Gong Jun’s Studio posted pictures of his birthday cake. 🎂

-你身上有光 dyptich-

BACK AGAIN with more "Light on you" stuff! I really can't let go of this passage, haha. And I have A LOT MORE TO SAY so Let's go! (LONG post ahead)

This post will contain:

my own attachment and what I love in this scene

what lead me to depict them like this

a personal translation of the passage in the book

But to begin with, a little something about storytelling. In order to help writers, some "storytelling rules" have been set up and theorised about. Those rules are, of course, meant to be broken, and one does not need to follow them in order to write a good story; but during the storytelling course I followed, a few of those rules have stuck with me, especially this one:

The main character, the hero of the story, will be the one to shine or to "save the day" in the end.

Again--does this rule need to be respected for a good story? Not necessarily, but when struggling with how to manage an ending or a main character, it can be helpful.

Anyway. For me, this scene, the "there's light on you" scene, kind of is that scene--that one scene where ZZS is the main character, is the hero. TYK has an interesting story structure, where if you go by the book of typical wuxia stories, ZCL would be the main character; and if you look at whom goes through the biggest internal journey throughout the story, it would be WKX. ZZS's own story technically spans across both QY and TYK, which makes TYK a bit more about WKX's journey than ZZS'.

But that very scene is not only ZZS saving WKX, but also ZZS reaching the conclusion of his own journey. By the end of QY, ZZS didn't go and meet with Jiuxiao. He deliberately looked the other way, too scared to go check on him, too superstitious; and in the end, Jiuxiao died. TYK puts ZZS in a similar position: someone he loves is away, and the choice to go reach them is in his hands. He decided to respect WKX's wish to go and fight his own battle alone, yet he ultimately went against it, changed and moved on from who he was in QY, to go and fight by WKX's side.

It's no surprise that I'm very into ZZS, and this image of him bathed in light, beating the scorpion to his own game and "taking back" this main character spot... It makes me go insane. Not to mention all the incredible quotes of this passage. "His person"? "There's light on you"? Come on!! I'm also. Obsessed with how and what WKX saw. What he must have felt, as he was ready to die, when he saw his person, his husband, dashingly get rid of all the enemies, almost at the peak of his power, come and "collect his corpse"--save him? Just!! Imagine!!! Imagine being WKX and this is how it ends!!! You're the GVM, you've had the life you've had, you finally meet someone that you truly love, the guy's about to die, then maybe not, AND THEN HE COMES TO SAVE YOUR LIFE AGHHHH 😭😭😭 Sorry, I REALLY like this. REALLY.

-------

cough--So, about their expressions and what I wanted to represent. For ZZS, to me... it was a mix of closure, fondness, and satisfaction. I think that ZZS had a "good time", going back to who he was before: tailing the scorpions, going undercover, ambushing from the shadows--not to mention slowly retrieving his full power. I think that this ZZS feels quite good, especially now that he got the confirmation that WKX is still alive. Then, the feeling of having done "the right thing". He's... beyond regret, now. He was able to follow his heart, quite literally, and that also feels good. The fondness is of course because he's looking at WKX. What else is he supposed to feel?? They haven't met for 3 months! I think that he's worried, but they trust each other. He trusts that WKX will survive this, that he'll be strong, that he won't die on him. So yeah. I wanted this ZZS confident--in himself, in WKX, in the future. WKX is a bit dazed, there. Probably in pain, and a bit stunned as he wasn't expecting it. But he's also... a bit enthralled; by this light, by how impressive and efficient his husband is, and, of course, the fact that ZZS came for him. The person he loves, the person whose life matters more than everything else now that WKX has reached his goal, came for him, came to save him. This stupid guy came for him instead of going to the mountain to prepare on his own. Yet another blatant show of them being so alike, isn't it? I guess... it's just a lot of love, a bit of pride, the faintest hint of him being amused, even--and maybe relief, as well. He won't die, and ZZS is there, and he's strong, and again, like for ZZS, there's a future--which he never allowed himself to properly consider, I believe. -------- Finally, a personal retranslation of that scene. I did it not because I thought it really needed it but because the only existing TL of this part of the book doesn't allow for reposting and I figured I may as well try. So for anyone who doesn't remember the passage or hasn't read the book/reached this chapter, here it is!

The Scorpion raised his hand and was immediately handed a weapon. His smile vanished as he looked at Wen Kexing leaning against the tree, already quite injured. He said: “For someone like the Ghost Lord, I must act in person—it would be quite disrespectful to get someone else to do the job.” 

