Good morning, Readers!

We're back with my second watch through of The Untamed. I figured, even though it's only been three weeks since I started, we still might need a refresher, so...

The Story So Far

A bloke named Mo Xuanyu was kicked out of the Jin Clan for unknown reasons. Mistreated by his family, he sacrifices his body to bring back to life a man called Wei Wuxian (hereafter WWX), whose death some sixteen years ago was a cause for celebration amongst many, in order to get revenge on them all.

The Mo household is, meanwhile, haunted by a sword ghost which we learn is infused with the energy of the Styrgian Tiger Amulet, a device of WWX's creation in his first life. Cultivators from the Lan Clan are called in to take care of the haunting. Quickly out of their depth, even with WWX's help, they call for their master, Lan Wangji (hereafter LWJ) for help. Turns out, LWJ and WWX have quite the history together and WWX's remembrances of LWJ are bittersweet.

Through some contrivance of happenstance, WWX ends up meeting and insulting a boy from the Jin Clan, who he later learns is his nephew. He also runs into his adopted brother, Jiang Cheng, who it turns out, is a complete dick. Still WWX escapes, his identity still a secret. His nephew and the young cultivators from Mo's Manor all end up getting attacked by a dancing fairy statue, which has been eating souls. Turns out, though, that was just an illusion. In the fight, WWX summons help from Wen Ning, also called The Ghost General, who WWX believed to be dead. Turns out, nope.

WWX runs into LWJ (literally), and it's obvious that LWJ recognises WWX.

Cue flashback in which we learn that WWX and Jiang Cheng were very close once, along with their older sister, Jiang Yanli. The three are on their way to the Cloud Recesses - home of the Lan Clan to attend cultivating lectures.

​Right, we're caught up. Let's continue.

So, we're in a town that apparently everyone on their way to the Cloud Recesses passes through. The episode opens with WWX and company being kicked out of an inn they've rented to get some rest because some young Jin (Jin Zixuan) lordling has decided he wants the whole damned tavern to himself. The boy's a bit of a pompous ass.

An advance party of two female cultivators arrives, and WWX manages to charm his way into regaining a room for him and his siblings to rest. Only, no... Jin Zixuan apparently needs those rooms as well. So, the siblings must pack up all the same.

The lordling arrives with an enormous retinue. Seriously. How many attendants does a single bloke need. Anyway, he shows up and runs into the siblings.

Well, if Jiang Yanli doesn't have a crush on this pompous ass...

Anyway, despite once again stating their case, Jin Zixuan still kicks out the siblings. This, and an awkward solo encounter, leaves poor Jiang Yanli quite upset.

And holy shit! Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan are engaged? An arranged marriage between their parents? WTF?

So, unable to get the rest, WWX and his siblings make haste, arriving at the entrance to the Cloud Recesses before sunset. Technically, they should be able to get in, making it before curfew, but no, they've left their invitations in the damned tavern now occupied by Jin What'sHisFace.

LWJ arrives on the scene. Here they use a shot from one of WWX's remembrances in an earlier episode, and also slow motion, so you know this is the boy sees boy moment in the series. As it turns out, LWJ is leading the way in a morbid procession, in which a cultivator is carried in on a stretcher, his neck all marked up with what looks like cracks. You know, like a rock would have cracks.

WWX ponders aloud after someone murmurs about death, that the man on the stretcher isn't actually dead, but subjected to some wicked sorceries. This apparent braininess gets LWJ's attention. WWX seizes the moment to try and talk his way into the Cloud Recesses, but LWJ is having none​ of it.

HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH! LWJ put a silencing spell on WWX to shut him up. No talking your way into this one, WWX!

Unable to to get even an inch from LWJ, WWX heads back to town to get the invitations while Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng and their retinue wait outside of the entrance to the Cloud Recesses, denied entry until the sun comes up the next day. Wait... what have we here? LWJ reappears. Does that mean they're allowed in? What does that mean for WWX?

