#to forgive or absolve them lmao?
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it frankly pisses me off that what is essentially “rapists and abusers should be depicted as monstrous caricatures because humanizing them is inappropriate” is considered a very moral and enlightened position to have on art by so many people. a rapist can feel pain, have moments of vulnerability, be amiable and charming, express remorse and compassion at times, be a victim themselves, and so on in real life. they are even capable of doing good things. they can have different sides to them and have individuals in their lives that they are kind to or have a decent relationship with. they will be a human being, and that fact encompasses a lot. conflating that with the claim that they deserve forgiveness or absolution is an issue. nurturing a mindset that believes they need to be one note and uncomplicated to be a correct and tasteful depiction of a rapist inadvertently falls in line with the logic of “how could they have possibly raped you? they are so normal and kind to me. they did all these good things here and there.” ok that doesn’t change that they are a rapist.
#and its always said by fiction affects reality warriors ok this affects victims bc they will have doubts about their abuse and#about their own abuser because they are not the boogeyman#there was this pretty heartbreaking post by an abuse survivor who put this into words#its one of those things where it feels like the intention is good but it does more harm to victims than the perpetrators really#im not saying its impossible to have a tasteless depiction of a rapist but u guys just project that idea onto shit where it doesnt apply#if something explores the reality and consequences of their actions and the impact on the victims without downplaying it or ignoring it#then this critique just holds no water to me#idgaf if they r humanized ive seen their actions and just because they have a solitary other dimension doesnt mean i feel pressured#to forgive or absolve them lmao?#(as in the piece of art in question is not advocating for that)#cw rape
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It's so frustrating how the idea of "redemption" and "redemption arcs" has become so commonplace now. I can't even pinpoint where the concept and the true weight of its meaning to a story got messed up, but here we are dealing with the aftermath.
Nesta is flawed. But not flawed enough to need a redemption arc. If that was the case, we might as well be handing out redemption arcs to all flawed characters in this book. Maybe starting with Rhysand for his centuries of terror lol.
In the case of Nesta Archeron, she doesn't need a redemption arc and ACOSF isn't her redemption story. Who is she being redeemed to anyway? It's so silly how there are still people who believe this. Aside from her not even being the villain in the story. It's Nesta who is consistently talked negatively about in this series. There seems to be this adamant group of people who greatly believes she needs to atone for her "crimes."
When really her "crimes" are not assimilating the IC, "letting" Feyre hunt, and treating Feyre poorly when she was younger. That's literally it. She isn't responsible for the death of millions. Hasn't betrayed anyone. Hasn't turned over to the dark side. Hasn't cursed anyone (who didn't deserve it - lmao shout out to the King of Hybern). Hasn't schemed/lied/manipulated at the expense of someone else. She's not power-hungry, give her a good book and she's set for life. Nesta isn't vengeful, despite Amren's beliefs otherwise, never even thought of creating a death trove to spite the IC (though they would have deserved it). She isn't even selfish considering how she is willing to die for the people she cares about. So...
To be fair, there are things she needs to answer for 100%. And a great portion of the book was Nesta accepting her past and learning to forgive herself to move forward. But I don't agree with the belief that this sums up into "redeeming herself."
Mostly because it frames Nesta as the sole offender in the series when time and time again, we see that isn't the case. I do not put all the blame on Nesta, and its clear that the narrative doesn't either:
Nesta nodded slowly. Perhaps it wasn’t just her and Feyre, then. Perhaps all sisters had difficulties, fights, chasms between them. She wasn’t perfect, but … neither was Feyre. They had both made mistakes. And both had long, long lives ahead of them. What had occurred in the past did not have to dictate the future.
With the understanding that Feyre isn't perfect either and also has made mistakes...should we anticipate a redemption arc for her too? When it comes to the IC, they aren't innocents either. This acknowledgement, again, doesn't absolve Nesta of her own actions. But I'm not interested in villainizing her either.
Whatever healing Nesta got from the HOW, was something she found herself. Nesta wasn't sent there with the intent to give her purpose in life. She was sent to the HOW with the hopes of putting distance between her and her vices. Her work at the library was meant to keep her from isolation (as she was prone to do). And the distance did help. But it doesn't take away what was lost and how she was treated at the end. Choice is something Nesta greatly desires in life. Yet throughout the book, her choices were repeatedly stripped away (But I digress, this is a whole separate conversation).
Interestingly enough, the IC with all their talk of helping Nesta actually seemed more capable of putting her in harms way than Nesta herself. Considering how she was SA multiple times, faced death multiple times, and was forced to confront her trauma...all at their behest. Seems counterproductive to their initial goals (But again, I digress).
Everything else happened because Nesta cultivated it on her own. Nobody is stripping that away from Nesta. I'm just not giving the IC and Feyre the credit. She led her healing journey despite the mistreatment she faced from the IC. She made the house because she needed to make the environment she was imprisoned in less suffocating. She found happiness because she worked for it and molded her journey with the support of the people who gave her the love and kindness to see herself through. Nesta's circle is small, and not everyone makes the cut.
A need for redemption or a redemption arc implies that the person in question is not a good person. But Nesta, despite her flaws, is good. More than she was willing to believe. And more than this fandom is willing to admit. Nobody needs a redemption arc for being human.
#acotar#nesta supremacy#nesta archeron#nesta deserves better#pro nesta#anti acosf#anti ic#anti rhysand#There is so much that Nesta blames herself for that are not her fault#but she is SJM's favourite scapegoat so here we are#Posting this here too
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this has been rolling around in my head for weeks and i need to at least express it so i can maybe get motivation to write it in more detail LMAO
night shift by lucy dacus but steve getting over nancy and being able to move on.
failed relationships and rebounds because he can’t even kiss someone else without gagging. he’s on first dates with heidi or sara or payton or becca or whoever it is this time that never make it to a second because he probably calls them by her name at some point.
scrolling through old texts and love letters and her social media even though he knows he’s just going to find things to hurt himself more than he already is. he wants to scream out loud what a bitch she is and how much she hurt him, but he resists and instead keeps scrolling. he wants to shout at her and leave before she can respond.
steve keeps finding himself in places where he ends up seeing nancy and jonathan together, happy. you’d think with everyone in the city instead of a small town now, they wouldn’t run into each other so much, but the universe seems to just have it out for him. it’s killing robin seeing him so heartbroken too.
it’s only about two months later when he gets a text from nancy asking to meet for coffee so they can talk, even though it’s 6pm so it won’t be light for long.
but, he agrees and she’s sitting at a table by the window in the corner and she looks…beautiful. like she always has. she looks up when he walks over, standing in what looks like a “going for a hug” pose. she stops though when he seems to hesitate and gives a polite smile, holding out a hand to shake instead.
nancy’s already ordered their drinks and someone places them on the table right when he sits. of course she remembered his order.
“so…” he says, a bit awkward, a lot quiet.
“…so…” she responds, except now she won’t look away from her lap. steve waits for her to say something, anything. maybe an explanation as to why she wanted to see him, why now, why here, what did she need to tell him?
so he waits.
and he waits.
…and he waits…
and she still wont say anything. so he puts down his mug, and he does.
“am i just supposed to sit here and watch you stare at your feet?”
she looks up then, eyes wide like she’s been caught. she looks nervous. it almost makes him feel bad for speaking up.
“steve-“
“what was the plan? to what…absolve your guilt? shake hands again?” she doesn’t respond. steve sighs and shakes his head.
“you cheated on me. that’s just how it is. i feel no need to forgive you, but i might as well, because i just want to move on.”
he doesn’t want to be here anymore. he can’t breathe. they only last a bit longer of light chat before he’s checking his watch (it’s only coming up on 7) and rising from his chair. she does too and asks if she can kiss him one last time. he just pays for his coffee, says a quick goodbye, and leaves just as the sun sets.
steve cant see her anymore. never again. never again. he’s so stuck in his head he doesn’t notice it’s coming on 11pm and he’s been walking the whole time until an owl in a tree has him looking up at the now dark sky and street lights. he’s back home around midnight and instantly has robin wrapped around his middle, rambling about how worried she had been. he went to talk to nancy, then just disappeared for hours. not answering texts, calls.
he tells her about everything. what she had said. how she seems to show up everywhere he goes. she holds him close, his head on her chest as they lay on their couch.
he quits his day job, robin does as well, and they end up working overnight shifts at a bar/restaurant. depending on the night, they’re either bartending or waiting the table in the bar area. they sleep during the day, go out at night.
steve stops bumping into her everywhere he goes. they’re on different schedules now. he’ll never be up to a read a sunday paper with her name on it since he’ll have just gotten into bed after a long shift.
a couple years down the line, there’s a band that starts playing at their bar, every friday and saturday nights.
they play a heavy version of california dreamin’ that suddenly throws steve back to kissing nancy in the backseat of his car to this song when they were in high school. steve needs to excuse himself for a smoke break, needs to calm his nausea and his nerves.
he’s out back for about five minutes when the back door opens. he flinches at the sound and backs against the wall, though the man quickly raises his hands up.
“sorry! didn’t mean to scare you. uh, i was lookin’ for a place to smoke. you mind if i join you?” the man says, an apologetic smile playing on his lips. steve’s brain short circuits at the sight of him. this man is GODLY, bro, okay, he’s HOT. AWOOGA. he’s all wild, dark hair and big brown eyes. a smile that has something wicked and sweet hidden in it. he’s tall too, only about two inches taller than steve, but still.
steve’s eyes catch on the light reflecting off his rings. he knows his cheeks are burning. “yeah, yeah that’s um…yeah, that’s fine.”
“cool,” the man says and lights his cigarette. steve goes back to leaning on the wall and sucking his own cigarette. “so, what’s got a pretty thing like you out here all on your lonesome?”
steve may or may not choke on his smoke a little. “needed some air. started…thinkin’ too much. what about you?”
“also, needed a breather. worked up a hell of a sweat up there.” and then it clicks and steve is smacking himself in the forehead.
“you’re in the band!”
“i am! you’re in the bar!”
“i am!”
and steve learns his name is eddie, and eddie starts coming in more than just fridays and saturdays. he won’t even drink, just get a water and stare at or talk to steve.
it takes almost 9 months before they start dating and another few after that before eddie practically moves in with steve and robin.
and he has never felt more loved. eddie who sings in the shower too loud and gives the crispiest bacon strips to robin. eddie who holds him during movies on the couch and covers steve’s eyes if he knows a scene in a horror movie might be too much, even though robin will narrate the whole thing. eddie who strokes his hair and rubs his back until he falls asleep and brings him everywhere he goes.
and songs that he once dedicated to nancy are now for eddie and all the new ones that come along are all for eddie too.
and he moves on, and he never sees her again.
#stranger things#steve harrington#robin buckley#eddie munson#nancy wheeler#steddie au#steddie#steve harrington au#robin buckley au#eddie munson au#stranger things au#stranger things fic#steddie fic#stobin
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wei wuxian is so misunderstood it's painful. "he's a remorseless mass murderer" yall. he canonically does feel bad about it. not to mention that imo guilt (as an emotion) is overly valorized. but more importantly, the discourse's emphasis on condemning wwx for situations literally out of his control undermines the novel's abolitionist themes. like the protagonist himself practically spells it out for you
they can ambush him, try to execute him. they can pledge to murder him and the wen survivors. but he cant defend himself? -> is he just supposed to accept that? when they condemn him for fighting back, the implication is that they expect unflinching, self-sacrificing obedience; that their violence is legitimized; that by delegitimizing the violence he did in self-defense, they can absolve themselves of responsibility. but how can he be at fault, for refusing to lay down his life? when the oppressed take up arms to save themselves, destabilizing the authority of the ruling class, and extreme violence erupts, who is ultimately responsible?
their admiration and contempt are insignificant. + he doesnt expect people to forgive him -> he has no interest in their approval. how can the cultivation world have the moral authority to blame or exonerate wwx, when they are responsible for the injustice done to him and still sanctimoniously monopolize claims to innocence and victimhood? what would punishing him even achieve? it doesnt do anything to transform the conditions that led to all those deaths. it doesnt challenge the institutions that forced him to be their enemy in the first place. and it's just viciously oppressive to hold a survivor accountable for patterns of violence he didnt perpetrate
like at the end of the day i think people are just mad that wwx refuses to be a conveniently pacifistic, self-flagellating target lmao. he understands what's going on, the politics of violence and underlying systems of power. he doesnt give a shit about respecting them. militant abolitionist characters my beloved
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it’s so gross to me how c*roline stans have been running with this narrative that Elena is a horrible friend to Caroline and attacking her for getting involved with Damon after he r*ped Caroline while giving Stefan a free pass when Damon is literally Elena’s abuser too, and Elena was horrified and outraged by what Damon did to Caroline and did everything she could to protect Caroline when Elena was literally a teenage girl unfamiliar with the supernatural world being preyed on by two 100+ vampires and oh yeah DAMON WAS ELENA’S ABUSER TOO like literally what was elena supposed to do Damon was constantly inserting himself into her life and every time she’d reject him he’d do something like kill her brother like she had literally no power against him. Stefan was the one who could have done something about Damon and constantly chose not to but this gets completely ignored by fandom. also funny how the “elena is the worst” crowd had nothing to say about Caroline sleeping with the guy who killed Tyler’s mom (except for the people attacking TYLER for being upset lmao)
Listen, I'm 80% right there with you. You've hooked me. You're gonna get a whole essay out of me.
There are five (major) issues to tackle here. Let's start with the first one, which should be the most simple to understand.
Damon's Ongoing Assault Issue.
