Baby Like 🫨

I'd argue that Jiang Cheng doesn't care much for his reputation after all these years, or at the very least he hasn't been afraid to have a hardass, why-are-you-LIKE-this-you-asshole reputation if it puts on a front of being uncaring, spiteful, and someone not to be messed with. Jiang Cheng has always put on confrontational facades, but he cares about his family at heart. He pretended to abandon Wei Wuxian during his defection to the Wens, but still considered Wei Wuxian part of his family in secret until things went south in a confrontation reveled to be complete happenstance. He loves and hates Wei Wuxian for different reasons but with equal ferocity and has a genuine right to both - he has the right to hate Wei Wuxian, but he also has the right to love him without needing to owe him or having peer pressure force him into it.

Jin Guangyao got under his skin by making the rightful assumption that Jiang Cheng was willing to abandon Wei Wuxian when things got hard and his reputation was at risk, because Jiang Cheng IS the person who will put up a front of abandoning, swearing revenge, hating people. But he was also the one INSISTING that Wei Wuxian HAD to be back at some point, a twisted mass of his desire to hate Wei Wuxian mixing with his real desire to have him back. He wants his brother back, he wants his family back, but Wei Wuxian is the only one he KNOWS can return, however tragic that is. He's the first to accuse Jin Guangyao of intentionally setting up Wei Wuxian during the ambush and getting Jin Ling's parents killed as a result - if he has someone else to blame other than Wei Wuxian, he's now ferociously defending his brother. Even Wei Wuxian admits that it really was just an accident; sure, Jin Guangyao pulled some strings, but he would have gotten into trouble eventually. But now Jiang Cheng NEEDS someone else to be at fault, because he doesn't want to hate Wei Wuxian anymore. He CAN'T hate Wei Wuxian, for all he wants to.

Not just because of the golden core revelation, but because he's finally maturing as a person and understanding why Wei Wuxian did what he did. He hates it, but now he understands Wei Wuxian a little better.

The book even compares his refusal to confess why he lost his golden core to why Wei Wuxian never told him about the transfer. In just a tiny little way, Jiang Cheng has become more like Wei Wuxian. In the end, he makes a very similar choice and will likely never admit what happened. This time, there's no third party who can force a confession of this tiny little incident. Wei Wuxian can live freely without the weight of that guilt still haunting their relationship, and for once Jiang Cheng's willing to sacrifice any self-satisfaction of saying "well ha actually I deserve this golden core after all I've done for you" to put the tragedy of the past in the past.

Imagine the teenage Jiang Cheng, or the one who was just rebuilding the Jiang Clan after the Sunshot Campaign. Would he have been able to let something like that go? If he and Wei Wuxian got into an argument about what was right and wrong, who owed who, would he have really been able to let it go? He'd already stomached Wei Wuxian’s legitimate, heartbreaking betrayal of his vow to stand with the Jiang Clan and Jiang Cheng no matter what. He was unwilling to see how his own pride had corrupted their relationship and was willing to sacrifice innocent Wens at first. It was Wei Wuxian who convinced him that doing the right thing was better than any reputation, and Jiang Cheng was the fool for abandoning HIM. While his pride couldn't stand it, he at least TRIED to make it work, for a period. Because his love for Wei Wuxian marginally outweighed his hatred.

He's spent all this time hating Wei Wuxian and clinging to the past betrayal and subsequent misfortunes rather than moving forward and trying to make the best of his life - more importantly, to teach Jin Ling to be better. In his own, prideful and stubborn way, letting go of the incident was his first step into changing and trying to forget the past and actually move on. Wei Wuxian doesn't want any trouble, and now neither does Jiang Cheng.

To be clear, this isn't to say Jiang Cheng has magically fixed as a person. He's still a stubborn hardass brandishing his whip whenever he gets pissed off, and Wei Wuxian will likely still never consider Lotus Pier his home - even if he now manages to visit with only a mild complaint from Jiang Cheng every five steps he takes. But it's progress. It's him saying "fine, we can stop bringing up past grudges and get along - only when we have to! You walk your damn path, I'll walk mine."

