#she just so CLEARLY says 'Lan I love you. but if you don't let me go bone my wife I'm going to start throwing fireballs'

[deeplyridiculouslyinlove]

I just rewatched 02 x 07 for the first time since finishing all the books and I can't stop thinking about it. I feel like everyone is either on the side of (1) it was all a big ploy, or (2) that's it for Moiraine and Siuan they can never come back from this--but I really don't think either of those are true.

I think the most in character thing Moiraine could possibly do is forgive Siuan, for the following reasons:

Moiraine knows that she would do the exact same thing that Siuan did here--namely, sacrifice anything (even their relationship and their trust in one another)--for the sake of the world and their mission. And this shared goal, these compatible values, and this mutual understanding is literally what has kept them together despite 20 years of distance and secrecy from the world.

[MINOR BOOK SPOILERS] We see in one of the books that Moiraine believes she and Siuan have made their beds and will lie in them one day by becoming involved in the quest to find the Dragon -- I believe the way she phrases it is about payment coming due for all the rules they've broken and the secrecy etc. that they needed for their quest. If this is her attitude, she is not only willing to give up everything, but expects to give up everything. And she expects it of Siuan as well.

Siuan has already proven how much she would give up for their quest. She became Amyrlin despite, as we learn this same episode, how much she did not want to be trapped in the tower and could not see her future there. She gave up any semblance of a happy life (how she would picture it both with and without Moiraine!) for this quest.

In some ways, if Siuan had just let Moiraine take Rand through a waygate to Falme, it would have actually been a betrayal of their mission. Their mission wasn’t “get Rand to Falme.” It was “protect and train the dragon reborn.” Siuan feels the need to do that as acutely as Moiraine does--and critically, Moiraine knows this about Siuan.

This goes quadruple if Siuan actually did think Moiraine could be a dark friend. Siuan thinks Moiraine lied to her!! And Moiraine knows this too, since Siuan does at least have the chance to say "You lied to me!" Moiraine would understand that if there was any chance Moiraine had been turned or was compelled, Siuan had to try and stop her from taking Rand off to god knows where.

Literally just a few days earlier Moiraine had threatened to have Alanna take Lan’s bond by force if he stood in her way--aka, the way of her mission. At this very moment, Moiraine herself has spent days (weeks?) contemplating what it would mean to betray the autonomy and trust of those she loves most if it means saving the world. And she knows what side she's on.

When Moiraine says, “if you have ever loved me don’t do this” my heart shatters into a million pieces. But that line is not just ,“it will be a betrayal of our love and trust if you compel me." It is that, but it's also a call for Siuan to see Moiraine for MOIRAINE. She’s saying “you know me.” She’s trying to get her (Siuan) to see that what she (Moiraine) is doing is not about her shame and pride but about the mission. Because it is ALWAYS about the mission, Moiraine IS the mission, and Siuan loves her because of that, and Moiraine knows Siuan loves her because of that 

Moiraine clearly hesitates before going through the waygate. Her character isn't one to linger out of shock and betrayal. She lashes out and she puts up distance--we've seen this all season. Moiraine moves forward. So I read her looking at Siuan here as far more "I love you and I'm sorry [I can't help you? it's come to this? we can't reconcile?]" than "How could you?" or "You're a different person to me now." I’m not trying to minimize the violation Moiraine is also feeling in this moment, I just think that if the violation was her primary emotion she would likely behave differently. And if she can have this messy a set of emotions even in the heart of the moment, I have faith she can similarly hold multiple emotions later when reconciling.

The flashback scenes are so heartbreaking but they don’t have to mean that Moiraine and Siuan feel so betrayed and far from those versions of themselves that they will never be together again. Those flashbacks can also be saying “remember when we were those people?” Holding onto those versions of themselves is how they hold onto their love despite this scene.

Those flashbacks also remind us that their relationship in the show is like 50 years old. It is deep. People don't throw away 50 years of relationship without a conversation, even if there is a deep betrayal involved. And that's normal people--not even people who have given up absolutely everything for a cause that the relationship has now gotten wrapped up in. In the books, they are together for a few years and then seemingly go their separate ways when the Dragon is reborn. I don't think the show would have gone out of its way to deepen and lengthen this relationship just to end it so quickly and unceremoniously.

#anyway maybe I'm delusionsal #but it just seems absolutely impossible to me that they would spend that long building up their relationship to just be like okay poof bye #but I also think them working together and having this all be a big plot sort of cheapens the moment #plus that just isn't the type of show this is #and the episode titles have been more applicable to the following episode in season 2 for whatever reason #so daes damar can refer to the games everyone is playing in the finale #although I remain confused how siuan knew where to go and where the waygate is #ANYWAY I get why people are so distraught by what siuan does here but I just don't think moiraine will see it that way #moiraine is a morally complicated character despite being so sure of right and wrong and I just have to believe she sees that in Siuan too #wheel of time #moiraine damod #siuan sanche #siuan sanche waits for only one woman

[night-spectrum]

Thinking about my spidersona:

Small angst; small suggested smut at the end; mostly fluff and comfort. TW: Mention of death, depression, healthy issues, and isolation.

Wish my computer could work so I could draw my Spidersona...😩

🕸 Spidersona, who was bitten by a funnel web spider (💀) and is still traumatized. She takes appointments with Spider-Therapist every Thursday. Spider-Cat helps her copes with stressful memories.

🕸 Spidersona, who's Caribbean and wears traditional superhero suit. Bright madras tissues wrapped around her head and hips and Creole earrings (hoop earrings).

🕸 Spidersona, who was the only Spider-Girl in Nouveau Fort in Martinique (don't look for it, I made it up, but it's based on Fort-de-France) until a certain Miguel "Fat Ass" O'Hara came to enroll her.

🕸 Spidersona, whose best person is clearly Pavitr because we support cultural representation, and obviously because he's the most adorable boy I've ever seen. ❤️ Besides, they usually chat about new clothes they like to embellish their suit and wardrobe.

They even have Indian nickname for each other : Pavitr is Munna (used for pretty and gentle boy), and Spidersona is Choti (used for girls and means small) based on this.

🕸 Spidersona, who loves dancing with Gwen late at night in her home. Spidersona shows Gwen how to move her butt like there's no tomorrow, and Gwen gives her tips to achieve a boneless split. There're also countless sleepovers and "Girls Talk" about boys, which is pretty much awkward at first, but they both like gossiping.

🕸 Spidersona, who has the fattest crush on Hobart "Hobie" Brown, 'cause let's be honest who wouldn't. Always avoiding him when he comes her way. Obviously, Hobie notices, and he thinks she doesn't like him or his style makes her feel uneasy.

🕸 Spidersona eventually confesses that she likes him :

"That's why you've been dodging me, luv?" Hobie rhetorically asks her, his full lips stretching into a genuine smile.

She feels her face heating up and her hands becoming sweaty. "Yeah, but I don't expect anything y'know. Just wanted to tell you..."

Hobie leans forward, and she presses her lips together, gazing down because she never noticed how interesting the ground could be. She feels his breath on her neck, and she shivers when his lips plant on her cheeks fondly.

"You're too cute, luv."

From that day, he's always close to her. His arm rests on her shoulders, and he's never too far when they're fighting anomalies. They both rely on each other when something goes wrong.

🕸 Spidersona, who curses in Creole when she's pissed.

"WHO STOLE MY SALTFISH ACCRA?! AY KOKÉ MANMAN ZOT! LAN DJET MANMAN ZOT! OU SÉ AN SAKRÉ TI ICH SALO-!"

"Wow! Wow! Okay, okay, we got it. That's enough bad words for today, luv." Hobie covers her lips and drags her out to cool down a bit.

Peter B. covers Mayday's ears, though he doesn't understand a thing he knows what she's saying isn't lovely.

🕸 Spidersona, who has arachnophobia, watches Penni petting her spider with disgust (don't get me wrong, her spider is adorable, but I don't want it near me). Miles makes fun of her and eventually chases her with random spider he finds around through the lobby.

🕸 Spidersona, who slips in Hobie's universe to spend some time together. She watches him play guitar on his bed and turns red when he hands her his instrument and sits behind her, his fingers brushing hers as he teaches her how to play.

🕸 Spidersona, who brings Martinican food to Mrs. Morales when she comes to visit Miles. Rio observes her chat with her son from afar along with Jefferson.

"She looks nice," Rio says after a while, still looking at them, "and she calls me 'Mrs. Morales." Her lips turning upward.

"Yeah, definitely Caribbean. Besides, I love these." Jefferson says, grabbing a slice of butter bread she made with her mom, accompanied by communion chocolate.

Spidersona and Miles look at their feet awkwardly, feeling Miles' parents' gaze on them.

"'M sorry 'bout my parents, they're... protective."

"Yeah, don't mention it. My mom does this, too."

🕸 Spidersona, who invites everyone one in her universe in Nouveau Fort. The tropical climate welcomes them fiercely, and everyone change to wear swimsuit. Peter B. applies sunscreen on Mayday and himself and lays down on a towel.

🕸 Hobie and Pavitr bury Miles in the sand, mermaid body in process as Spidersona and Gwen take Mayday to a swimming lesson, her Spider-Man rubber ring assisting her.

"Damn Gwen, you're red as hell." Spidersona hands her Peter's sunscreen, snorting.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny."

...

🕸 After 3 weeks and still no news from her, Hobie and Pavitr head to her universe. When they slip into her bedroom through the window, they find her in her bed, barely breathing. Pavitr rushes to her, worry in his eyes as he brushes her now sunken cheeks. She hardly opens her eyes, dried tears staining her face.

🕸 Hobie takes her face in his hand, caressing her cheekbones slowly before kneeling to be face level with her. He takes her blanket off her, and it pains them to see how much weight she lost. They can clearly see her ribcage under her skin.

As they discuss what to do, they hear her mother's voice in the living room. She sounds exhausted, her voice quavering.

"I don't know what to do, mom. She hasn't eat anything in days and she keeps losing weight. The doctor said we should bring her to the hospital because of her iron deficiency and underweight. Otherwise, her anemia might come back and-" her voice cracks, as she can't handle her overwhelming emotions. The phone slips from her grasp as she falls on her knees.

🕸 Hobie grabs her without hesitation and opens a portal, quickly followed by Pavitr. He mumbles apologies when she groans pain. When they arrive, Hobie pushes open the medical department's door with his foot. Spider Meds are quick to take care of her, using advanced medical tech.

🕸 Spidersona, who wakes up after 2 weeks, looking less of a momified monk. She sees a red-haired baby lying down on her belly. She recognizes Mayday, and Peter B. reaches out, his hand caressing her head.

"We missed you." He says genuinely, worry fading away and replaced by a look parents would give to their child after they injured themselves.

🕸 Spidersona, who just cries. Her pain and grief pouring out of her chest and she can't help it. Peter B. hugs her tightly, kissing her forehead.

🕸 Miles appears and stands still when he views the scene, his brain analyzing everything. He comes close, taking her hand in his, squeezing it kindly. When Peter lets go of you, Miles replaces him.

