The time has come, the walrus said

Because I feel like there are a couple of factors contributing to WWX becoming “the enemy of the cultivation world” and I think saying that it’s only about the Wen Remnants is a bit not it. Him sheltering the Wens is the visible cause of why he becomes so inconvenient all of a sudden. A pretence, you might say.

I also deeply disagree when people paint WWX’s arrogance as the reason he becomes a target for the clans. I’ve seen quite a few “if only he would have been nicer and explained the situation and used diplomacy! The clans would have understood him and JC would have surely helped him!” I honestly have no idea what in this book says that they are willing to listen to anything. WWX is a servant who has power way above his station and he isn’t willing to compromise on his morals. Like I can’t empathise enough how this story isn’t about misunderstanding.

The real reason we uncover throughout the book is a political play: WWX’s powers are such a game changer that all the politically ambitious folks (aka JGS and JGY) have already clocked in that they need Yin Tiger Tally for themselves to be on top of the game. WWX saving the Wens was just a very convenient thing for the Jins to use to go down the whole “public enemy” scenario, I feel like if there weren’t any Wens, they would have just made up smth else.

What I wanna say is when we oversimplify the situation with WWX saving Wen remnants as “WWX was choosing between his family and saving the Wens” we tend to make the deaths of JYL and JZX the result of “choosing the Wens” which just a fake consequence imo.

It’s kinda connected to another thing that I see from time to time (often due to donghua and cql but also mb because of the whole demonic vs ghost cultivation translation issue) is when people set up those deaths as the proof of WWX’s ghost path being evil by default like “of course everyone in the cultivation world knew WWX would lose his pebbles! Whatever WWX did his cultivation was a ticking bomb waiting to kill a bunch of people”. Which again misses a lot of context of these situations.

JZX’s death is the direct result of JGY’s political machinations that had a double purpose: to ambush and kill WWX/or set him up for killing the hosts and hopefully get rid of the direct Jin heir to uplift JGY’s position. It’s very likely that (unfortunately for JZX) he would have been dealt with by JGY either way. It isn’t directly connected to WWX making a “poor decision” of saving the Wens and leading to people having a valid reason to show him as dangerous. I also don’t see this death as a proof that ghost cultivation was evil and unstable from the start. I think the way this scene is framed: starting with WWX’s excitement about JL’s celebration and culminating in WWX’s gift being broken is pushing us as readers on an emotional roller coaster to help us understand exactly what a turmoil WWX is feeling in the moment, so when JZX comes to him with a sword without calling away Jin Zixun’s men, we feel the danger that made WWX act the way he did. I think the book very purposefully sets it as a sort of “overuse of self-defence” where WWX didn’t control the force of his command which makes him responsible for using the weapon but doesn’t mean that the weapon essentially was at fault. Was WWX’s cultivation the reason for this death? Yes, but in a same way a knife can be a lethal weapon if you push someone far enough to use it as one.

JYL’s death was the result of the sects uniting to kill WWX. WWX calls for the dead as a response to people attempting to kill him (which again looks like desperate self-defence to me) and he looses control of gui dao when he hears that JYL has arrived there. But I also think it’s very purposeful on mxtx’s behalf to show that JYL gets HURT by WWX’s inability to control ghost cultivation but she gets KILLED by a cultivator aiming to sneak kill WWX from the back. I feel like if mxtx really wanted to say “ghost cultivation is evil by default and will end badly for whoever the user is” she would have made JYL die from the wound that was caused indirectly by WWX failing to stop his rampage.

he has full awareness of how his station is looked down upon in the cultivation world and so while others in his situation may bend or break–wei wuxian cleverly toes the line between the two until taking a stance becomes necessary. he deeply understands the ugly dynamics running within the jiang family and clan and acts accordingly–be it his prompt efforts to placate jiang cheng or his conscious silence when madame yu is in a mood or even his acceptance of the whipping in lieu of restoring stability for the clan. despite his personal biases against jin zixuan, he can recognise his bravery. even his scandalous move to begin undressing in the cave shows that he knows exactly what would make lan wangji tick.

hell, i’d say even his initial thought about how the resentment of the dead can be redirected towards a target shows his striking comprehension of how emotions work in general. what’s more, he’s able to recognise the machinations nie huaisang had employed and he was also aware of the bigger picture associated with how fickle and easily swayed mob mentality was when everyone took part in bashing jin guangyao when certain truths came to light. when he was first brought back to life, he quickly and correctly deduced what kind of life mo xuanyu must have led and how he could act in order to easily humiliate the mo family. he empathised with jin ling and yet realised how he was brought up left something to be desired and so, tried to inculcate some of his own highly regarded values to him.

an extremely lackluster start to the year. i am only including dramas that i watched at least 3 episodes of.