WWX returns to find the campsite empty... and he's carrying two bottles of the liquor he really wanted to try but couldn't because of Jin Peacock-Boy. Hold up. These kids are, like, thirteen in this part of the story aren't they? Who the fuck is giving thirteen year olds rice wine? Not the point, I know, but someone needs to slap their parents.

Deciding to go find his siblings, WWX is stopped at the gate by a powerful magical ward... which he then easily  breaks. We next see him climbing over the roof to get into the Lan Clan manor. He makes sure the coast is clear before he hauls himself onto the roof.

The coast wasn't all that clear, apparently. LWJ is there, staring at WWX. After WWX awkwardly greets him, LWJ informs the wayward would-be student of the Lan Clan rules he's broken. WWX tries to fix it by offering LWJ a bottle of his Emperor's Smile wine, for which he's chastised for attempting to bribe an enforcer of the law; another infraction.

Guess there's nothing for it. The pair are going to have to fight. In the fight, LWJ breaks one of WWX's bottles of liquor, which really upsets WWX. They finish their fight beside a large stone tablet, upon which the 3000 rules of the Lan Clan are listed. Unable to brook WWX's chattering, LWJ puts a silencing spell on him. Again. Man, I wish I had a spell like that. The peace and quiet I would get in my life...

Under arrest, WWX is taken to Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen - LWJ's uncle and brother respectively - who were examining the body of the poor unfortunate cracked cultivator on a stretch LWJ brought in earlier. Turns out, WWX was right - wicked sorcery. There, WWX is given the opportunity to plead his case. Lan Xichen is very reasonable about it all, but WWX is still punished. LWJ assigns him the punishment of writing the three thousand Lan Clan Rules three hundred times. After the punishment is assigned, WWX spies the body on the stretcher and begins his detective work.

We change scenes.

Okay, so there's no attack as such. We just see Wen Ruohan in his hellish throne room. He has a few more cultivators with cracked necks standing around doing nothing. Hovering just above a small lava pit is a thing we learn is a fragment of something called the Yin Iron. It is the Yin Iron that is giving Wen Ruohan the ability to do whatever he's doing to these cultivators. There's a young woman he's giving instructions to. He's sending her to the Cloud Recesses to attend the lectures... except not. She's supposed to find another fragment of the Yin Iron. She asks that she take her younger brother, who has been unwell since childhood. Her request is granted.

Cut back to the room in which the Lans and WWX are pondering over the body, and the body sits up and opens its eyes. The eyes are white. Spooky. It's decided the best name for such a poor unfortunate soul is 'puppet.' So, someone out there is making puppets of cultivators. It's Wen Ruohan, but they don't know that yet.

WWX is sent to his quarters, and we see LWJ standing outside, looking up at, presumably, the moon. What follows next is a really, really sweet brother moment. This is the point where I nearly fell in love with Lan Xichen. He's worried that he's been too strict with his younger brother (because, you know, LWJ is such a humourless stickler for the rules and doesn't know how to have fun). He confesses that he's glad LWJ is around during the lectures, that there will be cultivators his age around, and that he can make friends.

Then he says, and I kid you not, that he has a good feeling about WWX. He notes his brother's expression and then asks if WWX did not prove LWJ's equal in the sword fight. LWJ does not appreciate that, and he stalks off.

​AND LAN XICHEN SMIRKS.

Lan Xichen knows what's up.

Oops, we back at the Fire Nation... I mean Wen Ruohan's throne room. Enter Xue Yuan. He's not part of the Wen Clan. He's just working for... with? for them. Wen Ruohan knows the locations of three of the fragments of Yin Iron (he has one, one is in the Cloud Recesses, and I forgot the other place already). Apparently, this Xue Yang knows where the fourth piece of the Yin Iron is, but he's refusing to tell until he gets what he wants from Wen Ruohan. I wonder what that might be?

And that's the end of the episode.

Things I Liked

Again, it's the small character interactions that I loved best about this episode. Lan Xichen's love for his brother is palpable in that gentle moment between them. I loved that scene best of all. I'm also rather taken with how well Wang Yibo is playing LWJ - the stoney face and unyielding personality really work here, and I'm there all the way. WWX's mischief is also great, and plays really well against LWJ's flat stoicism.

