#chenqing ling

[dkniade]

(Wrote this some months ago)

I’ve always known that The Untamed is not a direct translation of 陈情令’s title… BUT IT SUDDENLY DAWNED ON ME THREE (?) YEARS LATER THAT THE DRAMA’S OPENING THEME SONG IS 无羁 (Wu2 Ji1)

羁 refers to a horse’s bridle.

Meaning The Untamed is actually a translation of the main theme’s title 无羁 instead of the drama’s.

By the way, it’s also the same Wu (无) in Wei Wuxian (魏无羡)’s name. And while it doesn’t use the same hanzi character and meaning as Lan Wangji (蓝忘机)’s Ji (机), it’s the same pronunciation.

Meanwhile, the drama’s title 陈情令 (Chen2qing2 Ling4)…

陈情 means… “give a full account (of something)”, in this case likely a confession of one’s feelings/actions (be it hostile or romantic or platonic or something else). It’s also the name of Wei Wuxian’s dizi/flute.)

令 in this context is likely 小令 (xiao3ling4) as in “short tonal poem” (a form of Chinese poetry) or one could simplify it to “verse”. (Fitting since Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian both play instruments which likes alludes to 高山流水, a story of a qin player and a listener who can see in his mind the qin music’s intended imagery. The term 知音 / zhiyin can mean “heart’s accompaniment”, literally being “understand the sound”. By the way, the imagery of an unseen Instrumentalist in the distance is very common in traditional Chinese poetry so the instrument-playing Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian’s make quite the poetic imagery.) Alternatively 令 could also mean ”order”/”decree”.

In English prose—

From a romantic angle, 陈情令… can mean “Confession Verse”, “Short Confession Poem”, etc. Or, from a non-romantic angle, “Monologue” seems to work too (even if it’s a more loose translation)

(WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE UNTAMED’S VERY LITERARY CHINESE TITLE CAN BE INTERPRETED AS “LOVE LETTER”)

But if 令 is taken to mean “order” or “decree” along with 陈情’s ambiguous meaning, then 陈情令 could also be roughly interpreted as ”Guilty Confession Order”.

Bringing in 令’s “verse” imagery together with the “order” imagery, and the various meanings of 陈情…

陈情令 as “Open Letter Order” in prose?

[dolphelecat]

Prompt

So I have this weirdly specific scenario I want to read a fic about.

So Person A gets trapped in, like, a lantern or an enclosed table lamp. They don't remember or experience this. For them it's like they had a nice dreamless nap and then woke up. They just look like a light inside the lantern/lamp.

However, whatever rules trapped them there keep them there for a very long time. If the people involved are mortal, it will be sometime after Person B dies. If the people are immortal, it's long enough that it's a disconcerting amount of time for the people to be apart.

So Person B has this little lantern/lamp and tends to it and takes care of it, talking to it as it's the only bit of Person A they have, possibly with no expectation of ever seeing Person A again but still caring for them the best they know how.

Luckily, Person A gets out a LOT earlier than expected. It's short enough that the two can have a happy ending, but long enough that Person B was nicely traumatized.

A bonus scene is sometime after this, Person B is compromised -- just woke up from a nightmare or sick/injured and delirious, etc. -- and they can't see the lamp/lanter and freak out, and Person A has to calm them down and comfort them.

If you write this, no matter the fandom or pairing (I'm sure I'll regret that later), please send it to me.

Thanks!

[boarloved-art]

Wei Wuxian should be able to get drunk for once. I think he'd either be singing bawdy drinking songs on the roof of the Jingshi or he'd be getting irrevocably lost no matter where he is. He's found in the bushes behind the mountains like a cryptid, and then he's like "I can't believe you all got lost" (extremely slurred) as if he didn't get embarrassed by something Lan Wangji had said and just somehow disappeared when everyone looked back at him

oh ABSOLUTELY im walking with u and nodding and agreeing, i can see him becoming an absolute menace to keep track of at his drunkest.

anyway heres wonderwall The Gang (Wangxian & their fave group of ducklings) in a city known for its STRONG wine and wuxian being like well. ur all grown now, youre technically not juniors anymore. we have to see whos lasting the longest against this stuff!, smash cut to a suspiciously wei ying-less group of the worlds drunkest cultivators being wrangled through the woods by designated driver hanguang-jun, with at least 2 of them clinging to his robes at all times.

[carrot-felisidad]

VOTE FIRST BEFORE READING BELOW. REACH INTO YOUR HEART AND VOTE FOR WHAT YOU REALLY WANT!

Warning: I chose violence everyday and I'm your passive aggressive friend who cares for you.

I'm giving you White Head Ribbon because... My girl, my boy, my enby baby, my bothsie, treat this as a wake up call. You need restraint. You need to start creating a list of principles that you think would turn you into your dream self, and stop doing things based on short term pleasure. I know I can't stop you for most as you have ADHD and/or autism, but the more you cater to your short term whims, the more you hate yourself. You also need the silence and peace in the cloud recesses. You may not know it, but your soul has been craving for some alone time. Seclude yourself in Hanshi if you want, just let your soul rest for a while.