dropped

rebirth: i lasted five episodes before i gave up on this flaming trash heap. awful casting, awful writing, awful concept. and it’s particularly bitter because for all its flaws, original princess agents has compelling characters and good actors and everyone is of the age of consent.

seeds of scarlet longing: umm. eek? thought i would be in for a fun sexy mini romp and was totally creeped out by it instead.

ashes to crown: i heard this got better by the end, but i don’t have time to suffer through a crappy first half.

swords into plowshares: devastated to have dropped this because at the time i was so excited for a proper historical after a drought. but it was wayyyy too much work to understand, even for someone like me who doesn’t mind doing extra research. it’s a chaotic time period to tackle in drama format but you have to give some sort of anchor/focus for the story and it was taking too long to do that.

the first jasmine: this one is currently more on pause than officially dropped while i wait to see if it irons itself out after the weird uninteresting middle bit. it started out so good and compelling, but in the 20s i started having to force myself to get through eps on 2x speed because i got so bored. it looks like it might return to the angsty gothic vibes for the final arc so we’ll see if i end up finishing it.

completed

8. veil of shadows: what do you get when you take the spirit of a con movie and combine it with angsty body horror? this drama, i guess. i struggled to emotionally invest because what i thought i knew about character motivation kept getting upended and i failed to comprehend the rules of the universe (were there rules?). i think it's a well done drama but i just couldn't connect.

7. idol i: first 10 eps were gold with classic romcom vibes and bold things to say about idol/fan culture and justice and all sorts of things. then the last two episodes came along and it equivocated on all of it, which was such a letdown it colored my view of the whole drama.

6. chasing jade: i personally liked this and while i agree with critics that the first 1/2 to 2/3 was way stronger than the latter part, its flaws did not dampen my overall enjoyment. it's visually beautiful, i found the mains to have insane chemistry, i enjoyed the secondary characters, and i just had a great time with it.

5. light of dawn: i wasn't sure what to think after the first few super confusing artsy fartsy episodes, but it really all came together expertly to tell a horrifying story. absolutely powerhouse performance from zhang ruoyun, backed up by a near flawless cast who really delivered on what their characters needed for the narrative. definitely worth the watch if dark depressing prestige is your thing.

4. love beyond the grave: soooooo close to being excellent but the final third fell apart so much it kind of overshadows the rest. and i love the novel so much that i hold a grudge. it shined when it stuck to the source material and suffered when it tried to build out original story. but the good stuff is really, really good. i just wish they had stuck with the novel ending instead of writing a tragedy that undermines the central theme of the story.

3. how dare you: this one was so much fun! i have not read the novel so i experienced it purely as a drama, but regardless it is so well-paced with a perfect balance of humor, sweetness, darkness, and unhingedness for the bloodthirsty among us. it's not #1 because for some reason it just didn't linger in my heart and mind as much as other dramas, but from a quality perspective it's definitely the overall best of the idol cdramas this year.

2. generation to generation: objectively i don’t know that i should be ranking this so close to the top of the list. it certainly has a lot of problems. but those are my murder babies! i love them! as long as i get to see cai zhao throw herself in front of every threat to mu qingyan, and mu qingyan's tiny smiles about it, i’m happy. plus the ending made sense and was satisfying!! the bar is currently low enough that qualifies it for a top spot automatically.

1. my royal nemesis: far and away the winner so far this year. is it perfect with zero plot holes? no! was i squealing and kicking my feet and swooning and sighing like i used to watching kdramas of old? yes!!! considering my limited experience with ijy (glory) and hnj (when the phone rings) i was delighted by how well they paired as romantic leads! tour de forces, both of them, and whoever cast them here is a genius. i loved this.

older stuff

5. love me if you dare: fun if you're nostalgic for the crime solving duos of the 2000s/early 2010s. i did have moments of the nostalgia wearing off but overall good times. other than the, you know. dark serial killer stuff.

4. sound of the desert: holy wow this one was so hot! with an unabashedly feral otp that only got hotter the more committed they became. the love triangle dragged on far too long for my taste, but i could ff through most of that to get to the good stuff. totally worth digging around forgotten corners of the internet to find all the episodes.

3. legend of fuyao: super long with uneven pacing, but the first half is fire and the otp is like catnip to me! they make the draggy and confusing parts worth it. fl gets the glow up of the century (cinderella-like but saves herself with her own sword) and ml gets the breakdown of the century. catnip, i tell you!

2. the rise of phoenixes: okay technically i'm only like halfway done with this and i've been told things get questionable by the end, but the 40 episodes i've watched are sooooooooooooooooooooooo good. the leads haven't even actually done anything truly romantic together and i go rabid every time they're on screen together.

The protagonist digs her heels in and says no, she never knew her biological father and by the way the demon explained the situation, evidently her father also doesn't know that he already has a daughter, so therefore the man who had made no contribution to her life after he bred and fled has no claim to her as something he could barter.