#also Mingjue also means jade

[hannigramislife]

<-accidentally gets mad at lan xichen for not being totally ruined over nie mingjue's death

man, i love lan xichen, i really do, he's great. but also... what the fuck, bro???

I honestly think it's because he thought Nie Mingjue's death was a natural one. During seclusion, I'd imagine Lan Xichen finds himself thinking about Nie Mingjue often. How he had dismissed his warnings of Jin Guangyao's character, how Lan Xichen taught Jin Guangyao the song that he would use to lead Nie Mingjue to a painful death, how he had provided all the means for him to do so when he gave Jin Guangyao the jade token. And then, of course, he suspected no foul play.

Lan Xichen was stuck between two dear friends fighting each other. He did care for Jin Guangyao more, so of course, his death would hit harder, but it wasn't just that - it was the crushing weight of everything he had missed, and how that shook his trust in himself, in his very ability to decide anything that had Lan Xichen go in seclusion. Jin Guangyao's true colors coming to light showed Lan Xichen how utterly blind he had been for years, so how could he trust his judgment now?

He was too kind, and too trusting, and while it is not a flaw, it had consequences, the weight of which he now has to bear on his own.

[fg203]

Yeah so I had no idea that my appreciation of healthy communication could hit kink levels until I found @scarlettohairdye’s fics.

I read I Know Who I Want To Take Me Home first, and daaaamn. Suddenly I realized that while I occasionally enjoy a level of toxic in my fiction I wouldn’t tolerate in real life- that reading about people having open and healthy communication about sex is hot AF.

Then, I read Leave All Your Love and Your Longing Behind. Yay more hot healthy communication, and all sorts of warm fuzzies of awesome acceptance that warms my cynical and jaded heart. I heart Wei Ying’s “weird queerplatonic extended family grouping over two apartments.” Also Bunny, because she is the best and the belly is NOT a trap. And even Bruce because he is a big lover and just needed a friend to teach him manners.

And of course, because of my brain with all the hyper-SQUIRREL-fixa-SHINY-tion, paired with a whoa busy life, I am reading ALL THE THINGS between all the OTHER things that I am reading/watching/scrolling/doing. Which naturally means I read For a Good Time, Call. I am so ridiculously in-love with this modern incarnation of all the MDZS characters, but most especially Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. I love the feelings and the talking about them once they get around to talking about them. I love the neuro-spicy in all flavors. I love wedding planner extraordinaire Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue’s “Like I haven’t seen a fucking dick before.” I love the fashion. I love Wei Ying’s (off screen) therapist and want to be her (I am already a snarky and sarcastic asshole to clients who appreciate my snarky and sarcastic ways, I think he would appreciate me). And damnit, apparently I now love Jin Zixuan, and his naked calendar, hanging with cats, and haunted kitchen.

I have actually reread this one in bits and pieces because I wasn’t ready to move on, and sometimes when doing other things thoughts of this would pop up and I’d come back to visit. I am pretty excited that this is part of a series of works and I get to visit this world and particular incarnation of these characters again.

So do yourself a favor, if you are open to modern AUs, enjoy some explicit smut in your fic, and are on the healthy communication kink-train (or want to explore it) - and check out @scarlettohairdye’s work.

[thepurplewombat]

Character headcanon ask: LXC + JGY!

Okay, so it's finally cooled down enough that my computer has stopped making distressed noises whenever I turned it on, PLUS! we even have power for a few hours today, so here goes:

Lan Xichen

Sexuality Headcanon:

I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't give a lot of thought to characters' sexuality, at least not in terms of having headcanons for them. In my head, LXC is probably some flavor of bi, except that in practical terms, he's A-Yaosexual.

Gender Headcanon:

I think I've read one fic where LXC was actually a woman - not in the sense that he any flavor of trans, at least that was not the impression I got, he was biologically and emotionally a woman, but he was presenting male because of Political Reasons, and I thought that was quite interesting. But in general, I think he's a cis male.

A ship I have with said character:

Oh I don't know, I just don't know, who could I possibly ship the incomparable First Jade of Lan with - it's Jin Guangyao. Like, I'm not going to say that xiyao is canon and everyone who disagrees is wrong (even though they are) because everyone is allowed to be wrong on Beyonce's internet, but any version of Lan Xichen that isn't in love with Jin Guangyao is a Lan Xichen who is so wildly out of character to me that I just don't know what to do with him.

A BROTP I have with said character:

I think he'd get along really well with Jiang Cheng as friends - like, among the reasons that I don't think they work as romantic partners is that I think Lan Xichen would find being in a relationship with JC utterly exhausting. As a romantic partner, you feel somewhat responsible for managing your partner's moods, in a way that you don't necessarily feel the need to do in a friendship. I just think that the distance of a friendship would give him the opportunity to enjoy Jiang Cheng's cunty tendencies and temper, while not making him feel in any way responsible for managing Jiang Cheng's moods.

A NOTP I have with said character:

That being said, Jiang Cheng is not actually my NOTP for this character. I remain convinced that chengxiyao is a viable ship that just needs the right story to take off, and I'm sure that if I were to read a really good x!cheng fic, where Jin Guangyao is not demonised or erased, I would probably enjoy it.

No, my NOTP is Nie Mingjue. Mainly because I think he's an abusive jerkweed who reminds me of both my murderous ex and my late father (although to be fair to the Great Old One, he never tried to kill me) and I don't think that someone who is incapable of understanding that maybe other people have different priorities and points of view, is a good fit to be in a relationship with anyone who doesn't precisely share his values.

Oh and also Nie Huaisang. Just no. NOPE.

A random headcanon:

Not long after the end of canon, Lan Xichen disappears from his house of seclusion and is never seen again, because he's given the entire jianghu the middle finger and fucked off.

General Opinion over said character:

When I finished the book he was my favourite, and I was initially drawn into thinking more about Jin Guangyao because I was looking for stories where Lan Xichen has a happy ending, and a lot of the time, a happy ending for Lan Xicnen requires a happy ending for JGY as well. In the months since, he's been somewhat supplanted by JGY - it's not that I love him less, it's that I love JGY so much more (send help I am genuinely unwell about Jin Guangyao).

More general opinion - I think Lan Xichen should have the opportunity to go absolutely feral.

Jin Guangyao

My lovely boy, my sweet cheese, my rotten soldier, I love him so much.

Sexuality Headcanon:

I mean, canonically he loves both a man (LXC) and a woman (QS) so, bisexual?

I do think he has a complicated relationship with sex, because of his mother's profession and his father's...everything, but I think that like most of his traumas, he pushes it into a box and never ever thinks about it.

Gender Headcanon:

I think that when he was a small boy, his mother went on her knees every day and thanked all the gods and ancestors that he was a boy, because at that point she must have still hoped that JGS would come for them.

So I don't think that JGY has ever actually thought about his gender beyond 'thank the gods I wasn't born a girl'. Like, he could never allow himself to even consider anything other than being a man, because he was his mother's son, you know?

A ship I have with said character:

Xiyao. They're just so *clenches fist* I love them, your honor. Like, they just so obviously love each other - it's more obvious in CQL, but it's not exactly subtle in the novel either, and I just...my heart breaks for them and I love them so much.

I can also be convinced about Chengyao, because I think that Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangyao have got some things in common, and the ways in which they differ are very complementary.

A BROTP I have with said character:

I think that he and Wei Wuxian could have been great friends, if the stars had aligned properly.

A NOTP I have with said character:

Obviously it's a free internet and everyone can do what they want, but personally I can't ship my blorbo with someone who tried to murder him three times and hated him so much that even without knowing that JGY had killed him, he became a fierce corpse and escaped the grave to come after him. Just nope.

A random headcanon:

I don't think that JGY would have left the temple that night. I think he was genuinely trying, because at base he's an engine of survival, but honestly I think when push came to shove and he had to leave Lan Xichen and never see him again, I'm not sure he would have done it.

