#and there's absolutely no romantic interest in canon between wwx and jc at all)

[ravenpureforever]

random question time! which wwx's relationship do you like the most and why? It could be platonic or romantic, all canons allowed

Thank you for the ask! Oh boy this question is hard, because I like I appreciate so many of his relationships for different reasons that picking just one feels kinda cruel 

I think the biggest tie for me is between JC and LWJ for WWX. 

Wangxian is the rare ship where I genuinely can only see them romantically with each other, like I’m multishipper, I’ll ship literally anything if you have an interesting concept, pretty words or beautiful art, like grab my attention I am yours, except these two, they live in my head rent free and they can only be together because like maybe you lost everything, maybe you can never go back to that blissful youth you once had, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build a new life for yourself and find happiness and all the grief and tragedy does not define you but you still want to help people and you will help people and maybe it isn’t the life you thought you wanted when you were fifteen but it is a wonderful one and you love and you are loved and you are happy and that is enough. Maybe you suffered, maybe you were cruel, maybe the world misread who you are and assigned you a role you did not ask for, but maybe that doesn’t matter because you know who you are, you are still kind, and you have someone who knows and understands you and trusts who you are. You are both also kind of insufferable in your love and get to be annoying too. 

But JC & WWX are my ultimate tragic doomed platonic relationship, my neurotic little freaks who can’t be normal about each other and have zero boundaries, bickering idiots, wanting to go back to your youth except you’ll never be 15 again and you the person who knew the most intimate parts of yourself is now a stranger except you still see the glimmers of the person they used to be, the most brutal variation of you’ll never recover from that kind of devotion, the ultimate capturing  lost youth and having to go down different paths and really depicting what growing up is like sometimes, the viciousness where I am able to hurt you unlike anyone else (regardless if I want to or not), the abusive household codependency of survival, literally carrying a piece of your soul in my chest and making the ultimate sacrifice you never asked for because I couldn’t bare to risk losing you, the hollowness is a symbol of my devotion and the fullness is an omen of our splintering, there is one brain cell being shared like a game of tennis, my pathetic meow meow and beloved blorbo, I genuinely can’t be normal about them. 

I think if I really have to pick between them though, I’ll have to say JC & WWX just by virtue of I don’t like Wangxian fics that mischaracterize or villainize JC, like if he’s featured and isn’t a well-written character (Shanastorytellers' and loosingletters’ fics my absolute beloveds), it really takes me out of the narrative. His depiction and relationship with WWX has a lot of impact on my Wangxian enjoyment, and even in canon my beloved Wangxian gets to develop because of all the Ls this poor guy takes, so congrats JC, you win here! It’s by a literal hair, but JC & WWX platonic relationship, get these boys a reconciliation so they can drink in Lotus Pier and gossip about their kids and people they think are stupid, WWX it will enrich your marriage so much I promise. It’s what *I* deserve.

[ninjakk]

Hi

This is more of fanon question but what do you think of stright boy wwx, who everyone knows he’s gay but him, doesn’t know his feelings even though he’s having sex with lwj.

And lwj still does shave sex with him even though he does think wwx is stright and won’t have feelings for him.

Hi Anon,

Wow, is this really a thing!? 🤔

I think they're reading a different book 🤣

Well my honest opinion would be that whoever thinks this really does not have much of an understanding of the characters in MDZS, or the plot for that matter. Whether this is something that some truly see in the novel or something they put in fanfic, it's just bizarre.

Firstly, only a few people made assumptions with regards to WWX's feelings towards LWJ. Really it was only the juniors who noticed something between them. JC was in denial the whole time (across both WWXs lives) until he couldn't deny it any longer - and even then he tried! Personally I think WQ noticed WWX acted differently around LWJ and at some point WN picked up on something between them as well. But bar that, most people wrongly thought the pair hated each other! So that's just wrong right from the start!

WWX is extremely emotionally intelligent, he understands people very well and that includes himself as well. Yes, he lies to himself and pushes his true feelings down at times - but this is a coping mechanism. He feels so deeply, his only way to cope about certain emotions that might bring him pain, is to play them down or convince himself they are different to what they are.

