#episode 40

[furthermuchmore]

a very useful spell

[notanothersonicblog]

I like how the Mobians of AoStH is already so bizarre that the animators had to go even further when Robotnik is talking about space aliens.

[zhouyes]

this sword in my hand doesn't know you.

WANG XINGYUE as XIAO HENG

the double, 墨雨云间.

[ckxtii]

Can Larson just like, die please? Thanks

[yoshippipi]

"What is L U P?" AUUUUGGHHHH AGHHHGHGHGHHGHHHHHH HOLDING MY HEAD IN MY HANDS

[dailyimodna]

[choupistickfaitdesbetises]

To be himself.

Seen, listened to, understood, loved, and supported by those he loves, without having to justify who he is, what he is, or what he wants.

Without false pretense, censorship, or manipulation.

Simply be Armie Hammer.

[alipeeps]

Whispers of Fate - Episode 40

Welp, here we are then. Episode 40. The final episode.

I am not ready for this. I am not ready for the PAIN that I know is to come. I am not ready for the 99% certainty that Tang Lici will not survive this episode. And I am not ready for it to be over.

I've waited so long for this drama. I've been so excited for it. I remember my dash being full of BTS pics and vid snippets when it was filming - I think? - 2 years ago. I was excited about how it looked and about it being the same production team as Till the End of the Moon (which I loved!!). And then we waited and waited and waited for it to air....

And I was hoping hoping hoping that it would be good and ohhhh it has been SO good! And watching it and sharing thoughts and gifs and screencaps and interactions with my cdrama moots who are also watching has been so awesome and I am saaaad that it's going to come to an end.

(But also, I WILL be creating for this fandom going forward... I have so many fic ideas, and gifset ideas, and fanart ideas!!)

But I digress. It's time. *braces self*

Oh I'm sorry. are we supposed to be feeling sad for Chunji?

No. FUCK THAT.

I don't give a flying fuck about this girl or her grief. She sat/stood there at her "beloved" master's funeral and watched Xifang Tao spout lies about how he died and cast blame on an innocent man, and she said nothing for fear her own dirty little secret would be revealed. She knows Xifang Tao and Gui Mudan are a massive threat to the lives and safety of literally the whole world and she is doing nothing about it... because she doesn't want people to find out she lied.

She is not worthy of anyone's pity or empathy.

There's no fucking way this is ending well.... 😭 Like... I understand the desire to turn back time and fix mistakes but A Li... the world doesn't work that way... and deep down you know it...

Oh damn, he already wrote to the emperor and grassed Chunji up? GOOD!!

So wait... was that saying that she went and confessed to the emperor (or empress? the subs weren't hugely clear) and they had a good cry but still put her in charge of the Sword Alliance? So they have "shown her mercy" and are putting her in charge of fixing shit?

Oh. My. God. 😂😂😂

Honestly it works for him... he makes a good looking woman.. 😁

And you did NOTHING to speak out about them. I don't care how much righteous fervour you put into your speech and your plans, what you did was unforgiveable.

I thought you'd abandoned the secular world for good, Pu Zhu. What are you doing wandering the streets and reading leaflets?

Yeah yeah deliver the antidote... wonderful... you're all gathering to back the traitorous Princess Ning in her noble campaign. But none of you fucking stood to protect Tang Lici and none of you seem to give a shit about where he is and what has happened to him...?

(I'm feeling quite bitter... you may have noticed....)

Good on you for helping distribute the antidote Shen Langhun... but as pretty much the last main member of Tang Lici's little found family, why aren't you out looking for him?

And Wanyu Yuedan is congratulating himself that he made the right choice in not defending Tang Lici back then, cos it all worked out all right in the end and after all, he's Tang Lici. He's invincible, right?

Meanwhile Tang Lici is hiding in a cave, drinking to numb the pain and carving memorial tablets, and trying to open a rift in time and space to alter the past...

Uhhhhh I thought the bronze tree was destroyed? Did he have a back-up one?

I think she's worried you're gonna feed her to the bronze tree...

Well shit.

Oooookay so he's got himself a big fucking ship (not very lowkey for someone who is literally a wanted criminal?) and he's reverted completely to his Tianren appearance...

Ooohh man, him choosing to go full Tianren whilst not in the heat of battle/using his powers feels very endgame and the music playing over the scene doesn't help... it feels like he's given up his hopes of a happy future in Shenzhou and is going full Holy Child to use his Tianren powers to rewrite the paste and save his friends.... (but not himself),,,

So their plan also included Tang Lici travelling to the reincarnation sea? But how could they possibly predict that he would?

Yeeeeaaaah I think you're getting absorbed by that tree, girly...

Yup, and you did exactly what he wanted...

Shit, the mural records the future, not the past? What? How does that work?

I am so confused.

WAIT. What the FUCK.

Is that.... Xiaoshi?

Xiaoshi who has taken by a sudden urge to plant a tree. And was speaking in an oddly stilted way when we last saw him... like a puppet?

Fuck fuck FUCK.

All this time his little disciple... the traumatised boy he felt such affinity for... has been a plant?? A traitor??

