it occurred to me tonight that when I watched CQL aka The Untamed a couple years ago, I put all my thoughts about it up on twitter, live as they happened. and as twitter continues its death throes, perhaps that's not the best place for them to live permanently. So I dug through my twitter archive and copied them all over. HERE IT IS. My live-reaction to watching through the show over the course of four months, beginning January 30, 2021!



oh dang this is QUITE the way to start the very first episode of the untamed, sure am glad I read all that fic so I know what the heck is going on

(yes I am attempting to watch the show, shhhh, let's not jinx it, we'll see how far I get)

but HIIIIIIIII WWX!!!!! good to see your face! Even if it is. You know. Blood covered.

oh. oh heck. oh no. literally all the lan juniors look exactly identical to my poor faceblind self. one of them is apparently sizhui but do I know which one? will I ever know which one? I posit NO.

ok so I understand WHY the subs translate "Gongzi" as "Childe", dictionaries are not always great at clarifying whether a word is still in common usage, but it is also ENDLESSLY HILARIOUS to me, it makes it feel like the characters come from a lord byron poem

the incredible dramatics around how lwj is introduced for the first time is PERFECT omg

SUCCESS one entire episode watched, I'm so proud of me. apparently all it took was an entire year of reading fanfiction to have enough of a grounding to feel capable of watchign the show

the thing about watching the untamed is that when I'm reading fic I am ALL ABOUT people dealing with terrible things happening (and dealing with doing terrible things) but when I'm watching them I'm just like "awww oh no I want you all to be ok :(((("

in other news, why is jc not wearing purple, I was promised clan-based colour coding but he's in teal????

also I gotta say that although everything is very beautiful in the show, the special effects are NOT as good as they were in my head

I am noticing that names sound different depending on who's saying them, is this an accent thing? I'm assuming it's an accent thing. Makes it hard to figure out what the "correct" pronunciation of any name is though!

tbh the >7 minute youtube video of every instance of wwx's name being said in the show is an embarrassingly large influence on why I'm finally watching the show

just finished second episode and aaaaaaaaa so many yunmeng sibling feels, seeing them young and happy and alive

one of the things that keeps surprising me about this show is that every single scene has far more people in it than I expected. Just so many people standing around watching the goings-on

lwj is so obviously being framed as a love interest, with zero words about it being said, and it's truly beautiful to see

wwx has SUCH a charismatic smile. what a good face all round tbh

lxc tries to friendship-matchmake lwj/wwx right from the start omg! delightful. Also: watching lxc and lwj together is fascinating and I love them

wen ruohan is just peak drama eh. Ok not QUITE as peak as darth vader's lava castle in whichever star wars that was, but like, he ASPIRES.

*narrows eyes* is this translation using the word "canary" to mean "a songbird english people will recognize that is commonly kept as a pet" like friggin Cyril Birch did in Stories From a Ming Collection, TELL ME WHAT KIND OF BIRD I'M ACTUALLY SEEING

god. I just. Every time I get to meet another of the characters I'm already attached to I'm just like "HIIIIII ILU" (currently: nhs, but I'm still not over how much I like lxc also)

back to watch more! and oh no am I ready for the doomed tragedy between lxc and jgy? based on my feelings after brief interactions in ep4 I am notttt

wow jyl is really put in the role of Beautiful and Good Peacemaker between her two brothers, isn't she. does she get to have her own narrative focus later, or is her only role to be important to men?

she doesn't even get any of the roast fish! wwx and jc get one each and she looks on benevolently!

wowwwww wwx is sure brazen in his bringing up the use of resentful energy in that lecture! I mean, I get that the lecture was boring and restrictive but.....

I want to go hiking in the back hills of the Lan clan :( it looks so pretty!

lolllllll wwx bugging lwj in the library and then immediately like "NO I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO LOOK AT ME" when lwj finally acknowledges him!

how much younger than wen qing is wen ning supposed to be? I'm so bad at telling ages, but she parents him as if he's a small kid, and they look similar ages to my eyes!

sword-riding is EXTREMELY SILLY I'm just saying

I love the wee bits of visuals we get of non-cultivators in Caiyi town, the contrast is really interesting! people wearing actually practical clothing!

I RETURN, time for more Untamed watching! I am at the beginning of episode 6 and uh that is not how I expected the legendary instance of lwj's one time drinking one cup of wine to go?? wwx it is NOT COOL of you to use magic to force other people to drink!!

wwx & jc's friendship with nhs is super cute though

hahaha the soundtrack is SUPER UNSUBTLE, it is saying WWX & LWJ ARE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER

what looks like a "normal" forest varies around the world, which like: duh. but the forest with bamboo instead of trees is really throwing me for a loop (in earlier scenes, dead leaves blowing around looked weirdly wrong to me too! EARTH PLANT LIFE IS VARIED, NEWS AT 11)

OH OH OH are we getting the exciting cave experience I've heard so much about?????

the camera's just gonna liiiiiiinger on those shots of their hands bound together with lwj's special fancy headband that was specified to be only touched by family and partners

it's interesting to me how much lqr & lxc are presented as a duo in the show, often standing them next to each other, having them in matched darker-coloured robes, most of their conversations are with each other. Clearly very close, despite being rather different people!

this show is sure into its infodumps isn't it. I mean I'm here for Lan Yi, female leader of the Lans, very intense about rabbits, but

beginning episode 7, idek why it took me so long, but AAA the way wwx and lwj LOOK at each other and without speaking just CONNECT in their understanding of each other in reaction to what Lan Yi is saying!

it feels passé for some reason to have wwx/lwj feelings, because like, EVERYONE'S been there already, but uh that doesn't stop them from being mfeo

is it just me or are wen qing's eyes like. REALLY big for her face

real funny to me the way the yin iron is never to be touched by hands, only by MAGIC FLOATING

I've been confused why, when ppl say Lan-gongzi, it sounds like Lar-gongzi, but I THINK I cracked it, I think they're saying Lan-er-gongzi but the first syllables are mooshed together! gotta wait for someone to address a Lan other than lwj as gongzi to see if this theory holds

lwj and wwx just KEEP LOOKING AT EACH OTHER IN TANDEM this episode!!!!

lwj SMILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jin guangshan and jiang fengmian are neither of them quite what I expected, somehow??

it should be Illegal to make jiang yanli sad

beginning ep8 and once again obsessing over a) forest plants and b) how names are pronounced, I am a tragic nerd who should just be left to my own devices apparently because I cannot be helped

evil magic wen corvid-type bird! I don't know what sorts of corvids china has but it's definitely a familiar family of bird!

nhs is SHORT! ah that little jump to try to see over the crowd, even though there's no chance it'll actually help, I love it

lolll we seriously spend THAT much time focusing on how lwj is so BEAUTIFUL and REFINED while petals fall all around him, amazing

lolll we seriously spend THAT much time focusing on how lwj is so BEAUTIFUL and REFINED while petals fall all around him, amazing

a wen is TOUCHING a yin iron piece with his HAND instead of having it float menacingly as he tilts his head, astonishing! (do I know which wen it is? I do not, all the wens except for wq & wn are a variety of interchangeable high-drama evil people so far)

am I mad that wq made a service professional's life harder in the process of her plan to be able to pass on a warning to jc? yes BUT do I love that she had a plan and it worked and jc got on board immediately once he understood? also yes!

I kind of love that nhs just....invited himself along on the adventure lwj and wwx are going on, and they're willing to roll with it. And apparently a fairly extended adventure, if it's one where they need to seek out night's lodging!

there's a fic I read once that posits that cultivators constantly, without thinking about it, use their skills to keep their hair out of their face while they fight, which is why they can all wear their long hair down all the time, and I think about that in every fight scene

LOVE that the binding talisman wwx invented and used to tease lwj also has like, Actual Uses, and that the earlier scene was putting a chekov's gun on the table, not just giving us opportunity to watch wwx and lwj interact!