WWX is just trying to protect his heart. He lies to himself about his feelings for LWJ because to him, the latter wasn't interested. Yet WWX was still drawn towards him every time they met, because LWJ is the only one he's ever truly wanted. By the time WWX and LWJ have sex, WWX is more than sure of his feelings for LWJ! In fact just before all of this, WWX is so sure of his feelings he's absolutely terrified LWJ might not feel the same way.

So I think any idea of a fanon or fanfic WWX that is as emotionally dense as 'straight boy' WWX is, is just so far from the actual character, I don't see the point in them reading the novel, being a fan or writing fic using WWXs name if this is their take on him, as it's clearly not the character MXTX created.

As for LWJ having sex with this warped version of WWX, he simply wouldn't. As much as LWJ loves WWX, he would not have meaningless sex with him just because the latter 'doesn't mind'. Just looking at the end of chapter 95 and chapter 96, where WWX thinks LWJ has only just sobered up and is upset that they had sex. This scene should be enough to show anyone that this is not in LWJs character. WWX desperately tries to salvage their relationship because he loves LWJ so much he wants to be with him anyway he can. So he makes it out it was just something friends do! LWJ is so distraught at the possibility WWX didn't have romantic feelings for him, yet shared an extremely intimate moment with him anyway. How can anyone think he would just have sex with WWX if he thought WWX wasn't interested in him. It just wouldn't happen.

So again, I think that this fanon idea or whatever it is, is just so far from the truth it's just strange! Anyone who wants this to be canon should just go find another novel to read quite frankly!

It can take time to understand your sexuality and shaming a character who actually realised it pretty fast considering the circumstances, is just shallow and ironically makes them the "oblivious" ones they so often like to accuse WWX of being. It's obvious WWX would have realised his sexuality a lot sooner if LWJ had given him a little hint back when they were teens. Which isn't LWJ's fault of course, because people seem to forget he was coming to terms with his own feelings at the time as well! But if he'd given WWX a sign, he'd have been spurred on and pursued LWJ until they were a couple.

In WWX's own words:

"...If he doesn’t want me, I’ll bother him to the point that he does.”

Chapter 125 - Lotus Seed Pod extra, ExR

Although he wasn't fully prepared to accept what context the above proclamation was in, he still meant it! 🥰

I'm guessing you feel the same way about this obnoxious interpretation as well Anon, since you used the term fanon 😉 so that's a relief! Have a lovely day and enjoy the canon version of WWX and LWJ in all their true glory ❤️

[bipirate]

ooh! 1, 3, 14, 22, 25!

thanks for specifying cql in your other ask!

the character everyone gets wrong

mostly wwx but like i said in my other ask, lwj and nhs as well. also jc. theyre always depicted as superficial stereotypes and robbed of any complexity that makes them interesting.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

man i dont even know at this point, i've seen so many garbage takes on here. what about that one time someone got so mad in my inbox because cql was rumoured to have been a love story between wq and wwx at first and they 'changed it because of fans threatening the production crew' and they called the script writers and producers etc homophobes for daring to alter the source material to be a hetero relationship. all that when the end result is still deeply homosexual even with censorship.

or all the thinkpieces people have written about how jiang cheng is actually a good guy and he couldve been the one to save the wens if only wen qing had been gracious enough to marry him. or whatever.

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

just one thing? nah

'oh my god lan zhan warn me before you do something so romantic!! ~~~'

when wwx's waist is described to be so tiny that lwj's hands can wrap all the way around it :/

i havent actually read fic in a while so this is more difficult than i thought

wwx having straight hair in his original body but wavy/curly hair as mxy for some reason? this isn't bad but it's something i've come across multiple times and i always wonder why because i don't remember this being a thing in the novel specifically

lqr being homophobic for some reason. let the man live. he's traditional but there's no indication that he's homophobic?

fic authors seem to have no fashion sense whatsoever

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

the fact that lan wangji would absolutely be friends with all the lesbians and especially mianmian. WHERE is all the lwj + mianmian friendship content (idk. all of my favourite things are pretty popular as well)

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

the complaints about cql being censored and 'not actually gay' or 'not gay enough'. like yeah censorship is bad, we all know this, and if given a choice i would also have preferred a textually explicit romance, but the people that complain about this really lack critical thinking. wwx and lwj don't need to make out or have sex in the woods without lube for them to be a legitimate couple lmao. cql IS a romance and it's made obvious by the symbolism, the music, and the script.

