#WWX even calls it out! That JC has to be the responsible one in the dynamic.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bros before Ho(oh my god is that Hanguang-Jun?)

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[whumpbby]

Thinking that because it seems that the Demonic Cultivation was mostly something that Jiang Cheng took care of - either as a way to unload his grief or as taking responsibility of his shixiong's mess - it's possible that the Jiang disciples were the ones that were the best versed in dealing with DC.

Now I am headcanoning that - because JC seems like a man that has shit in hand and runs a tight ship - there's a group within the Yunmeng Jiang trained and experienced specifically to deal with Demonic Cultivation specifically. Like their Spec Ops. They are prepared to come in fast and hot, deal with the issue asap and start the clean-up - armed with talismans made to deflect DC, tame the corpses and help send them on.

So, like, one day WWX hears that there's some Demonic Cultivator causing problems in the area he's hunting with the Lan juniors and goes to deal with it. It still pisses him off that his only lasting legacy is not about his genius or his heroics (or even his good looks), but it's this thing he invented out of horrific desperate need and that's now used to cause chaos and hurt people. So, he feels it's his duty to go there and talk some sense into the person in question.

Except, as soon as he arrives at the scene and ascertains that yeah, the issue is serious and maybe it's better for him to send the disciples back home and call in reinforcements (Lan Zhan), because he can take the DC down, but the clean-up will be immense - when suddenly a group of cultivators land in front of them with a swish of purple robes and gets to work.

The battle is almost sad. In no time at all the fierce corpses are tamed, the cultivator thrown down and bound with talismans, and the cultivators are dispersing across the area to set up burials for the corpses and arrays meant to send the ghosts onwards.

It's all precise and quick, sure steps and short commands. A well-oiled machine with soldier-discipline cleaning the area of resentment. So unlike the usual exuberance and free-style of the Jiang.

Wei Wuxian is kinda stumped. How are these people, and why are they getting in his way? He didn't even manage to get any fun! You, baby Lan disciple, explain!

"They're the Red Brigade", the disciple explains in a hushed voice. "Jiang-zonghzu's personal guard. They hunt Deminic Cultivators."

Red? Ah, their uniforms are adorned with a red ribbon on the shoulder. How sentimental of Jiang Cheng. His shidi really missed him! (or wanted him dead, there's also that option). But no time to contemplate that, because these guys are super efficient and if WWX wants to do any investigation of his own (translate: being his nosy self) he has to haul ass before they clean up everything!

So, he goes to the leader of the pack with an intention of comparing notes! The guy is respectful, but so cold! Eh, is he even a Jiang? So much like A-Cheng! Well, he knows how to deal with people like that - everyone will fold when bothered for long enough!

So, he keeps following the leader and talking bullshit, as his brain takes notes on everything he can see around. The talismans they use, the arrays, the spells - that's all pretty high level and super interesting. Huh, even their clothes are embroidered with talismans (a page out of the Lan book, maybe? Sneaky, Jiang Cheng, sneaky!) and their they use ghost flags...

But something is strange. He can see traces of his own work here and there - and he's used to seeing is tools ironically used across the cultivation world, but these are... kind of not? There are traces of his work, but the sigils are not his, the flags are not his, the talismans are not his. Like someone engineered his work backwards and created something that was similar, but entirely different.

As if someone wanted or needed tools to deal with Wei Wuxian's creations specifically, without the risk of being used against them in the heat of battle. One of the cultivators has a qinqin strapped across her back - the strings are made from metal, so it's not for musical cultivation (huh, so that's how Jiang Cheng came up with the idea of disrupting Su She's music in the Guanyin Temple, it wasn't coincidence.). They came in prepared to counter anything a Demonic Cultivator would throw at them.

Hell, he can admit that going through them on his own wouldn't be easy (because he was always helplessly optimistic about his own skills)...

Oh, Jiang Cheng did his homework.

"Wei-gongzi, can I help you with anything? Shouldn't you be taking the Lan juniors home?"

Uh-oh, he was getting on someone's nerves. Better retreat for now.

But he wasn't about to drop the matter.

The Jiang Sect had a SPECIAL OPS! how was he supposed to leave that be?

He was invested, he wanted to discuss! He needed to compare notes!

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

~*~

1. Thank you for answering my last request 🖤

For the next in “ITMF” I would like to read some good fanfics with Lan Wangji being older than Wei Wuxian

I’m okay with omegaverse, fantasy setting and problematic content in case anyone wonders @kanrax-blog

you only ever touch me in the dark by sweetlolixo (E, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Dark LWJ, Older LWJ, Age Difference, Boypussy, Intersex WWX, Feminization, Rape/Non-con Elements, Dirty Talking LWJ, Stalking, Size Difference, WWX Has a Non-Con Kink, Dark WWX, Daddy Kink, Mirror Sex, Restraints, Virginity Kink, Blindfolds, Deranged4Deranged Wangxian)

and

4018 by sweetlolixo (E, 28k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, A/B/O Dynamics, Older LWJ, Immortal LWJ, Pregnant WWX, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Age Difference, Boypussy, Vaginal Fingering, Dry Humping, Knotting, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talking LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Size Difference, Feminization) as well as few other works by sweetlolixo. beware tho quite a few of those fics deal with consent issues (although most of the time it is deranged4deranged wangxian)

Like stones on an unseen board by Vir_Abelasan (Not Rated, 11k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Dark LWJ, Older LWJ, Teacher LWJ, dark twin jades, Age Difference, Manipulation, Protective LWJ, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Corporal Punishment, Relatively canon-typical abusive Jiangs, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Not JC Friendly, Not Jiang Clan Friendly) lwj is mid-20s, wwx is ~18; dark-ish but protective twin jades; not jiang friendly. warning that this one ends pre-relationship!

~*~

2. this is a bit specific but may i ask for fic where someone starts calling wwx 'the son of a-' and gets interrupted by 'the son of who? cssr, bssr's disciple? wcz, a rogue cultivator?' the cinderella fic has a similar line but not exactly (bc its said against wwx's own self deprecation). (honestly, i would also love a cutting response of 'ok he's the son of a servant and still better than all of u, you were saying?' but the gentry probably won't compute that lol) thank you!

SIMILAR! golden when the day met the night by glitteringmoonlight (Not Rated, 95k, WIP, WangXian, Canon, Slow-ish burn, Sugar Daddy LWJ, which is an anachronistic term for this fic but it fits, Light Angst, Fluff, Developing Relationship, WWX gets all the appreciation he deserves, even if he’s a bit confused about it at first, warprize au with a twist, in that everyone thinks WWX is a warprize, but LWJ has only platonic and honourable intentions, at first 😏, Eventual Smut) similar to #2, in the latest chapter of this fic, lwj interrupts someone who's about to call wwx son of a servant

~*~

3. Hello! Do you know any fics with the same vibe as By Any Other Name by ShanaStoryteller? Or any like To Choose Another Path by TsumugiHitomi? Thank you so much!

The Concubine Mo Chronicles Series by Enigmatree (T, 71k, WangXian, Royalty AU, Prince LWJ, Concubine WWX, Mild Hurt/Comfort) maybe ?? or at least i kinda associate them lol

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4. Hi! Do any of you lovelies know of fics in which A) Nie Huaisang is the one to donate his core to Jiang Cheng? I mean, it's not like he's using it, right? And B) fics that feature Jin Zixuan & Mianmian's friendship? That doesn't have to be the fic's focus, but I'd love to see some backstories there. Both canon era and modern AUs are welcome. Thanks! @danegen

4B)

mianmian the disaster lesbian saves the cultivation world by likeshipsonthesea (T, 27k, wangxian, LWJ & LQY, LWJ & JZX, fix-it, friendship, awesome LQY, war, blood & injury, light angst, self-acceptance, awkward JZX)

Candy & Conspiracies by Reverie (cl410) (T, 16k, WangXian, XuanLi, MianQing, Jīn Sect WWX, Chaos Gremlin WWX, Fluff and Crack, Humor, Cloud Recesses, Found Family, pure idiocy, And some light murder, good madam jin, No Angst, Canon Divergence)

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5. anyone has any recommendations of modern with cultivation aus? preferably similar to "the truth will out (when caught in video)" by kizu_katana, or just good and similar to the book characterizations (im also a little in the mood for some not jiang friendly). thank you ♥︎

a tide in two seas by occultings (microcomets) (E, 81k, wangxian, modern w/ magic, parallel universes, post-canon, getting together, pining, case fic) this, is kinda modern, but as in modern wangxian travel back in tima and meet canon wangxian

💙 this river runs to you by sundiscus (T, 53k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Mutual Pining, Dragons, Literal Sleeping Together, Tender wound tending) and of course, my absolute favorite

Work in Tandem by MimiSpearmint (E, 23k, wangxian, LWJ & LSZ, modern cultivation, single parent LWJ, swordflight instructor WWX, fluff, protective LWJ, getting together, smut) but this one's jiang positive iirc

💙 the soft animal of your body by sysrae (T, 15k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, modern culitvation, Golden Core Reveal, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Animal Transformation, Shapeshifting, Sort Of, Getting Together, Confessions)

Hear a song this deeply by so_shhy (T, 87k, wangxian, modern cultivation, music, kid fic, action/adventure, canon typical JGY behavior, slow burn, fluff & angst, happy ending)

Coil Tightly by Thunderstruck (Blueyed_Impala) (T, 50k, WangXian, Dragon LWJ, Shifters, Modern with Magic, WWX is oblivious to magic, Slow Burn, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, References to Animal Abuse but the animal is LWJ, Hurt/Comfort, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, WWX has abandonment issues, Possessive LWJ, Clueless Flirting, OC Lan disciples for plot reasons)

other earths and skies by binghecarer (T, 53k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, (but not in the typical way?), Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Scars and Injuries, Curses, making a deal with a mysterious mountain spirit (?) to help your found family?, there was only one bed and it had narrative significance, (oh my god it had narrative signigicance), Hurt/Comfort)

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6. #itmf some similar fics to "hidden in the clouds" by karmiya, as in cultivator lan wangji and courtesan wei wuxian 🩷🐇 thank you for the good work!!

