Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 17 second part
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Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!!
Breaking Good
Wen Qing comes to visit Wen Ning in their backyard meth lab, and tells him that he fucked up a recipe, merely by taking a whiff of the concoction. She uses the approved "wave fumes toward self" way of smelling that you learn in high school science if you live in a country that believes in teaching science, which OP does not.
Wen Ning wants to know if they are going to have a feud, and she tells him there already is one. She tells explains to him that they're good Wens, not evil Wens, and that Jiang Cheng is fucked, and they should send the Jiangs away in the morning before Wen Chao comes around.
Wen Ning whines at her about all of this, shifting into little-brother persona and acting like he didn't just take down 40 of Wen Chao's soldiers in a single night. He does this same persona shifting in his later unlife, with Wei Wuxian. When there is trouble, he's extremely effective, and can even tail WWX and Lan Wangji without getting caught, but then he is hopeless when dealing with turnips or children.
Here, it seems like a version of Wei Wuxian's own little-brother persona, in which he pretends to be helpless so that his sister can take care of him.
#studyblr
Wei Wuxian comes into Wen Qing's head shop to ask her for medical books. He loves his brother so much he's volunteering for a research project. We've seen him be clever before; we've seen circumstantial evidence that he's a good student, but now we're going to see him actually buckling down and doing intellectual work.
Wen Qing thinks its hopeless and wants Wei Wuxian to get some rest. But he gives her puppydog eyes, so she sets him up in her library.
Wei Wuxian reads a huge pile of medical books and learns interesting things about the human body.
(more after the cut)
Hopefully he does not splotch ink all over them while he holds this wet brush directly over the page. Why does he even have a brush in his hand? Is he taking notes in the margin?
Wen Qing eventually tells him to take a break and go see Jiang Yanli.
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
Jiang Yanli is tending to Jiang Cheng, gently telling him to suck it up by citing their father, which is probably not the greatest idea.
Yanli's wearing dark blue with white and looks awesome. It's not Gusu Lan blue, but the blue and white is an interesting choice for the excruciating heart to heart they're about to have.
Wei Wuxian shows up looking terrible, or the Xiao Zhan version of terrible, i.e. handsome and a little scruffy. But also worn out, unhappy, and fragile.
Jiang Yanli wants him to rest, but he wants to find a way to repair Jiang Cheng's core, and his mind races, trying to think of where he can get books and who can help him. His thoughts instantly go to Cloud Recesses and Lan Wangji. His face lights up at the thought that Lan Wangji will help him, and he hops up, ready to dash off and find him.
The first time I watched this I was like, dude yes you’re in love, but you can’t just dash off to find Lan Wangji, not when there’s a war on. This time I was like, actually wow things would turn out a whole lot better if you got Lan Wangji to help you, instead of coming up with your own plan.
Mother Mother Can You Tell Me
Jiang Yanli tells him to slow his roll. He's pushing himself too hard and she's afraid he will collapse. Then Wei Wuxian comes out and says what's driving him: maybe all these disasters are his fault.
It's telling, I think, that he cites Madame Yu, not Jiang Cheng, in this moment, even though Jiang Cheng has blamed him much more thoroughly and consistently. He's talking about one mother figure, to another mother figure, and looking for absolution.
He super does not get what he's looking for.
Jiang Yanli slowly lets go of him and goes the fuck off. She asks, rhetorically, what he's to blame for, and then lists off all of the shit that's happened. She finishes up by saying, look at our situation; blaming won't help anything.
It's unclear, because language/translation, if her answer is "it doesn't matter who's to blame" I.E. "yes, it's your fault, but I'm letting it go" or if she is saying "how does blaming yourself help anything?" I.E. "it's not your fault, stop being a drama llama."
Her body language, though, seems pretty blameful - she lets go of him, yells at him, sits down and turns away from him. And his reaction is not one of shared grief, or of someone who is trying to get over himself; he's totally crushed, and he literally never unburdens himself to her again. Even when he asks her, much later, about love, he immediately backs out of the conversation.