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

I feel like there’s a point to be made about how SVSSS, MXTX’s first novel, deliberately comments on and explores the prevalence of tragically orphaned, traumatised protagonists through Luo Binghe (both versions), and explores how that trope would actually affect the characters as people. Meanwhile, her second novel tells the story of someone who at face value has a very similarly generic backstory, but she deliberately breaks past those narrative confines with Wei Wuxian, whose identity doesn’t depend on that at all. 

Both characters have a very similar, deliberately ‘generic’ backstory – orphaned very young, grew up on the streets in poverty, were taken in by a cultivation sect but were abused by someone in power, and so on – but what separates them is their actions and levels of agency (both narrative and personal). If the value of it for Luo Binghe is to comment on and exploring its use as a button for sympathy points, the value of it for Wei Wuxian is to actively reject that use, and rather than using it as a way to make him tragic and sympathetic because of his helplessness, it’s used to enhance his narrative agency. He isn’t defined by it, he’s defined by what he does despite that.

[pocketfulofrecs]

This week’s Author Spotlight is here! And our author in the spotlight is glitteringmoonlight! We really love this author and it seems like many of our friends do as well. We’ve both been recommended "on restitution" so many times! A testament of how good glitteringmoonlight is. If there was a list of authors to read as a newcomer, we think she would be on it for sure.

She has published 222k+ words on MDZS on ao3 in 12 works. You can find her @glitteringmoonlight on Tumblr.

Her fics:

Dreams of You (Are All I Have Left) - [teen | 2.7k | the 13 years]

love at every s(word f)ight - [teen | 3.2k | established relationship fluff]

one of our own - [general | 7.7k | 5 times the Lans defended WWX]

pay no attention to what’s behind the curtain - [teen | 7.4k | emperor!LWJ and concubine!WWX]

this version of our story - [general | 3.4k | Lan Sizhui learns about the Wens]

no smoke without fire - [teen | 12k | outsider pov about the Yiling Patriarch]

watch what we’ll become - [teen | 59k | arranged marriage between WWX and JZX - but still wangxian]

looking through a window - [teen | 5.4k | modern au online learning outsider pov]

pitfalls of greed (our post) - [teen | 3.3k | Yiling Laozu WWX]

our lives, never ours - [teen | 7.9k | hunger games au]

on restitution - [mature | 98k | WWX doesn’t die at the siege and is kept prisoner by JC - the rest of canon still happens]

this world (what I make of it) - [teen | 17k | wip | avatar au]

Dee’s favourite: I’m honestly torn? I love pitfalls of greed. It is one of the first fics I read. BAMF WWX is my jam. Looking through a window is a great fic too! There’s something so charming about outsider POV getting a glimpse of lovely Wangxian domesticity. The descriptions of LWJ and WWX are so enchanting here. I would highly recommend them.

Ju’s favourite: This was hard to choose, but “on restitution” has a big place in my heart. I was so afraid of reading it while the author was Anonymous, because the synopsis is so sad/angsty. The moment I saw who the writer was I started reading and just couldn’t put it down. And it is just so good!!! The first chapter is really angsty and it hurts a lot, but then the rest of the fic comes and it’s way less angsty than I expected. WWX is full of life, wangxian is absolutely glorious, and soft, and romantic, and sexy, and they tease and trust each other. The juniors are also there, and we get Wei Yuan for once! They are all so in character and it makes me so happy. Mostly WWX pov, but I cannot forget to mention Jingyi’s pov. I just couldn’t stop laughing at his chapter. Cannot rec this one enough.

The Interview:

Q. When did you start writing fics? Did you have fandoms before this one?

A. I used to write for Percy Jackson and Harry Potter in the early 2010s (under a different name), though not very prolifically, but that tapered off fairly quickly. Apart from a few unpublished fic drafts for Lord of the Rings and Leverage, I only really got back into fic writing after I rewatched Avatar: The Last Airbender in 2020.

Q. What made you start writing for MDZS?

A. Wangxian! What drew me to the source material was the fact that I found Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji utterly fascinating as individual characters, but it was how much I loved their relationship dynamic that got me thinking about writing fic. There was also something about the plot and themes of MDZS itself that I found very compelling, and that made me even more interested in exploring it in fic. I didn’t realize it would lead to me writing so many fics in this fandom, but I’m certainly not complaining!