Some Things Are Just Fate by Signe_chan (E, 24k, WangXian, Prostitution, Rape/Non-con Elements, Injury, it's soppy actually I promise, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending)

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7. Hi. For the ITMF I'd like to ask for fics where Wei Wuxian somehow hurts Lan Wangji unintentionally and obviously feels really bad about it (the more angsty, the better) but no WIPs please

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8. Hi there, can I hop on this IITMF series? Because I am in the mood for ✨️royalty wangxian✨️ and I feel like I've read them all (I know I haven't and need help finding some). Preferrably finished, but not a dealbreaker. I especially love ones that have passion through social etiquette, carefully crafted rituals, and words that mean WAY more than what they seem, you know? Sorry if its too much, its a tall order. Thanks also for this awesome account.

practicing our mistakes | End Racism in the OTW by isabilightwood (E, 49k, WangXian, Fairy Tale, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, royalty-adjacent AU, rom com, all the parents live, especially Mama Lan, who needs a divorce, consort competition, lwj does NOT want to participate, fake courting his best friend is the obvious solution, Qīnghéng-jūn's A+ Parenting, matchmaking while mutual pining, wwx is a mostly human-looking demon, Monsterfucking, Submissive LWJ, Dominant WWX, Bondage, (fully consensual), Outdoor Sex, Fluff and Light Angst, wwx's tail expresses his emotions, Bottom LWJ, Top WWX)

Royalty AU Compilation

~*~

9. Hello! As always, thanks so much for all your work, I have found some beautiful works and authors thanks to you ^.^

I need help finding fics where cql! Wangxian meet novel! Wangxian or similar scenarios. I’m so sure I have read some of them but now I can’t find even one! Could you give me a hand please?

I remember enjoying the dynamics of “what do you mean you are/aren’t married!” And I just wanted to re read some :,)

Thanks!! @neko-in-gotham

💙 feel better love by Anonymous (T, 8k, WIP, WangXian, implied WangXianXian, Post-Canon, Crack Treated Somewhat Seriously, in a haha jk...unless? way, Light Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Crack, Crossover)

Key Differences by pupeez4eva (T, 5k, WangXian, Humor, Dimension Travel, Crossover, Drama!WWX meets Novel!WWX, Public Confessions, Post-Canon)

We always get what we deserve!(Doesn't matter even if you think you don't deserve it. Fate has mysterious ways!) by Ajareenlovesbtsandshinee (Not Rated, 16k, WIP, WangXian, Post-Canon, CQL WWX and MDZS WWX Exchange places, Happy Ending, Post-Canon Fix-It)

The Young, the Horny, the Jaded and the Jade: Partners in Time by Admiranda (M, 55k, WIP, WangXian, Established couple, Crossover, road trip with your older selves, teasing your younger selves about their obvious crushes, yin iron does yin iron things, mdzs/cql crossover, adult wangxian, Teenage Wangxian)

not quite the same by M00_Nie (T, 5k, WangXian, Post-Canon Módào Zǔshī Novel, Married WangXian, Established Relationship, Multiverse, WWX in MXY's Body, WWX in WWX's Body, Post-The Untamed (TV), flustered lwj, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, WWX being a menace, wangxian being in love, Dorks in Love, Alternate Universes, Fluff, A little bit of angst, WWX Being WWX, WWX is a Panicked Gay Supportive LWJ)

the roots by thelastdboy (E, 30k, wangxian, major character death, graphic depictions of violence, post-canon, post-untamed, MDZS/CQL combination, transmigrator LWJ, dimension travel, time travel, parallel universes, desperation, WWX pov, LWJ pov, heavy angst, mental health issues, giref/mourning, abandonment, depression, suicidal thoughts, hurt/comfort, getting together, rogue cultivator WWX, WQ lives, found family, cottagegore, it gets worse before it gets better) gotta do some self-promo for #9

~*~

10. Hiii I love your page and I thank you for your hard work in finding us so many fics 😁

For the next ITMF, do you know of any fics about A) JC being brought back as a fierce corpse like WN and this making everything somehow better or B) any good crossover fics of Hualian just taking care of bb WY (or even after he dies) and just WY getting the family and status he deserves? @crazy-gay-killxr

~*~

11. Hello! Thank you for all that you guys do!! <3

I was looking for some fics with wangxian as grandparents

The Boy with the Sunshine Smile by Witch_Nova221 (T, 153k, WangXian, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Post-Canon, Romance, Domestic Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Parenthood, Growing Up) it's not a major plotpoint, but wangxian become grandparents at the end of this story

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12. Hello hello! (＾▽＾) I was wondering if you got any fic were WWX's cultivation doesn't corrupt/actively harm him, like it's not really more dangerous then reguler cultivation, like he knows how to do it safely, something like that? it would also be nice if others learn that and/or WWX explain how it's safe,

Did I Not Explain Why the Sunset Turns Red? By 3988Akasha (E, 110k, wangxian, time travel, canon divergence, Canonical Character Death, Soulmates, Demonic Cultivation, Original Female Character(s), Emotional Constipation, Minor Character Death, Hand Jobs, Sexual Content, Bathing/Washing, Idiots in Love, Poetry, Mild Gore, Anal Sex, Angst, Rimming, Blow Jobs)

~*~

13. ITMF the filthiest spiciest hottest WangXian fic you've ever read.

I Won't Tell If You Won't by anxiousTypist (E, 11k, WangXian, Modern AU, Masturbation, Public Masturbation, Semi-Public Sex, Exhibitionism, Voyeurism, but not really, no one sees, Coming In Pants, Wet & Messyish, Mildly Dubious Consent, PWP)

~*~

14. Does anyone know if any TopGun Aus exist? I feel like mdzs would have a field day with this concept. Especially with the volleyball scene. I've read Pacific Rim au that was really good so I'm more or less curious since I see both of these movies in the same category. @skylar-lei1634

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15. Hi! So this one is a mix of itmf and ficfinder request, but I remember reading a fic where WWX got pregnant via talisman. Do you know a fic like this? Because I can‘t find it for the love of god, but I want that plot and more of it. Thank you so much! @desperation-is-my-middle-name (also in a previous FF post)

with arms wide open by violia (M, 4k, WangXian, Character Entering Into M/M Marriage Invents Mpreg In Hopes Of Pleasing Their Spouse With An Heir, Fluff, Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Slight Misunderstandings, secret reveal)

~*~

16. any fics where wwx comes back to life and lwj doesnt recognize him but falls in love "again"? @chellsky

Love Song In Reverse by timetoboldlygo (T, 237k, WangXian, Amnesia, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Falling In Love, Slow Burn, agressively mixing and matching novel and cql canon, No Homophobia, Mentions of Starvation, Parental WWX) this one that i recently recced

By Any Other Name by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 31k, Wangxian, Canon Divergence, Crossdressing, Misunderstandings, Identity Porn, Identity reveal)

Tumblr series Lady Mo by Shanastoryteller is ongoing. Here's a link to the latest one because it has links to ask the previous installments so far, but definitely recommend reading in order so start with the first one.

~*~

17. Hello, for the next ITMF(In the mood for), I’m looking for wangxian mpreg fanfictions with scenes of childbirth in. Preferably with Wei Wuxian being the pregnant partner.

Thank you for your work and i hope you have a great day.