General Opinion over said character:

I love him. he's my favourite character in MDZS, and he's near the top of my list of all time favourite characters.

[jayktoralldaylong]

I want to talk about this scene. The banquet of the Jins, some time after the Sun Shot campaign.

The Wens have been defeated, the Cultivating world is picking up its pieces. The Jins are trying to set themselves up as the head of the cultivating world. They have the power and the wealth, and they're also using underground means to get their hands on demonic Cultivation so they're basically establishing themselves as the new Wens.

During the banquet, Jin Zixun comes over to the twin Jades of Lan, and offers them a cup of alcohol. Every cultivator who has trained in Gusu (which is basically everyone) is well aware that the Lans do not drink. They. Know. This. Jin Zixun strolls over to precisely where they are seated and asks them to drink in public.

Jin Guangyao tries to mediate the issue, letting Jin Zixun know that his demands are absurd, but then Jin Zixun retorts that they've formed an alliance with the Lans which is true. The Lans were heavily damaged during the war, along with the Jiangs. Their strong connection with the Jins is helping them scale through rebuilding. To do anything to fracture that friendship would put the Lan clan in an unfortunate position. Yet what Zixun is asking of them is just plain wrong. It's almost bullying. Drinking is not only against their rules but they can't handle alcohol.

I like this little moment when Zixun says it's an ultimatum and Lan Xichen turns to Wangji for a second. Wangji's eyes like "Brother, don't you dare touch that filthy cup." XD.

Now, let's talk about everyone else during this scene because this is a very public confrontation and all their 'friends' are there. Everyone is very present and this is what they are doing. They are, to put it in a nice way, amused. They are amused by how hard the twin Jades are having it.

I mean, I get it, they are not trying to be jerks on purpose and probably assume that the Jades are making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, it's just one cup of alcohol and they themselves can stomach plenty. Except that it IS a very big deal. They can't drink and they can't hold their liquor. One cup is way too much for them. Even if they didn't know this, anyone should know that forcing people to drink in social situations is wrong! (But who am I kidding, plenty of nondrinkers still get pressured into drinking even in today's world).

I'm also going to point out that Jin Guangyao is somehow the only one truly begging for Lan Xichen's sake. He's visibly distressed. Nie Mingjue is visibly distressed as well but he's doing nothing.

So, true to his peacekeeper people-pleaaser nature, Lan Xichen bends his morals to accept the cup. He figures he can handle one cup, its what a good clan leader should do right? There's no need to make a fuss about something like this. If this small gesture will help the clan then why shouldn't I make this small sacrifice (sacrificed so much of life already so why not one more).

Now, Lan Wangji is mad. He wasn't pissed before, he could ignore their barbaric behaviour, but now it's personal. We can all tell by Lan Wangji's reaction that he's a little disappointed that Lan Xichen was forced to succumb to peer pressure. He's a little upset with his brother but he's more upset with the fact that it's okay to sit and watch this happen. No one is going to fight for them. If the world wills them to drink they just drink whether or not they want to. So now he's thinking "I'm not going to stand for that."

This small moment where Lan Xichen shakes his head clearly telling Jin Guangyao not to worry about him. 🥺

Jin Zixun dares to bring that disgusting cup his way and Lan Wangji gives him the look. This exact look says everything. It says "I'm not taking that cup." It's his own little way of fighting for justice. Jin Zixun's hands will break before his fingers so much as graze that cup he's holding.

We see Lan Xichen panic a little cause he knows his brother better than anyone and Wangji has got his stubborn face on. He is not touching that cup. He's stuck in a very awkward position because he could take the other cup for his brother, but just because he survived one cup doesn't mean hell survive two. To make things worse, one cup is exactly Lan Wangji's limit, and once again, no one is moving to help them.......

......until (●♡∀♡).

The look of love on Lan Zhan's face.

Wei Wuxian really waltzed in there already ready to start some shit, just to find the Cultivating world picking on his boyfriend and his brother-in-law. No way he was having that.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Why are JGY stans so resistant to the idea that he and NMJ are two sides of the same coin? They both cared about each other and were both at fault for the disintegration of their relationship. & Guangyao & Mingjue both mean bright jade (I think?) and literally end up in the same place—the same coffin at the end of the novel. & Mxtx says they will fight in the coffin for about or at least 100 years right?

I think what gets many is that one side wants to make Jin Guangyao sympathetic due to life circumstance ( Life did not make him choose to kill innocent people and is not relevant to his actions of calloused murders and tortures). While the other get caught up in Nie Mingjue being the supposed ideal of righteousness when he is horribly rigid on what is innocent and guilty. There is no mercy in either's ideologies regardless. Jade is also amusingly and terribly easy to forge when we also get the comparison of Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen having the actual moniker of Twin Jades.

[lansplaining]

with all the hunger game polls going on atm w some obvious strong contenders going out all ready (lxc..) who do u think would actually win the games, if everyone got dropped into a hunger games setting

(either w minimal cultivation - so no inedia or flying on swords etc - or any cultivation at all?)

okay so

if we're running this like the ACTUAL hunger games, instead of just a free-for-all with everyone, here is how it breaks down for me:

Jiang Tributes: Yanli and Wei Wuxian (Jiang Cheng got picked and he volunteered, of course, though I was deeply tempted to do it the other way around, but that's my pro-JC bias showing)

Jin Tributes: Mianmian and Jin Guangyao (forced to volunteer for Zixuan by his dad)

Lan Tributes: Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji (because there are no named Lan girls jdfljsdkf and I think it would be a point of pride that they not ask anyone to take their place. desperately tempted to send Su Minshan in place of one of them, though)

Nie Tributes: Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue (i mean there's literally no other Nies so :|)

Wen Tributes: Wen Qing and Wen Ning (sent by their uncle to make an example of them)

Wei Wuxian, Wen Qing, and Lan Xichen, and Nie Mingjue's priorities are to protect their (sect) siblings, which puts them at an immediate disadvantage because they are not prioritizing personal survival. Honestly the best case scenario for WWX is if Yanli dies early, but he's also skilled enough to not let that happen.

People will argue that Huaisang is less of a burden to Nie Mingjue than he tries to seem, but I think improvising in the wilderness in a realm where he can't stir up an angry mob is going to neuter him of his strongest skill.

In contrast to both, Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji are going to be operating as a pretty seamless unit, except for the part where they both keep trying to die for the other one.

Ironically, Wen Qing is probably the one holding Wen Ning back-- by trying to protect him, she's not really letting him get in the mix and show off his skills, to both of their detriment.

This leaves us with Team Jin. Future rogue cultivator Mianmian and spy and assassin Jin Guangyao are a very compelling pair, and they have the skills to take advantage of the fact that they're the only ones not held back by family ties.

uh sorry this got long

If Yanli dies early enough, Wei Wuxian obviously has what it takes; the question is whether that happens. I think with two canny manipulators in Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao, who are both content to use people's loved ones against them when needed, Yanli stays alive to keep Wei Wuxian distracted (and obviously the Lans and the Wens aren't going to kill her).

However, I don't think Nie Huaisang lasts long. Nie Mingjue wants to push him to fight for himself, and he'd end up in over his head. This would just push Nie Mingjue over the edge in terms of rage and grief, and he'd lose a fight he probably should have won because he's just coming undone, and/or maybe just qi deviates.

Though Mianmian becomes a rogue cultivator, she isn't one yet, and in canon as a teenager she's a bit of a crybaby. She puts up a good fight but she can't compare. Ditto Wen Ning and Wen Qing, though Wen Qing probably gets at least one murder assist by incapacitating someone who someone else comes along and kills later.

Lan Xichen kills himself rather than forcing either Lan Wangji or Jin Guangyao to kill him. The question is only whether this is a Twin Jade pact or if Lan Wangji is left to face down Jin Guangyao in the final two. I honestly thing a direct fight between them is a toss-up, but I think Jin Guangyao has a longer history of channeling his grief into murder rather than incapacitating sadness and self-destruction, and that gives him the edge to win.