And maybe, one day, now that they aren't worried about pleasing or betraying the other, they can make steps to becoming friends again, and even becoming family.

For Jin Ling's sake, of course, why would he LIKE Wei Wuxian or anything, he's just that annoying guy clinging to Hanguang-jun I think.

Y'all wanna know also why JC can't tell WWX about distracting the Wens back then?

Because it means jackshit when later he leads a siege on him in an attempt to kill him and WWX ultimately dies as result (yknow we cant say 'kill' because see he just helped JGS....just brought the most resources...just helped them plan but since he failed in landing the final strike it cant be called 'killed')

Like if at that point in guanyin temple, if he were to even begin saying 'I saved you back then' whats that gonna do? because nice? Good job? He also participated in killing him afterwards?

Whatever weight that sacrifice had, was nullified by his every action afterwards.

There's a reason that him keeping quiet about is considered an indication of his character growth, because he had the clarity.

mdzs x 微博会员 + official illustrations! ❤💙🐇

She's smiling, but all he vows to remember is the pain 🥲

She was smiling when she died. She believed in the future. She knew we'd meet again.

But think Caius, think! Was it really a curse? Was it forced on her by Etro? Do you really think Yuel wanted to die and not come back? Of course not. Yeul wanted to come back. Every time she died in your arms, she wanted to come back. She knew her next life would be short. She knew! Because she wanted to see you! Again and again, without end!

I shall remember your pain. It will be carved in my heart. Together with the memories of every other Yeul, cursed to die this way.

FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 (2011)

Today’s episode was heartbreaking

We’ve seen so much of Xie Lian’s pain

So much of the fall of XianLe

But now

Will you tell me that it was all his fault?

The “consequence of his actions”?

So what should we blame him for?

For being a child against the most powerful and cruel ancient evil?

The one that lived 1000 years, destroyed all the gods and deceived the entire world?

Or was he too stubborn and not listened to other people?

Well let me tell you

XIE LIAN WAS NEVER WRONG FOR NOT LISTENING TO OTHERS.

Who should he have listened to?

That very evil that told him not to try and help his people?

His guoshi who knew everything and told him nothing but to sacrifice an innocent child in “penance” to that very evil?

Should he have crushed all youngans in one go, kill the poor starving people, led to desparation?

Should he have told his own desperate people that their cure was in murder and watch the inevitable massacre?

The only thing

The only thing that he should have seriously done differently

His biggest, most fatal mistake

He did

BY LISTENING TO SOMEONE WHO TOLD HIM HE WAS WRONG

ONE TIME.

He listened to his father.

The King of Xian Le.

When at the very beginning of it all they had an argument

Where Xie Lian insisted they should melt his golden statues and let the starving homeless people into his shrines

That’s EXACTLY what they should’ve done, but they did not

Because guess what the father said

We can’t. Because we did not build the shrines and the statues.

People of Xian Le did.

Do you want to disregard your people by doing that?

SAID THE KING

Knowing VERY WELL that he is talking about THE ROYALTY OF XIAN LE.

THE RITCH PEOPLE OF XIAN LE.

THE ONES WHO LET HIM RULE.

THE ONES WHO EASILY MIGHT TAKE HIS POWER

AND LIFE AWAY

IF HE DISPLEASES THEM.

But he knows how to PHRASE IT RIGHT to his son who CHERISHES HIS PEOPLE NO MATTER THE STATUS.

And who might very much not know the intricacies behind the ruler’s chambers.

Because Xie Lian

Was

Never

Meant

TO RULE.

He was raised to be a Martial God.

To fight demons and grant wishes.

NOT

TO RULE

A COUNTRY

BUT GUESS WHO

WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO RULE THE COUNTRY????

WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE SURE A HUGE PART OF IT WON’T STARVE TO DEATH?????

THE KING

And his son had to

ABANDON HEAVEN

To come deal with his mess

You can try blaming Xie Lian for not listening to the prayers from that part of Xian Le.

But he did not NOT listen.

He DID NOT HEAR.

Because the prayers system of “the ritcher - the louder” is inherently corrupt.

And growing up in a wealthy capital

Xie Lian must’ve not even SUSPECTED that there’ll be a part of his country so poor that no offerings would be enough for him to hear the prayers.

He did not know.

BUT THE KING

DID.

There’s no way he didn’t.

Yet does anyone

Does anyone in the book

And outside, anyone of the readers

Ever thought to blame him?

No.

Not even once have i seen this take.

Not even i realised it until recently. Thanks to my dear friend @3luecactuz

And why?

Because Xie Lian tells us the story.

And he himself

Completely believes

That it was all his fault.

When his only real fault was in not standing his ground

Agains the only person

Who held authority in his eyes.

Who was the authority in his life from the very beginning of it.

Who, no matter the future arguments, was the person he loved.

His father.

In the face of the greatest crisis he’s ever seen

Under the pressure to make the right choice for so many innocent lives

He gives in and listenes to a person who he not only inherently trusts

But who objectively had much more experience and knowledge than him

Who’s flaws he has not yet seen clearly enough. And never will.

Because this person raised him to be

Perfect.

And he failed.

Because no one is perfect.

And he believed in it in the wrong time and place. He gave in.

Decided to look for another solution.

And gave the evil orchestrating his demise just enough time to pull the first string.

Of many.

So tell me.

Really, tell me.

Did he deserve this?

Should he have listened more?

Should he have?

Or maybe

Just maybe

He needed someone

Who could have told him

To do what he thinks is right.

There are two sets - in white/silver and black/rainbow and yes I got one of both, they're amazing, LOOK AT THIS ART!!!

We are the Pride Knights, and this is our battle cry No enemy can shake us, as hard as they can try There’s a fire in our eyes that no hatred can kill A passion in our hearts that’s as strong as our will To our fellow queers who fight their battles on their own We promise to fight with you, you are never alone To our fellow queers who have fallen with the pain We thank you for your courage, your fight is not in vain We are defenders of the right to be proud of who you are To love who you love and to accept every scar We are your knights, protectors of our pride Together we stand, together we ride

LIMITED EDITION: The Pride Knights Playing Cards are now officially available for pre-order in our store until June 30, 2023!

prideknights.com ⚔️🌈

It's That Time Friends LET'S TALK ABOUT SEPHIROTH!!!

Specifically, we're talking about OG Crisis Core Sephiroth because my hopes are high for this remake and though they made sure most of the OG lines are the same, why are the voice actors unable to raise their voices and shout into their mics like what?

Anyway, let's start with his friends because Genesis and Angeal deserve more attention for shaping Sephiroth into who he is.

We all know the fight scene, we all know how epic it was, but let's break it down because yes I've watched it practically frame by frame what do YOU do with your free time?

Did you notice Genesis does the sword prayer at the beginning of the fight, same as Angeal does with his Buster Sword? It could just be Genesis showing off his weapon for the audience, but he closes his eyes and specifically lowers his head a fraction. We have little of pre-Crisis Genesis to go off of and how friendly he truly was - I mean, his best friend's Prove-Your-Honor-to-Me Angeal and Sephiroth actually does seem to admire him for his genuine efforts to get stronger. Most people who face Sephiroth likely just give up knowing they'll never match him, but Genesis is insistent on becoming stronger even when he's beaten. He even makes headway against Sephiroth in this fight, something that no one else has probably EVER done, but we'll get to that later.