I'm giving you a clarity bell because... You've been empathizing with people for so long that I wish for you to get out of the muddy puddle that is other people's problem and get back to your own energy. My sad baby empath... it's okay to say no. You've been in the Empathy ritual for so long, and a lot of people have been telling you to get out of it, the friend that you have been empathizing with is long dead, just a walking corpse who only see you as a free therapist, nothing else. They don't even want to change. You need this bell, boo. Clang clang clang or whatever.

I'm giving you a Vermillion Mark because... I want you to be proud of yourself for once. Acknowledge your hard work and credentials, stop brushing them off as "only", because I need you to bag that promotion and/or RESPECT FROM EVERYBODY, as what you deserve. Oh, you think you're not actually that good? Your achievements are nothing?? Well, I want you to get over your imposter syndrome because Su She was out there creating his own sect by being a pretentious wannabe!!! He has no skills and is only a steve jobs fanatic! You?! You have real skills. Wear this vermillion mark and show them! Jin Ling was bullied all his life by mere nobodies but he knew from day one that he's the GOAT. And always remember that you have someone who will fight alongside you, who will break their legs if they hurt you.

I'm giving you a Fan with Paintings in it because... I want you to follow your dreams. You may be raised in a family or culture where you are assumed to follow a certain path. Be relentless that you are living your life. The point of life is to be enjoyed, not to be someone else's puppet, ain't no way! And don't worry about where your life will lead you. You are smart and scheming, you know your subject. You will lead a fruitful life wherever you go. Stop living your life to get someone else's validation. Actually do things that make you happy. You deserve a life worth living.

I'm giving you a Bamboo Flute because... You need to practice necromancy, lol. Use the dead for your own goals... Stop a war or plant some vegetbales... Haha i think, um, idk the agressiv spirit guide who was ghost writing through me just fled to get some pizza she ain't coming back haha. Research about shadow work (it's an actuall clinical thingy) and rise above the challenges. Come back with the coolest fashion statement. Stop being a people pleaser and start being an feared entity. OVERCOME YOUR MEASLY HUNAN CONDITIONS AND BECOME A DEMONIC CULTIVATIR! Wei Wuxian did not die and came back to life to orove nothing!

[heartbeats-exe]

Jiang Cheng is the picture of “I knew from the moment I met you that I’d spend a lifetime forgiving you.”

Like—start with the dogs. The only gift his father ever gave him, and Jiang Cheng gave them away. Why? Because Wei Wuxian was scared of them. That’s it. No resistance. No conflict. Just: oh, you’re afraid? They’re gone.

That is the blueprint. That is the foundational dynamic. That is the relationship.

His father resents him, prefers his shixiong. His mother tears him down for not being his shixiong. His sister, bless her, loves both of them—but it’s Wei Wuxian who gets the hand on the shoulder, the soft words, the shared wine. And yet. Jiang Cheng never once chooses bitterness over devotion.

He loves him. That’s the tragedy. That’s the rot. Because he never stops.

Wei Wuxian gets dragged into the Burial Mounds and comes back fundamentally altered, and Jiang Cheng still believes in him. Still gives him room to return. Still duels him instead of executing him outright, still spares him even when the sect is watching. Still tells Jin Ling to be kind to him. Still keeps Chenqing in perfect condition, like a grave he refuses to let crumble. Even when Wei Wuxian’s choices leave him hollowed out. Even when all he has left is silence. He still carries him.

And the thing is—Jiang Cheng’s sacrifices are quiet. He never says them. But we know. We know that when he was captured by the Wens, he let himself be caught. On purpose. Because if he didn’t distract them, Wei Wuxian would’ve died.

We know that when Wei Wuxian said, “I can fix this,” Jiang Cheng believed him with his whole heart. And when Wei Wuxian smiled that soft, golden smile, and said “Don’t worry,” Jiang Cheng didn’t. Because when your entire world is falling apart, and your brilliant, impossible shixiong tells you he has a plan—you believe him. That’s what love is.

And when he disappeared? When he died?

Jiang Cheng never believed it.

He said there was no proof. But it always read like something else to me. Like: “I’d know if he was gone. I’d feel it. He’s part of me. I would know.”

This man spent years believing he murdered the person he loved most in the world. And he still couldn’t bring himself to throw the flute away.

Tell me that’s not love. Tell me that’s not the worst kind. The kind that doesn’t die even when it should.

[sandu-zidian]

Nothing in the world belongs to me but my love, mine all mine all mine 💛💜

Happy birthday jiujiu!! 🪷

ID written by @princess-of-purple-prose, who kindly allowed me to use it!

[ID: A MDZS lyric comic using Mitski's "My Love Mine All Mine". FIrst, we see Jiang Cheng holding a baby Jin Ling, though Jiang Cheng's face isn't shown. "My baby here on earth." Young Jin Ling holds a lotus to Jiang Cheng, whose face is still not visible. "Showed me what my heart was worth."

Panels of Zidian crackling purple lightning. "So when it comes to be my turn." Jin Ling stands under a pale spotlight, the ghostly figures of his parents smiling and putting their hands on him. "Could you shine it down here for him?"