[tavina-writes]

Ask game WIPs: Your Three Thousand Gold <? I am always intrigued by money as a main narrative device 👀 (if its not if thats just the title thats ok too lol)

AH! So "您千金/nin qianjin/your[formal] three thousand gold" is an idiomatic phrase to refer to a beloved daughter.

This fic is kind of deep in the weeds of my "Nie family headcanons" brainrot, but it's the AU where Nie Yinghua lives and is therefore the youngest Nie sibling. (9 years younger than NHS and 17 years younger than NMJ) and the only reason I haven't gotten further on this fic is bc I've been bogged down in the weeds of uhhh if NMJ dies or not. D:

I'd formerly written about Yinghua here (from Chapter 4 of Closer to Grief):

"Everyone dissented when A-Niang wanted a third child, you know. After all, what could she possibly hope to accomplish when the Nie Sect already had two sons, and she didn't even have to go through the trouble of birthing the second one." Nie Huaisang smiles sardonically. "When she died to have Yinghua, everyone later said that she'd traded her life for an infant, and that it would never be worth it to trade a grown woman for a little girl. When Yinghua died, not a month later..." Nie Huaisang carefully replaces the lid of his gaiwan before picking up the teacup and raising it to his face, "I think, the talk would've been very bad if you'd died, Lan-saozi. And I would've had to listen to it, year in and year out until it became old news like A-Niang's death." 

Where we have to imagine that everyone left the nine year old NHS holding the baby while they tried to save his (step)mom. And then the baby also died pretty soon afterwards, traumatizing him forever and ever and ever.

And a bit about Yinghua's name(s) here:

Nie Rui/Nie Yinghua — SO I got the ‘yinghua’ (缨花) of Madam Nie’s daughter from ‘mayinghua’ (马缨花) which is the Persian Silk Tree. I chew glass about this too because this makes Huaisang and Yinghua intentionally matchy matchy names. Madam Nie! Loved! Her! Adopted! Son! Yinghua’s personal name is Nie Rui from the character (瑞) which means ‘jade token, auspicious omen’ and is the exact same tone as the Cui in Nie Cui (Nie Mingjue’s personal name of Nie Cui (翠) comes from the cui for ‘kingfisher feather, emerald green jade’ and homophones directly with 脆 (cui) which means "fragile, breakable, brittle, clear of voice.” This sends me howling in all directions so I kept it.) so her personal name is a matchy matchy thing with her OLDEST brother. Anyway this makes me chew glass a lot.

Anyway it's DEEP IN THE WEEDS of the Nie Family headcanons and backstory with this one.

:D thanks for the ask!

[mostlikelytofangirl]

I love how Guangyao and Mingjue represent two extremes both in terms of values and in terms of height (one is the shortest person in the book and the other is the tallest) but their names mean the same thing (bright jade) and they end up in the same place (the coffin) at the end of the book. Mxtx says wwx and lwj were created in binary opposition but their core was the same, and it feels like the same holds true for nieyao.

I'm right there with you anon!

Nieyao really are polar opposites, and more than once they are portrayed as the two sides of an argument. The height difference is also something I appreciate very much lol, but they truly seem to be designed to even look as opposite as possible.

ALSO, as I mentioned before, the coffin treatment is something mxtx gave endgame canon couples in her other works, so there's that :D.

I have to say tho that, unlike wangxian, idk about the "same core". The main conflict with nieyao was that their innermost values didn't align. NMJ upheld honor, justice and righteousness even at the cost of his own life (and others'), whereas MY/JGY was nothing if not a survivor ready to do whatever it took to achieve his goals.

I WILL grant it to this statement tho, they were both stubborn af and pure unadultered determination when they believed in a cause.

So the trick really is that, when they actually agreed on something, they were an absolutely brilliant team. Not only did they complemented each other to perfection by being so different and having opposite strengths and weaknesses, but also their egos got to play nicely: NMJ is not proud or petty in the sense that he will grant credit when credit is due, and will encourage and praise honest work; on the other hand, regardless of what some ppl say, MY/JGY is not power hungry for the sake of power, we have seen time and time again that he will submit to other's authority when they deserved his loyalty (aka treating him well).

All MY/JGY wants is to feel safe and appreciated; all NMJ looks in ppl around him is someone he can trust. If they bring that to the table for each other, like they did as superior-underling during Sunshot Campaign, then they will be ridiculously compatible and a force to be reckoned with in spite ---or even because of how different they are.

Opposite attract, after all 🤭

[admirableadmiranda]

For all it's worth, the most jarring thing to me besides the yungmeng shuangjie focus of the show was that fucking comb scene and "love triangle"

Wen Qing didn't have any romantic feelings for WWX,, they would make good queerplatonic partners but WWX doesn't see her in a romantic light ever.

Maybe this is also my gripe with how we can't ever have friendships without them being sexualized because yeah, they're in the burial mounds and they totally fucked because yknow they're hot and how could wwx not want to marry her to protect her and the wens?

The whole love triangle thing felt so weird to me. But seriously why the hell was that even a thing?

Because for some reason when Modaozushi was being looked at by the script writers and directors and they had to figure out how to adapt it without being gay or full of necromancy, both things banned on television, the answers they came up with were “Yin Iron and living people puppets are the evil of four episodes and weird nudging of “they’re almost dead” around Wen Ning and Baxia taking Nie Mingjue’s place”, and “everyone is now in love with Wen Qing with Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing as the end game.”

Yes. Seriously. Be thankful we got the CQL we did. I may rag on it for poor framing around Jiang Cheng and weird plot decisions, but it could have been so much worse. I am glad we got what we did, it did let me get into Modaozushi in a way that the initial CQL would have not.

And I totally get you on being annoyed about people celebrating platonic relationships, yet immediately sexualizing and romanticizing any actual platonic relationships. In addition, I find it incredibly tone deaf and modern Ameri-centric to insist that of course they could have had an affair in the burial mounds, especially given the setting and culture in which this takes place. Pre-marital sex was incredibly looked down on, especially for the women involved, and even MXTX confirms that while Wangxian did have sex before marriage, they completed their third bow before they had any more sex, so the rest of it is all in wedlock.

I do like the comb subplot in theory. If Jiang Cheng had more consistent proper framing around his actions and character in CQL, it would be another good way to hone the growing bitterness and inflexibility of him, and the dichotomy between him and Wei Wuxian in that Wei Wuxian is willing to give up everything to protect all of the Wens, but Jiang Cheng, who has the power to protect them without losing anything, insists that he would only save Wen Qing and that is final, telling her that she can either live and live with his hatred of her whole family, or she can die with the rest of them. Why wouldn’t she return the comb when it is clear how little his offer of protection means? Why would anyone want to marry a man who insists that he hates everything she is from regardless of who they are?

But alas, Jiang Cheng has so much undermining in film language in CQL and thus combined with the other general weirdness, the plot is lost and we end up with yet another Jiang Cheng ship that I have to filter out of so many fics because clearly he loved her, so they should be together in half the damn fics ever written.

Anyway, salt over. I normally wouldn’t be so grouchy about it, but I’m rewatching CQL for The Young, The Horny, The Jaded and the Jade: Partners in Time reason and I’m just reminded of all the weird choices that CQL made there as I have to remind myself over and over again that Jiang Cheng in the book and script is a character I enjoy far more than his CQL take.

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

I loved your meta about lwj discovering his own identity over time. It got me thinking - how about lxc in a similar(ish) way?

Imo he also starts out similar to lwj - as the first jade, defined by his ability to be the perfect disciple, etc. Then during sunshot he seems to develop as his own person more - all the stuff in the novel about him being a source of hope etc. And then, post time-skip, he's sort of... just the lan sect leader. Idk, I see him as sort of losing that individual identity when he fully takes on the sect leader role. I guess he might still be trying to keep some of his individuality as part of the venerated triad, but it's still part of a group instead of being 'himself'. And of course at the end of canon he's lost that too, so...