The music track my goodness it's so great! *Dramatic violins*

But to the actual fight, it makes you think about why Sephiroth's sword is so freakishly long and how anyone in Shinra possibly invented a metal strong enough to hold up to Sephiroth's strength. Angeal's Buster Sword is extremely thick, Genesis enhances his weapon through magic, but Sephiroth's just got an extremely long sword that can somehow hold its own no matter which way he's using it, which falls in line perfectly with his fighting style. With a blade that long, Sephi can basically block a hit from every angle just by twisting with little effort, which becomes relevant when he's fighting as a left-handed fighter against a predominantly right-handed society. In order to properly turn his blade at the right angle to parry, he would need to turn his blade at a sharper angle. Or he could just swing however he pleases and force his opponent to be the one turning their blade at an awkward angle.

Because he's basically the equivalent of hitting a brick wall, every time he parries an attack from Angeal or Genesis, he is never flinching or bouncing back from the blows no matter how terrible the angle should be. This is literally a scene showing how impossibly strong Sephiroth is, not just from a big-muscles standpoint, but from an illogical "how-are-you-not-moving?" standpoint, and it should be showing you how frustrating it is for Genesis to try and keep up.

We all know physics hopefully, and how length increases force the further down you go. That means that hitting further down the length of Sephiroth's blade should be increasing the force needed to block the hit, but because Sephiroth is so strong AND his weapon is good at holding up to that strength, even if you're hitting the tip of his blade and he's blocking at a very poor angle, he is STILL successful at being completely unmovable.

These two slam their blades into Sephiroth's, and then they press forward together and lean in, AND look at the downwards angel Sephi is holding his Masamune. It's cut off in the picture above, but Sephi's thumb is facing downwards towards the blade, meaning he's not using his palm to push as effectively as if his thumb were facing upwards. You can tell because right after this, he swings up to slice the pair's blades back in their respective directions.

And during this first clash, he NEVER uses his right hand as a leverage point to reinforce the other end of his sword. The only time he uses his right hand is when he and Angeal are bashing it out at the last clash, and it looks like he was doing that mostly for aesthetic purposes.

Motion blur is a bitch.

Anyway, when Genesis powers up his sword and smashes his blade down to put Sephiroth into a crater, you can tell that both of them are having so much fun. Like even Sephiroth smiles because now Gen is putting up a decent fight. But then Genesis's hits actually start driving Sephiroth back. He's hitting fast enough and hard enough that Sephiroth's parries are becoming detrimental to him. His blade is useful for long-distance hits, keeping his opponents outside of a bubble where he can parry from literally every angle, but Genesis is getting too close and he isn't letting up, meaning that every time Sephiroth parries, it's at an angle that prevents him from resetting for the next swing. It's become more of getting his sword in the way than it is actually meaning Gen blow-for-blow, and he has to actually jump back in order to put real distance between them.

Then, Sephiroth makes a small "tsk" noise. He's genuinely upset that Genesis is actually making headway. This is probably the first time he's been on the defensive for a single opponent in a sword fight, and while he's slightly upset, he's also excited. This is why the fight gets out of hand. Genesis is determined to come out the winner, even if it's just in the training room, but Sephiroth is eager to have a real fight that he can put his full strength into - or at least more strength than normal.

When he blocks, this time, he uses his right hand for leverage. It's gotten serious. He uses both of his hands to shove Genesis back, and it is epic. Also do y'all think that's why he wears those bracelets? Are they for this exact purpose, to act as a bracer for when you gotta use your other hand to hold your sword?

Anyway, you can tell that Sephi is turning the tide because he's completely reversed the situation. Genesis is barely managing to keep up with the speed of his strikes, and because this is Sephiroth, getting your blade in the way of his is actually less effective than just dodging. When Sephi is doing the striking rather than the parrying, it means you're at risk of your own sword bouncing back in your face from the force of his hit.