Jiang Cheng, face still offscreen, picks out lotus seeds for young Jin Ling. "'Cause my love is mine, all mine / My love." Panels of Jin Ling growing up, going from happily calling for Jiang Cheng to tensely firing a bow and arrow to scowling as a teenager. "Mine, mine, mine."

The next page features shots of Chenqing, a golden core, and Zidian. ""Nothing in the world / belongs / to / me but." Jiang Cheng, hair covering his face, holding infant Jin Ling. "My love, mine, all mine."

Finally, we see Jin Ling crying, Jiang Cheng holding him by the shoulders from behind. "Nothing in the world is mine for free / But mine." Jiang Cheng turns Jin Ling around and cups his cheeks, and we finally see Jiang Cheng's sorrowful face looking back at him. "Mine, all mine, all mine." End ID]

[dephoraowo]

Jiang Cheng and a List of his Fanon Tropes

I don't know how this happened in the mdzs fandom. But the majority of the fandom somehow screwed up Jiang Cheng's characterization completely. Was this because of the Untamed? I ain't sure. But I am here to help all of you see which ones are fanon and which ones are canon.

List of Fanon Tropes:

Jiang Cheng loves and considers Wei Wuxian as his brother. (+ this, this, this, this.)

Jiang Cheng is a good clan leader. (+ this, this.)

Jiang Cheng is as powerful as Lan Wangji. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng is a good jiujiu to Jin Ling and has never abused him before. (+ this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this.)

Jiang Cheng has a soft heart.

Jiang Cheng tortured and killed demonic cultivators for 13 years to protect other people.

Jiang Cheng never meant to hurt / kill Wei Wuxian. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng never mattered to / was not favoured / was ignored by Jiang Fengmian. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng wasn't allowed consent during the transfer. (+ this, this, this, this, this.)

Jiang Cheng's clan was weak after the war. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng respected Wei Wuxian as an equal.

Jiang Cheng is good at politics.

Jiang Cheng is good with the ladies. (+ this, this.)

Jiang Cheng is a good clan leader who cares about his people.

Jiang Cheng didn't use Jiang Yanli as a bargaining chip. (+ this, this.)

Jiang Cheng is not homophobic. (+ this, this, this, this, this, this.)

Jiang Cheng never tortured Wei Wuxian with a dog. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng was right during the Ancestral Hall scene. (+ this, this.)

Jiang Cheng cares about Jiang Yanli over his thirst for revenge.

Jiang Cheng distracted the Wens purely out of love for Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng kept Chenqing because he missed Wei Wuxian. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng rebuilt Lotus Pier / recruited disciples all on his own / raised Jin Ling all on his own / spends his time helping the people in Yunmeng.

Jiang Cheng isn't responsible for Wei Wuxian's death. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng would be a good uncle to A-Yuan. (+ this, this.)

Jiang Cheng kept Wei Wuxian's living quarters in Lotus Pier.

Jiang Cheng was thought to be the gong early on when mdzs was first published. (+ this, this.)

Jiang Cheng prioritises his own clan over helping Wei Wuxian save the Wen remnants. (+ this, this, this.)

Jiang Cheng didn't know the Wen remnants were civilians. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng never wanted Jin Zixuan to die.

Jiang Cheng grew out of the cycle of abuse.

Jiang Cheng matured over the years.

Jiang Cheng wasn't that bad since he managed to survive until the end of the novel. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng never suspected Wei Wuxian's feelings for Lan Wangji. (+ this, this.)

Jiang Cheng is a hero. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng's sacrifice for Wei Wuxian was meant to tell readers that Jiang Cheng loved Wei Wuxian after all.

Jiang Cheng often cared for Wei Wuxian very well.

Jiang Cheng declaring Wei Wuxian as enemy of the cultivation world wasn't meant to be emphasized.

Jiang Cheng was a helpless clan leader who always wanted to help Wei Wuxian but was forced to hurt him.

Jiang Cheng would have helped or understood Wei Wuxian if Wei Wuxian stopped keeping secrets from him.

Jiang Cheng wanted to protect Wei Wuxian, but he and his clan were too weak, or they were being threatened. (+ this.)

Jiang Cheng wanted Wen Ning dead because he wanted justice for his family and clan.

Jiang Cheng never tortured and killed people for 13 years.

Jiang Cheng acknowledges his own debts.

Jiang Cheng is a powerful cultivator.

Jiang Cheng stabbing Wei Wuxian in the gut was part of the agreed upon duel.

All of these posts do not belong to me! Please support the actual people who posted these wonderful metas and analyses. If there's anything I missed, please do tell! There's still quite some more I haven't listed down, but I've reached the limit of links for this post. I will post more in a reblog below this one 😊.

[moriartyalbert]

you’ve heard of jin ling’s uncles, now get ready for yue chenqing’s brothers i guess

[thekansta]

Your art is absolutely adorable 😭 I especially love the star A-Ling and the personifications of the weapons! The lines are just so soft and the colours so delicate.

