[kprojectgifs]

[johnanderton]

“Although I don’t know how long I can last, I’ll keep running until I reach my limit.”                                                       Happy Birthday, Captain! 10.01.1988

[johnanderton]

october 1st, 1988. a world where everyone could be happy could never exist, but a world that could gain peace while avoiding hurting people as much as possible or making them suffer was not too far fetched. he wanted to become someone who would strive for such a world.

[johnanderton]

“Although I don’t know how long I can last, I’ll keep running until I reach my limit.”                                                       Happy Birthday, Captain! 10.01.1988

[kunikidaz]

Happy birthday boss megane Munakata Reisi! [October 1st]

[untamedconnotations]

Why does WWX ride a donkey instead of horses?

I came across this quality meta vidder last night – based on her other vids, I think she’s in academia or an instructor of classical text.

She’s really knowledgeable about the historical and symbolic background for details in The Untamed, so I’ll be subbing a couple more of her vids, even though some parts on classical text are way above my paygrade.

See more of QianSuiHe’s meta vids on her Weibo.

(vidder: https://m.weibo.cn/u/7479609063)

[lakevida]

at least tumblr hot takes are written by an overwhelming majority of just weird nerds and teens who don’t hang out with other gays... on twitter you can stumble upon any unbelievably bad opinion and discover it was written by an nbc showrunner who married the ceo of a startup that converts rental properties into oil wells. like at least nobody here has money or influence

[itmeansapricot]

#listen...tumblr is like the great mouse detective/american tail/ratatouille/rescuers rodent microcosm of reality#we live parallel lives but the stakes and consequences are proportionally tiny and sound like angry squeaking to people passing by#like#explain fandom drama to someone who isn't extremely logged on and all they will precieve is 🐀 ᵐᵉᵉᵖ ᵐᵉᵉᵖ ᵐᵉᵉᵖ ᵐᵉᵉᵖ ᵐᵉᵉᵖ

[copperbadge]

The best part about this is that once in a long while you’ll find someone who isn’t on tumblr but still somehow understands you, and they do the real world equivalent of “Holy shit, a talking mouse!” 

And then you get to explain tumblr and/or fandom to them while they make increasingly horrified and baffled faces. 

Have you ever tried to explain the word “consentacles” to an ordinary human being? It was the highlight of my month. The raw power of seeing someone find out what a podfic is cannot be measured in mortal terms. Teaching someone how Transformers have sex is akin to apotheosis. 

[hunxi-guilai]

I LOVE THE UNTAMED BUT I HAVE SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN BOTHERING ME. So can I ask you... when Wei WuXian lets go of Lan Wanji's hand and falls down to his "death" during the big battle... why does Lan WangJi watch him fall with a horrified expression instead of just jumping after him? Lan WangJi could fly down with his sword, catch Wei WuXian, and then fly them both back up with his sword, right? ? Am I missing something?

ah... yes... well, about that...

so, falling to one’s death is a complicated thing in wuxia/xianxia. Not like, as a narrative trope, but kind of as a function of worldbuilding.

First of all, everyone just flying around and parking their backsides on roofs to have moonlit swordfights/conversations? That’s 轻功 qinggong, literally ‘the skill of lightness,’ and is like, a basic skill every martial artist in the genre of wuxia / xianxia learns. It’s not even noteworthy (although what might be noteworthy is the discussion about how Crouching Tiger was the first film to recast qinggong as supernatural spectacle, rather than a King Hu Touch of Zen-style oblique superhuman ability, but whoops that’s a different paper I wrote--). Basically, it’s normal for folks to just float around via wire-work in wuxia/xianxia -- the more you watch, the more you’ll get used to it

CQL/MDZS has the additional element of 御剑 yujian / sword-surfing (all right, more like ‘sword riding’ or ‘sword driving-as-if-it-were-a-chariot’), in which cultivators can use their peijian as modes of transportation. We see this, briefly, in the moment where Wen Chao & Co. throw Wei Wuxian into the Burial Mounds. It looks... pretty dumb in live action, gotta level with y’all. (It does look moderately better in the donghua, but then again, a lot of the action scenes just look better in the donghua, sooooo)