🕸 Spidersona, who after she calmed down, thanks them and asks where the others are, only to find out that they are on a mission.

🕸 Spidersona, who is surprised to see Spider-Man Noir paying her a visit, flower is his hands.

"Everyone's been worried about you." Miles explains, her hands still in his. "When Hobie and Pav came back with you almost dead, we freaked out."

"Jessica even talk to your mother so she wouldn't pass out when she found out you disappeared." Adds Spider-Man Noir.

She is grateful but also a bit ashamed she worried everyone.

"So... what happened?" Peter B. asks cautiously.

She looks up to him and tries to suppress the tears, creating in the corner of her eyes.

🕸 Spidersona, who wasn't fast enough to save her uncle Henry and faced the reality of the world.

Though everybody can relate, Miles feels like he knows exactly what she feels. He remembers when he found out that Uncle Aaron was the Prowler, the look in his eyes when he discovered Miles was Spider-Man. His hand slipping from his as he exhaled his last breath.

🕸 Spidersona, who spends her day with Miles since Peter went home to put Mayday in bed. She eats empanadas Miles brought for her.

"My mom made them for you. When I told her you were hospitalized, she wouldn't stop asking about you. Besides, since we didn't know when you would wake up, she made some every day." Miles scratches the back of his head; cheeks and ears red. He knew his mom liked you, maybe too much for his liking.

"Well, please, thanks her for me. This is delicious. My taste buds are dancing hard right now." She giggles, making Miles smile.

🕸 Spidersona, who eventually encounters Jessica and Miguel. She thanks the pregnant woman, hugging her slightly, knowing she's not a big fan. To her surprise, she rubs her back and smiles.

🕸 Spidersona, who turns to Miguel reluctantly and apologizes for being off without warning. He brushes her off, as usual, talking about how it was her canon event. Gee thanks.

🕸 Spidersona, who hears familiar voices. She turns around, and there they are : Gwen, Hobie and Pavitr. She launches herself on them, arms fully extended. Pav sees her first and rushes toward her. They both collide, their hands grasping any pieces of clothes, hugging like the world would disappear.

"I missed you so much, Choti." Pav cries, his hands hold her tightly. "You almost gave a heart attack. Don't do this ever again, please. I love you."

And she cries again, hearing her best friend voice trembling.

"I'm so sorry, Munna. I promise. I love you so much, too."

Gwen joins in, her lips quivering, and they open their arms for her to come.

🕸 Spidersona, who wipes her face after a while, then proceeds to notice Hobie, who stayed back. Pav hugs her one last time, then leaves with Gwen. She approaches Hobie, not sure why she feels so nervous all of a sudden.

🕸 Spidersona, who follows Hobie to his universe, their pinky intertwined. When they are both alone in his room, he smashes his lips against hers.

🕸 Spidersona, who feels like a tsunami washed over her: emotions and feelings blending in her core. It's slow at first but quickly bursts into a wildfire when she feels his body against her. It feels strange, and she's a bit insecure, but Hobie reassures her. It's overwhelming.

"Are you okay, luv?" He asks, his voice barely above a whisper, like she'll shatter if he's too loud.

"Yeah. I am."

🕸 Spidersona, who slowly moves on, enjoys her life with those who remain and never forgets those who left.

#hobie brown atsv #pavitr prabhakar #gwen stacy #miles morales #across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara #spidersona #spider gwen #spider society #hobie x reader #hobie brown

[robininthelabyrinth]

Don't know if you're still taking reverse HCs. If you are- JGY is madly, rather obviously in love with Su Minshan. SMS has no particular opinion on the matter. (If you're not, sorry for bothering you.)

“Isn’t it weird?” Xue Yang wanted to know.

“Not…really?” Su She replied, thinking it over and then shrugging. “I mean, he’s not pushy about it or anything.”

“But he’s…y’know…super into you.”

Su She shrugged again. He was well aware of Jin Guangyao’s fixation on him – he still hadn’t decided if the actual cause of it was Jin Guangyao displacing his inappropriate feelings for Lan Xichen on him, given how vaguely similar to a Lan Su She looked, or if it was genuine, but in either case, he wasn’t exactly going to object. Jin Guangyao had saved his life when he’d been at his lowest point, remembering him at the moment when it seemed that everyone else had forsaken or forgotten him, and Su She owed him everything.

If Jin Guangyao wanted to crush on him, that was fine.

“Just seems weird, that’s all,” Xue Yang said. “How can you spend so much time hanging around a person who clearly wants to bone you without, you know, doing something about it? One way or another?”

“He’s never said anything about it,” Su She pointed out in return. “If he did, then I’d have to make a decision, but he hasn’t. So it’s fine as it is.”

“You’re all right with it just being ambiguous forever?” Xue Yang scowled. “What if he did ask? What would you do?”

“I’d probably agree? It’s not like he’s unattractive, objectively speaking, and I’d be happy making him happy.”

“Then why don’t you go for it?”

“Because I don’t feel strongly enough about it.”

“Argh! How can you not feel strongly enough about it?! What even is ‘it’ in this context?”

“A romantic relationship, I suppose. Me initiating would be misleading as to the strength of my feelings on the subject…and besides, why do you care, anyway?” Su She asked waspishly. “Unless you’re planning on moving in with someone who has no idea that you’re interested in them? Or worse, that does but isn’t reciprocating openly?”

“Shut up.”

“The day you fall in love, Xue Yang, will be a day for the ages,” Su She said, making it clear he meant it in the same vein as one did when referencing a horrific flood that destroyed an entire county. “It’s going to ruin your life, mark my words.”

“Yeah, well, let it,” Xue Yang said, rolling his eyes. “At least I have the reassurance of knowing that I wouldn’t be a coward about saying something!”

#mdzs #su she #xue yang #my fic #my fics #alt headcanons #spoiler alert: XY will be kicking himself over this conversation for YEARS

[queenofmalkier]

@shounenwifey "Whatever the hell was going on with Lan and Moiraine's bond being "masked" vs being "severed" in s2"

I LOVE THIS ONE. Honestly, I've been very annoyed with the word usage being thrown around in the show, in articles about the show, and in interviews. I don't watch/read much of the latter two, but others do and it impacts fandom perspective on the concept of a warder bond and how it functions.

Initially, I was in love with the visual aspect of what occurred (Okay, still am.). I felt like it was a good way to show them mending their relationship in more ways than one. I felt like they had a decent conversation (for them) that wasn't filled with hurt, derision, or scorn which hadn't happened all season.

And they did it without their bond doing the heavy lifting.

That's key for me because I think their arc in Season 2 very much was them learning how to function without a magical bond acting as a bridge. (I honestly feel like Lan not being a supercharged bro in Season 2 had nothing to do with the bond. He 'failed' as a warder because he was grieving.)

Lan even said the quiet part out loud: without the bond, they don't know how to actually talk, let alone work together.

But they did it. They got through a tough conversation and mended fences. That's going to make them so much better as a team going forward.

Approaching this just from watching the show - I'm a big believer in show, not tell, and if I have to read an interview to find out what happened in a scene or have book knowledge it's a Bad Thing - what I understood is that the bond was not broken between them. (Although it's been a month since my last watch and my brain is swiss cheese so I might be forgetting something.)

In the beginning it's hazy because of the fact that assumptions have been made and they're all wrong... but Verin and Adeleas don't even say Lan is unbonded despite believing that Moiraine was stilled. Moiraine also doesn't seem to think so, or else she'd have told a lie when she handed him over to Alanna.

Overall, nobody says they are unbonded, or the word severed, though I can understand why there's confusion. It's the drawback to playing with shielding instead.

When we see the two of them on the beach, I understood it as Moiraine unmasking the bond... but I saw a lot of people think that it was a reforging of the bond, or recreating it like the bond had been severed in some way.

I think where the show stumbled in depicting what they meant (unmasking vs rebonding) is that they never showed what it looks like when the bond is masked in the first place. There's no callback to the weave. We don't see the weave or how it works before then. This could have been done in season 1, or very easily demonstrated by Alanna given what Maksim says about her masking his bond.

That said, we are going to be getting bonding scenes in the series without question, and I think it will be categorically different in terms of how we see the bond taking shape. Enough to make what happens in Season 2 more clear in hindsight. Not ideal, but I genuinely think they just didn't realize that it wasn't clear enough.

I mentioned above that a lot of misconceptions are happening because, well, people writing articles be using that thesaurus yo!

In this article, the writer says "severed bond" to describe them.

NOW. In any other media you can say severed bond and read that as "Oh no, their relationship is broken!!!" But the words severed and bond are loaded terms in Wheel of Time.

Looking at the actual quote from Rafe what he SAYS is: "That loss of connection between the two of them is something that really is going to play a big role in Season 2 because they no longer have that currency of communication with each other" making it clear that it's their relationship, not their magical little bond, that's going through the ringer. He also clearly says later on in the same interview the bond is masked.

See how easily things get confused?

Looking at the wiki page on bonding, what it says about masking is interesting, based on the confusion as to how the "masking" would stay in place if Moiraine couldn't channel. "The ability is somehow related to the ability to channel, as non-channelers are completely unable to avoid feeling what the other person feels." To me, I understand that to mean masking would stay in place even if Moiraine was shielded because she can still channel, just not in the moment.

While I was there I also read about the effects of stilling on a bond because why not? "When Siuan Sanche's warder Alric was killed, she was stilled shortly after so she was saved from the pain an Aes Sedai would feel after losing a Warder. This indicates that stilling terminates the Warder bond. Once Siuan was Healed, she felt all the pain again, which indicates, Healing restores the Warder bond to that level, even after the death of a Warder."

This reinforces to me that Moiraine could still feel the bond, even if it was masked. But she was so afraid to hope, knowing she couldn't afford it - she needed to focus on Rand, on saving the world, she couldn't mourn - that she shoved it away somewhere in the back of her mind. Like she does.

OKAY almost done I swear.

So I did rewatch the beach scene because I wanted to refresh my memory on the exact language they used.

Lan "The bond, are we going to talk about it?"

Moiraine says "Do you really want it back? After everything I've done to you?"

Honestly, that's a lot more clear and direct than I remembered it being. To me, that's saying that it's still there and Moiraine is continuing to mask it for... Moiraine reasons. (He's her best friend. I don't think she can stomach feeling how hurt he is. How much she HURT him.) If it was gone I think he'd be using different words - "rebond me, you need a warder, etc."

Lan "I never asked for my bond to be released, nor will I."

Again, he's not saying it's gone. He's using present tense. He's not asking for his bond to be released ie the bond didn't break.

(The conversation they have really is so fucking raw and powerful here, because they're talking without any of their bullshit. Just two people giving themselves one moment to be human and forget the great task of their lives just long enough to reconnect. To remind one another why they're walking this path together. Why they chose eachother. Now I'm sad again.)

Lan "Let me back in"

Again, the language is clear. I kind of want to take back some of my harsher thoughts earlier now that I'm watching this with fresh eyes. To be any clearer he'd have to literally say Unmask the bond lol.

