Just Nodding Along

Sui Yuanqing:

"No." Says the tuna, "Do you?"

"I have never seen it." Says the whale, "but deep in my body, I remember it."

"Why do you care," says the tuna, "if you will never see it."

"There are bones in my body built to walk through the forests and the mountains." Says the whale.

"They will disappear." Says the tuna, "one day, your body will forget the forests and the mountains."

"Maybe I don't want to forget," Says the whale, "The forests were once my home."

"I have seen the forests." Whispers the salmon, almost to itself.

"Tell me what you have seen," says the whale.

"The forests spawned me." Says the salmon. "They sent me to the ocean to grow. When I am fat with the bounty of the ocean, I will bring it home."

"Why would the forests seek the bounty of the oceans?" Asks the whale. "They have bounty of their own."

Last year I finally had an excuse to illustrate this simple little Tumblr story I've had bookmarked forever for class.

I love how all the generals etc just pause whatever the fuck they are doing so they can eavesdrop on Yan Zheng and Fan Chanyu.

They are invested in the drama. They are willing to do so much ridiculous bullshit to help Yan Zheng keep up the ruse. Sure, it's mostly bc he's their boss, but you know they want to know the tea as well.

Pretty much everyone is like, bro, just tell her. But he's committed to the bit and they are not missing out on the free entertainment. These are probably the most entertaining shenanigans they have ever seen in their entire military careers.

But also Yan Zheng for fuck's sake, just tell her. Like they are trapped on a mountain with limited resources and bro is just wasting those resources and all his generals time (they probs have very little to do anyway but still) so he can live his Hannah Montanna double life.

Like he has a whole separate private tent so he can larp as Yan Zheng and then jump back to being the Marquis, and I know I'm overthinking it, but that tent was probably needed by someone else, or could have been put to better use.

Person: "Have a good day. Actually wait a minute. You missed a bug, but I got you home boy. Hold on." he picks a bug up and throws it next to the frog.

Frog: turns around and eats the bug.

our heroine, fan changyu, gets so many wonderful relationships across both genders, has such a developed and defined personality.

and small characters like the maid in qi min's manor make big impacts just by being kind to other women

then there are so many female side characters who are set up to be shallow antagonists but I think damn near every single one gets moments of dignity or bravery and as someone who's watched so many historical shows like this where they DON'T love women over the course of my life I'm just 🥹🥹🥹