What do you think?

Thank you so much!

One thing we first need to consider about Lan Xichen is that he’s not a main character, and when it comes down to it, isn’t that important to Wei Wuxian. That means the novel itself doesn’t focus as much on him — reputation in the eyes of others or otherwise — in as much detail as it does on people like Lan Wangji, so even if he did grow, we wouldn’t see as much of it. We get more focus on him throughout the Sunshot Campaign partly because a lot of what we see of the actual Sunshot Campaign is through Nie Mingjue’s eyes — someone who does have very close ties to him*. That could very much affect the way he seems to be growing more in depth during that time, and losing that depth afterwards.

That being said, there are other factors that could play into this. Firstly, unlike Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen is a Sect Leader. No matter what he does, he will be defined by that, unlike Lan Wangji who is still very high status but is ultimately able to choose his identity himself, because being the second son of a Sect Leader may decide one’s status, but not their role… which is something being Sect Leader very much does do. Lan Xichen has the ability to define himself as ‘a good Sect Leader’ or ‘a unique Sect Leader’ or whatever else, but ‘Sect Leader’ will be a part of that. 

…However, Lan Xichen’s personality also plays a role in how he seems not to have grown as much. He has one very understandable problem— he doesn’t like to face things outside of his comfort zone.

We see this the most in his attitudes to other people. He doesn’t want to challenge his view of Jin Guangyao and face the fact he may be a bad person, because that would mean accepting something he’s not comfortable with. He doesn’t want to think about the reasons his parents did what they did, because he doesn’t want to be faced with the fact that someone — whether among his parents or among the wider Lan clan — was culpable, and it’s easier to keep futilely believing nobody was (there was a very good meta about this, but I can’t find it or remember who it was by, so if anyone knows what it is please tell me and I’ll link it here). This is what he says about his mother when he’s talking to Wei Wuxian: 

Lan XiChen, “In my memories, Mother had indeed been so. I do not know why she did such a thing back then. And, in truth, I…”

He took a deep breath before confessing, “I do not want to know either.”

- Chapter 64, EXR translation 

And I don’t blame him for this! He doesn’t want to face the possibility that the people he trusts, the people whose memory he cherishes, the system he’s a part of, have been in the wrong this whole time, and have done that consciously. Like I said before, it’s very, very understandable.

…But not being willing to face conflicting worldviews does hinder one’s capacity for growth, and in Lan Xichen’s case I think this is the key reason he doesn’t seem to grow much post-Sunshot. In and leading up to the Sunshot Campaign, he was thrown out of his comfort zone without choice. His home was burned, his clan was in chaos, the world was embroiled in a violent war — he had no choice but to accept and adapt to that, and to confront things outside of what he was comfortable with, if he wanted him and his sect to survive.

But afterwards? The world is similar enough to what it was before, and he’s free to act the way he’s always had, as part of upper-class society. He doesn’t have to confront any facts or worldviews that challenge his own, and because he’s free to avoid it, he does. And he doesn’t really grow or change because of that.

At the end of the novel, the pattern repeats. He’s forced to confront facts and start to grow as a person, contemplating his actions, because he had no other option. When he sees with his own eyes Jin Guangyao killed Nie Mingjue, how can he avoid confronting that fact?

Lan Xichen is a character who does want to do good, and who does definitely has the capacity to grow as a person. But that only happens when he’s forced into a situation where he has to confront something, because he isn’t willing to confront things outside his worldview, and so doesn’t grow.

And he doesn’t seem to develop because of that.

—

*I checked to make sure, and the part where it talks about Lan Xichen becoming a ray of hope in the Sunshot Campaign is in those flashbacks (Guile 3), leading up to his appearance.

[catmaid-san]

Why do people think the list of Young Masters in MDZS is tantamount to their level in cultivation?

I can't stop feeling annoyed when some fans are taking this premise ignorantly.

Those list are made by young Maiden in their generation! They are entertaining themselves by picking which Young Master is most desirable. Appearing on those list mean they are popular enough to be known by the girls in the cultivation world, and also are desirable enough for them.

It is not only based on their cultivation, it is a combination of their cultivation, also talent, based on their appearance, their family background, temperament, etc.

Proof?

Nie Mingjue whose cultivation is on the top 3 of people whom WWX knew in his generation, he was not on top 5 at all! (he ranked 7th).

Jin Zixuan whose cultivation clearly lower than WWX actually rank higher on the third place.

Lan Wangji whose cultivation on par with Lan Xichen despite being younger than him, ranked second.

Wei Wuxian whose cultivation on par with the above Twin Jades, actually ranked fourth.

See?

Though Of course, appearing on the top 5 list is the proof of their worth, but that is not the ranking of their cultivation or ability!

[rosethornewrites]

11/25-12/8 T & G reading

The usual

Finished

Teen:

Darkest time, by LilacNeko (7 chapters)

Lan Wangji dies and the cultivation world is left to live with the aftermath.

stillness was my comfort, by sami (9th in a series)

There was a funeral. They buried a casket containing eighty kilograms of ballast in his grave.

Guide Me Home, by geethr75 (14 chapters)

When Wen Qing realises that being in the Burial Mounds is killing Wei Wuxian, she decides to approach Jiang Wanyin for help. Little does she expect the result of that decision.

EXTREMELY JIANG CHENG FRIENDLY.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Whatever you do, by apathyinreverie (2 chapters)

During the attack on Cloud Recesses, both Jades of Lan are captured. It changes everything. Not so much by way of their capture. But rather by way of who ends up coming to their rescue.

(Or, a Wei-Ying-is-appreciated fic. ‘Cause, there can never be enough of those.)

General:

Disliking Seperation, by SallySPT (4 chapters)

Nearly a year after the events at Guanyin Temple, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian return to the cultivation world to participate in the Cultivation Conference. Many things have changed in the year that they were gone.

Or Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian adopt a child while traveling and the cultivation world doesn’t know how to react.

When Fate Opens a Window, Let Us Fly Through It, by JaimeBlue

Nie Mingjue wakes up during one of the Lan visits to Qinghe with his best friend in his arms, something tied to his wrist, and someone knocking at his door. He finds out the hard way just what it means when a Lan's forehead ribbon is tied to someone else's wrist.

Fate Strikes Again - Come Fly With Me, by JaimeBlue (2nd in a series)

In Cloud Recesses, Lan Wangji wakes up hungover with his forehead ribbon tied between him and Wei Wuxian. He knows exactly who is behind it, but before he can even think of speaking the truth, he discovers Wei Ying isn't as averse as he thought he would be. Things go much better than he expected... and Lan Wangji manages *not* to kill Nie Huaisang.

Unfinished

Teen:

Talking is Better than Silence, by KuroiWrites (blackcatkuroi)

"This path harms the body. Harms the nature of one's heart even more." Lan WangJi spoke those words upon first seeing Wei Wuxian alive after the Burial Mounds, unknowing of the truth.

Wei Wuxian, though, didn't need to be told, and he accepted that he'd lost whatever he might have once had with Lan WangJi. Several nights later, in a moment of drunken weakness under the melancholic light of a full moon, he tells Lan WangJi the Truth. He'd never needed Lan WangJi to spell out his fate for him - he'd known since he walked out of the Burial Mounds alive.

But one small bit of honesty can go a long way, and Talking is far better than Silence.

Shards of Hope, by Dreaming_Days

He had built his life with the coldest calculation. Clawed his way to power with unhesitating ruthlessness. Destroyed anyone who would impede him. Betrayed even the few who had truly cared for him. And, in the end, utterly forsaken, Jin Guangyao died.

Then, 25 years earlier, Meng Yao woke up.

The Twin Ghosts of Yunmeng, by sandupommelfrog

After months of planning to resettle the Wen remnants and stop Wei Wuxian’s terminal decline from demonic cultivation, disaster struck, and Jiang Cheng was left alone, throwing away everything to try to save his brother including his life and his sect. But, he can’t let his own death stop him from his duty to his people or his love for his nephew, and Jiang Cheng breathes again to begin the slog of rebuilding. The years are long, the world is dangerous, and his own health is a daily battle, but Jiang Cheng is not alone this time.