In conclusion, I think that the fault lies in the show not demonstrating a masking weave when it had ample chance to do so BEFORE the beach scene. Even if it was quick. I know CGI is expensive but I think it would have cleared up the confusion very easily. I also think the word choice of writers in regards to articles has inadvertently impacted fans understanding of the scene, muddying the waters when it should have been more clear.

#wheel of time #wheel of time tv series #can I make it work responses #wheel of time book spoilers

[fincalinde]

Mama Lan

Oh now this is challenging and you are a fiend who will someday pay for your crimes.

a song that reminds me of them

Going to have to pass on this one, I can't think of anything really.

what they smell like

We know so little about her it's impossible to speculate pre-confinement, but post-confinement I presume it would be sandalwood like all the Lans. Let me take this opportunity to raise a point that has also bothered me for several years: unless someone knows more than me about this particular variety (entirely possible!), blue gentians have little if any scent. I believe the roots and other parts of the plant have a stronger scent when processed for extracts or similar, but a mass of blossoming gentians actually wouldn't smell that strongly.

an otp

N/A, we just don't know enough about her for me to have any shipping preferences in that regard.

a notp

While I know there is technically room to speculate that she did come to love QHJ, I don't think it's the most likely conclusion based on the information we have. The idea isn't something that charms and delights me either. I quite like not knowing the details because, although I'm not totally on board with LXC's desire not to know the truth, I think we know enough to be sure that it is not good. The world of MDZS is not a world where a woman who didn't return a man's love somehow conveniently came to fall for him during or after being consigned to solitary imprisonment for the rest of her life.

Reading between the lines I think the most likely sequence of events is that she chose this life over death and therefore her consent to things such as sexual activity is technical at best. I'm sure there's some good work out there around that, but it's not something I would read whether consensual or nonconsensual or ambiguous; the entire situation makes my skin crawl.

Gun to my head I find coercion less distasteful than a theoretical attempt to sell me on a genuine loving relationship existing between these two particular characters.

favorite platonic/familial relationships

Hands down LXC, mostly because this is another example of how LXC's needs are always treated as secondary to LWJ's. I'm fully aware that LXC tells the story of his mother's life and death to WWX specifically to try to communicate something to him about LWJ (I wonder what that could be), but it is still heartbreaking to me that this man describes his brother's grief in detail and doesn't spare a word for his own.

It's even worse to think of how traumatic it must have been to lose his mother, when he loved her just as much as LWJ did but had the additional burden of worrying about and caring for his didi. Both Twin Jades are raised under unfathomable pressure, but LXC's burden is still the greater and he bears it with such grace that no one ever even notices. This is why it's important to note the lengths JGY goes to in order to ensure LXC's comfort and remove as many burdens and stressors from his life as possible.

I also love the little touch that LXC often visits his mother's house—a thing that unless I've forgotten something is not mentioned in relation to LWJ, and that I therefore choose to read as being unique to him. It's nice to imagine that he has his own genuinely private space, even if being in that space is bittersweet. Clearly he feels closer to his mother there than at the family shrine, which is another nice touch emphasising how their love for each other had to exist outside orthodox spaces.

a headcanon that is popular in the fandom but that i disagree with

I am deeply weary of fandom's steadfast conviction that the yassification of any and all female characters is a powerful feminist statement. I think I will just leave this one here.

the position they sleep in

I hope she sprawls all over that damn bed every night, and I hope QHJ never stays long enough to fall asleep in it.

a crossover au i’d love to see them in

I'm not saying never, but my instinct is that I really prefer her to remain as mysterious as she is in canon and not feature directly. That doesn't really lend itself to crossovers.

my favorite outfit they’ve ever worn

The one covered in the blood of QHJ's teacher. I don't even care whether or not said teacher had it coming.

#ask #xiyao-feels #roquen meta #she functions quite well as a nebulous figure #it's funny because we know so much more about ms #despite ms also not featuring directly #and having died before the narrative proper begins #i realise there are explanations for all this #where qhj comes off slightly better #but not better enough for my money #it's just so damning that we know she didn't return his affections #with that as part of the puzzle #there are still multiple ways to fit the pieces together #but without exception all the resulting pictures make my skin crawl

[riddleredcoats]

Wheelie Time thoughts

Spoilers for S2 episodes 1-3, including the preview for next episode, and spoilers for all the books.

Queen of Cairhien you said. So at first, I thought that Moiraine's sister was going to be the Queen, but when she spoke to Rand my head turned again because she seemed disgusted with the Queen and how she is just out to get her city back and thought that it must be another person. That said, her being all depressed about what i means to be a queen is coherent with Damodred Drama, so... yeah I think she's probably the queen and was talking to Rand in the third person. Especially funny because Lanfear was clearly about to say something about her, but never got to it.

Speaking of Lanfear... Beloved, i love her so much. She's so messy. My best worstie, love how much fun she was having. And she has a power-dynamic kink...... yeah, that doesn't surprise me, lmao.

Rand is baby in this whole thing and so kind to the Aiel War veteran. I love that scene of them walking, especially because I think that the Sword Forms he described are going to be the way that Rand defeats Turuk.

Lan and Moiraine broke my heart, especially that last scene in episode 2 where the Myrelle/Alanna merger was basically confirmed. Can't wait from them to take it all back and be besties again.

In the last of Nyn's accepted test - which was fucking brutal, this woman now has years of memories with a child that isn't real anymore, fuck - Mat loses an eye at the end. I love this show and this foreshadowing so much.

Verin is perfect exactly as she is. She said that she and Adealas are sisters, but like Sisters of the White Tower or Sisters-Sisters? Who knows. Interesting implications if its the later.

Alanna and her warders are killing me. That Maksim "I am a third wheel" is making me feel things, knowing that he is probably the one who is going to die.

Perrin is already Going Through It and Ishamael going "The more wolf you become, the more you are mine" is a great way to kickstart his "I don't want to be a wolf brother arc." --- Please let it end fast tho.

Elayne is perfect and I have no notes.

Egg is also perfect.

Interesting Liandrin backstory. Part of me wonders if it isn't all made up to get Nyn's sympathy, but maybe I am just building plots out of nothing. That said, great way to show that the way Aes Sedai live longer.

Next week we have the Lanfear episode with a focus on Moiraine. Do I need to tell you how that combo is making me go insane?

#wheel of time #wheel of time spoilers #besties the way this is shaking out is outstanding #i love this show so much

[onaperduamedee]

Notes on The Path of Daggers

Oh, Shienar leaders reunion! Does it mean we will at last get some Lan content? They don’t seem to be ready to support Rand though.

Verin is the very definition of a bad bitch. She perceives so much more than she lets on and I love that she clearly has her own agenda. Black Ajah? Spy? I have no idea what her deal is, but she seems to be on a level with Cadsuane and Moiraine when it comes to acting as a free agent. 

Birgitte is smaller than Aviendha and Elayne? Lies! Lieeeeeeees!

"You can ask or demand anything of me, but never to let you die without trying to save you. The day you die, I die." I am in agony. The way this is both about Nynaeve and Moiraine, but in a different light, with the trust and love placed in Nynaeve and the acknowledgement of betrayal by Moiraine. Blood and ashes, this storyline is going to hurt.

Not liking Aviendha's thoughts on women and softness, all the more ridiculous that Birgitte is right here, with her love of dresses and feminity despite being very strong. I get this is Aviendha’s POV, but this is only the hundredth time we got such an angle and I am tired.

On one hand, I understand Nyn and Elayne not trusting the Aes Sedai with guarding the Black Ajah, because there has to be one or two BA sisters in their ranks. On the other, they don't have the best track records with decision-making and risk assessment, so I will be surprised if Ispan doesn't escape eventually, with casualties at that.

I am rooting for the Kin so hard. Please, let them be Aes Sedai and prove themselves, they are so cool. Like with the noblewomen and grandmothers being integrated into the Tower by Egwene later on, this storyline gives me so much joy.

Nynaeve ready to yell at the Aes Sedai despite them not doing anything for once is so funny. For all their flaws, Aes Sedai are no worse or better than other groups, especially with all the parallels to the Aiel. I’d say it was the most fun these chapters had been because the conflict between the four groups is getting repetitive.

I love Aviendha worrying about the gholam when we know for a fact Seanchan are invading at this very moment. She is a trouper though and I love her lion-heart.

Elayne and Aviendha giving strong "she is so smart and brave and beautiful" New Spring Siuan and Moiraine vibes. They legit have more chemistry together than either with Rand.

Yeah, still not a fan of Nyn and Elayne relying so much on their strength to intimidate or gain the upper hand on others. It's not something they picked up only from Aes Sedai either considering Verin's words at the beginning of The Dragon Reborn. It's just... You know the way people with power are terrified of weaker people enacting on them the same violence because they cannot conceive of a world without a power imbalance? Yeah that.

What I gather from all those new channelers being insanely powerful, even more than Nynaeve, is that as the Age comes to an end, more channelers in line with the Age of Legends will reveal themselves in different nations.

People with cloud dancing abilities and the Windmistresses are doing unaided what required ter'angreal in the AoL? Very interesting. As with the bonding weave, I love the nuance in picturing evolution as non-linear, with gains and losses, particularly in light of all the history and scientific advancement lost to time.

RJ's insistence that Aiel are tanned white people instead of the people of color they should have been will never stop being bizarre. I know they are fantasy Irish/Scottish people, but the fact they are uniformly described as tanned blond white Californians is throwing me off.

See, one of my issues with Elayne that is standing out this book is the way she often seems to me an Egwene stand-in: her arc about being Queen but having to prove it is too similar to Egwene’s at this point. They’re not the same obviously, but too closely related, especially considering how different the boys are from one another.

I am glad that Caire and the Sea folk took the helm with the Bowl of winds because otherwise, it would have been super White savioury of Elayne to lead. It will be such a bloody incredible scene on-screen, I cannot wait.

Alise in the long line of very competent working-class women without which whole institutions would crumble. Also described like an avalanche btw. Yes, I miss Moiraine.

The Seanchan attack and Elayne unraveling the gateway was so bloody epic. Elayne the mad scientist remains my favourite Elayne. I love the unease in the Seachan camp when they incorrectly conclude from this that their enemies have weapons of mass destruction (which they do, in the form of sa’-, ter’- and angreal, but this was an accident.)

Oh, Perrin is crossing paths with Morgase's party! I am digging this. This is going to be interesting, with Morgase hiding her identity and so many leaders traveling with Perrin, a rebel leader himself.

Here's the thing, if you send away Berelain and Anoura, gag Seonid and only use the Wise Ones as watchdogs, you're left with Perrin and Morgase and they just are not interesting enough by themselves to keep my attention.

Is Lini forcing Morgase to marry Tallanvor? Why are old women so creepy in these books?

I love Faile. I don't love that her presence prompts gender essentialism to worsen every time in Perrrin’s thoughts. I will never get used to it. I hate being yanked out of the story because of this.

Faile and her Cha Faile. Her being a shrewd politician and general, seeing the potential of eager and devoted young Cairhienins who are likely expert practitioners of Daes Dae’mar. She’s genuinely a good leader, like Berelain or Egwene, and I love her political acumen. 

