#also no we don’t ship jc and wwx

[amorremanet]

Truly, there is nothing exactly like the sheer level of “did we even read the same book/watch the same thing” that one feels when met with the reaction “Ewww but they’re BROTHERS” about a ship where it’s actually a plot point of pretty critical importance that A., they *AREN’T* brothers by either blood or adoption, and B., there IS NO FORMAL DEFINITION for their relationship status within their sociocultural context but whatever they are, it sure does inspire people to call them “childhood sweethearts” in a way that’s loaded with romantic innuendo and act like Character B is Character A’s ex (full romo) vs. Character A’s endgame marriage to Character C

[danmeiconfession]

I support previous anon in shipping xy jc and Jgy together for maximum drama both within the ship and within the fandom, but I also suggest that we could aim higher and add wwx to the mix for maximum conflict. Bc shipping 3 hated characters is a good thing but shipping 3 hated characters with the most liked character in the fandom is even more fun. We can also ship su she with lz so they don’t stay single in the meantime <3

.

[mxtxfanatic]

It's really makes me mad how a lot of the antagonists of all mxtx's work are woobified by the fandom.

On one hand, it does mean that she wrote good antagonists but on the other hand,it's so frustrating because that's just not what's in the book ?

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian is probably the worst exemple of this when we have fics where Wei Wuxian apologize to his "brother" for the promise when JC literally led a siege that Les to WWX's death, but they are really not the only one, they sorta do it with Qi Rong and Xie Lian (which... Is something because he is introduced sitting on Xie Lian's kneeling statue) and Shen Qjiu (to a lesser extent). It makes me wonder if we read the same books sometimes.

Please don’t remind me of the cursed fanons 😖 I used to be more angered by it, but blocking everyone with terrible takes and only following people who I agree with or who I trust to have opinions backed by the text has really helped calm that rage. Also, I’ve seen a lot of newer fans come in with great pushback against the old fanon, particularly with mdzs.

I don’t think the quality of writing from the source can be judged on how woobified obviously villainous characters are, because I’ve seen some terrible stories produce massively popular characters; I think this speaks more to how easily people are swayed by good fan media (which is a fandom critique and self-criticism, cause I’m definitely suggestible on certain things, usually ships lmao). For example: a lot of popular mdzs fanon was spread by a few people with popular fandom blogs who knew how to write/make good art and used those skills to argue for the legitimacy of their fanon for clout. We as people just tend to like good quality things, and sometimes we overcompensate by assigning merit and moral to the good fan media we like and the fans who make them, even if it’s just in our heads and not from the source.

Funnily enough though, when I first got into tgcf, there were a bunch of Qi Rong stans, but now, all I see are people who are feral for his canon character while Mu Qing stans have picked up the cursed torch of trying to convince everyone that their fav has done no wrong ever.

[ninjakk]

I don’t know your opinion on bottom lwj (maybe you like it or have no problem with it) I personally hate it with a burning passion, not even from fetishized point of view. But because it literally goes against how the character is in canon. Regardless, I usually just block that tag in ao3, but now i come back to tumblr after not logging in like almost a year and one of the first things i see is a freaking fan art of JC supposedly doing LWJ (is not shown explicitly) and WWX looking and being supportive and i just wanted to throw up. Literally felt like someone hit me with a pokemon psychic attack, i of course blocked the account and the bottom lwj tag here (something I didn’t even think i had to do) but i still can’t erase that image out of my brain so i had to rant to someone. Since you seem like someone really nice and you’re always amazing when answering asks here i am. If this ask makes you uncomfortable please feel completely free to delete it and forget it.

Hello Anon!

Aww, well thank you 😙 that's very sweet of you to say.

So firstly, before I tell you my opinion - I actually know the image you are referring to and I did the exact same thing when the post assaulted my eyes. I mean, everyone has their ships but come on! WX and JC?! No thanks.

As for your question, I have no majorly strong opinion on bottomji. I have read a few fanfics that have worked out alright. Mostly YLLZ era WWX meets extremely horny and willing 'self-sacrificing' virgin LWJ 'taking one for the team' - which were quite funny. But overall I do find it a little strange, because by making LWJ 'bottomji' people tend to make WX somewhat out of character one way or the other.

The reason I do not have a particularly strong opinion on LWJ being the bottom, is because it's kind of implied in the extras that they may well have done such things during their very active and passionate sex life already.

Seeing that he’d nearly hit his limit, Wei Wuxian laughed heartily and kissed his lips. “Er-gege, what haven’t we done? Why are you still so shy?”

7S translations - From Dawn Till Dusk extra

To me, the above certainly implies they've done a lot more than we have witnessed and switching would certainly come into that.

Also, I actually think LWJ would do anything for WWX, if he should ask. Including switching things up every now and then if his dear husband wished.

Overall, I don't think LWJ switching positions on occasion is necessarily out of character, if done properly and the fanfic authors stay true to how the characters actually are and would react during such acts. For example, LWJ still being the more dominant one out of the pair. Just because he's bottoming doesn't mean he's suddenly going to be submissive.

That being said, the image you and I saw is of course just completely out of character! JC is homophobic for a start! It just wouldn't happen. Ever. Even if JC was interested in some strange alternative universe. WX just wouldn't! I'm also convinced that WX would not want to, nor be willing to engage in sex with anyone else, even a threesome or some voyeuristic partner swap - or whatever the hell that image was?!

Wangxian are too wrapped up in each other, too completely obsessed with each other for anything else. Not to mention LWJ would drink so much vinegar he would pickle! And I don't think WWX would fare much better, LWJ is his and I don't think he'd be willing to share either!

I can understand why you might find it a bit odd seeing the roles switched around, but I do think it's something that could possibly be an occasional occurrence in canon because of the lines I mentioned above. Though I do love their dynamic in the novel and that is definitely what I prefer. Overall, we all have different preferences and opinions I guess ☺️

Finally, my dear anon...please go and read your favourite fanfic or browse through some gorgeous Wangxian art to cleanse yourself of the image which assaulted your senses. It's what I did and I feel much better now lol!

