#Mdzs seven husbands

[add1ctedt0you]

"I said, “Doesn’t it bother you? [...] That all anyone talks about when they talk about you are the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo?” “No,” she told me. “Because they are just husbands. I am Evelyn Hugo.”"

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo- Taylor Jenkins Reid

[mdzs-fanon-exposed]

MDZS Fanon VS Canon: 6/?

Jiang Fengmian was in love with Cangse Sanren

Rating: RUMOR

Some characters, notably Wang Lingjiao and Madam Yu, bring up the gossip that Jiang Fengmian was in love with Wei Wuxian's mother in order to reason why he seems to favor Wei Wuxian over his own wife and son. Despite the idea originating in the text, however, there is no concrete evidence either way, so it cannot be considered "canon." Instead, this is only an in-text rumor.

Supposedly, "the entire cultivation world knew" the rumors surrounding the Jiang marriage drama, but as we learn in the very first chapter, the information spread throughout the cultivation world is incredibly inaccurate and relies on misinformation (Seven Seas Ch. 1, Ch. 12).

We do know that even at the time, people thought Jiang Fengmian and Cangse Sanren were romantically involved:

Speculation abounded that Cangse-sanren was extremely likely to become the next mistress of Lotus Pier. To everyone’s surprise, it was around this time that the Yu Clan of Meishan proposed a marriage alliance with the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng. (Seven Seas Ch. 12)

But as established above, while the popularity of this rumor implies that it may have been based in fact, the assumptions that the "cultivation world" makes are not a reliable source of information.

Crucially, of the few characters who mention the rumor aloud, it is Madam Yu herself who first brings it up with her husband:

"I refuse to believe you haven’t heard the gossip—that after so many years, Sect Leader Jiang is still obsessed with a certain Sanren and sees his old friend’s son as his own. Everyone speculates whether Wei Ying is your…" (Seven Seas Ch. 12)

But only a few pages later, Wei Wuxian refutes this "nonsensical bullshit":

“My mom and dad are real people and have names. I can’t stand when people blindly assign me to other families!” (Seven Seas Ch. 12)

With all this contradictory evidence in the books and no first-person account from someone who witnessed their relationship (Wei Wuxian wasn't born yet; Madam Yu only refers to the gossip as if she learned it second-hand; Jiang Fengmian never confirms nor denies), there is no way to know for sure whether Jiang Fengmian had feelings for Cangse Sanren.

However, canonically, multiple characters labor under this assumption. In the end, because of the complicated nature of this topic and its roots in the text, the idea that Jiang Fengmian was in love with Wei Wuxian's mother has to remain a rumor.

[chen-chen-chen-again-chen]

Hi, hello, hola, it's me! This is not a WIP Wednesday post (well, the WIP is always me), but it's something.

First off, thank you thank you thank you to all the beautiful people who messaged me, or commented, or tagged me in things, or even just thought kind warm thoughts at me while I've been away and not writing. Brain not working good enough to sort through the things and tag properly but you know the drill - I love you all.

Here are things I did while I wasn't writing AKA while I have Big Sad Brain:

I visited London, and had a great time - eating delicious food, flat-sitting, visiting old haunts, picking up new ones, spending time with friends, and watching too much Shakespeare. The salted beef bagels in Brick Lane are still unparalleled, there were daffodils everywhere, and I brought home too much tea but not enough biscuits.

I buzzed my hair short again, and as EarlobeGreyTea said, "it really moved your energy from bisexual to lesbian," and then followed up with, "I'm glad that I, a man, could explain your sexuality to you"

I read a lot. I read The Locked Tomb series (I'm obsessed) and fell down a danmei pit (I have consumed SVSSS and MDZS but not yet TGCF) and I have spicy hot takes on why I did not enjoy The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or The Starless Sea. I re-read all of Ann Leckie's books. I read The Future is Disabled in a Socialist bookshop in London, and I cried so fucking hard that the gentleman in the shop asked me if I was okay. I read The Song of Achilles and Circe and wandered down the labyrinth of getting really, really into Greek myth.

Speaking of: I bought an ROG Ally (horrible name, hate it, but the console itself is fine, it's like a more versatile Steam Deck) and I played Hades. So much Hades. So. Much. Hades. And every time I met Patroclus in Elysium, I bawled, "He's so SAD! He's such a SAD MAN! I need to make him UN-SAD!"

I finally finished the godforsaken Totoro cross-stitch pictured above. As soon as I framed it, I held it up to my spouse and said, "Could a depressed person make THIS?" and he said, "Yes" and then "Good job," because he's a lamb.

When I had energy, I cooked. I learned how to make carrot ginger dressing and shogayaki, and how to velvet pork. I made some of my standbys, like applesauce pancakes and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and felt very Smug and Very Adult for putting frozen cookie dough into my freezer so Future Me could have cookies. I introduced my family to Uncle Roger and I've never heard my mother (1) get so angry and (2) laugh so hard. When I couldn't cook, I ate food that someone else made, and it was enough to celebrate: I ate a meal! I ate food! I fed a me! Hooray!

I spent time with my beautiful friends. I spent time with my beautiful family. They are so good and they have been with me through so many tough things and depressive episodes, through bullshit and drama and tears, like that time I screaming-yelled at someone over the phone (they deserved it) during an engagement party at the cabin and then I had to walk out and pretend to be Normal and got drunk on a lot of Old Fashioneds.

I grew things. Flowers and vegetables and herbs and I accidentally made a great home for some very invasive weeds. The squirrels left only one sunflower alone (they ate the rest), but even now in mid-October, there are still bright coral-red flares of peppery nasturtium, and feathery pale pink zinnias from my caretaker at work (who is an angel), and gigantic, blue-tipped borage. My best friend moved in down the street from me, so she's only a five-minute walk away, and now I can pick flowers and stick them in a vase and walk them over to her, and I love it. I grew too many tomatoes (they got..... scary. My favourite were the heirloom tomatoes, as big as my fist, that remind me of my Lolo) and forgot about the cucumbers (they got lewd) and let myself get coaxed into growing three different kinds of mint: chocolate, grapefruit, and berries & cream (because I'm a little lad who loves berries and cream).

I bullied my spouse into watching Practical Magic with me the other evening and every time That Fucking Cop came on screen, he said, "That Fucking Cop! This movie would be good but there's too much of That Fucking Cop in it" and I felt so v i n d i c a t e d

I tried to write. I tried to write. I tried to write. I tried to write, and then let go of trying to write and just let myself do all the other things that make up living, try to amend the soil so that something good can grow there again. I tried to talk myself out of unhappiness but it's funny how that doesn't work, how only hard-fought kindness has helped me trudge out of the swamp, again and again and again.

