extrapenguin | Ye Zun picspam

From:

rlyqueer

He's such a beautiful nasty boy! These screencaps are wonderful.

Fave and perfect reaction image, because what a mood:

#relatable

From:

extrapenguin

Didi has all the expressions! "Gege haz wronged me ;______;" is an important one.

From:

trobadora

Great caps!

Damn, I love the little ponytail SO MUCH. And that whole look with the ponytail, the mask and the cane. :D

From:

extrapenguin

Yes! He is so floofy. Evil, but floofy. Multiple people have speculated that had he made a public appearance like that, he'd have acquired a bunch of villain groupies immediately.

From:

trobadora

Hee! Yes!

OMG, can you imagine Ye Zun with groupies? He wouldn't have the first idea what to do with them!

From:

extrapenguin

I mean, I guess he might eat them (in a way significantly less sexy than the groupies hoped), but yeah, he'd be baffled. For all that he tries to seduce Zhao Yunlan and is inappropriately touchy with Professor Ouyang/Ya Qing/Guo Changcheng, he doesn't strike me as very sexually aware. He'd probably stand around a lot with a "Bzuh?" expression straight out of the first cap.

From:

lannamichaels

love https://i.imgur.com/u3cR4yO.jpg so much, that's an excellent face :D

and https://i.imgur.com/6Z2rry2.jpg is lovely ♥

From:

extrapenguin

Smiling happy Ye Zun is adorable. Best face! He should smile more often. And the Hallows afterlife conversation with Shen Wei was lovely indeed.

From:

china_shop

I always misread that fifth one as him having the tip of his tongue in the corner of his mouth, and then I do a double-take.

Great caps!

ETA: *stares again* Or is that a misreading? I can't even tell anymore.

Edited (self-doubt) Date: 2020-03-31 05:07 (UTC)

From:

extrapenguin

He's licking his lips, I think! Because he ... finds his nemesis delicious? He wants to eat Zhao Yunlan? IDK. Oh Ye Zun.

From:

starandrea

I don't believe you are misreading it! :)

Either Ye Zun has less understanding of facial expressions and body language than he thinks he does, or one possible interpretation is that he comes on to Zhao Yunlan repeatedly during the final arc.

Or both. Both is probably plausible. ♥

From:

extrapenguin

He's habitually inappropriate with people (see how he acts with Professor Ouyang, Ya Qing, and Guo Changcheng), and I don't think there's a heterosexual explanation for how he behaved with Zhao Yunlan in episodes 39/40. He's also been screwed up by being "raised" by the Rebel Leader. My personal interpretation is that he does genuinely want Zhao Yunlan (because he must have everything Shen Wei had; because he can't help but find Zhao Yunlan intriguing; because he finds Zhao Yunlan hot, despite not knowing what his feelings are doing), but he was sexually abused enough growing up that he has no idea how to appropriately interact with humans. So, uh, both.

From:

starandrea

I agree! I feel like both his background and the current context influence his behavior in ways that make him unpredictable, at best.

1 - He seems to behave inappropriately for present-day polite society... but weirdly, not that inappropriately. Like, he's good at making people uncomfortable! And it seems like he does it by acting "normal," or the way people expect him to act, right up until he doesn't. It looks to me like he knows what's expected, and that's exactly why he's so good at surprising people in ways that creep them out.

2 - Some of his reactions really do seem more appropriate to a nomadic camp of warriors who were in the business of keeping slaves. His temper and his exasperation and his callousness often seem genuine - like he isn't doing it on purpose to freak (present-day) people out, other than that's the example that was given to him by the people he lived with (that he should intimidate people to make them do what he wants, and here are the reactions that invoke intimidation).

So it's hard for me to guess how much of the world he's been aware of since he got stuck in the pillar, but we do see him repeatedly interacting with society as some sort of magical hologram, so it seems like he's had the opportunity to study... at least current fashion and language, if not significantly more. :)

How much has he been able to train his own behavior to make (present-day) people respond to him the way he intends them to? I don't know. In many ways, he seems both more and less successful than I would have expected.