There is no violence in this moment and her reaction is understandable, but this is kind of similar to that one time when his brother choked him in a beautiful field of grass, in order to make himself feel better.
Then she kind of relents and takes his hand, telling him that she needs him and reminding him that he promised that they will go back to Lotus Pier. I don't remember him promising this, but okay.
He puts his head on her lap and he cries, she cries, comatose Jiang Cheng cries; FUCK this episode.
Jiang Cheng manages to cry only one tear and does it on the side of his face that his siblings can't see because he's not going to give them the satisfaction of sharing this moment with him, I guess.
When Wei Wuxian puts his head on Jiang Yanli's lap, it's part of a ritual for them, that they both are comforted by; he does it again much later, after they return to Lotus Pier. But this ritual does not actually do anything to relieve his burdens. As a male adult, and the only Jiang Clan disciple with any abilities, it falls to him to save the clan, whatever it takes, and he is heavily aware of it.
Wen Qing comes along and sees the sweet part of this complicated Shijie-Shidi dynamic, and decides to help with Wei Wuxian's research project. When the trio had just lost their parents, gotten sick, been pursued by enemies, & had one of Yanli's little brothers horribly wounded, Wen Qing was like, eh, I'll do the doctor stuff but that's it. But lap-crying is another level.
Wen Qing: Nooo don't put your head on her knees I failed my saving throw
Group Project
Wen Qing goes and cleans up the mess in the library, putting everything in order and settling in to read systematically. Wen Qing probably has the prettiest bullet journal. (OP looks proudly at the 100 loose slips of paper and piles of random stuff on her own desk)
Wei Wuxian has shaved and rested and comes in with a tray of food for Wen Qing, and then goes to his table in the back to start working. He claims he made "porridge" for her and that she has to eat to gain strength, and she gives him an intrigued expression. This moment is just blatant het baiting.
In fact the food he brings her is clearly not porridge, which might just be a translation error, but also he totally can't cook, so it's not clear if he's joking and Yanli or Wen Ning made the food, or if this is just inedible.
The Things We Do For Love
Yanli is working in the meth lab and coughing a lot. Yanli's chronic illness is a sign of what's to come for Wei Wuxian, because strong cultivators don't get sick. Yet Yanli, as a physically vulnerable person, who has either a weak golden core, or none, is still intrinsically valuable. Her presence in this scene is a reminder that Jiang Cheng's life is not, actually, over; he just feels like it is.
While Yanli cooks the meth, Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing have a study montage that is the equivalent of a training montage, except without "Eye of the Tiger" on the soundtrack.
Jiang Cheng remains unconscious. Apparently if you stick nails in the top of someone's head, you make them sleep, and in the back of their head, you turn them into part of your zombie army. Fortunately Wen Qing's aim is good. Jiang Cheng is looking devastatingly handsome as usual the TV version of unwell, and has grown a perfect Dorito-chip of stubble on his chin to go with his new 'stache.
Eventually Wei Wuxian changes back into his non-vampire robe and he finds the answer in an old scroll book. The Ikea instruction picture shows arrows going from the guy on the left to the guy on the right. Clearly it's not a great procedure for the guy on the left.
Wei Wuxian's face shows us exactly how not great.
Like walking in the rain and the snow
and there’s no place to go
and you’re feeling like a part of you is dying
He goes outside and gazes up at the trees and the sky as he contemplates the sacrifice that circumstance is forcing on him. He's not even making a choice at this point; his choice was made the moment he found the procedure. But it's going to be a tremendous loss for him. He values sword cultivation at least as much as Jiang Cheng does; he even fell in love with a boy over crossed swords. So he sits and just kind of comes to terms with this new understanding of his future. (Big gifs here)
Wen Qing finds him sitting, stunned, on the porch. She doesn't know what's up so she just sits quietly with him until he's ready to tell her.
She doesn't love the plan.
Thunder, Th-th-thunder
Wen Ning is bringing food up when he sees them arguing, and he is startled by situationally appropriate thunder and lightning. Having recently watched The Lost Tomb Reboot I've come to expect thunder and lighting to appear on cue in any possible situation, so the fact that this mini-storm clears right up again doesn't bother me.