Q. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

A. That’s a really hard question to answer because I love different fics for different reasons, and at any given time, the fic I’m working on at the moment is usually my favourite. Among my finished fics, I particularly love on restitution, because of the way I got to portray Wangxian (and how many sweet, fluffy interactions I managed to fit into it, which… might seem like an odd reason given the premise, summary, and tags) and no smoke without fire, because it contains so many tropes I love— Wei Wuxian being a genius inventor, Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants as found family, kids loving Wei Wuxian… the list goes on.

Q. What’s your favourite type of fics to read?

A. It depends on the day, really. Sometimes I love a good plot-heavy fic and other times I just want tender domestic fluff. But when it comes to MDZS, I do have a soft spot for fics of the ‘Wei Wuxian protection squad’ variety and fics that heavily feature the Wen siblings and Wei Wuxian’s relationship.

Q. What’s your favourite comment? Or type of comment?

A. Any comment at all! It’s always amazing to know that someone liked my fic(s) enough to let me know! (Though it’s a special kind of thrill to see the same person comment on multiple of my fics, because it tells me that they liked my writing enough to check out what else I’ve written)

Q. What is your favorite trope to read and/or write?

A. Established relationship and all the subtropes that encompasses! I love the familiarity, the casual intimacy, the comfort in each other’s presence… I could go on and on. I also love a good outsider POV (as evidenced by how many of them I’ve written), and as a natural consequence, established relationship from outsider POV.

Q. Do you have any advice for new authors?

A. Write what you want to read. I’ve found that it’s a lot more enjoyable to write something that you personally like, and editing feels a lot less tedious when you enjoy what you’re proofreading. Also, there’s a good chance you’ll connect with other people who enjoy the same things you do!

Q. What do you think is the most important element in writing? Plot, characterization, relationship?

A. They’re all important, but characterization drives everything else, I feel. The characters— and the way they react to situations and to each other— influence how the plot progresses and the relationships develop, so characterization is an essential part of writing.

~

Check out their stories on ao3 and remember…

Comments and kudos feed the author’s soul.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Fandom 5k letter:

MDZS (novel)

I would like NMJ centric fic - something where he's the center of attention and the focus of someone's affection, rather than a secondary character in someone else's story. I want him to be the hurt-and-then-comforted, I want him to someone's crazy obsession, I want him being put first over other people, etc. Stories in which another character has an emotional arc in which they realize how much NMJ means to them are also good.

In terms of genre, I really like darkfic, h/c, or plotty action/adventure (and more worldbuilding re: the Nie sect is always great!). Smut is OK if there's character development during, but no PWP. For romance, I prefer getting together, not established relationships, and enemies-to-lovers (or, well, enemies&lovers) over friend-eventually-becomes-a-lover.

Ships are flexible, but some optional specific prompts below:

NMJ/JGY (silver-tongued manipulator JGY, not sad misunderstood JGY please!)

yandere!JGY obsessing over NMJ because he gave him respect when he was nothing or because he’s just so damn moral and it fascinates amoral!JGY; scheming to get him back (whether via manipulation, an arranged marriage, kidnapping, whatever) or to trap him as his own (mind control could be fun!)

JGY finding out about a traumatic non-con or dub-con incident in NMJ's past (SLN post-qi deviation? WRH before/during the Nightless City captivity? JGS?) and/or seeing it happen, then going feral in his defense and/or providing him with comfort over it

if you want to do a modern AU, serial killer/assassin!JGY becoming fixated on righteous man NMJ

NMJ/WRH (generally prefer this to be noncon/dubcon and then a rescue h/c by someone else; if you want to write them romantically, please avoid completely whitewashing WRH - murderous bastard but not outright fascist tyrant is OK, but please no versions where he’s not a murderous bastard in some fashion)

WRH becoming creepily fixated on NMJ, whether pre-Sunshot (discussion conferences?) or during the campaign, and the fallout from that (wanting to make him his empress? wanting him to bear him children? etc.) – prefer this to be in the NC/DC/rescued by someone else vein

WRH sets up an arranged marriage to NMJ to get him out of the way but finds he likes him more than expected (or possibly one where WRH time travels?)

if you want to do a modern AU, mob boss!WRH obsessed with righteous man NMJ (genre shift AUs with this dynamic are also OK) – this one is OK to do as romantic between them if you want

NMJ/LXC: Would love alternate meeting, canon divergence, or genre-shift AU here; not so interested in friends from childhood with puppy crushes on each other that eventually get together. I want to see LXC doing some pining!