Even with Yunmeng Jiang destroyed, the outside world still fears the vengeance the Twin Ghosts of Yunmeng will wreak upon them, and they will rise again as snakes writhe in Koi Tower and the tangles of deception gradually untwist.

Also a mer au :D

Familiar Stranger, by weavingBlue

Already worried about Wei Ying after he fled Qiongqi Path with the Wen prisoners, Lan Wangji feels driven to distraction by a brilliant and oddly familiar cultivator who keeps popping up everywhere.

In the mean time, the Wen remnants and Wei Wuxian start stumbling across mysterious gifts and supplies when they least expect it.

...Clearly it must be a plot.

Alternate Headcanons, by nirejseki

Random assortment of MDZS ficlets in response to a request for prompts for alternate headcanons for characters

from my paintbrush to your lips, by stiltonbasket (5th in a series)

"...we noted that Emperor Chifeng's consorts left a well-preserved paper trail, as did his sole empress, Lan Xichen (posth. Empress Zhangxing). The highest-ranking consort in the harem was Empress Zhangxing's younger sister, Lan Wangji (Imperial Noble Consort Rui), who attained the rank of huang-guifei during a period of political unrest coinciding with the birth of her first nephew, Emperor Tianjing. Her diaries indicate that she was brought to the palace to serve as the infant Tianjing’s foster mother, and that she likely did not share an intimate relationship with Emperor Chifeng. Her closest relationship seems to have been with Imperial Concubine Ye, born Wei Wuxian in late ----.

"Below, we have compiled a partial collection of Lan Wangji's letters, written over the four years preceding Imperial Concubine Ye's entry into the harem.”

Rabbit Charm, by aoeros

“You gotta promise me that when you’re back home and settled in, I’ll be the first you come to see. Because I’m going to miss you more than anyone else will, Lán Zhàn. Except your brother, of course.”

“Of course. I promise to come find you first after I’ve settled back in.”

“Great! Then I promise to call you whenever I can. And, I will definitely not forget you.”

Instead, by apathyinreverie

Wei Ying is found by someone other than Wen Chao after the Core transfer.

Or, the one where Wei Ying is never thrown into the Burial Mounds, never invents demonic cultivation. He still manages to become the lynchpin of the Sunshot Campaign anyway.

Making Different Choices (For A More Hopeful Future), by Preludian_Staves (locked to signed in ao3 users)

Through a bout of unexpected time traveling, they decide to usurp Fate's plans and do their best to make different choices to create a more hopeful future.

General:

he, who died, is ignorant, by Maxciel_99

Jiang Cheng is thirteen when his eyes lose the shine that has always mirrored Wei Wuxian’s wild spirit. And then no longer is he a shadow of anyone but merely a shell of himself.

Here is a man who is served the world, for once, but he has turned a boy who finally stops wishing and wanting all at once.

_

Or basically, JC time travels somehow and he's acting strange. Likely depressed? Who knows?

What's Your Truth?, by xxxMiaHikarixxx

Lan Qiren brings in class a cursed object for his students to examine thinking its curse can't be triggered since no students in his class hold any romantic feelings for each other. However, the item is triggered. What happens next is quite unexpected.

[robininthelabyrinth]

I recently found out that Meng Yao's name means 'radiant piece of jade' and I can't stop thinking about Lan Yao, the Third Jade of Lan. I don't know how this would happen (he goes to a clan that forbids gossip instead of the Nie? After he rescues Xichen, Xichen asks him to stay and be his righthand man and he agrees?) but I'm obsessed with it. Preferably Xiyao content, but gen is fine too!

Untamed

“The penalty for the deliberate murder of a superior during battle is death,” Nie Mingjue said dully. “As you know, Meng Yao.”

“I understand,” Meng Yao said, and closed his eyes. “No matter how it ended, Chifeng-zun, serving you was the greatest honor of my life.”

Nie Mingjue should do his duty and execute him.

And yet, he cannot. The number of his friends can be counted upon a single hand, and to know that he himself took the step of ending the life of one of them would break his heart…and anyway, he has an excuse, does he not? Meng Yao clearly committed a crime, ending the life of a Nie sect commander during battle, thinking he could blame it on Xue Yang, as he had done, or perhaps on the Wens, but at the same time he had also saved Nie Mingjue’s life; it would not be too much to use that as an excuse, to turn away from the stringent requirements of righteousness and pardon Meng Yao for what he had done...he would still have to leave, of course.

A commutation of punishment, then, from death to exile.

The taste of it was like ashes on his tongue.

Nie Mingjue had always been a decisive man, righteous even to the point of cruelty – even to himself. But today he would be losing his right-hand man, one way or the other, and tomorrow he would have to send his little brother into the tiger’s den…

He was tired of loss.

“I don’t want to kill you,” he said, choosing to speak aloud his thoughts rather than hide them as he normally would. “Nor do I wish to exile you. Meng Yao, I hold you in the greatest esteem – if he had wronged you, why could you not have come to me? Why did you have to break sect law, which I am bound by honor to follow?”

Meng Yao opened his eyes. They were wet – if it had been before, he would have thought it regret, but now he wondered if it was only regret that he had been caught. “Sect Leader Nie…”

“Do you not understand the meaning of rules?” he asked. “Why we have them – the purpose? Is it all nothing in your eyes when set next to advantage that could be gained?”

It was behavior he would have expected – should have expected – from a son of Jin Guangshan.

Perhaps he’d truly been fooling himself all this time.

“Don’t you have an answer for me?” he asked, voice hoarse. His spiritual energy was unstable, his body injured, his heart hurting; he did not want to lose Meng Yao as well, but what choice did he have? What choice had Meng Yao left him? “Meng Yao, you always know what to do, you’ve always advised me well. If you had to decide on your own fate, what would you do? To kill you would be to stain my hands with the blood of a friend, to exile you would be to abandon you into the wilderness, but to absolve you would make me the most wretched of men, who enforces the law only for his own whims and preferences – who lets the guilty go as long as they are his own. I cannot be Wen Ruohan for you, Meng Yao. It would destroy me.”

“…I don’t know, Sect Leader Nie,” Meng Yao murmured. “I cannot judge.”

Perhaps that was real regret on his face, now. Regret not only that he’d been found, but that he’d violated Nie Mingjue’s bottom line, his principles, his law…

His rules.

Nie Mingjue frowned, thinking of the letters Nie Huaisang had sent him while he had been at the Cloud Recesses. Thinking of the first one, the one that detailed their welcome ceremony…full of gleeful observations regarding how Meng Yao had looked at Lan Xichen, and how Lan Xichen had looked back…

“Neither can I,” he said, even though he should. He was sect leader; it was his burden to be the final arbiter of such things. It was his own weakness that kept him from making the decision he needed to make – but a type weakness, he hoped, that could be succored by time. Time and clarity. “Meng Yao, when you were at the Cloud Recesses, you met Zewu-jun, correct?”

Meng Yao’s eyes widened, clearly surprised, and he nodded.

“Good,” Nie Mingjue said. “Therefore I sentence you to neither execution nor exile; the decision on your fate will be deferred until a later date. For now, you remain my deputy, with all concomitant rights and duties.”

Meng Yao swallowed.

“Until the final outcome has be reached you cannot remain here,” Nie Mingjue continued. “Without a foundation, there can be no structure; without trust, nothing can be built. I send you out – not in exile, but on my orders. I order you to go with all haste to the Cloud Recesses and contact Zewu-jun regarding the intelligence we have received regarding the Wen sect’s threats; once you have arrived, stay by his side and assist him as you have assisted me. If tragedy can be prevented, do so; if it cannot, salvage what you can.”

“Sect Leader Nie…!”