CLIFFHANGER ENDING, EH???

ok fine cliffhanger got me I'm watching two episodes in a row, and ahhhhh wq saves the day! also the instrument she's playing sounds beautiful

also the mini-flute type thing seems WAY more practical as a spiritual instrument than lwj's guqin, just saying

cultivator outfits are just SO pretty and I think about it every episode, thank you to the creators of the untamed for prioritizing Everyone Looks Great Always

lwj and wwx have a ~*~connection~*~ and I love to see it

srsly watching them fight together in perfect unity while wwx has all his senses closed down!!

WAIT. WAIT. Are these the innocent wen villagers who become the people wwx protects in the yiling burial mounds???? is THAT A-YUAN I JUST SAW???????????

ok but seriously I spend a lot of time staring at plants when I walk places, I want the video camera to just slow down a bit and let me look at the understories of these forests so I can familiarize myself with all the plants I don't know!! this is Important

OH wwx's neck is all raw from the chain around it earlier, don't mind me just thinking of a previous fandom where necks were important and vulnerable, yes I DO ship methos with literally every character in every fandom and I want to import him into this one too

wwx is Smart, Actually

new outfits can appear by magic apparently, nobody's carrying anything except their swords but wwx DEFINITELY has changed at the very least his outer robe. reverse katana space, where your sword is always visible but everything else can be stored away in a magic pocket?

this waiter is so clearly delighted to be asked about local ghost stories! love it, glad this service worker is having a good time, after the last one

well that's an upsetting scene to open the doors to

alright. ALRIGHT. Episode 10! I can do this! Maybe

OH HELLO CREEPY ROOF GUY

xue yang sure loves evil smirks doesn't he. he's just having a GREAT time

awwwww, wwx directly comparing him and lwj to the extremely married Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen!

I've been doing so well with my face-blindness issues (the colour coding is SO helpful) but this episode is causing me Problems. Apparently I cannot recognize my/jgy without the jin forehead dot, and also the white-robed one of sl & xxc looks weirdly like lwj to me?

usually I like spoilers, because knowing what's going to happen in the end lessens the narrative tension, but uhhhhhh sometimes knowing the spoilers means you get EXTRA narrative tension before it's clear anything is actually going wrong, because you Know

in this show lots of things DON'T go alright in the end and so the spoilers are not reassuring!

sldfhksjjdhflkahsf all the unnecessary SPINS in the fight scenes. I mean, Peak Drama is the most important thing when you are a cultivator, I realize this, but also: that is not how you keep from being murdered

my is SO good at manipulating nmj

well this episode has murdered me, I am dead. and this is only the beginning of all the murdering-of-me this show is going to do

ep 11 time! I have switched sources of Untamed, so my subtitles are, I think, a different set now, so I get to have more fun analyzing translation choices. Right now, feeling something about them translating addresses such as "da-ge" as the character's name instead

at least I now get "young master" instead of "childe" for "gongze" so that's an improvement!

askhdskjfjsdhkjhfdd seeing wwx and jc at their HOME in lotus pier where everyone is SO HAPPY to see them, and knowing what is coming 😭

oh no the attack on cloud recesses :((((((((((((((((((

that whole scene between lqr and lxc was UPSETTINGGGG, ugh how dare (but also how dare the subtitles translate shufu as grand master instead of as, like, uncle??? the emphasis on the relationship is important here!!)

fighting with an enormous stringed instrument after descending dramatically from the sky with white robes swirling around you: still hilarious. thank you lwj for this moment of levity in an upsetting episode

this show sure leans into lava=evil, doesn't it. what if I, a humble nerd, merely find all forms of geology fascinating, including volcanism

WELL I said last episode that the show had made a good start on regularly murdering me, and yup, the murdering continues, RUDE, what gave the untamed permission to give me so many feels

wait should I be tagging everything in this thread with something so people who don't care about the untamed can mute that tag? is that how you do twitter politeness? ok everything's gonna be tagged #cql from now on

#cql episode 12! wow, confiscating everyone's swords, DEEPLY RUDE

#cql love that nhs' biggest reaction so far has been to the notion that they all have to put the work into memorizing a book, and they WILL be tested on it

#cql wwx really is willing to talk back to absolutely anyone, isn't he

#cql and then lwj is RIGHT THERE saying nothing but standing up for wwx against dangerous people nonetheless!! god I love them both

#cql wait is....is the monster in wwx's cell actually supposed to be real? I thought it was so obviously fake that it was fake in-show too, and wwx was just so scared bc of his canon fear of dogs. but no maybe it's just. VERY BAD SPECIAL EFFECTS.

#cql ahhhhhh wq willing to disobey his sister to do what he thinks is right!!! even though he looks like he's totally under her thumb

#cql the monster in the cell is just. SO FAKE. How am I supposed to take this menace seriously!! I was having feels while wwx was all injured and worrying about lwj while wn was worrying about wwx, but now that we're back to Fake Wolfy Beast I'm just loling

#cql lots of sibling feels going on! wn & wq especially! AUGH

#cql ok episode 13. I love how EVEN THOUGH wq sternly told wn to have nothing to do with wwx & lwj, because the association would be dangerous, when wwx asks wq for help for lwj she just immediately does it

#cql oh godddddd and then wen chao IMMEDIATELY threatens her brother because of her kindness!!!!!! AUGH

EVERY time I see jzx these days I think of what I learned elsewhere on the internet, that the name Zixuan is associated with a person being a "fresh-faced pretty-boy with rosy lips and perfect teeth"

#cql good cave, very atmospheric, I like it. Anyone know where it was filmed so I can google the geology of it?

#cql watching lwj just being so casually competent at fighting with a torch as his weapon, without stepping a single foot because his leg is injured: good times. even if ALL OF YOU FIGHTING IN A CAVE WITH A MURDEROUS MONSTER IS A BAD IDEA

#cql the effects in this show continue to be, uh, bad. also: the monster does Not seem capable of like, moving from where it is, just reaching out with its neck, so why don't they all retreat??

#cql the choice to dress lans all in white does make blood nicely dramatic, probably wwx has even more blood on him right now than lwj bc of that brand etc, but lwj LOOKS so much more worrying atm!

#cql LOVE that wwx goes immediately for Special Meanings Lan Headband even though he has a perfectly ordinary ribbon in his own hair he could have used instead to bind lwj's leg!

#cql it's funny how it feels weirdly intimate to be seeing wwx in just his red underrobe, after being used to seeing him in so many layers! I love how ideas of what counts as "fully clothed" is so culturally dependent and context dependent

#cql aaaaaah and then watching lwj and wwx care for each other's wounds, INCREDIBLE

#cql "i don't flirt with you anyways," wwx says to lwj, like a LIAR

#cql NOW KISS

#cql lwj is SO obviously just like whole body fed up with wwx's obliviousness

#cql lwj is SAD about his FAMILY and now I AM TOOOOO

#cql and now wwx is ALSO sad about his family, this is too many sad families, nobody else is allowed to get injured or dead or anything anymore

#cql I don't think I have enough time before bed to watch another episode, given that it takes me RATHER longer than 44 min to get through a 44 min episode, but I waaaaaaaant to

#cql I RETURN TO MY UNTAMED WATCH, I sure am slow at this aren't I. Anyway. Episode 14! amazing how dramatic just picking up some spent arrows can be, if the music and the choice of shots is aimed appropriately

#cql what the fuck is wwx INSIDE THE TORTOISE?????

#cql also. are they talking to each other telepathically?? is that what lwj's spell to wwx's forehead was for? AMAZING, this episode truly delivers

#cql Do Not Believe that this is the actual inside of a living being though, feeling pretty dang confident this is not how tortoises work (or even magical beings that are half tortoise half snake and all evil)

#cql is the. is the head of the monster INSIDE ITSELF.

