chocolate is life

Historians Hate Him

(Bonus: Lost footage of WWX's death)

He looks so happy here too I feel ill (again)

Starting with WYB, I know everyone and their mother has already praised his acting skills, but seriously, this dude is SO GOOD at micro-expressions.

I have never seen a lead character with so few spoken words and WYB is exceptional at showing Lan Wangji's feelings through the tiniest expressions while barely moving his face. You could feel his emotions through his eyes.

Look at that last one, there is so much pain in his eyes 😭😭 (Side note: How can someone look this beautiful???)

And Xiao Zhan: The way he portrayed Wei Wuxian's journey from a fairly happy go-lucky person to the Yiling Laozu had me crying multiple times. He lost everything (his family, his reputation, and a literal PART OF HIMSELF) and XZ's acting did everything justice. The way he was laughing while crying multiple times made my heart break into a million pieces. Just chef's kiss to his every acting choice 👌🏻

He also gave us the most devastating parallel EVER:

Just kill me with a shotgun, why don't you?? 😭😭 (Side note: he's handsome as fuck oh my god)

I didn't like every change The Untamed did story wise (fuck censorship 🥲), but the acting really is perfect. I couldn't imagine a better WWX or LWJ. WYB and XZ did an absolutely FANTASTIC job!

CHAPTER 12 ✨

Mangadex ◦ Kagane ◦ Download .CBZ ◦ Chapter index

The start of volume 2 is finally here! There was a lot of dialogue, so it took me a bit longer to finish. Enjoy!

Support the manga by buying the original Japanese releases at cmoa.jp!

Remember, each scene with them - while only several minutes tops to us - spans over years of Wei Wuxian’s - now dramatically shortened - life. The most stressful years, at that.

When Wei Wuxian was being asked to give the Wen Remnants up, he was basically being asked to give up the one group of people who treated him like normal despite his unorthodox cultivation. To kill, effectively, his family.

Need I remind you, literally everyone else in attendance has been leaning on the “I lost my family” bit for sympathy points ? Except the Lan, Xichen never really used that. Probably because of his tendency to try to take up the least space possible.

Nie Mingjue lost his father. His response ? Despise the people who did it forever.

Jiang Cheng lost his sister, parents, and most of his sect. His response ? Despise the Wen forever, to the point of overlooking significant debts he owes two innocent members on being reminded of the Lotus Pier Massacre, and to the point of aiding in the destruction of what is effectively a refugee camp despite knowing what it is.

Jin Guangyao lost his mother (and was also abused by most of the world and his father for his low birth). His response ? This gives him a carte blanche to do whatever the fuck he wants.

Even Nie Huaisang, though I love him, took vengeance for his brother’s death.

Wei Wuxian lost his family, saw his pseudo-sister burn to death, saw his pseudo-brother be captured, became hated by his other psuedo-brother (though I’m not convinced he ever saw it that way), saw his other pseudo-sister die, too, and then proceeded to lose his entire family in a brutal massacre - led by aforementioned pseudo-brother - that was brought on largely as a response to his low birth. His response ? Kill several (not nearly enough) of the cultivators after they break their word and attack him, and then come to his senses and give his life to destroy an artifact that could potentially bring ruin to those same people. After he comes back to life, it’s even more egregious - he straight-up defends them, man.

I can't get out of my head how much the story asked of Xiao Zhan as an actor specifically with regards to Wei Ying's post-Burial Mounds PTSD and anger management issues and this is BECAUSE: In every episode you see him get just a little closer to the cliff you know he's gonna self-yeet off of soon enough. Every time he edges a little closer, you're like "WOW what a performance, this has to be the limit, how can he top this?" And every time you think Wei Wuxian has reached his Fucking Lost It limit, the story asks him to go further the next time AND HE DOES.

So when the Soup Drama happens you're like Oh shit there he goes. Then the Wens are missing and he has to flip out and tell everyone if they don't start talking he's gonna count to three! And scares the shit out of everyone and you're like WOW. Staggering!