NMJ & Baxia: positive relationship only, please! NMJ loves his sentient or semi-sentient saber and she loves him. Other than that, go crazy – do they team up to fight his death by qi deviation? Does she cultivate to humanity? Are they weirdly co-dependent? All the worldbuilding!

NMJ/any male: go crazy! NMJ/WWX? NMJ/JC? NMJ/Wen Ning? NMJ/XXC? All good! In all cases, prefer NMJ as the pursued, not the pursuer :) no modern AUs unless they specifically fit into the type described above (i.e. if you want someone else as the mob boss/serial killer/etc. that's fine)

Wants/DNWs:

dark, creepy, dub con and non con are obvious yes, including temporary mind-alteration (hypnosis, mind control, common sense adjustment, age regression, aphrodisiacs, somnophilia, training to respond to stimuli, etc.), but no outright mind-break or permanent personality alteration (no leaving someone as a doll, no implications of long-term drug addiction, no bimboification, no permanent amnesia, etc.)

I'm very fond of AFAB!trans!NMJ but if you go this route please have him present as male and not angst over his gender assignment - being upset over forced feminization is OK, forced impreg/breeding kink is great, but no focus on gender dysphoria under normal non-extreme circumstances

ABO is fine as long as it's omega!NMJ, but no bitching/NMJ-was-once-an-alpha-but-changes-due-to-trauma

for fics involving outright non-con, please end with NMJ being rescued and getting comfort from someone else; dub-con fics can have bad end/ambiguous end (i.e. NMJ as WRH's empress, JGY's hypnotized pet, etc.)

DNW: no top!NMJ, no character death for NMJ including no implications he suffers his canon fate, no permanent physical alteration (amputation, piercings, tattoos, etc.), no voluntary infidelity, no watersports/scat/vomit/lactation/focus on body hair, no replacement pining (i.e. I want person X but I can't have them so I'll settle for you), no LXC/JGY or any ships with Wen Qing, no Christianity

no modern AUs other than those explicitly specified

no pure PWP

MDZS DONGHUA

The MDZS donghua is my absolute favorite form of MDZS (though I haven't seen the audio drama yet). I love the way that it's so much more high-fantasy and EXTRA - WWX controlling flocks of crows, using resentful energy to fly, summoning green ghost fire, ripping out Wen Zhliu's core with his bare hands..! The beautiful arrays, the magical tools (giant bells!), techniques (gravity-bending by Wen Ruohan!), literally everything Jiang Cheng does with Zidian...plus I love the small but significant canon divergences (like how NMJ is not captured by WRH but confronts him in open battle with LXC at his side).

I would like NMJ centric fic - something where he's the center of attention and the focus of someone's affection, rather than a secondary character in someone else's story. I want him to be the hurt-and-then-comforted, I want him to someone's crazy obsession, I want him being put first over other people, etc. Stories in which another character has an emotional arc in which they realize how much NMJ means to them are also good.

In terms of genre, I really like darkfic, h/c, or plotty action/adventure (and more worldbuilding re: the Nie sect is always great! ESPECIALLY with the donghua: I want to see NMJ get some of the special high-fantasy powers like we see for LWJ or WWX). Smut is OK if there's character development during, but no PWP. For romance, I prefer getting together, not established relationships, and enemies-to-lovers (or, well, enemies&lovers) over friend-eventually-becomes-a-lover.