Hope you have a lovely day 🥰

[insanusnavicularis]

Look I don’t necessarily like all this ships BUT

the combination of wwx/lwj, jc/lxc and jl/lsz is so funny to me like imagine the jiangs being some kind of lan whisperers or maybe the calm lans just got something for crazy jiangs or the other way around WHO KNOWS

BUT IMAGINE WHEN THEY ALL REALIZE THIS

Wwx sitting on lwj’s lap, delighted: oh my god I just realized we all share a type

Jc who’s being coddled by lxc, horrified: fUCK NO WE DONT

Jl braiding lsz’s hair, also horrified: shUT UP

[thatswhatsushesaid]

controversial fandom confessions:

1. i don’t care if jgy did in fact kill his son

2. i lowkey ship jiang cheng and jin ling after cql

3. jc and wwx’s relationship is more interesting than wangxian

4. jiang yanli is boring as fuck and the female characters in general deserved better writing

5. i hate both xicheng and nieyao

puts on my oven mitts before handling these hot takes 👀 you’re really looking to get me in trouble today, aren’t you anon

1. i largely agree with you? i don’t want to say that i don’t care, precisely; it’s more that i am way more interested in the mental state that jgy would have to occupy to either arrange to have jrs killed, or to contemplate it for any length of time. he clearly wasn’t ambivalent towards either qs or jrs, the text makes it apparent that he would flee the room rather than exist in the same space as them without other people around. our boy is not well and we should discuss this more.

2. ooh anon. you aren’t going to get any judgment from me on this one tho i can’t walk down that shipping road with you. that said i’ve spoken to a number of other mdzs fans in dms who also either sail this ship or others like it, so you aren’t alone.

3. YEAH it really is 🤝 the yunmeng heroes dynamic in general is fascinating and tragic and holds my interest more than the principle romance. (confession: i was at one point wild about wangxian? until, well. /stares at the wwx stans)

4. yep 🤷‍♀️ i’ve mentioned it previously that wen qing’s arc i cql was one of the few things about the drama that was an objective improvement over the source material! even tho i know it was done initially to create the groundwork for a bland-ass straight love triangle, the end result is wen qing becoming a much more interesting character.

5. ohhhh anon, you’re preaching to the choir here, my feelings on nieyao and xicheng are well known lol.

[colorisbyshe]

Stephanie can you tell me if it’s normal to have finished both the unt4med and md zs (censoring bc I don’t remember how tagging works on tumblr and I don’t want anything seemingly negative I might say to make people come and bother you) and have found the romance aspect of the story to be the least interesting thing ?

I think WW is an extraordinary character and his story was so epic. Granted I didn’t like the writing at all in the book. And I was so captured by his motivations and his actions, but seeing how people talked about the love story online I was expecting to be blown away and instead… it kind of fell flat imo? Like I found LW to be kind of boring in how his character was executed, mostly because I couldn’t really see his thoughts, and I found WW’s relationship with him to change too abruptly from one kind of relationship to another. Like, compared to WW’s relationship to his siblings, that made me cry on several occasions, for how tragic and epic LW’s actions are , they didn’t evoke that much of an emotion in me. Like, fuck JC honestly but at the same time there’s something so brutal and tragic and captivating about what happens between him and WW.

Idk. The story is absolutely fantastic but I feel weird because I feel like I appreciated completely different things from what the majority of the fans liked instead.

Idk what "normal" in this context means or why you would feel weird about... having a different takeaway from a piece of media?

Like, I don't understand why anyone would have a concern about what is "right" or "wrong" to like about a piece of media. Like, if you were missing the messaging of the series or idk ignored important themes to focus on a weird background ship or whatever, sure, I guess that's "wrong" but... I don't understand the need to be validated for not caring about a certain character or character dynamic? Like the series however you choose. There's... no wrong way to do it. And even if there WAS a wrong way to do it, comparing yourself to this particular fandom... like... there's no need to compare yourself to most of these people. A lot of MDZS/CQL fans are utter freaks.

But getting to the brunt of your question. Idk man.

I liked WWX/LWJ and I liked LWJ as a character. I actually really, really enjoyed that they don't just get together JUST because they like each other's personalities and how they mesh or JUST because they are equals in a world where most people come up short when compared to them but VERY much because they understand and support each other ideologically and are willing to risk the same things to achieve their ideological goals.

The fact that they connect not just emotionally or physically but also mentally and philosophically is something that is missing in a LOT of romance plotlines. It's not "circumstance brought us together and now we're trauma bonded" (which is certainly great in a lot of cases, ngl) but just this larger calling.

We get to see them flirt and be shy and be silly, the way teenagers are. But we get to see them be torn apart and then back together not just ~because of circumstance awww~ but because of a genuine betrayal where no one is really at fault, it's just because of how society functions. Their relationship heavily reflects and feeds into the themes of the story and their own character arcs while letting them be their own people with their own arcs.

I think a few bits of how their relationship is executed is perhaps a bit sloppy, especially if the manhua is properly reflecting what happens in the novel, and I think "ACTUALLY I WANT TO SLEEP WITH YOU" being almost verbatim dialogue during the violent climax of the story is both lazy and cringe but... their overall arc was really well done.

I think in general, the strengths of weaknesses of MDZS (not necessarily CQL) is that MXTX has great ideas and a few great points of executions but REALLY struggles with the minutiae. I think this is true of the story at large but I'm a lot more forgiving of the minutiae sometimes lacking in LWJ/WWX because... well... the story isn't about them.

They are a reflection of the story but the story exists on a much, much larger scale than their romance. (Or implied romance, when it comes to CQL.)

I'm fine with that, though. In most of the moments that count, the execution is great and the total arc is believable, enjoyable, and developed at a fairly even pace, outside of some jumps.

[pbaintthetb]

After seeing @nixster627​ post on the most popular ships under the MDZS novel tag I got curious about the Donghua. I looked at the 10 most poplar relationshp tags, 10 most popular romantic relationship tags (where a A&B made top 10) and 10 most popular platonic relationship tags (gen only).

Quick house keeping about the data 

Some of these fics are likely mistagged, I have not accounted for, nor attempted to address this issue when recording the data

This is referring to fics that are tagged with the 魔道祖师 | Módào Zǔshī (Cartoon) tag excluding ALL crossovers, both with MDZS Novel/CQL/Audio Drama and other fandoms. This is partly because almost all fics tagged donghua are also tagged novel. There were a total of 275 fics.

To determine the next most popular ships I did this by removing popular tags from the search function. This means that fics tagged with multiple ships etc would have been removed and may have skewed the dataset

As above, fics may have been tagged with multiple ships

The breakdown of tagged relationships by category has not been expanded beyond the top 10 to include fics with the same number of entries. This is because it quickly got real tedious and also confusing trying to work out how many fics had one entry in a category. Who knows how the ao3 sorting system works with the same number but sorry not sorry for that priotising of some ships above others.