In an ideal Lubitschean Wot Universe, Faile and Perrin are married, Aram is Perrin’s boyfriend and Berelain is Faile’s girlfriend.

Oh boy, Tallanvor and Morgase is almost as bad as Siuan and Gareth. Stop forcing women in a vulnerable mental state to hook up with guys they depend on for survival.

The Aiel and indentured servitude… There’s a whole discussion to have about making prisoners apprentices in this way, as opposed to willingly like Aviendha and Egwene. The Aes Sedai are not Aiel, this is not ji’e’toh.

About Alliandre: just another powerful woman pledging to a man, nothing to see here. 

That said, the discussion between Alliandre, Faile, Berelain and Annoura? So good. RJ writes bloody entertaining negotiating scenes, truly.

Ah yes, the four horsemen of the fantasy apocalypse :

Elayne - nepotism

Perrin - feudalism

Aviendha - indentured servitude

Rand - imperialism

Between the Cha Faile, the Rebels outside Cairhien with Darlin and Caraline, Mat's army, there is a strong recurring theme of Tear and Cairhien coming together under the Dragon's banner and it makes Siuan's association with Moiraine all the more thematically relevant, just saying.

Okay, maybe I should pay more attention to Moridin if he is Nae'blis. Who the heck is he? Also Cyndane? I love this game of whack-a-Forsaken.

I don’t say this enough, but the Forsaken are incredibly amusing in a Grand Guignol way.

Despite the initial Manicheism, the granularity of evil and good in these books is really fascinating: there are a million individuals on each side and in between, pursuing their own goal, or a common one but in a vastly different way.

Also, I can't bemoan the stupidity and lack of organization of the antagonists, particularly the Forsaken, without recognizing that most of the heroes are pretty incompetent themselves: they all have their own agenda and interest, their personality gets in the way all the time, they absolutely suck at communication and negotiation, and their plans rarely work as it should. The ta'veren factor does a lot of work here. Don't get me wrong, it is generally fun to read, on both sides, but yeah, sheer luck and lots of foolishness.

Aielman standing in the streets staring at the pouring rain and Cairhienin noblewoman laughing with her hood down under the rain, I send you paper kisses because that was charming.

A bit disappointed we did not get the first encounter between Sorilea and Cadsuane, but I really enjoyed their conversation. At least Sorilea is realizing the Aiel are as much help as the AS and that Rand needs a different kind of support than what they are providing.

Rand chapter finally!

And unfortunately it's one of those "group A disagrees with group B with the support of group C although group C hates group A while group D glares at group A sneering at C for agreeing with them, and B silently mocks group D for being so careless" chapters. It’s a lot of mannerisms and opposing POVs. It doesn’t really add much to the story beyond colouring and at this point in the conflicts, we don’t really need more colouring.

Adored the conversation with the Asha'man afterward though. They’ve gained a lot of individuality now that they’re away from Taim, which has to be intentional. Getting really worried about Rand’s symptoms and the possibility they are indeed starting to lose their mind.

I wonder if like healing stilling, healing the weather required both male and female channelers, and in their haste, the circle only fixed the weather partially because that’s a LOT of snow after a scorching summer. All the trees are going to die out of shock.

I love Egwene so bloody much. And Siuan. And Leane. I love their machinations, their mutual support, their chemistry, their strength, their flaws, their ridiculousness, their humanity, their everything.

Siuan knowing the history of the Tower by heart fills me with so much love. I feel so emotional about the contrast between the contempt some sisters hold her in for breaking the Tower and the devotion Siuan still has for the Tower, the love she has for who she is, an Aes Sedai. They get deserved crap for their stupid hierarchies, their arcane rules, their inflexibility and isolation, but the White Tower was created with laudable goals at first: preserving humanity and knowledge. They are not soldiers, they were meant to be custodians; seeing someone like Siuan, who embodied the Tower and broke it and herself in trying to push it in another direction… UGH. It reminds me of loving a country, a community, and hating it so much, hating what it taught me, what it broke in trying to preserve itself, and believing that maybe it would be easier to destroy it entirely, and still there is some good here and it deserves, perhaps, to remain and be changed. 

Yeah, I love Siuan so much. Egwene is right: Siuan is so incredibly strong.

Shit, Aran'gar killed Selame? Sheriam is spying? For who? Shit shit shit. The Salidar lot is in so much danger.

I knew Elayne and Nynaeve's bargain with the Sea Folk was pretty much BS. They promised the moon knowing it was near impossible for Egwene to fulfill the bargain. Knowing Egwene, she will rise to the challenge.

I would die if Egwene puzzling out Siuan is in love with Gareth became in the show Egwene understanding Siuan is not merely mourning a co-conspirator in Moiraine but also a lover. 

Talmanes feeling Mat needs him from hundreds of miles? Oh that's gay

Whatever possesses RJ to constantly interrupt charming bonding scenes or intense plotting schemes with the most childish romantic nonsense? Women and men alike lose braincells at the most inconvenient moment. It’s killing the vibe each time.

Everything about the way Egwene prepared and navigated the negotiations with the Andorans, and then the Aes Sedai? Phenomenal. I was on the edge of my seat.

I'm not gonna lie, going from blood-pumping Egwene chapters to mostly static Elayne and Rand chapters is underwhelming.

Still, there is an extremely uneasy and frantic energy to this particular fight around Ebou Dar. Perhaps it’s Rand’s extreme confidence in the Asha’man. Perhaps it’s the clear instability spreading through the male channelers. Perhaps it’s the grueling Guerilla approach to this battle. Perhaps it’s the oddness of the One Power in the mountains. I am really enjoying this tbh.

The Asha'man are much, much too eager to fight Aes Sedai and Taim has too great a hold on them. I don’t like that Rand’s distrust is caused mostly by LTT’s voice but he is right to suspect Taim’s influence on the Asha’man.

Are we ever going to find out what the deal is with the One Power for women and men near Ebou Dar? I love the concept of corrupted places where physics or magic doesn’t work as it should.

Liandrin?! In the hands of the Seanchan? What is going on?!?

Why is Lews Therin quoting that Prussian general? Is Prussia canon in the Wheel of Time univers?

THEY STOLE THE OATH ROAD And Pevara and Seaine discovered how to undo the Oaths? Oh, that is really interesting. REALLY interesting, particularly after Siuan’s discussion with Egwene.

Oh my god, if you order an Aes Sedai to lie under an oath, she can die choking?!?

OoooooooOooooooooOoooooh they are recruiting Salidar's spies to hunt the Black Ajah! This is so good. What an exciting development! 

I got chills when the last Aes Sedai who discovered Seaine and Pevara refused to swear she was not a Darkfriend. I suspect it can’t be that easy though. Still really hyped for this storyline.

As I said, Asha’man = incel army. Of course, they would capture Aes Sedai and use compulsion to make them love them.

"Maybe Elayne had taught him." In a week while making out in Tear? Rather than Moiraine who spent months with him in the Waste cramming his head with 20 years' worth of experience as Blue Ajah? Or Bashere who has been working with him to handle no less than 4 different armies begrudgingly working together? Or the Aiel who are the fantasy Sparta culture? Come on, Min, I know you're trying very hard not to get jealous, but you're being foolish and as Rand’s primary advisor currently, you cannot afford to be foolish.

Cadsuane joking she expects the Asha'man to juggle made me cackle. She is the definition of the bigger bully.

Callandor requires men and women to work? Nice, I was hoping to get a sa’angreal like this soon. Seeing Rand navigate people he doesn’t trust while working with them is also particularly exciting.

Oh, they killed Adeleas... Vandene crying out loud for her sister after the others were sent away was actually heartbreaking. I do like that DF are still a serious threat; not a given with the number of actors now at play. Elayne and Nynaeve were faaaaar too trusting of the dozens of strangers they took up at the farm.

Rand and the Asha'man... Man, that was brutal. The madness was bound to catch up to them, but this, coming right after a near defeat, deaths caused by Rand and a betrayal, is absolutely harrowing. I love that we got Rand talking about consulting Nynaeve to cure the taint beforehand, giving them some hope, and then Rand invokes Nynaene to provide the only cure available for now to Fedwin. It’s so bleak, I love it.

Not liking one bit the idea that women like Nynaeve and Faile need to be dominated by their husbands to have a happy marriage. Not one bit.

We didn't get unnecessary female nudity in a while and now we get it for ALL our ladies. Amazing. At least, my gal Berelain escaped. 

The finale was a little jarring in the sense that we needed to catch up with everybody suddenly and still got nothing on Mat and the Shienaran alliance, but before that I really enjoyed the bleakness on Rand’s side. Reminded me of New Spring. I do wish we spent more time on the aftermath of the attack Rand in the Sun Palace and the first mercy killing, but I suspect it will be explored next book.

Verdict: two books into the slog and I am cruising so far. My biggest complaint is the similarities in power struggles between Rand, Egwene and Elayne, the three big threads here: for several chapters, each is trying to handle groups at daggers drawn, with varied degrees of success. It’s obviously the unifying theme, but the story would have benefitted from a serious arc for Mat and Nynaeve for breathers, as both are generally entertaining wildcards. Nynaeve had practically NOTHING to do outside of her beef with Alise, which is frustrating because I’ve been unsatisfied with her arc for a few books now. Hopefully, she’ll get one with the research to clean saidin. 

Yet, as much as I absolutely see the slackening in the narrative, with several chapters depicting characters riding and disagreeing and nothing else, I appreciate the depths added by Egwene’s moves, Rand losing his grip and the overcorrection of the weather. It’s not much, true, and this book will likely be merged with another for TV, but it certainly wasn’t as slow as certain parts of TEotW or LoC. I was deeply moved by certain parts (the Asha’man, Siuan and Egwene, Vandene and Adeleas), which makes this book automatically better than others in the series.

#the wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot book review #wot book journey #the path of daggers #remblai #still having a good time honestly #I suspect the slog will start slogging next book #it's all that snow #Verin entering the characters top 10 in one chapter only woah #Wot review

[truly-morgan]

[Camboy!JC, blackmail (nsfw-ish)]

XiCheng | Mo Dao Zu Shi Modern AU 24-07-2021

[#xicheng modern + su she blackmailer]

What if jc and lxc met when jc quit the jiang corporate and ended up at the lan co. On a temporary contract? And they fell in love as they worked alongside one another. Now isn't working for either, lxc is more than happy to provide for him (which is something that took a while for jc to do, but he enjoys being a "housewife").

Ss never liked jc and was always scared he would steal his job. He couldn't get along and jc was also not easy to Manipulate into doing what he wants him to do. Plus he doesn't believe him to be a good match for lxc.

He still comes to the company to help sometime and it does annoy ss. Then one day a pop-up directed him to a cam website. He was about to click off, only to realise who was on his screen.

Jiang cheng!!!

He watch a bit more as jc was doing lewd thing. Did lxc know!?

Worst, he even saw an unknown man enter the frame, face outside of view, coming to let jc hungrily suck him (and the chat was goi g wild at this, letting him know it was not the first time it happened).