Did you ever draw personification of weapons from MDZS?🤔 How would they look in your opinion?:)

Thank you for liking my little star and weapon designs~

I haven’t really thought too much about the MDZS weapons…maybe because they’re not quite as sentient as the TGCF ones? (But I do love the idea of all the weapons being fond of JC since he’s shown to take Very Good Care of all the weapons in his possession eg. always seen polishing sandu and chenqing being is such good condition when it’s returned to wwx)

Appearance wise, the MDZS swords are wielded with their masters’ spiritual energy, so could bear some resemblance them. I love giving swords intricate jewelry, all decked out and blingbling. But it would be really funny if Suibian was super sloppy 🤣

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: the gentle light that strays and vanishes and returns, ch. 1

Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji

Characters: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui

Additional Tags: POV Third Person, POV Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Grief/Mourning, Anger, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Reconciliation, Snark, Regret, Past Character Death, Podfic Welcome

Summary: Jiang Cheng stalks to the dock when a disciple informs him of an approaching boat. He's had them on the lookout ever since Lan Wangji's passive aggressive letter arrived… Or Wei Wuxian comes home.

Notes: See end

AO3 link

Part 4 of the try to praise the mutilated world series. (https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711984)

-----------

Jiang Cheng stalks to the dock when a disciple informs him of an approaching boat. He’s had them on the lookout ever since Lan Wangji’s passive aggressive letter arrived. 

As if it wasn’t bad enough learning he’d hated Wei Wuxian for no reason for sixteen years due to a petty bastard’s machinations, he’d had him ripped away again by Lan Wangji. 

Whose letter had informed him that he would be bringing Wei Wuxian to Lotus Pier to pay his respects to Jiang Yanli. And that they would stay at a local inn if necessary to avoid “infringing on the hospitality of the Jiang sect.”

The entire missive reeked of Lan Wangji’s grievance toward him over Wei Wuxian’s death, and somehow managed to imply that he was inhospitable and would refuse Wei Wuxian.

To hell with that. 

Jiang Cheng had ordered that no inns around Lotus Pier take them, and had prepared one of the more opulent rooms for Lan Wangji, befitting his station as Chief Cultivator. And he’d had Wei Wuxian’s old rooms aired out and furnished with fresh linens and sundries.

He ignored the fact that Wei Wuxian’s quarters had been largely untouched, waiting for him, in the sixteen years he’d been dead; Jiang Cheng hadn’t had the heart to touch it. He polished Suibian until it practically glowed and placed it on an ornate sword rack decorated with carved lotuses next to the bed with a second slot for Chenqing, filled the wardrobe with dark clothing with embroidered lotuses, every article with purple in it, to make it clear where he belonged—even if they’d fucking eloped the last time they were here, he was of Yunmeng Jiang, dammit. 

And hanging from Suibian’s hilt, Wei Wuxian’s clarity bell. 

So he stands at the dock, his feet itching with the urge to stomp, Sandu clenched in a fist at his side, willing Zidian to be still despite his fury. 

The boat pulls up and a disciple gets off first, one of the Lan brats Jin Ling was friends with—the one that got seasick, judging from the green tint to his face. But the youth turns back to the boat to help someone out. 

Wei Wuxian looks awful—pale, dark circles under his eyes, too thin. It brings Jiang Cheng back to meeting him in Yiling with A-Jie before her marriage, seeing how thin he was and wanting to do something about it, but what? And then the next time had been at Nightless City, and he’d hung from Hanguang-Jun’s grip like a limp doll, his face like a ghost, smiling at him with bloody teeth, as though trusting him to end it, and he couldn’t, but he’d wound up doing it anyway and Wei Wuxian doesn’t even blame him, just expects to be turned away and it was his fault.

It’s almost a relief that they’re paying attention to his brother as he stumbles on the pier, giving him time to breathe, to collect the tatters of his calm. 

Wei Wuxian doesn’t look any less like shit when he’s on the dock, and watching him try to smile is a special sort of hell now that he knows what his brother hides under his smiles. Jiang Cheng wants to throttle him until he’s honest about what he’s feeling, but he holds himself back, clenching his fist again to let the metal of Zidian cut into his fingers and ground him. 

But he doesn’t know what to say, and he has to say something now that they’re here, to welcome them. To welcome him home. 

So of course “You look like shit, Wei Wuxian,” is what comes out of his mouth instead. 

Wei Wuxian’s smile does a weird thing where it turns more genuine and almost fond, and Jiang Cheng is even less sure what to do with that. 

Lan Wangji keeps him steady when he sways, and when they approach he can see details he missed at a distance—his eyes lined red and bloodshot, his face not as thin as Jiang Cheng first thought. Maybe that’s just the ghost of his own memory, haunting him. 

He fucking hates it. 

Many thoughts run through his head; at the fore is that separating them would be cruel—Lan Wangji is the most disheveled he’s seen him since the war. While the man has been a petty asshole to him (and Jiang Cheng can no longer consider it unwarranted with everything revealed in Nie Huaisang’s machinations), he won’t respond in kind. 

Especially not with Wei Wuxian looking so damn fragile. 

“The kid can stay in your old room,” he manages.

He’s not prepared for the raw emotion on the kid’s face, or sure where it comes from. 

“Ah, little radish,” Wei Wuxian murmurs, only audible because they’ve moved off the dock. “You can see where your Xian-gege grew up.”

Well, isn’t this a night of revelations?

Jiang Cheng forces himself to keep walking, even as pieces of a puzzle slide together in his mind.