Ships are flexible, but some optional specific prompts below:

NMJ/JGY

AU for the donghua! NMJ was never captured in the Nightless City, there's no indication he ever worked for NMJ, as far as we see he just appears when he kills WRH and then became sworn brothers with NMJ and LXC; there's not even any indication (yet) that he killed NMJ. Different meeting point? Different interactions? Wonderful opportunity to go completely off canon

I'm extremely fond of yandere!JGY or JGY going feral in NMJ's defense for some reason

if you want to do a modern AU, serial killer/assassin!JGY becoming fixated on righteous man NMJ

NMJ/WRH (generally prefer this to be noncon/dubcon and then a rescue h/c by someone else; if you want to write them romantically, please avoid completely whitewashing WRH - murderous bastard but not outright fascist tyrant is OK, but please no versions where he’s not a murderous bastard in some fashion)

WRH becoming creepily fixated on NMJ, whether pre-Sunshot (discussion conferences?) or during the campaign, and the fallout from that (wanting to make him his empress? wanting him to bear him children? etc.) – prefer this to be in the NC/DC/rescued by someone else vein

WRH sets up an arranged marriage to NMJ to get him out of the way but finds he likes him more than expected (or possibly one where WRH time travels?)

if you want to do a modern AU, mob boss!WRH obsessed with righteous man NMJ (genre shift AUs with this dynamic are also OK) – this one is OK to do as romantic between them if you want

NMJ/LQR (based on the interaction in the archery contest in the donghua, where LQR is the only one NMJ listens to)

something playing on inherent weirdness of someone a generation younger than you being your equal, plus seeing them having to stand up against the whole world more or less on their own

one of the other sect leaders tries to scheme against NMJ, LQR tries to intervene to stop them, stuff goes out of hand

NMJ/any male: go crazy! NMJ/LXC? NMJ/WWX/LWJ? NMJ/JC? NMJ/Wen Ning? NMJ/XXC? All good! In all cases, prefer NMJ as the pursued, not the pursuer :) no modern AUs unless they specifically fit into the type described above (i.e. if you want someone else as the mob boss/serial killer/etc. that's fine)

Wants/DNWs:

dark, creepy, dub con and non con are obvious yes, including temporary mind-alteration (hypnosis, mind control, common sense adjustment, age regression, aphrodisiacs, somnophilia, training to respond to stimuli, etc.), but no outright mind-break or permanent personality alteration (no leaving someone as a doll, no implications of long-term drug addiction, no bimboification, no permanent amnesia, etc.)

I'm very fond of AFAB!trans!NMJ but if you go this route please have him present as male and not angst over his gender assignment - being upset over forced feminization is OK, forced impreg/breeding kink is great, but no focus on gender dysphoria under normal non-extreme circumstances

ABO is fine as long as it's omega!NMJ, but no bitching/NMJ-was-once-an-alpha-but-changes-due-to-trauma

for fics involving outright non-con, please end with NMJ being rescued and getting comfort from someone else; dub-con fics can have bad end/ambiguous end (i.e. NMJ as WRH's empress, JGY's hypnotized pet, etc.)

DNW: no top!NMJ, no character death for NMJ including no implications he suffers his canon fate, no permanent physical alteration (amputation, piercings, tattoos, etc.), no voluntary infidelity, no watersports/scat/vomit/lactation/focus on body hair, no replacement pining (i.e. I want person X but I can't have them so I'll settle for you), no LXC/JGY or any ships with Wen Qing, no Christianity

no modern AUs other than those explicitly specified

no pure PWP

UNTAMED

Oh, the Untamed, my favorite AU fanfic that they filmed into an 50 episode series. I consider this canon completely distinct from the novel or donghua canons, so feel free to lean in to the canon divergences. Yin Metal? Ghost puppets? Completely different age gaps and/or chronologies? Baxia’s – uh – DISTINCTIVE appearance? All good!

I would like NMJ centric fic - something where he's the center of attention and the focus of someone's affection, rather than a secondary character in someone else's story. I want him to be the hurt-and-then-comforted, I want him to someone's crazy obsession, I want him being put first over other people, etc. Stories in which another character has an emotional arc in which they realize how much NMJ means to them are also good.

For the Untamed, I’m less interested in darkfic (thought it’s still OK!) and more interested in hurt/comfort.  For romance, I prefer getting together, not established relationships, and enemies-to-lovers (or, well, enemies&lovers) over friend-eventually-becomes-a-lover. Smut is OK but not preferred.

