Gotten into demonic cultivation, lately?
Aug. 24th, 2021 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452Continuing on with that individual fandom meme that I've been steadily filling out for certain fandoms, this time for The Untamed.
THE UNTAMED
Favorite character
This is incredibly difficult because I actually have so many favorites with The Untamed, like six favorite characters at the moment: Xue Yang, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng, and Mo Xuanyu. There's always characters that I love but I'll only have a few favorite characters at most, but this is a rare example of me having so many which kept growing the more I got attached to the story.
Least favorite character
Aside from the obvious (Jin Guangshan, along with Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan for simply being shit parents), I would probably have to say Jin Guangyao. I don't hate him necessarily, I'm just very indifferent towards him in general. There's no denying that his character story is tragic and I can understand his motivations to a certain point, but that's kind of it for me when it comes to him. Again, I don't hate him, but I just don't care for him. *shrug*
5 ships (canon or non-canon)
Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen/Jiang Chang, Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen, Xue Yang/Song Lan, Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen
Character I find most attractive
Oh, that's unfair. Have you seen the cast? C'mon.....
Character I would marry
Lan Xichen
A character I would be friends with
Jiang Yanli
A random thought
I have often wondered if Nie Huasiang had considered other options rather than plant the seed in Mo Xuanyu's head of sacrificing himself to bring back Wei Wuxian and set everything in motion, because I'm certain that he probably entertained other things before settling on that one as perhaps a last resort. I know that there's been this debate in the fandom where people think that Nie Huaisang is either a secret brilliant mastermind or that he was just lazy and settled on the first thought that came into his head, but I think he's somewhere in the middle. He is a self-proclaimed lazy individual who wants nothing to do with politics and just wants to paint his fans and raise birds, however when motivated, especially in regards to the sudden death via qi deviation (and disappearance of the body) of his older brother he will become determined to get the to truth even if it means meddling around behind the scenes. He knows he's not powerful enough to do most of the investigation himself, he knows that it would be himself against big players in the cultivation world, and that the cultivation world is both unforgiving and gullible as a whole, so he knows that he can play things a certain way, be the puppet master behind the scenes while remaining unsuspecting.
On another note, it's interesting to me how Jiang Cheng is probably the most polarizing character I've seen in any fandom, where you either love him or hate him and there's no middle ground. It's just so funny to me for some reason. Unfortunately, it has created some really nasty drama in the fandom, which I stay away from, but sometimes seeing the reasons why people don't like him are hilarious because those are the reasons why I love him; he's deeply complicated and complex and tragic and sad and a massive mess and emotionally constipated and his relationship with Wei Wuxian is just messy (and they're both at fault for that, by the way, not just one or the other but both) and I think it creates a fascinating dynamic. But apparently some don't like this, and it's just so funny and interesting that he's created such a rift in certain parts in fandom because of it.
An unpopular opinion
(Note: I'm not that deep into the fandom, so I don't know what is considered an "unpopular opinion" in the overall scale spanning between Western and Chinese fandom, so I'm just going by what I've heard via the grapevine by those I follow.)
I've been confused whenever I see people say that the drama doesn't have the same nuance or lacks moral ambiguity as the novel does, because I thought it presented the nuance of the story just fine, and it's part of the reason why I fell in love with it in the first place because of how complicated and complex everything was, especially in regards to character motivations. Yes, the source material will have more details and better context for what's happening, but all adaptations have to take some liberties based on whatever medium they're retelling the story on, it's very commonly done. Could things have been done a bit better? Of course, much like with all adaptations there are things can could have been handled better or done differently, but not all adaptations have to worry about censorship laws so I'm more forgiving in that sense. But yeah, I thought The Untamed presented the nuance just fine, perhaps the novel features it more, especially in regards to gray morality, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there in the drama. I picked up on it even before knowing the contents of the novel simply by reading between the lines, so.
Furthermore, this kind of goes into the next part where it's totally fine to have preferences of what medium you consume the story, be it the novel, the live-action drama, the donghuas, or the audio drama; either all of them or only one of them, it's fine. You're not less of a fan because of those preferences, nobody should be gatekeeping anyone regardless.
My canon OTP
Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, obviously.
My non-canon OTP
Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen and Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen (with a side of Xue Yang/Song Lan and Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen). Aside from the main pairing, the latter is the ship that I was immediately drawn to, specifically because the Yi City Arc really just blindsided me and took hold of my heart and never let go. And I really fell in love with Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen not too long after, and it was mostly born out of just looking at them, thinking how sad they both are post-canon and how they need to kiss the sadness away, and then it took off from there.
Most badass character
There are so many badass characters in this story, especially with the women who are often not mentioned that much (mostly because they, unfortunately, don't survive to the end of the story) but deserve more recognition, but I think one that goes unnoticed a lot of the time is MianMian who was not only one of the few who stood up for Wei Wuxian, but when she wasn't being taken seriously she literally left her sect in the biggest boss moves ever and went on to living her best life becoming a rogue cultivator and starting a family. And she survives to the end of the story!