#cql otoh god I love wwx's face, what a good face

#cql WANGXIAN DOT MP3

#cql oh I did not understand before, I was a foolish baby mere minutes ago, WANGXIAN DOT MP3 INTENSIFIES

#cql holy shit lwj loves wwx SO MUCH. SO MUCH. I AM DYING

#cql lol jzx is so awkward about having saved wwx, incredible

#cql ah yes jyl showing her love through soup, her main love language

#cql godddddd complicated family dynamics in lotus pier, terrible and wonderful and I'm here for it

#cql YUNMENG BROS 😭

#cql episode 15: lotus pier family feels from start to finish, basically. also I love Yu furen's pair of servants, and also wzl seems more interesting than I thought he would be. but mostly FAMILYYYYYYYYY and the ways they can hurt each other augh

#cql (yes I realize this is less livebloggy than I usually do for an ep, but apparently that's what I've got to say about this one)

#cql episode 16! AM I EMOTIONALLY PREPARED

#cql baby jiang disciple with bow and arrow getting murdered by wen chao's girlfriend: HEARTBREAKING

#cql do love seeing Yu furen swordfighting so fiercely though, not a lot in the way of women in this show seeming to actually actively cultivate the sword path

#cql I kind of love wen chao and his girlfriend talking dismissively about jfm & yu furen's relationship over their dead bodies though. Like it's terrible but also interesting to see how they're seen by outsiders

#cql made even better (more terrible) for jc & wwx to be listening in secretly!

#cql the editing is perhaps a TOUCH overzealous though in the number of times it cuts back and for between the dead parents and jc&wwx's tragic faces

#cql jc sure hasn't ever been taught how to handle his emotions in a healthy manner, strangling your brother when he's trying to keep you safe after your parents are murdered is a choice

#cql I love the imagery though of them all alone in that tall grass field

#cql wow jc when he's reached the stage of grief where there's no fight in him, no visible anger at all, just helpless hopelessness - very affecting, for how very unusual it is to see him like that

#cql LOVE that jyl's grief is the one honoured by the rain and thunderstorm come to express her feelings for her

#cql okay all the wallowing in grief is very affecting and all but surely it's time to move on to the next thing? this has really been going on a LONG time and my attention span is only so long :P

#cql yeah I got distracted and started googling the style of shoes they all wear in this show and if I'm not careful I'm going to fall down a wikipedia hole of chinese clothes history, better get back to the episode before I lose my attention entirely

#cql RIGHT I WAS WATCHING TV oops okay yes it's good I'm back because I get to see wen ning being his lovely self

#cql also I think I have identified what articulation is being written down as "mn" in fics all the time, thank you wen ning for your helpful illustrations

#cql what's going on behind wen zhuliu's impassive face, the amount of time the show spends on it sure seems to imply SOMETHING is there, I will hope for revelations later on

#cql watching wwx compulsively grasp and run his hand over the texture of his arm brace thing when he's in the throes of anxiety: relatable

#cql episode 17! opening with wens insulting a liquor that wwx himself invented! way to kick him while he's down! :P

#cql I've been working on understanding Mandarin rules of pronunciation, and yet the (completely rule-following) pronunciation of Yiling still surprised me. Even though I've thought extensively about how "ing" at the end of words tends to be said, I never made the connection!

#cql which is to say: TO YILING WE GO!

#cql omg did wen ning drug allllllllll the liquor, not just of those two guards, amazinggggggggg, wen ning secret badass

#cql oh I don't like seeing wwx angrily threaten wen ning. I mean I understand it, it goes back to that thing where wwx sees himself as solely responsible for his siblings' safety and also wen ning is a wen, one of the clan who just murdered his own whole clan. BUT STILL :(

#cql wen qing continues to be Very Pretty

#cql I didn't realize the golden core shenanigans would start this early, OH NOOOOOO

#cql this is some REALLY EFFECTIVE emotional manipulation of wwx by jc, and jc doesn't even realize what he's putting into motion

#cql (on a side-note, a certain variety of christian likes shortening jesus christ to jc, so every time I call jiang cheng jc I have a moment of cognitive dissonance....)

#cql I LOVE.....TWO WEN SIBLINGS

#cql wwx you are not treating your study materials respectfully! Or for that matter keeping your information organized in a way that would be helpful for you! Random drifts of books haphazardly layered are not good practice!!!

#cql LOTUS PIER SIBLINGS. ALL OF THEM. BREAK MY HEART WHY DON'T YOU

#cql oh I love the direct contrast in how wen qing studies as opposed to wwx, wwx is just a disaster like that

#cql godddd that immediate smile when wwx realises he's found a medical text that's relevant, and then the slow fade as he realizes what he's going to do to achieve jc's golden core return

(lol I really did spell realise/realize two different ways in one tweet, CANADIAN LYFE)

#cql episode 18! and ooh the return of song lan!

#cql I happen to be currently be reading a fic about him and xiao xingchen, maybe I'll get some more context for what the heck happened with them!

#cql ughghghgh WEI WUXIAN YOUR DECISION TO LIE ABOUT THE GOLDEN CORE SITUATION IS A BAD DECISION

#cql also honestly the decision to keep jc unconscious so he couldn't take time to emotionally process all the big stuff going on for him right now is ALSO a bad decision, looking at you wen qing, that one's on you

#cql the actor playing wwx is real good at having complicated emotions on his face

#cql wen qing has a Feeling at the thought of anything ever happening to her brother. that's gonna go great for her later on when many things happen to him

#cql okay this having sibling feels over lotus & pork rib soup is all very well but the secret sleepy powder is already in the incense burner, why is wwx lingering in its presence!!!

#cql oh no, oh baby wwx is so small and scared and in need of protectionnnnnnnn

#cql I also have a Lot of feelings about baby jyl

#cql FAMILY. SIBLINGS.

#cql also however I see that jyl did all the actual functional parenting that wwx and jc received, which is a lot of pressure to put on someone who is herself a child

#cql seriously though jyl's earnest little faaaaaaaace when she's what, a preteen? I love her so much

#cql okay how DID the magic sleepy powder only affect jyl though, wwx was right next to her! REALLY small area of effect I guess??

#cql WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN SONG LAN & XIAO XINGCHEN

#cql okay sudden introduction of the whole war thing into this episode feels a bit abrupt, I have some constructive criticisms to make about pacing and transitions here

#cql HOWEVER. hello again lwj it's been too long!!

#cql dear camera person please pause so I can examine all the mountain meadow plants thank you

#cql WHAT is wwx's plan here I am so confused

#cql it's tiiiiiime to return to my very very slow watch-through of the untamed! Ep 19 today!! I get to see the unfolding of the lack of wwx's plan re golden cores, I assume! rn I'm just basking in pleasure in the opening theme

#cql SEVEN DAYS LATER that is not how I was expecting this episode to start wtf

#cql oh no wwx's FACE I forgot what a good face it is, so many feelings on it

#cql ohhhhhhh the TEARS OF BLOOD from yu furen interrupting what seemed like a happy/sad nostalgic memory sure got me!!

#cql jc's smile when he realizes he has a golden core again reminded me a lot of wwx's smile actually and then I had a feeling

#cql yes I just cackle-snorted at the sight of all the wens + wwx flying by on swords, it is just SO SILLY

#cql okay I did not expect wwx being tossed into the burial mounds to be so....literal. just shoved off a sword in mid-flight to fall to the ground. sure!

#cql lwj just walking slowly with determination up the long stairs, glorious and stern in pure white, taking his time on a dramatic entrance, I love him

#cql a fic I read recently used the untranslated name for the burial mounds, and I just recognized it in a wen guard's speech! aww yeah! I know more than just forms of address! (earlier I caught someone using "suibian" with its definition instead of as the name of wwx's sword!)