All data is correct as of 13:30 UST, 23/02/2023 when viewing with an AO3 account

On with the Data!

TOP 10 MOST POPULAR RELATIONSHIP TAGS

First we have the top ten relationships with both their absolute value and percentage within the fandom. Shockingly Wangxian is not top. 

Pretty similar to above but this time we’re only looking at Romantically tagged relationships, bye bye JC & JL. There are actually 12 relationships here because the bottom 3 all drew and it felt unfair to exclude them.

The above 13 ships now split into rating category. The gen ship is highlighted in green

A graph of the 3rd data table if you’d prefer

Stats on Categories

There’s also quite a lot of interesting information if you look at the categories invididually. Some ships that aren’t in the top ten get a day in the limelight, it’s easier to see what relationships really like what ratings etc

Each table has 3 columns, the total number of tagged fics with the ship, the percentage of tagged fics with the relationship as a total of the rating category, and the percentage of the tagged relationship in the rating category as a total of the tagged fics with that ship across all ratings.

Gen 3 data tables for gen- overall top 10, top 10 romantic, top 9 (lol) platonic

Here we can see that while Wangxian is the most popular gen ship, people who write JC & LXC really like gen fic, 100% of their fics are gen. Wangxian on the other hand is not very popular as gen at only 13%

Interestingly the Cangse Sanren/LQR tag is only popular as gen. Also look, a wild OFC/OMC ship

Top 10 platonic is only a datset for gen for obvious reason and its only top 9 but still, interesting to see what’s popular

Teen

In comparisons to the total it’s interesting to see Wangxian leading the charge in the lower category ratings, leaving JC/WWX far behind when overall JC/WWX is actually one fic ahead. Probably because a lot of fics are tagged Wangxian even if its not really about them because they’re just that sickening couple. Also hello NMJ. It’s also nice as a big gen fan to see some platonic relationship tags here hello.

switching over to romantic adds Jin Ling/Lan Sizhui, Nieyao, Sangcheng and WWX/OC to the mix

Mature No platonic relationships made top 10 for mature so one table only

Those JC/LWJ/WWX truthers really like mature. JC/WWX is leading the charge once again but as seen by ship% mature maybe isn’t their thing. Or maybe it is considering there are five categories. Also sangcheng, nice, my guilty pleasure to read of my two favourite characters who I don’t think like each other very much but sometimes I like indulging myself and pretending they do.

Explicit Once again, no platonic ships made it this far

XXC/XY fans like writing explicit, which really doesn’t surprise me like, hmm. Don’t think they have a gen, suitable for all audiences, romantic relationship lbr.

Not rated There is 1 platonic ship in this tag. What a mood

Shout out to that LQR & LWJ uncle nephew relationship, actually do rate LQR as an uncle, Deserves more love and attention. Interesting to see that the majority of the JC/WWX and WN/WZL falls into unrated, while its much lower for Wangxian. There were a lot more ships with only one entry but ao3′s ranking system was not in their favour.

Pushing LXC/WWX into the charts with that romantic. Interesting to see that 2% there tbh that’s probably an error, flame me later. LWJ/ALL is a not rated delicacy

Summary

Not a lot to say here. Thanks for the idea Nixsters627, thanks if you read this far readers, and it’s cool to see how things break down over category and what ratings go with what ships

also confirmed what i always knew which is that us donghua faves are a special rare breed, ngl still not over wangxian being beaten out, wowser

have a good day all!

[sneakingpasta]

Mdzs but WWX doesn’t die and is there as Jin Ling grows up with his parents and his uncles

Alright so WWX actually gets to celebrate Jin Ling’s one month celebration with his family

Brought him a spicy pepper or something because we all know that that’s how one accepts another into their family Yunmeng style

Jiang Cheng and him start fighting because babies can’t have spices until they’rs six months (Always gotta have a fight in a family reunion, you know how it goes)

Baby Jin Ling won’t go to sleep until Uncle Xianxian plays a little flute song just for him (absolutely spoiled rotten, this baby is) (WWX doesn’t mind spoiling him)

Once Jin Ling can actually have spicy foods you Know that wwx is cooking up a motherfucking call-the-ambulance lava melting meal for initiation

Jin Ling’s crying but is a stubborn boy who will eat every drop of this poison to assert dominance

After the meal is finished, the rest of the family members are dying while rinsing their mouths out

Meanwhile Wwx is holding Jin Ling like he’s the baby Messiah

“THIS IS MY NEPHEW” “THE BLOOD OF YUNMENG RUNS THROUGH HIM” “THIS IS MY NEPHEW”

Wwx keeps cooking and Jin Ling actually develops his level of spiciness

Wwx starts teaching Jin Ling how to destroy kitchens and people’s mouths cook and now they’re both disasters in the kitchen who can make food that will kill a man

WWX teaches Jin Ling some sick flute solos that he can now perform like it’s nothing

However, the best and most incredible thing Jin Ling has learned from both Wwx and JC, is how to swear

The first incident happens when Jin Ling is four

It’s a nice day, disciples are playing with the younger children, parents are setting up picnics on patches of grass, a gentle breeze is blowing through, filling everyone with peace

Then, like a discordant note swinging through the air, a resounding “FUCK” is heard

Everyone whips their heads around

Little Jin Ling is trotting at very fast speeds towards his two uncles, looking as though he had been treated with utmost discourtesy and unfairness, drenched in water

His face is red with anger and wwx and jc ask him what’s wrong

“The mudafucking wind threw me into the damn lake”

There is silence

Then, wordlessly, JC and WWX look to each other

And they can’t help it

Wwx “Pfft” is all it takes to send the both of them wheezing

Then they pick Jin Ling up, tears of laughter still steaming down their faces, as they go to fight the wind

Flash forward a couple of years

Jin Ling has become a master archer (Gotta thank Uncle Wen Ning for the lessons) and an amazing sword fighter

However, having been raised by two dramatic ass uncles, he is also a Drama Queen

And when Wwx starts showing signs that he’s got a fuckin big crush of Lwj, that’s when Jin Ling is like “Alright Showtime Motherfucker”

At this point, he knows for a fact that lwj is also helplessly in love (Jin Ling is repeatedly exasperated and annoyed at how dumb two of the smartest people can be. Like seriously. It was embarrassing to watch)