What About You?
Wen Ning dashes inside to see what Mom and Dad are fighting about. They're having a polite shouting match because Wen Qing refuses to yank out Wei Wuxian's core.
Wen Qing: I hate the idea of harming you
Wei Wuxian: I don’t even understand that sentence
Wei Wuxian doesn’t, of course, feel that he is important in any way, and ignores her concerned and appalled expressions in favor of telling her to just do it anyway. Amazingly, this does not convince her.
OP’s 177cm-tall son keeps telling her this
Then Wei Wuxian plays the "you know Jiang Cheng" card, which...I guess she does? Maybe he was chatting her up more than we saw in Cloud Recesses? He hasn't given her the comb or anything yet. Wei Wuxian explains that Jiang Cheng cares about gain and loss, and cultivation is his life. If he can only be ordinary the rest of his life will be ruined.
Wen Qing asks the question that nobody ever asks him: What about you?
Wei Wuxian has literally nothing to say to that, possibly because the question is so new to him.
Wen Ning doesn't know what's going on but comes squarely in on team Wei, of course, and begs his sister to Do The Thing. How fucking horrified is Wen Ning going to be when he learns what The Thing is? What he is personally going to help do to his beloved friend? Yikes.
Wen Qing caves, warning them that the chance of success is only 50 percent. Wei Wuxian is happy to take those odds.
Lan Wangji, projecting his voice from Episode 46: fifty percent, are you fucking kidding me?
Soundtrack: 1. Mother Mother by Tracy Bonham 2. The Things We Do For Love by 10cc 3. Thunder by Imagine Dragons
Tagged by @kbeesims. Thank you very much! I’m taking a break from studying rn, so let’s do this.
1. why did you choose your url?
Nika is actually one of the first things I’ve ever called myself as a kid and last year I decided to sort of “reclaim” this old nickname and start using it again in online places and I’m surprised by how right it feels.
As for Tyler, well. I think it’s obvious. In my head he’s the main character of this blog, the mascot, if you will. And also, and this is a bit embarrassing, but about a month or two ago I saw this post that was like “changing names shouldn’t be such a big deal, we expect trans people to do it if they’re uncomfortable with their birth name, but we should normalize EVERYONE changing their names if they’re not okay with it” (or something along these lines). And well, I like my name, but I thought, what if I didn’t like it, what would I pick instead. Immediately, this one popped up in my head. Yeah. I mean it makes sense to me, but it feels so dumb at the same time. So yeah. I guess if you called me Tyler, I would respond to it. I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that I would respond to it, but hey. It’s weird but it would work.
2. any sideblogs? name them and why you have them.
The only one that is still active is my cc finds blog @simmeronnie-cc (yes I need to rename it too, we’ll do that). I don’t really post on my sort-of-studyblr-but-more-like-a-rantblr sideblog or my simspiration blog anymore. Among other things, I rant on twitter again (@/nikatyler22 if anyone’s interested), and I need to bring back the simspo tag on this blog.
3. how long have you been on tumblr?
Almost five years. I refuse to believe that.
4. do you have a queue tag?
I do. Well, I schedule my posts manually, I don’t queue them (because earlier this year I noticed it would eat at least one post a day, so I stopped using it), but still. I don’t know what I’d do without this function haha
5. why did you start your blog in the first place?
There was this blog that did this really cool comic with very pretty characters. That’s what convinced me lol, even though my content has never been like theirs.
6. why did you choose your icon?
Because Tyler lol
7. why did you choose your header?
Because Tyler and Sharon and I want to have what they have dAMMIT
But I might change the picture for the one I posted yesterday, you know, the awkward one
8. whats your post with the most notes?
That would be the pride paints post I believe!
9. how many mutuals do you have?
I don’t know, but a lot I think? At least in the simple sense of “I follow you and you follow me.” I never counted it. I’m not sure how many people would actually consider me their mutual or online friend or something like that. I hope someone would haha
10. how many followers do you have?