#cql WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN SONG LAN & XIAO XINGCHEN

#cql okay sudden introduction of the whole war thing into this episode feels a bit abrupt, I have some constructive criticisms to make about pacing and transitions here

#cql HOWEVER. hello again lwj it's been too long!!

#cql dear camera person please pause so I can examine all the mountain meadow plants thank you

#cql WHAT is wwx's plan here I am so confused

#cql it's tiiiiiime to return to my very very slow watch-through of the untamed! Ep 19 today!! I get to see the unfolding of the lack of wwx's plan re golden cores, I assume! rn I'm just basking in pleasure in the opening theme

#cql SEVEN DAYS LATER that is now how I was expecting this episode to start wtf]

#cql oh no wwx's FACE I forgot what a good face it is, so many feelings on it

#cql ohhhhhhh the TEARS OF BLOOD from yu furen interrupting what seemed like a happy/sad nostalgic memory sure got me!!

#cql jc's smile when he realizes he has a golden core again reminded me a lot of wwx's smile actually and then I had a feeling

#cql yes I just cackle-snorted at the sight of all the wens + wwx flying by on swords, it is just SO SILLY

#cql okay I did not expect wwx being tossed into the burial mounds to be so....literal. just shoved off a sword in mid-flight to fall to the ground. sure!

#cql lwj just walking slowly with determination up the long stairs, glorious and stern in pure white, taking his time on a dramatic entrance, I love him

#cql a fic I read recently used the untranslated name for the burial mounds, and I just recognized it in a wen guard's speech! aww yeah! I know more than just forms of address! (earlier I caught someone using "suibian" with its definition instead of as the name of wwx's sword!)

#cql (okay only sort of #cql) this is like when I was in budapesti operettszínház fandom and was carefully counting up the number of words I knew the meaning of in hungarian. my total was like 35 vocabulary words in hungarian at my peak! I am not there yet with chinese but

#cql wen chao's girlfriend has shown up in a lot more episodes than I thought she would when she was first introduced, maybe I should bother actually learning her name lol

#cql ......a lot sure was just passed over that must have happened in those three months, wasn't it

#cql this room containing nie mingjue, jiang cheng, lan wangji, and jin zixuan sure has some different energies going on, and jzx is really the odd one out

#cql wang lingjiao is definitely not having a good day, and I am getting a real vibe that she can expect to die sometime soon

#cql ep 20 time! just a few minutes in and a) I feel fairly confident wang lingjiao is dead, and b) hello yiling laozu!

#cql lwj and jc are DETECTIVES solving a MURDER (of an entire supervisory office)

#cql sorry jc, no matter how many feelings you have, wq will never prioritize ANYTHING over the well-being of her brother

#cql awwwwwww jc is so respectful of her priorities and it's great to see. he will help her in the future with anything she might need, and he doesn't expect anything from her in return!

#cql tile roofs sure are convenient for spying purposes

#cql I continue to wonder what in heck is going on behind wen zhuliu's impassive face and complete dedication to competence in the face of everything

#cql wwx and lwj and jc all together in a room again for the first time in some very event-filled months, and all of them look awkwardly down and aside and don't know what to say

#cql oh no wwx needs a hug or something

#cql YESSSSSS jc is ON IT

no jc you were right the first time, wwx HAS changed, and it's really *flails hands in wordless emotions*

#cql ugh this scene has too many feelings in it, RUDE honestly, making me feel things

#cql yeah lwj you're really not doing yourself any favours here in how you're presenting your offers (demands) of help to wwx

#cql this episode was very lots and now I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with all these feels as I continue to exist for the rest of the evening

#cql ok I'll deal by watching the next ep, here we go on 21!

#cql nobody should be allowed to make jyl cry, it's forbidden now, only good things in jyl's life from now on

#cql oh that moment where nhs reaches out to touch wwx's shoulder in a friendly way and wwx flinches baaaaack

#cql wen ruohan and captain hook in the peter pan live! adaptation have uh....somewhat similar aesthetics, and it's really funny

#cql wwx is NOT okay

#cql it is very upsetting how not okay wwx is actually, even when he's trying to be his normal self. his smile doesn't have the same infectious brilliance anymore :(

#cql okay why do some titles get translated and some not -- even in the same sentence! Referring to Red Blade Master and Zewu-Jun, sure, yeah, that's consistent

#cql yupppp I continue to be Upset about everything going on, aughhhh, everyone is saying things but nobody is Communicating

#cql augh this melancholy opening to ep 22 with lwj and wwx on the roof chatting as a very sad slow version of wangxian plays in the background

#cql I am DEFINITELY missing nuance by watching this conversation in translation. "Crafty tricks" "relying on the spirit", these things clearly are saying things that I am not getting

#cql tbh I was under the impression that the sunshot campaign was like.....a big war thing? this fight seems to involve really very few people. is it just tv budget problems or something? or is it really that limited in scope?

#cql love how when the wen fighters turn into evil lava beings, half their clothing disappears, so as to better show off their evil physique

#cql someone made jyl cry again, I thought I made it clear this wasn't allowed!!!

#cql ohhh is this the infamous Soup Problems With Jin Zixuan scene? it is, isn't it

#cql JZX IS VERY MEAN :(

#cql lxc's inside source he trusts completely is one thousand percent jin guangyao and I am already preemptively upset

#cql meng yao watching nmj: scared and also into it

#cql okay so what is the term for the evil lava monster people? are those what fierce corpses are? I don't know things

#cql wwx takes breaths while playing his flute at times when the audio defs has continued notes playing, I SEE U FILMMAKERS

#cql me, staring at chinese characters on the screen with narrowed eyes, fresh from duolingo: that says......23, doesn't it. what's the relevance of "23". me, looking up at the top bar of vlc: oh. I'm watching episode 23. right.

#cql wwx talking about having been dead already and I'm just like, oh, you have no idea

#cql I had no idea that the Yin Iron and Stygian Tiger Amulet were two different things, I was genuinely convinced from the various fics I'd read that they were just two translations for the same mcguffin!! you learn something new every day

#cql jgy is just so. good at presenting himself exactly how he needs to be seen.

#cql lwj and wwx TRYING TO COMMUNICATE because they both really do care about each other a lot but.....they have not yet learned how to do so succssfully

#cql when a conversation is directly had that is about how one person addresses another person, and the choices that were made about how to translate forms of address more broadly mean that the subtitles don't make sense in this scene, it's a little weird

#cql dangit do not have time to watch a third episode before bedtime. I see why people binge-watch tv!!

#cql is it time to watch more Untamed? of course it is! episode 24 here we go!

#cql ......except my subtitles don't seem to be working. hm. brb.

#cql good answer to the marriage question, jyl. god I hate jgs. he has this whole jolly-uncle vibe to him that he uses to get away with really cruel and manipulative stuff

#cql The Hat really serves to make jgy's face look even younger, idk what it is about it

#cql oh that is a gorgeous waterfall I want to go there

#cql lwj is just so....idk, he does things with this sense of restrained confidence, like he's absolutely sure he's doing the right thing and therefore he must do it with his utmost

#cql and there's just so clearly so many emotions behind his carefully correct demeanor

#cql jc! doing his best as brand new baby sect leader!!!

#cql wwx continues to be Very Not Okay :(((

#cql jyl uses "looks at wwx with sad eyes", it's very effective!

#cql wwx!! "there's no need to like a person that much" you sound so offended at the possibility of having feelings!!!!

#cql YUNMENG SIBLINGSSSSSSS

#cql lwj: sure, being locked in the library is fine. all the better to do ALL THE STUDYING.

