tender is the ghost

Inspired out of spite by a post where someone said Lan Wangji not wanting to hear thank you and sorry from Wei Wuxian in the novel is stupid because healthy couples need communication and this is why CQL is better. LMAOO

OK. Before starting I want to point out that one of the themes of the novel and Wei Wuxian's characterisation is the concept of indebtedness and owings . It is one of the reasons why he is so dutiful towards the Jiangs and why he sacrifices his golden core and the reason he resurrects Wen Ning.

The words Thank you and Sorry are very significant in the story and are very explicitly tied to the above mentioned themes. They are the words Wen Qing says to Wei Wuxian in her parting because she feels indebted towards Wei Wuxian as he has protected her and the rest of Wen remnants and even resurrected Wen Ning on her request. Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian have a cycle of debts where they both believe they owe each other. [Just to clarify I don't think it's just indebtedness that defines their relationship but it's definitely there ].In the next life Wei Wuxian uses the exact pair of words on Jin Ling as he owes him for insulting his parents whose deaths are caused by him.

As you can see these words are explicitly associated with indebtedness and owing.

Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian unconditionally. He obviously wants Wei Wuxian to return his feelings BUT he does not want Wei Wuxian to do so out of indebtedness or gratitude. Whenever Wei Wuxian says thank you to him, the narration describes as him being tense and sad, the cause of this is as I described earlier and also because in the past whenever they have exchanged these words they have parted on bad terms.

The text is very explicit about this.

"Lan Zhan you're really scared of me telling you 'thank you', aren't you? I suddenly remembered many of the times we parted ways in my past life, I said 'thank you' to you right before. And every time we separated, I worsened the next time we met"

The time they killed Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu at the courier station, the time they met each other through the flowers at the towers in Yunmeng, the time they parted at Yiling's Burial Mound. Every time, he used that word to mark a clear line between him and Lan Wangji, stretching out the distance between them.

The word that finally breaks their makeout session in the inn is one thank you from Wei Wuxian where Lan Wangji snaps as he believes Wei Wuxian is only doing this out of gratitude towards him and not because he returns his feelings. It is insulting and heartbreaking to him and he is angry because of this.

When the conflict is resolved with the Wei Wuxian's confession that includes :

"... I swear it's not the heat of the moment or joking around like I have done in the past. I'm not doing it out of gratitude either. Anyways, it's not because of anything else. I really just like you so much."

He deliberately clarifies that there are no feelings of gratitude or indebtedness involved in his confession.

"Between you and me, there is no need for 'thank you' and 'sorry'."

This line by Lan Wangji defines how he views their relationship i.e without indebtedness or owings. So far all the relationships that Wei Wuxian had been a part of have the feeling of obligation and indebtedness, the Jiangs for raising him and Wen siblings for rescuing him and helping him out . Ofcourse he loves them but indebtedness and his sense of duty to repay them are also his major motivations. He takes drastic steps because of this and we all know how they turned out. Lan Wangji doesn't want this kind of relationship with him, the one he had with others in the past. He wants him to be free of ever feeling like that he owes Lan Wangji something.

(Leaked script of the original XuanWu cave scene)

*the first half is basically the XuanWu of slaughter appearing and all the cultivators trying to fight it. I'm only going to MTL the latter half where the biggest changes are found.

He (Wei Wuxian) is aiming three arrows at once towards the Xuanwu of slaughter when suddenly a scream came from behind him. Wei Wuxian turned his head and saw Wang Lingjiao instructing two servants to restrain MianMian while she is holding an iron brand and is aiming it at MianMian’s face. Wen Qing saw and tried to stop her but she was too late.

Wei Wuxian shot the arrows and hit the two servants as well as Wang Lingjiao. Wang Lingjiao let out a bitter cry but even as she is fleeing she still did not forget to rush towards MianMian with the iron brand.

Wen Qing rushes to MianMian pull her aside but the iron brand came straight at her instead. Wei Wuxian had no weapons and had to get close and push Wang Lingjiao aside but then the iron brand hit him instead. Wei Wuxian falls and knocks down Wen Qing. The two roll on the ground. The medicine Wen Ning gave him falls out of his robes and rolls off but no one notices.