He then realised he had the best munition to finally get rid of jc. He was a /camboy/ and a /cheater/. How could the righteous lan xichen accept this? The next day ss got up to lxc to talk about it. "I found something that might interest you on a cam website," ss said.

"I didn't know you were to those" lxc said with a small smile, "But I am fine, I can enjoy a-cheng all I want".

ss wanted to roll his eyes at this, shaking his head instead. "No! Not like that! A-a friend of mine used my PC and I accidentally clicked the history link".

lxc hummed slightly, his smile clearly saying "sure..."

"Anyway that's not the important part," ss said frustrated, "I... I found jiang wanyin on said site!"

lxc looked a bit surprised, before frowning a bit. "Are you sure? this is a big claim to make" he said.

"I am sure" he nodded.

lxc looked pensive for a moment, before simply nodding. "I supposed I can ask a-cheng about it tonight".

ss kept his sigh in, he had hoped the man would be a bit angrier, but he supposed it was not that surprising either. The next day, when they were in lxc office, he was internally waiting for something. his boss didn't look that different from usual, wondering what had happened the previous night.

"You might have seen wrong" lxc finally said when he gave him back some paper he just signed. ss was a bit taken aback, unsure how to respond. "Are you sure, I was pretty certain it was him" he said.

lxc frowned at this, "He assured me it was not true and I even checked our computer for hints of it, nothing" he replied.

"But am sure it was him! and with a man!!" he retorted.

"Su she!" lxc said, voice a warning in a slightly louder than usual. "Unless you have proof of it I would rather you not keep adding on this matter".

ss knew better than to argue back again, keeping in his complaint. he instead sighed silently, his eyes landing on the new watch his boss was wearing.

a good distraction.

"Nice watch" he smiled, "I don't think I've ever seen you wearing it".

This did seem to make lxc look less annoyed, smiling a bit instead. "It is" he said while looking down at the watch, "My friends gave it to me for my birthday, they made it custom to match the lan family symbol".

"Very interesting gift" ss smiled before excusing himself to go back to work.

He would find a way to convince his boss that his boyfriend was lying to him! That night ss went home with the will to show him he was saying the truth!! He looked up when jc would be live, waiting two days for him to finally do so.

He was taking proof of it, even better when a second someone finally came in. Then something caught his attention.

something on the person's wrist... the more he looked as the man was putting a light blue collar on jc, the more he realised with disbelief that he knew why it looked similar: It was his boss's watch?!?!?

He couldn't believe it, yet another thing entered the frame as the man seemingly came back with something else. a white tie with purple clouds pattern on it.

("This is my favourite tie, a-cheng gave it to me" lxc explained once when a colleague asked about it).

"Oooh I see sir wants to play a bit more tonight~~" jc said as the chat was going wild over this "sir", making requests on things he could do to jc. A low chuckle that sounded familiar was all that it took to make ss finally back out, closing his computer.

He wished he had not found out about all this.

little did he know jc discovered he has an exhibitionist kink although lxc was not too kin on doing so himself (being CEO and all). Jc found another way that lxc is more than happy to support, anything to make his husband happy

Original

#tweet archive #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #xicheng #lan xichen #jiang cheng #modern au #camboy au #camboy jiang cheng #blackmail #nsfw-ish

[harurio]

guardian ep4

i just started new meds and am overcome with the need to be horizontal at all times so we're gonna watch some more guardiannnn @oneiro-nautical please lmk if the tagging gets annoying tho lol

and right away shen wei, who has clearly never done anything wrong in his life, is getting arrested. look at him. that man's never even rolled through a stop sign

'your confidence and composure reminds me of someone i know' do lao chu and shen wei have a past? i'm interested now

so is this face remover like. flaying these women? is it magic? how gory is this about to get? (edit: okay it's fine)

lmao see i thought shen wei was just really gentle and solemn, like a lan xichen type of person, but here he is bothering chief zhao smirking up a storm. maybe he's truly just a little shit. love him

look at them walking like they're attached at the hip!

look how much space this man is choosing to ignore in favor of letting his arm brush against zhao yunlan's sometimes. shen wei baby i see you

i like how the running gag so far has been situation occurs, shen wei is somehow involved, situation escalates to levels that would injure or kill a human being, shen wei is neither injured nor killed, and zhao yunlan arrives just in time to say are you okay? and shen wei just says im fine :) and you can hear chief zhao go HUH. in his head. progressively louder each time

idk if there is an equivalent of a bedside manner for interviewing suspects but zhao yunlan's is........ not great lol

poor guo changcheng. ma'am do you realize you're flirting with a whole baby

OHHHH so he's stealing the faces and she's putting them on! i see

zhu hong is gorgeous!!!

'don't you know you could get TETANUS' ohhh zhao yunlan your tough act isn't fooling nobody!! you care about him!!!!

awww ik xiao guo is a nepo baby but i'm glad he's starting to find his place on the team (edit: team quit bullying him dear god)

see this is so interesting. before watching this i thought zhao yunlan was a kind of wwx character, really lighthearted, fiercely chaotic good, and he's both those things but he's got an edge on him too. he's not afraid to be mean for the sake of efficiency. whereas i thought shen wei was very lwj, very solemn and hard to read, but he's so damn gentle and he's got such speaking eyes he really reminds me of lan xichen. so far at least

awww chu shuzhi shielded damn cat from the blast. he's just a big ol teddy bear isn't he

i love dramatic conversations held in normal tones of voice between two people facing away from each other standing at least eight feet apart in the great outdoors

ancient!yunlan NAMED HIM??? and (if i've been spoiled correctly) shen wei kept that name for ten thousand years waiting to see him again? just in case that name sparked even the ghost of a memory of their connection? STOP

AUGH

at least this episode didn't bring me perilously close to tears. though i did feel bad for that kid with the dead girlfriend and the revenge molotov. he was annoying but he had a good heart i think. it's sleepy time for me now

#guardian #liveblogging #i just keep connecting it back to the untamed because that's the other bromance cdrama i've watched. i haven't seen a lot of word of honor #but zhao yunlan does remind me a little of wang kexing #good night!

[wonderlandleighleigh]

TMMM—Joel gets back together with Penny Pann. Chaos ensues.

(Let's put this in Joshy continuity. Also, I really don't think this is in character for Joel? But it's fun to mess around with really wild stuff like this so here we go!)

There's a banging on the front door of their brownstone, and Midge frowns deeply.

Lenny is working tonight. He's got a TV spot on the Late Show, and it's just been her and Kitty, staying up late, watching him on TV while Joshy sleeps soundly upstairs. He's not even one yet, and strangely, very sweet and quiet, which Midge did not expect at all.

The knock comes just after Lenny wraps his set on TV, thankfully, so she won't miss it.

Midge gets to her feet and peeks out the window next to the door before opening it quickly. "What-?"

Her two children, and their little half-brother are standing there, looking tired, and unhappy. "What are you doing here?" she asks worriedly as she ushers them in.

"Things got dumb at Pop's house," Ethan informs her. At fourteen, he's the oldest of all five kids in the Bruce/Maisel clan, and he generally takes charge when things go south.

Things, clearly, have gone south.

Esther is ten now, and a spitfire. "Sassy," Moishe calls her, though Midge's own mother calls the little girl "Miriam 2.0."

She looks angry.

"What's going on?" Kitty asks, looking confused. She's only a year younger than Ethan, though she acts about twenty-five most days.

"Daddy doesn't love Mommy anymore," Lan tells them. He's seven now, and looking pretty tearful all things considered.

Midge stares at the little boy in shock before turning to Ethan, who deflates and puts a hand over his mouth. A learned gesture he's seen Lenny do a million times.

"Daddy brought Penny Pann home when Mei took us out to dinner," Esther explains, finally. "He said he had to work at the club tonight, but he was really having sex with Penny Pann!"

Midge stares, feeling even more shocked.

"We came home and she was still there," Ethan explains. "In Pop and Mei's bed."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Midge snaps.

"Midge, you're not supposed to say fuck," Kitty reminds her. "Remember?"

"Right," she says, nodding, still shocked. "Of course. I will fill the swear jar later. How did you three get here?"

"Mei dropped us off," Ethan explains.

"And where is Mei going?"

"Either to put a hit out on Pop or to stop her family from doing so," Ethan responds.

Midge takes a deep breath, and lets it out, before nodding. "Okay. Okay. It's late. Ethan, is it okay if Lan sleeps in your room with you tonight? He doesn't usually stay here, and I bet he could use his big brother."

Ethan nods, and takes Lan by the hand. "C'mon, Buddy. We can read some comic books before bed."

Kitty watches them, before turning to the girls. "You girls wanna bunk together?" she asks hopefully. "Kitty's got those nice bunkbeds in her room."

"That sounds fun," Kitty says, wrapping an arm around the younger girl. "Come on, Es, we can paint our fingernails."

Midge watches them go, thankful that it's Friday night, and none of them have to go to school tomorrow. She wanders into the kitchen and pulls a hefty bottle of bourbon down from a high shelf, before grabbing two glasses. Lenny should be home soon. He'll want one, too.

She's not wrong, either. No sooner has she finished her first glass and poured herself another, does Lenny wander in after closing the front door.

He's all smiles, too, and she hates to drop all this drama on him. He kisses her softly, smiling and brushing his nose against hers.

"What'd you think?"

"You were on fire tonight," she tells him, kissing him again before pulling away to pour him a glass.

He takes his, looking suspicious. "Something tells me that this...is not a celebratory drink."

"I really wish it was," she says apologetically. "But take comfort in knowing that you have done absolutely nothing wrong. In no way are you in trouble."

"Good to know," he says slowly, suspiciously.

"So...Ethan, Esther and Lan are here," Midge explains. "Mei dropped them off."

Lenny looks concerned that. "Did something happen? Is someone hurt?"

"No, but they're about to be," Midge tells him. "Because Mei took the kids to dinner, and Joel told them he couldn't join them because he had business at the club."

"Which...was a lie?" Lenny tries.

"It was, in fact, a great big fuckin' lie," Midge confirms.

"And they came back to the house, and..."

"He was fucking Penny Pann."

Lenny freezes, his glass halfway to his mouth, looking deeply perplexed. "Penny...the...the secretary from...with the dull pencils?"

"That's the one."

"Jesus fuck. You're first husband is dumb."

"Yes, he is."

"Hasn't that woman moved on? It's been ten fuckin' years."

"Yes, it has."

He shoots the bourbon in his drink instead of sipping it and shakes his head out. "Kids okay?"

"Oh, there's no way in hell they're okay," Midge says. "But they're settled upstairs for the night. And Joshy slept through all of it."

"Small blessings, I guess." Lenny sighs heavily and pours himself another, before offering more to her, which she readily accepts. "So...what do we do?"

Midge shrugs. "We look after the kids I guess." She sighs softly. "I should call him."

"Why, so he can cry and whine about how much he's fucked up again and then ask you to run away with him or something?" Lenny snaps. "Can we skip that and just drink our drinks and go to bed."