Blood, Google, and Love by Prairie_Grass (E, 4k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, they were roommates, A/B/O Dynamics, Getting Together, Mpreg, semi graphic giving birth, Alpha LWJ, Omega wwx, Intersex Omegas, (or you could head-canon WWX as trans if you wanted), Fluff and Angst, the run-on sentences are on-purpose because WWX and LWJ are both:, neurodiverse characters, slightly traumatic birth)

Surprise Baby! by trulywicked (M, 10k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Modern Cultivation, Mpreg, Unplanned Pregnancy, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Didn't know he was pregnant, birthing scene, Little bit of blood, A/B/O Dynamics, Inspired by Twitter, Established Relationship, Fluff)

On The Way Home by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 59k, wangxian, Modern, Mpreg, Non-a/b/o mpreg, Unprotected Sex, Unexpected Pregnancy, Friends With Benefits, Getting Together, Pining while fucking)

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[ninjakk]

I've been thinking of how JC attempts to sacrifice himself for WWX when they first run from the Wens after the fall of LP and his reasons/feelings for doing that and reconciling them with this person who acts so shamefully and is full of such hatred that he kills all 'demonic cultivators' after wwx's death. Even as WWX thinks of whether JC and JL are okay, I notice he calls JC "Sect Leader" out loud to others. I don't know how they could reconcile. Sorry lots of feelings.

Hi again anon 👋🏻

I've answered your two asks separately as they were addressing different aspects of the novel and my original response was getting rather long 😆

It certainly was an unexpected revelation when we found out that JC lured the searching Wen cultivators away from an unsuspecting WWX. Of course, I don't think it was his intention to get caught in the process, but he definitely thought about someone else other than himself for once - which was interesting. Although it was one of the very few selfless acts he did during the course of the novel, it still doesn't retract any of the awful things he has done, nor the way he treated WWX or his homophobic outburst.

Even after WWX has died, JC's bitterness remains very strong and he does indeed hunt down those that use the ghost path in hope of capturing WWX, should he return. Which I always find quite telling of just how little JCs actually knows and understands WWX - who would never actually do such a thing.

In all honesty, JC actually redeemed himself ever so slightly at the very end of the novel, when he decides not to tell WWX about how he really lost his golden core. Instead, he finally let him go, severing the very last thread of "debt" and "obligation" between them. It was actually a fitting character arc for him and it showed a glimmer of possible growth.

Even if JC had selfishly told WWX that particular fact, I don't think it would have changed much at all. WWX has already paid back his "debt" and "obligations" to the Jiang sect far beyond what was required or reasonable. There is nothing left to say between them and WWX literally has nothing left to give. Too much water has gone under the bridge. All of that is in the past and WWX always focuses on the present. So either way, nothing would have changed. I also think WWX would not want to associate with someone he thought his love for LWJ was disgusting and shameful regardless of anything else at play. He chooses love, happiness and freedom as his parents did before him.

JC and WWX are too different, in both personality and virtue. They would not have been friends or hung out in any other scenario bar the circumstance they found themselves in during the course of the novel. They both literally embody the traits that the other actually cannot stand! Their relationship was that of a master and subordinate, it was toxic and they are both better off giving each other a wide berth and moving on.

A reconciliation would never happen and it doesn't need to. WWX is entitled to a happy life for all his efforts in his previous life and JC needs to live with the consequences of his actions and learn from them in his own way.

I know it's probably not the response you were hoping for. But if you consider the above, they both got some form of a happy ending. JC is finally learning to let go of things that little bit more and WWX is free to move on and live his life how he always wanted. I honestly couldn't think of a more suitable and realistic ending.

[3cosmicfrogs]

Jay what about an au where NMJ and JGY switch bodies right after Sunshot finishes. Say at the phoenix mountain hunt.

you come on this here website and call me by my government name? before marriage???

five headcanons for a Freaky Friday situation after the pmh....hmmmmm

~Gender Dysphoria~ let's get the easy one out of the way first. You know me, i cum the second someone says "blorbo transgender" so naturally anything even Body Horror Adjacent will have Gender Feelings. They needn't even be trans as long as some sort of gender yuri is happening.

everyone would find out immediately. There's no way nmj could spend five minutes in Jin company without making a decisively un-Guangyao-like sarcastic remark. There's no way jgy, who is Deflection Georg and makes 100000 vague statements per day, could tolerate being confrontational.

Ok maybe not everyone, but our Main Cast certainly find out very quickly. NHS figures it out within 3 minutes of the switch ('jgy' started scolding him immediately while 'nmj' just kept smiling, it's creepy-) and naturally this means that lxc gets recruited to help fix this. Somehow, as is tradition with AUs that involve dubious magic, wwx gets involved which naturally means lwj is present as well. jc is also there, though his main purpose seems to be yelling and being outraged at things because someone has to be responsible in this mess, and by god it's gonna be him.

Naturally the whole Switching Situation cannot be fixed overnight and they must Pretend To Be Each Other In Public. This leads to a lot of heartfelt confessions about social status and societal expectations on both ends (not only on jiggy's side. yes, we've done jiggy's pressures and circumstances to hell and back, don't worry, we'll cover them here again, but like. give me MORE. build this world with me. take my hand.) They both grow as people and learn to appreciate each other and be more empathetic and bla bla bla you get the gist.

i think it would be super fun if jiggy can hear baxia now (and maybe feel the effects of early onset hereditary qi deviation???). she would be absolutely delighted by this skinny scared-but-bitter-determined-vicious little Human who is inhabiting her master's body. He's just so fun to scare at night and isn't it hilarious to whisper evil things in his ear and why is your sabre always talking to you da-ge?!

*6. Bonus headcanon! because this is a 3zun Dubious Magic au naturally the absolutely only way to resolve this after all of the conversations are had and revelations are made is by sex. ah, the wonders of dual cultivation... the traditional way most Strange Magic gets solved in this genre of AU, apparently, and who are we without traditions? If it so happens to help with certain hereditary diseases...

[danmeiconfession]

SJ, JC, and MQ haters are so creative. Just a few days ago, someone called SJ a racist for pushing LBH down the abyss just because he outed himself as a demon. Imagine all the cultivators/humans are racist to hate and kill the race that basically eats their rotten flesh. Prey are racist against predators. You just called the man racist when IAC was invaded by demons who killed hundreds of promising future cultivators, and... *boom* hated or not, one of your disciples ended up being one. Anyone in their sane mind would think he was responsible for the invasion, even if he was fighting against them. They can easily think he's trying to pretend to be on their side. If LQG or any other cultivator was in SJ's place, they'd have killed him. But no SJ is a racist, now.

And now someone says how JC is nazi to hate WWX for being responsible for his family's demise. Partly or not, WWX is responsible; had he not had the hero complex, the Jiang clan wouldn't have been massacred by the Wen clan. I'd do the same thing if I were in JC's place. Why the fuck should I tolerate it? Why the fuck should I sacrifice my family for my friend/brother, who just happens to be a fucking protag? Do you even fucking know how it feels to lose your entire family because of someone you've trusted all your life? Didn't you read history? Don't you know the terror Hitler caused in our entire world? You're comparing JC to him! Is he a fucking Hitler? Is he a dictator? Don't you know what kind of shit NK is currently going through because of its dictator? He was one of the best clan leaders, and you just compared him to a Nazi!

But you know what? If SJ is racist, then JC FS is a Nazi.

Now what, haters? What would you call MQ now? Because now only he has been left out of your fucked up name-calling.

[incarnadinedreams]

What do you think about jc and wwx's relationship? And how sometimes it seems like wwx is not very kind(?) thinking about jc? I don't perceive him having a good opinion about jc (as he does with wn and lwj that he praises)

Oh, this is a tricky one for me! Thanks for the ask, it sparked a lot of thinking... probably too much, oops... and sorry it took so long to reply, there was a small tornado over the weekend so I've been busy picking up the yard for the last couple days...

I definitely agree that's the overall vibe. It's tough because I go back and forth on this and can probably be swayed in different directions depending on my mood or if I read a persuasive argument or something. (And if anyone has any thoughts on the topic I definitely welcome commentary or different perspectives! It's an interesting topic with a lot of different angles to explore, I think.) Or rather what I think the cause of it is, because I agree that he doesn't think of him in particularly nice ways, especially post-resurrection.

Because of the framing of the story, it's a little hard to tell if it's how he's thought about Jiang Cheng all along, or if it's his post-resurrection resentment coloring his recollections.

So then the question I waffle on is exactly how much of these opinions are from anger over everything that happened, how much stem from avoiding painful topics, and how much are from his ideas of Jiang Cheng that took root long before everything that happened? Or why not a little bit of all three!

(Cut for length. 'Challenge: Shut the Fuck Up and Have a Concise Point' has been a spectacular failure. Brevity is the soul of wit but these two make me stupid, so.)

As much as I do dearly love the most precious purple darling of my heart Jiang Cheng, from Wei Wuxian's perspective I can't really blame him for being at least a little bit peeved! There was a siege, after all, and it's not like Jiang Cheng is exactly nice to him either in the present timeline. So there's some 'turnabout is fair play' involved there. I might think he's simply objectively wrong in some of his evaluations of Jiang Cheng, but from an emotional perspective it makes sense and is probably on the mild side, all things considered.

