiesty just like Jiggy.

Su she: can you just give up. Empress Wen had rejected you.

Xue yang: sometimes you gotta ignore the shattered pieces from your heart and focus on the heart instead.

Su she: *almost throws up*

Mo xuanyu: *clapping* rightly said!! Yangyang you're so talented!!!

Xichen: *still drunk* who is that guy?! And why does he sound like a hopeless romantic. Or the babadook.

Xue yang: I'm your sleep paralysis demon, Lan lips. FEAR ME!!!!!

Xichen: I knew I should have got to bed earlier.

But no, I wanted to stay up in order to do papapa with A-Yao.

Mo xuanyu: horny Lan.

Su she: no respect for our Huangdi. Non!

Qin Su: I agree.

Xichen: but I'm a sweet person!.

Yao: yes you are. And he makes nice tea.

Xichen: mhm, I strive to be chivalrous. *smile*

Mo xuanyu: is thieving Yao gege from team dimple a chivalrous and virtuous thing?! Are we just gonna gloss over that!!

Su she: you snatched him away from us!

And everyone forgets that.

Xue yang: Xichen. Xichen. Xichen. Why did you have to do that to team dimple. That's kinda wrong.

Mo xuanyu: we should take you to court for stealing our husband.

Su she: Jail him!

Xichen: A-Yao help.

Qin Su: *laughing* Team dimple. why are they always so unhinged and dramatic than they actually are.

Yao: lol I love them like this.