I had one of those moments recently that felt like it could have been in one of my stories. At Thanksgiving dinner, I was sitting next to my little half-sister-in-law (a mouthful, I know). She is seven and she lost her dad two years ago and she said, "I wish my dad was here." And I said, "I know, honey. I think we all do." And she said, "I miss his piano playing," because her dad used to play piano the other way someone else might doodle on a napkin - absentmindedly, brilliantly, while wearing a faded green apron and with a dishtowel thrown over his shoulder, in between checking if the roast was up to temp and pouring someone a glass of wine. Always red wine, from the Piedmont region, which is where my spouse's Nonna is from. I asked my little half-sister-in-law, "Do you think you'll learn how to play piano?" and she said, "I don't know," and I said, "It's okay not to know." And then she asked, "Do you have a Gothita?" and we went back to talking about Pokemon, which we had been talking about for a conservative 90% of the dinner.

I wrote this. I wrote this and it felt good to feel my fingers moving, it felt good to have words spilling from me, it felt good to have faith in words again, that the words could be something good, could do something good, that the worlds could just be and it could be good, and that I could just be, and that could be good. Just being could be good. Even if I never wrote another word ever again, just being would be good. As I said to one of my friends many years ago during some deep dark down shitty times, "It's hard work, being human. Thank you for doing the work."

Take care. I love you all. ❤️❤️❤️

[hleonaa]

Feedback Fest 2024

In honor of @transformativeworks's Feedback Fest 2024, here are my 10 fic recs across multiple fandoms and in no particular order:

Like a River Flows by brooklinegirl

Fandom: The Untamed/MDZS Relationship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian Summary:

Wei Ying has been Lan Zhan's partner for two months, three days, and seven hours. Plus or minus a handful of minutes, if you're counting. Which Wei Ying is.

the soft animal of your body by howodd5ever

Fandom: The Untamed/MDZS Relationship: Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian Summary:

The problem was that he didn’t remember anymore why he’d left. Sure, something about finding himself or discovering his place in the world, or whatever other bullshit he’d talked himself into to end up in the middle of nowhere. Alone.He missed Lan Zhan. Wei Wuxian sets off alone after the events at Guanyin Temple and finds himself in pretty serious trouble.

no one lights a candle to remember by asravine

Fandom: The Untamed/MDZS Relationship: Jiang Wanyin & Wei Wuxian Summary:

“Didi,” Wei Wuxian says softly. His thumb on Jiang Cheng’s cheek is calloused and warm and burns of affection. Jiang Cheng barely stops himself from leaning in. “Didi, don’t cry because of me.” I have thirteen years of mourning to catch up to, Jiang Cheng thinks, but doesn’t say. As always, the chasm between them is an incredible divide, and Wei Wuxian is the only one leaning his hand out into the darkness. – (or: Jiang Cheng and his memories of his older brother, before and after the fall)

A Flawed Mosaic by AHumanFemale

Fandom: Law & Order: SVU Relationship: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. Summary:

“You’re Rafael Barba. Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan,” he answered and Rafael let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. At least until Carisi smiled so wide and happy and added, “My husband.” The words were so alien to him that he honestly couldn’t respond for a second, just kept staring at Carisi’s happy face and at the stitches in his head while he saw flashes of blood on the car window. He couldn’t imagine his expression but knew it was something less than comforting as he watched Carisi’s face fall, his eyebrows draw together. “What?” Carisi asked finally, eyes flitting to the nurse still hovering in the corner of the room. “What’s the matter?” -- [Or, Carisi gets amnesia and believes they're married and Rafael has to play along... risking his own heart in the process.]

Darling You Will Bury Me Before I Bury You by Stablersbensons

Fandom: Law & Order: SVU Relationship: Olivia Benson/Elliot Stabler Summary:

Olivia leaves the precinct on a cold Tuesday morning and returns two days later in a body bag. Elliot never realized how the absence of someone could take up so much space.

downpour by owlinaminor

Fandom: Sense8 Relationship: Wolfgang Bogdanow/Kala Dandekar Summary:

It is never just rain, with them. It is never just a drizzle, or a mist, or a sprinkling of the flowers. It is always a downpour. (a kala/wolfgang relationship study in three parts.)

with roses red come lilies white by bartonbones

Fandom: Moon Knight Relationship: Marc Spector & Steven Grant Summary:

Marc originally sets up the phone line to help keep tabs on Steven whenever he was too tired to crawl his way into consciousness and pay attention--but he can only listen to Steven beg for his Mum to talk back for so long until he has to do something about it. A one-shot about how Marc takes care of Steven by writing postcards pretending to be someone they both miss. OR: Marc Spector takes "reparenting yourself" literally.

a god at your altar by thedaisywitch

Fandom: Eternals Relationship: Druig/Makkari Summary: It doesn't have one but it's beautiful, trust me :)

Looking Back, Seeing Far by FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange Summary:

Tony Stark has rebuilt a world after Thanos snapped. Through blood and tears and suffering, he's rebuilt it--and he has Stephen Strange to blame for what he went through. He does so, hating the wizard with all his considerable capacity for passion, and Stephen does the same. It leaves them squabbling like petty children or perhaps mortal enemies when they're supposed to be saving the world, and it's getting in the way of productivity. So Tony's family comes up with a plan. “You’re gonna make a list,” Rhodey said. “Seven things you like about Stephen Strange.” Tony dropped the notepad like a hot potato. “What?”  Rhodey didn’t blink. “Each week.” "No. I refuse."

all that laughter crumbling through your fingers by philthestone

Fandom: Brooklyn Nine-Nine Relationship: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago Summary:

Amy kind-of sort-of dies, and everything falls apart. Rosa observes.

[therapeutic-dose]

fic authors self rec! when you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. spread the self-love~<333333

Ohhh this is neat! Thanks Wren!

So starting from oldest to most recent:

2012 A Moment More | BBC Merlin | Merthur | G | 3,719 | Complete

It's late, Arthur is drunk, and Guinevere is gone. In the cover of night, Merlin and Arthur share what can never be.