Wang Lingjiao spouted a mouthful of blood, flew backwards, fell to the ground and cried. Wei Wuxian looked down and saw the clothes on his chest were burned and his flesh was smoking.

Wen Qing: (whispers) "Wei Wuxian! "

Wei Wuxian smiled at her as if he wasn’t hurt: “Wen Qing, please take care of yourself.”

Then he gets up and returns to the battle. Wen Qing wants to catch up to him but he is still in the middle of the battle.

When this leak spread all over Weibo, naturally the fans were anxious. Still, there was a fair amount of them who encouraged others not to judge too quickly, seeing as how it was possible for the so-called leaks to be fake. However that changed when footage of the XuanWu cave scene was leaked, and it coincided with the events in the script.

*Behold, this is the iconic leak that basically saved CQL's ass. Pay your respects

Understandably, shit went down and the fans were PISSED. They made petitions, bombed the shit out of the CQL official weibo, contacted Tencent senior management and even Jinjiang Literature City (aka JJWXC the site where MDZS is published) had to make an official statement on their weibo page.

Of course we now know that the fans' efforts were successful and that version of the iron-branding scene did not make it to the final cut.

However, we can still see traces of its original presence in the final cut. For example, Wen Qing's bizarrely empty role in XuanWu cave (in which she's literally just standing there the whole time) makes sense if you think about the fact that she was supposed to have a big moment during the iron-brand scene. MianMian's yuandao moment was moved early on and replaced with WWX asking for WQ's help to stop the march, while the medicine that WWX used in the XuanWu cave belonged to Wen Qing instead of MianMian.

CQL put a LOT of effort into shoving Wen Qing into the XuanWu cave scene, mostly at the expense of MianMian's original moments, which was undoubtedly for the purpose of shoehorning her into MianMian's iron-brand scene. Consequently, it also affected the scene where MianMian defended Wei Wuxian in front of all the sect leaders and got accused of only defending him because she "had romantic feeling for him".

(TL by exiledrebelsscanlations)

There is literally no good reason for such a line to be excised from the script. It's a small but powerful moment showing how the sect leaders reduced MianMian's level-headed arguments into a lovestruck woman's emotional outburst. But now it makes sense if you consider the possibility that this scene was part of the footage from the original script. It was "cut" because in this version, Wei Wuxian saved Wen Qing, not MianMian.

And lastly, the conversation WangXian had about MianMian in the cave was also affected. When LWJ accused him of being careless, WWX retorted by saying that since MianMian is such a pretty girl it would be a shame if Wang Lingjiao had successfully branded her face. That means that in the original script he should be talking about Wen Qing here since she was the one he saved. When CQL aired, eagle-eyed CN fans noticed something off with WWX's mouth movements in the cave scene, and realized that the dubbing did not match.

"...the 13th episode of XuanWu cave was really remade and changed back to Wei Wuxian saving MianMian, except the dubbing and mouth movements did not match. (38:02-38:10) the dubbing says "MianMian is a pretty girl", but Xiao Zhan's mouth says "Wen Qing is a pretty girl..." (MTL)

贝爷666 (2019, bilibili), article title: 孟子义加戏事件总览2——剧内外相关细节及证据（最全）

There were a lot of posts on Weibo about this, as a LOT of fans noticed, but at this point most of them were just happy that the team decided to respect the source material despite the time and budget constraints and they were quite generous with their praise with many fans saying thank you. It's also worth noting that according to the leaked schedule, the XuanWu cave was scheduled for shooting THREE times because of the scenes they had to cut, replace and add.

First shoot: June 14, 2018

Second shoot: July 14, 2018

Third shoot: July 22, 2018

It's likely that apart from refilming scenes to compensate for the ones they had to cut, they also filmed additional scenes that were added to the revised script, which may include the iconic "Do you like MianMian" scene, seeing as the mouth movement in that scene is accurate to the dubbing.

“Nothing,” Wei Wuxian said, merry. “Lan Zhan, you really are a good person.”

Lan Wangji, seemingly unsure as to how he should respond to this, shot him a strange look. 

Wei Wuxian continued speaking. “And I just realized, how can I be this bad? Even as a kid, I was bad. If I apologize to you now, would it be too late?”