Like the things I read, I really enjoy characters done well. They're done extremely well here.

What Could Have Been Done Better

I'm really nitpicking here, like... really nitpicking, but the fight choreography could have been a tad better - a little less reliance on wirework, and some more training would have not gone amiss (though, I really do appreciate that it looks like Wang Yibo has a passing familiarity with some jian forms - jian being the kind of sword used here (a double-edged straight sword, as opposed to a dao, which is technically a sabre) - as evidenced by the way he used his off hand).

Look, I do martial arts, okay. I pay attention to these things whether I want to or not.

Another thing that made me roll my eyes just a tad was the equation of fire with evil. Look, these poor suckers happen to live in a live volcano. Does that automatically make them the villains? Apparently, yes. Probably all those volcanic fumes doing something nefarious to their brains. Still, it's a worn-out trope and it did make me snort a bit.

Overall

Once again, I'm here all the way in this episode. With the continuing introduction of new characters, I liked that the series is letting you sit with each one for a little bit... except for the Wens, really. And that Xue Yang character. I'm sure we'll get more in the next episodes.

Obviously. 

I've seen it before. 

​Anyway, see you next week for Episode Four.

Good morning, Readers.

I am at work today, though Ottawa is in a 2nd lockdown and Ontario is in a state of emergency again. Thanks Covid. Also, thanks to the selfish links who didn't follow the rules. I am at work today because my office deals with construction - including construction projects for schools and hospitals - so we're considered essential.

At least, I hope I'm at work today. There will be, I understand, police who are at liberty to fine people for being out and about for non-essential reasons.

Anyway, chances are, I'm at work.

This weekend will be spent at home, save for grocery shopping, and while I'm a little annoyed about it, while I'm tired of following the rules while selfish toads who think they're above caring about their fellows do not, I want desperately to get this thing over and done with. That means staying in. Wearing a mask. And getting vaccinated when my turn comes around.

This weekend, I have a painting to finish. Well... almost finish. I've ordered some glow in the dark paint, and the painting can't be finished without it. This will be my January painting, and I'm quite excited to show it off when it's finished. But that will happen later. When it's finished.

That's all I've got going on today. Have yourselves a lovely and safe weekend. I'll see you Monday.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I am sitting to write this minutes after my first ever return to Kung Fu. Not in person, of course. With tightening restrictions where I'm living, coupled with a bungled vaccination roll-out means that there won't be in-person training sessions for a long, long time. This was done via Zoom. It was a shorter class 40 minutes, as opposed to the pre-plague one hour, and it was just the one class instead of the usual Kung Fu followed by Kickboxing (so two hours) that it used to be.

Still, I am incredibly grateful for the class happening at all. I'm wildly out of practice, and felt very awkward and uncoordinated, but nevertheless glad to be back at it. I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit. I'm going to buy a heavy bag and outdoor stand so I can spend some of my evenings punching and kicking something solid. LORDY I miss that so much.

So, I'd like to take this time to thank my elder brothers and my Sifu in Wutan Canada, who have given up their Tuesday and Thursday evenings to teach remotely once again. It's not an easy ask. Remote teaching can be frustrating. I know from experience.

By the way, if you live in Ottawa, and you're hoping to get into martial arts when the area opens up again, go ahead and give our Facebook page a like. We're kinda silent on there right now, but we will be posting there once we have something even approaching a class again.

I'm still dreaming of building us a proper school. It's there. In the back of my mind. At this point, it would take the winning of the lotto in order to achieve this dream, but it's still there. Making me wistful.

I mean, I'll either have to win the lotto or sell a manuscript to Hollywood. Get on that universe. Make it so I can build a school.

Truth be told, my legs are probably going to be very sore tomorrow, when you're all reading this, but it'll be a happy pain.

Tonight, I'll be having a happy sleep. Maybe this time I won't dream about giving my Norwegian friend financial advise, like I'm in any way qualified to do so.