Over 2 000. What the heck. I mean, not many people are actually active and I think most of them don’t even lurk, but it’s still a pretty cool number
11. how many people do you follow?
I checked and it’s 183. I can’t realistically keep up with all of them but at the same time I’d feel bad for unfollowing any of them
12. have you ever made a shitpost?
My entire blog is a big shitpost tbh, and I wouldn’t have it any other way ✌✨
13. how often do you use tumblr a day?
I usually keep the tab open all day and just check it from time to time. I’m not counting
14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?
Oooooh boy
Yes. I was dumb, okay? Very dumb.
15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog” posts?
Those scared me when I was younger, I remember I couldn’t sleep when I was like 8 and saw one of those “repost this or you’ll die in 7 days” pictures. Now I’m okay with them, I just scroll past. Usually. Sometimes I still get nervous. Don’t post them, guys. You can really hurt people with anxiety and similar issues.
16. do you like tag games?
Y E S
17. do you like ask games?
Y E S Y E S Y E S PLEASE SEND ME ASKS
18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?
One that immediately comes to my mind is @berrysweetboutique. I can’t believe such a big simblr is following me and seeing my daily pixel clownery on their dash :D
19. do you have a crush on a mutual?
I don’t, but back in the day, I used to sort of put some simblrs on pedestals and then act in a way that I thought they would like, if that makes sense, and I was really insecure about what they would think, and if we started talking I was so worried I’d say or do something wrong and it was all in all not a great experience. I know it’s not a crush in the romantic sense, but it reminds me of how sometimes you’d go and try to impress a crush and change yourself so that they like you too. I guess they were sort of crushes in the sense of “oh wow this person is so amazing and perfect, I’m so little next to them, they could probably never love me the same way I love them”. Anyway, once you let go of that mentality and just start doing whatever, without trying to impress anyone...oh that freedom is sweet.
Sorry, went off topic here 😅
20. tags?
I’m just gonna tag whoever wants to do this, go make another cup of coffee and go back to my 19th century poetry 😄
in an introductory lecture to my psychology research skills module, the lecturer told us that blogging our revision or study sessions helps to improve our intake of the knowledge we’re aiming to learn because we’re acknowledging what tasks we’ve managed to undertake and where we need to improve. at first i thought this was weird - why would i want to blog pages of my scruffy handwriting and lack of note taking skills to the public?! but after thinking it through, i realised; this is what everyone in the study or community on (and off) tumblr does! (except a lot are much better at note taking than myself and they have such elegant writing it’s satisfying to see). i realise this post should’ve come before my previous 2 but better late than never to introduce myself and my purpose of blogging/my studyblr! (although i’m sure no one really reads these things)
the gal behind this keyboard is a 19 year old nerd called billie-jayne (i’m not going to blame you if michael jackson references instantly came to mind, i get it a lot) or bee (b) for short. i’m in my first year studying my BSc degree in Psychology and Criminology at Birmingham City University. it’s terrifying but awfully exciting! it’d be great to get to know people also in the studyblr community throughout my journey at university (and to wherever life takes me afterwards). i’m studying 3 modules this semester and it’s overwhelming to say the least, but i’m determined to jump confidently over the upcoming hurdles this course and university life are most definitely going to through at me!
in other news (that’s still talking about myself - wow how self-centred can she get, huh?), i’ve been ridiculously under the weather lately and i haven’t left my student flat in about 5 days. hopefully this flu will leave me by monday as i have lectures all day and i don’t fancy going into them sneezing around everyone 🙄
because i haven’t been to my lectures & seminars all week, i’ve been having to catch up A LOT ready for the new week and i’m completely overwhelmed. luckily i only have 1 exam this semester (for my intro to psych module) and the rest is coursework so i can allow a few breathers here and there!!
thanks for taking the time to read this (if you did, give yourself a pat on the back, well done). if anyone has any questions about me, the course i’m studying or the university, or have any tips to surivive my 3 years in lectures full of 200+ people, i’m open to absolutely everything!!!