We all saw what Damon did. We all agree that him compelling Caroline removed her ability to consent to it. We are all aware of that. Here's the thing. In character, no one ever addresses more than the feeding and manipulation. Not even Caroline herself. We, as the audience, know the issue. But the issue presented in character is never as clear cut as "Damon raped Caroline, and she rightfully hates him for it." They never go there, and we know why. This also unfortunately means that Caroline never once says that's the reason she hates Damon so much. We're given the "he manipulated me, he fed off of me without my consent" which is still bad, but it's nothing he didn't do to anyone else. He killed Alaric multiple times. He killed Jeremy. He threatened and attacked Bonnie. He's killed Vicki and Mason and everyone else, and this is after what he did to Caroline. If he gets away with all of that, why wouldn't they forgive or tolerate him for something as 'natural' as feeding? By not acknowledging that his compulsion removed Caroline's consent, they never have to acknowledge that what he did was rape. And that means they never have to say Damon did anything worse to Caroline than he did to anyone else. Specifically, we also never see anyone call out the fact Damon compels Andie to be okay with what he is and to let him feed off of her while in a relationship with her as well. Alaric in particular never calls this out despite the fact he's an adult who should know better than the teenagers how wrong it is, because by that point, they've all reached a place where they're damn near complacent in what Damon does. But anyway, without them outright saying what he did and calling it what he is, Caroline seems very... obnoxious with her dislike for him, while everyone else has gotten over it. It kind of leads us into the next one.
The Stefan Issue.
You're completely correct. Stefan should have been the one getting Damon away. Both Elena and Stefan knew what Damon was doing to Caroline, and Elena demanded he deal with it. And he did. To do that, he used Caroline as a way to subdue Damon. While people often talk about how Stefan took Caroline under his wing, it wasn't before he repeatedly used her. Even after that, he uses her when it comes to Klaus and to Tyler. But focusing on the Damon subject, Caroline never once acknowledges that Stefan knew (which she knows) what Damon was doing to some extent or holds him responsible for it, or snarks at him about Damon as much as she does Elena. She all but outright absolves him of any wrongdoing as soon as he becomes her mentor. You see it in the way she personally roots for Stefan whenever it comes to the damned triangle, her own desire to prop him up overriding any and everything. Even after Stefan hurt Elena herself, she was still very aggressively team Stefan. This is partially because she's basically Julie Plec's self insert, and partially because she sees Stefan as the good brother, despite the fact he above all is the one who primarily excused and defended him during that time. People will not admit that Stefan is complacent in Damon's actions because they're obsessed with a 'good brother, bad brother' dynamic. On the flip side, people who do acknowledge Stefan's part of it claim Damon is better because he "owns up to what he is". The truth of the matter is that they're both assholes.
The Elena Of It All.
Like you said, Elena was rightfully disgusted and terrified of what Damon did to Caroline, and fucking immediately told Stefan to deal with that shit. For a bit after that, she (and Bonnie) were doing their best to keep Damon away from Caroline. Here's where the issue lies. Like I said before, we, the audience, know everything, right? Did we ever see a scene where Caroline tells her exactly what happened with Damon? This is part of the issue I mentioned with 'Caroline never outright says it'. All Elena has to go on is bruises and bitemarks. And she is mad about that, mad about the fact Damon fed on her without her consent, but that's all she thinks happened. She does not know Damon is her rapist. And yes, that is enough reason for Elena to hate him and be mad at him, but look at all the things I mentioned above. What did he do to Caroline that he hasn't done to others who, frankly, mean more to Elena? As bad as it is to say it, as far as Elena knows, there's nothing special about what Damon did to Caroline.
Part two of the Elena issue is that while you're right, while Damon was her abuser too, it gets wonky because of the sire bond and because of her eventual feelings for him. At some point in season one, Caroline is asking for the necklace back, and Elena goes "why? so you can give it back to Damon?" which is half a joke, half not. So already, Elena is joking about the situation. Which, Caroline doesn't remember everything. Elena knows that. Look, you can essentially take it one of two ways. One, Elena's trying to make shit seem normal because they haven't told Caroline about the supernatural, while feeling out why she wants it back. Two, she's being cruel. It honestly depends on how you view her character this early on. I'm not gonna debate about that, whatever.
Anyway, later on, in season whatever the hell, Damon jokes "have fun with blondie, I know I did" and Elena laughs. That? Was bad. Even without knowing the full extent of what he did, it was a fucked up thing to laugh at. I love Elena, and it was fucked up. You'll never see me denying that shit. Damon even fucking teaches her to hunt in the same way he picked Caroline out and it isn't called out, in canon.
Primarily, people's issue with Elena, is that it seems like she co-signs all of Damon's bullshit from even before they were together because she gets with him. For them, it's like Elena is immediately acknowledging and approving of everything Damon did because they're in a relationship. Some people acknowledge Stefan and Alaric do this as well. Some don't. Oh well.
I don't ship delena, or stelena. I think Elena and Damon's dynamic was terrible. I think her character changed when she got with him, for the worse. I openly admit all that, and you can take it as I'm biased if you want to. I personally don't think two people getting together means they cosign each other's bullshit, but whatever.
But the main issue lies in season one. They believe Elena should have done something to stop Damon from what he did to Caroline. What, exactly? I don't know. Damon was trying to compel Elena to fucking kiss him in season one and she smacked him immediately. She wanted him dead for what he did to Caroline. She said as much. I couldn't tell you what else people wanted her to do. By the time she had some kind of power against him, he had done bigger and worse things and yet he was one of their only allies with knowledge of the supernatural so they needed him. So, bluntly, Caroline's thing got pushed to the way side. One thing I see people mention is that Elena stopped Bonnie from personally killing Damon when they found out Caroline got turned and you can make your own opinions about that but Damon did not do that. Katherine did. He did deserve to die, but Elena didn't want Bonnie to be the one to do it. Opinions and reasons vary, but she also didn't let Damon kill Caroline (by directly putting herself in harm's way to protect her), so... whatever you want to think about that, think it, do it, bop it, I don't care.
My opinion on Elena being a horrible friend to Caroline is that she's not. At the end of the day, Elena is probably one of the people who treated Caroline best, if you step back and look at the whole thing from an objective point of view. People just do not do that.
I do think there's a certain point where "Elena couldn't do anything" stops being entirely true, but it's long after what happened to Caroline. And it's nothing that Caroline herself couldn't do after she became a vampire (much sooner than Elena did).
The Caroline-Klaus Issue.
Preaching to the choir, dude. People will go on all day saying how dating your friend's abuser is wrong (fair) and then say Caroline is better because she Just fucked Klaus (despite the fact they WANTED them to be in a long term relationship anyway). I, personally, don't see how the fuck that's better. I also don't see a point in "morality" arguments for this fandom, but let's just write it out. Fucking the guy who murdered your boyfriend's mom and his friends is better than dating a guy who manipulated your friend into doing his bidding and feeding on her (which as is as much as Elena knows)? Debatable.
People will often excuse this as "Tyler chose revenge over her" as if Klaus did not murder his mother and the fellow hybrids. If the roles were reversed and Liz had been murdered, there'd be a different talk. But hey.
Finally,
The Caroline Issue.
Caroline not only serves as Julie's self insert, but she's the self insert for a lot of this damn fandom. You see it in fics, where they either change her personality so she's more like Elena or Bonnie, and Elena/Bonnie is the friend who can't keep their mouth shut or is always commenting on their friends' lives or spilling secrets.
The Tyler thing? Caroline's a girlboss for telling Tyler to get over it! after she slept with his mother's murderer. But Elena's a terrible friend and "trying to make it all about her" when she tries to sympathize with Caroline over Liz's death and turning her humanity off. Caroline's a queen when she slutshames Katherine and Rebekah and literally any female character she doesn't like who she speaks about for more than two seconds, but when Elena throws it back in her face that Caroline INTENDED to sleep with Damon before finding out he was a vampire (which she did. It's why he got invited into her house), she's just so awful. This, in addition to the fact that Elena was under a sirebond, and Caroline is just regularly fucking like that.
You see my point. Anyway, make no mistake, what Damon did is an issue, but it's only as big of an issue in fandom because Caroline is the golden girl to them. They completely ignore the fact Elena has no full knowledge about what went down. They ignore that Stefan or Alaric should have been taking charge against Damon. They ignore that Caroline never so much as utters a peep about exactly why she hates Damon besides him being a "manwhore". Anything they can use to villainize anyone, but especially Elena, where Caroline is concerned? They will. Facts be damned.
#anti caroline forbes#anti klaroline#uhh#elena gilbert#i don't think this is anti her but idk#anti damon salvatore#anti delena#long story short. people hate elena and love caroline so logic doesn't exist there#people also just hate main characters in general#i personally don't fucking like caroline so :]#think that's it#anonymous
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Lighter and Princess ep 36 - the finale!
What Gao Jianhong explains is honestly what I had assumed: Li Xun's sister's death and the ramifications ruined 2 lives, not 1. Geo Jianhong obviously never expected her to die at that hotel. (It was an accident, not even Fang's fault either as much as a POS he is.) But just like LX wasn't thinking clearly, neither was GJH- he was panicked and also consumed with guilt. Objectively, it was an unconnected accident. But she wouldn't have been at that location if not for Gao. So he just triples down on being the villian. Ok, I'm a monster. So be it. I'll play that role to the limit. Maybe this is how I finally win. After all these years, I think he's still been feeling guilt over Sister Li Lan's death. He can't stop being the villain because he doesn't believe in his own redemption. And this gets all mixed up with the resentment and hate that persists because of his inferiority complex.
This doesn't absolve him of anything, btw. He's a bastard who has stolen from & stepped on more amateur game designers; caused Li Xun mental anguish, betrayed his trust in a disgusting manner; abused his wife, blackmailed Zhu Yin with 'social death'... He tried to send Li Xun back to prision. Objectively a trash person.
But it's consistent, layered characterization. It's an explanation. I was glad to see the subtext I'd interpreted become explicit text.
gawwwwdd but I'M EVIL in that it's so satisfying for Gao Jianhong to hear that Li Xun has the inner strength & capacity to forgive him and let go. ("Impossible! It's me. It's me who wanted to step on him. It's me who stopped from from standing up.") BWAHAHAHAHA you fell short yet again, you pathetic man child. He bests u in everything. ❤ And now you're living for him, at his command.
They got the name back \o/
The biggest surprise in this drama is how I ended up loving class president Fang Shu Miao. Just a minor character but it's fun that she grew up into an awesome lady and good friend.
smh but up to the very end, this drama still trying so hard to convince me that ML is handsome lmao sorry I have eyes, no. Love u anyway rat boy 😍🐀😍
The Flying team scenes in the finale really were too perfect and made me so emotional. Mr Dong is still the boss! They're all shareholders! Eating ice pops again, the sacred tradition 😂😭
Mr Dong: "Your daughter is my boss now. She works for herself."
asdfghjk (whispers) it's true tho
99% of the time I dislike the "this company is my found family" storyline tbh. I've seen a lot of toxic situations in rl, especially young lgbt who were rejected by their families and had nowhere else to go, only to be taken advantge of. But this drama has been a big exception to that. A group of odd balls who aren't loyal friends at the start (originally out for themselves) but go thru adventures together. My favorite flavor. And now Mr Dong is defending Li Xun as an elder, when he has no one else to bring to the table. This drama earned it! (And it helps that the protagonists are clearly the leaders of this gang now, no power imbalance.)
"Mom, this is our home. You have no right to interfere. You have no right to make the decisions." 👏👏👏 i love herrrrrrrrrr
After Zhu Yun's mother makes an absolutely disgusting declaration (to an orphan whose parents & sister are dead) that she must marry her daughter to someone "with a happy family" of an equal social status, and invites him to bring his parents to meet them... It's now Li Xun's turn to be an absolute badass and instead of centering his own pain and insult, simply points out that he knows Zhu Yun has the ability to change the world, but her parents just want ZY to obey them. It's her parents that are wronging HER most of all and he sees that. Maturity!
I love how they roll. She suggests they have a baby because 30 is the right age, but then they'd need to get married. He's like ok, let's have a baby. And then a couple days later buys them a house. She's basically quasi proposed to him and then they just decide to get it done. Very them.
The marriage certificate guys' FACE. "You have many family members." !!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭
The marriage was absolutely perfect. Loved the final group picture and that their friends gathered to support them in lieu of blood family.
I normally don't get attached or care too much for supporting characters. But Lighter & Princess and A Journey to Love broke that mold for me. Sorry Ren Di, though you are smoking hot I never could care about your angst. But the friend group really endeared themselves to me.
What a truly fantastic story from beginning to end. Never falters. I feel like modern cdramas have a bad rep compared to kdramas but there are some real gems. note to self: make a modern cdrama rec post this year
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For the send me a character thing: Steve Harrington of course :3
favorite thing about them
OH MY GOD THIS BOYS CAPACITY TO LOVE. Like Steve's ability to open up his heart and the way he cares SO FUCKING MUCH. Like he stays in the hospital in s1 after the house scene, he loves Nancy enough to absolve her of guilt before she even has any, S3 he sacrifices himself so easily s4??? I'm just so. He really just opens up to everyone and isn't afraid to be open, which in a show full of repressed nerds is so refreshing. Steve has so many emotions!!!! (That's why he and Eddie work together lol)
ALSO THE NAIL BAT AND THE WAY HE RUNS BACK IN SEASON ONE STEVE DEFENDERS RISE THIS BOY WAS ALWAYS GOOD HE JSUT TRIED TO HIDE THAT GOLD HEART BUT ONCE HE WAS DONE HIDING IT IT WAS ALL OVER
least favorite thing about them
Steve's a liiiiittle bit of a pushover (okay a lotta bit) I think that after all of the things he's been through the fact that he still kind of stays pushovery and still thinks he needs to want to achieve normal....baby c'mon!!!! You can let yourself continue to grow!! The crazy thing is he wants to grow, but he holds himself back
favorite line
" I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but turns out I’m actually a pretty damn good babysitter."
