Yin & Yang Couples Fan

A place to talk about my favorite couple trope.

[yinyangcouples]

The Qin Su Fic I want to write, but probably won't

So I have had many ideas for fanfic over the years but haven't written much and published none. Last year, I started writing a Qin Su centric fic, but just didn't really have time to finish it. This blog post is just my self indulgent way to put it into the universe without actually writing it fully, though it's still something I would love to do one of these days.

We start with Qin Su locked in JGY's secret room after finding out his horrible secret. She knows she is going to die but someone comes in and tells her that he is going to perform a spell that will allow herto go back in time with a great deal of knowledge. In essence, she is able to see the key moments of all who are present in the room when she dies. A sort of "Empathy" type trick if you will. She dies in this timeline and comes back to as a young girl.

Unfortunately, she knows she must get straight to work as there is little time before Wen Ruohan will ruin the world as they know it. She immediately starts working on her cultivation so she can become one of the best cultivators in the Jianghu, regardless of gender. While she did not, in canon, probably know Jiang Yanli, in my mind, she has a soft spot for her, since she was Jin Ling's aunt (by blood and by marriage!!!lol). So she chooses to form a friendship with JYL and possibly even help JYL with her cultivation...maybe.

She also decides to become friends with Nie Huaisang knowing that he's a guy who can enact a plan. With her inside knowledge, she is able to convince him that she knows what is going to happen and with some luck, she can save NMJ and NHS's father. That alone will drastically change the way WRH harmed the cultivation world with systematically killing off all the older clan leaders who could lead with more wisdom during a war.

QS and NMJ set off on a plan to stop the Sunshot Campaign before there is any need to start it by exposing secrets and forcing people to act when injustice is overwhelming. Will they be able to save everyone who needs saving? How will she deal with her ex-husband so that he doesn't become yet another villain in the Jianghu. Can she find a man who will truly giver her the love she deserves? Will it be Lan Xichen? (I don't think it's Mingju or Huaisang. Maybe she could soften Jiang Cheng?) How will she make sure our two bunnies get together before catastrophe has a chance to separate them? Will she kill JGS outright or just embarrass him so he can't show his face ever again? Can I make her punch Su She in the face for shits and giggles? Or what's his name, Jin Xixun?

These answers haven't come to me yet, but I just know our girl can pull it off with the help of a motley crew of characters.

What do you all think? Does she have it in her to fix the Jianghu and find a happy ending for the people who deserve one? Would you read a Qin Su centric fic?

[1mlostnow]

Hyperfixation so bad people think of me when they see it

[mxtxfanatic]

While flipping through mdzs to verify some stray thoughts of mine, I happened to fall into a translation discrepancy that I feel really, really emphasizes how important it is to have a proper grasp on the language you are translating before translating for a public audience.

Now before we get too deep into this, I want to reiterate that I am someone who does not understand Mandarin in any form but has been reading translations (both by humans and machines) for a few years now. However, because I have been reading translations that tend to follow the Mandarin more closely in grammar and because I haven't shied away from reading machine-made or bad human translations, I have noticed some places where mistranslations from Mandarin to English are common: pronouns, verb-subject matching, negatives, prepositions, and conjunctions. For this post, we will be focusing on the latter two.

In the lead-up to the Wen invasion of Lotus Pier, we are given a scene where Madam Yu whips Wei Wuxian, and in this scene, we are given a glimpse as to Madam Yu's average punishments towards the young ward.

While Madam Yu always pelted him with hostile words, she’d never really hit him hard before—two or three lashes at most, or being made to kneel or confined indoors, and it never took Jiang Fengmian long to release him from that.

—Vol. 3, Chapt. 12: Sandu: The Three Poisons, 7seas

In the past, although Madam Yu had always come at him with harsh words, she had never truly been cruel to him. The most that he’d been through were two or three strikes and being grounded. He’d also be let out by Jiang FengMian soon later.