At this, Lan Wangji raised an eyebrow, a rare moment of expressiveness from him. “Apologize?”

In the past, each time this person would demand that he apologize, his wrongdoings would only escalate in magnitude. “Don’t look at me like that,” Wei Wuxian said. “I’m being serious. Ah, forget it. Let’s not bring up old debts, shall we?”

Looking back now, it’s hard not to feel guilty for what he’s done when they were both young. 

“It’s probably because he’s always so stoic… that I can’t help but love seeing him lose his composure,” Wei Wuxian thought. “That’s probably why I always felt the need to tease him so. Really, I was terrible!”

It’s good, then, that Lan Zhan never truly hated him.

(And the romance between them just writes itself now.)

His core traits are still there yes: his stoicism, his silences, his righteousness, his integrity, and his stubbornness. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t grown as a character at all.

The word that comes to mind when I think of the younger Lan Wangji is cold. He’s stiff and distant from people and while he’s calm, yes, it almost always feels like a façade to me, especially in comparison to the sharp temper he’s shown to have at times. More than anything he comes off as angry: at himself most of all. And during and after the Sunshot Campaign he comes off to me as unsure with an underlying desperation to him—especially in regards to Wei Wuxian. How do I fix this? How do I help?

Lan Wangji after Wei Wuxian’s resurrection is tranquil in a way we don’t see even in the classes at the Cloud Recesses. He’s warm and gentle—not just with Wei Wuxian but with the Juniors—in a way we only had small glimpses of before Wei Wuxian’s death. He’s understanding but firm in his decisions and beliefs and what is right. His ice has melted, his sharp edges are refined, and there is a surety to him that we haven’t seen before.

Lan Wangji isn’t a perfect character but does something we don’t really see any other character in the novel do; we see him learn from his flaws and past mistakes. He doesn’t let his failures define him—instead he grows from them. He was always a good person but now we see that goodness and kindness in him so much more blatantly than before.

it's just - are we seeing the same characters?? And I know some will claim cql jc isn't as bad as novel/donghua but from what I've seen of cql jc uhh... No??

I really appreciate that Anon. I think I've only gotten one or two asks in that vein so far, but that is still two asks too many. Fortunately I am possessed with the ability to write swiftly and eloquently so I can shove them back into place if I need to.

In some ways, CQL JC is worse than his novel and donghua counterparts in that now we see him cry and pout and look a woman he claims he's fallen for in the eye and tell her that he will only save her if she agrees to marry him and her family can still die.

I think a lot of JC stans now don't interact with really any of the original media. It's just gif sets and metas written by people who have erased all of Jiang Cheng's character actions and fanfictions. Because the second you actually start engaging with the text in good faith, it's impossible to think that he doesn't mean the things he says or didn't want to do the things he did. It's only at the very end when he finds out that everything he has done in his life has been because Wei Wuxian gave him his own golden core so that he wouldn't die that he even begins to think that he wasn't utterly in the right for his cruel, evil, torturous and abusive actions. And we don't get any indication that this realization does more than let him let go of Wei Wuxian and stop trying to drag him back in.

Yeah, where was all that concern when Wei Wuxian came back after being missing for three months with a spooky new flute and the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation? Nowhere to be found me thinks. Because now Wei Wuxian and his heretic cultivation was a useful tool for revenge against the Wens. Who cared about what might happen to Wei Wuxian after that?

Keep in mind this scene is singular to the donghua. It doesn’t happen in the novel and it’s not even meant as a sub-in to another, similar scene in the novel like they sometimes did for some of Wangxian’s later scenes. So now I have to wonder at the purpose of it.

And obviously the main purpose is to impress upon the dangers of Demonic Cultivation. To make you go ‘oh shit’ and leave you wondering what changed in the future that led to Wei Wuxian using it and wielding it without trouble.

And yet we’re also given this very emotional part where Jiang Cheng just yells at Wei Wuxian about how dangerous it is to use and to never do it again. And I guess it’s supposed to emphasize Jiang Cheng’s… care(?), worry(???) for Wei Wuxian.