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THEY MADE HIM HATE BEING THE BABYSITTER IN SEASON FOUR It makes no sense!!!! Steve loves his kids and MAX WAS CURSED AT THIS POINT like it was so out of character. Anyway Not only did those kids packbond to him, but he packbonded to them immediately too. They're his family, they're his, and having him not want to protect them was confusing.
brOTP
Steve and Robin OBVI They're literally soulmates but!!! I also really love Stonathan as besties. I think that they have a ton that they could sympathize/empathize with and I will never forgive the duffers for stealing Monster Hunting Trio from us!!!!!
OTP
Steddie obvi, but I also really love stoncy? I think individually none of them work, but all three together they have this special thing that just hits so riiiiight. Also Stargyle is my crack OTP they would be SO CUTE and the hair in that relationship.......chefs kiss
nOTP
Steve and Tammy Thompson LMAO
Harringrove tho haha not my thing (even tho I have them being toxic af exes in one of my fic series)
random headcanon
Steve's Italian heritage!!!! Steve's Nonna helped to raise him (part of why he's such an absolute sweetheart) and she taught him all her recipes! He still has her recipe book with her hard to read cursive. He can't really read it (because dyslexia makes it hard enough to read regular print) but Eddie knows about it and he reads the recipes out loud for Steve
unpopular opinion
I think that Steve in season one was not that bad. People treat him live he was like the devil and he said some really unforgivable things but he also immediately regretted it and bought Jonathan a new camera and did so much to try and make up for the things he did that he knew were wrong!!! Eh I just season one Steve was not a villain he was just a guy!!!
song i associate with them
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac This is the Steve SONG like please guys listen to this song and think about Steve it is PAINFUL. Matilda by Harry Styles is another good Steve Song and Desperado by the Eagles
favorite picture of them
0-0......O-O HES SO P R E T T Y
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you've mentioned that you're anti-redemption arc? i think? so i kind of wanted to ask what you meant by that? are you against redemption arcs as a concept (like you think they shouldn't be used in writing) or is it more like you're against like the expectation a lot of people have for every character reformation to be a redemption? or is it something else?
when i say redemption arc what i’m referring to specifically is villain-to-hero arcs that are structured around absolution through suffering and forgiveness—the, not to put too fine a point on it lmao, Christian Model.
cassandra’s arc is a perfect example.
1. she sins—stealing the moonstone, usurping rapunzel’s rightful destiny
2. she suffers—spending more than a year beholden to a cruel demon who uses her as an unwitting pawn and then brutally stabs her in the back when her usefulness ends
3. she repents—sobbing and castigating herself to rapunzel, who embraces, forgives, and comforts her
4. & she’s absolved by that grace, literally paying the debt of her wrongdoing with her life and then being resurrected through rapunzel’s love for her—after which everything is gravy and she gets to skip off happily into the sunset without a care.
notably absent here is any narrative engagement or reckoning with:
1. the actual wrong things cassandra did
2. the wrongs done to cassandra
3. her reasons for acting this way
4. the systemic injustices that created her
5. genuine healing or atonement
and then the fandom collapsed into the same tired argument that always happens when a villain is given a redemption arc without undergoing the optional step of atonement, which boils down to one side going “she didn’t deserve forgiveness! she should have been punished!” while the other goes “she literally died! of course she deserves to be forgiven! hasn’t already suffered enough?” or sometimes trotting out the ol’ “the point of forgiveness is that it isn’t something you can earn” bit.
and
like
i adore villain-to-hero arcs. i also love hero-to-villain arcs. i am ALL ABOUT characters undergoing huge realignments of perspective or morality or motive that wrench them from one side of their narrative to the other. but i like to, you know, see it
( and also im an evangelical apostate )
and the thing is, the classic redemption arc—those narrative beats of temptation, fall to sin, suffering, repentance, absolution—it’s not really about character growth, good or bad: it’s a christian moral fantasy that arose from the narrative structure of 15-16thc european morality plays and metastasized into the western storytelling tradition, fantasy and science fiction in particular. it is inseparable from christianity and the profoundly christian idea that choice and deeds are irrelevant to moral goodness because salvation is given by grace to those who humble themselves to ask for it.
I DETEST THIS.
not to be like, anti-christian on main but when i was eight or so, someone broke into our church and robbed the offering box; that weekend in sunday school the pastor’s wife got up in front of her little gaggle of children to tell us this—describing to us, with palpable indignation, how she and her husband discovered the theft, how upsetting and violating it felt, and what kind of person steals from a church?—and then she asked us how we felt about that. we were all furious, of course, in the way all eight-year-old children will be furious if you sit them down and tell them a bad person did a terrible thing to you. and then she tsked at us and primly informed us that that was the wrong answer, because jesus would say to forgive and pray for the thief, and our anger is rooted in sinful human nature and the temptations of satan. all my little—again—EIGHT YEAR OLD sunday school classmates just sort of wilted, and i very distinctly remember thinking but that’s not fair—you tricked us!
it’s been twenty years and i still get mad when i think about it. this is one of my clearest childhood memories. i didn’t have the emotional vocabulary to articulate or understand this at the time, but recognizing that the pastor’s wife had purposefully manipulated our sunday school class to make us ‘sin’ so that she could teach us a lesson about how we were bad and needed god to save us from ourselves completely obliterated my trust in the underlying moral framework of christianity.
like. hating the moral logic redemption arcs are built on top of is literally one of my key formative childhood experiences, is what i’m getting at—
and to be clear, i’m in no way opposed to heroic characters forgiving reformed villains for past misdeeds (or villains forgiving corrupted heroes lmao). the act of forgiveness in and of itself is not the bone i have to pick with redemption arcs. nor do i care if the villain switches sides without first suffering punishment or retribution or even properly apologizing: cass knocked a kingdom down and got off scot free, and i say good for her!
what i take issue with is repentance-and-forgiveness being the fulcrum of moral change—the thing that actively transforms the villain into a hero. i want character arcs that are interesting and dynamic and driven by intrinsic motivation and choices! i want characters with agency who react to things like real people instead of roles in a morality play! i want to be able to read or watch a fantasy story without getting sucker punched by bland repetitions of a moral perspective i categorically reject, especially by narratives that do not otherwise align with that moral perspective!!
i would also very much like it if fandom at large would stop calling every. single. villain-to-hero arc ever written a ‘redemption arc’ and i would LOVE it if people would stop mindlessly applying the structure and moral logic of redemption arcs to villain-to-hero arcs that aren’t that, because oh my GOD i’m tired of the endless discourse about whether the character du jour was sufficiently punished for their wrongdoing to deserve ✨forgiveness✨
if you ever want to break yourself start mentally substituting “deserves to try to be a better person” every time you read the phrase “[character] deserves a redemption arc” and then you, too, can look upon christian moral hegemony and despair
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I wonder how the writers would pull that without bordering on the apologist route lmao. I mean it is in character for Will to do it, and could potentially even happen since they are already connected, but they kinda have to be careful in portraying such a thing tbh.
This is a good question, and it’s one I’ve been waiting for!
We need to be careful of buzz-wording “apologist/apologism” and losing the actual meaning of the term.
Apologism is about giving do-overs and absolving people of their sins without making them face the consequences for them.
It would be apologism if I said “Will forgives Henry and Henry gets a second chance without consequences because he was pushed into his situation by Brenner, therefore he isn’t responsible for the choices he made”.
That’s not at all what I’m saying, see?
What I’ve proposed is not apologism. Henry still very much has to face the consequences of his actions. His second chance is solely to clean up the mess he made, and that, by virtue of his absorption side effect, must end in his death. Cleaning up the mess requires that he die, because he can’t un-absorb the people he killed. He doesn’t get to walk away from this, that’s not how this works.
It’s important that Henry be the one to clean up his own mess rather than having Will be responsible for playing judge, jury, and executioner. “Will physically kills Henry” would put the responsibility for cleaning up the mess on the victim, rather than on the perpetrator, and it would go against Will’s canonical aversion to killing. Making Will the catalyst for Henry cleaning up the mess would put the responsibility for fixing things on Henry instead.
Henry cleans up his mess and frees himself from his own suffering. Will is the catalyst, which makes him the hero without making him a killer. This is important because it exemplifies that heroism is not synonymous with righteous violence. Will becomes the hero for everyone here, not just the “good guys”, while also ensuring by extension that Henry faces the consequences of his actions.
On top of that, this path doesn’t require that the victim forgive or like their abuser. All it requires is understanding and kindness, things Will is already known for.
It’s not apologism, it’s heroism through compassion.
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after letting my brain restart over the last few hours, i’m here to say that i am really glad that there were glimpses of regret and trying to make things right with eret and tubbo.
i think that tubbos actions weren’t the most thought out and were caused by mainly emotions when it comes to the end, haven’t we seen that before lmao, but there has always been the idea that tubbo didn’t fully want to be apart of everything. and so when he tried to save wilbur and tommy, i saw it as a sign of not giving up on them and willing to be killed with them.
eret, on the other hand, basically tried to even out the situation. They were to cause of this whole situation, they made the deal and were willing to exile the two kids they seemingly raised for a crown, and then when things went a different way then planned, that’s when they realized their mistake and seemed to feel regret. yes they were the one to let phil and techno on the planet but imo that not and equal action.
i think the boys will be quicker and more understanding with tubbo and possibly rebuilding trust with him but i think that eret will not allow themselves to be forgiven that easily, no matter what wilbur and tommy feel able to forgive them for.
sorry if this is unreadable but i haven’t stopped thinking about this chapter all day. my first long ask wooo lmao.
-🦎
okay actually some clarification on tubbo's actions that i don't think i'm gonna get to put in the text: tubbo and foolish both knew what eret was planning. eret was trying to stall by not showing up to the execution, and tubbo was also part of the plan and told to stall. THE THING IS eret just told tubbo to create a distraction by, like, dropping the tray or something and needing to clean it up. no one told tubbo to try and stab the fucking emperor, which was why foolish was so shocked when he saw what tubbo tried to do.
tubbo just saw wilbur and tommy tied to the chairs and so close to their executions, he panicked because he realized they might not have enough time even with the stalling eret was doing. he made a split second decision to try and attack dream, even though he knew it probably wouldn't work, hoping that if he could at least get a hit in it would delay things way longer than just by a few minutes. was it smart? no. but he was overwhelmed with guilt over his actions and fear for his best friend so he just did it.
eret's actions definitely don't absolve them of what they did. it was good that they tried to fix things, but it's not an equal action to what they did in the first place. still, they made an attempt, and showed they really do care about the boys, so at least there's that. they're not a perfect character by any means, but they made an attempt to be better and that counts for something.
all of tommy's anger went out the window when he saw dream threatening to kill tubbo though. once he sees him again tommy is gonna give him the longest hug ever and call him an idiot for trying to stab dream
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Ho postato 1.546 volte nel 2022
Sono 1.023 post in più del 2021!
555 post creati (36%)
991 post rebloggati (64%)
Blog che ho rebloggato di più:
@thesungod
@evergardenwall
@seavoice
@deyjahvu
@thinkyourhouseshaunted
Ho taggato 1.289 dei miei post nel 2022
Solo 17% dei miei post non aveva tag
#trials of apollo - 143 post
#other - 121 post
#house of the dragon - 100 post
#nico di angelo - 88 post
#pjo - 82 post
#jasico - 55 post
#solangelo book - 48 post
#fandom - 35 post
#feminism - 35 post
#lmao - 33 post
Longest Tag: 145 characters
#where’s that post like ‘conservatives say women belong in the kitchen and liberals say ‘omg women😍😍😍are so soft😍😍😍made to bake cookies❤️❤️’
I miei post migliori nel 2022:
#5
i think we shouldn’t undervalue how much Apollo’s kids are Apollo’s kids. Like, i know Apollo goes on and on about how he doesn’t deserve them and how they inherited all of his best qualities and none of his worst ones etc etc but the first thing they asked their disgraced father that had just fallen from Olympus was if that would impact their views on youtube and chances to win the Olympics. like. yeah they are good kind sweet caring warm but they are very much Apollo’s kids lmaoo
1.440 note - Postate 13 agosto 2022
#4
the amount of men gleefully rejoicing at the news of the Johnny Depo trial and writing “finally MeToo is over” and “Johnny is only the first” and calling Amber a cunt and a slut is TERRIFYING and i will never ever ever ever forgive all the women that stood behind them and spewed vitriol at Amber Heard and helped push the idea that powerful men are harmed and not protected by institutions.