—Chapt. 57: Poisons, exr

Reading these back-to-back, it should be very clear that though the same section is being translated from the same exact source, these translations do not say the same thing. The official stresses that Madam Yu had never hit Wei Wuxian "that hard" before, as well as saying that his punishments were a few lashes OR being made to kneel OR being confined, three separate punishments never taken together according to this diction. The exr translation, however, states that Madam Yu had "never truly been cruel to him" (emphasis mine) and that him being whipped was in addition to being confined. The emphasis on the strength of her lashings is absent, but an emphasis on the intent behind her actions—that she never meant to be honestly cruel to her ward—is established in its stead. (While this section as translated by exr does not mention kneeling, later scenes reflecting on Wei Wuxian's childhood in Lotus Pier do.)

Both of these translations... are wrong.

If we give exr the benefit of the doubt by virtue of being the original completed English translation of mdzs, then the official 7seas release should automatically raise red flags for the ways it seems to directly contradict the narrative that has existed for a few years before the novel was licensed. It doesn't help that the official has been riddled with many mistranslations and omissions from the very first volume, lowering any credibility it would otherwise have to stand on. But if we were to examine the rest of the exr translation, then the emphasis on Madam Yu's intent also rings false given the fact that we are told over and over again in this same translation that 1) Madam Yu is, in fact, unnecessarily, illogically, and erratically mean-spirited and cruel, and 2) Wei Wuxian knows this even at this time in his life (shoutout to the Lotus Pod Seeds extra) and understands her actions as targeted cruelty. What does the actual text say, then?

Although Madam Yu always spoke ill of him before, her hand had never been this viciously cruel. At most, she whipped him two or three times and ordered him to kneel down and be confined to his room, and he would be released by Jiang Fengmian sometime later.

—@jiangwanyinscatmom (emphasis mine)

Madam Yu has never been "as cruel" as in that moment when whipping Wei Wuxian, because normally she only whips him 2-3 times. She would whip him a few times and send him to the ancestral hall to kneel and be in confinement, which matches up to the memories that Wei Wuxian reflects on in other parts of the novel. This translation gets rid of the character inconsistencies that the other two translations create. So how did we get here? Remember how I pointed out those common Mandarin-to-English translation mistakes? Well, both the exr and 7seas translations fall into the trap of confusing conjunctions and prepositions. That's how we get a list of punishments rather than an order of events for a singular punishment type. That's how we get "not truly cruel" instead of "not as cruel." That's how we get these sections contradicting what we know about Madam Yu's personality and behavior from the rest of the novel through those two translations. Unfortunately, both translation teams just happened to flub in the same area in slightly different ways, and while I'm willing to give a multi-lingual grade-school student translating in their spare time the benefit of the doubt, a paid translator with a translation team hired by a professional publishing house should have better quality control than a spare-time hobbyist.

Also, just in case anyone wants more proof on what mxtx meant for us to take away about Madam Yu's treatment of Wei Wuxian from this scene, it was also apparently so important to mxtx for readers to know that Madam Yu was truly cruel to Wei Wuxian during his childhood that the act of her routinely whipping him whenever he was in her presence was something that was added into the revised mdzs. It was not in the original unedited version of the novel.

In the past, although Lady Yu always insulted or patronized him, she never laid a hand on him. At worst, she’d make him kneel for prolonged periods of time, but he’d always get bailed out by Jiang FengMian after a while.

—Chapt. 57. Act 12: Sandu/Three Poisons, Part 2, qinghe-nie

[yinyangcouples]

Madam Yu whipped Wei Ying FREQUENTLY. It's canon. She did not whip him as bad as the last time with Jiao-Jiao...but she was intentionally cruel and violent to him still. Madam Yu apologists are incorrect on this.