He finds Ning and raises the Ghost General and you're like "This is zenith performance from Xiao Zhan's face, how can he top this level of angry tears and menace?"

Then episode 31 comes along and he just ruins you.

Then 32 happens and you're like "This is it, peak Ape Shit, we'll never see Wei Wuxian more broken and insane and angry than this."

But--partly due to amazing direction, admittedly wild makeup, and excellent framing, but mostly down to Xiao Zhan's astonishing acting--by the time the beginning of episode 33 comes around you feel like he's already off the cliff, all the remains is the physical yeeting. He does this sort of broken thing with his posture, this kind of deadly stillness. And his face. HIS FACE. You know, because of his performance, that there's no way out for him; there's no getting past this, you really feel his lack of options--his lack of anything at that point--and it's bone-deep.

Lan Xichen. My favorite in the drama. He is canonically calm, conciliatory and kind of a people pleaser. But I love how Liu Haikuan chose to highlight how Done™️ he is with this role and with everything. You can feel the "here we go again" energy CASCADING from him every time there's more conflict he has to mediate. Thanks to him, I headcanon that Xichen closes his eyes so no one can see him rolling them.

Let's get Jiang Cheng out of the way. Friendly reminder that in this house we hate JC discourse—both pro and against— so keep it away. However, I do think a lot of the Bitter Grape defenders came to be thanks to Wang Zuocheng. He really amped up the awkward little bro who just wants to be included, and the sad and pathetic adult who still just wants to be seen but wears his anger as an armor. Zuocheng really highlighted JC's wet stray cat qualities and it made him far softer that the book's prickly asshole. (It also helps that he got more screentime so we got to know him more).

Wen Qing is another one of my favorites, because book WQ is a no-nonsense doctor hardened by her environment and making difficult choices without batting an eye, most of the time. In CQL they did soften her so she could be a potential love interest (and let's leave it at that), but I also like how Meng Ziyi plays her in a way that you can feel her perpetual worry, how underneath her serious professional mask, she is just Stressed ™️ 24/7.

Jin Zixuan is also an interesting case because, in the book, he strarts off as a haughty nepo baby until it's later revealed he's just socially awkward. In the show, the social awkwardness is palpable from day 1. He acts just like my autistic bestie when he's trying to mask too hard. Now, I'm in no way diagnosing the character nor the actor, I'm just saying Cao Yuchen NAILED the "how do I people?" behavior perfectly.

We won't talk about Lan Zhan and Wang Yibo's master class on micro-expressions or we'd be here all day.

We also won't talk about Xiao Zhan's acting because *I* could be here all day. My Shaylas.

ep 1. I Accidentally Get Resurrected

ep 2. My Teenage Nephew Bullies Me

ep 3. The Teacher’s Pet Duels Me to the Death

ep 4. Lan Xichen Shoots His Shot

ep 5. Jiang Cheng Needs a Wingman

ep 6. We Speak With Lan Zhan’s Frozen Grandma

ep 7. Lan Zhan Smiles

ep 8. We Embark On an Epic Field Trip (Also Nie Huaisang is Here)

ep 9. I Throw Hands With a Bird

ep 10. We Meet Our Celebrity Crushes

ep 11. We Pull Up to Evil Summer Camp

ep 12. The Low-Budget Dog Animatronic Tries to Eat Me

ep 13. We Battle the Tortoise of Doom

ep 14. I Threaten to Strip

ep 15. My Stepmom Ships Us Off

ep 16. Pretty Much Everyone I Love is Dead Now

ep 17. I Find a Cure

ep 18. I Plummet To My Death

ep 19. I Come Back Wrong

ep 20. Lan Zhan Breaks Up With Me

ep 21. I Evade Non-Consensual Therapy Sessions

ep 22. My Evil Flute Solo Kills Everybody

ep 23. I Ditch the Dinner Party

ep 24. My Ex’s Brother Tries to Stage an Intervention

ep 25. Jin Zixuan Fumbles My Sister

ep 26. I Reanimate My Homie

ep 27. My Brother Questions My Interior Design

ep 28. Lan Zhan Discovers the Joys of Fatherhood

ep 29. I Get Major FOMO

ep 30. I Fulfill My Cottagecore Fantasies

ep 31. Everything Goes Downhill

ep 32. My Nephew Becomes an Orphan

ep 33. I Plummet to My Death (For Real This Time)