Qin Su: same.

~~~~

Next day, everyone was going to have breakfast together.

Meng Shi: Sisi. Why are you standing? Sit next to me.

Sisi: *blushing* me? Huanghou jiejie?

But I'm your personal maid.

Meng Shi: no. You're my bestie. Come.

Sisi: *sits*

Su she: *pulling the chair for A-Yao, then he lovingly supported him into the seat*

Yao: lovely.

Su she: *hands him a pair of chopsticks*

Yao: thank you dear.

Yao: Song'er, Yi'er. How was the party?

Rusong: super lit.

Jingyi: it turned out hella wild. Ouyang Zizhen is still asleep in an empty Jacuzzi.

Yao: oh dear!

Jingyi: he had too much wine.

A-qing: a little too much.

Rusong: don't worry, A-Die. He'll wake up.

Yao: I don't think that sect leader ouyang would be pleased.

Rusong: Nainai, Nainai. When that angry, old sect leader comes, can you show him your dimples and pretty eyelashes?

Meng Shi: why?!

Rusong: because the Jianghu is weak for Meng beauty, Nainai. Everyone knows that.

Even Lan qiren said that you're pretty. He never compliments anyone.

Jingyi: that's true!

Mo xuanyu: *hiccups* not gonna lie. The Mengs are gorgeous.

*hiccups*

Meng Shi: *laughing* Yu'er, what happened to you?

Mo xuanyu: I'm stale *hiccup* drunk.

Su she: not only him taihou, but us too.

Xue yang: mo xuanyu was fighting with Lan lips.

Meng shi: he was???

Mo xuanyu: I was??

Did I knock him out?

Yao: *laughing*

A-qing: xue yang, are you really telling the truth?! I know that you three love to look tough in front of Jiggy.

Qin Su: *corrects* Huangdi.

A-qing: sorry, sorry. Jiggy Huangdi.

Xue yang: we are tough, A-qing. And i can confirm that mo xuanyu pulled Xichen's weave.

A-qing: that's fking awesome!!!!!

Meng Shi: where is he anyways?

Mo xuanyu: still sleeping.

Su she: I'm happy he's not here.

Qin Su: lol savage.

Xue yang: I see Jiggybuns is all sobered up.

Yao: I slept it off.

Meng Shi: because he's my son. He's more superior than everyone.

Yao: *smile*

Meng shi: *strokes hair*

Yao: A-niang. A-Su and I have sent out invites to the elite here, to have some tea with Song'er. Then a garden party afterwards.

Meng Shi: right.

Yao: he's the Taizi Dianxia of fox spirits. So he must be more accustomed to these types of things.

Rusong: A-Die, I would love to have them over. Rest assured, they'll be treated with great hospitality.

But I have to do some cultivation stuff later.

Yao: brilliant, Song'er. And that's OK!

A-qing: who are the elite? Rich gege?

Rusong: the most powerful fox spirits of the realm.

The elite consists of A-Die, Tamamo no mae who's the goddess and patron on Kitsunes.

A-qing: wait! I thought that nainai is the goddess of kitsunes.

Rusong: there are two. But Nainai is the goddess of Hulijings while Tamamo no mae is the goddess/immortal of Kitsunes.

A-qing: ohh.

Rusong: so there's A-Die, Tamamo no mae, Nainai, Su Wanghou of Zhou aka Su Daji. And lastly our ambassador Hua cheng.

I'm also a part of the elite.

A-qing: *gulps* I'm shy to meet them.

Rusong: I'll be by your side, A-qing. There's nothing to worry.

Qin su: A-qing. I'll send some clothes for you.

Meng shi: and I'll get you ready.

A-qing: what I'm wearing is not ok?!

Qin su: it's fine. But this outfit has the hulijing and Meng crest on it. It shows that you're a part of the family.

Meng Shi: dear it's a tradition. I gave four crested outfits to Qin gui fei. And brooches to the rest of the harem.

You'll look adorable.

A-qing: ok. Nainai. I would love to get a makeover from you!

Yao: the Meng crest is the peach blossom and Hulijing crest is the silhouette of a fox.

A-qing: ah. I get it, Jiggy Huangdi.

Later that day~~~

Sect leader Ouyang: *enters infuriated*

Salutations Yao huangdi.

Yao: former sect leader Ouyang. How are you?

Sect leader Ouyang: now where's my embarrassing son?

Yao: ah. He's right here.

Fox spirits: *supporting a drowsy ouyang Zizhen.*

Rusong: greetings sect leader.

Sect leader ouyang: hello Wangzi. I'm so sorry for my idiotic son.

Rusong: it's alright. Make sure he takes good rest.

Ouyang Zizhen: relax A-Die! Why you keep cranking my style, old man!

Sect leader ouyang: you got drunk and fell asleep in an empty Jacuzzi?!! And that too in a palace?!

You disappointed me yet again! Yao Huangdi, forgive me. I know you and Wangzi had helped us a lot.

Yao: Zongzhu, Zongzhu. You don't need to apologize. And ouyang zizhen is still young.

He still knows his duties as a young sect leader. He just wants to have fun.

Ouyang Zizhen: see A-Die. He's a very chill emps.

Yao: yes. Rest assured, Zongzhu. We aren't upset. Song'er and friends had enjoyed themselves.

Sect leader Ouyang: when would you have respect? Wangzi, how did he behave in front of your guests?

Rusong: very well. And he didn't flirt with any Fox spirits.

Ouyang zizhen: yea. Rusong had already given me hulijing girlfriends.

I got to take them out on a date tomorrow.

Sect leader Ouyang: you only care about girls girls girls! Huh! What about you being my successor! Do you see Rusong Wangzi acting like this?!

Ouyang Zizhen: A-Die, chill.

Ouyang zizhen: I rather give you a back hand slap than chill.

Meng Shi: *entering* sect leader ouyang. Pleasure to meet you.

Sect leader Ouyang: *looks in her direction*

Meng Shi: quarreling isn't good for health.