2016 Stepping Forward | Daiya no A | MiSawa | G | 1,499| Complete

The story behind "Just recently, that four-eyes finally went to Sawamura's house and got on his knees. Of course he came back with a beauty of a shiner to show for it." Wherein Kazuya and Sawamura's coming out doesn't go especially smoothly for Kazuya's face. Based on the DnA doujinshi "Last Days" by Yuta, as scanlated by Team Karaage.

2022 Tempered  | MDZS | ZhanChengXian | Explicit | 42,099 | WIP

Jiang Cheng is dying. The insidious spread of hatred's venom has lead to the beginning stages of the dissolution of the greatest gift he never wanted: Wei Wuxian's golden core. In the face of this knowledge, he must finally learn to reconcile that hatred to what it truly is, what it only ever has been... Love. Undying, unrelenting love for the man he once called brother, and the man he once called ally and friend: Wei Wuxian and his husband, Lan Wangji.

2023 The Sun Rose on a Wednesday | KP the Series | Vegas Character Study | M | 4,512 | Complete

Vegas is familiar with the taste of ash in his mouth. There are times when the fire burns out in him, the fuel of the flames exhausted. The blood and bone and skin, cruelty and torture and death, all become ash. Only ash, only dust, only the echo of a beginning and an end, a taunt from a disgruntled audience to just let his story end. He tries not to think, as he eats this meal made with hope, with trembling hands and racing heart and tears gathered at his waterline, refusing to fall until the final curtain call. There will be no encore. --- Vegas, in the aftermath of Pete.

2024 Harmony's Overture | KP the Series | KimChayMacau | M | 44,149 | Complete

When Chay planted the stupid idea for Macau to go get hammered at a sketchy bar and see if it would somehow lure Kim out of his seven years of silence, Macau had rolled his eyes. Like, in what universe would that work? Kim doesn't give a shit about him. But when Macau made one last bid to get Kim's attention, that's exactly what he did - and boy, did he ever get it. And in the aftermath, there is Porchay, his best (only) friend. His only friend, whose feelings might not be exactly friendly... — Part two of this KimChayMacau verse, this time from Macau’s point of view.

Tbh this was tough even though I only have like 21 fics on AO3 lmao. I wanted to put some older fic up so that was fun to comb back through things!

[lotushiddenintheclouds]

So... I wanna talk about MDZS and SW

This is me whenever I, as a Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS) and Star Wars (SW) fan, find similarities between two franchises I absolutely adore.

Tbf, there aren't a lot of main similarities between the two (and there's a change a couple might flat-out ignore their individual genres, messages, and cultural contexts).

But there's one thing that keeps me up at night... Star Wars prequels have that brothers-turned-enemies duel which MDZS hugely lacks.

(DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS AHEAD)

First, some context (i'll try to make it quick):

Mo Dao Zu Shi (魔道祖师, acronym MDZS): a Chinese fantasy (xianxia) danmei novel (with animated, live, graphic visual, and audio adaptations), written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (acronym: MXTX)

Star Wars (acronym SW): a sci-fi fantasy, soap opera, franchise that spawned out of George Lucas' movie trilogies (the first trilogy from the 80s - OG, the second trilogy from the 00s - prequels; a third trilogy by Disney from the late 2010s - sequels)

MDZS is about a necromancer teaming up *ahem* with another cultivator to solve a mystery. Both men end up together romantically, since danmei = boy's love/BL. Cue political intrigue, subverted common xianxia tropes (e.g. necromancer/demonic cultivator = evil-coded), morality and justice questioned, family drama, and commentary on cancel culture.

Star Wars, as a whole, is about the legacy of the Skywalker family, the downfall of fighting monks with magic powers (Jedi), and their evil counterpart (Sith) taking over the galaxy, and the restoration of peace and justice. It spawns over counts on fingers around seven decades. Oh, and a prophecy is thrown in there too.

NOW TO THE POINT: The particular scene I had in mind was the famous, big duel between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars Episode 3 (Revenge of the Sith).

A Jedi master (Obi-Wan) and his past apprentice (Anakin), close as brothers, have to face each other. The apprentice has turned to the dark side (Sith) and committed genocide, with his master/close friend/brother assigned to kill him.

In my honest opinion, this duel mirrors Wei Wuxian's and Jiang Cheng's final showdown in the novel.

A necromancer (Wei Wuxian) and a sect leader (Jiang Cheng) growing up as martial siblings, close as blood brothers. Wei Wuxian diverges from the orthodox path of cultivation and takes up ghost cultivation/gui dao. This paints him in a negative light, resulting him and his martial brother separating. But they truly turn against each other when the necromancer was responsible for the sect leader's sister's and her husband's deaths.

The drift between the martial brothers is clearly and poetically written in the novel. There's one thing missing... Wei Wuxian's death is not shown and we can only rely on rumours that Jiang Cheng fought and defeated Wei Wuxian.

And this drives me so crazy. Had MXTX been so kind and written that scene out (if the rumours are even true!!) then would have had a version played out like this:

sobs in a corner I love brothers turning against each other and engaged in one of the most significant duels in the story.

(edited to add clarification)

[ellayuki]

31102022 - The Untamed/MDZS

Happy birthday, Wei Ying!

~

He wakes up slowly, languidly, aching in the most pleasant of ways, and when he manages to focus enough on anything outside his own body, Wei Wuxian is hit with the mouthwatering scents of breakfast.

"Lan Zhan," he all but moans in delight. "You really do spoil me." The bed dips next to him, and gentle fingers comb through his unbound hair, caress down his naked back, and in the late morning air, his skin breaks out in shivery goosebumps. Wei Wuxian moans again.

A soft pair of lips drop a light kiss to the ball of his shoulder. "Good morning, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan says, voice as calm and as full of love as Wei Wuxian's ever heard it. "And happy birthday."

And ah, yes, that's right. Today's his birthday. Today, he's turning… well, it should have been something like thirty-seven, Wei Wuxian thinks, had he not died all those years ago. He's stopped keeping count after he was brought back to life. Still, "Thank you, Lan Zhan."

Lan Zhan presses another kiss to his skin, and then one more to the apple of Wei Wuxian's cheek, before standing up. "Hungry?"

Famished, and not just for food, Wei Wuxian thinks, finally pushing himself up, and taking in his husband's pristine figure. Yes, not just for food. "I could eat." He smiles, stretches until his back pops. "It smells absolutely delicious."

"Sizhui helped make it," Lan Zhan says, extending a hand for Wei Wuxian to take. "Would not take no for an answer."