"But I could help."

Lenny sets his glass down and turns to her, cupping her face in both of his hands, stroking her cheeks. "You are very, very sweet. And so lovely. And Joel has dug himself yet another grave, and the only person who can dig him out? Is him. Remember when I was digging my own graves? I had to fix it. You couldn't. It was all me. It's the same principle. Just adultery instead of drugs."

Midge closes her eyes and nuzzles in against his hand. "Drinks. Bed," she agrees.

He kisses her softly and then goes back to his drink, and they both sip silently for a moment.

"God she must have the tightest pussy on earth for him to go back to that after ten years," Midge mutters.

Lenny snorts bourbon out of his nose.

#fic #au #tmmm #Midge/Lenny #Midge x Lenny #kidfic

[indignantlemur]

A mix for Anlenthoris th'Kor, the Andorian Ambassador to Earth and Tellar.

SPOTIFY LINK: HERE

Song list with lyric samples below the cut!

Ironfoot (Extended Edition) - Howard Shore [Instrumental]

From The North - Runrig & Paul Mounsey [From the north came a warrior Bearing burdens dark and deep I've a will and I've a wanting And miles to go before I sleep I have horses in my stable I have sons fit to fight I will bring this to your table If you ride with me this night]

As Cold As It Gets - Dustin Kensrue [To the end of the Earth, I'll search for your face For the one who laid all of our beauty to waste Threw our hope into Hell and our children in the fire I am the one who crawled through the wire I am the one who crawled through the wire There's a million sad stories by the side of the road Strange how we all just got used to the blood A million sad stories that'll never be told Silent and froze in the mud Silent and froze in the mud]

Crow On The Cradle - Show of Hands ["The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn, Now is the time for a child to be born. He'll laugh at the moon and he'll cry for the sun, And if it's a boy he will carry a gun," Sang the crow on the cradle

"And if it should be that this baby's a girl, Never you mind if her hair doesn't curl. With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, And a bomber above her wherever she goes," Sang the crow on the cradle]

The Wondersmith and His Sons - Astronautalis [A smile safe-crackers understand, Is rendering this steady hand, Obsolete. The charm and confidence of men, Can jam the bullets in your gun, And stop heartbeats]

World on Fire - Les Friction [I'll return from darkness and will save your precious skin I will end your suffering and let the healing light come in Sent by forces beyond salvation There can't be not one sensation World on fire with a smoking sun Stops everything and everyone Brace yourself for all will pay Help is on the way]

Who Are You, Really? - Mikky Ekko [So you feel entitled to a sense of control And make decisions that you think are your own You are a stranger here, why have you come? Why have you come, lift me higher, let me look at the sun Look at the sun and once I hear them clearly, say Who, who are you really? And where are you going? I have nothing left to prove 'Cause I have nothing left to lose See me bare my teeth for you Who, who are you?]

Brother, My Brother - Michael Lanning [And His eyes will look away For His heart will so be torn As His fields of gold turn scarlet From the rage of battle born And the silence of the night Will be broken with the cries Of the ones who've been forgotten On the quiet field where honor lies]

The War - SMYL [Here stands a man With a bullet in his clenched right hand Don't push him, son For he's got the power to crush this land Oh hear, hear him cry, boy]

Daniel in the Den - Bastille [And you thought the lions were bad Well, they tried to kill my brothers And felled in the night by the ones you think you love They will come for you]

Hurt - Johnny Cash [And you could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt]

Davy Jones' Theme - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra [Instrumental]

#emigre by indignantlemur #Anlenthoris th'Kor #Ambassador Thoris #character playlist #fanmix #fan playlist #star trek #andorian

[xiakeponz]

Love between Fairy and Devil / Cang Lan Jue by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang - Eng Translation (part translation of Ch 1)

Xiao Lanhua is internally having a breakdown [1] // translation by xiakeponz dot tumblr

Xiao Lanhua sat in her cell [2], and stared at the woman sitting cross-legged outside her cell bars. Her eyes were shut in a focus so deep and silent, that the sound of her breathing could not even be heard.

How many days has it been now? Xiao Lanhua rested her chin in her hand, in deep consternation. That guy outside... was he even breathing properly? What if he'd just silently suffocated himself to death, then how cheated [3] would she be! After all, the body outside was the one that legitimately [4] belonged to her! Whereas, the one that she had right now...

Xiao Lanhua grabbed at a few locks of the silver hair that cascaded down to her waist, and then used her large hands [5] to touch her own flat chest for the hundredth time. "So hard," she lamented. These two syllables, uttered in the timbre of a low, magnetic, masculine voice, bounced off the walls of Hao Tian Tower in a spiralling echo, until it finally faded.

These two pithy syllables were enough, however, to break this silence that had been sustained for a long time. The woman outside the prison cage finally let out a slow exhale with their eyes still closed. "Little flower demon, if you dare run your hands all over my [6] body again, then don't come crying to me when I do as I please with yours."

"Stop being so stingy over every little thing, all I'm doing is touching your chest. Why is a man [7] so afraid of being touched anyway?" Xiao Lanhua gave pause, then her entire face suddenly flamed bright red with embarrassment. "Oh my goodness [8], Da Motou [9], where do you even think I'm touching? Dirty! You're so dirty! [10]"

The woman opened a pair of almond eyes, within them a faint hint of devilry that didn't quite match with the rest of the face. She flashed a mocking smile. "A woman capable of saying such things, can hardly be so pure herself."

Xiao Lanhua harrumphed, and changed the subject. "Aren't you some ancient demon god? All the legends say that you were so good at all the wicked things [11] ..." Dongfang Qingcang furrowed his brows, and Xiao Lanhua couldn't help but gulp. "If- if you're so powerful, then think of a way to get us out of here!"

Dongfang Qingcang closed his eyes once more. "If you want to leave, then get out of my way."

Xiao Lanhua glared; she was mad. "The one who's locked up in this cage is me?! How am I even in your way? You're the one who is super super super good at getting in other people's way!"

If not for him, how would she ever have gotten herself trapped in Haotian tower? What's more, how could she go from being a "Lady of the Orchid" to a beastly, barbaric... well, to be fair though this Da Motou had smooth and supple skin, was well-built, had well-maintained hair, had well-set features, slender fingers... Xiao Lanhua shook her head. "If not for you cursed [12] demon [13], I wouldn't even be stuck this situation!"

"Cursed?" Dongfang Qingcang narrowed his eyes. "You dare call me as such? So bold."

The pair of eyes across from her were clearly her own eyes, yet there was something about the look in Dongfang Qingcang's gaze that made Xiao Lanhua shudder and her stomach turn, to the point where she started to feel a bit woozy [14] ...

However, the vertical bars between them helped her steel herself. She puffed up her cheeks, and harrumphed coolly. "Why don't you come hit me then, if you can?"

Upon hearing these words, Dongfang Qingcang broke into a grin. He grabbed all the long hair that was hanging behind his back, and there was a subtle woosh of energy [15] at his fingertips. Xiao Lanhua couldn't react in time, only to see that waist-length hair get chopped clean-through, in one fell swoop.

Xiao Lanhua was frozen in shock.

Hair... her hair...

Dongfang Qingcang held her chopped hair and fiddled with it in his hands. "Your brain isn't too bright, but your hair's pretty good." With that, he casually [16] tossed her hair. Soft, glossy strands of black hair fanned over the floor like a peacock's tail. Dongfang Qingcang tugged at the now-short, black hair that rested just past the ears, and sat cross-legged [17], the corner of his mouth tilted up in a savage and insolent smile. "What, did you forget? You're at my whim now."

A demon! An absolutely deranged [18] demon!

Xiao Lanhua was on the verge of keeling over on her knees. She stared achingly at the broken hair scattered all over the floor for a long while, before it occurred to her that needed to exact revenge on their killer! She lifted her head up, and pinned Dongfang Qingcang with a vicious glare. "I'm not done with you!" [19]

Xiao Lanhua lifted her hand and snatched behind her, to grab that head of long, silver hair. She imitated Dongfang Qingcang's position, and tried to summon that woosh of energy at her fingertips...

Then, she only wanted to cry even more.

#lbfad #clj #dfqc #xlh #苍兰诀 #did someone say they wanted to read eng tl of this? im not sure if there is one but im just doing this now out of hobby #the [] square brackets are where my translation notes are meant to be but i haven't had the time to fill it in yet #coz i might want to do some research instead of explaining solely based on my ~vibes~ lol #but if you are curious about any just ref the number and i can try explain wht i have to say about it #do not move onto another website or repost without my permission please #so far im idly doing like 1 page a day of the version of clj i have #while i wait for my friends to come online to play fps games with me lol... #still thinking if i'll move it all onto a gdoc or something eventually #bruh what am i doing

[llycaons]

ep19 (part 2): boy oh boy it's coming

this rules. make that sword float and have the disembodied voices of a thousand disturbed souls scream out in the voices the protag knows

OH THAT'S A BONE. I NEVER REALIZED. he's trying to wave them away...he does the same thing with chenqing later on. so impotent and desperate. you know he's going to survive this and reign in this power, but it hurts so much to see him suffer through it. he was scared, up there with the wen men. he was clearly really scared. he's freaking out over here

I think it was a good choice not to show anything that happened in the three months. best left to the imagination. and it keeps the plot moving. we don't need to see his process to see what he did. and his reveal later is all the better for not knowing what's been happening with him or what he's been learning

YESSSS YESSS THERE HE IS AND HE LOOKS MAD!!!!! I love that tiktok of the guy sitting up straight and zipping his jacket and saluting bc literally. this is such a cool entrance too he walks up those steps so slowly and he looks so cool doing it

jc swoops in later but he gets a very brief entrance. and he wasn't even the one who subdued the guards, it was all lwj with his musical notes and cords to strangle people

I wonder if he requested doing it alone...

first time I watched this I didn't know about all the bdsm in the novel but some people take this shot way differently than I do. I just think they have a really different dynamic in the show I don't see it. I'm not saying it's impossible just not my headcanon.

im just posting this pic because I like the curtain around the bed, it's pretty.

the 'jc and lwj would be friends' people are so funny because obviously they wouldn't be, but it's probably more due to lwj than jc at this point. jc is fairly open and honest in this scene, reaching out to lwj with his worries and not hiding them in rage or sarcasm. trying to connect with someone who cares about wwx as well, who has the same goals as him.

and lwj just doesn't care. he does not speak a word to him or even really look at him this entire scene. if lwj was more open to social interaction and less laser-focsed on wwx, maybe? but they are who they are and lwj isn't really keen on making friends or comforting anyone when the love of his life has possibly been murdered in the most horrible and cruel way possible

it's so sad to think about how deep lwj must be in fear and grief bc this literally does happen, in the end. wwx is dead with no body, his soul possibly lost forever.

also the lan guys give lwj wwx's sword even tho jc is right there and jc doesn't object. interesting. my theory is that he has a sense for their relationship and he's cool with it as long as he and wwx have a decent relationship

it's a low bar but cheers to jzx for not letting crows eat human corpses and offering his forces to help clean up. because his cousin certainly wouldn't have

of course poor jyl, home destroyed, parents dead, younger brother with his core ripped out, other younger brother missing for months, drugged against her will and sent away by the two people she wanted to be with more than anything else, in the care of a near-stranger, alone and seeing the countryside littered with corpses. god.