In some ways, I think Wei Wuxian is somewhat invested in the idea of being someone that lets anything and everything go. Partially because it's true that he really does let go of a lot, perhaps to the point where the line is between a healthy amount of letting go and plain avoidance could be called into question, but also because it's what Jiang Yanli told him that's what he was like:

Jiang YanLi said that he was born with a smiling look. No matter what unfortunate thing happened, he wouldn't cling on to them; no matter what situation he was in, he would be happy.

-- Ch. 24, ExR translation

To some extent I think he wants to live up to that, to still be who his shijie said he is, back before everything horrible happened and he was trapped in a downward spiral. So he tries to suppress the greater part of both his anger and resentment, but it still sort of... leaks out, in all those small comments.

In some ways they're mirror opposites of each other: Jiang Cheng is aggressively bitter and angry to suppress how much he still cares about Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian is comparatively civil and pleasant, considering the circumstances, to suppress the genuine pain and anger he feels.

And in some way, that response - the muted sort of civility - sets Jiang Cheng off even more, because it plays so strongly into his fears and insecurities that he cares more about Wei Wuxian than Wei Wuxian cares about him. The way their personalities and coping mechanisms and miscommunications all compound and echo off each other and create this awful swirling chasm between them is tragic but also rings so painfully true.

I think their first big confrontation after Jiang Cheng knows for sure that he was right, that it's really Wei Wuxian - in the inn after Jiang Cheng 'borrows' Fairy - really encapsulates that dynamic between them.

Although his face had always been clouded, marked with arrogance and satire, it seemed as if every corner of it had come alive. It was difficult to determine whether it was vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy.

-- Ch. 23. Love or hate, that's... a lot of feelings going on right there on Jiang Cheng's side. And then (from his perspective) he gets a whole lot of bland nothing back.

For a moment, no one spoke a word. The cup of tea was still steaming hot. Without having a single sip of it, he hurled it onto the ground. Jiang Cheng pulled a curt smile on his face, "... Don't you have anything to say to me?" […] With a sincere tone, Wei WuXian replied: "I don't know what to say to you." Jiang Cheng whispered: "You really don't learn, do you?"

And then to add insult to injury, later in the scene what finally provokes a real response from Wei Wuxian is insulting Lan Wangji.

If I had to take a stab at it, I'd probably say that Jiang Cheng's terrible reaction to non-reactions probably has something to do with his father's vague non-confrontational disappointment and general apathy, on top of just being infuriating in general.

But it's the scene in ch. 32 where the random children are playing out the Sunshot campaign where we see that Wei Wuxian's really not so unbothered about what happened between them at all:

"Jiang Cheng", "Hmph, I can't be better than you? Do you remember how you died?" The light smile on Wei WuXian's face dissipated at once. It was as if he had suddenly been pricked by a poisonous needle. A faint, sharp pain came from all around his body.

Even though it's the situation as seen through third parties who only having rumors to go off of (and the novel reminds us over and over again how accurate that is, even following up in later chapters to have Wei Wuxian clarify), it's obvious that being reminded of the general situation actually is pretty painful for him even if the details aren't particularly accurate. It takes him by surprise and hits where it hurts.

I think this whole pattern between the two of them plays heavily into the lead-up to the Ancestral Hall confrontation, actually - which is also where Wei Wuxian's sourness and dismissiveness is at its peak, and so is Jiang Cheng's fury and bitterness at Wei Wuxian's flippant attitude.

From Jiang Cheng's perspective, he's having just how little Wei Wuxian cares about him shoved in his face right after he'd just been prepared to do something that looks vaguely like dying for him at the Second Siege. Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure Wei Wuxian doesn't know any of that preparing-to-sacrifice-himself stuff even happened, since he was a little busy turning himself into bait with spirit lure flags and all.

So, as usual, everything is horribly amplified by all the things each of them doesn't know about the other. All the things they don't know they don't know come to a head.

Unfortunately only Jiang Cheng comes out of that Ancestral Hall really knowing anything that he didn't know before.

For most of the novel, there's also just... less that he knows about Wen Ning and Lan Wangji. There's so much less baggage, less intensity.

Wen Ning, bless him, Wei Wuxian only knew as a living person for one afternoon at an archery tournament and then for three days at the Supervisory Office in Yiling. (Well, plus the time spent on the mountain for the golden core transfer but I don't think they were sitting around chatting over a nice cup of tea for that.) Of course some of what Wen Ning does really does deserve praise - he did help them at great personal danger to himself. But does Wei Wuxian even really know him? Wen Ning's suppressed resentment in life becomes a powerful tool for Wei Wuxian later, but how much does he really know about his hopes and fears and dreams? A significant chunk of time in the Burial Mounds is spent with no consciousness on Wen Ning's part, and once he regains consciousness there's still this sort of... lingering weird vibe with them until the very end of the novel when Wen Ning becomes more independent. There's genuine friendship, but there's also a sort of avoidance of ever really touching the topic of how Wen Ning feels about being used as his weapon, about being raised as a fierce corpse, about the possibility of being controlled by him, about the decisions Wei Wuxian made for him.

Wen Ning is also just... easy to like. He's sweet and polite -- and he never really pushes back or questions Wei Wuxian's decisions or hits him where it hurts the way Jiang Cheng does.

All he really knows about Lan Wangji for a good chunk of the novel is that he's the goody-two-shoes Lan from summer camp who condemns evil or whatever. Obviously that perception changes drastically throughout the story as more information is revealed and misunderstandings from the past are corrected, but he'd never really had any expectations in his past life for LWJ, and so it left far less room for disappointment, since he didn't realize how LWJ really felt. So what's not to praise?

Of course from a more meta standpoint LWJ is frequently used as a direct contrast to Jiang Cheng, often in ways that are intentionally deceptive on MXTX's part in service to the overall goal of trickle-truthing us about Jiang Cheng over the course of the novel. The setup is constantly reframing his character with tidbits of new information. For example the way Wei Wuxian reacts when seeing Lan Wangji's discipline whip scars in ch. 11 is clearly meant to lead us to believe Jiang Cheng committed some horrible transgression to recieve his own discipline whip scar... and then we find out actually it was from Wen Chao torturing him after the fall of the Jiang sect, because he foolishly, impulsively rushed back to recover his parents' bodies from Lotus Pier, forcing his long-suffering shixiong to sacrifice his own core... except oh wait, that's not what happened at all, except Wei Wuxian doesn't know that last part. So some of the early comparisons I think were also meant to serve that purpose.

But in terms of how Wei Wuxian uses this sort of dismissiveness to avoid confronting how much he's really lost, I think the way he regards Lotus Pier itself is pretty telling:

Although he had always dreamed of returning to Lotus Pier once more, he didn't want to go back to the tattered one nowadays!

Because isn't it just easier to think about how it's not that great anyway, so who cares if you've lost it?

[astronicht]

whumptober day 3: “like crying out in empty rooms, no one there except the moon” | (implied) solitary confinement

tbh only meets the prompt if u squint but!! fic amnesty just post bb

Modao Zushi | WWX & JC gen, background wangxian | 1.1k

“He doesn’t understand it,” Wei Wuxian says. “That you have to sweat out the heat.”

“Please do not talk to me about Hanguang-jun,” Sect Leader Jiang says.

The cicadas sing in the wide hot dark beyond this room, where it is humid and close and lit by two little oil lamps on either side of the table. The oil lamps are clay and shaped like leaping fish the size of a child’s cupped hand. On them is a glaze called Yunmeng blue; the alchemical recipe for it was one of the things Wei Wuxian might have found in the Lotus Pier treasure rooms, had he been looking for that in particular.

Jiang Cheng has not met Wei Wuxian’s eyes this entire conversation at this little table with its yours and mine oil lamps, arranged like a banquet. Wei Wuxian is eating a meal: sliced steamed fish cakes in oil, Hongshan caitai fried with chili and garlic, plain congee rather than what was first offered, which had been rich with the white meat of Yunmeng fish. Wei Wuxian knows how to delicately reintroduce this body to food.

Jiang Cheng is not eating, because the dark night outside is nearly false dawn. Outside this little room, Sect Leader Jiang’s cooks are hanging out fresh noodles to dry in the coming sun, whispering to each other in the dark as their hands do a job they have done a thousand times.

“Will you tell him about this,” Jiang Cheng says.

“I thought we weren’t talking about Hanguang-jun,” Wei Wuxian says. Then adds, “I don’t keep secrets from him,” to see if Jiang Cheng will have him thrown out of this room. He keeps eating, very slowly. The fish cakes and the vegetables are very spicy, Yunmeng spicy. It is burning his cracked lips.