So he gathers all of the Lan disciples and recruits them into the “Getting my dumbass uncle his soulmate because he won’t stop whining about it over dinner and I am this close to snapping his neck” Team

With the crew together, they put together what might be the most extra plan to get two people together (including fake investigations)

With Jin Ling, Lan Jingyi, Lan Sizhui, and Ouyang Zizhen at the helm of the ship, they somehow execute the dumbest and most idiotic plan in the history of plans and make it work

Then, after months of preparation and build up, the day arrives

They send out a distress signal

Wwx and lwj enter a dark forest clearing

Hidden in the trees, the juniors are making hand signals at each other

From the darkness, thousands of lanterns float up into the sky (They spent two entire sleepless nights making them and transporting them here)

Beautiful white birds gently drift through the night sky

Flower petals seem to fall from nowhere (Are actually being thrown by frantic juniors who are so worried about making the plan go wrong if they don’t perfectly toss them)

Not a single cloud is in the sky, as the moonlight perfectly lights up the area (The Juniors swore to slice every cloud in half if it came to it and Heaven wasn’t bout to test them)

BUT since they forgot they lured them here with a DISTRESS CALL, wwx and lwj are stressing out about where the ducklings are and their safety and what type of creature was doing this and-

“HOLY FUCK JUST KISS ALREADY” Jingyi shouts from his spot in the tree

Similar shouts echo from the the forest as lwj and wwx finally understand the situation

Bada bing bada boom PG confession time

By the time they kiss a lot of juniors are rolling their eyes or gagging because “ew, kissing”

After the kiss, Jin Ling descends from a tree like a God, flute in hand, as he begins celebrating their win with the most epic fucking flute solo the world has or will ever hear

[silenteyes]

If Wei Wuxian Grew Up In Different Sects (or with our lovely Rogue Cultivators)

ft. fanfictions I’ve read for each of them - excluding Yunmeng Jiang Sect

Warnings: Spoilers for MDZS, Canon-typical Yu Ziyuan and her treatment to WWX, a few uncensored cursing

Yunmeng Jiang Sect

Clearly, we know that he and the Jiangs have a- complicated relationship. With Jiang FengMian it’s on a thin line, and though it’s clear he cares for WWX - JFM still sees WWX as just a disciple, not a son because the last words he says to WWX are “A-Ying, A-Cheng... you must look after him.”

With Madam Yu it’s clear that their relationship is unhealthy, she basically abuses him. With Jiang Cheng it’s also unhealthy - as much as I loathe to say it, they will NEVER get the reconciliation we want because WWX has done too much for JC to forgive and JC and his anger issues are not safe for WWX. The only ACTUAL healthy relationship he’s got in the Jiang Sect is with Jiang Yanli. She forgives a lot and it’s clear she loves WWX.

Gusu Lan Sect

Ah - yes, this one. In all honesty, if he WERE to be found by the Lans he would’ve probably be well-behaved since he was just a child and easy to, how do I say it - teach. 

He might still have his playfulness but it would be toned down quite a lot. I also like to think that he would get along with Madam Lan and most probably prevent her death. This may be an unpopular opinion, but he and Lan Xichen would get along well, and LXC would be the one to make him comfortable first. WWX would still grow close with Lan Wangji of course, but if anything happens he would not go to LWJ first.

If they grew up together, I’m sorry - but I can’t imagine that he would date LWJ then. But, you can think the other way around! I don’t boss you and tell you who to ship and who not to ship! 

Fanfiction: ‘Some call it kidnapping. The Lan Clan call it adoption.’ by IceBreeze 

Summary: “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, look!” Wei Ying did a twirl. “I’m the same as you now! Am I pretty? Say Lan Zhan, am I pretty?”

Huan muffled a laugh behind his sleeve as A-Zhan said “Mn,” eyes never once leaving Wei Ying. There was something a little like awe in his stare, like Wei Ying was the only one in the world to him at that moment, and if Huan hadn’t already known that his little brother cared deeply for Wei Ying then that look would have been all the confirmation he needed.

(If A-Zhan knew what marriage and romance was beyond the vague explanations he’d heard then he’d probably already be courting Wei Ying, with all the dogged determination he shows everything he puts his mind to. It’s adorable, and Huan supports it wholeheartedly, no matter what direction it heads in the end).

Or: an AU Wei Wuxian is taken in by the Lan clan instead of the Jiangs.

Qishan Wen Sect

Hm, this one is quite complicated. To be honest, WWX would probably fit in well in the sect, and Wen Ruohan most possibly cares about power, and WWX is powerful so he’d care for him AND Wen Xu. Wen Chao is just there in the background being bullied, I like to think.

WWX would make Wen Qing their head doctor and give her more power, while he would also help Wen Ning with archery. All and all he would be alright in the Wen Sect, but there would still be a couple casualties here and there, because of Wen Chao’s jealousy.

Fanfiction:  ‘ He was brighter than the Sun’ by AncientOceanmelody

Summary:  Wei Wuxian was the head disciple of Yunmengjiang Sect, he was the pride of Yunmeng. Jiang Fengmian see him like a son, everyone (except Madam Yu) love him.

He would do everything for those who were dear to him.

So why do is feel horrible when Uncle Jiang didn't hesitate when he offer himself to the Wens instead of Jiang Cheng?

Why is he crying?

After all, he was just the son of a friend, the son of a servant, is was obvious his Uncle would prefer his Sect over him.

Qinghe Nie Sect

Again, I’m gonna be honest, but this sect would be the BEST one for WWX to grow up in. Nie Mingjue would get along great with WWX (we’re ignoring canon GROWN WWX) and Nie Huaisang has another brother :D

NHS and WWX would use their time to cause mischief and plot stuff while NMJ is like “These are my brothers. They’re annoying. Don’t you fucking dare lay a finger on them.”

Just - THEY WOULD BE THE HEALTHIEST RELATIONSHIP EVER IN ALL THE SECTS! NMJ taking care of WWX and NHS, NHS constantly worrying over WWX and NMJ because they fight (you know- war I mean) and WWX just being the self-sacrificing moron he is and protecting NMJ and NHS

Fanfiction: ‘shades of grey’ by cl410

Summary: This was why he didn’t like to leave the Unclean Realm, Nie Mingjue thought with dismay. Guileless dark eyes blinked up at him, tiny hands clutching at his robes.