Wei Wuxian laughs at that, the image of sweet, gentle Lan Sizhui stubbornly pushing his sleeves back and helping in the kitchen. It makes him ache, still, the knowledge that he missed seeing the child A-Yuan used to be grow into the caring, straightforward, level-headed young man he is now. "Mn. He takes after Lan Zhan like that. After…" He stops for a moment, the memory still painful, then with a breath, he pushes forward. "After Wen Qing, too."

"Yes," Lan Zhan says as they both sit at the table. "Perhaps. But he takes after Wei Ying, too."

"Does he?" He's never been gentle or even-tempered like their son is.

Lan Zhan nods, and it is a testament of his feelings for Wei Wuxian, the fact that he still talks now, after picking up his bowl of food. "He does. He is mischievous, and just as trusting and as willing to help people as Wei Ying is."

And. Wei Wuxian blinks. Blinks again, as his eyes start to sting. "Lan Zhan ah, Lan Zhan, what did I say about saying things that will make my poor heart stop?"

Lan Zhan just smiles, and starts eating his breakfast.

[anbessette]

Masterpost

AO3 Profile

I mostly write for The Untamed/MDZS fandom these days (although there's at least one Machineries of Empire story I'm determined to get back to someday)

WIP Games

Sangcheng centric

This Is Your Life Now - AO3 link, blog link

Modern AU meet cute on a train. G-rated oneshot.

Goes Without Saying - AO3 link, blog link

Misunderstandings and pining when Jiang Cheng asks about a marriage alliance with the Nie and Nie Huaisang thinks he's asking to marry one of his female cousins. G-rated oneshot.

Squid!NHS AU - AO3 series link, blog link

As it says in the title, this is an AU where Nie Huaisang is literally a squid. (Well, technically a squid shapeshifter.) It has seven fics rated from T-E.

Nieyao centric

to hold on to - AO3 link, blog link

Angsty non-sexual bondage and uncomfortable cuddling shortly after Nie Mingjue pushes Jin Guangyao down the stairs. One fic rated T.

Jin Yao verse - AO3 series link

Based on a kink meme prompt. Jin Guangshan recognises Meng Yao not as his son but as his daughter, despite the fact that Meng Yao is very much a man. Two fics rated M.

相公 xiàng gong - AO3 link

One fic (rated M) with six branching timelines exploring the aftermath of a misunderstanding where Nie Mingjue tries to ask Meng Yao to be his husband and Meng Yao thinks he's being asked to be Nie Mingjue's whore.

Simmerverse - AO3 series link, blog link

Based on a kink meme prompt. Starts off as pure kink fic then ends up growing a plot. Five fics rated E. Check the tags before reading, this won't be everyone's cup of tea and that's OK.

3zun centric

Bared Teeth - AO3 link, blog link

Based on a kink meme prompt. The one where Meng Yao has a vagina dentata. One fic (in progress, currently on chapter 1/2), rated E. Check the tags and (optionally) the warnings in my author's note. It gets weird and won't be everyone's cup of tea, and that's OK.

Chicken, Fox and Flowers - AO3 link

Modern AU hanahaki fic. One fic rated T.

There Were Only Two Beds - blog link

Good to be back - AO3 link, blog link

Oneshot kink fic, rated E. This is another where you should check the tags before reading.

[bigmilkshakekitten]

MDZS Wangxian - Not Jiang friendly

no.5

↑Description:

One where the Golden Core transfer goes...sideways.

↑Description:

One where Wen Qing ends up in the past and fixes the future.

↑Description:

When you shine as brightly as a star, people notice. Everyone wants a worthy, loyal, and strong person by their side.

↑Description:

Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang and Lan Wangji decide to team up to go back in time to protect the people they love. The catch is, Jiang Cheng switch’s some characters in the array to erase Wei Wuxian from existence thinking everything will be better without him. Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang are upset about the change but as long as Jiang Cheng has his family back alive he doesn’t care about their feelings.

↑Description:

A canon divergence where Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin return to Lotus Pier before Jiang Fengmian's death and hear something shocking. As a result, Wei Wuxian's life changes completely.

↑Description:

At the age of seven, Wei Ying ran away from the Jiang Sect, broken and traumatized. He didn't expect to be rescued, especially by Taizi Dianxia and Crimson Rain themselves. Reduced to a shy, selective mute, Wei Ying still retained his sunny smile and kind heart, which endears him to everyone he meets. He may have lost his chance of being the Head Disciple for the Jiangs, but in return, he gained new parents, an entire Heavenly court of powerful aunts and uncles wrapped around his fingers, and even some Ghostly relatives as well.

↑Description:

Why did Immortal Bàoshān Sǎnrén never intervene in the affairs of the Cultivation World?

Many say it was because she was a being not of this world and couldn’t meddle with the affairs of mortals, but what if that wasn’t true.

For a thousand years a woman slept in her secluded mountain, when a whisper from the heavens awoke her from her slumber. The voice told her the injustice the Cultivation World had done to her daughter and son–in–law, they spoke of the injustice that now was about to befall on her grandson.

A punishment they had no right too.

So she left her paradise with her youngest disciple, a crystal was tucked away in her sleeve of red and black. She will show the world a story they had never heard, never dared ask. She’d show them how in the times of long ago why they feared her name.

↑Description:

Wen Chao has a different idea to punish Wei Wuxian but it turned out to be entirely different.

↑Description:

Wei Wuxian risks everything to go back, he cant loose his family again. Loosing the Wen were enough, he cant lose his husband and their children, the Lan's who he loved and who in turn learned to love him. He cant-no won't lose the people he lived for.

↑Description:

Wei Ying has always been a smart child, so when he finds himself back on the streets he was taken from, he decides to make the most of it. Even when he's half-starved, severely injured, and just thrown into the worst place he can think of, he'll come back. And god help anyone who gets in the way of his peaceful life.

[mikkeneko]

WIP files game

RULES: post the names of the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Thank you to @ushauz and @least-carpet for the tag!

I'm going to skip any WIPs that were already on the list the last time I did this meme and Have Not Budged. Which means that my WIP list is now mostly made up of SVSSS fics:

Immortal Lamb Crusader Way

Guiding Lights

The Crane Husband

zhuzhi-lang's replacement goldfish

…And since I think there are a few new MDZS ones:

scum villain master of diabolism

The Gentleman's Agreement

Yunmeng Ghost Robbers

Tagging... seven people... huh. Well, @faux-fires and @cerusee to start; how about @alessandriana and @plotdesigner ? Four, that's more than half, good enough.