So, between these two canonical abilities, it makes it pretty difficult to believe that a character can fall to their death in a wuxia/xianxia world. Possible ways to achieve the impossible are:

sheer exhaustion -- you’re Too Goddamned Tired to exert your superhuman abilities, and go splat like a regular person

you fall really, really far, and terminal velocity wins

you fall into a substance that is not survivable (i.e. lava)

As for why Lan Wangji doesn’t go after Wei Wuxian, I think it might be a combination of some of the factors below:

first of all, this scene doesn’t exist in the original text. dramatic wangxian moment on the edge of an abyss is purely a product of the live-action adaptation. you can read about the differences in this iconic meta by @pumpkinpaix, which I will cease to link when the sun goes out

Lan Wangji is in no physical condition to do so -- he has, at this point, flown his sword to the Burial Mounds to pick up A-Yuan, then back to Gusu to drop off A-Yuan, then back to Nightless City to catch up with the rest of the cast, then fought both Wei Wuxian and even more puppets, suffered an arm injury, probably dislocated the same arm by catching the body weight of a fully-grown man going over the edge, and -- yeah. Lan Wangji’s having a rough time of it, physically and emotionally

honestly, to a certain extent, I think Lan Wangji respects Wei Wuxian’s choice here. If there’s one thing we know about the difference between Lan Wangji and his father, it’s that he will not keep Wei Wuxian against his will. Lan Wangji wants to bring someone back to Cloud Recesses and hide him there, but won’t, because he’ll be unwilling. Lan Wangji pokes and pesters and pressures Wei Wuxian to give up his alternative cultivation, but never once does he force him. Lan Wangji cares fiercely about Wei Wuxian and his agency, which means that he’ll respect Wei Wuxian’s choices, even if it tears his own heart to pieces. And so if Wei Wuxian wants Lan Wangji to let go so badly that Wei Wuxian will tear his own hand out of Lan Wangji’s grasp?

Lan Wangji will let him go

[incorrectcqlsubtoo]

105.) Cutest little third wheel.

[totallycorrectuntamedquotes]

Xue Yang: I have a few knives up my sleeves.

Xiao Xingchen: Don’t you mean tricks?

A-Qing: He does not.

[jiangyanlisgf]

wei wuxian be like “wow who raised this nice young man” when he first meets lan sizhui like he’s your son you and your boyfriend did you stupid bitch

[pdflesbian]

by contrast when he meets jin ling he’s like “clearly whoever raised u is a clown” and he’s right. it’s jiang cheng

[mysticmilks]

Two types of  Slow Burn

Type I

100k of pining, accidental hands touching, sex dreams that end with passionate smut in the last chapter.

Type II

They raw each other in the first part of chapter 1, then spend 100k in denial, misunderstanding, and self-doubt

[racketghost]

I submit for approval of the midnight society:

Type III: wherein they bone constantly but don’t admit they’ve caught feelings.

[moobiess]

Wei Wuxian can watch Lan Wangji’s sleeping face at night

Lan Wangji can watch Wei Wuxian’s sleeping face in the morning

[ouyangzizhensdad]

Do you think the incense burner extras are in character for lan wangji? Do you think he really *actually* fantasized about for-real raping Wei Wuxian as a teen? Personally I would understand more if it was fantasizing about doing a rape roleplay with consent, but maybe Lan Wangji didn’t know that was an option? Do you think he ever wanted to actually do it? (If you’ve answered this already I’m sorry!)

I have to start with the disclaimer that I am somehow stopped by the limits of my own imagination when it comes to trying to make sense of that particular can of worms. Although it is not my jam, I can understand what is appealing about a defilement fantasy (what WWX is into), and can understand how that can fit with his characterization; but I simply cannot understand on a personal level what is appealing on the other side of the rape fantasy? So I have a harder time understanding how that can jive with the characterization of any character because I just…. can’t even begin to imagine where the appeal lies…. 