The Lan is the kid from Burial Mounds. The one that hugged his leg the one time he visited. The one he’d assumed died with the rest, the Jin just tasteful enough not to hang the body of a dead child with the rest. 

The one he hadn’t dared give another thought to with dead siblings and an orphaned nephew to raise, terrified of the road those thoughts might take—that he’d lost another family member, another nephew. 

Instead, he poured everything he had into raising Jin Ling, into strengthening Yunmeng Jiang until he was certain no one could ever raze it again, and then strengthening it some more. 

It’s appropriate for the kid to stay in Wei Wuxian’s old room now. If Jiang Cheng had raised him, that’s where he would have lived, his right after his adoptive father’s death. Instead, he was raised by Lan Wangji, and it rankles him to have reason to approve of the man who’s hated him for sixteen years. 

Hate he won’t let himself consider, for fear he’ll realize he deserves it. 

“A small repast is waiting in the main hall,” he finds himself saying, leading the way into Lotus Pier. “And then you can settle into your quarters before dinner.”

That would give the servants time to move the sword rack with Suibian and the robes from the wardrobe into the quarters Wei Wuxian would now share with Lan Wangji. It wasn’t as poignant a message as his room, and it implied acceptance of the Chief Cultivator as his… 

For a moment he imagines calling Lan Wangji saozi, but he prefers living. He has no idea what he’d call him. Xiongfu?

No, he’s not going to think about this right now. 

The steps of his guests are fading behind him, so he stops, flagging one of the servants to issue his orders. 

Oh, gods, he’s going to have to walk them both to their quarters after tea, his brother and his brother’s whatever. Jiang Cheng will look like a coward, or the gesture ingenuine, if he sends servants to guide them. Knowing Wei Wuxian and his well-established and infuriating lack of self-worth—he gave him his core and it makes him want to scream—it would absolutely be interpreted as the latter. 

But the footsteps are closer now, so he forces himself to start walking, only this time at a slower pace. He doesn’t dare look behind him, not when his brother is taking in Lotus Pier, this time without the threat of Jin Guangyao’s machinations to distract him. 

Jiang Cheng has lived with the ghosts of memories of this place before the war for sixteen years. Wei Wuxian’s experiencing them for perhaps the first time, at least since A-Jie…

Oh.

Oh.

Lan Wangji’s demands in his letter suddenly make so much more sense. With A-Jie’s birthday in a few days, of course Wei Wuxian is a fucking mess. 

Jiang Cheng pointedly refuses to remember the agony of that first year. A Wei Wuxian unable to hide his hurts and accepting of help demonstrates it well enough. 

At least dinner won’t include lotus root and pork rib soup. He was being petty when he nixed that from the dinner plans, and he’d argued with himself over it, but now he’s glad he did, after all. 

Jiang Cheng has no illusions that he can avoid Wei Wuxian’s grief, but now that he gets what’s going on, he’d prefer not to have his brother break down on his first night back. 

A-Jie’s birthday means Jin Ling will be coming, as well, and maybe his presence will help somehow. 

Honestly, how did he not make the connection before now? He should have anticipated this.

Fuck, he should’ve been the one to invite Wei Wuxian home, but he’s been too busy definitely refusing to wallow that he just didn’t even think about A-Jie’s birthday. He’s sure it would’ve hit him like a ton of bricks when Jin Ling shows up tomorrow, and then he’d decidedly refuse to cry over forgetting, pretending his tears are from missing her only. But it doesn’t change the fact that he forgot, and on what was, to his idiot brother, the first birthday without her. 

Worse, some milestones have already passed, and more will be coming up, and if he knows Wei Wuxian, he’s suffered silently through them and would have continued to do so if not for Lan Wangji’s interference. 

He’s going to come out of this appreciating that stone-faced bastard, isn’t he?

Thankfully, they reach the main hall before he can go further down that tangle of thought, though he’s sure it’ll come back to torment him later. 

For the repast, Jiang Cheng made sure to include the spicy fish balls from a market stall he knows Wei Wuxian likes—extra spicy, of course, so much so that the stall popo, who’s been there since they were kids, gave him a knowing look and approving nod. He even got enough bland snacks, like lotus seed buns, to satisfy Lan Wangji’s palate. He didn’t expect the kid, and doesn’t know his preferences anyway, but there are plenty of snacks available to choose from. There is also, of course, lotus tea and Hefeng wine, just to show Wei Wuxian his creation is still made at Lotus Pier, still valued. 

Jiang Cheng was being petty when he included it, but he’s glad he did when Wei Wuxian’s expression shifts from that empty smile to something more real, a sort of touched nostalgia that brings him back to the day that idiot came up with the idea after using a lotus leaf as cup for his wine. 

He realizes he needs to go through the annual sales records since Wei Wuxian’s fake defection and calculate his share of the profits, along with the sales of all his talismans—he’ll be damned if his brother lives off his husband’s purse strings when he’s brought in so much money to Lotus Pier even in death. 

Even in death, he’d ensured Yunmeng Jiang would prosper, with both jindan and his inventions. 