[tm-trx]

currents.05

weekly round-up in media [29 jan-4 feb 2023]

~ sp*ilers for 609 Bedtime Story, A League of Nobleman, The New Employee, and Never Let Me Go ~

[listening]

Monsta X’s “The Dreaming” album - new discovery and I’ve had it on repeat

[reading]

Imago series by NR Walker - short and sweet adult contemporary mlm romance set in Australia; come for the romance, stay for the butterfly conservation and near-death experiences - reread

Pocketful of Soul by @jenroses - Mo Xuanyu-centric MDZS time travel fix-it and one of my 2022 favorites - reread

Dawn Will Break by ca_pierson and darkmoore - Stargate Atlantis AU - Written for the 2010 Big Bang, this is one of my favorites. A bare bones summary: After dying, John Sheppard dimension hops into multiple versions of himself to fix whatever is wrong there, at the behest of the Ancients. - reread

[watching]

609 Bedtime Story - Well that was a way to end it I guess. I did like how they resolved things with Mint, but I was hoping she’d figured out the connection between Mum and Dew. But that would mean talking about the parallel world again and they apparently decided that the entire conceit of the show didn’t matter anymore after ep 9. I’m so annoyed. (Edit: I just found out there is an alternate ending airing next week; most likely an ‘unhappy’ ending. What are you doing, show? I’m not even mad about it, just more confused.)

A League of Nobleman - The show I’m enjoying the most this week. I didn’t expect such gorgeous visuals in a historical mystery that isn’t a fantasy. There’ve been two mysteries so far and the second one involved a serial killer. I enjoyed the heck out of that arc. I have affectionately nicknamed Zhang Ping ‘Eyebrows’ in my head because those are some fantastic ones he’s sporting. Kudos to the makeup team.

The Lost Tomb (2015) - Binged most of season one last night and I’m hooked. This is amazing. Also, surprise Yang Yang! (I’d forgotten why it was on my watchlist, so he must be why.) The quality level is about late 90s/early 2000s but that was early fandom in my life, so nostalgia is hitting me hard. I’m having a great time with this one.

The New Employee - Seven episodes feels like a weird episode count for a series, but okay - I watched the last two episodes back to back and loved how they ended it. I do find it interesting however, that we never saw the ex/crush again after he was the trigger for the main relationship blip. It felt like they were going to take that further. I probably should have waited to binge this in one go, because I had completely forgotten that there was a manager who could cause trouble until he caused trouble. These short form dramas are generally pretty frustrating to watch because I can clearly see a longer (usually better) show around them. This one did feel complete, but I’m hoping they release a movie version.

[anticipating]

SHINee - Key’s album repackage is this month! Onew finished recording something! Minho is too tall! Taemin D-57!

[random notes from my tv journal]

609 Bedtime Story, ep 11 - “The kissing sounds don’t match the video?!” (This show botched the ending so bad, in multiple ways. This particular way made me laugh though.)

A League of Nobleman, ep 6 - “Surprise serial killer! Neat!”

My School President, ep 9 - “Gun and Tinn’s little scene on the beach while spying on Sound gave me major ‘future old married couple’ feelings.” (And now I want to read that future fic where Gun is home on break from touring and teasing his doctor husband into relaxing after a stressful shift.)

Never Let Me Go, ep 8 - “That was an extremely ominous music cue to tag the bathroom confrontation scene with.” (Up until that last moment it felt like any other scene in this show, but the music change elevated it and made it seem like Ben was going to come back and murder the kid. It threw me out of the scene it was such a jarring escalation. I may go back and watch it again, to see how it feels on rewatch.)

previous Currents posts

[mathmusicreading]

Xiè Lián: My surname is Xiè, my first name is Lián. Huā Chéng: You can call me your third husband. Xiè Lián: What happened to my first two husbands?!

I learned Huā Chéng was having Xiè Lián call him "husband" from Ty the Canasian on Kictor's YouTube, I found this when I was trying to corroborate the linguistics, and I indulged and bought the official Seven Seas Entertainment (translator and editor are on Tumblr!) English translations of the books so here's further confirmation from Volume 1:

ETA:

I made this post private because I was unhappy with it (misspelling/misformatting Wúmíng, knowing I wouldn't have good reach for larger and less biased sample size even if I could have tagged better for the fandoms and characters if Tumblr organized by more than the first five tags), but I'm making it public again since it finished and so did the similar poll that fun-mxtx-polls was kind enough to make for me.

Not to bias towards the first option, just to explain it, the first option and why I wanted this poll come from the naming pattern trivia for MXTX's love interests/male leads/gongs, which I think you can best read on Huā Chéng's page on the Heaven Official's Blessing/Tiān Guān Cì Fú wikia. I'm just using that as my citation given:

I'm not sure if MXTX has discussed this meta in-joke somewhere and if so, where.

The SSE Glossary: Terminology note (all volumes of all three MXTX novels) only explains the second and third gongs, and implies MXTX is doing this purposefully. Lán Wàngjī's wikia page explains only the three published gongs, and implies this started from fandom phenomena creating a proto-stage pattern (if you subscribe to "one is chance, two is coincidence, three is a pattern"). Huā Chéng's page linked above is the odd man out and so probably incorrect about Lán-èr-gē vs. Lán-èr-gēge, but it goes above and beyond by explaining the fourth gong, and it uses the most neutral language regarding this trivia.

I think citation is unnecessary for "gē" (哥 | 哥) meaning "big brother" and in certain contexts having the connotation or meaning of "eldest brother" (admittedly my unverified inference), "èr" (二 | 二) meaning "two", and "sān" (三 | 三) meaning "three".

I actually like so much because I like to think if it could use more wordplay and less literalism. Please forgive me for being a poor reader not remembering exactly, not buying the TGCF raws yet, not being able to buy the SVSSS and MDZS raws, and only being able to find old fan translations/interpretations of MXTX's fourth novel preview, but let me explain:

I believe Luò Bīnghé isn't being called "Luò Bīnghé-gē" (or rather "Bīng-gē" since I think? it's more usual to use the suffix with the single/first character of a person's given name, not with their full name, especially when the full name is three (or more? some of my reading has mentioned two-character last names but I didn't find if culture was strict about then making the given name be only one character) characters) for the usual reasons to address someone with "gē", but actually the PIDW!Luò Bīnghé is being called Luò Bīnggē (or "Bīng-gē") because he's more aggressive than canon/SVSSS!Luò Bīnggē who when being differentiated gets called Luò Bīngmèi (or "Bīng-mèi"), and I love that "very fitting reasoning for the naming, not strictly literal and not so bound to literal".