1.676 note - Postate 2 giugno 2022
#3
okay last thing because i’m having a mental breakdown but hearing WOMEN saying things like “as long as you are not lying you have nothing to worry about <3” in response to survivors being scared of being sued is just so evil… as if trials never absolved abusers as if women aren’t called liars when they are telling the truth as if every woman has proofs of her abuse as if this won’t result in countless of women who couldn’t take pictures and didn’t go to the doctor being called liars and gold-diggers… i’m going to throw up
2.452 note - Postate 2 giugno 2022
#2
bbc merlin writers trying so hard fighting for their life not to say the word soulmate because if they did the romantic subtext between merlin and arthur would stop being a subtext will always be soooo funny to me. they were constantly making the characters say shit like “he is my destiny” “i was born to be at arthur’s side” “merlin needs to be with arthur forever or camelot will burn down” “if you two are ever apart from each other arthur is going to explode into a million little pieces” like okay bro
3.853 note - Postate 29 ottobre 2022
Il mio post numero 1 del 2022
“bad villain man has a soft spot for one person” is a god-tier trope, but when the person in question is his MOM?????????????? the best shit
5.646 note - Postate 15 ottobre 2022
Guarda ora l'Analisi del tuo anno 2022 di Tumblr →
#tumblr2022#bilancio annuale#Il mio bilancio dell'anno 2022#Il tuo bilancio annuale#year in review#my 2022 tumblr year in review#your tumblr year in review#NOT MY MOST USED TAG BEING TRIALS OF APOLLO STOPPPPP#the series ended two years ago but it’s never over in my heart <3
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HEY HAPPY WBW :3
tell me all about a character from metalsea, and a character from iqarus that you think people will absolutely fall in love with. Perhaps because of their moral greyness, or just being a good parent, or their ideals / motivations- anything c:
@bloodlessheirbyjacques ✨(:
Hahaha happy WBW @bloodlessheirbyjacques ! ❤️ You lovely soul was so done yesterday that you sent me two WBW ask 😂 But I love both so I’ll answer them anyway because it’s definitely not late. Not at all. It’s still Wednesday in my heart.
So, this a very interesting one! I think readers fall in love the most with those characters that we writers loved to write the most too (because be real, favoritism shows lmao), so I'll go with those I really look forward to write if I didn't already wrote something in their POV.
Fair warning is that I can’t talk about my stories without spoilers so ugh but I try to be as vague as I can without making it completely incomprehensible lol.
Metalsea
Darmon Strotagor. The antagonist to hero human sourcerer, who I didn’t get a chance to really talk about yet. Which is a shame since he’s gonna be one of the main POV characters and one of my favs too.
Little world history to understand him. Magic got released into the world a long time ago and it changed most of the humans into magical creatures. Elf-like and monster-like (only their appearance) folk. It also moves in a cycle, so if something dies, the magic that lived in it gets released into the world again and change something further. So the world is constantly changing and a lot of new stuff starts to turn into very dangerous things.
He’s the direct right hand of the main villain – call him Troghrun until I get a better name for him – since the day this man decided that the new races and this new alien world needs to be changed back to it’s normal state. This world and these people needs to be saved. And Darmon agreed with this wholeheartedly. He wanted to help the poor humans who got their mind and soul transformed because of a foolish conflict between gods and humans years ago. He wanted to free them and save them. And so, he followed Troghrun when he basically banished himself from their human community, agreed to do horrible things, justified every aspect of their plan in his head and even became a very skillful magic user despite his distaste for everything magical. He was ready to do and indeed did everything for their cause, because he was promised that every terrible step is reversible and will be reversed when they cleansed everything from magic. He was promised a better world. And he believed in this promise.
Until, some prisoner from the new race asked the right questions to shake him logically and morally. From that point, he starts to question Troghrun and for a time, they can talk it through, even tho Darmon stays alert. But when he finds out what they did is not reversable, and the plan is no longer what they agreed on back then, then this shakes him to his core. He realizes he’s part of the wrongness of the world and what he did through thousands of years has served the worst outcome. So, he frees the prisoners (whom among is our another main POV character who also will be Darmon’s love intrest later on), helps everyone to be prepared to everything that is yet to come, swears never to use his dark magic again, gets to know everyone, falls in love, won’t every ask for forgiveness because he knows there’s nothing that can absolve his sins, will almost die because he’s ready to sacrifice his life to save everyone and just becomes a very important pillar of the team. He’s a man who won’t do anything half-heartedly and will acknowledge if he was wrong. And instead of justification or apologizing, he’s going to do everything to make things right.
But he can be fun too tho lol. He might lived too long and done too much questionable things to have a light sense of humour, so his jokes might be pretty dark. He also can speak in a superior way because he used to that when he was with Troghrun, but his love intrest makes him aware of that very soon, very harshly and blatantly, so he will work on not being that way anymore. He also loves a good debate.
Omg this became so long and I don't even know if he sounds likeable :') I just personally love him and think people will love him because recently everyone got into antagonists, plus I want to write him to be likeable so bad. But idk aw. Jump into the next one instead.
IQRUS
Auva Knox. Main love interest of one of the POV characters. She’s a very fun one because, well, she’s not human. And no, this is not common knowledge. Her mindset is very different, but she really wants to figure out how and why humans work as they do. So she’s asking very lovely questions sometimes (besides those that gives everyone an existential crisis lmao) about the most mundane things.
I'll stop here for now, but thank you so much for this question! ❤️❤️ It was very fun to answer, even tho Darmon got an incredible length! 😂
#world building wednesday#writeblr#writing community#Project Metalsea#Darmon Strotagor#Auva Knox#Project Icarus#IQRUS#bloodlessheirbyjacques
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Guys forgiveness doesn’t mean “oh I forgive you so now you haven’t done anything bad and are absolved of every wrong ever” like that’s not how forgiveness works. It means “I am putting the pain you caused me behind so that I can move forward in my life because being full of anger over what you’ve done hurts me more in the long run” like. c!tubbo has forgiven c!eret and c!techno but still makes jabs at them both and acknowledges “this is a very weird and potentially dangerous situation for me I am going to be on my guard” for almost the whole stream up until they are moving Michael_B to the artic commune and realizes that it really is the only safe place left for him and his son. He didn’t show any genuine trust in techno until he made it clear that he cared about Michael and would protect them both, even if it is just on ranboo’s behalf (which it’s not the only reason because cc!techno has joined the c!tubbo stans so I’m inclined to believe he’s gonna wanna be friends in character lmao)
#forgiveness is a complicated thing#and ppl tend to water down#both in media and irl but that’s another talk#dream smp#tubbo#technoblade#eret#dsmp#michael beloved#discourse
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why do i feel like even if tae is the one who's injured AND caught between stem koo and senior oc's tension, jungkook would STILL be the one who's crying
cold senior!y/n x stem major!koo masterlist :D
there's fINALLY some sort of peace and redemption between them
taehyung has never been indirectly involved in a palpable situation like this
the last time he was involved in anything remotely close to this, it had something to do with his field trip in second grade
whew god that was a rEALLY pressuring experience for him
it was a split vote to whether they should go to a strawberry field or a newly-opened futuristic kid-friendly interactive dinosaur museum SLASH theme park!!!!!!!
then taehyung picked the strawberry farm that was about 70% dirt
tae's put into a situation again and he doesn't know how to act lmao
"y'okay sweetheart? what's your relation to them?" the kind nurse that's obviously the maternal figure of the emergency ward asks him as she assesses him, a bit of a queue before he could get his leg patched up
he is beyond glad that she asked :D
tae's here to get his leg casted and entertain himself for the meantime!!! his fun isn't exactly correlated to that brooding fucking stem nerd's definition of it!!!
taehyung points to you directly, a cheeky grin on his face as you tilt your head in alert from your seat beside him
"she's my girlfriend!"
you chuckle at his playfulness and even the nurse does so with how proud he sounded, about to scribble it down on her clipboard when someone clearly sounds panicked about it
"she's not his girlfriend," jungkook rises from his slouched position on his seat, wide eyes fixated on the nurse as he shakes his head, trying to make her believe him
it isn't true!!!! that's misinformation!!! that's a crime!!!!
tae snaps his fingers, solemnly shaking his head
"right, my bad!! the two of us aren't in a relationship. actually, the three-..."
god oW
jungkook can't help but whack the back of taehyung's head, their boundary from being semi-strangers in your year you see like twice a day now crossing into semi-friends who aren't reserved with each other jUST because of kook's smack
that's a silent understanding, basically
tae smacks jungkook right back, only stopping on bickering when you intentionally clang your watch on the bedframe to spook them, exiting from the curtain so you could talk with the nurse
being caught in the middle of things cOULD really be fun!!! tae should get involved more often
"so tHIS is why you were outside y/n's dorm when i gave yoongi the cookies!!"
"... you know?"
kook freezes at the possibility that for some way he can't think of, taehyung somehow knows what happened between the two of you
was that why he just hAPPENED to drop by cookies when he was talking with yoongi??
yeah uhm not really
"no. i just know that yoongi hung you out to dry," he snorts because as he recalls it, jungkook looked as pale as a ghost
he didn't really plan to arrive at that time either!!! taehyung just wanted to knock on your door and hopefully drop you his treats then he'll be off his way
he didn't exactly expect to walk in on yoongi looking like he's gonna deck jungkook if only he hadn't yelled out his senior's name
see? it's like the universe just wants taehyung to be at the right places at the wrong times in order for them to eventually fall into place
okay he kinda did take a major L for having his ankle busted but that only means that you and jungkook (even if he doesn't know anything) better make up!!!
“is it bad that i wanted yoongi to punch me that time?” jungkook wonders out loud and he almost wishes he hadn’t, getting an immediate reaction of agreement
“i’ll fill in for him!!” tae half-jokes, getting yet another smack to his shoulder and at that rate, they’d be brothers by tomorrow lmao
“anyways,” he sighs as he leans back to his pillow, keeping his foot elevated. technically, this isn’t his business at all, but what could he do?? he’s sort-of-involved now and jungkook looks like he’s gonna cry out of all people, “you just want yoongi to deck you because that’d absolve you of your guilt.”
kook sighs at that, gripping his hair to keep himself from crying
“but i already know i’m guilty. not only with yoongi, but y/n especially!!”
he whistles at that, getting a mental image with your fists balled because he’s hung around enough practices to photograph all of you for the school paper, knowing that you dO pack a lot of power
“so them decking you is the only way you would feel guiltless?”
jungkook shifts at that, murmuring his answer to the question he’s got thrown
“w-well getting my apology accepted by them would be much appreciated.”
taehyung practically spoon-feeds the answer jungkook need to hear, shrugging carelessly as he watches the boy’s turmoil
god what does he dO?? this is his first interaction with you ever since the incident and he doesn’t know how to act
of all places and scenarios, it just hAD to be in the hospital because stoopid taehyung here decided to run to you while in the rain
as if on cue do you return to the curtained area with a nurse, forms between your fingers
“time to get your x-ray done, tae,” you almost sing-song to him in cheer, being relieved that things were picking up faster than you intended it to
you pat him on the head in an attempt at affection, oblivious to the curious glances that jungkook gives you while he assists the nurse in transferring taehyung to the wheelchair
it’s not until the curtain closes again and taehyung’s gone that you move, hand outstretched to give something to jungkook
.... which is just his share of taehyung’s forms that he needed to fill out so you could get on faster
the two of you are sitting beside each other, chairs close but not exactly close, clipboard in hand and taehyung’s phone at the middle edge of the hospital bed so you could copy his information
jungkook kNOWS he should be focusing on writing tae’s blood type right now, but the spur of the moment nudges him on entirely
"i'm sorry. i'm so, so sorry."
he squeaks and he has to breathe out after that
well there it goes :-)
you knew that the day wouldn’t have finished without jungkook’s input, having avoided him long enough that you didn’t know what to feel
were you expecting an apology from him??? uhm not exactly
are you commending him for apologizing??? not at all!! thanking someone for apologizing over what they’ve done to you in the first place is just a new low
“i know i can’t take back what i said now, but i truly didn’t mean it. i-i was just so confused but — b-but i’m not making excuses!! what i did was beyond shitty of me.”
oh hold on a second
that’s the first time you heard jungkook cuss
you wring your hands as you try to absorb his apology as much as possible without feeling awkward
ok you’re not as good for tHIS type of confrontation
it’s not the first time you’ve been wronged but this is perhaps the first time someone owned up to their wrong and apologize for it face-to-face
,,,,,, and not just because yoongi gave them a piece of his mind
yoongi likes fighting battles for you at times, even if you don’t necessarily ask him to
you appreciate it, but you kNOW he did not get jungkook off the hook so easily!!!!
you honestly thought that with his temper, he would’ve punched jungkook even if it was gonna make you mad
“it’s totally up to you if you don’t want to forgive me, b-but i figured i could die trying, y’know? you can reject me a couple hundred times and i’ll retry a couple thousand.”
jungkook adds and it makes the corner of your mouth raise in the tiniest most miniscule way
he knows that not only does he need to apologize with words, he also nEEDS to make it up to you with his actions!!! that’s why he plans on-
you pause your writing on the form, the act of you doing so making him freeze all the same as you try to carry on with speaking as inaudible as possible
"well you know now. i like you, that was my fault," you offer in response to his apology, coughing when you realize your mistake. "i liked you, i mean."
ok he deserved that
jungkook knows you probably figured out the hyeji situation already through yoongi, cutting his explanations down because you don’t even wanna hear her name
was it the truth? do you really not like jungkook anymore?
....
......
.........
you simmer in the own silence you’ve created, only being broken when jungkook shyly murmurs
"can't you like me some more?"
you snort at what seemed to be his playful suggestion, chuckling to yourself
jungkook was only hALF-kidding and he bows his head in embarrassment over your reaction, the pen in his hand feeling extremely light with how his hand’s trembling
you resume your writing wordlessly, not even daring to look at your right because jungkook’s trying to make himself as small as possible too
the words are just dying to fall out from his mouth, an unhinged trap he could no longer regulate when it comes to you
"you're loveable. extremely loveable."
jungkook says out of nowhere and you falter at writing taehyung’s supposed food allergies, a quiet curiosity to your words
"how would you know that?"
there’s no thought process behind it as he speaks surely this time, only taking the slightest bit of courage to look at you from the corner of his eye
"because it's you."