ep. 34 Jin Ling Gets Eaten By a Wall

ep 35. We Become Tomb Raiders

ep 36. Lan Zhan Steals a Chicken

ep 37. I Force Feed Radioactive Porridge to Teenagers

ep 38. Xiao Xingchen Breaks the Bro Code

ep 39. I Go On a Shopping Date

ep 40. I Crash a Conference for Free Food

ep 41. Nie Mingjue is an Unreliable Narrator

ep 42. Everyone Wants to Kill Me (Again)

ep 43. Lan Xichen Trauma Dumps

ep 44. We Visit the Ruins of My Cottagecore Fantasies

ep 45. I Do Group Conflict Resolution In My Underwear

ep 46. The Truth Comes Out

ep 47. I Become a Hostage

ep 48. Jin Guangyao Talks Too Much

ep 49. I Reunite With My Evil Flute

Be me, age 13

Go to Prove Myself At My Job (which was decided from birth because this is a xianxia)

My fuckass incest uncle makes fun of me for being motherless

Since when was fuckass incest uncle a good fighter??

Uncle-in-law decides to glue my lips shut

Whatever.jpg

Get into an argument with my uncledad

Hear rumors about a haunted tomb in the woods

Be in the walls of said tomb and nearly die

Wake up to fuckass incest uncle leaning over me with my robes half off

Whatever.jpg

Why the fuck am I finding dead cats now

Wind up in an actual ghost town

Why the fuck is this guy here again

Say we should be cautious about this guy who we wind up should have been cautious about

Holy shit incest uncle got some moves

Is this how making friends works

Whatever.jpg

Go home

Why is incest uncle here AGAIN at a banquet he DEFINITELY SHOULD NOT BE AT

Ok whatever he might be a fuckass incest uncle but he's MY fuckass incest uncle. Piss off Jin Chan

Incest uncle's pretty cool actually

My aunt kills herself

Whatever.jpg

Fuckass incest uncle is actually the dude I was supposed to murder for killing my dad. Who is also my uncle

I stab him

The uncledad who was telling me to murder demonic cultivators is not happy about that

I get kidnapped

Everyone is mad at me for stabbing the guy I was supposed to stab according to everyone ever including myself

Whatever.jpg

Worst Family Reunion Ever Happens

Oh god is Hanguang-jun going to kill my uncledad (happens like 3 times)

Oh god is my uncle going to kill me

My uncle helped murder my dad by accident??

The dude who literally put his hand through my dad's chest saves me

My uncle dies

My uncledad decides now is a good time to return to the philosophy of not hitting children

Yao-zhongzhu decides opening his mouth is a good idea

I have one relative left alive

My friend started reading mdzs and I decided to make a guide to help her differentiate between all of Jin Ling's uncles. And also flex my designer muscles on these characters

Nie Huaisang design was inspired by @cherizsaw 's design. Love it a lot

[ID: An MDZS character chart. Mo Xuanyu and Wei Wuxian are both grinning at Lan Wangji, who looks neutrally at Mo Xuanyu; Jiang Cheng is scowling; Lan Xichen is smiling; Nie Huaisang is smiling with a fan held up.

Mo Xuanyu: summoned mc into his body; Jin Ling's uncle

Lan Wangji: childhood tsundere; silently simps on mc; Jin Ling's future uncle

Wei Wuxian: mc in his original body; put the whole cultivation world on their knees and fucking died; Jin Ling's uncle

Jiang Cheng: mc's brother; pathetic loser with an inferiority complex; my fave btw; Jin Ling's main uncle

Lan Xichen: Lan Wangji's brother; he KNOWS; Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao's sword brother; Jin Ling's uncle