I don’t actually like this scene for a few reasons. Starting with how Jiang Cheng physically slams Wei Wuxian against a tree after he’s already been shown to be in bad health at this stage from both fighting and the effects of resentful energy. And it wasn’t like Jiang Cheng could miss it. It’s how he knew something was wrong in the first place—because Wei Wuxian could barely stand. So the physical violence just feels… unnecessary. And it’s not the last time Jiang Cheng has an emotional outburst and physically lashes out at Wei Wuxian either.

And secondly Jiang Cheng never actually checks on Wei Wuxian to make sure he’s okay. We’re never shown him sending Wei Wuxian to the infirmary or asking if he’s alright. He has no problem wailing on and attacking Wei Wuxian for his mistakes but actually checking on his wellbeing? Nope. None of that.

And while we’re maybe supposed to infer Jiang Cheng expresses care for Wei Wuxian afterwards we don’t see it. It’s just not shown.

And then Wei Wuxian comes back from the Burial Mounds.

Keep in mind Wei Wuxian has been missing for three months at this point. And unlike in the novel I don’t think it was ever clarified that Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji were searching for him. And yet we never get a scene with Jiang Cheng expressing he’s glad Wei Wuxian is alright or asking if he’s okay.

And remember that huge blow up Jiang Cheng had at Wei Wuxian for using demonic cultivation? Well now we get absolutely nothing from Jiang Cheng about it. And why? Well he says it himself.

‘As long as he’s killing Wen-dogs who cares what methods he’s using?’ Wei Wuxian’s safety and wellbeing? They aren’t even a factor to Jiang Cheng. Only getting revenge against the Wens.

In fact, in the very next scene we get with them together it’s Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian discussing getting revenge. And Jiang Cheng eagerly inquiring about a weapon Wei Wuxian can make to win the war. But, again, the lack of concern shown to Wei Wuxian as a person is concerning. Especially with how non-emotive Wei Wuxian is being at this point. It’s a complete one-eighty from how cheerful he normally is. And, yeah, it’s because of trauma but Jiang Cheng is never shown to be concerned it.

And it’s just… the double standards happening here. As long as Wei Wuxian is doing what Jiang Cheng wants then everything’s fine but as soon as Wei Wuxian goes outside of that Wei Wuxian is the one in the wrong—the reckless and irresponsible one.

So I mentioned a while ago that there's a MDZS essay on the Chinese website douban that I really loved. It was a good character guide for me when I read the novel, and more importantly, it's so beautifully and touchingly written. I also said that I wouldn't translate it but guess what I still did (well I translated part of it; @foxglovedforest here's the post!)

For anyone interested in reading the original Chinese, here's the link: movie.douban.com/review/9894870/ , below is my translation:

If what’s heart-wrenching about Lan Zhan’s character is his deep and steadfast love unbeknown to most, then what’s heart-wrenching about Wei Ying’s character is his entire life.

Wei Ying was born with the fate of a rootless wanderer. His parents died early, leaving him an uncared-for and miserable orphan. When he was nine, he thought that suffering had come to an end and fortune smiled on him. The little kid gnawing on melon rinds thought that from then on, he could hang about Lotus Pier happy and untroubled till the end of time. Little did he know that his allotted span turned out to be so short.

The entire world knew that young master Wei of Yunmeng was accomplished in the six arts, had charm and grace and radiant good looks, liked flirtations and merriment, was extraordinarily gifted, intelligent and vivacious. He lived as his temperament dictated and as his heart desired, and left behind many a tale that people were fond of telling.

He once was a genius favoured by the heavens who achieved his aspirations in early youth; he should have gone on to fulfill grand ambitions and outshine all others. And yet, one after another, fate snatched away the treasures granted to him: his family and loved ones, his talent and spiritual power, his good name and future.

The tragedy here is that had it been anyone else at that ridge in Jin Zixuan’s place Wei Wuxian’s reflex would have saved his life because they would have been trying to kill him and Wei Wuxian wouldn’t even have batted an eyelash. But it wasn’t anyone else—it was his Shijie’s husband. The tragedy here lies in that Jin Zixuan didn’t have any plans of harming Wei Wuxian but his own misjudgment and mishandling of the situation lead to him being killed in the crossfire.

I will start by saying that I will be referring to canon novel and the donghua because they are my most familiar adaptations. Moreover, I will not be making reference to any real life cultural habits or traditions - MDZS is a fantasy novel within which many different elements of many different time periods are mixed, and I find any interpretation should primarily stick to the facts of the story and its own universe - though I am aware all works of fiction are written in a particular cultural context.