He needs a drink, just thinking about Wei Wuxian’s death, the hole it left in him and how angry he was at missing him, anger he didn’t deserve then and absolutely doesn’t now.  

Wei Wuxian warns the Lan kid about the spicy fish balls, and the boy tries some anyway, sending himself into a coughing fit. 

“Aiya, A-Yuan, you didn’t have to taste them if you don’t like spice,” his brother says, laughing. 

“It reminds me of your cooking, A-Die,” the teen teases when he’s cleared his palate with something sweet. 

Ah, hell, he’s going to have to respect Lan Wangji saving the kid, isn’t he, his brother’s son. 

Thankfully the repast’s awkward silence is filled by Wei Wuxian talking to his son and… again, whatever Lan Wangji is. Jiang Cheng won’t accept they’re married—not when Wei Wuxian deserves an opulent wedding—even if they bowed to his parents. Wei Wuxian is getting married at Lotus Pier properly, with all the fanfare of Jie’s wedding, and far more tasteful because it’s not the Jin. He’ll fucking insist if he has to. 

If nothing else, Lan Wangji will agree with him that Wei Wuxian deserves a beautiful wedding, and he doesn’t feel some sort of vindication that the man would basically have to, if he knows what’s good for him. He might fight over holding it at Lotus Pier, but dammit, Jiang Cheng never took Wei Wuxian off the Jiang clan roster, and he’d only let someone else have the title of da-shixiong reluctantly. 

Just like they planned A-Jie’s wedding when they were kids, Jiang Cheng and A-Jie planned Wei Wuxian’s. And maybe those documents with the plans hadn’t survived the Wen, but they were still in Jiang Cheng’s head and he would see them implemented. He’d swear to A-Jie if he had to.

He realizes with a carefully-repressed jolt that his guests have not eaten in some time, meaning it is time to let them rest before dinner and specifically to save Wei Wuxian from having to find more to talk about in the silence, and clears his throat.

“I’ll see you to your rooms, then.”

————

I finally have a diagnosis. Multisystem long covid. It’s what I expected, but finally diagnosed. So it’s more a relief than anything. My doctor is affiliated with one of fifteen long covid centers in the US that is studying it, so I’ll have access to clinical trials and such. It’s not a great diagnosis, but it’s an answer. 

This is going to be several chapters. We’ll see what it demands. This has been sitting in my files, largely written, and I realized I could give myself permission for it to be multiple chapters. 

Thanks again to adrian_kres for the beta!

a-die = dad

da-shixiong = eldest martial brother, or head disciple

Hefeng liquor = lotus breeze liquor 

popo = grandmother

saozi = sister in law

xiongfu = not an actual word but breaks down to brother’s husband

[asksythe]

The lost tiger plushy, the many versions of MDZS, Wei Ying’s two leaps of faith - Question and Answer Continuation

A few days ago I posted a question and answer regarding a detail of the MDZS novel (a ragdoll that Wei Ying made for A Yuan) that might have been lost after it underwent rewriting and edit. I also noted that I was operating purely on memory and had no actual receipts for this old version of MDZS.

https://www.tumblr.com/asksythe/721023943307329536/hello-ive-been-meaning-to-ask-this-question-for?source=share

Well, friends, the receipts are here today, thanks to armodeus, Nihaharika, and kimalysong. 

Even though the tiger plushy and the scene of Wei Ying making it for A Yuan was removed from the current version of MDZS novel, it still shows up in other adaptations of MDZS. 

Behold, the lost tiger plushy! 

One is from the Donghua, the other from the live action Chenqing ling / The Untamed. 

Looking at the one from Chenqing ling, I have to agree with Wen Qing on it being the ugliest rag doll she had ever seen. It’s barely recognizable as a tiger plushy! 

So even though we don’t have the actual text, it’s more or less confirmed the tiger plushy and Wei Ying making it for A Yuan is a part of the greater canon. 

But there’s more! 

Thanks to kimalysong for pointing out that there exists the translation of an even older version of MDZS which is drastically different from the version we have today.

Here it is, thanks to Qinghe-Nie: 

https://www.tumblr.com/qinghe-nie/180046053433/76-act-18-rushing-towards-the-night-part-1?source=share

To summarize, in this super early iteration, there is no bell for Jin Ling, no tiger plushy for A Yuan. Wei Wuxian never went to Jin Ling’s 100 day celebration as it never took place. Instead, he was lured to Qiongqi Path and ambushed by Jin Zixun in a fake night hunt. This version confirmed the Jin tampering with Qiongqi Path to further implicate Wei Wuxian of crimes he did not commit (this is only heavily hinted at in the current version). 

Having read this version, I can see why MXTX removed it. It lacks the subtlety of the current version as well as the mirroring symbolism of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli’s relationship and how it echoes into other parts of the story. 

There are two times in Jiang Yanli’s life that she reached out to Wei Wuxian with the intention to help and implored him to trust her. One is on Wei Ying’s first night in Lianhua Wu when he was stuck up in the tree and she told him to jump down, saying she could catch him. But she couldn’t, and Wei Ying ended up breaking his own leg. The other is when she sent him an invitation to Jin Ling’s 100 day celebration, a celebration in which a child formally recognized his uncles in ancient Chinese customs, with the intention of deescalating the tension between Wei Wuxian and the Jin. But all that achieved was to lure Wei Ying out of the protection of the Burial Mound, and open him up to Jin schemes, schemes that eventually led to the death of both Wei Ying and Jiang Yanli. 