From:

extrapenguin

He has mind control powers, and has eaten up many other powers, so I'd think he's using something along the lines of low-level telepathy to "compensate"/help calibrate his actions for appropriate response.

So it's hard for me to guess how much of the world he's been aware of since he got stuck in the pillar, but we do see him repeatedly interacting with society as some sort of magical hologram, so it seems like he's had the opportunity to study... at least current fashion and language, if not significantly more. :)
We only get magical hologram starting with ep 20, so before that, he's relying only on the Dixingians walking past his pillar. (Not that there seem to have been that few of them.) I'd say he has a decent enough grasp of Dixing, but not necessarily of Haixing. Unless he pilfered through Shen Wei's memories when Shen Wei was tied to the pillar?

From:

starandrea

He does seem to have mind-control powers, given the way he apparently changes the behavior of Guo Changcheng and An Bai's friends against their will! Which is so interesting to me, since Fu You said that was the rebel leader's power, and the flashbacks seem to suggest that the first manifestation of Ye Zun's power was... energetically absorbing people? And someone - was it Shen Wei? - said that people from Dixing only have one power, his own apparently multiple powers being justified as a result of his "one power" being to "learn" other powers? (Which we never get an explanation or a demonstration of, so disappointing. "Learn" is such an ambiguous word!)

So from this, it seems reasonable to guess that Ye Zun's "one power" allows him to absorb other people's powers, explaining his apparently multiple powers. Which allows for all kinds of power possibilities! But do you think he absorbs information and/or personalities with the powers? (Do you think Shen Wei does, when he learns powers?) I kind of hope not, because that seems overwhelming and harsh, but welcome to Guardian, I guess.

And this is another thing I wonder about, his awareness of people in the physical vicinity of his pillar! How long has that been going on?

It does seem like the magical hologram was tied to the weakening of his prison, possibly as a result of the scattered Hallows or the deliberately increased Merit Brush activity, but I wonder if all of his awareness could be linked to the weakening of his prison. It doesn't seem explicit in the show whether or not Shen Wei was aware of the passing millennia, but it appeared to me he wasn't aware until he woke up (just based on his apparent awe as he toured Dixing with the Regent).

And I wonder if this was true of Ye Zun as well; that he only recently became aware the same way Shen Wei did. (Possibly contradicted by Ye Zun's attempts to convince Shen Wei that Ye Zun was responsible for him waking up? How literal did Ye Zun mean that to be? I don't know, could have been a metaphor, could have been a lie, could have been a misunderstanding.) Even if that's true, it leaves a lot of time for Ye Zun to be exposed to the rule-breakers and/or outcasts of Dixing society and formulate his opinion of present-day people and the world based on them.

(On the other hand, if it's not true and he's been aware the whole time,

marcicat wrote a great story, Between the stars, a light still shines, that speculates on some of the ways the pillar might have been perceived over the years, and what that would have meant in terms of the type of people who visited it. Someone trapped in one place for such a long time could have been exposed to all sorts of non-representative views on society, although I guess that's true for all of us. ♥)

From:

extrapenguin

It's pretty equivocally canon that Ye Zun's Dixing power is eating people, thus absorbing their energy and potential Dixing powers, which is how he got the mind control. Conversely, I'm certain he can't absorb information, because if he did, he'd know Shen Wei didn't actually abandon him and it was all the Rebel Leader's lies. As for personality, well, I don't think Ye Zun's personality development needs any influences other than his circumstances.

(And no, we don't see Shen Wei learn anything. I suppose it's the non-destructive version of Ye Zun's power? And that him using it – instead of the learned sub-powers – would likely ping Lin Jing's detectors.)

It does seem like the magical hologram was tied to the weakening of his prison, possibly as a result of the scattered Hallows or the deliberately increased Merit Brush activity,
The first time we saw it was in episode 20, after Zhu Jiu donated his life force to Ye Zun but before any Merit Brush activity. So scattered Hallows + strengthened Ye Zun. (After all, he'd been getting fed with those Fight Club guys.)