Most epic villain
Xue Yang. What I loved about Xue Yang is that he seemed very simple of a villain at first who was just having fun murdering people, but when the Yi City Arc happened you see the complexity of his character, his tragic background and understand his motivations and everything else in between. He may be a minor character and thus a minor villain of the story, but he made such a huge impact despite that which I cannot help but view him as epic in that regard. (Also, many of the actors actually auditioned or wanted the part of Xue Yang, so that should tell you something.)
Pairing I am not a fan of
Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing. Just, no.
I also don't like Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao (or Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, or 3zun in general). I can understand where it comes from and why people ship them, but I just don't really vibe with it. I'm also rather meh on Xiao Xingchen/Song Lan, because again while I understand where it comes from I just don't care much for it, in fact I only care about Song Lan if Xue Yang is in the mix.
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another)
I don't really know, quite honestly. I mean, I haven't read the novel to make that comparison, and from as far as I can tell in the drama they handled many of the characters pretty well, even if a lot of tragedy happened. Although I will say that I wished that they didn't add that unnecessary romance angle with Wen Qing early on, because while nothing actually happened or went anywhere with it and it was a mere blip in the entirety of her episodes for the first half of the show, it added nothing to her character. Thankfully, the show did focus more on her being a brilliant doctor and protective sister to Wen Ning and her friendship with Wei Wuxian, and many book fans say that they really improved a lot of her character from the novel so that's good, so as a whole they didn't screw up her character so much as it was just a questionable choice that I didn't like, is all.
Favorite friendship
I thought the friendship between the juniors was adorable, and the fact that they seem to have a good head on their shoulders despite the state of the cultivation world (esp with them accepting Wei Wuxian even after his identity is revealed, showing that they simply don't care and actually prefer him over the other adults in their lives) proves that the next generation is going to hopefully be fine. They all stuck together with each other, even with Jin Ling who seemed kind of the odd one out (from his personality, mostly) but they accepted him all the same.
Character I most identify with
Honestly? Nie Huaisang since I, too, just want to be lazy doing nothing and just living my life.
Character I wish I could be
A mixture of Jiang Yanli and Lan Xichen, for their calming demeanor and easy-going personalities, and also a bit of MianMian's take-no-shit attitude.
THE UNTAMED
Favorite character
This is incredibly difficult because I actually have so many favorites with The Untamed, like six favorite characters at the moment: Xue Yang, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng, and Mo Xuanyu. There's always characters that I love but I'll only have a few favorite characters at most, but this is a rare example of me having so many which kept growing the more I got attached to the story.
Least favorite character
Aside from the obvious (Jin Guangshan, along with Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan for simply being shit parents), I would probably have to say Jin Guangyao. I don't hate him necessarily, I'm just very indifferent towards him in general. There's no denying that his character story is tragic and I can understand his motivations to a certain point, but that's kind of it for me when it comes to him. Again, I don't hate him, but I just don't care for him. *shrug*
5 ships (canon or non-canon)
Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen/Jiang Chang, Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen, Xue Yang/Song Lan, Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen
Character I find most attractive
Oh, that's unfair. Have you seen the cast? C'mon.....
Character I would marry
Lan Xichen
A character I would be friends with
Jiang Yanli
A random thought
I have often wondered if Nie Huasiang had considered other options rather than plant the seed in Mo Xuanyu's head of sacrificing himself to bring back Wei Wuxian and set everything in motion, because I'm certain that he probably entertained other things before settling on that one as perhaps a last resort. I know that there's been this debate in the fandom where people think that Nie Huaisang is either a secret brilliant mastermind or that he was just lazy and settled on the first thought that came into his head, but I think he's somewhere in the middle. He is a self-proclaimed lazy individual who wants nothing to do with politics and just wants to paint his fans and raise birds, however when motivated, especially in regards to the sudden death via qi deviation (and disappearance of the body) of his older brother he will become determined to get the to truth even if it means meddling around behind the scenes. He knows he's not powerful enough to do most of the investigation himself, he knows that it would be himself against big players in the cultivation world, and that the cultivation world is both unforgiving and gullible as a whole, so he knows that he can play things a certain way, be the puppet master behind the scenes while remaining unsuspecting.
On another note, it's interesting to me how Jiang Cheng is probably the most polarizing character I've seen in any fandom, where you either love him or hate him and there's no middle ground. It's just so funny to me for some reason. Unfortunately, it has created some really nasty drama in the fandom, which I stay away from, but sometimes seeing the reasons why people don't like him are hilarious because those are the reasons why I love him; he's deeply complicated and complex and tragic and sad and a massive mess and emotionally constipated and his relationship with Wei Wuxian is just messy (and they're both at fault for that, by the way, not just one or the other but both) and I think it creates a fascinating dynamic. But apparently some don't like this, and it's just so funny and interesting that he's created such a rift in certain parts in fandom because of it.