Awww, special thanks to @bulletjournalbear for tagging me!!! Thank you!!!
I feel like I should preface this by saying that I’m an old lady in the studyblr tag, as I’m already through college, married, and in my mid-30′s! I love following studyblrs to get nifty ideas for bullet journals, as I make notebooks/inserts for traveler’s notebooks and sell them in my Etsy shop. I’m also consistently blown away by how amazing everyone’s notes and layouts are!! I was never this fancy in college. :-D
1. How do you stay organized (if you do)?
I’m a lover of lists, which is one of the reasons I was first attracted to the bullet journal concept. Currently, I use a grid-lined composition book (I’m thinking about decorating & selling these in my shop!) and a more-or-less traditional bujo method of a daily list with items that carry over. I also try to set up monthly and weekly goals.
For me, it’s important to always have paper because I never know when I’m going to think of something, and I’ll forget if I don’t write it down, so I also carry a small notebook with me wherever I go!!
I think the biggest thing is looking at big goals and breaking them down into manageable pieces. So if I have a monthly goal, I try to break it into weekly goals, and then into daily pieces, so something like “reorganize the kitchen” actually gets accomplished.
When I was in college, the method that worked best for me was to use one notebook for all my notes, but different colored pens for each class. It was easy to flip through and find all my biology notes because they were all in green, etc. It was way easier than lugging around multiple notebooks everywhere I went.
2. What’s your dream course at university, and where do you want to study it?
While I don’t really year for any more formal education in the way of college courses, I really love learning about new things, and I read a LOT. Some things that I’d like to learn more about, and am hoping to take some classes about in the next couple of years, include beekeeping, growing and preserving herbs, canning, and soap making. Now that I’m older I’m way more interested in learning practical skills. :-D
3. Who would you like to see in concert?
Oh wow, I’m too old to really enjoy standing about in crowded concerts anymore. :-D But last year we went to see Greta Van Fleet and they were amazing. I would go see them again in a heartbeat.
4. What’s the most interesting non-fiction book you’ve ever read?
Ever??? That’s almost impossible to say. I read a lot of history and a lot of practical-skills books. One of my faves is The Backyard Homestead published by Storey Publishers. It’s full of practical how-tos!! I also read Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime by Richard Pipes, which was very long but absolutely fascinating. I loved that book so much that I wrote Mr. Pipes a fan letter, even though he’s like this crazy professor in his 90s haha He totally wrote back!
5. If you could have any food right now, what would you have?
There is a local restaurant that makes the most amazing chocolate peanut butter pie. I basically always want some.
6. What is your favorite stationary brand?
I’m always trying new stuff. Recently I’ve gone back to the Papermate Flair pens for easy color, and the Signo 307 has been my long-term black pen that I love. Paper-wise, I make my own notebooks, so there’s that. :-D
7. What are your goals this year?
Really want to visit the mountains again, do a better job with our vegetable garden, and spend more time hanging out with my family.
8. Do you do any sports?
I’ve never been a sports girl, but I do love to hike. We bought a fairly ancient RV last year, so the husband and I are hoping to spend more time traveling/camping/hiking this summer!!
9. Who have you met thanks to the studyblr community?
I haven’t really met anyone, but I have really enjoyed looking through everyone’s creative and interesting posts. I love seeing how many different ways there are to do what is essentially the same thing - take notes, make plans, and journal. It’s so much fun to see everyone’s different ideas and methods.
10, What’s the weather like where you are?
Chilly, but I think things are finally supposed to start warming up today!!! I am super ready for spring. Today the sun is shining and it feels like it is going to be a good day!