Then with Lán Wàngjī, I see the opportunity that his nickname could have used the natural naming of "erhua is used as a diminutive suffix", and the "er" would have been homophonous with "èr" (二 | 二) for "two" for him being the second gong, and homophonous to the potential "proper address for him as the second Lán son/brother".

In the most literal sense, you'll notice that the gongs so far have had their nicknames be using "(big) brother" and Huā Chéng's uses láng (郎 | 郎) "son" (his stated meaning, although it can also mean "man" and "husband" and the latter is how we can interpret he wanted it to be when coming from Xiè Lián). There's nothing wrong with that and the numbers are perfectly probable, and would still be so as they grow, but also they could feel more like "contrived" coincidence, which is part of my wanting to get away from literalism a little bit, not just my loving clever wordplay. With Huā Chéng, I don't have a homophone I can use for punning like with Lán Wàngjī, or really the "cultural language use where literal suffixes/honorifics get used figuratively for XYZ purposes", but I can make it fit with character interpretation. To me, Sān Láng doesn't have to be "Third Son" because "he has two older brothers" and in fact we aren't sure that he was telling the truth about that—instead, I think Huā Chéng could be being clever with not just getting Xiè Lián to call him (Third/surname "Three") Husband but in saying his name is "Third Man" because this is the third alias he gives Xiè Lián. (Some additional feels this gives me: It's like he's saying he's the same person Xiè Lián met before, that they shared all of that experience and it mattered, that he's the final form of that person wanting to be with Xiè Lián, that he's like a fairy-tale character with many names and forms and a true name and form and all along there was a trick or thread to follow in knowing and identifying him.) It just works out so perfectly because of the third way he introduces himself to Xiè Lián matching him being the third gong, and also the fairy-tale significant number of "three".

Finally, with the fourth gong, I've looked at Suika's TGCF Afterword translation, a NovelUpdates MDZS spoilers forum post by K.san crossposted to the Grim Reapers Have No Days Off spoilers forum by alexfilia, a reply to this post in r/tianguancifu by u/chenmochou, and also this post in r/tianguancifu by u/Loud_Daikon6167 which cites a TikTok I can't see either because of TikTok's thing about opening to a random page/the homepage or I assume the TikTok being removed or locked. Given the first NovelUpdates post maybe having more of a direct translation compared to the first Reddit post, it's still not definitive to me whether this is "actually more of a fandom thing, with MXTX acknowledging and participating in it enough to help make it possible" or it's "MXTX doing this on purpose with her name choices and character traits, whether she meant to have the pattern from the start or later, and yes could have been influenced by fandom" because I think "Other: 四少" is probably about the male lead(s) compared to it following "Protagonist: the uke's name is not determined yet" so it doesn't seem like the fandom came up with a nickname out of whole cloth. "Four young masters" is perfectly probable and could be equally reasonable, and "four ikemen" could even follow in reasonability; in fact it could be more likely and realistic since this is a modern setting, which would have different use of "young master" to me, and because we believe the gong to be the regular human and the shou to be the grim reaper. But for the wordplay, I would have liked it if the gong were the grim reaper and the "four theme naming" came from the famous "sì" (四 | 四) meaning "four" is homophonous with "sǐ" (死 | 死) meaning "die/death" and the latter being used in the Chinese for "grim reaper"/"death god".

[missescara-23]

Made a new one of these 💖🙌

[shanastoryteller]

I know you’ve done a lot of arranged marriage AUs, but I’d like a continuation to one of the first ones you did for MDZS? The one from the BLM fundraiser where WRH and YZY arrange WQ and WWX marriage to each other. Which is difficult because WWX is already with LWJ and WQ is attracted to JC? Sorry for the long explanation, but I didn’t know your name for it 😅 Thanks and happy birthday!

a continuation of 1

Wen Qing thinks that the Yin Iron must be kept underwater.

Lotus Pier isn't that large, especially compared to the vast and sprawling land of the Wen, but in spite of weeks of looking for the Yin Iron she hasn't found it, hasn't found so much as a whisper of it. Her uncle is convinced that there's a piece of it here and below the the water has been the only place she hasn't been able to check.

She asks her husband about the cultivation technique he uses to spend so long beneath the water, but he only stares at her. "Uh. Do you mean holding my breath?"

She return his stare. "I've seen you dive for nearly ten minutes."

"Jiang Cheng can actually go closer to twelve," he says and Wen Qing forces herself to not think through the other possible practical applications of that skill. "To become a senior cultivator they need to be able to hold it for five minutes, but most of them manage around seven."

The medical cultivator in her is fascinated. That level of skill is possible, of course, but it's highly unusual. That they've developed a training regiment effective enough to to make it a requirement for advancement is impressive. She wonders if it's partly due to a hereditary trait that's passed on to disciples' descendants -

"Do you want to go diving with us?" Wei Wuxian asks. "Let me work on it, although working on your conditioning probably wouldn't hurt. I bet I can figure something out."

"Thank you," she says and tries not to feel too guilty.

For the safety of her people, she's going to have to kill him.

She tells herself that it won't be the greatest of her sins, but with every ounce of kindness he shows her, it's getting harder to believe that.

[drwcn]

I also associate you with a happy Mama Lan, evil and happy Mama Lan and Twin Jades.

Re: Tell me the one fic you associate with my username. In exchange, I’ll tell you a secret about that story.

I truly do love my Mama Lan aus hahahaha, and no I never thought she was a victim of a forced marriage or abuse or r*pe. I don't think that's part of her character set up at all, and it's one of those things about mdzs/cql/mxtx's intentions that I'm fairly confident about. Bottom line is I know cdrama, I've lived and breathed it for as many years as I've been on this earth. Cdrama does not shy away from noncon, and if it was noncon, everybody and their mama would be ubiquitously known that it was noncon.

so bc I don’t think the Qingheng-jun and Madam Lan story arc was meant to be non con (after all why would lxc compare wangxian to his parents if it were) ....I can do lots of things with how their relationship played out.