Or: Nie Mingjue comes across Wei Wuxian before Jiang Fengmian, and decides Nie Huaisang could use a friend.

Lanling Jin Sect

OH BOY! I just love Jin Zixuan getting along with WWX and being an older brother to him. I would think that if JZX (Not Zixun, I despise him) grew up with WWX they would definitely get along and have a healthier relationship than the Yunmeng Bros. Jin Guangshan would definitely not see the point in having WWX in there, and Madam Jin is much more empathetic and she would be the on to take care of WWX.

You may be wondering - Jin Zixuan is Jin Zixuan. Wouldn’t his pride get in the way of things? He’s not called a peacock for no reason, and yes! I can see why you think that! But look at MianMian! She’s JZX best friend BECAUSE she probably grew up with him, and it’s clear in terms of temperament she’s better than JZX and she might even rival him in swordsmanship. If given the choice to grow up with him, WWX would have an amazing brotherly relationship with JZX, and would most likely accept the fact that WWX is amazing and would be PROUD of him. 

Also JZX’s relationship with Jiang Yanli may improve JUST BECAUSE WWX is there

(I might just be biased, idk)

Fanfiction: ‘Twin Treasures’ by crossdressingdeath

Summary: When Madame Jin happens to come across Cangse Sanren's orphaned son on a trip to Yiling, she can't bring herself to leave him there. Wei Wuxian finds a somewhat different family. Jin Zixuan finds a little brother. The course of history changes accordingly.

(Some things are written in fate, but even fate itself changes.)

Rogue Cultivators - Song Zichen and Xiao Xingchen

Let me point out first that Xingchen is ETHEREAL! HE’S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PERSON ON THE PLANET! (Song Jiyang is amazing istg I’ve never watched The Untamed but I’ve SEEN clips of them like 哥你怎样那么美). 

ANYWAYS, BACK TO THE POINT! Xiao Xingchen and Song Zichen would be amazing parents, don’t deny it. SZC would be rocky at taking care of WWX at first but he would get the hang of it and be the most over-protective person on the planet and would KILL ANYONE who hurts his family. Xiao Xingchen on the other hand would be the doting and loving parent. He spoils WWX but not as much as SZC (though he would never admit it). SZC and XXC would be the best if you want WWX to have parental figures.

Fanfiction:  ‘Frost moon's sun’ by RenaFair

Summary: Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan had dreamed of founding a sect together, that is until Xingchen heard what happened to his shijie. The two then decides to put their little dream on hold as they care for a pair of tiny hands between them, protecting the little boy with a sunshine smile as best as they can.

Alternately; Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan adopted Wei Ying after his parents' death.

[plan-d-to-i]

(2/?) So introducing to you-"the little test on logic to determine historical accuracy of media" or as my friends call it,"the fucking potato again". You see, we noticed a long time ago that somehow people constantly forgetting that potatoes-along with tomatoes,chili pepper,sunflower,pumpkin,tobacco and many others-are plants, native to America's. Even minimal amount of research-and for historically accurate media you need lots of it-will tell you that all of these plants were unknown till 16th

(3/3) century in both Europe and Asia. Does MDZS looks like it takes place in 17th century? So then they say "jc and yzy act historically accurate" and in,like,next sentence JYL adds potato in her soup? Still amazing. Brain? Logic? Never met her. Sorry for rambling at you(and sorry for the mistakes, not a native speaker) and thank you for speaking your mind, I was terrified of fandom at first. Glad to see there still are people with reading comprehension 💙

I don't know if this had another part anon, I put out a question about it a while ago so I'm just going to answer it. Also thank you for the kind words anon! xx

I will never not find it ironic that 99% of stan arguments just contradict each other. People in this fandom will fully argue YZY was entitled to kill WWX if she wanted, that WWX was acting dishonorably trying to save grannies and toddlers, or that jc was actually in the right wanting to exterminate the Wens because "hiStoriCal conText" and then be like but the core transfer was not being performed by a licensed doctor in a hospital with adequate paper work and a full psych eval >:-/ so it's wrOnG. lol Instead of just READING THE STORY and understanding how each of those things are framed and conveyed by the author. What reaction and conclusion she is trying to elicit. Core transfer= heroic. Killing grannies and toddlers = no no. It's absurd. It's like they were never taught the most basic reading comprehension. The only way they can consume media is by shipping and self inserting and inventing shit.

I mean this is what MXTX wrote in the post script:

"First, on the fantasy setting:

One good thing about fantasy stories is that you don’t have to be too historically correct and you can make changes to certain customs however you want. The conventions in this story are mainly from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties as well as the Tang Dynasty. Chairs were rare. To ‘sit’ usually means to sit on one’s knees. The ceremonial clothes were mostly the Tang cap and the round-collar robe. However, chilli peppers and apples appeared even though they only happened in the Ming Dynasty. The hip-and-gable roof on the buildings were named in the Qing Dynasty. The vocabulary and poem allusions were even more examples of time-travelling. And the age at which one was given a courtesy name was lowered to fifteen. Anyhow, the author pretty much massaged together all of the Ancient China elements she liked and brewed them in a pot. There’s no accuracy at all. So whatever. Just read about the characters and the story."

WWX is her MC. He's not morally gray. If you think he's morally gray that's not the intention of the story, that's a you problem.

[oddishblossom]

Nie Huisang

Favorite thing about them: Mr I-don’t-know!! I love how crafty he is and how he plays to win. You wouldn’t expect him to be so great at strategies, because he’s introduced as such a chill guy, so when it’s revealed just how crafty he really is, I was left both terrified and impressed :)

Least favorite thing about them: What he did to Lan Xichen :( I know this story has a lot of themes, including the cycle of hatred and revenge and how it can corrupt. I don’t blame nhs for seeking revenge or even for how he went about it. If I look at it from nhs’s point of view, he had an incredibly powerful enemy to take down and in order to avoid the same fate that his brother did, he would have to proceed carefully. But still. Those that he used to reach his goal got me like “damn.” That last scene when he called out to lxc. I just don’t think it was an accident or that jgy was lying. I think nhs saw that lxc was going to let jgy down easy and he just… ensured that he wouldn’t. (I hope me being critical of nhs does not cover up the fact that I adore him! There are very few characters in this story I truly dislike. You’ll know who they are by the way I refuse to talk about them 😂)