[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

[yinyangcouples]

In fanfics, I get super frustrated by Caveman Lan Wangji or constant first person Wei Ying. But this post talks in detail about how LWJ (and to a degree Wei Wuxian) actually speaks. It breaks down a lot of the nuance in Chinese Mandarin and looks at some of the historical grammar. I found it super fascinating to read.

[yinyangcouples]

Go read this Módào Zǔshī fic now!

Even though the fandom is thriving, Módào Zǔshī has been around for over 8 years now, so there are lots of fanfics to sort through. It's easy to miss some, especially when they've come out recently. Shortly after my last "favorites" post, I finished reading another one of my favorite fanfics ever and I would be remiss if I didn't share it with you all.

Dispersing Clouds by dreamingofcake - "While the Wen Clan is embroiled in subduing internal conflicts within Qishan, the Jiang Clan hosts the annual discussion conference. It has been one year since the disastrous archery competition where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji last met but Wei Wuxian remains as optimistic as ever. An unlikely friendship begins to blossom and without the looming spectres of conquest and war to strengthen his ties to the Jiang family, the trajectory of Wei Wuxian’s life changes."

This fic takes us on a delightful what if journey and checks pretty much all of my personal boxes:

Book Canon (no Yin Iron, puppets, etc)

Ancient Setting

Genius Wei Ying

Looooooong!!! 54 delightful chapters!

No romanticizing the Jiang family

No romanticizing the Jin clan

Realistic characterizations

Interesting night hunts and action plots

The right amount of OCs to keep the AU interesting, but are canon believable

Gorgeous descriptions of things like clothing (what can I say? I like this!)

A written wedding!

I hope you'll check it out and give the author some love while you are at it!

[enby-axels]

something so dizzying about how dafan mountain is jin ling's first ever night hunt and he couldve literally died because he was instructed to seek glory over asking for help and valuing his own safety. dafan mountain marks the start of a vicious cycle in the novel — of jin ling getting into mortal danger, often alone, because he has nobody to rely on. but it's also the beginning of something hopeful — of jin ling being narrowly snatched from the claws of death by someone he was taught to hate, whose love for him can wean him off the poison he was fed since infancy

[yinyangcouples]

I love Jin Ling's story arc!

[yinyangcouples]

Mo Dao Zu Shi Top 10 Fanfics - here there be angst

After reading Mo Dao Zu Shi and watching The Untamed, I went down the rabbit hole of fanfic, as one does. People in fan spaces frequently ask for fic recs, so I wanted to make an easy way to share some of my favorites!

To be upfront, my favorite fics follow book canon, not Untamed canon. My favorites are also pretty much all set in the ancient universe with cultivation. I read some modern stuff, etc, but that is definitely not what I gravitate towards. I also love a long fic. So here it is, my top 10.

Birthday Party by Waffles_4_Breakfast - What if Jin Zixun didn't attack Wei Wuxian at Qiongqi Path and waited until the party to attack? I love this fic the most of all that I have read so far. The author does an amazing job of taking the book canon universe and asking "what if?" I felt like the story was incredibly realistic with the canon version of the characters. High on angst. This story is explicit, but has easy to skip scenes.

Love Song In Reverse by timetoboldlygo - When Wei Wuxian wakes up in Mo Xuanu's body, he doesn't know who he is, but he is drawn to a man in white robes. This is, ultimately an amnesia fic, which I have a definite soft spot for. In this fic, there is a very high level of angst, characters processing grief, and quite a lot of my favorite little marshmallow, Lan Sizhui. This one is rated Teen and up.

Memories are easier when shared by marhalf - Sweet and slow fix-it, beginning after WWX death, on the idea that his soul would answer LWJ's call. Getting people together, healing trauma through love, I can't help it! This one brings the angst. Can you tell I have a type? When Lan Wangji plays Inquiry, Wei Wuxian answers. But not in the way that is expected. I love so much about this fic and can't recommend it enough. It is emotional, beautiful, and Wei Wuxian gets to redeem himself to almost all the important people in the cultivation world that matter to him, through shared memories. This one is explicit.