And he is the one who killed Liu Yan?!! 😭😭😭😭

Goddd... how much betrayal is Tang Lici supposed to endure?!!

FUUUUCK. I called it. He's a puppet!! A puppet containing Yique Yinyang's soul?

Shittttt... so the back up plan was for him to become Fang Zhou to Xiaoshi/Ye Mo and teach him emotions? And that allows Ye Mo to reawaken?

Goddddd he's right. Aside from his nature being to think the best of people and to believe in human's inherent goodness, the reason Fang Zhou was so invested in Tang Lici was the idea that a powerful Tianren realm person could be taught to be good, and to use his powers for good. He literally wanted to teach him to become the opposite/the foil to Yique Yinyang...

Ahhhh new Zhoudi Tower footage, of baby fox reading his favourite book, all happy and cute... 😭😭😭

Ugggghhh this show is so stylised and SO fucking pretty!!

Oh, have we gone submarine-stylee for a second time in this drama?

Okay but what I don't get about Yique Yinyang planning to return the Tianren Realm to Shenzhou is... it was necessary for him to come to Shenzhou to do that (am guessing that's why he first came)... but it's always been portrayed that both he and Tang Lici fled/escaped the Tianren Realm... like against the wishes of those training them to be holy children with the purpose of returning Tianren Realm?

Like... they created Tang Lici because the first Holy Child - Ye Mo - ran away. But actually running away to Shenzhou was a necessary part of being able to return Tianren Realm?

(I know, I know, I should know better than to expect cdrama plots, especially from xuanxia/xinxia etc, to make actual sense but I can't help it...)

Oh shit the tree is not just in one place, it's sprouting through the ground all over Shenzhou?!

Told you she was gonna get sacrificed to the tree....

Ohhhhh that's the bit that was portrayed in the opening titles...

So they did send him to Shenzhou... he didn't run away.

But Tang Lici did?

Yeeeah I also can't find much sympathy in myself to Xifang Tao either...

Looks like she's making a last ditch attempt to fight back though...

Kitty!!!

After everything... he let himself be hit by her attack in order to protect the cat....

I guess he did learn emotions after all...

Bye Felicia

He named the cattttttt....

"Don't knock it down" My heaarrrttt.....

Oh fuuuuuck he needs two Holy Sons to merge the realms?

(Ok but what about the whole thing with Tang Lici making a new time machiney thingy (I've forgotten the name of it... Inverted Dream, was it?)

Annnnnd here we go... this is rapidly turning into an (entirely expected) "The only way for me to save the world is to die" scenario...

It's even got the same, world-ending, meteors of flame etc vibe as Till the End of the Moon...

Oh shit, Liu Yan gave him back the other half of the rebirth scroll before he died?!!

Oh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck and he wouldn't have died if he hadn't? 😭😭😭😭😭

He sacrificed himself so that Tang Lici could "win".

But I'm pretty sure Tang Lici "winning" will involve him also sacrificing himself... 😭😭

God damnnn but Jeremy Tsui is fucking beautiful as Ye Mo...

OKay.... bad guy "defeated"... but we're not at the end yet.

Is he going to have to sacrifice himself to undo/destroy the bronze tree?

Oh wait what? His plan to change the past is not just to save his friends but undo the whole fucking timeline where Tianren Realm got zapped into the void? That will mean Yique Yinyang will never have existed... but also so will Tang Lici never have existed... 😭

The price... is your existence... 😭😭😭😭

So he's not just gonna die to save the world, he's gonna erase himself from existence.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

I don't see how we can fanfic our way out of this one, boys...

Fuuuuuuck Liu Yan waking from a "dream"... into a world where he will never meet Tang Lici... 😭😭😭😭

Fang Zhou never had to go fight Yique Yinyang so he never left his sister in the care of someone else and hence lost her...

Fu Zhumei is the cook at the restaurant?

So wait... in this timeline was there no Zhoudi Tower? Just Fang Zhou and his sister busking for tips.... and Fu Zhumei working as a cook... and Liu Yan collecting herbs...

Shen Langhun's fiancée didn't die and he didn't become an assassin... 😭😭

Yu Furen was recognised by his father this time around...

Aaaand because there was no Yique Yinyang, Pu Zhu's family's dynasty didn't fall and he remained a prince instead of becoming a monk....

I honestly don't fucking care that Chunji's life is happier. 😡

Is that implying that Tang Lici kinda of existed in this new timeline as a fox? I don't get it.

Welp. It's over. It's done. I fully expected Tang Lici to sacrifice himself for the greater good cos that's just how LYX dramas go. Ngl though was not expecting him to fucking wipe the entire timeline and remove himself from ever having existed. FUCK. Still not entirely sure what to make of the ending tbh. It was very much a cdrama ending, for sure... they really do love a poignant noble sacrifice ending.

And this wasn't even an open ending with even the vaguest possibility of a return for Tang Lici... he's gone, he never even existed, and all the people who loved him never knew him at all.

Sigh.

So. Fanfic it is then....