“Go,” he said. “Go to them, be a jade among the jades; and when you are done, return to my side, and – and we will see what must be done then.”

Perhaps Lan Xichen’s kindness, kindness and even love, would be able to help heal Meng Yao where his trust and respect had not. Maybe Meng Yao would learn from the Lan sect’s rules what he hadn’t from the Nie sect’s principles – or maybe he wouldn’t, and Nie Mingjue was just postponing the inevitable.

He would write a letter to Lan Xichen explaining the circumstances, he decided. He would entrust Meng Yao to him, and him to Meng Yao, and hope that all his hope was not in vain.

[vrishchikawrites]

Post-post-post cannon Wangxian being completely in love in the cloud recessess as teenagers who time travelled back to their own 16-17 year old bodies on accident.

In love. Wangxian are in love. In love. Just smooph and fluff.

Like they're effortlessly in love. (No matter how much Jiang Cheng yells and ties to control Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian casually refuses to hear any of it, as he'd been ignoring Jiang Cheng's homophobia and hate forever by the time they both came back by accident. )

Also wwx doesn't hide his genius and every one around him is like senpai *heart eyes* (honestly he's almost forgotten how to hide his effortless genius.)

(Just FYI, don't have to include this: this Wei Wuxian has long since come to terms with all his war and Sunshot and Shiji related trauma— just FYI.)

I just want to read as much of the smooph, smushy fluff and love you can stomach writing please.

Extra points if you can show them both just effortlessly and absentmindedly flirting.

(You don't have to incude this, but: They just take like a weekend off and go raze the main Wen family to the ground casually— back late with Starbucks— "We were night hunting. What do you mean the Wen family died? So sad. We feel so bad. Don't we feel bad?" " Mm. Feel bad.")

Thank you so much for existing in this fandom. I love your fics. I love you. 💖

Xichen is proud of his brother but he can't deny that he is sometimes concerned for him as well. Wangji is a dedicated and accomplished disciple but he is isolated from his peers. Xichen has friends and confidants but Wangji is simply content to be by himself.

That is concerning, even for a Lan.

He had hopes that incoming disciples would manage to shake him up a little but that hope didn't last long. Year after year, Wangji continued to remain aloof, not expressing any interest in the disciples.

But something has changed this year. Xichen didn't even know what was going on until a few weeks into the introduction of the guest disciples.

He spots them by chance. Young Master Wei is cheerfully waving at a vendor, his smile wide and bright, ensnaring the old woman's entire attention.

Wangji is right by him, Bichen in one hand but the other…

The other is placed on the small of Wei-gongzi's back.

Xichen watches as they move on from the vendor. He sees how Wangji seems to shield Wei-gongzi from the crowd, angling his body slightly to ensure his companion can walk freely.

It is a gesture of protectiveness. It is a gesture of possession.

Xichen studies their body language carefully. Wangji seems content to follow Wei-gongzi around, his expression closed but gentle. There are no frosty glares or pursed lips. His brother, for once, looks entirely relaxed. Everything about him is loose and easy underneath all of his Lan elegance. His shoulders slope gently, his spine isn't as rigid, and his walk is steady.

The First Jade has never seen his brother look so settled.

Wei Wuxian seems happy too, his smile incandescent and lovely. Almost as tall as Wangji, the boy is the very antithesis of his brother. While Wangji is sedate and content, Wei Wuxian is nearly bursting with energy and joy. His silver eyes sparkle in the sunlight and his long hair sways with every movement of his body.

Xichen's heart softens at the glimpse of such open beauty. There's certainly something alluring about Young Master Wei. He seems to suffuse his surroundings with happiness.

There's something in the air around them.

Despite his lively mind wandering from one stall to another, Wei-gongzi always finds his way back to Wangji, looking at him with a hopeful smile and a cheerful comment.

His brother's expression is unfamiliar to him. Wangji looks like his entire world is smiling up at him.

'Is this love?' He wonders to himself as he watches his brother gently pull Wei-gongzi out of a running child's way. He doesn't miss how the touch lingers, fingers curling slightly around the slender wrist before pulling away.

There are many eyes following Wangji and his friend, and all of them have indulgent expressions. The people of Caiyi town have seen Wangji since he was a child. They know him and his nature well enough.

Xichen suspects they're just as happy to see Wangji roaming the markets leisurely as a pretty butterfly flutters around him.

"Is that Lan Wangji?" Nei Mingjue observes, stepping up beside him.

Xichen nods, "And his friend, Wei Wuxian."

"Hm," his friend says, "I've been hearing that name a lot recently. They say the only reason Jin Zuxian beat him in the rankings is because of his looks."

Xichen chuckles at Mingjue's tone, "Ah, Da-ge, you must hate that."

His friend rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his tea. "How do looks matter when you're facing down Fierce Corpses?"

"From what shufu says, Young Master Wei is Wangji's equal in many ways." Shufu had been wary at first, wondering what sort of chaos the son of Cangse Sanren would bring to Cloud Recesses. So far, Wei Wuxian has proven to be a mischievous but brilliant student. "He challenges shufu in class. They end up having loud, angry debates," Xichen chuckles because he knows his uncle, despite all appearances, loves being stimulated, "He mentions the boy often." There's a comment about Wei Wuxian almost every time he has tea with his uncle.

He looks at the two younger master's thoughtfully, "I didn't expect this."

"Are they courting?" Nei Mingjue asks bluntly, "Because your little brother is acting like a husband already."

Xichen stills and looks at the pair again. That is what's off about their body language. They move around each other confidently, not like a young couple in fresh blooms of love.

There are no tentative glances, awkward touches, and hyperawareness. Wangji touches Wei Wuxian like it is his right. Like he is confident that his touch is welcome and desired.

For a moment, he feels a pang of worry. Xichen looks at Wei Wuxian, studying him carefully to see if there's any sign of strain or distress.

He finds nothing. Wei-gongzi responds to every gesture of affection like a flower blooming under the Sun.

"Ah." He realizes, "You think…?"

"Strong bonds form quickly between cultivators with matching potential." Nei Mingjue observes, "It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. Your brother looks a little too enamored for this to be a teenage fancy."

Well, isn't this an interesting development?

---

"Your hair looks nice," Nie Huaisang says, hiding a smile behind his fan. Wei-xiong always looks good but there's something particularly radiant about him now. He seems to stand a bit taller, carry himself with a bit more confidence. His gestures seem stronger, somehow carrying more authority than before.

But the hair intrigues him. There's a glittering silver hairpiece in it and the strands of ebony are tied up in a neat style.

Neater than Wei-xiong's usual style. While Huaisang is certain Wei-xiong is perfectly capable of making himself as elegant as the Jades of Lan, he usually doesn't bother.

This was done by someone else's careful, loving, hand.

Jiang Yanli isn't at Cloud Recesses and Jiang Cheng would rather burn his own hands than show even an ounce of love towards his shixiong - something pricks when he thinks about that.

So there's someone else, someone willing to comb Wei-xiong's hair until every strand is glossy and straight, before tying it up with a silver and jade pin that looks expensive.

Wei-xiong is courting- no, he corrects himself, watching his friend wave enthusiastically at Lan Wangji, 'Wei-xiong is being courted.'

Wangji-xiong bows to his brother and walks towards Wei-xiong, his gaze softer than usual. His friend is smiling widely and immediately dissolves into excited chatter. Wangji-xiong doesn't seem bothered, just nodding occasionally and watching with indulgent patience.

There's something entirely lovely about the way Wangji-xiong's eyes remain fixed on Wei Wuxian's face. It is like nothing else is more important to him than Wei-xiong's smile and cheerful voice.

Standing together in the courtyard, both clad in white and glowing under the warm light of the morning sun, they look stunning. Huaisang's romantic heart sighs at the sight.

"What is he doing?" Jiang Wanyin hisses and Huaisang looks at him, startled by his icy tone, "I can't believe he's making a nuisance of himself again!"