However, considering that consent is a big theme in mdzs (as I’ve talked about!) and considering LWJ does initiate a kiss with WWX without consent, I don’t think it is necessarily out of character for him to have these thoughts/fantasy? Although the writing of the actual scene is…. ummmm….. I think LWJ really is ashamed to have these thoughts/desires broadcasted to another person, and that he views forcing yourself on someone else as something wrong (as he himself says when he talks about the Phoenix Mountain kiss)? Your question about why LWJ didn’t prefer to roleplay in his fantasy is however interesting to me because it suggests that fantasies are not, inherently, roleplay/fiction? Generally, people fantasize about X, but they roleplay it if they bring it to their actual sex life/intimate interactions with another being, a context where consent is something vital and important, unlike a fantasy you’re having in your own head. Whether you imagine that the person in your fantasy consented, you’re still the one who chose for them to be consenting, so I fail to see the point of focusing on that when talking about fantasies? 

I don’t think he would ever want to actually rape WWX, although he is down to roleplay it especially considering how WWX is into it (I think part of the reason we have the fantasy is to show that LWJ is also into the roleplay? you can have defilement fantasies but your partner is not interested in roleplaying that, so in that sense, it might be a weird way of showing they are compatible there as well?) After the Phoenix Mountain Kiss, and until their feelings are known to one another, LWJ never initiates or escalates physical intimacy with WWX. I know people like to say their first sex scene was nonconsensual because they didn’t discuss consent verbally and they had been drinking earlier in the night (although LWJ was already sober by that point), but the whole time WWX is actively participating and encouraging LWJ with unambiguous actions (WWX literally puts LWJ’s hand on his dick ffs), so………….

On a personal level, again, I just like…. don’t understand why LWJ wouldn’t fantasize about WWX liking him back…… LWJ!!! It’s your dreams!!!! You can imagine that the boy you like likes you back!!!! 

EDIT: @kumipen added some very good points in the replies to explain the why of the fantasy (the part that eludes me!), in case you are interested. Having it be a representation of his internal conflict/repression makes sense!

[i-love-to-see-you-laugh]

wait, but lwj does imagine that wwx likes him back, doesn’t he? I thought (part of) the point of this particular fantasy is that imaginary!wwx does turn out to like lwj/sex with lwj but doesn’t know it until imaginary!lwj turns the tables on him and “shows”/”teaches” him … right?? I guess maybe I misunderstood!

I think I was largely getting this interpretation from the understanding that the “wei ying” pov in the library scene is lwj’s construct, which wwx says is very accurate. and for “wei ying,” there’s a shift once “lan zhan” kisses him. “wei ying” feels comfort and then increasing pleasure, and starts to take initiative and give “lan zhan” direction. which is apparently what, you know, culminates the fantasy. it then ends with cuddles. I assumed this was lwj’s dream all the way through, not something that wwx changed up/took over, but I suppose things do get ambiguous because once the sex starts the narrative perspective goes back and forth between the real and imaginary versions of wwx, so at that point whether the “wei ying” pov is lwj’s imagination or wwx’s is actually unclear. one of the reasons I assumed it was lwj’s through the entire scene is that it seemed to make sense that the young, pining, sexually-awakening lwj who had to repeatedly listen to wwx say he didn’t like men and repeatedly watch him flirt with girls might well entertain erotic fantasies of being able to change his mind or make him realize that he really did want lwj (… through, by happy coincidence, exactly the kind of sexual aggression that real!wwx is enthusiastically into, lol).  

but if lwj did fantasize about being able to persuade or show an imaginary version of wwx that he liked lwj, of course that doesn’t mean that lwj wanted to actually attempt that in real life. for one thing, I’m inclined to think that in real life lwj didn’t hold out much hope, if any, of wwx ever returning his feelings; and for another, he knew there was no place for that kind of behavior except for private dreaming in the safe confines of one’s mind, as we can tell from his embarrassment (and perhaps concern) about wwx witnessing it. the phoenix mountain kiss certainly wasn’t an attempt to “show” wwx, because wwx didn’t know it was lwj, and wasn’t supposed to. if wwx had never managed to convince lwj that he returned his feelings, he would never have known about this fantasy; even as lwj’s husband wwx probably would never have found out about this without the incense burner unless he just happened to stumble across exactly the right questions while watching lwj’s ears.

but maybe my interpretation went awry and the scene should actually be understood as wwx taking over the “wei ying” pov.

