#aughaughaugh

Didn’t know I needed Callisto acting the part of the red queen until today eugheugheugh look at those biceps he’s so beefy *dies*

And I know we knew as much since pretty much the beginning, but it’s so liberating to finally see Callisto take on the mantle as the true official male lead and endgame of the story!! He’s finally getting the spotlight he deserves in both series and merch, I cannot stress enough how happy this makes me GO CALLISTO GO *explodes*

Y’know what—the rest of the male leads as chibis are so stinking cute, I want to wrap them up in a blanked and put them in my pocket aaaaaa

And you know ya girl is getting the corottos of these little stinkers, this time I’m actually pretty tempted to get them all instead of my usual tunnel vision for mostly Callisto and Penelope, and occasionally Reynold

COUPLE STANDEES WE WON SO BAD AUGH

Finallyyyyyyy omfg—fucking finally, we’ve been waiting to get couple standees of these two, it was always other manhwas but never vadd *sobs*

Crazy to see that we actually made it, and with this result no less, the standees are absolutely breathtaking!! Apparently if you buy them both together you get some sort of ‘couple bracelet’ or smth as a little extra which is so adorable, can’t wait to make a lil’ review of these when I order and get them :D

PENELOPE IS WEARING CALLISTO’S CAPE AAAAAAA *disintegrates*

Back to the art though; another thing I absolutely love about today’s new illustration is this hearts detail—Callisto is dropping four hearts into Penelope’s open hand, she’s willingly accepting them. Not only that—there’s two red hearts (symbolizing Callisto) and two magenta hearts (symbolizing Penelope)

But that’s not all!! Usually these crystal hearts were used to symbolize the male leads and their affection scores in the covers—and what do we have here? Exactly four hearts for the other remaining ‘male leads;’ Callisto basically replaced those with his own and Penelope’s

Nie Huaisang shows him the message and is like "so uhh I'm pretty sure this is from Wei Wuxian." "Why is it written in blood?" "he's in the Burial Mounds, you can't expect him to have ink." Lan Wangji concedes this point, and wants to know why he is being told this, so Nie Huaisang explains that to have a batshit insane Wei Wuxian on their side would be very damn useful. Issue is, they need to find the Wen siblings and Xue Yang and get them to safety in order to get his support in the war, and Lan Wangji is great for field missions during this lull in the fighting. It's not like Nie Huaisang is going out!! He works best behind the scenes, after all.

Of course, Lan Wangji is more than desperate to make up for the mistakes he made by not attempting to help Wei Wuxian when he first had a chance to, so he goes out of his way to hunt for the Wen siblings and Xue Yang, chasing down information in a way that is basically like what he was doing during those three months in canon. He finally learns that they are in the supervisory office of Yiling, and goes on over there to collect them - and take back Yiling in the process. Yes, there is a thought of how close Wei Wuxian really was to his family all along, but it's overshadowed by the realisation that they need to explain to Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen what's been going on while they've been busy plotting and planning to save the Jianghu.

Lan Wangji makes the executive decision to bring it up during a meeting, and there is varying degrees of skepticism to the news. Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen are open to the chance of a changing tide in the war, plus they owe Wei Wuxian the protection of his family after they so carelessly overlooked him before he was thrown into the Burial Mounds. Jin Zixuan is like "I said right from the start that he was brainwashed, but nobody believed me!" so he's willing to take the risk of harbouring three wen associates if it means being proven right through the powerhouse that could be Wei Wuxian. (I should explain that they believe that he must be pretty powerful right now because one, he's actually survived in the Burial Mounds, and two, he's had previous work with resentful energy, he had to be getting up to some kind of work in the hellsite.)

Jiang Fengmian is like "I don't know all that much about him, but he did save Jiang Cheng's life, and he's the son of my bestie" but Yu Ziyuan (who is obviously there because why wouldn't she be) is NOT having it. Why would she? She's a hater. She's saying all sorts of insults n shit, but Lan Wangji basically left the moment he got assent from all of the actual sect leaders, so it's all for naught in the end. Lan Wangji is too busy showing up to the supervisory office in Yiling with a small group of soldiers, kicking ass and taking names like there's no tomorrow. Xue Yang, who is quite rabid at the moment, is watching the carnage and being like "I'm going to fucking kill anyone who touches Wei-gege's notes" while Wen Ning and Wen Qing are getting ready to escape. Lan Wangji catches them in the act but is like "we're here to help" and shows them the note that the crows sent.

The lads (Wen siblings + Xue Yang) realise that Wei Ying is alive and go through so many different emotions but they don't have time to unpack all of them - Xue Yang wants to go into the Burial Mounds himself to collect Wei Ying, but Wen Qing shuts that down. They don't know how Wei Ying survived, and they have no clue if Xue Yang would survive. It's best to just let Wei Ying come back to them, like a stray puppy. Xue Yang does not like this, so Wen Qing instead gets him with a needle and Wen Ning carries him along, used to this turn of events. (Yes I have decided that Wen Ning is the shy but sweet brawns to his older sister's brains. He's not not smart or anything, I just think it'd be neat.)

Meanwhile, the crows are watching all around because they're in Yiling, and they report back to an anxiously awaiting Wei Ying, who has been pre-emptively gathering an army of resentful spirits who could find closure in fighting and violence and death. He's helping them all be chill through a gentle melody session, and the Burial Mounds is dragging more spirits into Its grounds to help out Its precious son! Wei Ying learns that his family is not only alive but close to him, and is simultaneously kicking himself while also thanking the Gods that they are alive and they're going to be safe in the grasps of the Sunshot Campaign. With that knowledge handed to him, he feels a lot calmer as he squares his shoulders, pushing all the pain to the side and focusing on the army of resentful spirits he has created.