Right, I have a word count to complete. I'm off to write.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Oh my fucking Gawd, 2021. How can you be this much of a trash fire already?!

Look, things are pretty awful just south of where I am right now, and it's been a concerning week, with increasingly concerning news still rolling out. But there are bright spots. Twitter and Facebook finally banning Trump too late but at least it's something. The neo-Nazi safe space that was Parler has lost its internet hosts and was apparently left wide open for anyone to waltz in. Now everything said on that "private" platform, and who said it (with driver's licenses as proof of identity), all pictures, everything is being exported for law enforcement and perhaps anyone else who wants to get a hang of it.

SUCK IT YOU TREASONOUS MORONS.

Anyway, that's not the point of today's blog post. No, today's blog post is a celebration.

You see, in spite of the trash fire that was the first week of January, I did very well for myself, thank you very much. On the 5th, my pretty little planner arrived. I'm a sucker for a beautiful cover, and it was on sale, and I just really frakkin' wanted it.

I'm using this planner to keep track of my word counts, mostly, but also for my scheduling which, now that I've settled into a kind of work routine, is starting to fill out a bit again. Like, my Tuesdays and Thursdays... and Friday evenings, actually, are all full for the next little while.

Mostly, though, it's for my word count tracking. For the next four months, I have a word count goal of roughly twenty thousand words a month. That breaks down to roughly five thousand words a week. I'm trying to keep it to my work week (so a thousand words a day), with Saturday as a buffer day, giving me some room to catch up if I need to.

This post is a celebration because I didn't need to catch up at all. In fact, I blew through my weekly goal. By blew through, I mean I frakkin' doubled it.

I could have taken this week off if I wanted to and it wouldn't affect my standing currently. I'm not going to, of course. I set myself a goal for this week. What happened last week is of no consequence. It does, though, give me a decent buffer in case something awful happens and I can't write at all. Still, if everything is more or less the same, I plan on making my goal of five thousand words this week.

​So far, I am approaching the third mark of the book. I'm really enjoying it, despite the constant fear that I'm not staying in my lane and it will insult people. I like this story. I like the two protagonists a lot.

I am saving up for a sensitivity reader.

Still, despite the anxiety of not being in my lane, and despite the rage-inducing idiocy happening down south, I wrote. And I wrote a lot.

It's a bit like the dam breaking, I guess. I spent so long not writing, there was a lot of stuff stored up in my brain that is now gushing out faster almost than my fingers can type them out. I'm going to ride this as long as I can!

Tomorrow, I might spend some time complaining that I'm really sore, because it's the first day back at training (online) with my Kung Fu crew in a really, really long time tonight. I expect to be obliterated. For now though, I'm going to hold onto the happy feeling of accomplishment that I've been sitting on for the past couple of days.

For a challenge, what's something you've done in 2021 that you're stupid proud of. It can be anything - drinking more water. Consistently getting out of bed each day. Going for a walk for the first time in ages...  Anything. Celebrate your wonderfulness in the comments!
​
Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Okay, episode two. It's not nearly as captivating as the first episode, but it does have one of my most favourite small moments in it, which we'll get to in a bit, but first, the episode itself:

So, WWX has left the village which house Mo Manor, and that ill-fated family behind. We meet him on the road, riding a donkey. He stops to rest at a well, and is later joined by a large group of travellers. He moves aside and overhears an argument between two of the travellers. You see, one of them is in possession of a compass designed by WWX in his first life. His companion calls into question the compass, a small argument ensues in which we learn that the owner of the compass considers WWX his idol - which makes for a refreshing change from all the horrible things that have been said about the unfortunate un-deceased.

In this scene, we meet an unfortunate young woman named Yan, whose tragic story factors into the plot of the episode rather heavily. She's not all there, you see, because of a soul-stealing statue. But more on that later. She makes friends with WWX's donkey, who is now called Apple because of her. Anyway, her calling Apple unfortunately drags WWX into the open from his hiding spot where he'd been observing a young member of the Jin Clan refuse to release the people trapped in the nets he set in order to try and capture whatever soul-stealing monster has been causing problems in the area recently.