Favorite line: When wwx was apologizing to nhs about lwj destroying his porn book and he was like “oh don’t worry. i’ve got plenty of porn” 😂

BROTP: HIM AND JIANG CHENG!! Listen, they’re both the same age, they were friends during their youth, they were both thrown into the position of sect leader at a young age, there are some highjinks and adventures between them that we the audience are not seeing because we are always following wwx around 💔

OTP: Can I also say sangcheng? I just think they work so well together! I’d like to see them as bros and I’d like to see them as lovers. I’m also a bit intrigued by the idea of sangyao (you can blame the magnificent fic yearning for miles for that)

NOTP: Shipping him with his brother or lan xichen

Random Headcanon: I like to think he’s an incredibly good painter and would start commissions if that were a thing in his world :)

Unpopular opinion: Idk if this is an unpopular opinion, but I think he needs to pass along the chief cultivator position to jiang cheng. I think nhs would do a good job, I just fear that it will darken his spirits more? I think the guy needs a long vacation. And JC is a workaholic so I think he’d be a better fit for the job.

Song I Associate with them: The chorus for whatcha say…It’s this snl video. I think of that video. I’m sorry but andy samberg is nhs and bill hader is jgy 🤣

Favorite Picture of Them: This one :)

Character Ask Game

[yilinglaozuhot]

Please don’t feel pressured to answer this. But chengxian literally grew up together as brothers. Even though they are not biologically brother, isn’t it still a little weird?

No pressure, and it's totally cool that we see things different ways. But warning, I've snapped a little bit in this long ass rant.

You and many many other fans see their relationship as brotherly and I and a tiny tiny fraction of the fandom don't. If I didn't ship them romantically, I would only see them as friends. Perhaps not even best friends with all the shit that goes down between them. Wwx arrives at lotus pier when they're like 4 and 5 (idk, kids' age is always a mystery to me) and it all starts with jc's dogs getting taken away because wwx is afraid of them. Jfm puts a street urchin as priority against his own son by doing that and basically says to him "there, here's your new assigned best friend" so jc as a stubborn, angry but rather filial son makes friends with wwx. He doesn't have much choice in the matter but he learns to like the kid. And after that first day they never stop being pitted against each other. They have a cruel competition going on although none of them wants to participate in it. Who's better in martial arts? Wwx. Who gets more affection from jfm? Wwx. Who's the legitimate heir of lotus pier? Jc. But should it really be him? Wouldn't be the first disciple better at even being the clan leader?

How can wwx feel like he's part of the family when Madame Yu never fails to remind him that he's only a servant? She's protecting his own son against an unwelcome guest in her house, a cuckoo in the nest as @necroprankster has said it once. She sees him as a potential threat, not an adopted son. If she saw his as his son, it wouldn't be such a problem that he has better skills than jc and may be more suited as clan leader in the future. Only jyl treats wwx as a little brother and keeps the three kids together and what does she get from Madame Jin at the phoenix mountain when wwx wants to escort her back from the hunt? That she shouldn't be alone with an unrelated young man.

Wwx also has to reassure jc from time to time that he doesn't threaten his position: "you'll be the clan leader and I'll be your subordinate." He says it himself once that he doesn't want to take on the Jiang name as he already has his own or something like that, I don't remember the exact quote. Anyways, they have a stricter hierarchy between them than bothers have and they would be comfortable in their positions if they wouldn't be compared to each other by jc's immediate family and the whole clan. This whole measuring thing fucks them up so badly.

They're martial brothers, and being martial brothers isn't equal with being blood brothers or even adopted brothers. Martial brothers don't have to live under the same roof but wwx's case is special. He's being reminded of it constantly, and he has to know his place. Also, in wuxia/xianxia "martial siblings falling in love" is a popular trope, and I don't see anyone complaining about wenzhou being martial brothers for example. I know, they didn't grow up together so it doesn't count.

Yes, if they were blood brothers or relatives there would be the threat of one trying to snatch the "throne" underneath the other as we've seen it in Shakespearean plays and TV shows. But wwx doesn't have the ambition to do so and he'd inherit the clan leader title anyway as he's older than jc if they really were brothers.

So, imo you can put them into the "brothers competing for the throne" shoebox if you want to but definitely not into the "loving brothers" shoebox. I know fandom mostly sees them as loving brothers but they have too many expectations from the whole clan, they hear too many things being said about them, and there is too much awkwardness and tension between them to fit into that shoebox. They love each other but they're also painfully aware of how they're seen and treated so they try to balance between being clan heir/first disciple, friends, shidi/shixiong and (adoptive) brothers and look how well it goes for them. So how can they be brothers after all this? And what does it matter if some of us add romantic/sexual tension to this whole hot mess? It's certainly interesting to explore the possibilities this extra flavour adds to their relationship and shipping is exactly about this, isn't it?

Oh, and I haven't even touched the golden core transfer but as we say it in chengxian circles: the inherent homoeroticism of being inside your shidi for 16 years. Or something like that.

[maniibear]

Feeling very senti today so doing a fic rec list of all the fics that are CARRYING me in this trash year of our lord twenty twenty one. No particular order bc great things cannot be ranked!

Autumn Thoughts by softwired Sangcheng; complete - One disaster human secretly courts another more disaster human in this incredible tale of classical poetry, elegant gifts, and sloppy desperate bids for emotional connection. Come for the cute premise, stay for Jiang Cheng betting that if he runs fast enough, his feelings can't catch him bc that's how this works. Also wangxian are there, and they bought shenanigans.

The Mustache by @fortune-maiden Gen; complete - A FILL FOR MY PROMPT (😍😍😍) where NHS grows a mustache. Call me biased but this is the funniest thing I've ever read. Sometimes psychological warfare is just you, your sworn brothers, the entire jianghu, and a very specific fashion statement!