Genesis jumping up is a reasonable response, putting distance between them, but in the air he also has no footholds, making blocking strikes even harder for him. Ignoring the lack of gravity because fall-damage doesn't exist in Final Fantasy (except for 15 but 15 isn't real I'm sure of it), Genesis using magic to try and turn the tide is precisely what his strengths are. He manages to match Sephiroth when he infuses his blade with magic, and let's be honest I don't think anyone else is capable of using Fire Materia like he has. He's basically using a SHG technique from FF Type-0, firing little blasts from every finger, and THEN controlling them remotely to converge on Sephiroth to create a creaking mini-sun worthy of Ifrit. I don't think his final blast would have stopped Sephiroth if Angeal hadn't stopped him, but I think Sephi was enjoying being overwhelmed even for a second.

No one can beat Sephiroth in terms of his raw strength, and his long blade is suited for his casual style of blocking and poking (it's embarrassing how easy it is for him to take Cloud down in Advent Children when he stops smacking his Fusion sword and just bypasses it by using a thrusting motion), but then Sephiroth starts using magic just like Genesis and all bets are off the table. The energy blasts that come from his sword just casually slice through the Mako Canon, and the way he just casually falls out of sight only to tear his way straight towards Genesis as his theme starts is Sephiroth having so much fun.

You know he did that to be dramatic. You know he did that because Genesis is a dramatic theater nerd and he's respecting Genesis by matching him in using magic to enhance his blade. He knows the fight's basically won now because he's actually trying. He's being nice. And he's having a blast.

The fact that Sephiroth is no longer being careful of his surroundings is also telling of how much effort he's putting in. Sure, he's slicing up the Mako Canon probably just to show off, but he's also just swinging his sword like you naturally would in a fight. He's just ignoring its length and letting it cut through whatever gets in its way even when he misses; it's a casual warning to Genesis that he's going to slice through him without pausing if Genesis gets in the way of Masamune. The situation is completely reversed from earlier as Genesis grunts in frustration before powering up to match Sephiroth's hit.

I love how when Angeal gets between the pair, he uses his Buster Sword to block Sephiroth from behind knowing that he'll need the foothold if he's going to stop Sephi mid-attack, but he's actually pushed towards Genesis because Sephi is pushing down so hard even after he's been stopped.

Genesis breaking Angeal's small sword is actually really interestingly set up and executed. This is the wound that begins Genesis's degradation, setting off the plot of Crisis Core's story. Genesis is really good, don't get me wrong, but it's unlikely that he didn't get his fair share of cuts and scrapes while he was learning to fight; I don't think Genesis would have begun degrading if he'd taken a hit like that normally.

I think this scene is setting up that Genesis's wound was really an anomaly of anomalies and the worst of bad luck. He infused his sword to maximum strength while he was determined to hold his own against Sephiroth when he was actually trying, he was so determined to keep the fight going and get Angeal out of the way that he used two types of magic at once - the red fire as well as what I think is ice magic to potentially immobilize Angeal (or he could have been using the same blue magic that Sephi was using when he first created those giant energy waves to make that first cut against the Canon). Because his blast hit Angeal's sword, which was blocking his own enhanced one, the two magics mixed in an explosion so strong that not only did it break the sword, but it created a Mako magic nightmare that was then injected straight into Genesis's shoulder.

I mean after everything that Sephiroth and Genesis did while they were going at it, it was Genesis's blast that actually broke the simulator. Sephi isn't even celebrating his victory. Though he doesn't say anything, he's concerned about Genesis and guilty that he'd let the fight get out of hand. When Angeal got between the pair, Sephiroth actually seemed to come to his senses - the original has Sephi seemingly like he was warning Angeal to stay out of the fight, but the remake seems to imply that Sephiroth was realizing how serious it was when Angeal intervened to stop them. I got this from the way Sephi says the line "Angeal..." That's how subtle the difference in voice acting a line can be!

His narration after confirms that he was concerned that Genesis wasn't healing and quietly blaming himself for letting this happen.