,,,,,
HOW are you supposed to react to that,,,
the curtains peek open and a grinning taehyung on a wheelchair estatically waves his hand
you and jungkook split from each other even if you haven’t been that close enough immediately, thankful for the welcome interruption
tae outstretches his arms for you to hoist him up the bed and you agree instantly, oblivious to the fact that he’s sticking his tongue out to jungkook who’s giving him a mean glare for his playfulness
his x-rays are all finished and he’s just waiting for the doc to come and interpret them (even if it’s beyond obvious that his ankle’s broken!!!!) so he could get on with wrapping his leg with a cast
jungkook takes this as a chance to rise up from his seat, snatching the opportunities he can within the timeframe
"what do you guys want from the cafeteria?"
tae beams at that, grateful because fINALLY someone’s asked him
"ooh!! i want-"
"what would you like, y/n?"
jungkook continues as he effectively interrupts taehyung who’s squinting and looks beyond offended ay the moment
his motive is buying <3 you <3 dinner!! not mr. ankle-breaker over here
you catch on to what he’s trying to do immediately, rolling your eyes with a hint of amusement when you plop back to your chair
“i'll have what taehyung wants.”
huh....
so he has no choice then but to ask,.,.,
jungkook clears his throat, his lips curved to a smile but his eyes looking the furthest thing from friendly
"what would you like,,,, taehyung?"
the boy pretend to be deep in thought just to waste kook’s time even more, even throwing in the humming to sell the idea
he’s been humming for half a minute now
“pasta. i want pasta. like, the most expensive pasta they have,” he nods at the amazement he has for himself, sneaking a look to a narrow-eyed jungkook
“c’mon, kook. think about y/n. she’s getting what i’m getting!!”
jungkook’s eyes instantly become brighter, realization sweeping over his features as he tries to hurry because you might be hungry at this point
“right, of course!! i’ll even get dessert :D”
well wasn’t tHAT easy hee-hee
hey maybe getting your ankle busted does lead to better things!!!
jungkook’s never been more excited to pay for overpriced pasta in cash (!!!) and carry up multiple paper bags of food and drinks on the stairs because the elevator’s taking too long
he’s only slightly confused when he walks to your spot that taehyung wasn’t there, even kinda being relieved actually
tae was whisked away for the second and final time to have his leg wrapped up, leaving you and jungkook alone once again
“that looks expensive.”
you remark the moment you see the fancy paper bags, bringing your wallet out to atleast take out a few bills that you think would cover the cost for this hospital dinner
jungkook incessantly shakes his head no, instead making you sit in place so he could turn the area to be a cozy dinner place as best as he could
"i mean it. i'm gonna make it up to you, i swear."
he speaks sometime in the middle of your silent meal, waiting for the time that it’d feel more sincere and not a little forced
ya know he didn’t want to make it seem that buying overpriced dinners correspond to him making it up to you!!!!
"i know."
you answer truthfully because you might have saw this coming, knowing in the back of your head that you wouldn’t put put it past jungkook to be sincere
you hear a noise of surprise when you reply, jungkook immediately putting his hand inside the pocket of his hoodie to fish out something
“your eyedrops, by the way. i meant to give it back to you earlier.”
your eyes skim on the dainty-looking handmade origami box on jungkook’s palm, a fond look he could atleast distinguish
you take it from him nonetheless, unaware at the multiple layers you have yet to know inside said box
“i can always buy a new one.”
he shakes his head at that, scrunching his nose as he mindlessly pokes at the chicken
he thinks back to what he put inside that might’ve been the reason why he didn’t just buy you a new stock in the first place
“i like giving back.”
giving back as in returing feelings too or whatever maybe!!!!! just maybe
he waves you off when you thank him for giving it back, his next words becoming a little weighted on your mind
"open it up when you feel like it. it's up to you."
that was that then
okay maybe not
you’re almost finished with your dinner and you know that you’re about to come home anyway, getting a text from tae that he’s done being wrapped up and is just waiting for his reminders now
why not say what you want to anyway??
"thank you for the lunchbox yesterday, by the way."
jungkook’s the one who’s caught off-guard this time, choking on his rice briefly before questioning you wITHOUT looking pathetic
"h-how did you know it was me??"
your hand only skims to the right of him, having to slightly lean against him to get what you need
it’s tae's record that jungkook had to fill up
you’ve just realized it a little while ago when jungkook was downstairs buying from the cafeteria, the distinct way of how he writes his A’s and curves his Y’s being embedded into your mind
:)
"because it's you."
#REDEMPTION ARC BABIEEEE FEEDBACK PLS AND THANK U WHAT DO YOU WANNA SEE NEXT UPDATE#stem koo#jungkook imagine#jungkook oneshot#jungkook oneshots#jungkook au#jungkook drabble#jungkook x reader#jungkook x y/n#jungkook fic#jungkook college au#jungkook fluff#jungkook angst
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Hi! Loving your meta on suibian :)) Just wondering what were your frustrations with cql, especially considered you've watched this in multiple mediums? (I've only watched cql)
Hi anon! thank you so much!
Oh boy, you’ve unlocked a boatload of hidden dialogue, are you ready?? :D (buckle up it’s oof. Extremely Long)
@hunxi-guilai please consider this my official pitch for why I think the novel is worth reading, if only so you can enjoy the audio drama more fully. ;)
a few things before I get into it:
I don’t want to make this a 100% negative post because I really do love CQL so much! So I’m going to make it two parts: the changes that frustrated me the most and the changes I loved the most re: CQL vs novel. (again, don’t really know anything about donghua or manhua sorry!!) Sound good? :D
this will contain spoilers for the entirety of CQL and the novel. just like. All of it.
talking about the value of changes in CQL is difficult because I personally don’t know what changes were made for creative reasons and what changes were made for censorship reasons. I don’t think it’s entirely fair to evaluate the narrative worth of certain changes when I don’t know what their limitations were. It’s not just a matter of “gay content was censored”; China also has certain censorship restrictions on the portrayal of the undead, among other things. I, unfortunately, am not familiar enough with the ins and outs of Chinese censorship to be able to tell anyone with certainty what was and wasn’t changed for what reason. So I guess just, take whatever my opinions are with a grain of salt! I will largely avoid addressing issues related to how explicitly romantic wangxian is, for obvious reasons.
OKAY. In order to impose some kind of control on how much time I spend on this, I’m going to limit myself to four explicated points in each category, best/worst. Please remember that I change my opinions constantly, so these are just like. the top contenders at this specific point in my life. Starting with the worst so we can end on a positive note!
Henceforth, the novel is MDZS, CQL is CQL.
CQL’s worst crimes, according to cyan:
1. Polarizing Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao on the moral spectrum
I’ve heard rumors that this was a censorship issue, but I have never been able to confirm or deny it, so. Again, grain of salt.
The way that CQL reframed Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao’s character arcs drives me up the wall because I think it does a huge disservice to both of them and the overarching themes of the story. Jin Guangyao is shown to be responsible for pretty much all the tragedy post-Sunshot, which absolves Wei Wuxian of all possible wrongdoing and flattens Jin Guangyao into a much less interesting villain.
What I find so interesting about MDZS is how much it emphasizes the role of external forces and situations in determining a person’s fate: that being “good” or “righteous” at heart is simply not enough. You can do everything with all the best intentions and still do harm, still fail, still lose everything. Even “right” choices can have terrible consequences. Everyone starts out innocent. “In this world, everyone starts without grievances, but there is always someone who takes the first blow.”
It matters that Wei Wuxian is the one who loses control and kills Jin Zixuan, that his choices (no matter how impossible and terrible the situation) had consequences because the whole point is that even good people can be forced into corners where they do terrible things. Being good isn’t enough. You can do everything right, make every impossible choice, and fail. You can do the right thing and be punished for it. Maybe you did the right thing, but others suffer for your actions. Is that still the right thing? Is it your fault? Is it? By absolving Wei Wuxian of any conceivable blame, it really changes the narrative conclusion. In MDZS, even the best people can do incomprehensible harm when backed into corners, and the audience is asked to evaluate those actions with nuance. Is a criminal fully culpable for the harm they do when their external circumstances forced them into situations where they felt like they had no good choices left?
Personally, I feel like the novel asks you to forgive Wei Wuxian his wrongs, and, in paralleling him with Jin Guangyao, shows how easily they could have been one another. Both of them are extraordinarily talented sons of commoners; the difference lies in what opportunities they were given as they were growing up and how they choose to react to grievances. Wei Wuxian is adopted early on into the head family of a prominent sect and treated (more or less—not going to get into it) like a son. Jin Guangyao begs, borrows, steals, kills for every scrap of prestige and honor he gets and understands that his position in life is, at all points, extraordinarily unstable. Wei Wuxian doesn’t take his grievances to heart, but Jin Guangyao does.
To be clear, I don’t think the novel places a moral value on holding grudges, if that makes sense. I think MDZS only indicates that acts of vengeance always lead to more bloodshed—that the only escape is to lay down your arms, no matter how bitter the taste. Wei Wuxian was horribly wronged in many ways, and I don’t think I would fault him for wanting revenge or holding onto his anger—but I do think it’s clear that if he did, it would destroy him. It destroys Jin Guangyao, after all.
(It also destroys Xue Yang, and I think the parallel actually also extends to him. Yi City, to me, is a very interesting microcosm of a lot of broader themes in MDZS, and I have a lot of Thoughts on Xue Yang and equivalent justice, etc. etc. but. Thoughts for another time.)
Wei Wuxian is granted a happy ending not because he is Good, but because public opinion has changed, because there’s a new scapegoat, because he is protected by someone in power, because he lets go of the past, and because the children see him for who he is. I really do think that the reason MDZS and CQL have a hopeful ending as opposed to a bleak one hinges on the juniors. We are shown very clearly throughout the story how easily and quickly the tide of public opinion turns. The reason we don’t fear that it’s going to happen to Wei Wuxian again (or any other surviving character we love) is, I think, because the juniors, who don’t lose their childhoods to war, have the capacity to see past their parents’ prejudices and evaluate the actions of the people in front of them without having their opinions clouded by intense trauma and fear. They are forged out of love, not fire.
In CQL however, it emphasizes that Wei Wuxian is Fundamentally Good and did No Wrong Ever, so he deserves his happy ending, while Jin Guangyao is Fundamentally Bad and Responsible For Everything, so he got what was coming to him (even if we feel bad for him maybe). That’s not nearly as interesting or meaningful.
(One specific change to Jin Guangyao’s timeline of evil that I find particularly vexing, not including the one I will discuss in point 2, is changing when Jin Rusong was conceived. In the novel, Qin Su is supposedly already pregnant by the time they get married, and that matters a WHOLE LOT when evaluating Jin Guangyao’s actions, I think.)
2. Wen POWs used as target obstacles at Baifeng Mountain
I know the first point was “here’s an overarching plot change that I think deeply impacts the narrative themes” and this second one is “I despise this one specific scene detail so much”, but HEAR ME OUT. It’s related to the first point! (tbh, most things are related to the first point)
Personally, I think this one detail character assassinates like. almost everyone in attendance, but most egregiously in no particular order: Jin Guangyao, Jin Zixuan (and by extension, Jiang Yanli), Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen.
First, I think it’s a cheap plot device that’s obviously meant to enhance Jin Guangyao’s ~villainy while emphasizing Wei Wuxian’s growing righteous anger, but it fails so spectacularly, god, I literally hate this detail so much lmao. I’ll go by character.
Jin Guangyao: I get that CQL is invested in him being a ~bad person~ or whatever, but this is such a transparently like, cartoon villain move that lacks subtlety and elegance. Jin Guangyao is very dedicated to being highly diplomatic, appeasing, and non-threatening in his bid for power. He manipulates behind the scenes, does his father’s dirty work, etc. but he always shows a gentle, smiling face. This display tips his hand pretty obviously, and even if it were at the behest of his father, there’s literally no reason for him to be so “ohohoho I’m so evil~” about it—if anything, this would only serve to drive his sympathizers away. It’s a stupid move for him politically, and really undercuts his supposed intelligence and cleverness, in my personal opinion.
Jin Zixuan: yes, he is arrogant and vain and likes to show off! But putting his ego above the safety of innocent people? Like, not necessarily OOC, but it sure makes him much less sympathetic in my eyes. I find it hard to believe that Jiang Yanli would find this laudable or acceptable, but she’s given a few shots where she smiles with some kind of pride and it’s like. No! Do not do my queen dirty like this. She wouldn’t!
Wei Wuxian: where do I start! WHERE DO I START. Wei Wuxian is shown to be “righteously angry” about this, but steps down mutinously when Jiang Cheng motions him back. He looks shocked and outraged at Jin Zixuan for showing off with no concern for the safety of the Wen POWs, only to like, two seconds later, do the exact same thing, but worse! And at the provocation of Jin Zixun, no less! *screams into hands* The tonal shift is bizarre! We’re in this really tense ~moral quandary~, but then he flirts with Lan Wangji for a second (tense music still kinda playing?? it’s awful. I hate it), and then does his trickshot. You know! Putting all these people he’s supposedly so concerned about at risk! To one-up Jin Zixuan! It’s nonsensical. It’s such a conflict of priorities. This is supposed to make him seem honorable and cool, I guess? But it mostly just makes him look like a performative hypocrite. :///
Lan Wangji: I cannot believe that Lan Wangji saw this and did not immediately walk out in protest.