The Twin Blades of Yunmeng by @ghostysword, @sometimesophie wangxian + est. sangcheng; Ongoing - THE mdzs rewrite, THIS!!! What a brilliant and thorough reimagining of a world where JC wields both Suibian and Sandu! WWX comes back as usual, but the whole gang goes to solve the murder mystery with him and there are FEELINGS. There are some fascinating twists re NMJ's body; the character voices are ON POINT, the juniors are ducklings, JC is reluctant captain of ship wangxian, and don't even get me started on the gorgeous illustrations omgggg - like, when ya'll see and read about Qin Su mmph. This fic is an experience ok, go have it~

The Law of Unintended Consequences by @oddlyexquisite sangcheng; ongoing - An arranged marriage political drama that I could not stop reading and still think about. Do you like a grumpy purple pikachu and mastermind songbird discovering that they love each other v much actually + Niebros feels, shuangjie background feels, 3zun middleground feels? Bc this fic delivers everything. Also, what. is. happening. with the silver?? 👀👀

Telling Dreams from One Another (it's harder than you think) by @spaceshipoftheseus xisangcheng; ongoing - SPEAKING of fics that are an experience!!! Ok alright, the premise is that NMJ and JGY reincarnate, but it's SO MUCH MORE. The worldbuilding alone - like, concept art for NHS's Unclean Realm where?? The layers to every single character, do you ever want to write fanfic of fanfic? Are you ever excited for a single character to be introduced in the context of a fic? That's how RICH this story is. Every hour of every day I'm screaming at the sheer prose, the imagery, the emotions with which I am BLEST!

What we yearn for by YetForNothing the Gusu ot4; nearly complete - Oh, the sheer ambition of this fic and how i n c r e d i b l y well the author pulls it off! What if Untamed, but NHS, LWJ, WWX, & JC are an OT4? What if each of them have varying sexual orientations, gender ids, and perspectives? What if they loved each other very very much and what if all that was weaved in PERFECTLY with canon events? When I say I cannot believe fanfic is free sometimes...

That's all for now, go enrich your lives, loves!~ Also, I did my best to pull everyone's socmeds from fic notes, but if I missed anyone's tumblr or twitter, please tell and I'm happy to edit the post <33

[vrishchikawrites]

Hello. I hope you are up for some opinions and some things from yours truly! So with light of recent events in the fandom, I hope AO3 could start to be more strict on its conduct towards all users. I don’t know why we don’t have such things, but the tag wranglers and such are kinda frustrating. STTWWX with its tag like wall of rules should be the start where AO3 could look that users ARE indeed finding loopholes among their sites for misconduct.

With that, I also hoped that AO3 could start detecting hate speech like k*ll urself or any target harassment and basic derogatory words towards creators. Outside of the fics that abuse the tagging system by putting too many tags, we also need to consider this so the amount of anon hate can be limited. Because no seriously, why is there ‘fuck you I hope u d*e‘ comments or similar basic tasteless hate comments on AO3 authors section? Not everyone is obligated to lock their fanfic or disable anon for no hate kinda thing but it’s a start.

Gonna elaborate on tag wranglers again, jc bashing/unfriendly/etc are separated on Lofter, but Not Jiang family friendly is equal to jc bashing. This is really weird why can’t we have them separately? It sounds like people who put this tag on and might want to paw off maybe JYL/JFM/YZY stans Have to see it only being tag as jc bashing when they bash the whole clan/disciples/family not just jc.

Lastly, the whole misconduct on jc stans flooding wangxian tag. They just want people’s attention, so why do they appear on the wangxian tag? Some of these so-called jc stans who wrote ‘wwx should grovel on jc knees’ had KINDLY tagged background/implied wangxian (lwj/wwx name tag) and IT STILL SHOWS ON THE MAIN AO3 TAG? This is upsetting, I want us to properly have a background ship tag, also implied ship tag, or even minor/secondary ship tag. Why? These jc stans wants to bash wwx but aint tagging wwx bashing. We need to see their fucking fanfic with the tags that made us uncomfortable and off put, and it happens Like several fanfics Already, not just one. Not to mention, the incident of that one fanfic who wrote a wangxian fanfic with cheating, abuse, dv, etc and just published with the tag ‘modern setting’ ‘happy ending’ ‘fluff’ but turns out all of those and ruined people’s day… I really think someone needs to email AO3 to make the stans have their own space, we too, and all the other fandom writers who don’t properly tag will be notified by AO3 or the fans that hey, you are violating AO3 systems. We need stricter rules and aherence, feel free for anyone to report this.

Honestly, I don't know enough about how Ao3 works and how they manage the website to make any sort of informed reply. Imo, Ao3 is much better than what we had but it still has room for improvement. Hopefully, it will continue to improve.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 09 first part

(Masterpost) (More Canary Funsies)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode features so many eternal minutes of zombie shambling that I thought I could fit everything into a single post. HA HA HA HA nope. 

Zombie Temple

The trio do their best to fend off the not-zombies in the temple. Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian that he can’t go carving them up because they’re not actually dead, and drops a callback to their very first meeting at the gate of Cloud Recesses, when Wei Wuxian caught his attention with his pillowy lips comment on the not-dead cultivator. 

Lan Wangji: You said it in that golden moment that will be seared into my memory for eternity, where I heard your voice and laid eyes on your angelic face and lost my heart forever, remember? Come on, babe, it was our very first zombie! How baked were you?

Wei Wuxian: I jerk off to the sword-fighting memory, not the zombie memory, you weirdo.

Nie Huaisang’s fear of the definitely not undead has apparently gotten him the rest of the way over his fear of Lan Wangji, because he’s now yelling “Lan-Xiong!” right along with “Wei-Xiong!” as he struggles. Note that although he later mentions that his fan is made of some fancy metal, we don’t see any evidence that he wants to fight with a fan any more than he does with a blade. I don’t hate anyone’s fan-fighting NHS headcanon, but my take is that he just isn’t a physical fighter, and that’s ok. 

This is a good time to remember that our entire experience of the Nie clan so far in this story is 1. Clever but hopelessly combat-unready tiny artiste Nie Huaisang 2. Quietly helpful, absurdly pretty sidekick Meng Yao. 

We don’t know yet that Nie Huasang’s gege and Meng Yao’s sugar daddy is literally the toughest motherfucker in the entire cultivation world. But his friends do! Which makes me love these dynamics even more, because not one of them criticizes Nie Huaisang for being the person he is. 

(more after the cut!)

Never Let Me Go

This scene is where Wei Wuxian gives his tacit consent to being used as the eventual agent of Nie Huaisang’s vengeance....ok not really.

But he does make it clear what Nie Huaisang should do when he’s in a pickle. And NHS doesn’t forget things.

Priorities 

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji isn’t nearly as patient as Wei Wuxian, and he drops a silence spell on Nie Huaisang basically out of annoyance. It’s not like they’re trying to be sneaky. 

Lan Wangji: How about you have an exquisitely crafted ceramic cup of shut the fuck up?