#cql am I watching more untamed again? is this the sixth episode I'm watching in as many days? is this really weird for me? yes, and also, bring it

#cql hang on I can't count, it's the 7th episode in 6 days, oops

#cql hmmm, jzx, threatening your crush's older brother after you make the first overtures to hanging out her is not actually a good look

#cql I wonder if jgy is glad he has a face that lends himself to looking young/cute/innocent, or if he wishes he had a different kind of face that he could do different things with. these thoughts brought to you by jgy's dimples

#cql WAIT WTFFFFFFF ARE THE WENS GONNA BE ARCHERY TARGETS AT THIS EVENT WHAT WHAT AUGH

#cql okay not quite targets but like. the next worst thing. still VERY YIKES

#cql everyone stares at well-known agent of chaos wwx like wtf is he doingggg, and I am with them

#cql the flute playing in this show is honestly gorgeous

#cql WANGXIAN FEELS TIME

#cql wangxian feels interrupted by the continued failure to communicate between jzx and jyl, interrupted by wwx being Extra. of course.

#cql lollllll apparently there are 5000 people participating in this hunt extravaganza thing? that is SUPER not the vibe one gets from the number of participants at the opening ceremony

#cql but also: GO JYL GO, you tell everyone off!!

#cql seriously, it's so great seeing her willing to be visibly angry about something

#cql madam jin is a good match for her husband, cloaking cruelty in a nice facade

#cql jzx having to his romancing with a Very Large Audience: oh no. jyl being willing to be romanced on as little as jzx saying he personally wanted to invite her: oh NO

#cql well those are some complicated feelings lwj is having there, considering his family history (that I know and that the show hasn't yet revealed)

#cql also. I am officially now HALFWAY through the show! when I started, I legitimately did not know if I would be able to make it this far, given my past track record with tv. but the untamed is magic and here I am

#cql episode 26! I do not like the aesthetics of the inside of carp tower, it's so busy and also pastel at the same time

#cql I find jin zixun really hard to watch. he's just so pushy about his obnoxiousness!

#cql honestly this episode so far is all-over more stressful than I usually find the untamed, it's taken me nearly 20 minutes to watch 8 minutes worth of episode

#cql ohhhhh I had forgotten wwx stumbled across wq at the end of the last episode, everything makes sense now

#cql Ah yes. "We were just following orders" from the guards at the camp where the wens are kept. A classic dodge of culpability.

#cql oh that's....a lot of dead wens. oh boy.

#cql this is horrible

#cql things sure do just keep getting worse

#cql have I mentioned that this episode is upsetting

#cql well I think I need to go having a fortifying cup of tea or something after that heartwrencher of an episode

#cql OKAY before I lose my nerve let's get back on the horse and watch more upsetting tv! ep 27 here we go!

#cql I have a prophylactic mug of tea in hand to help me get through

#cql the way lwj and his umbrella glow in the lightning, in comparison with wwx and his collection of dark-dressed wens, is a really gorgeous framing

#cql I do not like how thoroughly jgs is playing on jc's insecurities as a new and very young clan leader

#cql also this whole scene is a really good representation of how hard can sometimes be to speak up when people are saying/doing reprehensible things, because of the likely repercussions on the person who speaks up--but it's important to say something anyway

#cql I love Mianmian

#cql I still think jyl is too easily wooed. jzx should need to work harder given how he's treated her in the past!

#cql it's a-yuan!!!!!!!

#cql ep28 time, and honestly feeling a little wtf at how so many people are apparently willing to let every single wen be killed

#cql and jc's argument seems to be "if you stand up for the wens everyone's gonna make your life super hard so you'd better let it go and let them all die so that you can be okay and we can go back to status quo" which uh....

#cql wq's argument is at least a little better, "you helped us get out and found us a place, but now we can manage okay without you, so you'd be better off if you left since you're not a pariah like the rest of us"

#cql ohhhhh right, wwx and jc agreed to fight about it! neither of them looks happy to be here

#cql also I want to know more about the geology of this place, what makes all these rock spires!

#cql wwx WHY are you refusing to let the TALENTED DOCTOR WHO YOU LIVE WITH know that you are badly injured???? I mean okay I know why but like. bad choice!

#cql it is clear poor jzx just has no idea how to talk to people, which, relatable

#cql he's doing a slightly more acceptable job at wooing now, though

#cql lollll poor lwj has no idea what to do with an unknown child grabbing onto him and sobbing

#cql I love this man earnestly providing him with parenting tips

#cql I also love that lwj immediately provides parenting tips to wwx. don't get a kid interested in a toy and then not buy it for them!

#cql episode 29, and ahhh, wwx getting the news of his sister's wedding but knows he can't go :(

#cql otoh, lwj might have told wwx no talking during meals but then lwj goes right ahead and obeys wwx' request to share gossip over the meal. TRUE LOVE.

#cql OH. It is CANON that jc and wwx have been planning their sister's wedding since childhood! AMAZING.

#cql oh no! wen ning!!!!!

#cql like a) I love wen ning and also b) I am fascinated by this aspect of the story, where sometimes loving someone too much means making really bad decisions to try to save them

#cql all those candles might be very atmospheric, but it seems like a rather wasteful use for a group of refugee subsistence farmers without money!

#cql actual laugh out loud at wwx's explanation of the meaning of the name "Demon-Subdue Palace"

#cql lwj's whole visit is just so....tinged with sadness. Both care about each other and both want to do what's right but there's no answer to what to do that will make both of them happy, and so they willingly part ways :((((

#cql once again duolingo comes through for me! the only reason I can tell that the person the subs are translating as "Sir" is the person I know from fic as 4th Uncle is bc I can recognize the word 4! Maybe all I know is how to count to 10 but that knowledge is taking me places!

#cql it's so nice to see all the wens + wwx being happy and celebrating together! they deserve something nice!!

#cql sdjfhksjdfhkshd warring con artists pretending to be wwx's disciples of course there are

#cql also lol at wwx getting wn to push him around in a cart where he can lounge appropriately instead of walking

#cql and is that. offerings left for the yiling laozu??

#cql they're really managing to thrive and make a home for themselves in the burial mounds!

#cql did I just get stymied a scant minute into ep 30 because I'm worried that wen ning is going to do a bad job selling turnips after wwx goads him? MAYBE

#cql the return of the yiling laozu con artist! I did not expect this to be a recurring plot point! I'm into it

#cql the three yunmeng sibs get to hang out and be nice to each other!! even though jc banished wwx from the clan!

#cql I know the nice things happening right now are just a brief break before things get even worse, but still. Nice things are sometimes allowed!!!

#cql I love that multi-layer picnic basket jyl has just for soup, it's super great. However: why does she deliberately pack a smaller bowl for herself, as if she deserves less soup!

#cql and then she doesn't even have her share of soup, she gives it away!!!!!!!! I mean, I support not leaving wen ning out, but come on, jyl!

#cql and then wen ning wants to give it to a-yuan, lol, if soup means love then nobody ever gets to eat it because it's constantly being given away

#cql "it will be fine if we don't cause any trouble on purpose" famous last words, wwx, you're just so good at causing trouble on purpose

#cql I really do wonder what the background wens think about wwx. wen qing has zero patience for wwx' shit, wen ning will go along with whatever because he's too nice and easygoing, fourth uncle seems to be on wq's side, but what about the rest of them?

#cql growing up with jgs as his father cannot have been a great experience for jzx tbh

#cql ONE YEAR LATER what the heck that's quite the time skip and I was not expecting it

#cql growing up with jgs as your father isn't pleasant, but growing up with him as an absent father who resents you: also not pleasant. jgy might be a manipulative snake in the grass but also he does not deserve how jgs treats him

#cql so like....I am getting the DISTINCT impression that jgy is deliberately wanting there to be a Scene and a Problem when wwx shows up for jin ling's month celebration

#cql I exist only to watch more untamed. It's time for ep 31! and this show sure likes to do its exposition by having us listen in on random people explaining The Latest News to each other

#cql wen ning's outfit looks cozy and delightfully dramatic at the same time, excellent vibes, I approve

#cql ah yes, wwx deliberately antagonizes a whole group of people who all have deadly weapons aimed at him, of course he does

#cql so wen ning is the hulk and the necklace keeps him human? "that's my secret, wwx, I'm always angry"

#cql I love the thing where wwx participates in swordfights with his flute

#cql by which I mean, using the physical object of the flute in place of a sword, not the thing where he plays the flute to make magic happen. (Though I do love that too.)