The young Jin recognizes WWX as Mo Xuyanu - the man who was cast out of the Jin Clan and later sacrificed his body to bring WWX back to life. There is a small confrontation, in which WWX uses his 'tricks' to pin the young Jin to the ground. The young Jin threatens WWX with hell to pay when his uncle gets here. That same said uncle shows up just moments after WWX enquires as to who that might be and why it should make him scared.

Oh shit, his uncle is Jiang Cheng - the guying purple from the beginning of episode one who killed WWX.

His disposition has not improved. He's a dick to both WWX and his nephew. When he discovers that WWX used a trick created by the Yiling Patriarch (another name for WWX in his first life), he encourages his nephew to skewer WWX with his sword. For his part, the young Jin tries, but is thwarted at the last second by a very familiar blue energy crescent, which batts the sword away.

LWJ is near.

He shows up with all the young cultivators in tow. They're apparently here to find the soul-stealing monster, too.

WWX hides and now LWJ and Jiang Cheng have their own confrontation. They really don't like one another. It's ultimately resolved, though, and they parties all split up. WWX barely escapes. He learns shortly after that the young Jin is Jin Ying - his sister's son. He's the boy's uncle, too. He immediately regrets his harsh words to the boy on their first meeting.

Anyway, as it turns out, WWX is apparently also looking for the soul-stealing monster, and so ends up in the temple where there is a rock shaped like a dancing woman along with the young cultivators and Jin Ying.

The rock comes to life and starts attacking.

WWX recalls that this shouldn't be possible, as this very rock was sealed by him and LWJ in his first life. In any case, everyone flees before the dancing-now-marauding-woman rock. They manage to escape back down the mountain, where we learn Yan's tragic story and how it relates to this rock. One of the cultivators clues in that WWX isn't actually mad, as he's pretended to date.

For some reason, there is a cut in there to a tea pavilion where Jiang Cheng and LWJ are both sitting, and the angry tension between them is pretty damned intense. They really don't like one another.

Back at the mountain, WWX realises that Jin Ying isn't here. The foolish boy has attacked the rock, retreating slowly down the mountain with his two retainers. Unable to do much else, the rest of the folks at the foot of the mountain join in the fight.

Never mind, WWX is just going to carve a flute real quick.

With his newly carved flute, WWX begins to play a song and, from the forest at the side of the road jumps a pale figure with chains with black eyes and weird black veins all over his neck. WWX recognizes him as Wen Ning immediately, revealing that the man was supposed to be dead. In the short, flute-directed fight against the rock, it's discovered that the dancing woman rock thing was actually not a monster at all, just an illusion. Afterwards, someone recognises Wen Ning as the Ghost General.

In a bid to save him, WWX picks up his flute again, and compels the zombie Wen Ning to fight the crowd that is now trying to cut him down. Realizing he's been a bit overzealous in his playing, risking death to the folks there, WWX changes tactics and plays a recognizable tune (if you've been paying attention to the music to date), drawing the zombie to him and away from the group. He backs up, right into LWJ.

LWJ grabs WWX's wrist and for an aching moment the two just stare at one another.

With Wen Ning starting to stir again, WWX plays again, banishing Wen Ning back to the forest. He then drops the flute and grabs a hold of LWJ's wrist himself, and then the pair are just standing there, holding on to one another, staring at each other. You can just tell that LWJ recognizes WWX, and it's so fecking sweet and heartbreaking, guys.

ALKFDHJ

Then Jiang Cheng shows up and ruins the moment.

It's revealed to him that Wen Ning turned up and that WWX summoned him. Jiang Cheng goes to whip WWX with his purple electric whip bracelet thing, but is blocked by LWJ.

No one whips his man. No, sir!

​Except WWX proves to be exceedingly dense and tries to run away and gets whipped all the same.

Apparently, the whipping didn't do what Jiang Cheng wanted it to do. On second viewing, there could be a couple of reasons for that, but needless to say, the fact that the purple electric whip didn't dispel WWX from his body means that he can't have returned because the only way the dead can return is to possess someone else's body - which would be remedied by a lick of Jiang Cheng's whip.