Lan Xichen: this is just one part of a larger problem with Lan Xichen’s arc in CQL vs MDZS, where his character development was an unwitting casualty of both wangxian censorship and CQL’s quest to demonize Jin Guangyao. One of the prevailing criticisms I see of Lan Xichen’s character is that he is a “centrist”, that he “allows bad things to happen through his inaction and desire to avoid conflict”, and that he is “stupid and willfully blind to Jin Guangyao’s faults”, when I don’t think any of this is supported by evidence in the novel whatsoever. Jin Guangyao is a subtle villain! He is a talented manipulator and liar! Even Wei Wuxian says it in the novel!
(forgive my rough translations /o\)
Chapter 49, as Wei Wuxian (through Empathy with Nie Mingjue’s head) listens to Lan Xichen defend Meng Yao immediately following Wen Ruohan’s assassination:
魏无羡心中摇头：“泽芜君这个人还是……太纯善了。”可再一想，他是因为已知金光瑶的种种嫌疑才能如此防备，可在蓝曦臣面前的孟瑶，却是一个忍辱负重，身不由己，孤身犯险的卧底，二人视角不同，感受又如何能相提并论？
Wei Wuxian shook his head to himself: “This Zewu-jun is still…… too pure and kind.” But then he thought again—he could only be so guarded because he already knew of all of Jin Guangyao’s suspicious behavior, but the Meng Yao before Lan Xichen was someone who had had no choice but to suffer in silence for his mission, who placed himself in grave danger, alone, undercover. The two of them had different perspectives, so how could their feelings be compared?
Chapter 63, after Wei Wuxian wakes up in the Cloud Recesses, having been brought there by Lan Wangji:
他不是不能理解蓝曦臣。他从聂明玦的视角看金光瑶，将其奸诈狡猾与野心勃勃尽收眼底，然而，如果金光瑶多年来在蓝曦臣面前一直以伪装相示，没理由要他不去相信自己的结义兄弟，却去相信一个臭名昭著腥风血雨之人。
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Lan Xichen. He had seen Jin Guangyao from Nie Mingjue’s perspective, and so had seen all of his treacherous and cunning obsession with ambition. However, if Jin Guangyao had for all these years only shown Lan Xichen a disguise, there was no reason for [Lan Xichen] to believe a famously violent person [Wei Wuxian] over his own sworn brother.
Lan Xichen, throughout the story, is being actively lied to and manipulated by Jin Guangyao. His only “mistake” was being kind and trying to give Meng Yao, someone who came from a place of great disadvantage, the benefit of the doubt instead of immediately dismissing him as worthless due to his birth or his station in life. Lan Xichen sees Meng Yao as someone who was forced to make impossible choices in impossible situations—you know, the way that we, the audience, are led to perceive Wei Wuxian. The only difference is that the story that we’re given about Wei Wuxian is true, while the story that Lan Xichen is given about Meng Yao is… not. But how would have have known?
The instant he is presented with a shred of evidence to the contrary, he revokes Jin Guangyao’s access to the Cloud Recesses, pursues that evidence to the last, and is horrified to discover that his trust was misplaced.
Lan Xichen’s willingness to consider different points of view is integral to Wei Wuxian’s survival and eventual happiness. Without Lan Xichen’s kindness, there is no way that Wei Wuxian would have ever been able to clear his name. Everyone else was calling for his blood, but Lan Wangji took him home, and Lan Xichen not only allowed it, he listened to and helped them. To the characters of the book who are not granted omniscient knowledge of Wei Wuxian’s actions and circumstances, there is literally no difference between Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao. Lan Xichen is being incredibly fair when he asks in chapter 63:
蓝曦臣笑了，道：“忘机，你又是如何判定，一个人究竟可信不可信？”
他看着魏无羡，道：“你相信魏公子，可我，相信金光瑶。大哥的头在他手上，这件事我们都没有亲眼目睹，都是凭着我们自己对另一个人的了解，相信那个人的说辞。
“你认为自己了解魏无羡，所以信任他；而我也认为自己了解金光瑶，所以我也信任他。你相信自己的判断，那么难道我就不能相信自己的判断吗？”
Lan Xichen laughed and said, “Wangji, how can you determine exactly who should and should not be believed?”
He looked at Wei Wuxian and said, “You believe Wei-gongzi, but I believe Jin Guangyao. Neither of us saw with our own eyes whether Da-ge’s head was in his possession. We base our opinions on our own understandings of someone else, our belief in their testimony.
“You think you understand Wei Wuxian, and so you trust him; I also think I understand Jin Guangyao, so I trust him. You trust your own judgment, so can’t I trust my own judgment as well?”
But he hears them out, examines the proof, and acts immediately.
I really do feel like this aspect of Lan Xichen kind of… became collateral damage in CQL. Because Jin Guangyao is so much more publicly malicious, Lan Xichen’s alleged “lack of action” feels much less understandable or acceptable.
It is wild to me that in this scene, Lan Xichen reacts with discomfort to the proceedings, but has nothing to say to Jin Guangyao about it afterwards and also applauds Wei Wuxian’s archery. (I could talk about Nie Mingjue here as well, but I would say Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen have very different perspectives on morality, so this moment isn’t necessarily OOC for NMJ, but I do think is very OOC for LXC.) This scene (among a few others that have Jin Guangyao being more openly “evil”) makes Lan Xichen look like a willfully blind bystander by the end of the story, but having him react with any action would have been inconvenient for the plot. Thus, he behaves exactly as he did in the book, but under very different circumstances. It reads inconsistently with the rest of his character (since a lot of the beats in the novel still happen in the show), and weakens the narrative surrounding his person.
None of these overt displays of cruelty or immorality happen in the book, so it makes perfect sense that he doesn’t do or suspect anything! Jin Guangyao is, as stated, perfectly disguised towards Lan Xichen. You can’t blame him for “failing to act” when someone was purposefully keeping him in the dark and, from his perspective, there was nothing to act upon.
This scene specifically is almost purely lighthearted in the novel! If you take out the Wen POWs, this just becomes a fun scene where Wei Wuxian shows off, flirts with Lan Wangji, gets into a pissing match with Jin Zixuan, and is overall kind of a brat! It’s great! I love this scene! The blindfolded shot is ridiculous and over-the-top and very cute!
I know this is a lot of extrapolation, but the whole scene is soured for me due to you know. *gestures upwards* Which is really a shame because it’s one of my favorite silly scenes in the book! Alas! @ CQL why! ;A;
3. Lan Xichen already being an adult and sect leader at the start of the show
This is rapidly becoming a, “Lan Xichen was Wronged and I Have the Receipts” essay (oh no), but you know what, that’s fine I guess! I never said I was impartial!
CQL makes Lan Xichen seem much older and more experienced than he is in the novel, though we’re not given his specific age. In the novel, he is not sect leader yet when Wei Wuxian and co. arrive at the Cloud Recesses for lectures. His father, Qingheng-jun, is in seclusion, and his uncle is the de facto leader of the sect. Lan Xichen does not become sect leader until his father dies at the burning of the Cloud Recesses. Moreover, my understanding of the text is that he is at most 19 years old when this happens. Wen Ruohan remarks that Lan Xichen is still a junior at the beginning of the Sunshot Campaign in chapter 61. (If someone has a different interpretation of the term 小辈, please correct me.) In any case! Lan Xichen is young.
Lan Xichen ascends to power under horrific circumstances: he is not an adult, his father has just been murdered, his uncle seriously injured, his brother kidnapped, and his home burnt to the ground. He is on the run, alone! Carrying the sacred texts of his family and trying to stay alive so his sect is not completely wiped out on the eve of war! He is terrified, inexperienced, and unprepared!
You know, just like Jiang Cheng, a few months later!
I see a lot of people lambasting Lan Xichen for not stepping up to protect the Wen remnants post-Sunshot, but I’m always flummoxed by the accusations because I don’t see criticisms of Jiang Cheng with remotely the same vitriol, even though their political positions are nearly identical:
they are both extraordinarily young sect leaders who came to power before they expected to through incredible violence done to their families
because of this, they are in very weak political positions: they have very little experience to offer as evidence of their competence and right to respect. if they are considered adults, they have only very recently come of age.
Jin Guangshan, who is rapidly and greedily taking the place of the Wen clan in the vacuum of power, is shown to be more than willing to mow people down to get what he wants—and he has the power to do so.
both Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan were crippled by the Wen clan prior to Sunshot. And they just fought a war that lasted two and a half years. they are hugely weakened and in desperate need of time to rebuild, mourn, etc. both Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen are responsible for the well-being of all of these people who are now relying upon them.
I think it’s very obvious that Jiang Cheng is in an impossible situation because he wears his fears and insecurities on his face and people in power (cough Jin Guangshan) prey upon that, while we, as the audience, have a front row seat for that whole tragedy. We understand his choices, even if they hurt us.
Why shouldn’t Lan Xichen be afforded the same consideration?
I really do think that because he’s presented as someone who’s much more composed and confident in his own abilities than Jiang Cheng is, we tend to forget exactly what pressures he was facing at the same time. We just assume, oh yes, of course Lan Xichen has the power to do something! He’s Lan Xichen! The First Jade! Isn’t he supposed to be Perfectly Good? Why isn’t he doing The Right Thing?
I think this is exacerbated by CQL’s decision to make him an established sect leader at the start of the show with several years of experience under his belt. We don’t know his age, but he is assumed to be an Adult. This gives him more power and stability, and so it seems more unacceptable that he does not make moves to protect the Wen remnants, even if in essence, he and Jiang Cheng’s political positions are still quite similar. He doesn’t really have any more power to save the Wen remnants without placing his whole clan in danger of being wiped out again, but CQL implies that he does, even if it isn’t the intention of the change.
It does make me really sad that this change also drives a further thematic divide between Lan Xichen and the rest of his generation. Almost everyone in that generation came of age through a war, which I think informs the way their tragedies play out, and how those tragedies exist in contrast to the juniors’ behavior and futures. Making Lan Xichen an experienced adult aligns him with the generation prior to him, which, as we’re shown consistently, is the generation whose adherence to absolutism and fear ruined the lives of their children. But Lan Xichen is just as much a victim of this as his peers.
(the exception being maybe Nie Mingjue, but it’s complicated. I think Nie Mingjue occupies a very interesting position in the narrative, but like. That’s. For another time! this is. already so far out of hand. oh my god this is point three out of eight oh nO)
(yet another aside because I can’t help myself: can you believe we were robbed of paralleling scenes of Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen’s coronations? the visual drama of that. the poetic cinema. it’s not in the book, but can you IMAGINE. thank u @paledreamsblackmoths for putting this image into my head so that I can suffer forever knowing that I’ll never get it.)
I said I wasn’t going to talk at length about any changes surrounding Wangxian’s explicit romance for obvious reasons, but I will at least lament here that because a large percentage of Lan Xichen’s actions and character beats are directly in relation to Lan Wangji’s love for Wei Wuxian, he loses a lot of both minor and major moments to the censors as well. Many of the instances when he encourages Lan Wangji to talk to Wei Wuxian, when he indulges in their relationship etc. are understandably gone. But the most significant moment that was cut for censorship reasons I think is when he loses his temper with Wei Wuxian at the Guanyin temple and lays into him with all the fury and terror he felt for his brother’s broken heart for the last thirteen years.
Lan Xichen is only shown to express true anger twice in the whole story, both times at the Guanyin temple: first against Wei Wuxian for what he perceives as gross disregard for his little brother’s convictions, and second against Jin Guangyao for his massive betrayal of trust. And you know, murdering his best friend. Among other things.
I’m genuinely so sad that we don’t get to see Lan Xichen tear Wei Wuxian to shreds for what he did to Lan Wangji because I think one of the most important aspects to Lan Xichen’s character is how much he loves, cares for and fears for his little brother. The reveal about Lan Wangji’s punishment in episode 43 is a sad and sober conversation, but it’s not nearly as impactful, especially because Wei Wuxian asks about it of his own volition. I understand that this isn’t CQL’s fault! But. I can still mourn it right? ahahaha. :’)
I’ll stop before I descend further into nothing but Lan Xichen meta because that’s. Dangerous. (I have a lot of Feelings about how there are three characters who are held up as paragons of virtue in MDZS, how they all suffered in spite of their goodness, and how that all ties directly into the whole, “it is not enough to be good, but kindness is never wrong” theme. Anyways, they’re Xiao Xingchen, Jiang Yanli, and Lan Xichen, but NOT NOW. NOT TODAY.)
So yes, I’m a Lan Xichen apologist on main, and yes, I understand my feelings are incredibly personally motivated and influenced by my subjective emotions, but no I do not take concrit on this point, thank you very much.
4. all of the Wen remnants turning themselves in alongside Wen Qing and Wen Ning
Okay, back to plot changes. This change I would be willing to bet money was at least partially due to censorship, but it hurts me so deeply hahaha. It makes literally no sense for any of the characters and it completely janks the timeline of events post Qiongqi Dao 2.0 through Wei Wuxian’s death.
It’s not ALL bad—this change makes it easier for the Peak Wangxian moment at the Bloodbath at Nightless City (You know. Hands. Cliff. etc.) to happen, which I did very much enjoy. It’s pretty on-brand for CQL to sacrifice plot for character beats that they want to emphasize, so like. I get it! This moment is a huge gift! I Understand This. CQL collapses the Bloodbath at Nightless City and the First Siege of the Mass Graves into one event for I think a few reasons. One, Wangxian moment without being explicitly Wangxian, which is excellent. Two, it circumvents the Blood Corpse scene, which I do not think would have made it past censorship.