Jiang Cheng does not say anything or move, so Wei Wuxian says, “What I was saying is that there are only a few things that Lan Zhan doesn’t get. He doesn’t know how to survive the heat, you know, not really. I always liked eating spicy food in the heat, right? To sweat it out. He likes bitter melon and mung beans.”

“You are supposed to eat those in summer.”

Wei Wuxian shrugs. “After three days in your dungeon I would’ve eaten mung beans till I couldn’t stand up,” he says agreeably, even though in fact he has spent three days alone in the dark and is calmly eating a single fish cake one tiny bite at a time. His hands only shake a little with the effort of not shoveling in food.

Jiang Cheng’s knuckles crack as his fists clench on the table. Wei Wuxian looks at him from under the lashes of a dead boy. “Well, I would,” he says mildly. “And it was all a misunderstanding, so I hope you have not disciplined the responsible parties. Of course your new disciples would not recognize little old me. Congratulations, of course, on the new disciples.” He means this very genuinely, though Jiang Cheng will take it as a cold joke. Wei Wuxian doesn’t know how to fix that. Maybe it won’t ever be fixed. Maybe this humid little room where once decades ago the walls were painted red with purple lattice designs, the murals flaking from the plaster in an old unburnt part of Lotus Pier, will be the closest they come.

Wei Wuxian takes another careful bite of food he finds easy to digest. Below this little room off the kitchens he can hear water moving among the stilts. The kitchens are built partly over water here, to reduce the constant threat of fire. Similarly, to get into the Lotus Pier treasure rooms you must swim under buildings whose bottom is flush with the water level, holding your breath. The currents are strange among the stilts; there are underwater barriers and pylons and it is very dark even in the daytime. Every movement stirs up muck from the bottom.

Wei Wuxian had wanted to see a treasure. So he had come to Yunmeng alone, while Lan Zhan was visiting with Head Cultivator Zewu-jun, doing brotherly things, probably having meals not so unlike this one with so many horrible things unsaid. Though honestly, Wei Wuxian cannot believe this current luck: that he got into the treasure room at all, that he was only imprisoned in the dark for three days before Sect Leader Jiang returned from a night hunt to find a trespasser held in a cellars built up on the hill. It was hard to think of Jiang Cheng who once kept puppies and now keeps men in holes in the hill, a line of them that they have always called the dungeons, where perhaps people who learned some of what the Yiling Laozu taught died in the belly of the dirt of Yunmeng.

Jiang Cheng, who once spent months with Lan Wangji, trying to claw Wei Wuxian out of the soil and horror of Yiling.

It had felt very different four days ago when he dived beneath the surface of the lake again, silent and small as a black cormorant. The water closed above him, warm and for a moment almost clear before the rich silt stirred. He had held his breath and swum the old path.

Wei Wuxian looks at the little oil lamps, deep blue glazed. “Yunmeng blue,” he says, tapping one with a fingernail. The ceramic sings. The little flame wavers in its broth of oil.

Jiang Cheng’s gaze sharpens. “That’s not what you were after,” he says, and then looks like he meant to say something else, a stronger accusation. The Lans would love to know the secret of Yunmeng blue. It happens in the hills, the alchemy of it, in the potters’ kilns that stretch two li from hilltop to valley like snaking dragons with bellies of fire. There, among the azaleas, mostly unbothered by the night hunts, the people of Yunmeng cook a blue deeper than the sky.

“That’s not what I was after,” Wei Wuxian agrees. “I was looking for the rubbing of the old Han Dynasty star map and I didn’t find it anyway. Your disciples are very thorough in responding to their alarm talismans. Very diligent. I’m sure I am very lucky Sect Leader Jiang returned tonight.”

“And you took nothing,” Jiang Cheng says.

“I took nothing.”

“Well,” Jiang Cheng says, and clears his throat. Wei Wuxian’s brother, once. “It was only three days this time.”

Wei Wuxian looks at him, long and black-eyed and birdlike in a stolen body. “Yes,” he agrees. “Only three days. I’ll sweat it out in no time.”

—

idk man idk! important to state that i love jiang cheng, this is just as much about jiang cheng. anyway. i cant shut up about the development of chemical blue dye/pigment. also i couldn’t get Wei Ying to admit even to the narrative that he touched the dead husk of a silk worm stored inexplicably in the treasure rooms of lotus pier and knew it was there for their sister, whose work and life is all unrecorded in the treasure rooms of Yunmeng. etc.

[demiace-wen-ning]

I've been having 'the Golden Core' and JC/WN brainriot...

For JC, Wen Ning symbolises his trauma and grief, everything that went wrong in his. Throughout everything that happened to him, WN consistently remained a key figure. He's a Wen, he was there when JC lost his Golden Core, he's the reason WWX left the Jiangs, he's the Yiling Laozu's (WWX's!!) right hand man, he killed JZX. WN's never actually done anything wrong in everything that has happened but he's still been there the entire time, being directly tied up in everything.

JC already has a complex where he redirects his anger, hurt and blame onto others, usually WWX (though we see him try to do it with JGY who calls him out for it), who's a more reachable figure than others, WWX who readily would take any hurt if it meant JC didn't have to experience it. It's not a stretch he does that to WN too. We see JC being single-mindesly obsessed with killing WN, even more so than WWX (because he still cares for WWX and is stuck in this limbo in wanting to make him hurt like he has been, forgetting that WWX has actually suffered too, while also not wanting to truly hurt him) because it's easier to blame WN. WN, apart from being the person JC sees responsibile for all his problems, is nobody to JC. He doesn't care at all for WN, unlike WWX. We see that he blamed WN for both of JL's parents' death (even though WN wasn't even present for JYL's). JC tries time and time again to hurt WN, insulting him, hitting him in ways that would've have at least seriously injured him were he not a fierce corpse.

That's why it's so important for WN to be the one to stand up to JC and tell him about the golden core reveal, both for his own arc and JC's. Here's WN, who had been a such a key but passive figure in JC's life until now, actually fighting back against JC. WWX would have never actually stood up for himself. He still would have enabled JC's complex that hurt the both of them. And WN sees that.

It's not just about defending WWX in the moment. It's about this cycle of hurt that both of them have been perpetuating, and suffering due to, and it has to end. WN wouldn't have betrayed WWX's trust for words, something that WWX has constantly had to dealt with, and certainly not for himself, seeing that he never retaliates whenever JC goes after him.

Maybe some of WN's own hurt does leak into him telling off JC, as shown by how he reaffirms his sister, the best doctor in the cultivation world, his sister who died despite never hurting a soul. But it was first and foremost because of WWX.

And then WN takes the hit from NMJ, protecting JL and JC, neither of them could hold onto their anger and hatred to WN any longer. Here was WN who he had held responsible for so long, protecting him and his beloved nephew. JC just can't hold onto his negative feelings towards him any longer.

[grewlikefancyflowers]

hello! I've always wondered about the fact that JC distracted the soldiers first? How does change interpretation of canon, and would it have mattered if wwx was told that jc distracted them first?

Hello anon!

The reveal that JC distracted the wens shouldn't really change how the reader views JC's character imo, because all it tells us is that he's capable of good things as well as very awful things. The reader should already know this because we see him being decent at other points in MDZS too (briefly in Xuanwu Cave, when the Wens come to Lotus Pier, and even in Guanyin Temple).

This isn't a 'psych!! jc is a good person!!!' moment, the importance it has to JC's character is that he chooses to keep it to himself rather than using it to try to earn forgiveness from WWX.

'After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng shook his head, “There’s nothing to say.” [...] just like how the past Wei WuXian couldn’t tell him the truth of giving him his golden core, the current Jiang Cheng wasn’t able to say anything either.' (110)

This is WWX's reason for not telling JC about the GC (aside from the initial reason that it'd hurt JC's pride)

'Later, because Jin ZiXuan and Jiang YanLi had died because of him, Wei WuXian had become too ashamed to ever bring it up again. If he were to tell Jiang Cheng the truth after that, it would only sound like an excuse, a way for him to alleviate himself of the responsibilities by bringing up an act of kindness in the worst time, as if saying, ‘Look, you can’t hate me, I’ve also made sacrifices for the Jiang Sect.’ (102)

Obligation and debt form the very foundation of WWX & JC's relationship, at every every opportunity JC held these things against WWX. The 'promise', that WWX was raised in the Jiang Sect, the deaths of his family & JZX—even after the GC reveal JC holds these things against WWX.

'At this point, it was impossible to figure out who should apologize to whom.' (103)

It all becomes such an entangled mess that their relationship is made unsalvageable by it.

In contrast to wangxian, who's relationship can only be called unconditional—between them there are no expectations, obligations, debts, gratitude or envies. There's no need for thank you & I'm sorry. It is in both LWJ's and WWX's character to give freely to others without expectation for anything in return, to never begrudge what was given or resent what wasn't received. The 'message' of MDZS is that debts and gratitude have no place in a mutually-loving relationship, of any sort.

