Name: Pixileanin (Signed) · Date: 02 Apr 2023 01:03 PM · For: a different kind of mandarin duck.

Hello! I’m here for a review!

Your scenes are so visual. It feels like I’m watching your story on a big screen, because I can see all the moving parts of the setting as I’m reading. And the way you describe things, like the bamboo canes clacking together and what it makes the character think about, which gives me a taste of his inner world at the same time. Describing the setting so specifically, as how the light of the morning would move and the shadows would shift, gives a sense of stillness and movement at the same time, perhaps even in slow motion. It builds a lot of anticipation in the reading.

I am definitely fandom-blind here, but I am put inside the story immediately with the character and the way he sees his world, so it doesn’t matter if I know these people or their circumstances before the narrative. I get the fact that he’s a leader, and that he’s supposed to  have a family, and that he has a bond with his brother. And there’s a lot of reflection here too.

I loved the scene where he’s watching the small boy learn how to handle the teapot, and the moment he realizes that he wants a family like that. But of course it’s complicated for him, because he knows what it takes to get there. The feelings are so deep, I can feel the wanting in him for this kind of life that everyone else takes for granted. And the guqin too, the way he longs to have a child who he can teach all the things.

The anticipation, the changing of the seasons, all of these things give me the impression that he has put off this matchmaker thing, that he has been thinking long and hard about it, and that he has been dreading it, dragging his feet because of the way that he is. I feel a lot of honor in it too, not only because he knows who he is and what he wants/doesn’t want, but also there’s this undercurrent of not wanting to trap someone else in a relationship that they may not see as fulfilling either. 

The matchmaker is so wise! I would definitely pay her double for her wisdom and tact. Something that seems so certain to everyone else, matching a handsome young man, maybe shouldn’t take too long in the eyes of the elders, but from everything that came before, if she sees who he is and what he needs, she also recognizes what it will take for a good match for him, which is time. I love that you showed in his youth that he once had a connection to someone, and that it was indeed possible for him to feel these things, just not in the blatant, physical attraction manner. He needs something deeper, something more patient, and he’s not going to get that from a picture. 

I am so happy that the matchmaker is on his side, and I am very hopeful that he will get his perfect match one day, and have a family of his own!

So glad you gave this a hopeful ending!

Pix

 

Name: prideofprewett (Signed) · Date: 21 Nov 2022 08:38 PM · For: a different kind of mandarin duck.

Laura! I'm so excited for another The Untamed work by you! I just really enjoy reading your writing and all of these works are lovely to read as original fiction pieces (you're that good at it :))!

 

Gosh, I could gush forever about how lovely your writing is! There's this smooth steadiness to it that just screams vibrancy...in terms of descriptions, in terms of colors...it's just so distinctive and transporting. There's also this dreamlike quality to this work with the way you blend descriptions and thoughts, both actual and abstract things. And the lack of punctuation in dialogue too adds to this overall dreamy vibe of this piece.

 

And eep! Is Lan Xichen our ace/aro boy, coming to realize it? The fact that I am coming to find this at this stage in my life, it is giving me all kinds of feels. Of course, everyone's experience with identity is different, but I found so many relatable threads in this that just spoke to my heart and soul. 

 

Like this: "Sometimes, there was a joy in it: a joy in being understood, in hearing someone else speak your thoughts and your feelings out loud; but this, this was not the same as all the other half-hidden secrets." This idea of people understanding absolutely everything about you, except maybe this one thing that sets you apart from all societal expectations and isolates you further, even from "your people?" I dunno, that's sort of how I read that line and how it resonated with me. 

 

"Who can say when a flower chooses to bloom?" // "...not all flowers are able to bloom. That does not make them any less beautiful." Ahh I love this! Why must be have markers of time that equate to success? Why can't things just unfold or not unfold naturally like they do in nature? This just such a beautiful sentiment, Laura. <3

 

Also, this idea of an actual war unfolding in parallel to the war that is being waged inside of him. It's just an apt metaphor/irony of life that we battle both consciously and unconsciously in different areas of our life for different reasons. 

 

And ahh...the princess he walks with?! That whole sequence is full of such duplicity and beauty and gd, I'm a little in love haha. I mean, the way you paint this beautiful picture of this woman and then depict her nature as being harsh and unforgiving...it's hypnotizing. And Lan's admiration is so relatable. Because even if it's not deep affection or love or lust, this feeling of being taken by someone in some way is just very relatable to me as well. You can't exactly explain it, but you want to impress them. 

 

Also, I love that you titled this "a different kind of mandarin duck." It's such a subtle way of acknowledging that while he is the same, he is also very different. But it's also a charming descriptor too, so I don't know, it makes me love him more than I already do? I mean, you have a gift for showing us these characters who are relatable and touch our hearts and we don't even really know them. Your skill as a writer makes that happen.

 

I also just want to say that this concept of having a child but not necessarily being drawn to the process of it, or seeing the process as a means to an end to obtain that child and the happiness and joy that comes with it, I hard related to all of that. And you left us with this hopefulness that Lan would achieve that one day.

 

This was such a lovely piece and I am so happy to have the chance to read it! Wonderful job! And tag! Unless the gods have other plans ;)

 

<3 Courtney