Flute Girl

Wen Qing comes to the rescue by summoning all of the not-zombies, who happen to be her extended family, to come toast some marshmallows. 

She’s another person who unwisely demonstrates, where Wei Wuxian can hear her, the power of flutes over zombies. 

This move doesn’t seem to do anything important but it looks cool. 

Brother Dynamic: Bad. Really Bad. 

Jiang Cheng shows up in the temple and trolls everyone, because this is a great time for childish antics. Wei Wuxian is super happy to see him and runs over to hug him, which earns him a shoulder slam. 

This is a regular part of their body language with each other. Wei Wuxian covers his hurt reaction very, very quickly, with a smile that doesn’t involve very much of his face. 

Ow

Wei Wuxian is so good at pretending his feelings aren’t hurt, he probably convinces himself. 

Then he gives a too-honest answer when Jiang Cheng accuses him of...daring to enjoy himself, basically.

That’s more truth than Jiang Cheng was looking for, and he raises a hand to Wei Wuxian, who hides behind Nie Huaisang. This move is interesting because on one level it’s just clowning; obviously Nie Huaisang can’t protect WWX from anything, and WWX doesn’t need protection from Jiang Cheng. 

WWX can easily beat JC in a fight, as he’s let us know before. On another level, this retreat signals WWX’s harmlessness, his childlike-ness, in a semiotic dance that has been playing out for over a decade between the brothers.  NHS is taking on Jiang Yanli’s role in the choreography, this time.   

All of this troubling hostility doesn’t make Jiang Cheng a bad person. He’s young and he’s still under his parents’ control and subject to their abuse at home. It takes time to develop mindfulness about this stuff and learn to treat people beneath you differently than the way you are treated. 

Jiang Cheng isn’t ready for that yet, any more than he is ready to say out loud that he cares about his brother. 

Leave My Boyfriend Out of It

This interaction is noteworthy for Wei Wuxian defending Lan Wangji to his brother, before Jiang Cheng even has a chance to blame Lan Wangji. 

Wei Wuxian says that following Lan Wangji was his own idea, and then gives LWJ the sweetest, warmest smile.

Lan Wangji also gets a pair of totally unearned, delighted smiles of thanks from his two besties when he lifts the silence spell on Nie Huaisang. 

Being mildly dickish all the time works out fine, I guess, if you only make friends with people whose brothers are legendary grouches.

Grilling Wen Qing

Wei Wuxian finally decides he’s had enough of Wen Qing’s crap, and gets slightly aggressive in questioning her.

He’s not actually roughing her up but he is approaching her as a near-enemy for the first time, rather than as someone who wants to be her friend. Once Wen Qing tells him what’s up and agrees to a sort of temporary alliance, he goes back to being his normal slightly awkward self with her. 

I don’t romance-ship WQ and WWX, except maybe as corpse-mountain era FWB, but I do like their chemistry. And their friendship is really refreshing and interesting, based on sharing goals and working together, not on emotional intimacy. It’s nice to see people with a lot of barriers around their hearts, building a strong, trusting bond without having to actually open up very much.

The idea of perfect sharing between people is a nice one, but it’s pretty alien to many of us who are recovering from trauma, or people who just aren’t wired that way, and it’s good to see other models of friendship and love. 

Wei Wuxian, at Lan Wangji’s direction, parts the Red Sea drops a cage on the other 3 cultivators before going to hunt the dire birdy.  

Jiang Chang is, predictably, pissed off about it, in spite of Wei Wuxian’s “you’re good at this” parting words, and says, according to the subtitles, “you bastard!”

“Bastard” is a pretty specific epithet, in English. In the current century, it’s generally used to mean “asshole,” more or less. But it still does carry the meaning “of illegitimate birth,” and since The Untamed is often concerned with legitimacy it seems pretty strong for JC to use with someone who is rumored to be his own Dad’s by-blow. 

Let’s have a look and see what he really is calling him... 你混蛋 =  Nǐ húndàn = “you bastard” per Google translate. Wow, Jiang Cheng, you really went there, huh. 

Wen Granny

Wen Qing and the others in the golden cage watch as the not-zombies try half-heartedly to get to them. Wen Qing is super sad about it, as opposed to the two guys who are just annoyed (Jiang Cheng) or scared (Nie Huaisang).

The first time I saw this, it was just - oh, Wen Qing sympathizes with this poor random woman, she feels bad about what's happening, this is to show us she has a heart.

Now though --  that's HER granny. Maybe not her bio-grandma but clearly a granny of her clan, who she knows well, who later cares for A-Yuan when he's a child, so may very well have cared for A-Qing and A-Ning when they were small, too. Owie.

Dire Bird Hunting

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian run off to hunt the smoke bird together. They are quickly trapped in cool-looking fog. Kudos to the Director of Photography.

They spend some time being confused and also being peak Wangxian 1.0 as they help each other out. 

Lost in the fog and unable to summon talismans, Wei Wuxian is mainly about checking on Lan Wangji, making sure he’s ok, making sure he’s near.  He doesn’t spare any worry for himself.

(We get a rare instance of seeing an actually glowing sword here, instead of just having a character say “I saw the beams of swords!” to save money on VFX.)

Lan Wangji, meanwhile, understands the mental attack they are under, explains it to Wei Wuxian with only a little snark about Wei Wuxian’s overly busy mind, and teaches him how to handle it.

Lan Wangji is super disciplined in mind, body, and sword - his fight moves don’t change, really, throughout his life, but he gets better and better at execution. Wei Wuxian isn’t exactly undisciplined, but he’s super creative and busts out a new skill in nearly every encounter. Lan Wangji sees this and is learning to make use of it.

After Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian overcome the confusion that is blocking his talisman use, he tells him which talisman to use. 

This isn’t a talisman that LWJ uses himself, it’s just that he’s paying very close attention to WWX’s battle moves, and has a great memory, so he knows which ones will work. In a pretty short timespan he’s moved from thinking like a solo swordsman to thinking as part of a team with a broad range of battle skills. Very soon, he’ll be starting to use Wei Wuxian’s talismans himself. 

WWX takes a hit from the flying death chain, but uses it to his advantage, as in so many encounters. He’s not just self-sacrificing--he is definitely that--but he’s also a chess player, knowing how to use a sacrifice or an injury to his advantage. Cue Lan Wangji being worried for the entire rest of his life.

Part Two is here!