I think people get confused about all my mama Lan hc and aus lol, because I have like 4, and I use the same hc name for all of them, so it gets...confusing. So here is a list, cleaned up, and a little tidbit 'secret' for the first one:

1. The Price of Promise (part of Discordance Au) This is the back-story, world-building of my discordance Au (aka wwx is lxc's husband via politically arranged marriage, but has an affair with his bil lwj). Eventually when LWJ became sect master of Gusu Lan after LXC's supposed disappearnace/death, he made a dignitary visit to Qishan and encountered Wen Zhuliu. Qishan is ruled by Wen Qing's father, not Wen Ruohan, and Wen Zhuliu is Wen Qing's shishu. He is the sole surviving practitioner of the Core Melting Hand, a very secretive technique that Qishan Wen guards with every effort. There, Wen Zhuliu confides in Lan Wangji and tells him that really, Lan Wangji should call him "jiujiu", and he ends up telling Lan Wangji about his mother, that is, Wen Zhuliu's shijie Qiu Baiti.

Qiu Baiti and a young Zhao Zhuliu were orphans raised by a mountain hermit, crippled by poison. This man Guo Lei was a genius, and had invented many cultivation techniques including the Core Melting Hand. Before he died he had told his disciples that the man who poisoned and crippled him was Lan Yang, the Lan elder that Qiu Baiti would one day be known for killing. Their shifu told them that he and Lan Yang were once best of friends, and that he had helped Lan Yang invent many techniques that Lan Yang now claimed as his own and brought back to Cloud Recesses. After their shifu died, Qiu Baiti set out on a path of vengence.

Qiu Baiti infiltrated into Cloud Recesses seven times to assassinate Lan Yang, but was foiled by Lan Cenrong (LWJ and LXC's father Qingheng-jun) each time. Lan Cenrong ranked number one in his generation, but still he was no match for her. What he could do, however, was duel her long enough for reinforcements to arrive. He noticed that Qiu Baiti never attempted to kill any of Cloud Recess's disciples.

There's something to be said about sword fighting an attractive opponent in the moonlight that really gets the heart pumping. Qiu Baiti came close to melting Lan Cenrong's core many, many times, but somehow their dueling evolved into bantering, and then talking. Eventually, Qiu Baiti told Lan Cenrong about Lan Yang's fraud, and Lan Cenrong vowed to get to the bottom of it. If Lan Yan is truly despicable, Lan Cenrong as Sect Master will oust him.

When Lan Yang did not deny poisoning Guo Lei, it was Lan Cenrong who killed him for Qiu Baiti, because he knew that if Gusu Lan found out, they could hunt her down for killing their elder. However, little did he know that Qiu Baiti had learned of another revelation from Cangse. Cangse, through her shifu Baoshan, knew Guo Lei as another person all together. Guo Lei was not only a genius, but he was ruthless, and wild, and knew no shame or restraints. Many, many cultivators, mostly rogues, had died by his hands along his path of discovery and innovation. The core melting technique was invented only through experimentation on live subjects. Baoshan herself had been ready to confront and end Guo Lei when she learned that a cultivator of Gusu had beat her to it.

Knowing this, Qiu Baiti rushed to tell Lan Cenrong only to find that he'd already done the unimaginable. Qiu Baiti fell before the dying Lan Yang and asked him why he didn't just tell Cenrong the truth, but Lan Yang calmly confessed that he had never forgiven himself for doing what he did to Guo Lei. He had loved Guo Lei beyond reason but knew he had to be stopped. On their last night together, Lan Yang had poisoned Guo Lei's wine hoping that it would put an end to everything. He didn't think Guo Lei's cultivation would be so great that he could survive.

"I should have died with him then, go with him, keep him company in the after life, but I was a coward. I've been a coward for too long. This...this is what I deserve. What I owe him."

Qiu Baiti blamed herself for what she had made Lan Cenrong do, so when the Lan disciples arrived, she'd made it seem like she was the one who killed Lan Yang. Cangse, realizing the immense fuck-up, offered to take Qui Baiti somewhere safe, to her shifu's temple perhaps, but Baiti soon learned that she was already with child and made the decision to stay.

"This is his child, and it could be a boy. I can't take the baby with me...that would be too cruel to Rong-gege, and I'd already hurt him so much. I will stay. Whatever happens, I'll stay."

Zhao Zhuliu went to Qishan to look for shelter as per his shijie's instruction. The Wens took him in.

Years later, Qiu Baiti proposed to the elders that if she was able to cull her own cultivation, as in melt her own core, that she be allowed out of her confinement and live normally with her family. The elders agreed. Qiu Baiti succeeded, but the process of melting one's own core had never been attempted before, and it resulted in a cataclysmic destabilization of her qi, and she died in the process. Due to the violent nature of her death and the state of her remains, her sons were not allowed to see her.

Cangse and Lan Cenrong tried to save her but to no avail, and injured themselves in the process. It was due to this depletion in her spiritual reserve that Cangse eventually succumbed to an unexpectedly powerful demon during a night-hunt.

Zhao Zhuliu had learned of this incident and came as soon as he could, but the travel from Qishan was long and laborious and by the time he arrived at Cloud Recesses, Qiu Baiti had already been buried.

2. Carbon in the Steel Dark!Lan brother au #1: The Core-Melting Hand is a very discreet, very small, very deadly organization of assassins. Mama Lan and Zhao Zhuliu are their last disciples and paid by a Lan elder to take out another Lan elder. Papa Lan, in the dark about this whole thing, tracked her down. After he learned the truth, he tried to fix the wrong but found the corruption within his sect too deeply rooted. Disillusioned, he decided to help Mama Lan escape, and ran away with her to live a normal life. Unfortunately, they were discovered years later. Both Qingheng-jun and Madam Lan died, while Zhao Zhuliu escaped with Lan Huan and Lan Zhan, whom he raised and passed on the core-melting technique.

3. Remnant Dark! Lan Brothers au #2: Qingheng-Jun and Madam Lan ran away together, but was discovered years later. This time, the Lans brought their sons - a toddler Lan Huan and a newborn Lan Zhan - back to Cloud Recesses. Lan Huan pretended he didn't remember anything, but he actually did, and over the years he slowly indoctrinated his little brother with ideas of vengeance. The two of them also wanted to use the Yin Iron to amass power and avenge their parents. When the Wens attacked, as per canon, Lan Huan and Lan Zhan took the opportunity to launch a mass-killing spree within CR, eliminating all the elders and their uncle Lan Qiren. This is a sad, sad, au.

4. Happy evil mama lan like morticia adams. Crack.

[robininthelabyrinth]

MDZS prompt: Maybe Lan Wanji realising his feelings before the war and hesitantly trying to court Wei Wuxian while he is a student? Or non-war AU where Lan Wanji chooses to marry into Jiang Sect rather than see Wei Wuxian struggle under Lan way of life only to find he really likes being a Jiang (maybe gets on well with in-laws)

It was Madame Yu that came to find out what the fight was about, of course.