"Jiang-gongzi-"

"Wei Wuxian! What are you doing, messing around?"

The loud voice catches almost everyone's attention. Wei-xiong looks over his shoulder and Wangji-xiong's expression turns frosty, all warmth draining from it immediately.

"Aiya, Jiang Cheng," Wei-xiong grins but it doesn't have that sheepish, placating quality that Huaisang had seen before, on those rare occasions he visited Lotus Pier with his da-ge. This grin was full of confidence and almost... dismissal. "Why are you angry now?"

Was that tone... mocking?

Huaisang's lips twitch as Jiang-gongzi swells further with rage, "Wei Wuxian! How can you be so shameless? Imposing yourself on Lan Wangji, always trying to distract him. Think of our sect's reputation for once!"

"Do not speak for me." Wangji-xiong's voice is icy and it cuts Jiang-gongzi's rant short immediately, "Wei Ying is free to seek me out whenever he wishes. No one may stop him."

And that seems to be that. Wei-xiong laughs and Wangji-xiong guides him away gently like he's someone delicate and not the strongest cultivator of their generation.

But, Huaisang muses, even strong people deserve gentleness.

---

"Da-shixiong! Show us that one again," A Jiang disciple demands and Wangji looks up from his work. He has clear sight of the training ground from where he's sitting. Wei Ying is standing in the middle, surrounded by a few Jiang and Lan disciples.

They're all looking at him in adoration.

Wangji feels a flood of amusement and sets his work aside, content to take a small break. It is always a treat to see his husband in his element; teaching people and nurturing young minds. They may be back in their teenage bodies, but their soul is much older.

Wei Ying, with his natural ability to charm juniors and his hard-earned wisdom, is the perfect teacher.

"It is amusing to see you so smitten," Wangji looks up to see his brother smiling at him, "Wei-gongzi must be very special, yes?"

His brother probably aims to fluster him, he is so fond of teasing Wangji. But Wangji had been Wei Ying's husband for more than a decade before an accident sent them back in time. He is no longer flustered or overwhelmed by his feelings. "Very special," He agrees, unable to help glancing back at his beloved, "Very lovely."

Xichen chuckles, "He is indeed lovely." His expression turns sly, "Do I need to speak with Uncle? Betrothal negotiations may be complicated in this case."

Wangji remains unphased, "You may," He says calmly, much to his brother's surprise, "Wei Ying will marry into the Lans. Give no concession to the Jiangs. He is just their Head Disciple, not the part of the family."

"Wangji," His brother breathes, "You're that invested?"

"Un. Will marry Wei Ying. Give him a better life. A life of dignity, freedom, and respect. Free of unnecessary debt that no one should foist on a child."

That is enough for Xichen to understand. His gaze turns solemn and he looks at Wei Ying carefully, "If that is what you wish, brother, you will have it."

---

Wangji feels his heart still when he steps into the library pavilion. He gazes at the scene before him, feeling the stiff formality of his expression melt away.

Wei Ying is beautiful, sitting there and reading peacefully. The evening sunlight envelopes him, giving him an ethereal glow. He traces his husband's features, feeling something akin to desperate love. It has been so since he saw this face and this body. Mo Xuanyu didn't lack beauty and Wei Ying's radiant personality had only added to it.

But this is Wei Ying's true body.

Helplessly drawn, he steps forward. "Xingan."

Wei Ying looks up, startled to hear such an endearment aloud. Immediately, his face is aglow with a pretty blush even as he laughs teasingly, "Lan Zhan! Don't be so bold!"

He walks towards Wei Ying and settles down by him, closer than truly appropriate but this is his husband. "Research?"

Wei Ying smiles, drawing Wangji's attention to his lips. There's no one in the library so Wangji permits himself the touch, reaching forward to gently caress them, "Such beauty." He whispers.

Wei Ying blushes again, "Er-gege," He protests, "Have mercy on my heart."

His fingers slide under Wei Ying's jaw, drawing him in gently. His husband is sweet and compliant as Wangji kisses him, an innocent brush of lips and nothing more. "My Wei Ying." His voice is low, heated in ways Wei Ying recognizes. He watches as those enchanting silver eyes brighten with passion.

His Wei Ying buries his warm face in his neck with a moan of protest, "Mercy, husband. You're so cruel to tease me like this when you can't take me to bed."

It is indeed a challenge to not have their 'everyday' but Wangji can be patient. Xiongzhang is already working on it.

For now, he is content.

They sit like that for a long time, Wei Ying leaning against him, trusting and calm. No one disturbs them and Xichen only stops by once, smiling knowingly in their direction and pointedly ignoring Wangji's restraining hand around Wei Ying's waist, stopping him from pulling away.

They spend the rest of the evening exchanging soft murmurs and softer kisses.

Nothing will stand in their way this time.

[suddenlystolen]

Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue as Broken Mirror Reflections of Each other

An interpretation I want to try throw out there is that Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue are more alike than they might seem. The amount of privilege that Nie Mingjue has should not make it harder for him to understand what Jin Guangyao is coming from. On the contrary, the specific ways in which he does and does not have privilege should make it easier for Nie Mingjue to understand Jin Guangyao's challenges as a low born cultivator, perhaps even more than let’s say Lan Xichen. So Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue are not so much two ends on a spectrum on privilege, but broken mirrors of each other.

What’s in their Names: Two Men Alike

Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue’s names mean the same thing. Guangyao (光瑶) means bright jade. Mingjue (明玦) also means bright jade. There are, admittedly, subtle ways in which their names are different

Significance of their names

Nie Mingjue’s name was given from a desire that he be bright, and complement others like how a jade pendant completes a gentlemanly attire, like in this line of a poem “侵衣明佩玦”.But JGY’s courtesy name an insult from his father, who refused to give him the generational character zi 子 like Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun, while recycling the “Yao” from his personal name, though according to naming conventions his courtesy name is supposed to be completely different from his personal name. Is this foreshadowing that it is his father’s mistreatment that sets Jin Guangyao up to be Nie Mingjue's “evil” doppelganger? Or rather Nie Mingjue’s inability to recognise how while they seem to be similar in status, the origins of their status are profoundly different.

Differences between words for Jade: Yao and Jue

The Yao (瑶) in Jin Guangyao's name means “beautiful jade” or anything that is lovely, precious, or pure like a beautiful piece of jade. (Side note: it does not mean pearl. I’ve seen that misconception in fandom and I’m guessing its from a bad definition given by an English Chinese dictionary that comes up in google search. I’ve never seen a Chinese dictionary entry define 瑶 as possibly meaning pearl sometimes).

But the Jue (玦) in NMJ’s name is a type of jade pendant that can symbolise the cycle of flourishing and suffering. Does this foreshadow NMJ’s gruesome death and fierce corpse afterlife? A Jue can also be gifted to someone to decisively cut ties with them, per the phrase 绝人以玦 (jue ren yi jue). It’s a play on how Jue sounds like the word for decisive (决) and to cut off (绝). It also kind of foreshadows how NMJ decides to be permanently suspicious of JGY since he saw him murder his commander in Langya and kill his men in WRH’s throne room.

Despite all these subtle differences, the fact remains that fundamentally Mingjue and Guangyao are insanely similar in meaning. So in what ways are they alike?

On Social Status: Butchers and Prostitutes

This I think is speculative, but it’s possible to imagine that there was a time when Nie cultivators were the most despised in the world of cultivation.

This theory would hinge upon the fact that the ancestors of the Nie Sect were originally butchers, the Nie Sect cultivates using the resentful energy of animals that they have butchered — and that depending on which historical period you look at in China, butchers are considered to be morally corrupt in some sense. This stems from some Confucian and Buddhist texts which were influential in China.