I’ll get to the Blood Corpse scene in a minute, but despite being able to understand why so much might have been sacrificed for the impact of the cliff scene, I still wish it had been done differently (and I feel like it could have been!), if only for my peace of mind because the plot holes it creates are pretty gaping.
The entire point of Wen Qing and Wen Ning turning themselves in is specifically to save their family members and Wei Wuxian from coming to further harm. That’s explicit, even in the show. Jin Guangshan demands that the Wen brother and sister stand for their crimes and claims that the blood debt will be paid. The Wen remnants understand that Wei Wuxian has given up so much for their sakes, that he has lost his family, his home, his respectability, his health, all in the name of sheltering them. To throw all of that away would be the greatest disrespect to his sacrifices. Wen Qing and Wen Ning decide that if their lives can pay for the safety of their loved ones and ensure that Wei Wuxian’s sacrifices matter, they are willing to go together and give themselves up.
So. Why did they. All go?? For… moral support???? D: Wen Qing says that Wei Wuxian will wake up in three days and that she’s given Fourth Uncle and the others instructions for his care–but then Fourth Uncle and the others all go with them!! To die!! There’s also very clearly a shot of Granny Wen taking A’Yuan with them, which like. Obviously didn’t really happen.
Wen Qing, who loves her family more than anything in the world, agrees that they should all go to Lanling and sacrifice themselves to…. protect Wei Wuxian? Wen Qing, pragmatic queen of my heart, agrees to this absurdly bad exchange?? Leaves Wei Wuxian to wake up, alone, with the knowledge that he had not only killed his brother-in-law but also effectively gotten everyone he had left killed also??
I can’t imagine Wen Qing doing that to Wei Wuxian. Save his life? For what? This takes away everything he has left to live for. You think Wen Qing doesn’t intimately understand how cruel that would be?
(Yes, I’m complaining about all of this, but I’m still about to cry because I rewatched the scene to make sure I didn’t say anything untrue, and g o d it manages to hit hard despite all of that, so who’s the real clown here!!)
Anyways. So that’s all just like. Frustratingly incoherent. It’s one of several wrongs I think CQL committed against Wen Qing’s character, but my feelings about Wen Qing in CQL are pretty complicated (I love her so much, and I love that we got more Wen Qing content, but that content sure is a mixed bag of stuff I really enjoyed and stuff I desperately wish didn’t exist) and I decided I wasn’t going to get into it in this post. (is anyone even still reading god)
This change also muddles Lan Wangji’s choices and punishment in ways that I think diminishes the severity of the situation to the detriment of both his characterization and his family’s characterization. The punishment scene is extremely moving and you should read this post about the language used in it but. sldfjsljslkf.
okay well, several things. In the context of CQL, which really pushes the “righteousness” angle of Wei Wuxian (see point 1), I think this scene makes a lot of sense in isolation: both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are painted as martyrs for doing the right thing. “Who’s right and who’s wrong?” The audience is asked to see the punishment as “unjust”. That’s perfectly fine and coherent in the context of CQL, but I don’t think it’s nearly as interesting as what happens in MDZS.
Because CQL collapses both the First Siege and the Bloodbath into one event, Lan Wangji’s crimes are sort of unclearly defined. In episode 43, when Lan Xichen is explaining the situation, we see a flashback to when Su She says something along the lines of, “We could set aside the fact that you defended Wei Ying at Nightless City, but now you won’t even let us search his den?” (of course, this gives us the really excellent “you are not qualified to talk to me” line which. delicious. extremely vindicating and satisfying. petty king lan wangji.) Lan Xichen goes on to say something like, “Wangji alone caused several disturbances at the Mass Graves. Uncle was greatly angered, and [decreed his punishment]”. (Sorry, I’m too lazy to type out the full lines with translations, just. trust me on this one.)
Lan Wangji’s actions are shown to be motivated by a righteous love. Wei Wuxian is portrayed as someone innocent who stood up for the right thing against popular opinion and was scapegoated and destroyed for it, having done no wrong. (See, point 1 again.)
In MDZS, Lan Wangji’s crimes are very specific. It isn’t just that he caused some “disturbances” (this is just Lan XIchen’s vague phrasing in CQL—we don’t really know what he did). He steals Wei Wuxian away from the Bloodbath at Nightless City, after Wei Wuxian killed thousands of people, and hides him away in a cave, feeding him spiritual energy to save his life. When Lan Wangji’s family comes to find him, demand that he hand over Wei Wuxian (who is, remember, a mass murderer at this point! we can argue about how culpable he is for those actions all day—that’s the whole point, but the people are still dead), Lan Wangji not only refuses, but raises his hands against his family. He seriously injures thirty-three Lan elders to protect Wei Wuxian.
I don’t know how to emphasize how serious that crime is? Culturally, this is like. Unthinkable. To raise your hand against members of your own family, your elders who loved and raised you, in defense of an outsider, a man who, by all accounts, is horrifically evil and just murdered thousands of people, including other members of your own family, is like. That’s a serious betrayal. Oh my god. Lan Wangji, what have you done?
Lan Xichen explains in chapter 99:
我去看他的时候对他说，魏公子已铸成大错，你何苦错上加错了。他却说……他无法断言你所作所为对错如何，但无论对错，他愿意与你一起承担所有后果。
When I went to see him, I said, “Wei-gongzi’s great wrongs are already set in stone, why take the pains to add wrongs upon wrongs?” But he said…… he had no way to ascertain the rights and wrongs of your actions, but regardless of right or wrong, he was willing to bear all the consequences with you.
I think this is very different than what’s going on in CQL, though the differences appear subtle on the surface. In CQL, Lan Wangji demands of his uncle, “Dare I ask Uncle, who is righteous and who is wicked, who is wrong and who is right?” but the very act of asking in this way implies that Lan Wangji has an opinion on the matter (though perhaps not a simple one).
Lan Wangji in MDZS specifically says that he doesn’t know how to evaluate the morality of Wei Wuxian’s actions, but that regardless, he is willing to bear the consequences of his choices and his actions. He understands that his actions while sheltering Wei Wuxian are not clearly morally defensible. He did it anyways because he loved Wei Wuxian, because he thought that Wei Wuxian was worth saving, that there was still something good in him, despite the things he had done under mitigating circumstances. Lan Wangji did not save Wei Wuxian because he thought it was the right thing to do. He saved him because he loved him.
He is given thirty-three lashes with the discipline whip, one for each elder he maimed, and this leaves him bedridden for three years. Is this punishment horrifyingly severe? Yes! But is it unjustly given? I think that’s a much harder question to answer in the context of the story.
Personally, I think that question underscores the broader questions of morality contained within MDZS. I think it’s a much more interesting take on Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji as individuals. This asks, what can be pardoned? The righteous martyr angle is uncomplicated because moral certainty is easy. I think the situation in MDZS is far more uncomfortable if you examine its implications. And personally, I think that’s more meaningful!
(Not even going to touch on the whole, 300 strokes with a giant rod, but he has whip scars? And they were also sentenced to 300 strokes as kids for drinking alcohol…? CQL is not. consistent. on that front. ahaha.)
God, every point so far in this meta is just like “here’s one change that has cascading effects upon the rest of the show” dear god, okay, I’m getting to the Blood Corpse scene.
So in MDZS, the Wen remnants (besides Wen Ning and Wen Qing) do not go to Lanling. After the Bloodbath at Nightless City, Lan Wangji returns Wei Wuxian to the Mass Graves. Wei Wuxian lives with the Wen remnants for another three months before the First Siege, where he dies and the rest of the Wens are killed (except A’Yuan).
(Sidenote that I won’t get into: I love the dead spaces of time that MDZS creates. There’s very clear gaps in the narrative that we just never get the details on, most notably: Wei Wuxian’s three months in the Mass Graves post core transfer, and Wei Wuxian’s three months in the Mass Graves post Jiang Yanli’s death. They’re both extremely terrible times, but the audence is asked to imagine it instead of ever learning what really happened, what it was like. There’s something really cool about that narratively, I think.)
The Wen remnants are not cremated along with the rest of the dead. Their bodies are thrown into the blood pool.
At the Second Siege, when Wei Wuxian draws a Yin Summoning Flag on his clothes to turn himself into bait for the corpses in order to allow everyone else to escape to safety while he and Lan Wangji fight them off, there’s a moment when it gets really, truly dangerous—even with the help of the juniors and a few of the adults, they probably would have been killed. But then a wave of blood-soaked corpses come crawling out of the blood pool of their own accord and tear their attackers apart.
At the end of it, the blood corpses, the Wen remnants, gather before Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning. Wei Wuxian thanks them, they exchange bows, and the blood corpses collapse into dust. Wen Ning scrambles to gather their ashes, but runs out of space in his clothing. Several juniors, seeing this, offer up their bags to him and try to help.
It’s just. This scene is so important to me. Obviously, it couldn’t be included in CQL because of the whole undead thing, but it’s such a shame because I maintain that the Blood Corpse scene is one of the most powerful scenes in the whole goddamn book. It ties together so many things that I care about! It’s the moment when the narrative says, “kindness is not a waste”. Wei Wuxian failed to save them, but that doesn’t mean that his actions were done in vain. What he did matters. The year of life he bought them matters. The time they spent together matters.
This is also the moment when the juniors finally see Wen Ning for who he is—not the terrifying Ghost General, but a gentle man who has just lost his family for a second time. This is the moment when they reach out with kindness to the monster that their parents told them about at night. It matters that the juniors are able to do that! That they see this man suffering and are moved to compassion instead of righteous satisfaction.
(Except Jin Ling, for very understandable reasons, but Jin Ling’s moment comes later.)
It’s also the moment that we’re starkly reminded that many of the adults in attendance were present at the First Siege and directly responsible for the murders of the Wen remnants, including Ouyang Zizhen’s father. We’re reminded that he’s not just a comically annoying man with bad takes—he also participated in the murder of innocent people and then disrespected their corpses. But what retribution should be taken against him and the others? What retribution could be taken that wouldn’t lead to more tragedy?
There’s someone in the crowd in this scene named Fang Mengchen who refuses to be swayed by Wei Wuxian’s actions. “He killed my parents,” he says. “What about them? How can I let that go?”
“What more do you want from me?” Wei Wuxian asks. “I have already died once. You do not have to forgive me, but what more should I do?”
That is the ultimate question, isn’t it? What is the only way out of tragedy? You don’t have to forgive, but you cannot continue to take your retribution. It is not fair, but it’s all you have.
okay. so. those were my four Big Points of Contention with CQL, as I am currently experiencing them.
Honorable mentions go to: Wen Qing’s arc (both excellent and awful in different ways), making 13/16 years of Inquiry canon (I think this is untrue to Lan Wangji’s character, though I can understand why it was done), Mianmian’s departure from the Lanling Jin sect being shortened and having the sexism cut out (there’s something really visceral about the accusations against Mianmian being explicitly about her womanhood that I desperately wish had been retained in the show), cutting the scene where Jin Ling cries in mourning for Jin Guangyao and is scolded for it by Sect Leader Yao (my heart for that scene because it also matters so much)
but now!! onto the fun part, where I talk effusively about how much I love CQL!! this will probably be shorter (*prays*) because a lot of my frustrations with CQL are related to spiraling thematic consequences while the things I love are like. Simpler to pinpoint? If that makes sense? we’ll see.
CQL’s greatest virtues, also according to cyan:
1. this:
[ID: Wei Wuxian, trembling in fear, screaming “shijie!” as Jiang Cheng threatens him with Fairy in episode 34 of The Untamed drama. /end ID]
I understand that this is like, a very minor, specific detail change, but oh my GOD, it is like. Unparalleled. Every time I think about this change, I get so emotional and disappointed that it’s not in the novel, because I think it strengthens this scene tenfold. In the novel, Wei Wuxian calls out for Lan Zhan, which like, I get it. The story at this point is focused on the development of his romantic feelings for Lan Wangji, so the point of the scene is that the first person he thinks of in a moment of extreme fear is Lan Zhan, which surprises him. That’s fine. Like, it’s fine! But I think it doesn’t have nearly the same weight as Wei Wuxian calling for his sister to save him from his brother.
Having Wei Wuxian call out for his sister drives home the loss that the two of them have suffered, and highlights the relationship they all once had. Jiang Yanli is much more relevant to shuangjie’s narrative than Lan Wangji ever was, and this highlights exactly how deeply the fracturing of their familial relationship cuts. Wangxian gets so much time and focus throughout the rest of the novel. I love that this moment in the show is just about the Yunmeng siblings because that relationship is no less important, you know?
Calling out for Jiang Yanli in the show draws a much cleaner line through the dialogue. “You dare bring her up before me?” to “Don’t you remember what you said to Jin Ling?” It unifies the scene and twists the knife. It also gives us more insight into how fiercely Wei Wuxian was once beloved and protected by his siblings. Jiang Cheng promised to chase all the dogs away from Wei Wuxian when they were children. It’s clear that Jiang Yanli did as well.
Once upon a time, Wei Wuxian’s siblings defended him from his fears, and now one of them is dead and the other is using that fear to hurt him where he’s weakest. The reversal is so painfully juxtaposed, and it’s done with just that one flashback of Wei Wuxian as a child leaping into Jiang Yanli’s arms and calling out her name. Extremely good, economical storytelling. The conversation between shuangjie is much more focused on their own stories independent from Lan Wangji, which I very much appreciate. Wangxian, you’re wonderful, but this ain’t about you, and I don’t think it should be.
2. Extended Jiang Yanli content (and by extension, Jin Zixuan and Mianmian content)
Speaking of absolute goddess Jiang Yanli, I really loved what CQL did with her (unlike my more mixed feelings about Wen Qing). Having her in so many more scenes makes her importance to Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian a lot clearer, and we get to experience her as a person rather than an ideal.