NMJ/JGY:

yandere!JGY obsessing over NMJ because he gave him respect when he was nothing or because he’s just so damn moral and it fascinates amoral!JGY; scheming to get him back (whether via manipulation, an arranged marriage, kidnapping, whatever)

JGY finding out about a traumatic non-con or dub-con incident in NMJ's past (SLN post-qi deviation? WRH before/during the Nightless City captivity? JGS?) and/or seeing it happen, then going feral in his defense and/or providing him with comfort over it

if you want to do a modern AU, serial killer/assassin!JGY becoming fixated on righteous man NMJ

NMJ/LXC: Would love alternate meeting, canon divergence, or genre-shift AU here; not so interested in friends from childhood with puppy crushes on each other that eventually get together. I want to see LXC doing some pining!

NMJ/any male: go crazy! NMJ/LXC? NMJ/WWX/LWJ? NMJ/JC? NMJ/Wen Ning? NMJ/XXC? All good! In all cases, prefer NMJ as the pursued, not the pursuer :) no modern AUs unless they specifically fit into the type described above (i.e. if you want someone else as the mob boss/serial killer/etc. that's fine)

Wants/DNWs:

dark, creepy, dub con and non con are obvious yes, including temporary mind-alteration (hypnosis, mind control, common sense adjustment, age regression, aphrodisiacs, somnophilia, training to respond to stimuli, etc.), but no outright mind-break or permanent personality alteration (no leaving someone as a doll, no implications of long-term drug addiction, no bimboification, no permanent amnesia, etc.)

I'm very fond of AFAB!trans!NMJ but if you go this route please have him present as male and not angst over his gender assignment - being upset over forced feminization is OK, forced impreg/breeding kink is great, but no focus on gender dysphoria under normal non-extreme circumstances

ABO is fine as long as it's omega!NMJ, but no bitching/NMJ-was-once-an-alpha-but-changes-due-to-trauma

for fics involving outright non-con, please end with NMJ being rescued and getting comfort from someone else; dub-con fics can have bad end/ambiguous end (i.e. NMJ JGY's hypnotized pet or puppet, etc.)

DNW: no top!NMJ, no character death for NMJ including no implications he suffers his canon fate, no permanent physical alteration (amputation, piercings, tattoos, etc.), no voluntary infidelity, no watersports/scat/vomit/lactation/focus on body hair, no replacement pining (i.e. I want person X but I can't have them so I'll settle for you), no LXC/JGY or any ships with Wen Qing, no Christianity

no modern AUs other than those explicitly specified

no pure PWP

BLACK BOOK

This movie is a delight - as long as Fouché's on screen, anyway, out-acting literally everyone else by miles (especially the terrible main leads). As someone who did their history major on the French Revolution, I'm deeply, deeply aware of how inaccurate this movie is - as someone who enjoys over-the-top villains and endless snark, I love it anyway.

Fouché (solo): The snark! The inability to take anything seriously even once! The blatant amorality! The ambiguous relationship and chemistry he has with literally anyone who is on screen with him! The willingness to side with anyone at least once, and then turn on them shortly thereafter! The surprising competence he has at everything he does - politics? investigations? flirting? lock-picking? He's your man. For now.

Requests: I'd love some canon-style shenanigans (investigating something? arresting people? having to team up with someone unusual? politics! ALL THE POLITICS!) or something plot-focused. Maybe even the glimpse of the future we get with Fouché establishing a relationship with Napoleon, or possibly an AU where Max really does become dictator (but keeps Fouché around)?  

Feel free to draw from Fouché's actual history (son of a (suspected) privateer! former math or physics teacher! may or may not have flirted with Robespierre's sister pre-Revolution while hanging out with Robespierre in a pie shop! may or may not have literally stolen a wife out of a convent and stayed very happily and monogamously married until she died decades later, much to the confusion of everyone around him!), but please maintain his key features from the movie (super competent, shameless, more amoral than outright evil). Complete genre shift AUs are also fine - I'd love to see a world where they're all mages or, like, steampunk, or IN SPACE! - but I'd prefer the vibe stay like the movie, aka completely ahistorical villains win/mad demagoguery/intrigue. Lean into the (light-hearted) dystopia!

Fouché/"Max" or Fouché & "Max": The inherent fun in a relationship where both parties know that it'll end with one of them killing the other and both of them are trying their damn hardest to achieve it, but also being absolutely essential to one another right now so. you know. let's just not talk about that.