Turn Left by kianspo - Lan Wangji is kidnapped from the Lan Clan when he's still a small child. He retains no memories of his real identity, and only knows himself as a servant at Madam Ji's brothel. When the clients begin to look at him with interest, he finds someone to curse him and take away his true appearance, and with it any chance of ever finding his family. When I say this one is angsty, I do mean it. But it is so, so good. Will Wei Wuxian fall in love with Lan Wangji, when LWJ has a very ugly face? Will LWJ ever find his family, when he is unrecognizable? Mature rating.

Cultivating immortality by KizuKatana - The Lan sect has been putting pressure on Lan Wangji to find a cultivation partner. They don't like the one he chooses. This one is just fun. Ok, so there is canon typical angst. But what a fun ride. I like that there is an absence of homophobia in the world, due to the "cultivation partner universe" that the author has set up. Explicit.

a star called sun by thelastdboy - “Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying had whispered. “Lan Zhan, you will have to protect me. Madam Yu is definitely going to kill me for real this time around,” he had said jokingly, but something about how he said it made Lan Wangji pause. Later, Lan Wangji would regret leaving Wei Ying behind. Another angsty masterpiece. This one features a character working through becoming disabled. Pretty heavy on the grief. There are crows, a Wei clan, and beautiful poetic language. Not Jiang friendly. Uses Untamed canon. Rated Explicit, but IIRC, that is just due to violence and not sexual content. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Concord by Deastar - Lan Wangji hopes, somewhat frivolously, that his betrothed might find him an acceptable companion. Neither he nor Wei Wuxian are able to bear children, so there will be no need to share a marital bed; that should make it easier for the two of them to reach a natural, comfortable equilibrium. Are we surprised that this one is incredibly angsty?? It deals heavily with depression. Canon AU but in an amazing way. It does use Untamed canon (Yin Iron, WWX's "demonic" cultivation harms him, puppets, etc). My biggest complaint though is that I want MORE of it. at 45K words, it's too short. Lol! Rated Teen.

Flowers Blooming by Ilona22 - Wei Ying is orphaned when he is four years old. Unlike in another world, he does not have to wait years to be found by his father’s martial brother. Instead, he is found by a woman looking for a child to love. This one is so incredibly beautiful. At 35K words, it is on the shorter side of what I normally read. But I love seeing what might have been had Wei Ying grown up with love. Not as angsty as my normal fair. Rated Mature.

SanRen by Kyogre - Leaving YunmengJiang in an effort to curb the tensions in the Jiang family, Wei WuXian becomes a rogue cultivator. Another one I really enjoyed. I love the canon divergence of what might happen if Wei Wuxian had struck out on his own before he went to the Cloud Recesses and met Lan Wangji. It has fluff and angst and all the good things. It was written before The Untamed came out and is novel canon! Rated Teen

All will be well when the day is done by abCEE - The one where Yu Ziyuan time traveled but she thought that it was her visions of her alternate life. So I love the absolutely unique take that this one is. Madam Yu is our time traveller and the only thing she "gifts" Wei Ying is not killing him herself when he gets kicked out of the inn after his parents die. Lots of angst and redemption. Not Madam Yu friendly, as you might imagine. Rated teen.

So there you go. That is my top 10 list of favorite Mo Dao Zu Shi fanfics that I've read so far. Writing this makes me want to go back and reread them all, but my to read list is long and ever growing. If you have any favorites in that style, please drop them in the comments!

[kimberleyjean]

Gabriel's ineffable statue

Ooh time for my first ever post that isn't a reblog - exciting!

So, a while ago now, I came across a post about Gabriel's statue which pointed out what seemed to be a blatantly obvious continuity error. For the life of me, I CANNOT find that post again and so I am going to attempt to recreate it here because I just noticed something else interesting related to Gabriel's statue. If you are the original person who found this, please let me know and I'll credit you!

