To the Ends of the Earth

Series Metadata

Creator:
Series Begun:
2020-04-10
Series Updated:
2020-08-21
Description:

An exploration of the world and characters of The Untamed, comprised of missing and post-canon scenes, consistent to the best of my ability with the canon and timeline of the live-action version of the story (as seen on Netflix). When I was uncertain about something - travel times and distances between places, background relationships, sequences of events, etc - I used various fan resources for research; in some cases, I made judgement calls, which will be kept consistent throughout the series. See below for a listing of all known canon divergences and assumptions that I've kept track of; it's entirely likely I've missed some, but this is my best shot at keeping everything organized and transparent.

Notes:

[caution: huge nerdery below]

The series title, To the Ends of the Earth, is taken from a song I have loved from many years before discovering this show: The Wandering Songstress (天涯歌女) (listen to my fave version here), which itself takes its first line, 天涯海角, from a Tang Dynasty poem by Lu Yan. Roughly translated, it means "the ends of the earth"; the poem is about seeking someone far and wide. The music of the song, originally composed in 1937 by He Luting, is taken from a folk song from Suzhou; Suzhou was formerly known as Gusu.

LISTEN
I COULD NOT NOT USE THIS TANG DYNASTY POEM FOUR-CHARACTER EXPRESSION, ADAPTED INTO A GUSU BALLAD ABOUT SEARCHING FOR YOUR MISSING LOVER, AS A SERIES TITLE, OKAY

Full lyrics (taken from here):

From the end of the earth to furthest sea
I searched for my true love
I sing while you play a zither
My darling, we have the same heart

Looking north to my hometown mountain
Tears fall and wet my blouse
I miss you, my darling, only until today
My darling, love through adversity is always deep

Who in life does not
Cherish their youth?
I am like thread, you are like a needle
My darling, we are held together, never to be apart

==========================================

As this series begins to grow, for convenience's sake, I am listing two things below: the chronology of stories and any known canon divergences or assumptions.

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF FICS SO FAR
- Inconvenient Fireworks
- Diamonds and Rust
- Displacement Activities
- Intelligence Report
- Two Nights at Tanzhou Inn
- Well-Brought-Up Boys
- Homecoming
- Warmth in the Snow, a Light in the Dark
- Lies You Told, Lies You Didn't
- The Road to Qishan
- What Breaks Apart
- A Turnip-Shaped Hole in the Heart

KNOWN DIVERGENCES FROM CQL CANON
- Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji reunite on the same day that they part on the hilltop
- A bunch of map stuff, unfortunately. I had worked out a best-guess map early on and wrote all of it accordingly, and later found canon(?) maps that only partly overlap. Whoops! At least it's internally consistent?

ASSUMPTIONS ABSENT FROM BUT NOT STRICTLY DIVERGENT FROM CQL CANON
- A-Yuan is inside the Demon-Subdue Palace during the siege of Burial Mounds where Lan Wangji takes a stand after Wei Wuxian's death
- There is a gap of 3-4 weeks between Coffin Town and Carp Tower, which Wei Wuxian spends in Cloud Recesses
- Lan Sizhui figures out Mo Xuanyu's secret identity around the same time Lan Xichen does
- When Lan Xichen goes into seclusion post-JGY, he does so in Hantan Cave

Stats:
Words:
78,980
Works:
14
Complete:
No
Bookmarks:
100

Listing Series