It doesn't seem explicit in the show whether or not Shen Wei was aware of the passing millennia, but it appeared to me he wasn't aware until he woke up
I'd actually say that it was pretty explicit that he wasn't, due to what you mentioned. And the implication is that Ye Zun was, or at least was awake for much longer. And yeah, people have written fic on what it might've been like to be in a pillar for 10k years – me included.

From:

starandrea

Ah, my intent was less to equivocate and more to avoid stating my interpretation as fact, while still expressing my enthusiasm for the conclusions being drawn. :)

And yeah, people have written fic on what it might've been like to be in a pillar for 10k years – me included.

I didn't mean to imply otherwise, although my intent in pointing to

marcicat's fic in particular was that it talks about what happened outside the pillar, rather than inside it. Apologies if I caused offense.

From:

extrapenguin

Ah, I didn't get the enthusiasm for conclusions being drawn. And I guess the mandatory social isolation has left me grumpy. The times, they are annoying.

From:

starandrea

Oh dear, I must have deleted all of my enthusiasm right out of my comment. I started it three times, because the first time it began with "\o/" and the second time it began with "Yay!" And I kept telling myself, "No! You must maintain a seriousness worthy of your conversation partner!" So I tried to restrain my overt signs of joy in discussing Ye Zun's character with a sympathetic witness.

That said, I had a particularly trying day at work, and I was tremendously enjoying your comments and thinking about all of them in my free moments - it led to a lot of me thinking, "That's true,* and why do I think that? What convinced me?" Because some people I follow seem unsympathetic to Ye Zun, and I'm curious what the differences are in my perception versus theirs. (*Where by "true" I mean, "something I agree with.") So I think a lot of my restating things that were obvious to you was for my own benefit, as I tried to support for myself why I agree with certain things that some other people seem not to agree with.

So anyway, thanks for making my day better. I often write far too much when I comment, which is one of the reasons I don't do it very often. :) (I just love things so much! I want to say all the things about them! Even though other people already know those things, I just find it fun to say them again!) I hope you find some less-annoying things in the very near future.

From:

extrapenguin

The times are adding a +5 to tryingness all across the board, I think! Don't sweat it. Communication is hard, especially over the internet.

some people I follow seem unsympathetic to Ye Zun, and I'm curious what the differences are in my perception versus theirs.
I'm not sure whether the lack of sympathy of some people have anything to do with Ye Zun qua Ye Zun – the issue they have with him is that he was the reason the members of their OTP died. They'd have exactly the same feelings about him if he were a villainous cardboard box with no motivations. Some people are just focused on their OTP and only into things for the shipping. (I think the fact that Ye Zun's true motivations and woobiedom were only revealed in the final episode, which some people never watched, made things harder as well.) So I'm not sure if it's so much a difference in perception so much as in interest?

(Also, please turn up to Friday's Ye Zun discussion, it will have ~~villain wank~~ calm philosophical discussion on the meaning of redemption!)

So anyway, thanks for making my day better.
♥ Contemplating Ye Zun makes every day better. Especially if one contemplates Shen Wei wrapping him in a blanket and feeding him.

From:

starandrea

Also, please turn up to Friday's Ye Zun discussion, it will have villain wank calm philosophical discussion on the meaning of redemption!

Ha ha, I hate conflict, despite (or maybe because of) my talent for causing it. But I will make a good faith effort to contribute positively to the discourse. :)

♥ Contemplating Ye Zun makes every day better. Especially if one contemplates Shen Wei wrapping him in a blanket and feeding him.

I agree with all of this! ♥

From:

extrapenguin

There will also be opportunity to drop fic/art/vid/meta/etc recs!

From:

starandrea

I look forward to it!

From:

starandrea

Also, sorry about my need to repeat all known information in support of already-stated conclusions. I'm teaching people to do math right now; it contaminates all of my social interaction. :)