And then we begin an epic multi-episode flashback.

In the beginning of this flashback, which takes up the rest of the episode, we see that Jiang Cheng and WWX were, in fact, very close. There was some tension, as there usually is with siblings, but they were fast friends. It was them, and their older sister Jiang Yanli - the closest siblings you'd ever seen. On second watching, knowing the shit this poor family is put through, and how the relationships fracture and break, it's incredibly bittersweet. I tried to enjoy it for a bit, but my heart was breaking the entire time.

​What I Liked

Okay, without a doubt my favourite moment in this whole episode is the mutual wrist grab moment. It's such a brief moment, but both the actors conveyed so much in it. It's so incredibly sweet, more so on my second viewing, but it absolutely stuck with me on the first viewing, too. It's just so. damned. good.

In my first viewing, the flashback beginning was interesting to me, but it gained new weight on the second viewing. I love that the show can stand up to multiple viewings in this way, each scene bringing something new with it; some baggage that changes the tone for the viewer without changing anything at all. It's really well done.

What Could Have Been Better

Uh... nothing. I don't think that there's really anything that could be done to improve this episode. It felt slower than the first, but then, there weren't any huge battles or suicides or other impossible drama. But there were wonderful small moments.

And that wrist grab.

It still squeezes at my heart.

Overall

Honestly, I'm still stuck on that wrist grab scene.

M'kay, overall, a slower episode, but not without its own action and intrigue. A worthy successor, I think, to the first episode.

Good fucking morning, Readers.

Well fuck.

I'm angry.

I'm so angry that I'm numb.

There is some good news amongst the idiotic madness in DC and fascist coup attempt being made in the States right now - The senate has been flipped. Both Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff have won the Georgia run-off elections. Good. Maybe now someone can do something about righting this ship.

But the news about the MAGA morons storming the Capitol has left me so enraged I can barely think. What gets me the most is the hypocrisy of it all. Echoes of 2016 Republican chants of "We won, suck it" are echoing in my head. The BLM movement - peaceful protests literally begging the police to stop killing folks - was met with tear gas, riot gear, rubber bullets, beatings and death.

Indigenous Americans were gassed, endured water cannons and far worse ON THEIR OWN FUCKING LAND for having the audacity to try and protect it.

These fuckers storm the Capitol, with fucking guns, and there's nothing from the police.

In fact, there's footage of the police opening the fucking gates to these fascist clowns.

There are reports of planted explosives.

How many arrests have been made? Huh? These fuckers are just being allowed to leave.

What did Trump say to these fucking terrorists - don't argue with me. They're fucking terrorists - we love you? You're special?

Don't you fucking dare tell me that this isn't about race, because you bloody well know it is. You have to stop burying your head in the sand - face what your countrymen are if you've any hope of fixing it.

And wipe that smug smirk off your face, Canada. Take a good long look at your own politicians, because they are just the same. Don't think we're any better than the US. We're not.

I'm just so angry right now.

I'm not surprised. No one who has been paying attention is surprised.

But I am furious.

Fuck anyone who supported Trump. And doubly fuck you if you still support him.

Fuck.

Good morning, Readers!

I'm over at Black Gate Magazine today, talking about a struggle I'm having with my writing.

Blessedly, I have returned to writing. As a birthday gift to myself, I bought myself an iPad, which didn’t arrive until the middle of December (thank you order delays) to replace the laptop I had that was long dead. I was going to get Word for iPad, but because of the new size of the device, Microsoft decided that I had to pay for it. Had the screen been half an inch smaller, I’d be eligible for the free version. So instead, I went and found a really decent free word processor that serves really well for my writing needs. It’s simple, intuitive and can save as .docx. So far, I can highly recommend WPS Office.
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But that’s not the point of the post. The point is, I have a problem. It’s a low-key anxiety sitting in the back of my mind as I write. You see, I am currently working on two stories that centre characters that are not… well, white. And I’m struggling.