For JC's character development, in keeping this small thing to himself, when he could have held it against WWX as he does everything else, JC finally made some small progress towards self-improvement. It's the only positive character development he has in the whole novel.

As for whether or not WWX knowing about this would change anything either in the existing story, or post-canon? No.

In his first life, what could this mean to WWX? That JC cares about him? WWX already thinks that. He didn't base his decision-making on whether or not his relationship with JC was good or bad regardless. And if he considered this a 'debt' that tied him to JC?

'Wei WuXian’s expression darkened at once. His voice was harsh as well, “What a joke! Why is it that the debt you owe has to be repaid at the expense of others!”' (62)

He wouldn't let the Wens suffer at the expense of his own debts or obligations anyway, JC would still give him the ultimatum between staying in the Jiang Sect & abandoning the Wens, or leaving. WWX would still defect, the story would remain the same.

As for if JC revealed this post-canon, he himself recognises that this could only come across as an attempt to guilt-trip WWX into forgiving him. It certainly would not endear WWX to him, probably quite the opposite.

In the end, after everything JC has done, WWX doesn't want him in his life anymore, one good deed won't change that.

[violet-lotus]

Breakdown of canon responses of Wei Wuxian rescuing the Wen Remnants from Qiongqi Path (during a meeting at the Koi Tower which YMJ was not invited to) to explain why no one took them in--not Lan Wangji, not Jiang Cheng, nor anyone else within their political climate.

1) Jin Guangshan: threatened af

The Sunshot Campaign had demonstrated WWX's unstoppable power with his unrelenting fierce corpse army. On top of that, WWX has shown that he is unpredictable during his public appearances which often resulted in conflict. (See how he almost ruined JYL's engagement to JZX during and after the war, despite the Jin's being YMJ's most lucrative alliance.)

WWX is therefore a clear threat to JGS's intentions of filling the power vacuum left behind by the Wen's with his own wealthy and prominent Sect.

Noting again that JGS deliberately did not invite YMJ to attend this meeting at the Koi Tower, this could suggest that JGS was already attempting to segregate YMJ even before WWX openly threatened them from interfering with his plans to save the Wen's (upon Wen Qing's request).

After Qiongqi Path, in a conference that really resembled a trial that only Jiang Cheng stood at, JGS publically pressures him to drive WWX out of YMJ, intending to lessen their power and threat by losing their head disciple. The intimidation of JGS, the most resourceful and powerful at that point of time, was not something to easily dismiss.

2) Nie Mingjue: merciless towards the Wen's.

He points out that unwilling accomplices and silent bystanders to WRH's tyranny are still to blame to the destruction their reign caused to the jianghu.

3) Lan Xichen: neutral

He was weary of engaging in another major political conflict after suffering from the Wen's tyranny and his father's death. As another young Sect Leader, he was still likely dependent on the approval of the elders of CR and LQR. They also required the Jin's support to fund repairs of CR.

He attempted to defend Wen Qing, a healer, but he was overturned.

4) Lan Wangji doesnt speak up for WWX's actions (other than to question JGY whether WWX's intentions are wrong and later to call JGS out on his lie re: WWX's respect for JC).

When visiting the Burial Mounds his main concern is only for WWX, not the Wen's (+basic regard for LSZ)

LWJ issues his last attempt of steering WWX back to the 'right path,' but seems resigned as he leaves.

WWX states that he never expected LWJ to support/protect him/the Wen's from the threat of the other Sects. His reasoning to LSZ applies to everyone else as well, including JC & YMJ.

5) Jiang Cheng was the last to find out that WWX had gone to Qiongqi Path, killing members of the Jin's and rescuing the Wen's.

As mentioned, he was not present when WWX declares his intentions to save the Wen Remnants + threatens anyone who opposes him.

Despite not being informed prior by his right hand man, he speaks for WWX to the legion of Sect Leaders gathered. As if on trial, JC explains WWX's intentions and apologizes for his actions--all without having actually spoken to WWX about his plan.

These two grew up together. Saw each other at their worst. JC understands WWX the most. As said in the novel: what Jin Guangshan wanted, however, was not his apology or his compensation.

He demands that JC casts out WWX from YMJ in front of every other Sect, warning them all to not associate with WWX. So this is what WWX and JC both know they have to do.

WWX proposes it first, that he defect. Wei Wuxian states that he does not need protection, nor anyone to speak for his actions.

Having read this, do you still think that Jiang Cheng should have taken in WWX and the Wen remnants while knowing that this would have endangered them all?

[lansplaining]

The MDZS/Princess Mononoke Fusion That No One Asked For And Even I Am Not Going To Write But I’m Outlining It Here To Exorcise It From My Brain

A rampaging demonic boar gets into Cloud Recesses, and the Twin Jades stop it, but not before LWJ is cursed. The Lan Sect used to be part of the wider cultivation world, but secluded itself generations ago. The elders suggest the other sects may have a cure for LWJ’s curse, and he leaves to go find it.  

As LWJ travels, he realizes that the curse feeds on anger and resentment, even the righteous anger he feels when he comes across cultivators from different sects fighting one another. 

In a village, LWJ is rescued from confusion over his attempts to pay in solid silver by an elegant young man who introduces himself as Jin Guangyao. They make smalltalk, and it’s clear that JGY has an inkling about who LWJ really is, but promises not to tell. He says there’s a forest to the west where it’s said resentful energy is stronger than anywhere else, and the cultivators who live near it are more practiced than anyone at dealing with resentment and curses. LWJ slips away in the morning, not realizing JGY is very much awake to see him go. 

At the edge of the forest, LWJ catches sight of a man in black with a flute and is immediately captivated. He calls out, asking if he is a cultivator from one of the great sects, and gets a succinct response: “Get lost.” 

LWJ comes across the scene of what appears to be another fight, or perhaps an accident, but finds that there is a survivor: a very young cultivator named Jin Ling. He helps him back home, despite his protests taking him on a shortcut through the deadly forest called the Burial Mounds. He explains that this is the territory of the fearsome Yiling Patriarch, who hates all cultivators. It’s heavy with resentful energy, but they’re able to pass without harm and make their way to Lotus Pier, a walled fortress on a lake just outside the Burial Mounds.

Sect Leader Jiang is grateful to LWJ in his slightly surly way, and invites him to stay and tour Lotus Pier. LWJ learns from the other cultivators about their endless war against the Yiling Patriarch, and their slow attempts to purify the Burial Mounds piece by piece. LWJ realizes that that was the man he saw, and says he didn’t seem evil. Jiang Cheng confides that he used to try to live in peace with the Yiling Patriarch, but then the Yiling Patriarch’s puppets killed his own sworn sister, and JC realized that he was utterly corrupted by resentful energy and couldn’t be saved or reasoned with. 

That night, the Yiling Patriarch attacks Lotus Pier, and he and Jiang Cheng face off one on one. LWJ intervenes, insisting that there’s no need for conflict and violence, but neither are willing to listen. LWJ tries to escape with the Yiling Patriarch, but Jin Ling attempts to stab the Yiling Patriarch as he goes and hits LWJ instead. Curse flaring, LWJ manages to escape and only collapses when they are safely at the border of the Burial Mounds. WWX is initially furious, but brings LWJ (who definitely has the ‘you’re beautiful’ moment as he passes out) into his home to save him. 

A few days go by, and JGY arrives at Lotus Pier with word from his father, Sect Leader Jin. He suggests that JGS doesn’t think the Jiang have taken a firm enough hand against WWX, and that he’ll be sending cultivators to help the Jiang Sect deal with the problem. JC insists that their method of slowly reclaiming the Burial Mounds is safer in the long run, but JGY says that JGS disagrees, and after he has been so generous as to let his grandson be raised at Lotus Pier, it would be such a shame if it were deemed too dangerous for Jin Ling to remain. 

Word reaches WWX of the planned siege of the Burial Mounds. LWJ insists that there must be a way to come to an agreement, but WWX is adamant that the only way is to stand and fight. LWJ realizes his curse is growing worse, as it is fueled now by resentment at WWX’s treatment by the sects. WWX apologizes for not being able to heal the curse, and insists LWJ go find someone who can.

The morning of the siege comes. LWJ travels by way of Lotus Pier and finds it under siege by Jin cultivators, who have taken advantage of the absence of JC and his senior disciples. The junior disciples, led by Jin Ling, are doing their best to hold out, but ask LWJ to go find JC. He agrees, realizing it’s the perfect way to draw JC off of WWX. However, when he finds JC, JGY refuses to let him leave, insisting that there’s been a misunderstanding that can only be clarified once the Yiling Patriarch is dead. 