As he spoke, he raised his hook across his chest and approached slowly. He continued in a low voice: “I invite the Ghost Lord to walk ahead on the Yellow Spring road.” 

He then fell silent, raising the hook higher and higher. Wen Kexing opened his eyes, quietly looking at him, his pitch-black irises like two dark pools of murky water, calm as if he wasn’t the one about to die.

The Scorpion suddenly felt a violent gush of wind surging from the side, charged with killing intent—electrified by an aura of death, goosebumps rising on his skin, he shouted as he lifted his hook in the air and promptly sliced through—the assailant was wearing the black robes of the scorpions, but didn’t wear a mask, had a soft blade in hand—he swiftly avoided the hook; a sudden, sharp pain made the Scorpion cry out as the soft blade wrapped around his arm which, at once, was ripped from his body and fell to the ground. 

The several scorpions standing behind their leader immediately assumed a tactical formation—but then, a dashing figure, a metallic chime, and they all stood, dazzled; one swift move for it to be settled: one man standing, several men on the ground. Whether they were dead or alive, all of those who layed still were missing the arm holding their weapon. 

Wen Kexing recognised the man. He abruptly sighed, and said in a low voice: “Idiot, what are you doing here?”

Zhou Zishu threw him a side glance and sneered: “I came to collect your corpse, madman.” 

The effects of the Nails of seven apertures and three autumns were suppressed by the medicine Da Wu had given Zhou Zishu, and at that moment his gong fu had been restored to nine parts of its peak capacity. If the Scorpion already wasn’t on par should they have a fair fight, then he didn’t stand a chance when ambushed from the shadows. 

Zhou Zishu turned to the Scorpion, the pointed end of Baiyi slightly angled down, and he sharply asked: “You dare threaten my person?”

A bit stunned, Wen Kexing watched the back of the man standing in front of him, and slight shivers started coursing through his fingers resting on the ground. 

The Scorpion’s face was deathly pale, yet he still managed to smile and painfully say: “Ah… Brother Zhou, my apologies, I didn’t expect you to honour us with your presence.” 

He briefly gauged the two men, waving his remaining hand: “Great master, we won’t counter any further. We bid you farewell———retreat!”

The few scorpions that were still alive crawled and scrambled to their feet and hurriedly followed the Scorpion as he withdrew. Zhou Zishu didn’t try to follow and just turned around to face and look at Wen Kexing.

Wen Kexing’s eyes shone brightly, but he simply chuckled: “You should be more careful for…” 

Before he could finish, Zhou Zishu’s eyes focused, he swiftly twirled, the blade that was in his hand suddenly split through the air in a beautiful arch—a tinkling sound as it hit something, and soon enough a muffled groan rose from the woods behind them. Zhou Zishu shook his head and sighed: “Using the same move against the same person twice—are all these scorpions merely one trick ponies? And they dare claim to be on par with Siji manor?”

Wen Kexing watched him, slightly dazed. His mouth curved into a smile as he suddenly extended his hand in the air, trying to catch something.

Zhou Zishu frowned and asked: “What are you doing?”

Wen Kexing said softly: “There’s light… on your body. I’m catching it to see…” 

Thanks for reading!

Hola Amores!!!

This was a year... well... it was, and that is what counts. 

I hope that for this 2023, you are always surrounded by love and care, I hope that you live new experiences, see and visit new places, and make new friends. Thank you so much for sharing your love and hyperfixations in this fandom, for your tags, memes, and beautiful art.

Swear to you guys, I wish I could throw a party where all of us can have lots of fun, all of us in cosplay of our chosen characters (the ones in the wwx/zzs/wkx/sqx/jby will have to take one shot at the entry (and if you don't drink well, the beverage of your choice then,)) karaoke with songs that your character would sing, dance competence for the party animals (all of this at a moderate volume since we care for the ones with sensory issues,) PowerPoint presentations for the ones that want to convince us to read your fave work that isn't famous (10 min tops, maximum of 8 slides), fanfic and official work reading while enacting it (we will ban some scenes of course,) discussions/debates of headcanons... so sorry, stopping now.