WHY DIDN'T HE LEAD WITH THAT. jzx you ass

their reunion is very touching!!

they love wwx so much oh my godd it kills me that he doesn't see how much people love him.

this quiet little scene is so sad...it's so tender, so gentle

jc is only ever this humble and penitent with his sister, or maybe with some high-ranking leaders. he's very proud...

oh, sweetheart. he hasn't. it may look like it, he's definitely better in this arc than he is anywhere else, but he hasn't.

this parallels the scene before when jyl begs wwx to find jc when he's vanished. because they need to stay together 🥺

though INTERESTING that it's jyl who leaves the jiangs, in the end, out of less than dire moral imperative. she just wanted to get married, and good for her

this fixation on staying together, I think it's an entirely reasonable reaction to abuse at home, then great upheaval and loss. she wants to cling to what she can trust. she wants her remaining family together where she knows they're safe. but I think in the aftermath of the war she recovers enough from this mindset to pursue her own life, though of course she never wanted to lose her brothers entirely. she would have rather died than watch them die…it's so cruel but honest to god I believe it's truly what she wanted

oh, neat. we learn earlier that meng yao, having left the nies, is not with the jins. where could he be? and who could this mysterious new right hand man in qishan be? little detail that's easily missed on the first watch

so real wlj get yourself outta there. haven't forgotten the torture or child murder but its fun to see her rebel against staying wc's servant

aren't those wwx's reversed talismans? if so, she's about to draw a lot of very powerful spirits to her

about the bloody eyes...I imagine wwx can cause hallucinations, or else it's just her sheer terror manifesting itself in something besides nightmares

come to think of it, jyl also had dreams about things that would happen regarding wwx. do the women in this setting have a tendency towards prophetic dreams? much to think about....

personal highlights

wzl looking at his hand after hitting wwx like 'what?'

LOVED when wwx threatened to come back as a vengeful spirit. oved when he used his low status as a tool to achieve his ends. atta boy <3

LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN KEEP SMILING UNTIL THE END. evil line, love it. super cruel and taunting in a way that reminds me of later jc - like 'oh, you think you're such a hero, don't you?'

jc's beautiful dream/vision ough imagine having a happy family that loves you

lwj epic staicase climb. I missed him I was just staring at him for ages

I truly do love all of wlj's scenes. she is super fun, her actor does a terrific job, her outfit in this episode was really pretty, and her decision to ditch wen chao and leave him to die ruled

I love that first scene in BM when wwx is bruised and surrounded by all those ghosts and crawling over human remains, maybe he WAS injured in the fall. he didn't stand up...

jc being tender and honest with his sister. he can do it! I know he has it in him! and i'm proud of him

next up ep20 and you know what that means!!! YILING LAOZU IS COMING!!!!!

#cql re-rewatch

[moiraineswife]

‘Give her my love.’

Lan and Moiraine | 1.06

#wotedit #wheel of time #wot on prime #moiraine damodred #lan mandragoran #siuan sanche #moiraine x siuan #siuanraine #molan #molan gifset #lan x moiraine #the first two gifs are ART. her face. her >:( her oversized fuck jammies. exquisite. #she just so CLEARLY says 'Lan I love you. but if you don't let me go bone my wife I'm going to start throwing fireballs' #also; on a more serious note; BC I CAN DO THAT TOO JUST WATCH ME!!!!! i thought this was really important? #because it makes it clear that neither of them have forgotten Kerene's death #and yes Lan is overprotective. but that's kind of his job? and Moiraine doesn't make it easy #and she's also spent more of this season near death than she has not #I just really liked this little touch. keeping Lan in character/his motivations clear. even while he's the world's best wingman #and i adore 'give her my love'. it's so simple; as with most things between them; but it says SO much #he knows. he knows that they're together. this great secret the two of them share. and he knows how much she means to Mo #and it's just UGGHHHHHHH #this scene was fucking great #the character and relationship content in this episode was BEYOND EPIC

[youaremysunshine-court]

In lieu of the season finale, I'd like to talk about something that has been pointed out to me multiple times (specifically by cishet males). I'd like to preface this by saying this isn't a criticism because I'm pretty sure it's intentional (and if it's unintentional, the show should work on either dialling it back or making it a plot point). But I want to talk about feminism and the empowerment of women in WoT.

Don't get mad just yet, I'm on your side!

Just a few times I've seen men shown as less powerful than women, or "weaker":

Logain in Tar Valon: he comes in, he's all big and bold and sasses the Amyrlin Seat, and then at a few words from her, he crumples. He's led away in tears, kicking and screaming, not great for his honor...

Rand in the Blight: saying it was meant to be Egwene, even though canonically the Dragon can only be male. And moiraine not refuting that.

The Aes Sedai: come on, the White Tower is a huge threat to any male, like they have Warders that they can bond (non-consensually in the books) and the trainees who'll eventually become Warders, but otherwise its completely female-run.

The Seanchan: look at that boat from episode 8. The men were clearly just there as guard dogs, and it was the d*mane that held all the power.

Every single ruler: has an Aes Sedai whispering in their ear. That's a lot of power for women to hold. Are you starting to see a pattern? Good.

Min and Dana(sp?) : both shown as strong women who take no shit from men, who can clearly hold their own. They look cool, they act cool, they may be "barmaids" but they can and will kick your ass. (Yes, she was a darkfriend. She was cool before we found that out.)

Moiraine: she has a man who follows her around like a puppy and never questions her. He appears to be around for her to order around, and to protect her and that's about it. (Shh, no moiraine bashing here, that's how the world was built)

Lan: when he does get his own story, it's falling in love with a powerful woman who (as far as we know) doesn't need anyone. (Yes, his arc expands later, but let's focus on this season.) She makes all the moves in the relationship, and yet he's the one spouting his feelings for her, asking her to stay the night, etc. (We love the Lan speech! It's adorable and the first time I read it I cried)

Now, take all those instances and swap the genders. Thank you. Doesn't it look a lot like our modern world, when you swap the genders? Yeah. Makes you wonder why so many of my friends and YouTubers* online are spitting mad about women being in power. And yet they don't bat an eye when they see it in the real world.

*the amount of videos I've watched that are like oh warders can't fuck each other, oh women have so much power, oh there aren't any sexualised prostitutes (cough cough witcher), oh women are shown as human beings not objects... sorry, I'm a little mad about this.

Now I don't know if this was a conscious choice that the people in charge made. And I cannot tell you whether it's a good or bad thing, because I, as a book fan, am terribly biased. And also you have critical thinking skills for a reason. You come to your own conclusions.

All I can say is, if people are feeling uncomfortable at the amount of power imbalance. If people think that women are abusing their power in certain situations (as we shall see very soon). If people are wondering why men aren't given the "respect they deserve" and why they're "crying" and "having feelings", then I would like to ask how they missed it all in the books. Women had just as much power in the books, maybe more.

But now that the show has explored that facet just the slightest bit, people are up in arms about it being feminist and modern and catering to women. Okay then, sorry to burst your bubble but the real world is patriarchal and backward and catering to men. So if the power imbalance in WoT makes you uncomfortable, why doesn't the power imbalance in the real world make you uncomfortable?

#wot #wheel of time #jay watches wot #wot on prime #wot meta #robert jordan #wot show spoilers #wot book spoilers #wot book vague #rand al'thor spoilers #rand al'thor #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #al'lan mandragoran #perrin aybara #matrim cauthon #moiraine damodred #siuan sanche #spoilers in tags #cant wait for them to reach the aiel and be like A MATRIARCHAL SOCIETY absolutely imposible lord save us from this heresy #omg the aiel men can COOK the HORROR #genuinely people can be strong whether or not they show emotions and im so glad they gave lan less stoic and nynaeve less anger #just because Theyre actualy 3d human beings #ugh okay im sorry i needed this off my chest #hi im jay and this has been a rant #look this is passive aggressive but if u ignore that theres actually a point to this rant pls see that #i just dont know how to translate anger to calm words #also to my irls if you see this it is absolutely me bashing u for being a bigot no apologies for you no sirree #oh yeah and pls argue with me in the notes i fully expect a better interpretation from someone

[plan-d-to-i]

(google translate again, yeah)

(I forgot to thank you for the last answer, I really didn't know that the drama used the music of my compatriot, it was a pleasant surprise for me)

I don't know if anyone has asked you this before, but do you think JC was good with WWX as a kid?

I mean not just their childhood, but the time of their training in Gusu.

I really love JC, and I understand perfectly well that he is the most dick in character, but I love him precisely during my studies at Gusu, I can not give any arguments that then JC was directly GOOD to WWX, but he is clearly cared a little about him and even ... worried? at least that moment after the punishment where JC helped WWX get to the room...

Yay - I'm so happy to hear about Stravinsky :)

Hahah loving jc as the dick that he is is the way to do it! go for it. :) also, sorry this was so delayed I wanted to reread the Cloud Recesses arc so it would be fresh in my mind before answering.

In terms of jc the Cloud Recesses arc is perhaps the most 'mellow' we see him aside from the Lotus Pod Extra but for me it's still impossible to find him a worthwhile person. I can already see the faults in his character that I know will only get worse as he grows older. Canonically I don't see how he would have any friends studying in the Cloud Recesses if he didn't come as a package deal w Wei Wuxian. I mean I doubt jiang cheng would have any friends without WWX period. In fact jiang cheng doesn't make any friends over the course of 13 years. He's also unable to find a wife bc of his temperament and behavior...

What we can glean about their relationship in the Cloud Recesses arc (and even the Lotus Pod Extra) is that any time WWX gets a kind word or understanding from someone, jiang cheng scoffs at it. Any time someone shits on WWX, jc is there to agree, to relish the idea of WWX being punished, and shit on him some more. He would be an immensely exhausting person to be around. He doesnt believe in WWX's ideas and ingenuity, (as NHS does for example), he doesn't believe WWX is hurt, he always assumes the worst of him, he doesn't believe LWJ might like WWX. The only thing he ever seems to believe is that WWX will dishonor YunmengJiang and that WWX should be punished. So for a kid who supposedly wants his father's approval so badly he instead constantly acts like his mother's mouthpiece/minion. He reprimands WWX like he's trying to become Madam Yu 2.0. I see jc stans all the time being like oh he had to keep WWX in check bc WWX was such a lOOooose canon, for the good of the Clan!! lol listen JFM didn't give a f...about WWX's behavior (in his letter to LQR) why are you so concerned? JFM would have preferred for jc to try & save his peers in the Xuanwu cave or at least to understand why that was the correct course of action rather than for him to just sit in front of the class in the Cloud Recesses and tell WWX off for giving LQR as good as he got, while actually still breaking the rules himself but eschewing punishment.

salt up here, quotes below :

Even when Nie Huaisang picks up on the fact that WWX is being treated unfairly by LQR, jc dismisses it and piles on WWX instead.