They find and corner WWX, who unleashes his final weapon: he attempts destroy his Yin Tiger Tally. LWJ leaps forward to shield WWX from the backlash, but it unleashes a torrent of resentful spirits that kill whatever they touch. JGY hurries to gather the pieces, but a passing spirit scythes off his arm. Even so, he insists that no matter what, the pieces must be delivered to his father. LWJ and WWX pursue, realizing that the destruction wasn’t complete and WWX needs to finish the job. The spirits are attracted to the remnants of the tally, and though JGY’s men succeed in handing it off to JGS, the spirits immediately descend on him. It is heavily implied this was JGY’s intention. WWX and LWJ manage to get hold of the tally, and with their combined strength, properly destroy it. A shockwave passes through the Burial Mounds, and when it passes, all is quiet. The resentment is gone. 

Jiang Cheng returns to Lotus Pier, but not before hinting in a typically surly manner that WWX should come check in on his nephew some time, if he wants. WWX and LWJ decide to travel together back to Cloud Recesses-- at least for now. 

[pharahsgf]

i get that some of jc's attitude towards jl is supposed to be taken as him just being a cantankerous cunt but i think that even with that reading, fans miss the point that his attitude isn't cute or harmless. the framing of the scenes where jc berates jl; the music, the expressions wwx makes, the undercurrent of genuine fear/emotional pain on wwx's part, give the atmosphere a tense, heavy, almost awkward weight. jc threatening to whip jl w zidian (even IF both parties did know that would never happen) hits different when we've seen wwx be abused by that weapon. and knowing anything about jc's character at all, tells me it's not something he would joke about either nor something he would say lightly (the scene where he does it certainly doesn't feel jokey or light). whether he would actually do it or not, the intention of that threat is to intimidate jl. on a very base level, to instinctively threaten physical harm (even IFFF jc never "actually" did it) is pretty fucked up actually. and while jl is "comfortable enough" to talk back, mostly his response is actually to run away. and then there's that time where jl flinches back at the end, which he doesn't even do when he's about to be cut in half in the temple--it's either a trained or an instinctive reaction! also, the only other time we see that posture is when wwx is putting his hands up to protect himself from being hit. it's so uncomfortable and like the only semi-sympathetic reasoning is that jc wanted jl to be a little afraid of him and cultivated that fear through verbal threats and an outward lack of concern for jl's person. he probably does genuinely love jl and maybe he never actually followed through (the fact that this is extremely debatable doesn't look GREAT) but even so the results of his hand in jl's guardianship shows in how unhappy and dysfunctional jl is before wwx steps in and literally just goes "hey...i care about you and maybe if you were nicer you could have friends and be happier" and i haven't even gotten INTO jc encouraging jl to be violent towards others at the slightest provocation. how does no one talk about this

also just to add onto the last ask about jl and jc's relationship being a clusterfuck, isn't it weird how even before jl knows "mxy" is wwx, he doesn't bat an eye at jc whipping him in the street, surrounding him with swords, and taking him up to his room to be tortured/killed??? like this is just a thing jc DOES?? HELLO?

oh lmao i talk about this all the time but i'm literally not joking when i say jiang cheng is 100% responsible for jin ling lacking of any sense of self-preservation or humane thought processing in the face of genuine compassion from other people. like ofc jin ling was bound to suffer growing up in such a predatory environment without his parents but jiang cheng seemingly took zero steps to alleviate this and instead encouraged jin ling to center his identity around a tragedy he can't even remember, damaging jin ling's self-perception and ability to connect with peers just for the sake of validating his own grudges and individual trauma.

following wwx and jyl's deaths there is no one left to temper jiang cheng's reliance on physical violence so i'm sure he sees it as an accomplishment that he "only" defaults to threatening jin ling with harsh corporal punishment at the slightest provocation, but in reality he bullies and scares jin ling who nearly gets himself killed for the chance to gain a sliver of respect from one of his closest relatives. and that's not even touching upon jin ling's desensitised view of the violent assault repeatedly carried out by jiang cheng and how that may inform his opinion on how jiang cheng treats HIM

like there is so much shit about jin ling and jiang cheng's relationship that goes completely unaddressed so ppl can feel good about calling jiang cheng a dilf or whatever. jin ling's first scene literally has him trying to murder a visibly scared stranger just because jiang cheng told him to but it's clear we'll never be able to have a conversation about what the fuck was going on there because half the people on here will only acknowledge jin ling's existence to celebrate jiang cheng for selflessly raising his sister's baby despite the (checks notes) 5 seperate scenes where he beats the kid

[llycaons]

ep48 (1/3): thank fucking god jc and wwx are finally talking it out

this was sweet. when does lwj ever defend someone to wwx rather than vice versa? but he dutifully reports than wen ning didn't do this happily

wwx rolling his eyes like 'oh GOD here we go again'

okay okay but I am so excited for this because I truly believe this is jc's absolutely best scene best monologue best interaction with wwx in the SHOW. finally everything coming to light! finally communication! finally a solid closure to the rage and grief that has torn them apart! but first it displays all of jc's issues and problems so so clearly

and it start off with jc bitterly praising wwx for being such a saint. which I really enjoy on a writing level, because it's very self-aware. it's easy as a reader to think that jc should bow down in gratitude, but jc as a character has a lot of pride and judges things very differently - he's a living, breathing, thinking character who has his own beliefs, principles, grudges, and motivations

I don't even know how to describe this. mocking praise? it's very characteristic of jc of this arc. sarcastic, insecure, and bitter, keenly aware of wwx's achievements and virtues and resenting him for them. idk what he wants wwx to do...obviously he's not thinking rationally but wwx can't help being good at stuff

he's making wwx entirely responsible for his feelings. not even 'you did this and I felt this way' but 'you are this way and I'm different and it's your fault that I'm not as good'

not even forgiving the debt owed from all those decades ago, even knowing the truth! he also has a big victim complex - even when wwx was being disrespected and even abused in ways jc wasn't, he still remembers it the way it'll suit his needs. no capacity to consider wwx's troubles or suffering. absolutely no emotional imagination. not that being low-empathy makes you a bad person, but the way he acted has never been part of a healthy relationship w wwx

this moment captures him SO well. while castigating wwx about jin ling, jin ling himself tries to reach out - to comfort or dissuade. and jc throws him off, impatient and angry and entirely focused on the object of his revenge rather than the living child he claims to be trying to protect, the child who's right there asking for his attention

this also feels very self-aware of the writing. almost...lampshading? not the right term. it feels fair and right that one major character close to wwx, and sympathetic despite his behavior, is holding wwx to task for this. I am obviously on wwx's side, but it makes sense than people would be upset but what happened and it feels very honest to allow jc this bitterness and anger rather than forcing everyone in the story to immediately forgive and love him. it adds texture and complexity to the characters and the world, and it makes actions like lwj's more significant. jc was never going to be the partner wwx needed, and that's extremely important to the story

another fair accusation. on the other hand it was pretty clear wwx was majorly depressed after the war and while jc might have been angry with him for drinking, he only responded with punishment instead of, idk, compassion for the other sibling who lost his entire home and family? jc didn't talk to wwx either

I read this as jc angry with himself for not being able to truly hate wwx, and blaming wwx himself for...not being hateable? it's very convoluted. jc needs so much therapy

CLOWN MOMENT

wwx touching lwj's hand to prevent him from jumping to wwx's defense, jl interpreting lwj leaning forward as him about to attack, and jc tearfully saying "I can take him!! you think I'm scared of him?" a lot going on here

oof. ough

there it is 😭 circumstances of the past aside, I'm glad they made it this point

...is that a smile? I can't even tell I swear

and NOW he's calling HIMSELF pathetic for even caring that much. my guy I think easing off on being judgemental towards yourself and your loved ones might help

JIANG CHENG APOLOGY EVENT CATCH IT ONCE EVERY TWENTY YEARS 🎇🎉🎈🎁

I can't tell if this is putting distance between jc and wwx (bc wwx is saying he did it as payment) or bringing them closer (bc wwx is saying there's no need for jc to regret or agonize over the past anymore)

I forgot how satisfying this scene was. wwx went through so many trials and despite the residual trauma, he really feels like he's able to move on. and that can include jc too

🥺🥺🥺

I believe in yunmeng sibling reconciliation!!! this was a really hopeful and honest and cathartic discussion and I feel really good about their future relationship. I get caught up in the scenes before this and I just a lot of jc fic writers on it, but after this scene I can def see their dynamic becoming much less antagonistic. wwx isn't joking about his pain or making excuses for jc or talking about how much he likes to be mistreated - he's gentle and honest and real. and he wants to move on. finally. finally they got there

[ninjakk]

I really love your mdzs analysis and meta.I want to ask you this,From your point of view what do you think LWJ thought at the beginning when WWX was teasing him to sleep on one bed and to bath together,did he thought that WWX was making fun of his feelings or He knew that WWX was acting as MXY.but at the same time didn`t LWJ knew who was MXY was?also,when JC makes fun of their relationship,did he thought all this time WWX was returning his feeling as why he was so shocked when he heard WWX?