He finds Angeal's lectures amusing, he's memorized LOVELESS from being around Genesis for so long. He cares deeply about his friends, he's heartbroken when he has to accept that they're turning against Shinra, that they're working with Hollander. Zack has a full-on breakdown when Angeal dies because he was the one that had to watch his downward spiral, his transformation into a monster, and kill him, but imagine what Sephiroth is going through. He's not an emotional person, but he's enraged when he learns that Angeal left in Wutai, he does his best to appease Genesis when they meet in the Mako Reactor and tries his best not to fight them. He goes so far as to go rogue and tell Zack that they're going to fail to eliminate the wanted fugitives - probably the first time Sephiroth has ever actively rebelled after being raised in Shinra under Hojo.

Crisis Core is the story about Zack but it's also a story about Sephiroth. He was a person born and raised in Shinra to be nothing but a soldier, and the first time he actually gets friends (from a small humble town rather than a big city) and gets a new perspective on life, finding out they were experiments and monsters absolutely breaks them. He watches his friends fall apart, drift away from the kind and fun people that had been his first and only friends and taught him what friendship was truly LIKE.

Zack is probably the only reason Sephi doesn't break from Shinra then and there; he has the power to leave, even if he doesn't know what he'd do with his life, but Zack becomes a cheerful 1st, as passionate in his beliefs as Genesis and as kind as Angeal after being mentored by him. Another friend who doesn't let Sephiroth's cold attitude hamper his ability to see the good in life, one who believed in Angeal enough to even try believing in Genesis for a moment too. Sephiroth still has hope.

That's why it takes Nibelheim to absolutely break him. Not only is he close to Jenova, but he has the knowledge that his friends were failed science experiments, the informtaion causing them to absolutely fall apart - he's seen it happen and has been forced to accept that his friends are gone. Learning about his own past as an experiment sends him down the exact same rabbit hole that his friends fell into, but he's a "perfect" monster, and even Genesis showing up at the reactor confirms it. He says to Genesis "you will rot" when he comes asking for help, which seems like a great moment where Sephi refuses to let Genesis's harsh words get to him. In actuality, it just proves that he's aggressively distanced himself from the pain of losing those he trusted, reminding him and reinforcing the idea that Sephi can't trust his fellow 1st class friends. How easy would it have been to convince him that Zack was going to turn on him too?

This is serious manipulation from Jenova, taking advantage of Sephiroth's upbringing being isolated in Shinra with Hojo, taking advantage of his trauma from finally finding friends who went mad and turned on him, and then taking advantage of the fact that their history was revealed to them to drive them mad to do the same to him. Quite honestly, why WOULDN'T Sephiroth hate a world that did this to him? He's been a loyal soldier all his life, he's angry at Shinra who made him, tired of the whole world being too weak to pose a challenge against him, and he learns he's a monster who can help Jenova if she helps him

Honestly, I'm on board with that fan theory that Remake is Sephiroth trying to break free of Jenova's control over him as well and break the chains of fate or whatever. Not so he can be a free good guy or anything (that theory is reserved for the fanfiction), but so that he can take all her world-ending power for himself. You go, dude. Be the greatest villain ever and force the world to get its shit together in order to stop you.

Anyway, Reunion just finished downloading so I'ma go play now. Byeeeee

Okay everybody listen up! I haven't found most of the official ship names and I'm too lazy to continue scouring Tumblr, so I need to compile a list myself! Reblog with your preferred ship name for any given ship not listed and/or challenge one another to single combat until we come to a consensus on conflicting names for the same ship!

My contribution:

PhoenixFlare - Joshua x Dion (Phoenix x Bahamut)

FlareKnight - Dion x Terence

PhoenixFlareKnight - Joshua x Dion x Terence

FrostFire - Jill x Clive (Shiva x Ifrit)

FireBolt - Clive x Cid (Ifrit x Ramuh)

StoneStorm - Hugo x Benedicta (Titan/Garuda)

I have no other ships off the top of my head but Barnabas/Odin should probably be Dark-something.