[ouyangzizhensdad]

I guess part of my interpretation might have been influenced by my own biases to a degree. I think it is very common that rape fantasies culminate in such a manner, that “ultimately” the person unto whom sex is forced is “enjoying themselves” or getting pleasure out of that encounter regardless of OR in spite of their objections/resistance. Because of that expectation that rape fantasies ultimately have this sense of like ‘but they really wanted it’, I didn’t focus a lot on what it could mean in terms of character development/romantic development in this case. But I can admit my own prejudices against rape fantasies might have limited my own interpretation of the scene and how it fit within the novel!

What I meant by the fact that LWJ could have dream about WWX liking him back, was that the scene could have looked a little bit more like this instead (”fic” (????) under the cut because this post is already long enough LMAO)

Keep reading

[kumipen]

I agree with everything @whatapersonyouare and @thejhambs said so far and I would also like to add that the WWX in LWJ's fantasy is LWJ's perception of WWX. This is important because LWJ interprets all off WWX's actions as teasing, and even when WWX does honestly try to reach out to him, LWJ can never take his word for it because he's scared of losing face and getting teased even more if he "falls for it" and it does turn out that WWX was just messing around (and tbf when they are teenagers, once WWX starts he doesn't stop lol, he's merciless).

The way LWJ tries to reach out to WWX as teens is trying to get him to obey the rules, the way WWX reaches out is trying to get LWJ to break the rules. To LWJ,  the way WWX (or anyone, really) would show his sincerity about wanting to be friends is by following the rules, but that would never happen because to WWX friendship looks like breaking the rules together, not following the rules together.

LWJ has also seen WWX pretend to follow the rules as a setup for rule breaking/teasing him, so even if WWX did genuinely try to obey the rules to earn LWJ's friendship, LWJ would never believe him, so they just fall into this pattern where LWJ is constantly at WWX's ass (lol) and WWX is constantly breaking the rules, and they can never meet in the middle because both of them are extremely convinced in their own principles.

The problem is that LWJ doesn't know WWX, so he interprets his rule-breaking as willful stubbornness, instead of WWX just being himself (and because LWJ sees him as capable, he also thinks if WWX applied himself (followed the rules), he would be a better cultivator), and because LWJ doesn't see WWX's behavior as innate but purposeful, he thinks that WWX can be "untaught" it, and if LWJ can "unteach" him, they can meet in the middle.

[hunxi-guilai]

all right guys, let’s have a conversation about linguistic register, Lan Wangji, and I guess Wei Wuxian can come too

(and I do genuinely mean conversation, I’d love to hear other people’s input on this, because I did just write a long-ass post about the subjectivity of interpretation in translations)

So when I started interacting with the fandom and reading people’s fics, I got really confused by the way some folks were writing dialogue for Lan Wangji; he often sounded super awkward, spoke in fragments, and sometimes exclusively in third person. To be fair, all of those are elements of his speech at various times, but like, seeing it in English-language material felt like a really heavy-handed way of rendering it in translation?

I guess when you use third person within the first three episodes of the show, it makes a pretty big impression on the audience

This is not at all intended to be a criticism of people who are 1000% writing and creating wonderful work, which is more than I can say for myself, but I want to poke and prod and tease at some linguistic nuance here.

Take a deep breath, grab a pot of tea (this’ll take more than a cup), because we’re going to take the scenic route on this one–

Keep reading

[hunxi-guilai]

I have questions about the untamed's name, specifically, is that a fair translation of the title in Chinese and why do you think they changed it from mo dao zu shi to chen qing ling? Also it sounds the same as chenqing the flute, does that have any meaning or is it pure accident?

oh hey! look, it’s another thing I love rambling about!

so English title of the show, The Untamed, has absolutely nothing to do with any of the titles in Chinese, but I’m going to walk through the titles to get see how we get to ‘The Untamed’

Keep reading

[bijiangcheng]

Jiang Yanli got married, stopped making Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng “calm tf down” soup on a regular basis and that’s why things went to shit. Jiang Yanli’s soup was the only thing holding that family together. If someone managed to recreate her exact recipe and feed it to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng post-canon they would be crying in each other’s arms in five seconds, I’m sure of it