Also, I will be paraphrasing/describing the scenes I am referring to as arguments as I do not have access to a copy of the translation at the moment. If anything remembered is wrong, let me know!

With that being said, let's get into it.

Madam Yu was abusive towards Wei Wuxian. This is my thesis and my conviction and here is why:

- there are instances in which she decidedly singles him out for punishment, as was the case in the, I believe, Lotus Pod Extra, and it is explicitly mentioned that it is not the first time this has happened

- she openly blames Wei Wuxian for the Wen invasion of Lotus Pier, in front of Wang Lingjao and before she sends Wei Wuxian off with Jiang Cheng on the boat (I have already written a post about why that's not true)

- the way she "entrusts" Jiang Cheng to Wei Wuxian before she dies, with little regard to Wei Wuxian's own life (yes, Jiang Cheng is her son and it is normal for her to want to know him safe, but the way she said it, after blaming Wei Wuxian for everything although it all affected Wei Wuxian too made it feel like a cruel, bitter order of 'at least protect my son you scoundrel, you owe it to me')

- she was determined to perform severe bodily harm to Wei Wuxian AKA cut Wei Wuxian's arm off. If Wang Lingjao had kept her mouth shut about the supervisory office for a few more minutes, I am sure Madam Yu would have done it.

She had already whipped him within an inch of his life, and though frustrated with Wang Lingjao, she ordered the doors of the hall to be closed so she could go through with the amputation. In fact, the whole punishment scene did not seem to bother Madam Yu regarding Wei Wuxian's safety, she just hated that Wang Lingjao ordered it and acted like she was entitled to it.

- she specifically calls him the "son of a servant" in a demeaning way, and tries brushing it off as simply stating the truth when called out by Jiang Fengmian over it. Madam Yu knows this is an insult, and so does her husband, which is why he dislikes her using it.

It's meant as an insult also from the way that Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli treat Wei Wuxian when he says it (re: one scene during the Cloud Recesses arc in which Jiang Cheng tells Wei Wuxian he is no servant as he is not treated like one) or when other people say it (re: Jin Zixun in the hunt where Yanli stood up for Wei Wuxian).

- she is hostile towards him in general: before the Wen Indoctrination Camp, she ridicules Wei Wuxian's desire to join in, then after the Xuanwu Cave incident, she not only disregards his achievement, but uses it as a way to villainize her husband and accuse him of favoritism in front of both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian

- she is meant to be seen as abusive. The way the text portrays her is that of a woman frustrated with a loveless marriage that her birth sect had persuaded her husband into, and she projects the lovelessness on the (rumored) fancy Jiang Fengmian supposedly had towards Wei Wuxian's mother. She often lashes out on people for no good reason and she is known as being vicious. Whenever she interacts with Wei Wuxian, it is to berate him for something, insult him or punish him. To my mind, this is abusive behavior.

- Madam Yu is coded as an abusive/ "bad" parental figure because her character openly contrasts with others':

Cangse Sanren, Wei Wuxian's mother, in his distant memories, appears kind-hearted and taught her son forgiveness;

Madam Lan is remembered as loving and even playful towards her children;

even Meng Shi appears as a mother who tried the best she could to provide better for her son despite her situation;

Lan Qiren, though strict, raised his nephews in the spirit of the rules he believed would guide them best in life.

Madam Yu is decidedly different from these people: not only is she very strict towards her own son (some have argued this is "Asian tiger parenting" and stems from love but I prefer to avoid entering this debate because I do not have the experience or the expertise with it and I do not want to discredit anybody's experiences), but she also shows no kindness towards Wei Wuxian either. Ever. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Madam Yu's behavior is written and portrayed in such a way that it doesn't appear "common" or "accepted" in the MDZS world. Most relevant parenting figures are very much unlike her, bar Madam Jin, with whom she is friends (birds of a feather...), Jin Guangshan who is absolutely despicable for many more reasons other than his horrible parenting, and Wen Ruohan. Even Jiang Fengmian, ever the passive man whose paroxymal laissez-faire in attempt to appease his wife and/or not fight with her, appears to be kinder.