#cql jin zixun is extremely hateable. Also does indeed have a forgettable face, I still struggle to recognize him in a given scene until he acts in a way that makes me know Who It Must Be

#cql OH NO OH NO OH NO IS THIS THE MOMENT JZX DIES :((((

#cql welp here's the end of the happy farmers interlude I'm guessing, time for things to go downhill some more

#cql jzx's dying thought though is wanting to make sure his beloved wife can reconcile with her beloved brother (who killed him), that's extremely charming, good husbanding

#cql I DON'T WANT TO SEE JYL GETTING THE NEWS :(

#cql poor wen ning also, being forced to be a murder weapon without your conscious consent is uh. bad.

#cql wwx: "SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT TO DO"
wq & wn: tell him what to do
wwx: "okay but not THAT"

#cql I really love that wwx and wq have this really close and emotionally intense and complicated relationship and it's not even a little bit romantic/sexual

#cql wait are ALL the wen remnants turning themselves in, not just wq and wn?? I don't like this!!

#cql it's a good thing I have a strict bedtime for myself these days or I'd be real tempted to stay up late watching an inadvisable number of further episodes

#cql I cannot be stopped, it is time for more Untamed! Ep 32! I feel foreboding!

#cql sure is bold showing up to watch the grieving family of the man you just killed, wwx, even if (especially if?) one of them is your sister

#cql augh. seeing all the dead wens. sadface forever.

#cql wwx is....not okay. in a different way than he was not okay last time he was Very Obviously Not Okay. AUGH.

#cql wwx sure knows how to make an entrance!! how to make an entrance guaranteed to make everyone as mad at you as possible

#cql just tweeting more about how everything is upsetting and I am sad doesn't exactly make for exciting reading so I haven't been tweeting much in this episode, but. that's what's going on.

#cql (also admittedly some loling about how a lot of background cultivators are just swinging their swords randomly at nothing because the cgi attacking smoke was added in post and not everyone got something to actually fight)

#cql uhhhhh WHO IS THE OTHER FLAUTIST? Why don't I know this??

#cql ANYWAY THIS IS BAD

#cql so. what was it that jyl wanted to tell wwx??

#cql also I hate that even wwx thinks it's because he lost control of the puppets and doesn't realize there's a second flautist

#cql here I go on episode 33! has a day really gone by if I haven't watched more Untamed?

#cql my mom said this evening that whenever she looked over at my dad watching the Untamed, it was always doing slow-mo, and now I can't help but notice just....HOW MUCH slow-mo this show does. Gotta linger on the melodrama!!

#cql these are the strongest facial expressions I have ever seen lwj make :((((

#cql also I did not previously realize that wwx's death is like. at LEAST 3/4 a suicide, oh boy

#cql and he looks so at peace with dying tbh and it's awful to see

#cql and lwj is DEVASTATED

#cql and I don't even know what's going on in jc's head here

#cql I've just realized why lwj looks so odd to me in this scene and it's because he's not wearing a fancy headpiece! his hair is AWFULLY casual, for him! It changes how long his face looks.

#cql this tour of all of wwx's positive memories of cloud recesses feels very fitting here, and so bittersweet, thinking of the young and innocent and (mostly) carefree teens they all once were

#cql wwx and lwj's ability to silently communicate with each other at just a glance is truly impressive

#cql wwx and a-yuan!!!! don't even know that they once were so close! but are having such a good conversation anyway!!!!!!!!

#cql wwx and lwj are just ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH I love them so much

#cql yesssss more yiling laozu related cons!

#cql oh my god jin ling looks like an INFANT, an extremely arrogant infant

#cql how am I already on episode 34. don't answer that.

#cql oh this guy is so pleased to be asked for juicy gossip

#cql "isn't it horrible" he says with RELISH

#cql lol wwx like "DONT ASK ME why I'm afraid of dogs" so lwj just starts walking again like they were before and wwx is immediately like "oh okay fiiiiiine you convinced me let me tell you all about it". He wants to share things with lwj! he just wants it to not be his idea

#cql this episode is....mostly kinda boring of late if I must admit. sorry jin ling, I'm sure it's very hard to be cursed and all and I ought to be more worried about you, but I'm sure you'll be fine.

#cql the acting/framing treats wwx's fear of dogs a little too much like it's supposed to be funny for my comfort tbh

#cql jin ling and jiang cheng so clearly have the same communication style as each other and it's amazing watching them interact

#cql I'm extremely charmed by jin ling being like, OBVIOUSLY the only honourable thing to do in this situation is to free the man who my uncle has strictly ordered me to guard, given that he saved my life, and I don't even need a moment to think about it

#cql also every bit of the interactions between wwx and jl: delightful

#cql of course wwx's reaction to "oh no my secret nephew is cursed" is to secretly make the curse be on himself instead

#cql yesterday I was too busy sewing curtain tie-backs to watch more untamed, but I return today with ep 35! surprised and pleased to be reminded we're now in Future Times with re-alive wwx!

#cql also I am glad I have my tweets to remind me what happened last episode because here I was all like "....what's jin ling doing in this scene, what happened to jin ling" oh duh he got cursed and wwx took his curse!

#cql oh the way wwx's face goes all soft and peaceful when he sees lwj standing on the bridge in moonlight

#cql also I love how lwj is like "nothing is embarrassing if wei ying wants it"

#cql nhs peering nervously over his fan, "oh no I am being Perceived"

#cql what's the difference being indicated between "swords" and "blades"? The terms used aren't particularly distinguishing in English.

#cql lol lwj and wwx are being led on a scavenger hunt, to follow a series of clues to find the answer!

#cql lwj VOLUNTARILY drinking alcohol!!!!! gosh

#cql episode 36!! watching wwx tucking a drunk lwj into bed, he leans over towards his head at one point and it looked SO MUCH like he was going to give lwj a cute gentle little forehead kiss. SIGH it was not to be

#cql oh noooo what's wrong with wen ning now??

#cql wen ningggggggggggg, thinking everything's all his fault :((((

#cql thanks to superborb last night I now know the words for the two main types of chinese swords, so I can hear that wwx is calling wn a "dao" specifically - the one-bladed type, like the Nie clan uses!

#cql NO, NO WAY, the chicken-stealing while drunk is CANON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#cql I adore these moments, where I discover something I was absolutely convinced was merely a fun bit of fanon is in fact DIRECTLY FROM THE SOURCE MATERIAL, NOTHING BUT 100% TRUTH

#cql and lwj is so earnestttt about it, he's so earnest about everything, he just decides what's the right thing to do and then DOES IT. (I mean, okay, wwx also just decides what's the right thing to do and then does it, earnestness just doesn't come into it)

#cql I'm glad wwx's nightmares are canon also. I mean I'm not glad he has nightmares, but I think it makes sense tbh

#cql oh the little nie mingjue child has a wee drawn on moustache!!

#cql JUNIORS!!!!! yesssss

#cql I cannot decide if wwx has decided to bullshit the juniors about the correct thing to do after breathing in the poison, or is actually giving reasonable advice

#cql I am very confused about what's going on right now and deeply curious to find out. Tomorrow!!