Edit: I found the original on reddit! https://www.reddit.com/r/goodomens/comments/17tjfdc/spot_the_difference_statue_of_gabriel_s2e6/ Right, so, have you ever looked very closely at the scenes of Gabriel and Beelzebub in the graveyard during Gabriel's flashback? No? Well, here are some clips of these scenes I want you to take a close look at, taken in order they're shown:

Why is the cross missing??? In the distance shot, there is no cross. In the closer shot, there is. Then we switch back to the distance shot and it's gone again. Just for clarity's sake, when we see the Gabriel statue in any other scene, yes the cross is present.

I know there have been many ineffable continuities mentioned by other posters (such as clocks, chairs, rugs, road markings, Crowley's glasses, Maggie's store signage etc). It's still up for debate about how many of these actually mean anything, or if they are genuine continuity errors. However, I find it VERY hard to believe this is a continuity issue... in any other show I could believe that, sure. But the Good Omens team is detail-focused and this is a huge missing cross on a statue that was specifically built for the show. Why would you have the whole scene set up in the graveyard, but without the cross ready, and then not bother to fix it in post? So the above is what I read in someone else's blog post and I'm really sorry that I can't recall where to find that. However, here's what I want to add. The Gabriel statue appears at the end of the opening credits and guess what... :

The cross is missing the top half! What does any of this mean? Who knows? Not me, that's for sure. Is it something to do with S3? Is it some comment on a religious theme? Are Gabriel's memories faulty when they're restored? Several others have pointed out that there are some suspicious things shown in the memory restoration sequence. Why is Gabriel bearing a cross in the first place? If you have any ideas let me know, I'd be interested to hear them!

Regardless of the statue, you might be wondering what is this part of the opening credits all about? The parade of characters is being led by Crowley and Aziraphale up this rickety mountain made of what seems to be a trash heap with a whole bunch of religious iconography scattered through it and a Lady Libertas (aka what the Statue of Liberty is based on) appearing opposite the Gabriel statue here. I always wondered what this whole sequence might be about, but I've seen very little written about it. If you're interested, here's this post from @lady-of-the-puddle. There is a lot of interesting imagery in the opening sequence, that's for sure!

[bbbitchvibbbez]

THIS NEEDS SO MANY MORE REBLOGS. EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS POST. FSFSFSFSFS

@embracing-the-ineffable @postsforposting @meatballlady

[bbbitchvibbbez]

okay so sorry to double tag some of you in my mental breakdown but like I need other people to weigh in on this @embracing-the-ineffable @postsforposting @meatballlady @noneorother @indigovigilance @ineffableigh @the-oaken-muse @kimberleyjean everyone tag other people etc.

ABOUT THIS POST and not even about the statue because I can't even touch that rn. You cannot convince me that this hat:

Made this silhouette:

but do you all want to know what I think COULD make this silhouette?

Can everyone discuss this/offer alternatives before I go Full Out with what I think the implications of this would be?

[embracing-the-ineffable]

Ok, real quick, here's what I see in 4k:

That is ABSOLUTELY Beez 1.0, which means Gabriel was here with Beez multiple times, with both of their faces. (Or at least, both of their hats.)

And, there's BTS footage that shows the cross is removable. I had assumed that was for easier transportation or something, but it's very interesting that the feature was used onscreen...

So, when Gabriel meets with Beez 1.0, the cross is missing. It's there in the Resurrectionists minisode and when Aziraphale visits in present day s2. When was Gabriel meeting with Beez 1.0, and WHERE did the cross go?!

The ineffable discontinuities just keep adding up...

[wisesnail]

"A moment in time" - feelings on canvas <;

I hope you like it 💙

Prints and other stuff on my RedBubble and Threadless

[yinyangcouples]

For love, girls follow boys to foreign lands

and men have followed women into hell

~ Excerpt from Adventures In The Dream Trade by Neil Gaiman