Hi Anon,

Thanks for the ask! I'm delighted to hear you are enjoying my meta ☺️

At the start of the novel, when they met on Dafan Mountain for the second time that night, LWJ assumed WWX was not hiding his identity from him. In fact, he thought WWX was practically calling out to him by playing Wangxian. Then JC arrived totally ruining the moment as usual - learn to read the room (or forest in this case!) will you JC!

So when WWX starts putting on the MXY act right then and there, LWJ assumes he is trying to hide from JC. But WWX continues with the pretence that he is MXY even after they leave for Gusu. At this point I think LWJ assumes WWX is playing with him, teasing him just like he used to. The only difference is, LWJ has matured and accepted his love for WWX - so he embraces WWXs teasing and even teases back! Not long after, LWJ calls WWX's bluff and reveals he does indeed know who he really is. To be honest, WWX hasn't done the best job of hiding it anyway! Which is probably why LWJ thinks he's just teasing as always. LWJ also thinks that him jumping into bed and insisting on sharing a bath is WWX trying to show gratitude towards him for saving him from the Bloodbath of Nightless City. After all, LWJ is under the impression he remembers his confession and is unaware WWX has been having issues with his memory.

LWJ did not know who MXY was. He might have heard of him in passing, but he was certainly not familiar with him. Sometimes I think people might get a little confused at JCs comments around this when he confronts WWX after he taunts him with Fairy. What JC said was just to provoke and insult WWX. It was a lie to hurt WWX.

When JC confronts WWX and LWJ at the ancestral hall of Lotus Pier, he tries to insult and provoke WWX once again. He knows the best way to do this is by spewing slander about LWJ, as WWX is fiercely protective of people he cares about. JC is also a homophobe, so he can't help but express his disgust at them - after he caught them acting intimate outside, as he creepily watched from a bush afar. LWJ was understandably hurt at hearing WWX draw a line under their relationship and practically friend-zoning him in response to JCs cruel remarks. But in truth, WWX was sticking up for LWJ and protecting his reputation. I think LWJ was probably very confused at this point, having conflicting information and emotions. Nevertheless, LWJ still chooses to protect him and stay by his side after this because he wants WWX in his life, any way he can. Obviously in his heart, a romantic relationship would be the ideal. But I think LWJ always has these invading thoughts that WWX 'rejected' him back in the cave when he confessed his love, pulling him away from accepting any of WWXs actions as anything other than out of appreciation or friendship.

I don't think LWJ fully allowed himself to think WWX was truly returning his feelings for him until they had their passionate romp at the inn - and that was short lived! After this, LWJ mistook what WWX was saying as him insinuating that what happened was out of gratitude. There was a moment prior to this, when WWX jumped from the tree and LWJ caught him. He was about to accept that WWX might reciprocate his feelings when they embraced - but WWX said "thank you" and he hesitated because this sounded again like gratitude and drawing a line between them as he had in the past.

I hope I've been able to answer your questions 😊

Thanks for the ask! ☁️🐇💕

[add1ctedt0you]

Everyone in mdzs plays an important role for the plot. Anyway, it seems to me that we know very little about most of the cast and what we know is filtered by the narrator's prospective or is narrated trough rumors. Now I am thinking about the Nie Brothers and in particular about Nie Mingjue. He is the fierce corpe whose mystery drives a huge part of the plot. But, what we know about Nie Mingjue? (disclaimer : these are English translations so a lot is lost from the original text. And these are only my opinions about this character based on some passage)

Someone can suggest this passage to figure nmj out:

As such, the ability to discern people's desires was truly Jin Guangyao's forte. The only person he could never seem to pry any useful information out of was Nie Mingjue.

Wei Wuxian had seen this firsthand, back when Meng Yao had worked under Nie Mingjue's command. The man never laid his hands on women, alcohol, or material wealth; paintings, calligraphy and antiques were all piles of ink and mud in his eyes. Top-grade premium tea tasted the same to him as dregs from a roadside stall. Meng Yao had racked his brain and still failed to identify anything Nie Mingjue might have a taste for, other than training with his saber every day and killing Wen dogs. He was truly an iron bastion, with no weaknesses to exploit.

Volume 2, Page 319

I think that this passage says less about nmj and more about wwx. (I personally think, but maybe I am wrong, that the second passage is from wwx's pov, so I am thinking according to that)

For wwx, based on his observations, nmj hasn't any weaknesses or any hobby because he doesn't like :

Women

Alcohol

Material wealth

Painting/calligraphy/antiques

Tea

For wwx nmj only likes :

To train with his saber

To kill wen dogs

Not even considering that this knowledge comes from wartime, where people, and in particular sect leaders, have to fight against their enemies, I am inclined to interpret this passage in two ways:

Wwx is judging nmj based on what he thinks ordinary sect leaders like best

Wwx is judging nmj based on what he likes best

I don't know what one of them is more appropriate but, again, for me this passage doesn't give any insight on nmj.

In fact I find more interesting this passage:

"... I apologize to all of the Sect Leaders. Everyone, I am afraid you don't know that the Wen Cultivator whom Wei Wuxuan wanted to save was called Wen Ning. We owe him and his sister Wen Qing gratitude for what happened during the Sunshot Campaign"

Nie Mingjue, "You owe them gratitude? Isn't the QishanWen the ones who caused the YunmengJiang Sect's annihilation?"

[...]

Lan Xichen responded a moment later, "I have heard of Wen Qing's name a few of times. I don't remember her having participated in any of the Sunshot Campaign's crimes"

Nie Mingjue, "But she's never stopped them either"

Lan Xichen, "Wen Qing was one of Wen RuoHuan's most trusted people. How could she have stopped them?"

Nie Mingjue spoke coldly, "If she responded with only silence and not opposition when the Wen Sect was causing mayhem, it's the same as indifference. She shouldn't been so disillusioned as to hope that she could be treated with respect when the Wen Sect was doing evil and be unwilling to suffer the consequences and pay the price when the Wen Sect was wiped out"

Lan Xichen knew that because of what happened to his father, Nie Mingjue abhorred Wen dogs more than anything, especially with how intolerable he was toward evil. Lan Xichen didn't say anything else.

Chapter 73

They are discussing about what to do with wwx who has killed jin and other's sects cultivators and has rescued the wen captives.

When jc tries to defend wwx, saying that them owe the wen siblings, nmj immediately intervenes remembering him about what the wen have done to his sect, asking what kind of gratitude they could ever have.

Then, when lxc tries to defend wq, nmj intervenes again saying that she has to take responsibility for her actions. Her silence is indifference, so, why shouldn't she have to suffer the consequences of the Sect she benefits from?

All of this, in my opinions, suggests that nmj is an extremely idealistic person. That doesn't mean that he has a black/white view of the world, only that he has strong principles for which he is ready to fight, even trying to impose himself.

That doesn't make him bad or good. He believes he is right but he respects people who fight for their principles even if these same ideals are opposed to his own.

Nie Mingjue, "The woman has much more backbone than the mob of her sect"

Nmj is talking about MianMian, someone who has tried to speak for wwx. She is mocked for that by other cultivators, because she is a servant woman, because her voice isn't important enough. MianMian stands for her own opinions but understanding that other people aren't really open minded towards dialogue, ("Fine! Your voice are louder! Fine! You are the rational ones!" that's what she says) she leaves her sect. A servant girl, now disciple, is leaving one of the four great sect, after standing her ground! Nmj shows admiration for her, despite she is in his opposite side, saying that she has more backbone than the mob (people who are mocking her but are on nmj's side).

In my view, Nmj has strong principles that he would try to impose but not mocking and demeaning his opponents, who he genuinely can admire.

Plus:

Lan Xichen knew that because of what happened to his father, Nie Mingjue abhorred Wen dogs more than anything, especially with how intolerable he was toward evil.

Nmj is intolerable toward evil, but in this one, my guess is that his past trauma also plays a huge role. Nmj watched in horror as his father's saber broke battling a beast, which then gored him with its horn. He was forced to see his only still alive parental figure being killed indirectly by wrh's hand (wrh has sabotaged his father's saber), and then he was forced to become a young sect leader. The age isn't clear, but he was a teenager. Anyway, I think his trauma plays a huge role on his decisions and that, again, doesn't make him good or bad. We are in a world where people are ready to take their revenge taking down also innocent people: nhs is ready to put in danger innocent Junior's life to take his revenge, wwx kills at least one hundred innocent disciples who are at the siege because it's their role as disciples, because he is emotionally destroyed by his sister's death.

But I am cautious about this last passage because it's from lxc's pov. It's not nmj who says that his past trauma and his principles are driving his decisions, but it's lxc. Maybe this passage says more about lxc who, understanding his friend's motivation, backs off. Ugh.

Anyway, in my view, Nie Mingjue is a man who suffered a lot, who was forced to take huge responsibilities at a young age. He admires other people who fight for their ideals and thinks that everyone has to take responsibility for their own actions.