#cql episode 37! I continue to be unclear whether wwx's methods for dealing with the poisoning are Actual Techniques or in service to some mysterious plan of hhis

#cql wwx gets true pleasure out of winding jin ling up, and it's so easy to do too

#cql ah the junior in red must be ouyang zizhen, given the mention of the sentimental nature

#cql I read somewhere that although jingyi is outspoken and kind of belligerent, he's often actually doing so to uphold the rules he believes in, and you know, here at least that's accurate! Looking forward to continuing to pay attention to this.

#cql the poor woman whose home this is tbh. Still want to find out what the heck's up with her though! She had the blackened lines on her neck of a corpse puppet!

#cql I like that little detail of sizhui taking a moment to like, whisper to himself before starting to use his guqin to ask questions--he knows what he's doing, but he has to think about it carefully, it doesn't come naturally to him yet like it does for lwj

#cql am I kind of terrified and also riveted by whatever the heck's up with song lan and xiao xingchen? I AM. TELL ME MORE.

#cql OHHHHH THIS IS XUE YANG that makes SO much more sense out of how he's acting!!!!

#cql lwj just really loves making dramatic entrances from above out of nowhere, his white robes swirling around him as he descends in slow motion

#cql lol jingyi's face is like "ooh we get to watch a rEALLY COOL FIGHT"

#cql love how wwx is just like, "oh yeah, lwj and wn have got this, I don't need to stick around or even worry about them"

#cql dangit I WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT but it's bedtime, not watch next episode of untamed time

#cql yesterday I was distracted by svsss but now I'm back for more Untamed with ep 38!

#cql I am kind of unnerved by the fact that xiao xingchen's eyes/eye sockets are apparently bleeding regularly, if the careful bandage he ties across them has red spots at both his eyes.

#cql How old is Jing supposed to be? She acts pretty young but seems relatively grown up. Also, I feel fairly confident this is the character I've seen referred to as Qing in fic, is this just variation in transliteration choices?

#cql idk I'm bad at telling the ages of people, maybe she is younger than I thought, she's just relatively tall! I can about manage "a baby" "definitely a bunch younger than me" "not super obviously distant from my age" "definitely a bunch older than me" "a very elderly person"

#cql and Jing is in the "definitely a bunch younger than me" category, but I have zero clue by how much

#cql anyway I like a-Qing, whatever one chooses to call her. and I am WITH HER on being suspicious of Xue Yang!!

#cql DANGIT THIS IS STRESSFUL

#cql I know bad shit happens because I have read fixit fic but I don't know all the DETAILS and I don't want to see it :(

#cql look, people being misled by someone they trust into doing things they would otherwise never have done is something that REALLY GETS TO ME apparently and I really don't know if I can keep watching this :(((((((((((

#cql idk why this is so much harder for me than all the other really horrible things that happen in this show but HERE WE ARE

#cql I'm glad wwx is with me on how hard this is to watch. Me and you, buddy.

#cql PHEW okay I made it through the episode with help from bmeridian to know where to skip to, to avoid the worst of it. Hopefully I won't run into anything this difficult for me to watch again!

#cql I'm exhausted but I'm not going to let that stop me from watching ep39 today!

#cql I commented recently on how wwx is comfortable being like "lwj has got this" and leaving him to an intense swordfight. This feels like the equal but opposite vibe, lwj willing to just stand here and let wwx do whatever he's doing because he trusts wwx's judgement

#cql ouyang zizhen's top robe layer looks like nothing more than a cheap t-shirt approximation of "historical garb" to me, I think it's the neckline, idek but every time I see him I get thrown out of the setting!

#cql fuck I hate xue yang so much

#cql I can see why other people find xue yang a compelling character. And also. Nope. This particular murder gremlin is Not For Me.

#cql anyway I have a lot of sad feelings about song lan walking away on his own like that. HAPPY ENDING FOR SL & XXC!!!!

#cql jingyi: willing to stand up for sizhui's right to be interested in toys for toddlers. I love him.

#cql the description wwx gives of the ghost-masked man are sufficient for lxc to know right away that the only person they could be referring to is jgy but he's still like NO HES DEFS INNOCENT :(, boy it must be hard to be lxc right now

#cql episode 40 and ohhhh this argument between the juniors at the beginning over yiling laozu! I am super impressed with sizhui being willing and able to put aside the argument and apologize

#cql also the way the juniors just. SCATTER when lwj enters. "no we weren't all standing around having an intense argument what are you talking about!!"

#cql EVERY interaction in this entire scene is golden and I love it all. sizhui can't believe his eyes as to what lwj is doing! jingyi drops his food when he hears lwj has alcohol! sizhui picks it back up and sticks it in jingyi's mouth!

#cql I keep noticing certain characters (...Lans) habitually holding their right arm behind their back when not using it, and I am reminded of my teenage SCA days when I learned to hold my LEFT arm behind my back as a polite place to put it when not in use

#cql well nhs just dramatically arrived so I'm guessing SOMETHING is about to go down

#cql awwww jin ling protecting the person he thinks is mo xuanyu! oh I'm charmed

#cql got distracted ordering pizza but now I'm back, and you know jgy, "I was planning to keep this a secret from you our entire lives" is not the defense you seem to think it is!

#cql this whole situation is just so unfair to qin su :(

#cql even in jgy's creepy torture chamber/archive behind the portal, everything has fit the aesthetics of jinlintai!

#cql alkdhfsdjkh the mask on nmj's disembodied head is creepy as heck

#cql okay I should have JUST enough time to watch episode 41 before bedtime!

#cql I rag on the wigs a lot, but I actually appreciate that everyone has fairly distinctive ways of doing their hair, even within the strictly limited set of styles the identical wigs go for. Plus individualized decorative hair-pieces! Helpful for ID.

#cql I don't think I'd realized before how early jgy is....set in his ways, so to speak. Conspiring to kill that Nie captain because he knew something jgy had done (and also because he insulted his mom)!

#cql jgy is like the epitome of "cool motive still murder." like don't get me wrong I absolutely find him a fascinating and compelling character! But. Cool motive, still murder.

#cql ohhhh, oh no, nmj, don't lower yourself to insulting jgy based on his parentage, you're just confirming everything jgy thinks about how there's no honest way to succeed given the nature of his birth!

#cql real curious to see if next episode we discover that jgy has managed to clear all the suspicious things out of the secret portal room juuuuust in time or if it's going to be a successful indictment

#cql ep 42 time! gosh the end is coming up so FAST now

#cql OH NO QIN SU :(((

#cql oh we're starting to get nhs reaction shots, is some part of his plan going to get revealed soon?

#cql lxc just looks so SAD as he's talking to jgy about what happened to nmj, he doesn't want to believe jgy could do such a thing but he seems.....willing to entertain the thought and is DISTRAUGHT by it

#cql lwj is RIDE OR DIE for his beloved and it's beautiful to see

#cql jin ling has some complicated emotions about stabbing wwx and he is NOT equipped to deal with complicated emotions

#cql it is disconcerting to see wwx in so few clothes tbh, it's amazing how certain levels of dress can so easily become normalized, and then something that in other contexts would be perfectly reasonable clothing is suddenly shocking

#cql seeing lwj and lxc at odds is upsetting :( but also the look of complete stubborn refusal to budge on lwj's face is incredible

#cql they sure found the right song in the right book real fast when they went to the library!

#cql episode 43 time, and honestly, the idea that you could listen to the same piece of music every day for months and not NOTICE that it's slightly different when it's played in front of someone else, it just seems fake to me. Nmj REALLY not a music person I guess!!

#cql recently realized, after ALL these episodes, that when the subtitles say that lwj is saying "Xichen" and it doesn't SOUND like "Xichen" but kind of similar, just enough to make me doubt myself, what he's saying is "xiongzhang" -- which makes so much more sense

#cql augh, lwj and lxc get to have the exact same experience of falling in love with an outsider who everyone thinks is malicious/malevolent, but one of them gets to have a love interest who actually has a heart of gold, and one of them....does not :(((((((

#cql THIS IS VERY SAD ACTUALLY. It was already sad but the parallels somehow make it WORSE.