Both times, Jiang Yanli failed, and not only hurt herself, but also Wei Ying. Jiang Yanli has all the heart, but none of the capability. 

Both times Wei Ying believed someone could help him in his moment of need, he was hurt and his trust proved poorly placed, which only feeds even more into his insistence on doing everything and shouldering everything himself. 

Wei Ying’s relationship with the Jiang siblings is characterized as love without trust. He cares deeply for them, but he doesn’t trust them, doesn’t trust their ability, their perseverance, or their choices, because every time he thought he could trust them, they ended up proving him wrong. Wei Ying loves the Jiang siblings the way he sees the love between Jiang Fengmian and Yu Furen. Love without trust. Love that only ends up hurting both parties. 

Wei Ying’s relationship with Lan Wangji, specifically after his resurrection, is the reverse of this. Because not only does Lan Wangji has all the heart, he also has the capability. 

Adult Wei Ying jumping down from the tree and caught by Lan Wangji is an echo of 9 years old Wei Ying jumping down on his first night in Lianhua Wu. Only this time, his trust is given to the right person. 

“If he catches me, I will...” indeed.   

[berryberrytaeberry]

In the venn diagram that is Taylor Swift Evermore fans and mdzs Jiang Cheng apologists, I am probably the only person in the small overlapping center.

But oh well.

In this essay, I will explain why the bridge to Marjorie is Chengxian & (EDIT: fun fact, apparently Chengxian is a romantic only thing which i did not intend oopsie) Jiang Cheng pov coded because I think about it Every. Waking. Moment. Istfg.

The autumn chill that wakes me up

You loved the amber skies so much

The change of the seasons from summer to fall reminding JC of WWX is a cool motif imo. The leaves changing from green to brown and the skies darkening evokes the feeling of WWX's ghost cultivation tarnishing the cultivation world, but in a way that JC ultimately knows deep down is beautiful in its own way. WWX's birthday is also in October. This is also how we know the song isn't about Yanli--easy mistake, I know.

Long limbs and frozen swims

You'd always go past where our feet could touch

Swimming in lotus pier. JC is remembering WWX in the present (fall), where everything is dying, but summer activities like swimming remind him of his brother too. WWX would drag JC into the freezing water even in October. They were children, long limbed and gangly, and WWX would always swim further than was safe. Always attempting the impossible where JC wouldn't.

And I complained the whole way there

The car ride back and up the stairs

JC, my babygirl, my favorite complainer, my favorite well-meaning, grump you 😘❤️

I should've asked you questions

I should've asked you how to be

Asked you to write it down for me

And then the regret and guilt starts to creep in. JC hasn't acknowledged that he wishes WWX was still here yet, but there's a level of repressed admiration that chokes him. How did WWX do it all? Why isn't JC more like him? What rulebook for success did WWX follow when WWX never followed any rules? Why wasn't JC enough? All these thoughts race through his head.

Should've kept every grocery store receipt

'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me

Watched as you signed your name Marjorie

Now, JC admits to grieving. He wishes he even had the smallest of scraps of his brother but it was ALL taken away from him. His whole family, his home, his authenticity. His kindness. This is why he holds so tight onto Chenqing for all those years. It's his last scrap of WWX (that he knows of). Unwittingly, the golden core within him, haunts him. His brother's veritable soul is IN him, and yet he's chasing the minutia of the simplicity of WWX writing his name.

All your closets of backlogged dreams

And how you left them all to me

Now, JC admits to the BURDEN of his grief. WWXs hidden dreams: a family, cultivation power, love, are all left to JC, and JC feels inadequate in all of them. But he will do it. He will do it. He will lose himself along the way. And he will never find his old self again. But he will yearn for his brother.

What died didn't stay dead

What died didn't stay dead

You're alive, you're alive in my head

JC will see WWX in Jin Lings face. In the way the water ripples across the pier. Every time he tastes lotus root soup and remembers who he used to share it with. It will drive him mad.

What died didn't stay dead

What died didn't stay dead

You're alive, so alive

WWX is resurrected. He didn't die. Why couldn't he just stay dead? JC had everything under control (lies). WWX is alive SO ALIVE and JC can't bear it. JC gave up on getting his brother back a decade ago

And if I didn't know better

I'd think you were singing to me now

But wasn't life with WWX good, for all the annoyances it brought? Wasn't the sound of his flute peaceful? *clenches fist around chenqing* The goddamned flute *throws flute across room* Thank god it's not broken. MXY is his brother. JC has never been more sure about anything.

If I didn't know better

I'd think you were still around

I know better

But I still feel you all around

I know better

But you're still around

Simultaneously, and paradoxically, JC convinces himself that he knows better, that it couldn't be true, none of these reveries and realizations matter because WWX is dead.

But he's not.

Dead, or alive, WWX is still around. His resurrection changes nothing and never will GAH-- THE ANGST OF IT ALL!!!