Anyhow, my best wishes for this new year 💛 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　

And now... some special mentions 🔥🔥🔥

Thank you @ru-star & @tommyspeck for always being here <333 thank you @31duskballs for those amazing fic recs ✨ Thank you @kikiknits for creating such wonderful pieces (I'm still so obsessed with that little worm and the yellow sweater inspired by hualian art 😭💕 you all take a look at this!!!) Thank you @danhoemei for always feeding us with your incredible humour, art, music, poetry fics, tags and sharing amazing works of art (dear friend!!!! Ilysm!!! 💛) @icarus-suraki the best creator of memes in this hellsite (I'm not kidding, as a matter of fact, reblog this for good luck) thank you for sharing!! @darthvaporwave you have been here for ages!!! LOL, thank you for sticking around <33 @oneiro-nautical Thank you for creating and sharing incredible content!! @birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo BIRB!!! DEAR!! You sweetheart!!! so much love to you!! Thank you for creating and always feeding us with great fengqing content!!! @jadevalentine-writes JADE!!!! DEAR!!!! Thank you for your amazing work!!! They bring so much happiness!!! You all!! Go right now and read their fics!! link here!! @white-flower-blooming Alex!!! Sweetheart!!! Hi!!! I hope we can get more of that cute content you create!!! Thank you for bringing so much joy to this fandom (you all, we need to protect this wonderful person right here at all costs!!) @quilleth !!! Another wonderful person that also is into moshang and cr!!! Thank you for reblogging and always leaving such kind tags for ops <333 @saawek Your fem!HC lives in my mind rent-free!!! Thank you for creating beautiful breathtaking art!!! Swear to you dear, your pieces are museum worthy quality!!!!  

And many more that I'm not tagging or this is going to be more long, thank you 💛💛💛 

Hermanxs hablahispanas!!! Ustedes!!! Lol, estoy haciendo esto para futuras referencias, por supuesto que me acuerdo de sus tags en español @half-eaten-mantou @evangelinedares @moonchild0903 Muchísimo amor y muy buenas vibras (≚ ᄌ ≚ )

hello hello, would you believe my rewatch is still in session! 🎉 got a little busy with exams but since we are back into trying times (i feel like i'm still processing it, so i haven't really talked about it properly) it's back to comfort watching

on a happier note, here are ss ep 19 to 21, mostly my beautiful zishu (let's see what i was ss-ing because in truth i try to have a batch of ss ahead of what i post and it's been a while since i took these)

1 - i swear not even angels have profile this perfect

2 - a dose of trying time for yby (hym did great job there, he looks in so much pain)

3 - a rare smile from wkx, poor baby

4 - a-xu joining in my most heartbreaking expression contest

5 - no idea, why i took this ss

6 - hihi he got pissed, he looks sooo cuuute 🥰😭

7 - huggies time!!!

8 - wkx looks like an excited child omg

9 - more a-xu expressions that hurt deep in my heart

Hello it's me with more art questions!!! No pressure to answer but I was wondering how you capture the likeness of faces so well (e.g. for zzs and wkx), they really look like the actors!! Do you do a lot of sketches so you can draw them from imagination afterwards or do you use lots of refs? Any advice appreciated I love your art sm <3

oh hello again! of course it's super okay!!

uh actually I often got this question but I'm not really sure how to answer.. If you're asking if I use refs or not, I do both!! Buuuuut, not using refs is for my lazy hours hoho (and can't guarantee if it'll come out good..)

I always, always, always, use refs, esp when it's my first time drawing a character(for example), when I'm not familiar enough w/ their features. Maybe this is also a reason why I draw so slowly... But you see, lots of my drawings nowadays are screncap redraws (redraws heal souls, amen), and when you do it, it feels like automatically you wanted to copy the scene and polish it in ur style. (how to explain this part hjdgsjdg). Doing lots of redraws is also a practice time for me, and so sooner or later you'll be familiar with what you always draw! (in this case, the characters). If I wanted my drawing looks exactly like the actors (esp the realism one), there's no way I'd draw it only from imagination😭😭

And if you're asking for the technical thingy... I don't know how to answer this part...... I think.. the best to do is.. being..possessed????

no no, for me.. What I always do is trying to know and remember each person's unique features?? like the shape of their nose, lips, etc, or things that stand out? Also their face's proportion is also crucial, maybe

yep, I think that's what I do when I draw them without ref but somehow still wanted them to look *a bit* like the actors..

I ended up talking too much..😭 And sorry if it doesn't make any sense gakslskdlasdjs and pardon my writing......... Hope it helps even just a little😭👉👈