#cql gdi apparently I'm capable of getting so distracted trying to figure out if I'm hearing shufu or shifu that I forget to pay attention to what's actually happenin, I'm GREAT at watching tv

#cql lxc being the one to explain the tragic backstory of his and lwj's parents, DIRECTLY after all this stuff about jgy has been discussed in detail.....it's Lans Are Bad At Romance time in lxc's head

#cql I do kind of like how that conversation went from wwx being like "tell me about lwj's scars" to lxc dumping all his current anxieties on wwx, yeah, that IS how conversations go sometimes

#cql mianmian returns!!!!!!

#cql ep44 and it's so nice to see mianmian looking happy and well in a life she chose for herself

#cql wen ning third-wheeling these remembrances of lwj/wwx's old times together is really funny

#cql I'm glad wwx and wen ning have each other when they go back to the burial mounds and confront their memories of the dead wens together

#cql did wwx really just say he doesn't have any spiritual power in his current body? I thought he got a golden core back after he came back to life in mxy's body??

#cql I do love jin ling's hair jewellery, the long golden strands hanging down against his dark hair are so pretty!

#cql wwx is REALLY not good at presenting himself in a trustworthy and ingratiating way!!!! too "you all hate me so I'll act in a way that lives up to your expectations"

#cql and now wwx is conducting a socratic-style teaching session with a whole bunch of people who feel a little murdery towards him, what a guy

#cql did u kno: jingyi is great

#cql ep45! and dang, wwx seems to be managing to talk people around to his point of view DESPITE the deliberately antagonistic way he began, last episode!

#cql I love the way that when you're fighting with a sword that is habitually carried in the hand, rather than on your waist/back etc, you're left still holding the sheath, and then the sheath becomes a fighting weapon in itself

#cql aaaaaa wen ning very awkwardly and earnestly trying to connect with sizhui!!!!!!

#cql love how all the other cultivators are just sitting in boats, heads down, "nope this argument involving drawn swords is NONE of my business please pretend I'm not here"

#cql jin ling is having a rough time of it, poor kid

#cql ahahaha "that talking kid is your son right, he's so good at talking" (derogatory) but then we cut to nhs who's like, YEAH he is, good job to ouyang zizhen!

#cql I love all four the main juniors SO MUCH. So much!

#cql many people in this episode get to have complicated feelings about the past

#cql ep46! sect leader Yao seems to always be cast in the role of putting voice to whatever way the wind is blowing among popular opinion. He loves the sound of his own voice and doesn't know how to think for himself. I've known men like that.

#cql interesting that wwx is the one speaking up on the side of jgy here?! or at least, of not immediately trusting the allegations being made

#cql I understand why the subtitle translators went for "cremains" but also it is an inherently silly word and I cannot take it seriously any time it is used in Very Serious Contexts in this show

#cql hah more evidence lwj knows better than to listen to what wwx SAYS he wants. "do you want to go to the jiang ancestral shrine?" "no" CUT TO them in the ancestral shrine

#cql yunmeng bros :((((((((((((((

#cql holy shit the golden core reveal ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN CANON???!!?!?!!?!!!!!

#cql also I love wen ning but that's not news

#cql wen ning must have an interesting relationship with secrets tbh, in his decisions of which ones to share and when and when not to

#cql now I want to know what fresh lotus seeds taste like

#cql ep 47! today's a three episode day!

#cql lollll wwx is like "oh wen ning needs independence and a life of his own, he's not my servant and shouldn't just follow me around" and then immediately turns around and orders him as to what to do

#cql jin ling just keeps on stumbling into more unpleasant revelations about things in his life

#cql as well as having many emotions over this scene, I'm also having a good time watching the changes to the pattern of blood on wwx's neck, which is obviously not the same between various takes

#cql awwww, the wonder dog brings jin ling's uncle to come save him!

#cql the person-less swords fighting each other in midair are....less than impressive

#cql ohhhhhhh no, jgy is implying that everything jc has done post core-exchange is down to the strength of wwx's core, not anything jc has done himself, that's a PALPABLE HIT against his vulnerabilities!

#cql and this is AFTER lxc warned jc not to let jgy keep talking bc jgy is too good at manipulating people's emotions......good job at that, jc

#cql every single swordfight in this show operates under the rules of "what would look really cool" rather than "how would people trying to kill and not be killed act" and it really makes it hard to actually admire how cool it looks because everyone should be dead two moves in

#cql a three episode day is insufficient, I want this to be a six episode day, but unfortunately, capitalism. I have to work tomorrow morning, which means I have to sleep tonight.

#cql okay I have done a bunch of responsible things and now I get to watch a little Untamed, as a treat. Episode 48!!

#cql the parenting wwx and jc got sure fucked both of them up

#cql it's so great though to see them actually like, SAYING things to each other! they both apologized!!!!

#cql if I wasn't clear yesterday, I had thought from what I'd learned from fic that the golden core reveal was fanon only, and never took place in canon, so their relationship is SO much better in this moment than I thought I would ever get to see on screen again!

#cql another thing I have not learned from fandom is....what actually HAPPENS at Guanyin Temple, so I'm waiting with bated breath find out what the heck jgy is digging for

#cql okay but. how is jgy so astonished to see nmj here? jgy HAD POSSESSION of nmj's head, how else would this be happening if jgy hadn't orchestrated it?

#cql lolllll I'd forgotten that we hadn't already had the reveal of who cast the hundred holes curse!

#cql nice work there attempting to manipulate lxc once again, jgy!

#cql my main question at the end of this episode: what was jgy ACTUALLY digging for in the temple, if nmj's body was unexpected for him?

#cql and now! I still have time tonight for episode 49!

#cql ahahaha poor nhs's carefully constructed plans for dealing with jgy sure got derailed by wwx's entire existence, didn't they

#cql jin ling CONTINUES to be having a very rough time with learning terrible things about his past!

#cql love the creepy whistling tbh

#cql wen ning has been dealt a poor hand in life in just SO many ways :(

#cql uh. and a poor hand in death, one might say, I suppose

#cql su she and jgy seem to have had an actual bond with each other, not just using each other to mutually help each other reach their goals, which is really interesting

#cql oh, ohhhhh, nhs, that was cruel of you, making lxc kill jgy personally!!

#cql OH FUCK my copy of this episode apparently cuts out before the end????????????????????

#cql OKAY, okay, I found another place to catch the 30 seconds or so that were cut off, I'm caught up. and now I just have to wait until tomorrow evening to watch the LAST EPISODE wtf

#cql it feels weird even opening the file for episode 50, how have I actually made it all the way to the last episode of this tv show, I don't understand but I LOVE IT, HERE WE GO

#cql fuckkkkk I don't want to watch lxc's heart breaking EVEN MORE :(

#cql "never have I thought of doing you harm" jgy says to lxc, like killing nmj didn't harm lxc, or any of the other horrible things jgy did!

#cql though I absolutely believe jgy believes he's never done any harm to lxc, and that he maybe even really means this

#cql awww jin ling respects wwx's fear of dogs now! also watching him push jc on how he defs wanted to say something to wwx....! love that kid

#cql as I have said before: YUNMENG BROS :(

#cql sizhui is such a SWEETHEART aaaahhhhhhh

#cql the look on lwj's faaaaaaace as he looks at wwx and sizhui reunited!!

#cql wen ning! making decisions for himself! bonding with sizhui!

#cql I want to go clambering around the rocks by that waterfall, it looks extremely satisfying

#cql ahhhhh that ending, with the dawning smile on wwx's face!!!!!!!!

#cql I'm...done? I'm done. This feels so WEIRD. What a good show though. This has been a real adventure and I've loved it so much. Next up: guess I gotta read the novel!