[panther-os]

Snippet of yet another WIP below. Time travel, Sizhui & Jingyi (maybe Sizhui/Jingyi later?), Yiling Patriarch era

“Xian-gege calls me luoluo too!” the child announced. “I know,” Sizhui said, smiling a little. “Did your gege bury you in the dirt and tell you it would make you grow up tall and strong, too? Did he tell you that friends grew from radishes just like you did?” Warily, Wei Wuxian let Chenqing fall to his side. “Mm-hm! He did!” Wen Yuan said, bouncing up and down with happiness. “Did your friend grow from a radish?” “No,” Jingyi said, “I grew from a plum pit. Only A-Yuans grow from radishes.” He glanced at Sizhui, and then back at Wei Wuxian. “Our other friends are A-Ling and A-Zhen. A-Ling grew from a lotus seed, and A-Zhen grew on a mulberry tree.” A-Yuan tugged on Wei Wuxian’s clothes. “Xian-gege! Xian-gege! We need to get a plum and a lotus and mulberries! I want an A-Ling and an A-Zhen and a -” He glanced at Jingyi. Jingyi smiled at the miniature version of his closest friend. “Lan Jingyi,” he said, bowing. “And an A-Yi!” A-Yuan finished. “Oh my god,” Jingyi said as he straightened, not nearly quiet enough, “he’s so cute.”

luoluo = 萝萝 luó luó (radish, but doubled to make it a cutesy diminutive, so closer to "my baby radish") plum sometimes represents a strong personality, lotus is obviously for jyl, and mulberry is bc the city nearest the mountain oyzz's surname comes from is known for its silk exports and domestic silkworms prefer mulberry leaves :3c

[travalerray]

Chengxian for the ask game?

thanks for the ask!

Well you know. This goes without saying.

What made you ship it?

Since I started with the donghua, I would say the hyperspecific scene in the Xuanwu Cave right after Wei Wuxian has gotten branded and everyone's going "fuuuuck", and Chengxian exchange a very meaningful look and Wei Wuxian says, "I have gotten hurt in Lotus Pier before too. When have I not swim the fastest?". The way they looked at each other altered my brain chemicals <3. (Also yes, lmao, the donghua is very funny because it decides to make Jiang Cheng this mega softie in the first flashback and even adds this extra dialogue during the Waterborne Abyss where they are fighting the water ghouls where he tells Wei Wuxian "we have got it" when in the novel Wei Wuxian's narration is like "as usual, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were competing". Heartbreaking how they completely dropped the ball after the XiYao conversation in S2 E1). The one that did solidify my stance is the famous choking-crying scene because......yeah, I won't say it. It is always heart breaking to see children lashing out in the moments of grief, especially this one that highlights how they deal with it—Jiang Cheng angry and lashing out, Wei Wuxian putting a hand over his eyes, both not wanting to show that they are crying, the rain starting—the cinematography is beautiful.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

*gestures* Everything.

It's about the grouchy "why do you have to always play a hero (for the others, just be mine)" as an act of love, it's about walking away as an act of protection (duty is the death of love, honour is the death of love), it's about the mourning for thirteen years, it's about missing your home no matter where you go, no matter who you are with (because it can never be enough—it's always a convenient excuse), it's about acts of self sacrifice as a love language, it's about the "raging ecstasy" and "vengeful wrath" when faced with your childhood "sweetheart", it's about broken promises, it's about childhood dreams and always wanting to stay together and failing always. But most importantly, it's about a lot of yearning disguised as angry barking (Jiang Cheng) and joking around (Wei Wuxian).

It's also about how no matter what Wei Wuxian is narrating, Jiang Cheng filters into his thoughts. Oh, the kids are flying a kite? Jiang Cheng is there. Wei Wuxian is eating? Jiang Cheng is there. The reverse is true too—they are too intimately connected and impossible to be separated.

Above all, it's about Jiang Cheng bringing Chenqing to the Guanyin Temple in perfect condition and throwing it to Wei Wuxian. Above all, it's about Jin Ling being threatened and in that brief moment of confusion, they start yelling at each other, using "the same voice they used as children".

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't think I know enough about the popular opinions to say? Considering the popular opinion people have going on half the time involves arguing on how much Jiang Cheng's actions were justified (what did he do. He didn't do a single thing until Jin Zixuan died and we see him at the Pledge Rally and he doesn't even get REALLY upset until Jiang Yanli dies. Is the problem with the fake duel??? Which is admittedly something you would only see these two come up with, because yes, the only way to avoid a problem is to publicly fall out with your martial brother. But I have never seen anyone express a problem with this detective novel levels of drama, so maybe it's the first siege???) but I don't think most of the shippers have a problem with that? But if this question means unpopular opinion in general, well—Chengxian is an unpopular opinion in general, I think. But otherwise, I will leave this line here:

[there's so much he could be talking about here. Come back Wei Wuxian. Why is it so purposeful. Hello. "I don't want to"? Wei Wuxian????]

[liminal-cat]

Moving to Canada for school means all my costume costumes got left behind, so behold! Closet-modern-au Wei Wuxian! Feat. dollar store recorder Chenqing, & my paper man talisman keychain (glow in the dark) & Jin Ling’s Uncle name badge from cardboardcrow on IG