Nie Huaisang said, “Old Man Lan really seems like he’s coming down especially harshly on you. Every time he reprimands someone, it’s always you.” Jiang Cheng grunted. “He deserves it. What kind of answer was that? He can get away with saying that sort of nonsense at home, but he had the nerve to say it to Lan Qiren’s face. He was practically asking for the old man to kill him!”

But does WWX get away with ANYTHING in Lotus Pier? When we know he is punished constantly for EVERYTHING? This is jiang cheng fully being his mother's mouth piece. It's not something WWX would get away with, it's something jc knows JFM wouldn't mind. Which is why he's so pissed off. Which begs the question if JFM would not be upset with WWX's behavior why does jc need to criticize him? Again :

A dark expression shadowed Jiang Cheng’s face, and his voice was filled with anger. “Why are you so proud of yourself? What is there to be proud of?! Is being told to get out some amazing accomplishment? You’re making our entire clan lose face!”

and his glee at the idea that WWX will be punished leaves a bad taste in one's mouth considering how WWX was perpetually punished in Lotus Pier by jiang cheng's mother for... existing.

Jiang Cheng smiled grimly. “Now that you’ve thoroughly offended both Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren, you’re basically dead tomorrow. No one’s going to clean up your corpse either.”

and again

Without the old one, only the young one remained. This would be easy to deal with! Wei Wuxian rolled off the bed and laughed while putting on his boots. “Heaven’s charmed clouds are blessing me with shade.” Jiang Cheng was beside him polishing his sword with loving care when he decided to spill cold water over Wei Wuxian’s head. “Just wait until he gets back. You can’t escape punishment.”

Where others like NHS see value in WWX's thoughts

Nie Huaisang thought for a while. “Actually, I thought what you said was very interesting,” he said, not entirely able to hide his envy and yearning.

jc is always dismissive of WWX's ideas. These are inventions that WWX realizes. Demonic cultivation in the first conversation and The Spirit-Attraction Flag and The Compass of Evil in the second:

“Enough,” Jiang Cheng warned. “Whatever nonsense you spout, you better not head down that sort of dark road.”

-

Changing the topic, Wei Wuxian said, “If only there was something like fishing bait that could draw the water ghosts in. Or, something that could point in the direction they’re hiding, like a compass, that sort of thing.”

“Lower your head and watch the water,” Jiang Cheng said. “You’re letting your fantasies run wild again. Concentrate on looking for water ghosts like you’re supposed to.”

“Hey, mounting swords and flying was also only a fantasy once!” Wei Wuxian said.

He's also a hypocrite. Because even though he berates WWX for misbehaving, he himself breaks the rules. He drinks, he even goads WWX into buying liquor, the only difference is that he doesn't get punished for it, and he doesn't feel like coming forward and getting punished for it :

Naturally, Jiang Cheng was too embarrassed to talk about what Wei Wuxian had been up to. After all, all of them had egged him on to go and buy alcohol, and they all deserved to be punished as well. He could only speak vaguely. “It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s not that bad! He can walk. Wei Wuxian, why haven’t you gotten off yet?”

It's no wonder WWX is so impressed by LWJ's integrity in spite of his social status, when he's clearly used to the other dynamic :

“Lan Zhan, I really admire you,” Wei Wuxian said sincerely. “After I told you that you had to punish yourself too, you actually did it. You didn’t let yourself off at all. I can’t argue against that.”

A dynamic which is shown repeating in the Lotus Pod Extra where WWX is the only one to get punished for sunbathing, and which repeats here when Wei Wuxian here stops jiang cheng from confronting Zixuan over YanLi's honor (and jc's) and does it himself.

Zixuan :“Why don’t you ask what about her could make me satisfied?” he said in return.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng rose. Wei Wuxian pushed him away and stepped between them, smiling coldly. “You think you’re very satisfactory? As though you have the right to be so picky!”

Zixuan: “If she’s unhappy, then let her break off the engagement! I certainly don’t cherish your wonderful disciple-sister. If you cherish her so much, why don’t you take it up with your father? Doesn’t he love you more than his own son?”

After hearing the last sentence, Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed, and Wei Wuxian was no longer able to contain his own fury. He flew at Jin Zixuan, his fist raised.

WWX takes the punishment alone. Same way he offers to do when he hurts himself falling from a tree because jc threatened him with dogs. meanwhile jc is gleeful to see him being punished.

[Wei Wuxian] was kneeling on the stretch of pebble road to which Lan Qiren had assigned him when Jiang Cheng walked over from afar and mocked him. “You’re kneeling so obediently.”

“It’s not like you don’t know I have to do this all the time.” Wei Wuxian’s voice filled with schadenfreude. “But this Jin Zixuan guy, there’s no way he hasn’t been pampered and spoiled rotten since birth. No one’s ever forced him to kneel, I’m sure of it. If he doesn’t wind up crying for mommy and daddy today, I’m not named Wei.”....

Wei Wuxian "...It’s a good thing you didn’t do anything.”

“I was going to. If you hadn’t pushed me away, the other side of Jin Zixuan’s face would be hideous too.”

“Stop it. His face is uglier for being lopsided."

WWX is happy to have spared jc from getting into trouble but jc makes the whole thing about himself anyway (like everything else ever) and is upset JFM would rush over for WWX - in his mind. Even though JFM clearly had to rush over to meet with Jin Guangshan not to coddle WWX in any way.

"Jiang Fengmian had never rushed to another clan in less than a day because of him. Regardless of whether what happened was big or small, or good or bad." Never

WWX on the other hand tries to be observant of jc's feelings and reassure him & distract him from his moods :

When Wei Wuxian saw Jiang Cheng’s melancholy expression, he thought he was still upset with what Jin Zixuan said. “You should leave. You don’t need to keep me company any longer. If Lan Wangji comes again, he’ll catch you. If you have time, you should find Jin Zixuan and watch his pitiful kneeling.”

Later in the book after nearly dying in the Xuanwu cave WWX leaves his sick bed to run after jc and comfort him after his mother's rant, even though WWX had to listen to his parents (and himself) being slandered by YZY. jc doesn't spare any thoughts for how other people might be feeling or suffering. His entire perception of the world is centered around himself. To him even WWX's greatest fear doesn't generate empathy, only amusement or later on a form of torture.

From that point onward, they made trouble everywhere together, and if they encountered a dog, Jiang Cheng would always chase it away for him, then enjoy a peal of derisive, unbridled laughter at Wei Wuxian’s expense beneath whichever tree the boy had leapt atop.

he grew up on the streets, often having to fight for food with vicious dogs. After several bites and chases, he gradually became extremely scared of all dogs, no matter the size. Jiang Cheng laughed at him because of this quite a lot of times.

This brings me to the last point. jc's resentment of WWX's interest in Lan Zhan, or in a serious friendship outside of him. I see so many ppl say that bc WWX fought he was kicked out of the Cloud Recesses early... but was he?

Jiang Cheng was somewhat taken aback. “Lan Wangji? What was he doing here? He still has the nerve to come see you again?”

“Yeah, I think his bravery is laudable if he still has the nerve to come see me. His uncle probably told him to check on me and see if I was kneeling properly.”

Jiang Cheng’s instincts were sending him ominous signals. “So were you kneeling properly?”

“I was then,” Wei Wuxian replied. “But I waited for him to walk away a bit, then took a tree branch, lowered my head, and dug out a hole in the dirt near me. It’s the pile right by your foot—there are ant tunnels there. It took me so much effort to find them. Anyway, I waited for him to turn back and see my shoulders shaking. He had to have thought I was crying, so he came back and asked. You should have seen his face when he caught sight of the ant tunnels!

“…” Jiang Cheng said, “Why don’t you just get the hell out and go back to Yunmeng? I bet he never wants to see you again.”

Thus, that evening, Wei Wuxian packed up his things, got the hell out, and went back to Yunmeng with Jiang Fengmian.

Repeatedly throught his stay in the Cloud Recesses even while NHS was observing that LWJ's behavior around WWX was strange and unique, jc was telling WWX he is hated and bothersome. When WWX wanted to apologize to LWJ jc is completely dismissive of it :

“He hates me already? I was thinking of apologizing to him,” Wei Wuxian said.

“Oh, so you want to apologize now? It’s too late!” Jiang Cheng said derisively. “He’s exactly like his uncle. He thinks you’ve been wicked ever since you were an embryo, so it’s beneath his dignity to pay you any attention.”

Later on when WWX mentioned wanting to invite LWJ to Lotus Pier jc categorically says no.

“Jiang Cheng had on a stern expression, “Let’s make this clear. I don’t want him to come, anyhow. Don’t invite him.”

BONUS

jc also always doubts WWX. He suspects him immediately of wrongdoings. He doesn't believe that getting hit with the discipline ruler in Cloud Recesses actually hurt him until LXC confirms that WWX might take more than a few days to heal. He doesn't understand WWX is in actual trouble from the Waterborne abyss and assumes he's fooling around luckily Lan Zhan is there to rescue him:

The disciple’s lower body had already been swallowed by the black whirlpool. It spun faster and faster, and he continued to sink deeper and deeper, as though something hidden beneath the water was pulling down on his legs.

Mounted on Sandu, Jiang Cheng had risen calmly until he was about sixty meters above the whirlpool before he looked down. Filled with displeasure at what he saw, he shouted and dove down. “What are you up to now?!”

The suction force inside Lake Biling grew ever stronger. Wei Wuxian’s sword was optimized for agility, and consequently, its strength happened to fall just short, and they were nearly pulled to the surface of the lake. Wei Wuxian steadied himself and held on to Su She with both hands.

“Someone help! If I can’t pull him up soon, I’ll have to let go!” he shouted.

Suddenly, the back of Wei Wuxian’s collar tightened, and his body was lifted into the air. He twisted his neck and saw Lan Wangji holding him up with one hand.

He maintains this same mindset when he tries to whip LWJ and WWX as they're attempting to leave Lotus Pier after the ancestral hall confrontation when WWX passes out.

Is jc evil in the Cloud Recesses ? No. He's just an annoying, basic, disagreeable asshole who doesn't bring anything positive to someone like WWX. People like jc become obsessed with kind, outgoing, generous people, people who don't set boundaries on what they give and what others take in their friendships. Even though they're dependent on them for their social interactions, because who else would socialize with them willingly, they resent them in equal measure, but at the same time they wouldn't be drawn to another selfish, self centered piece of shit person like themselves.

On a personal note, even Cloud Recesses jiang cheng is someone I would exclude from any personal friend group. Friendship with him is adding a minefield of jealousies and snide comments to every interaction. Things that then others will need to compensate around because he won't compromise or empathize w issues outside of his own concerns.

Translation source : x

#This is long af because I wanted to have one post where I included everything #I’ve bitched about jc’s behavior in the cloud recesses for a long time so it was time to put down the quotes #mdzs #Cloud Recesses #Lan Wangji #Wei Wuxian #Nie Huaisang #jiang cheng