I don’t really know anyone on here to tag, but if you read this and think it looks fun, please fill it out!!
yesterday was the one year anniversary of this tumblr, so i figured i should make a post about it to reflect on the past year and explain my plan for the next.
before i made calligr4phy i had another blog for around three years. it wasn't particularly themed, i just posted a bit of anything i wanted. i had accumulated around 600 or so followers over 3 years and a handful of good friends. i deleted it in an impulsive mood, mainly because i was in a shaky state of mind and going on tumblr, only to be reminded of certain people i didn't want to think about, made me feel sick and unhappy. it was liberating and terrifying because blogging had warped its way into my identity, to an almost unhealthy extent where i was oversharing wayyy too much. this was a needed change.
so, i resolved to put myself back on track by creating a studyblr. i'd had one during gcses which did gain a couple of followers but for whatever reason it's gone now (i don't actually remember deleting it?!). i went through a couple of ideas for urls before i settled on this one - i knew i wanted a one-word url because my old handle was difficult to remember. (looking back my introductory post is a little embarrassing as i misspelled it as "calligr4py", whoops.) i started reblogging and posting study-related things and i quickly gained followers in my first few weeks - i have no idea why! i was extremely fortunate to gain traction, though, and i'm so grateful to everyone who supported me in the early days, as well as newcomers to the blog. at the end of 2017, 366 days after creating this blog, i am almost at ten thousand followers, which i could have NEVER imagined in the beginning. thank you, truly. you believed in me way more than i did!
so, what went well?
i've made so many amazing friends this year through the studyblr community, purely by either reaching out or by them talking to me. i'd like to throw a special mention to @jasperstudies for adding me to their lgbt studyblr group discord, which has been a wonderful network of friends and support in recent months.
i've also been able to engage in my preferred subject areas (lingustics and classics) far more by following blogs just as and even more enthusiastic than myself.
in february of this year i started my own bullet journal! i'd tried this before but i wasn't quite able to stay consistent with it, however, i'm proud to say i've continued to use my bujo all year, spare a couple of weeks on holiday. it's helped me to become far more organised - anyone who knows me behind the screen knows how easily i can forget things - and my friends always comment on my pretty spreads. i guess i chose my url well 🤷♀️
my organisation of work overall has improved - my school folders are easy to navigate and i have a clearer idea of how to achieve what i want.
i have learned to tailor my techniques in order to achieve these goals, whether that be tackling homework or studying for exams in general. (all hail quizlet)
this is also an opportunity for me to thank every single one of you who has submitted asks or messages to tell me how much they like my blog or that it has helped you in some way. sometimes i feel like i'm not particularly contributing anything valuable, but any and all feedback i get from you is always read and ALWAYS appreciated.
were there things i could have improved on? oh, absolutely. in hindsight, i really feel i could have posted more of my own personal content, even if it was just a few photos or answering more asks. this is something i'm eager to work on in the coming year. i also want to give back to you lot. i feel like quite often i've tried this and it's fallen flat on its face either due to mental health wobbles, other obstacles in my daily life or general lack of experience on my part. by this point i am more aware of my capabilities and, again, this is something i want to improve in 2018. please feel free to help me with this - if i haven't yet posted something i said i would or answered your ask, please do give me a poke! sometimes things slip my mind and i just need a gentle reminder.
what about 2018, then? well, first of all, here's the news i keep hinting at - i'm going to be rebranding. "what, cal? you aren't giving up studyblr, are you?" no, absolutely not! i still want to post and reblog study content. however, don't be surprised if you see a few tweaks happening. i'm talking new url, new theme, and i'm planning to broaden out to other platforms, including youtube. there will be a further post explaining this when the time comes, but i hope you're just as excited to follow me on this journey as i am to start it. wow, that was cheesy, wasn't it? ah well. sometimes it can't be helped.
one last thing - i am not perfect. i am not to be emulated. i am still learning to be better at what i do and i can ALWAYS take constructive advice on how to do that. there is often a mask over what you see in the studyblr community, and we are not all pretty mildliners and finished to-do lists. a lot of the time, we are messy. we are stressed. we are demotivated. but we are all trying. so, yes, take what you see with a pinch of salt.
okay, let's wrap this up. thank you, 2017. and thanks to the tumblr user reading this (i'm going to regret quoting that meme in a year's time). let's go into 2018 with the mindset that we are making the future, so we should make it a good one.