Would you like some tea?

Sect leader Ouyang: *dazed*

Meng shi: would you?

Sisi: Zongzhu, I'm not afraid to stab you for not answering her.

Sect leader Ouyang: *hiccups* well stab me.

I mean, taihou. Empress dowager. If you know a lot about health, then I'll definitely have some tea.

Meng Shi: help yourself.

Sect leader Ouyang: *hiccups*

Ouyang Zizhen: you're kinda gross A-Die.

Rusong: does he like my Nainai?!

Team d would start to hiccup whenever they see A-Die.

Sect leader Ouyang: *sips tea* you're really adorable. I mean the tea is adorable. I mean!! It's delicious.

Meng Shi: glad you enjoy.

Sect leader Ouyang; ehem. *wipes mouth* I got to go carry my home back to my son. I meant! I got to go carry my son back home. He's stale drunk.

Meng Shi: I thought you wanted to beat him.

Sect leader Ouyang: nah. He's young after all. Also he needs his rest.

Ouyang zizhen: *confused*

Rusong: you're saved.

Ouyang Zizhen: good!

Sect leader Ouyang: how do you have dimples? Like they're really cute.

Meng Shi: I was born with them. Duh!

Sect leader Ouyang: ah. Right right. Anyways, we got to go.

*kneels and kisses her hand*

Meng Shi: pleasure having you.

Ouyang Zizhen: May I depart, Huangdi?

Yao: sure. See you soon.

Zizhen, rest well ok? And we look forward to see you again.

Ouyang Zizhen: thanks emps.

Bye Rusong. You're looking amazing.

Rusong: thank you, thank you. Byee.

Ouyang Zizhen: isn't his highness looking amazing??

#the huli jing emperor #foxyao #hulijing emperor 2 #meng yao #dimpledlianfang #jin guangyao #jin zixuan #part 2 #su she #the untamed #Rusong #Ouyang Zizhen

0 notes

admirableadmiranda · 2 years

Text

Less of a rant and more of a quibble, there’s so much information dumped into Nie Mingjue’s flashback that it’s easy to miss things here and there.

I had a couple thoughts on Nie Mingjue’s motivations on joining 3Zun and how really this was a brotherhood destined to fail.

Recently I’ve seen several takes suggesting that he was manipulated into joining up with Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao because they wanted to get to get a third sect leader on their side and raise up Jin Guangyao, or pressured by Lan Xichen to forgive the unforgivable. Which... there is some of the latter in there; Lan Xichen has a very strong blindspot for Jin Guangyao and tends to believe his first impression is correct and not re-examine it until he has to do that. I’m not here to talk about Lan Xichen though, there’s more than enough of that going around.

The first take is incorrect. Nie Mingjue not only knew exactly what he was doing, but he was not some innocent pressured into joining and giving up his morals by a devious tag team of wily manipulators. He got into it to do exactly what people accuse Lan Xichen of doing. Pressuring people to do exactly what he wants. It’s not even subtle or hidden. It’s baldly stated in the text.

“Wei WuXian had once found it strange as well. Ever since Meng Yao betrayed the QingheNie Sect, the relationship between Nie MingJue and him hadn’t been the same as before. Then why did they later become sworn brothers? From his observations, aside from how Lan XiChen brought it up, having always hoped that the two would reconcile, the most important factor was probably the gratitude of saving his life and writing the letters. To be precise, in his past battles, he had more-or-less depended on the information that Meng Yao sent over through Lan XiChen. He still thought that Jin GuangYao was a talented person whom one would rarely come upon, and intended on leading him back onto the right path. However, Jin GuangYao wasn’t his subordinate anymore. Only after they became sworn brothers would he have the status and the position to urge Jin GuangYao, like how he disciplined his younger brother, Nie HuaiSang.“

Chapter 49: Guile, ExR translation.

There we have it. Nie Mingjue joins 3Zun of his own free will to pressure Jin Guangyao into doing what he wants and acting on what he sees as the right path. Which as he told Jin Guangyao before involves killing himself.

And before people get into defending him, remember that he thinks the right path is executing everyone who is a Wen, but also being in your face and aggressive. He is not an arbiter of justice who remains fair, he is a blatant hypocrite who enjoys having the power to pressure people into acting black and white. There is a reason why the Jin sect keeps manipulating the Lan through banquets and Jin Guangyao’s schmoozing and donating to help them rebuild Cloud Recesses, yet does nothing about Nie Mingjue till he starts insisting they assassinate Xue Yang. He’s already an ally of theirs in all the ways that matter.

Not a single sect leader in the past is innocent. That includes Nie Mingjue. So keep that in mind when examining 3Zun. He’s in it for his own agenda from the beginning.

#mdzs #nie mingjue #3zun #lan xichen #jin guangyao #why is he getting meow-meowed now #he's literally more tolerable as a fierce corpse out to kill all Jin than he is in life #and his fanon personality is more insidious than the villain stans #because I've seen people who otherwise understood the book quite well say that he would have been a hero if only he'd known about the wen #uh no

111 notes · View notes