On a purely aesthetic level, Jiang Yanli’s styling and character design is so stellar in CQL. The more prevalent design for her is kind of childish in the styling, which I don’t love (I think it’s the donghua influence?). And even I, someone who’s audio drama on main 24/7, personally prefer her CQL voice actor. There’s only a few characters in CQL that I look at and go “ah yes, that’s [character] 100%” and Jiang Yanli is one of them. I was blessed. I would lay down my life for her.
I’m really glad that CQL showed her illness more explicitly and gave her a sword, even if she never uses it! Her weak constitution is only mentioned once in the novel in chapter 69 in like two lines that I blew past initially because I was reading at breakneck speed and was only reminded of when my therapist who I conned into reading mdzs after 8 months of never shutting up oof brought it to my attention like two weeks ago. /o\
We never read about Jiang Yanli carrying a sword in the novel, though we are told that her cultivation is “mediocre”, so we know that she at least does cultivate, even if not very well. Highlighting her poor health in CQL makes her situation more clear, I think, and explains a little more about the way she’s perceived throughout the cultivation world as someone “not worthy of Jin Zixuan”. The novel tells us that Jiang Yanli is not an extraordinary beauty, not very good at cultivation, sort of bland in her expressions, and, very briefly, that she’s in poor health. I really love that description of Jiang Yanli, because it emphasizes that her worth has nothing at all to do with her talents, her health, her cultivation, her physical strength, or her beauty. She is the best person in the whole world, her brothers adore her, and the audience loves and respects her for reasons wholly unrelated to those value judgments. We love her because she is kind, because she is loyal, because she loves so deeply. Tbh, her only imperfection is falling for someone so tragically undeserving of her. (JK, I love you Jin Zixuan, and you do deserve her because you are an excellent boy who grows and changes and learns!! I can’t even be mean to characters as a joke god.)
Anyways, I just think the detail about her health is compelling and informs her character’s position in the world in a very specific way. I’m happy that CQL brought it to the forefront when it was kind of an easily-missed throwaway in the novel. It does mean something to me that Jiang Yanli, despite her poor physical health, is never once seen or treated as a burden by her brothers.
Something partially related that really hit hard was this:
[ID: two gifs. Jiang Yanli peeling lotus pods, looking up uncomfortably as her mother loses her temper about the Wen indoctrination at the table from episode 11 of The Untamed drama. /end ID]
D8 AAAAHHH this was VISCERAL. The novel is quite sparse in a lot of its descriptions and lets the audience fill in the missing details, so Jiang Yanli’s expression and reactions are not described when, after Jiang Cheng quickly volunteers to go to Qishan, Madam Yu accuses her of continuing to “happily peel lotus seeds” in such a dire situation.
“Of course you’ll go,” she snaps to Jiang Cheng. “Or else do you think we should let your sister go?”
This scene triggered me so bad lmfao, so I guess it’s kind of weird that I love it so much, but I felt Seen. Something about the way her nail slips in the second gif as she breaks open the pod is like. Oh, that’s a sense memory! Of me, as a child, witnessing uncomfortable conflict between people I cared about. I know this is an extremely personal bias, but hey, so is this whole meta. Because Jiang Yanli is often silent and quiet, it’s more her behavior and expressions that convey her character. It’s why the moment she lets loose on Jin Zixun is so powerful. We don’t get to see a lot of it in the novel, but because CQL is a visual medium, her character is a lot easier to pin down as a human as opposed to an abstract concept.
Anyways, in this moment, which I also think is a tangential reference to her weak constitution (it doesn’t feel like, “your sister can’t go because she’s a girl”; it feels like, “your sister can’t go because she couldn’t handle it”), we get to see Jiang Yanli’s own reaction to her perceived inadequacy. We see it in other places too—like how upset she is when Jin Zixuan dismisses her in several scenes, but this is the one that hits me the hardest because it’s about how her weakness is going to put her little brother in grave danger.
Last Yunmeng siblings with focus on Jiang Yanli scene that isn’t in the novel that I’m just absolutely wrecked over: the dream sequence in episode 28, when Jiang Yanli dreams about Wei Wuxian sailing away from her, but no matter how she shouts, or how she begs Jiang Cheng to help her, she can’t bring him back home.
I’m not going to gif it because I literally just like, fast-forwarded through it and started sobbing uncontrollably in front of my laptop, dear god.
I don’t know where the CQL writers found the backdoor directly into my brain’s nightmare center, but?? they sure did! IDK, I can see how this might be kind of heavy-handed, but it just. The sensation of being in a dream where something is going terribly wrong, but you’re the only one who seems to see it happening? But there’s nothing you can do? I feel like it’s a very fitting nightmare to give Jiang Yanli, who is acutely aware and constantly reminded of how little power she has in the world: not good enough for the boy she likes, not healthy enough to cultivate well, not strong enough to keep her family together.
The whole, elder siblings trying and failing to protect their younger siblings pattern is A Lot in the story, but there’s something particularly painful about seeing it happen to Jiang Yanli because of that awareness. All the other elder siblings are exceptionally talented or powerful in obvious ways. All Jiang Yanli has is the force of her will and the force of her love, and she knows it isn’t enough.
I care a lot about the Yunmeng siblings, okay! And I think CQL did right by them!
I’m only going to spend two seconds talking about Jin Zixuan and Mianmian, but I DO want to mention them.
Anyways, because we get more Jiang Yanli content, we ALSO get more soft xuanli, which is Very Good. Literally my kingdom for disaster het Jin Zixuan treating my girl right!! CQL said het rights, and I’m not even mad about it! I’m really happy that we get to see a little more of how their relationship plays out, and how hard Jin Zixuan works to change his behavior and apologize to her for his mistakes. The novel is from Wei Wuxian’s POV, so we miss the details, alas. Jin Zixuan covered in mud, planting lotuses? Blessed.
I think part of making Mianmian a larger speaking role is for convenience’s sake, but oh boy do I love that choice. Especially the Jin Zixuan & Mianmian relationship. Like, they’re so clearly platonic, and Mianmian is never once portrayed as a threat to Jiang Yanli. They just care about and respect each other a lot? Jin Zixuan’s distress when she defects from the Jin sect gets me in the heart, because it’s just like. God. I think there’s a lot of interesting potential there for her own thoughts re: Wei Wuxian. After all, she leaves her sect in defense of him, but he later kills a friend that she respects and loves. The moments shared between her and Jin Zixuan are minor, but they hint at a deeper relationship that I’m really glad was in the show.
3. To curb the strong, defend the weak: lantern scene (gusu) + rain scene (qiongqi dao 1.0)
I think I basically already explained why I love this so much in this post (just consider that post and this point to be the same haha), but just. Okay. A short addendum.
As much as I love novel wangxian, I really think that including this scene early on emphasizes why Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian so deeply. Of course he thinks Wei Wuxian is attractive, but this is the moment when he realizes, oh, this is who I love. Having that moment to reflect upon throughout Wei Wuxian’s descent is so excellent. I have enumerated all of my issues with the “perfectly righteous Wei Wuxian” arc that CQL crafted, but having this narrative throughline in conjunction with the novel arc would be like. My favored supercanon ahaha. (It would need some tweaking, but I think it would work.) It shows us exactly who it is that Lan Wangji sees and is trying to save, who he thinks is still there, underneath all the carnage and despair and violence and grief. This is the Wei Wuxian Lan Wangji loves and is unwilling to let go. This is the Wei Wuxian that Lan Wangji would kill for, that Lan Wangji would stand beside, that Lan Wangji would live for.
4. Meeting Songxiao
As much as I love the unnameable ache of Wei Wuxian never meeting Xiao Xingchen and learning only about his story through secondhand sources in the novel (and the really cool parallel to that where Xiao Xingchen tells A’Qing the story of Baoshan-sanren’s ill-fated disciples: both Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian learn of each other only through the eyes of others, and that is Very Neat), I think the reversal that this meeting in episode 10 sets up wins out just slightly.
I said once in the tags on one of my posts that “songxiao is the tragic parallel of wangxian” and like. Yeah. Basically! If we take songxiao as romantic, the arc of their relationship happens inversely to wangxian, and that parallel is so much clearer and stronger when we have wangxian meeting songxiao in their youth.
The scene of their meeting really does have that Mood™ of uncertain youth seeing happy and secure adults living out the dreams that they’re afraid to name. Wei Wuxian’s eager little, “oh! just like me and Lan Zhan!! Right, Lan Zhan??” when songxiao talk about cultivating together through shared ideals and not blood is. Well, it’s Something.
When they meet again at Yi City, there’s a greater heaviness to it. So this is what happened to the people you once dreamed of becoming! Wangxian have already come to a point where they have an unspoken understanding of their relationship, but Songxiao have lost everything they once had. When Song Lan looks at wangxian, it’s like looking at a mirror of his past, and everyone in attendance knows it.
To me, that unspoken parallel is really emotionally and thematically valuable. All that good, and here is the tragedy that came of it.
okay, look! I managed to keep it shorter!! here are my honorable mentions: that scene where Jin Guangyao tries to hold Jin Ling and Jin Guangshan refuses to let him (it’s hating Jin Guangshan hours all day every day in this household), the grass butterfly leitmotif for Sizhui (im literally crying right now about it shut up), the Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing sideplot (look I know it’s wild that I actually liked that given that I headcanon JC as aspec, but I actually really like how it played out, specifically because Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian are NOT romantic—it sets up an unexpected and interesting comparison)
um. Anyways. I uh. really care about this story. And have a lot of thoughts, which I’m sure will continue to evolve. Maybe in 8 months I’ll return to this and go well, literally none of this applies anymore, but who knows! It’s how I feel right now. I cried literally three times while writing this because MDZS/CQL reached into my chest and yanked my heart right out of my body, but I had fun! *finger guns*
and like, I know I had a LOT to say about what frustrated me about CQL, but I really really hope it’s clear that I adore the show despite all of that. I talk a lot because I care a lot, and my brain only has one setting.
anon, this was like 1000% more than you bargained for, I’m SURE, (and I’m still exercising some restraint, if you can. believe that.) but I hope that you or someone out there got something out of it! if you made it all the way to the end of this meta, wow!! consider me surprised and grateful!!
time to crawl back into my hovel so I can write Lan Xichen fic and cry
(ko-fi? ;A;)
#the untamed#the untamed meta#mdzs#mdzs meme#mo dao zu shi#mine#mymeta#asks and replies#Anonymous#HOOOOOO BOY GUYS#we are just shy of 10k on this#*buries face in hands*#cyan writes#cyan gets too deep in the weeds#i will be shocked if more than like ten people read this#by the end it was just like well i guess this is just for me now lmfao#anyways. i will now. leave the internet for a while. thanks
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i was talking with my korean friend recently and it came up how much he hates hallyu wave and how popular korean media has gotten, because of the soft propaganda effects it has and how it basically covers all the rot under the woodworks with a shiny veneer... it's really sad because he wants to be proud of his culture and for his friends to enjoy and share the culture with him but at the same time he's already feeling the negative effects of fetishism and romanticising everything korean... just in your opinion (obviously you don't speak for everyone and don't have all the answers but i do value your opinion), small-scale and large-scale, do you think anything can be done to absolve this?
first thing is that kmedia is only a litmus test it's only entertainment it's not that important when it comes to what is korean culture, it's made for the fun of the south korean audience and it's also an export. it's important for me to stay tuned in because it's teaching me more about how korean people in south korea live and think and write stories and respond to political circumstances. and also how korean technical skill in media making has caught up in such a short time because of hyperindustrialism but people seem to think korea's always had highrises and industries. but a kdrama is only my culture to the extent that korean people like me made it so it reflects them and i am able to share it with other korean people as a shared experience. it has little to do with being proud of korean culture or me being korean. it is made under the supervision of the rok state and is performing the rok's purpose for it which is bringing in money/soft power efforts and confirming ideology.
second: korean people consume korean media in a normal way. and that is the majority of the convo that is happening, i just personally don't have access to most of it cuz i'm not on the korean internet and my social life isn't in south korea. it is an inevitable phenomenon that lots of people love kmedia and lots of people are racist about it. nothing u can do except don't expose urself to the brain worms and have fun with people that you like. i spent a lot of time worried about this kind of stuff because there's so little talk about korea that all of it being soft power bullshit was alarming but it's a trainwreck i am watching happen it's radical acceptance and navigate accordingly or nothing at this point.
absolve means to like forgive sins, do u mean resolve? answers to both is absolutely not lmao the rok is a neocolony we're stuck on this train to more and more exposure to the colonial gaze and the violence that entails and south koreans striving and exploiting for white US money and we all die. this is until and unless we can make a regime change happen and oust the US military from the peninsula and reunify and become an actually sovereign nation in the fight against US empire.
i take offense to calling the violent and ongoing history of the korean peninsula rot under the woodwork. the violence is the truth of how we live today and connecting with that truth is the way to become closer to free. that is my family that is my people that are rotting. it is not a country rotten on the inside it is a land and people dying while struggling against a concrete crust made of racist blood money and all the money on top of it. we're fighting a death machine the US is a prisonhouse of nations make sure u keep it straight.
#asks#long post //#kmedia#whenever i talk like this i'm like am i overreacting#but no korean political issues live right at the surface of every piece of media south koreans produce this is all relevant and necessary#korea is in a very singular situation in world politics there is no literature on this!#japan might be the closest example of rewriting history and having a shiny image but they're fucking colonizers and the rok is a neocolony
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