Her husband was still injured from the fight against Wen Ruohan some years back, the one that had won the Nie sect so much acclaim and which to this day made Sect Leader Jin’s teeth grit and his blood boil, and he rarely travelled far any more. No one was entirely sure why this change had led to Madame Yu’s abrupt improvement in temper; perhaps it was that he was unlikely to have more children, or perhaps her worries had finally been appeased by his formal announcement that he would start the slow process of handing over the tasks of Sect Leader to Jiang Cheng when he came fully of age.

The changes hadn’t made much of a difference to Wei Wuxian’s life before, since Madame Yu hadn’t had a radical personality transplant, still being harsh and vicious, but he had to admit that it was extremely pleasant to see her make mincemeat of Sect Leader Jin using nothing but her sharp tongue.

She even threatened to revoke the engagement, which everyone knew she wouldn’t do – well, everyone but Sect Leader Jin, that was. Either way, he put on such a disgraceful appearance that Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng had ended up sympathizing with Jin Zixuan for the first time in their lives, and somehow when the punishment that had been imposed on all three of them was over they were maybe even something resembling friends that only mildly hated each other.

Madame Yu had decided to stay at the Cloud Recesses for the duration of the punishment, for reasons known only to her, and it was her that raised the topic over dinner one evening.

“You need to stop playing with that boy’s heart,” she said, drinking her soup with grace and only a slight wrinkling of the nose over the fact that it was, yet again, vegetarian.

Jiang Cheng looked at Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian looked at Jiang Cheng and neither of them saw Jiang Yanli anywhere around – her being back at the Lotus Pier, that was reasonable – so they both looked in askance at Madame Yu.

“Wei Wuxian,” she clarified. “You’ve been playing courting games with the Second Young Master Lan for weeks under my very nose; do you think I haven’t noticed?”

Wei Wuxian gaped. “Courting games? With – Lan Zhan? That’s impossible. I don’t cut my sleeve.”

“You should let him know that, then,” she said. “He’s already completed seven of the twelve courtship rites the Lans require before a proposal of marriage.”

“Are you sure?” Jiang Cheng asked, a little doubtful. “I thought he hated Wei Wuxian.”

“Hatred and affection can often look very similar to the untrained eye,” Madame Yu said. “Well, Wei Wuxian? What are you going to do about it?”

“I – I…”

“He’ll tell him tomorrow, of course,” Jiang Cheng said. “What else would he do?”

“I need to think about it,” Wei Wuxian said, and dashed out of the house they’d all been occupying.

Madame Yu smiled into her cup of tea. “Jinzhu, go tell Lan Qiren that I’d like to speak with him tomorrow afternoon,” she said to her maidservant. “And tell him that this may be something that requires Qingheng-jun’s approval.”

“What do you need Sect Leader Lan’s approval for?” Jiang Cheng asked, blinking as the maidservant headed out.

“Settling the terms of the marriage, of course.”

“Marriage? But Wei Wuxian isn’t going to –”

Madame Yu left the Cloud Recesses for the Lotus Pier with her son and eldest disciple in tow three days later, marriage contract in hand and a smug expression on her face.

-

The Lotus Pier was very different from the Cloud Recesses.

Lan Wangji still habitually rose every morning at the prescribed hour and went to bed at the same, but unlike the quiet serenity of Gusu, the people of Yunmeng were always active, day or night.

There was a market at every hour: the morning fish-market, full of bickering fishwives and rowdy fishermen that all knew Lan Wangji by sight and called out to him; the midday mixed market, full of every type of ware imaginable from artisan crafts to flowers to clothing to fruit to food; and even after the afternoon rest period ended it was only the start of setting up for the night market, as much Wei Wuxian’s domain as the morning market was Lan Wangji’s.

They went together, sometimes.

Wei Wuxian would yawn and complain at first, wrinkling his nose at the smell of raw fish, but he’d marvel over the sunrise and make fast friends with everyone he met, making silly expressions as he tried new types of food minutes after the ingredients had been pulled out of the waves.

For his part, Lan Wangji would indulgently hold all the things Wei Wuxian bought in the night market. It was usually food: sticks of tanghulu, skewers of grilled seafood, cheese broiled lobsters and spicy rice-cakes. Sometimes it was clothing, usually gifts; other times it was just knick-knacks that nobody needed but which Wei Wuxian simply had to have and usually gave away a few moments later.

At other times, they went to the lotus ponds, where Wei Wuxian taught him how to eat fresh-picked lotus seeds and tried to teach him how to run away when the owners came yelling (Lan Wangji refused to run and paid more in silver for the seeds they’d taken than the entire pond was worth); they went to the restaurants, where Lan Wangji ate food that burned his mouth and made his eyes fill with tears that Wei Wuxian would wipe away with his fingers, feeding him white rice and promising him he’d adjust soon enough; they walked along the river in the light of the sunset, hand in hand, saying nothing at all.

At least one day a week, Wei Wuxian would insist on taking Lan Wangji somewhere new, to see or do something he hadn’t done yet; it was as if he were anxious to show him everything there was to see about Yunmeng before their six months were up, before they went back to Gusu for the six months of the year that they would spend there, no matter how many times Madame Yu impatiently reminded him that there was no need to rush.

No need to rush at all: after all, they were married, now. They had the rest of their lives to show each other everything they wanted.

And yet – Lan Wangji understood a little of that urgency. He spent entire afternoons writing lists of things in Gusu he would show Wei Wuxian when they went back there: the secret springs, the gardens, the grove he’d pretended to tend when he was just a child. He’d take him to the fruit orchard and feed him plums and cherries plucked straight from the trees, see the red smeared over his smiling mouth and use his own to kiss it clean.

He’d take him to the place where they kept his mother’s memorial tablet, and they would kneel in front of it together again, the way they had at his wedding, and this time Lan Wangji would tell him the story of what happened with her, the hidden tragedy of it, and he’d promise him that he’d never permit the same.

But that would all come later: for now, they were at the Lotus Pier.

Things were happy at the Lotus Pier: Jiang Fengmian, who no longer rose from his chair, looked at his wife with some puzzled awe in his eyes, and she reveled in it as their children watched them with great relief.  Jiang Yanli was kind and a little mischievous, Jiang Cheng was kind and not mischievous at all, and Wei Wuxian – was Wei Wuxian.

They were together all the time.

Lan Wangji was happy.