I'll honestly also accept Flame for Clive, but is it too close to Flare? Idk. Opinions?

the untamed if it was written by rick riordan

ep 1. I Accidentally Get Resurrected

ep 2. My Teenage Nephew Bullies Me

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

ep 4. Lan Xichen Shoots His Shot

ep 5. Jiang Cheng Needs a Wingman

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

ep 7. Lan Zhan Smiles

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

ep 9. I Throw Hands With a Bird

ep 10. We Meet Our Celebrity Crushes

ep 11. We Pull Up to Evil Summer Camp

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

ep 13. We Battle the Tortoise of Doom

ep 14. I Threaten to Strip

ep 15. My Stepmom Ships Us Off

ep 16. Pretty Much Everyone I Love is Dead Now

ep 17. I Find a Cure

ep 18. I Plummet To My Death

ep 19. I Come Back Wrong

ep 20. Lan Zhan Breaks Up With Me

ep 21. I Evade Non-Consensual Therapy Sessions

ep 22. My Evil Flute Solo Kills Everybody

ep 23. I Ditch the Dinner Party

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

ep 25. Jin Zixuan Fumbles My Sister

ep 26. I Reanimate My Homie

ep 27. My Brother Questions My Interior Design

ep 28. Lan Zhan Discovers the Joys of Fatherhood

ep 29. I Get Major FOMO

ep 30. I Fulfill My Cottagecore Fantasies

ep 31. Everything Goes Downhill

ep 32. My Nephew Becomes an Orphan

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

ep. 34 Jin Ling Gets Eaten By a Wall

ep 35. We Become Tomb Raiders

ep 36. Lan Zhan Steals a Chicken

ep 37. I Force Feed Radioactive Porridge to Teenagers

ep 38. Xiao Xingchen Breaks the Bro Code

ep 39. I Go On a Shopping Date

ep 40. I Crash a Conference for Free Food

ep 41. Nie Mingjue is an Unreliable Narrator

ep 42. Everyone Wants to Kill Me (Again)

ep 43. Lan Xichen Trauma Dumps

ep 44. We Visit the Ruins of My Cottagecore Fantasies

ep 45. I Do Group Conflict Resolution In My Underwear

ep 46. The Truth Comes Out

ep 47. I Become a Hostage

ep 48. Jin Guangyao Talks Too Much

ep 49. I Reunite With My Evil Flute

ep 50. My Boyfriend Abandons Me On a Mountain (Not Really)

It's so true tho

I CANT IMAGINE HUA CHENG CALLING XIE LIAN AS "XIE LIAN".

Art by Vy PH

(?)

Okay but like,

If there were 10 million demons ready for Armageddon in the first season, how is Hell severely understaffed by Season 2? I believe Neil stated somewhere that Ligur was probably the first demon in a long time to have been properly killed off completely (rather than just discorporated), and I'm certain Hell isn't very organized or motivational, but are they just...putting a ton of their people into punishments that occupy them or something? Where did the 10 million demons ready for Armageddon go in the couple years after the failed attempt? Or did Adam's meddling to avert it somehow disarm both sides in such a way?

Gabe and Beez both complained about the hassle it was to get their respective sides to stand down, but did that involve a lot of locking down and imprisoning/torturing some of them to make them unavailable? Did a bunch of demons just quit and leave? Are demons even allowed to quit (I'd assume not)? If so, are they being punished for wanting to quit or did they try leaving to the human world? Did they try fleeing to the stars in space?

It's hilarious that Shax is ready to bring out an entire army to get Gabriel in the bookshop and yet is challenged by the lack of just available staff, but also confusing to me, who thought Hell would certainly have those numbers - and otherwise I have no explanation as to why there wouldn't be many demons just available, even if not war-bound. I mean an excuse to leave their boring desk jobs and the shitty basement office for even a little while? Even if it was an underwhelming bookshop-raid, why wouldn't all the demons at least be curious?

I mean then again maybe both sides were lying about their numbers and all these questions are moot.