An unpopular opinion
(Note: I'm not that deep into the fandom, so I don't know what is considered an "unpopular opinion" in the overall scale spanning between Western and Chinese fandom, so I'm just going by what I've heard via the grapevine by those I follow.)
I've been confused whenever I see people say that the drama doesn't have the same nuance or lacks moral ambiguity as the novel does, because I thought it presented the nuance of the story just fine, and it's part of the reason why I fell in love with it in the first place because of how complicated and complex everything was, especially in regards to character motivations. Yes, the source material will have more details and better context for what's happening, but all adaptations have to take some liberties based on whatever medium they're retelling the story on, it's very commonly done. Could things have been done a bit better? Of course, much like with all adaptations there are things can could have been handled better or done differently, but not all adaptations have to worry about censorship laws so I'm more forgiving in that sense. But yeah, I thought The Untamed presented the nuance just fine, perhaps the novel features it more, especially in regards to gray morality, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there in the drama. I picked up on it even before knowing the contents of the novel simply by reading between the lines, so.
Furthermore, this kind of goes into the next part where it's totally fine to have preferences of what medium you consume the story, be it the novel, the live-action drama, the donghuas, or the audio drama; either all of them or only one of them, it's fine. You're not less of a fan because of those preferences, nobody should be gatekeeping anyone regardless.
My canon OTP
Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, obviously.
My non-canon OTP
Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen and Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen (with a side of Xue Yang/Song Lan and Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen). Aside from the main pairing, the latter is the ship that I was immediately drawn to, specifically because the Yi City Arc really just blindsided me and took hold of my heart and never let go. And I really fell in love with Jiang Cheng/Lan Xichen not too long after, and it was mostly born out of just looking at them, thinking how sad they both are post-canon and how they need to kiss the sadness away, and then it took off from there.
Most badass character
There are so many badass characters in this story, especially with the women who are often not mentioned that much (mostly because they, unfortunately, don't survive to the end of the story) but deserve more recognition, but I think one that goes unnoticed a lot of the time is MianMian who was not only one of the few who stood up for Wei Wuxian, but when she wasn't being taken seriously she literally left her sect in the biggest boss moves ever and went on to living her best life becoming a rogue cultivator and starting a family. And she survives to the end of the story!
Most epic villain
Xue Yang. What I loved about Xue Yang is that he seemed very simple of a villain at first who was just having fun murdering people, but when the Yi City Arc happened you see the complexity of his character, his tragic background and understand his motivations and everything else in between. He may be a minor character and thus a minor villain of the story, but he made such a huge impact despite that which I cannot help but view him as epic in that regard. (Also, many of the actors actually auditioned or wanted the part of Xue Yang, so that should tell you something.)
Pairing I am not a fan of
Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing. Just, no.
I also don't like Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao (or Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, or 3zun in general). I can understand where it comes from and why people ship them, but I just don't really vibe with it. I'm also rather meh on Xiao Xingchen/Song Lan, because again while I understand where it comes from I just don't care much for it, in fact I only care about Song Lan if Xue Yang is in the mix.
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another)
I don't really know, quite honestly. I mean, I haven't read the novel to make that comparison, and from as far as I can tell in the drama they handled many of the characters pretty well, even if a lot of tragedy happened. Although I will say that I wished that they didn't add that unnecessary romance angle with Wen Qing early on, because while nothing actually happened or went anywhere with it and it was a mere blip in the entirety of her episodes for the first half of the show, it added nothing to her character. Thankfully, the show did focus more on her being a brilliant doctor and protective sister to Wen Ning and her friendship with Wei Wuxian, and many book fans say that they really improved a lot of her character from the novel so that's good, so as a whole they didn't screw up her character so much as it was just a questionable choice that I didn't like, is all.
Favorite friendship
I thought the friendship between the juniors was adorable, and the fact that they seem to have a good head on their shoulders despite the state of the cultivation world (esp with them accepting Wei Wuxian even after his identity is revealed, showing that they simply don't care and actually prefer him over the other adults in their lives) proves that the next generation is going to hopefully be fine. They all stuck together with each other, even with Jin Ling who seemed kind of the odd one out (from his personality, mostly) but they accepted him all the same.
Character I most identify with
Honestly? Nie Huaisang since I, too, just want to be lazy doing nothing and just living my life.
Character I wish I could be
A mixture of Jiang Yanli and Lan Xichen, for their calming demeanor and easy-going personalities, and also a bit of MianMian's take-no-shit attitude.
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no subject
Date: 2021-08-25 11:18 am (UTC)Oh, that's unfair. Have you seen the cast? C'mon.....
All of them are so incredible attractive. *_*
no subject
Date: 2021-08-25 11:48 am (UTC)Lan Xichen
Great choice! I'd marry him or Yanli. <3
no subject
Date: 2021-08-28 03:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-28 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-28 04:56 pm (UTC)