For instance, for Confucianism, Mencius wrote on the conduct of a noble man: “A noble man when it comes to animals, they see them alive, and cannot bear to see them killed. If they hear their cries, they will not bear to eat their meat. Thus, a noble man stays far from the kitchen.” This is supposed to be a show of the compassion of a noble man for all living things. 孟子在《孟子·梁惠王上》中说：“君子之于禽兽也，见其生，不忍见其死；闻其声，不忍食其肉。是以君子远庖厨也”

Then for Chinese Buddhism, the religion is opposed to the taking of lives be it from people or animals. Thus butchers and butchering as a profession are looked poorly upon. For instance, there's a funny story about how there were two friends, a monk and a butcher, who reminded each other everyday to read sutras and butcher animals respectively. The butcher goes to heaven for the good deed of reminding the monk to read the sutras everyday. The monk goes to hell for reminding the butcher to slaughter animals. Monks are also prohibited from directly killing, and are only allowed to eat 3 types of clean meat (三净肉 San Jing Rou). The three ways in which the meat is supposed to be clean are: you cannot have seen the animal that was killed, you cannot hear the animal being killed, and you cannot suspect that the animal was being killed for you to eat (i.e. donated surplus meat).

Thus, in East Asian countries with Confucian and Buddhist influences, like Korea and Japan, butchers tend to be treated as one of the lowest castes in society. It was fortunately not that bad in ancient China. But I think you can catch hints of how this impression of butchers as being impure factors into the history of the Nie Sect in MDZS. The dwelling of the Qinghe Nie after all is the Unclean Realm Bu Jing (不净世). It’s interesting to think about whether their dwelling is named that because people kept deriding it as being an unclean Bu Jing (不净) and a place that you should not set foot in. Or if the Qinghe Nie started to call their dwelling the Unclean Realm as a way to reclaim a slur. I think its also reasonable to imagine that in their initial years, the Qinghe Nie were also looked upon with a great deal of suspicion for cultivating using the resentful energy of animals. One defence that butchers in ancient China often used was that moral blame should not be imputed to them for butchering these animals, since they don’t actually eat the meat of these animals — its their customers who eat the meat and benefit from the death of the animal. But for the Nie, they are clearly benefitting from the resentful energy of the animal at its wrongful death, and could be derided as being even more cruel compared to ordinary butchers. And in general, they were the first out of all the Sects to use resentful energy to cultivate, which must have marked them out as an anomaly, possibly to be discriminated. Stretching this postulation even further, perhaps it was the desire to escape from the low social position that they were trapped in as butchers, that prompted them to undertake a method of cultivation as dangerous as cultivating using the resentful energy of animals, where their Sect leaders die young.

What I find so interesting about this particular theory is that it casts a different light upon then Meng Yao’s interactions with the Qinghe Nie. You could interpret the reason why Meng Yao first joined the Qinghe Nie as him seeing it as an example of a Sect that rose up to prominence in the world of cultivation, precisely through their occupation which was once as despised as his mother’s profession. This interpretation would add an extra knife’s twist to that moment in the MDZS novel, where when Meng Yao pours tea for some Nie cultivators in the Hejian front, they refuse to drink it because they think that it is dirty because of his mother’s profession. It would be an extra WTF moment for Meng Yao if, just a few generations earlier, it might have been other cultivators refusing to drink tea poured by Nie Sect cultivators, either because they think that the profession of butchering is “unclean” or because they think that the Nie Sect cultivators must be dangerously tainted with resentful energy. It would make the moments where Jin Guangyao talks about privilege with Nie Mingjue extra poignant, because maybe within Nie Mingjue’s Sect, the traumatic experience of social ostracism and stigmatisation might only just have faded out of living memory. It would be very “who are you that do not know your history” to quote Fallout New Vegas. The Nies could be read as like a nouveau riche class of cultivators, who have completely forgotten their origins, and who now take part in ostracising “lower” professions such as prostitution.

Related to this, Nie Mingjue’s experience as the Sect Leader of the Qinghe Nie should have allowed him to, more than anyone, understand that the acts of violence that Jin Guangyao commits does not entirely stem out of his free will, but on the exigencies of his circumstances. As the Sect Leader of the Qinghe Nie, he has to to cultivate with a saber, and thus accept that he will die young and succumb to saber madness. For instance, Nie Mingjue tries to kill Jin Guangyao after kicking him down Koi Tower while in saber madness. This is literally after implying that he has never killed without good reason. As one in a long line of Sect leaders who have bouts of homicidal violence, he should have have some understanding of how acts of violence do not necessarily stem out of a deficient moral character, but also by how one’s mind has been shaped by one’s upbringing. For instance, when facing Meng Yao who said that he killed his commander in Langya, after his rage boiled over from having his mother been denigrated and humiliation her entire life, he should have been better prepared to understand.

Finally, looking at the good relationship that Nie Mingjue had with Nie Huaisang who is only his half-brother, maybe at one point Meng Yao hoped that when he entered the Jin Sect, he too could live as peaceably as Nie Huaisang did in the Unclean Realm, as the half-brother of Jin Zixuan. Sadly we all know how all that worked out, and it is Nie Huaisang who brings about JGY's death.

ANYWAY wrapping up this post that turned out a lot longer than I expected… I think this is an interesting interpretation of Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao’s relationship. That in some sense, Nie Mingjue is a tragic hero out of a Shakespearan play. He genuinely wants to act according to his ideals of justice. He probably pledged sworn brotherhood with Jin Guangyao despite having doubts about his character because he believed the he could guide Jin Guangyao along the right path. Worst of all, Nie Mingjue had all the pieces of the puzzle to bridge an understanding with Jin Guangyao on his difficulties with power and privilege precisely because of his background as the Sect Leader of the Qinghe Nie. And more importantly he had the power and privilege to back Jin Guangyao up, against the influence of Jin Guangshan. But in canon, (at least through this lens) he never picks up these pieces of the puzzle, even though they are right before his eyes. And so, he embitters the people around him like Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao, because no one wants to be “enlightened” so forcefully, especially if it is by someone who does not want to understand their difficulties. If he had less power and privilege, Nie Mingjue would only be ridiculous and annoying to Jin Guangyao. But as he is, he was so dangerous to Jin Guangyao, that Jin Guangyao had to kill him first, before Nie Mingjue killed him in his saber madness or because of his narrow understanding of justice. Likewise, there could have been a point where Jin Guangyao saw what Nie Mingjue had with Nie Huaisang, along with the status the Qinghe Nie commanded in the world of cultivation — and thought that this was hope — that he might be able to live with dignity as a bastard and a son of a whore in the world of cultivation. But alas no, at least in canon, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang were his doom.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

LXC is made of different stuff than either JGY or NMJ. Guangyao and Mingjue mean the same thing (bright jade) and they end up in the same coffin when they die. Even the names Chifeng-zun and Lianfang-zun sound more similar to each other than Zewu-jun. And they both get corruption arcs and have much more of a penchant for vengeance and murder than he does.

And here I do agree that Lan Xichen is made of different stuff than these two, because despite his hang ups, he in the least let's Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji conduct their own search into Jin Guangyao's activities. He does have his biases, but he is not opposed to Lan Wangji continuing to work with Wei Wuxian in his beliefs. Despite his own misgivings that yes, are unfounded, and his misunderstanding of his sibling.

Unlike the above two, Lan Xichen is able to express direct disappointment in his own self for what his actions have caused. The only other two that do this are the protagonists. Neither Nie Mingjue or Jin Guangyao are swayed over the fact that their own actions also cause direct harm, they funnel that thinking off to someone else's expense and fault. Lan Xichen like few others is able to show guilt over his direct actions. This is a massive step within the world of Mo Dao Zu Shi.

Lan Xichen doesn't have to be liked, he has rightful criticisms against him. But he is not equally evil and what other ridiculous hate is used to villainize him as of late. He is not perfect and all seeing, he never was even supposed to be taken as that in the work itself. And as far as I'm concerned, if Wei Wuxian finds something still worthy of listening to Lan Xichen's words even emotional as they are, I'd rather side with Wei Wuxian's appraisal of him over the people that write up anti-meta as to why he's as irredeemable as the antagonists of the work.