Even if Wei Wuxian was allowed to share meals and spend time with the Jiang siblings (although he was not a relative nor adopted), that doesn't mean Madam Yu wasn't abusive (This is "I put a roof over your head and food on your table so be grateful no matter what" logic).

1) throws his weight around as “the man who killed the Yiling Patriarch,” only to told as a reader that that was a lie and he only kills weak people who remind him of Wei Wuxian,

2) tries to intimidate wwx on multiple occasions but is masterfully outmaneuvered each time except when wwx’s phobia or lan wangji’s reputation are involved,

3) was given a huge chance to prove that he “could” (theoretically) kill the Yiling Patriarch like he’s already being praised for doing, but STILL HESITATES because he’s a follower at heart and wants to see what everyone else is gonna do first?

But you know, my favorite scene involving him that drives all this home is how he had a whole breakdown, snot-crying and all, during a hostage situation in which he had shown up like he was gonna be the hero! Threw open the temple door, whip blazing, and gained the upper hand on Jin Guangyao who notoriously could not fight, only to get distracted! And stabbed! In like 5 minutes! And then, he turns to crying about how he should have had every right to hate wwx except now he knows he doesn’t! And tries to make this wwx’s fault! Meanwhile, wwx is reacting like the poor unfortunate soul who got trapped in the breakroom playing emotional support for the one coworker nobody likes. Y’all talk about wwx’s confession being awkward, meanwhile mans was having a whole crying fit about how everyone thinks he’s an idiot now. In the middle of a hostage situation. Like damn, who really was holding everyone hostage at that point?

even after the massacre at nightless city, after wei ying has presumably killed so many and watched his shijie die in his arms, after he pushes everyone away and went mad with anger, when everyone is condemning him and calling for his death, lan wangji is there to care for him. lan wangji holds wei wuxian close to his body, fighting his way out of nightless city and to a safe place… lan wangji is protecting someone that just went on a rampage and holds him like he is fragile glass, and is so determined to get him out… he risks everything—his family, his reputation, his honor—to take the yiling laozu away safely and to bring him back to health. when they’re in the burial mounds, lan wangji is careful with him, holds his hand, speaks softly to him, and provides him comfort. for days on end. even when wei ying is yelling at him to get lost. lan wangji provides him comfort even when he knows he will be condemned for it.

in the second life, lan wangji is still prepared to provide comfort in any form to wei wuxian, he never does what wei ying doesnt explicitly ask for, instead taking his words very literally, or finding some sort of loophole, with the intent just to have wei ying in his sight. though wei ying initially wanted to run away, lan wangji cant find it in himself to comply—he’d rather wei ying be stable and safe by his side rather than the alternative. later on, wei ying learns to love being pampered and fussed over. he realizes that he can be whiny and spoiled, and demand things from lan wangji he’s never demanded before (although to the contrary, many of his demands are pretty much the same as before… they’re just married about it now).

and it works out—wei ying loves being pampered, and lan zhan loves pampering him, too! wei ying sleeps in, laughs too loudly, is fed, is loved, is all of these things and is happy and healthy! lan zhan provides him something that hes never had in his first life—stability and comfort.

often times, wei ying likes to indulge and provide comfort or even just take care of his lan zhan for a change as well. whenever hanguang-jun is drunk, wei ying does his best to take care of him (though it just feels like he’s trying to babysit an overgrown child… lan zhan shouldn’t really be near a drink anymore..). but nonetheless wei ying enjoys taking care of his er-gege… he washes his face… gives him baths… teases him,… puts him to bed…. he does all these things that lan zhan does for him regularly, but if doesn’t feel like “returning the favor” at all, simply because wei ying enjoys doing these things too… but sometimes he’s not very good at it (the putting you to sleep AD extra where wei ying was too tired and fell asleep while taking care of a drunk lan zhan hahahahaha)

Mo Dao Zu Shi

Art by  Z'Aki疯猫

1. Close up of Lan Wangji’s scarred back.

3. Text that reads: how you inscribed/ on your body the/ geometry of grief.

忘羡一曲远，曲终人不散。 

Far and wide the song Wangxian spreads, even when it ends, we will not part.

WANGXIAN THROUGH THE YEARS