Also just the way that Fouché calls Robespierre Max despite how much he hates it, speaking to a History between them, and the sheer glorious villainy of Robespierre in this movie - I love that he has basically a silver tongue, an almost hypnotizing ability to convince people (mostly the mob) of what he wants no matter what the situation, no matter what they know...I'd love to see that played with, including as a total AU/fantasy (magic-user AU? literal hypnosis powers? is Max planning on becoming a god?)

Would love to see plot-focused or "forced to work together" stuff, with a lot of mockery (and a great deal of competence) on Fouché's part and being ridiculously badass on Max's. Would prefer that they genuinely like each other, even if it's not going to stop them from murdering each other. Even if Max really, really wishes he didn't. Also would love to see an AU where Max really does become dictator but keeps Fouché around.

DNW: narrative endorsed anti-Revolution views (royalist or even "good idea but they went too far in 93"), no unasked-for crossovers with the Scarlet Pimpernel or something (using characters from actual history are just fine!), no major character death, no retrospective angsting (i.e. no "alas if only I hadn't killed him"), no focus on torture, no infidelity (except as approved and endorsed by spouses), no permanent amnesia, no permanent disfiguration/amputation (yes including Max losing his tongue), no "I want other person but you'll do" substitution, nothing that mind breaks either of the characters' personalities

[yiling]

Give us a 3 for general, a 5 for ships, a 3 for story, and a 5 for fic!

Okay, 3-5-3-5 it is!

3. Manhua, donghua, novel, live-action, or audio drama?

Ah, I’m one of those plebs who didn’t know anything about the genre until CQL got big. I’ve read bits and pieces of the novel mostly for point of comparison, but I’ve yet to sit down and read it the whole way through. I’ve also made an attempt at watching the donghua but I...really don’t like the art style OTL

5. Platonic OTPs/BROTPs? Rarepairs? OT3+s?

Wow this question encompasses a lot. Here goes:

-Platonic OTPs: I love Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing’s relationship and while I’m not actually adverse to it as a romantic pairing, I’m way more interested in them as friends and allies and partners in crime, the bonds of loyalty and debt between them. (The words “thank you and I’m sorry” still crush my heart tbqh)

I also am really curious about Lan Sizhui and Wen Ning’s post canon relationship! I think there’s some really interesting stuff you could explore with their familial connection. Them traveling together feels so right and I’m really glad that’s where canon leaves them. I’m mad that their spinoff movie apparently sucked lol

Others: The Yunmeng Siblings in all their dysfunction. Whatever the hell was going on between Meng Yao and Nie Huaisang. Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing. The WWX+JC+NHS one brain cell trio. All the juniors’ friendships.

-Rarepairs: HAHA TOO MANY. The niche rarepairs in this fandom are top quality. I’ve been making noise about Xue Yang/Wei Wuxian recently because I still cannot believe that it’s a rarepair! Like, Xue Yang is flirting with everything in him in every scene they have in CQL, and the fact that they’re narrative parallels with each other is like...*chef’s kiss*. The fandom should be all over that shit

By far my rarest rarepair, though, is Wei Wuxian/Xiao Xingchen. There are three works on the archive for it, and two are in languages I don’t speak :’’’)))). I’d be fine with this one as a platonic pairing too tbh? But I just think they’d be sweet together. @veilchenjaeger wrote this banging post about why they’d get along really well and I’m quietly appropriating it as a ship manifesto.

Others: Jiggy/Xue Yang, WWX/NHS, Song Lan/Wen Ning, SL/LXC, LWJ/Jiang Cheng but it sucks and they don’t like each other, WQ/WWX sometimes, WQ/JYL

-OT3+: You should know this because I never shut up about it, but I fucking love Songxuexiao in all their component pairings and especially as a threesome. They’re just really screwed up and awful and fun, and I love seeing people in the fandom either find new ways for them to ruin each other, or wonderfully, impossibly finagle ways for them all to end up together and happy. 

I was also running my mouth about it earlier, but I’m fascinated by the idea of a Songxiao+Wangxian foursome. It would be very poignant and poetic and also really hot. This is something I’m a little surprised isn’t more popular, especially in CQL where they all get to meet while everyone is alive, but foursomes are hard to write lmao, too many limbs to coordinate

Others: 3zun. Wangningxian. LWJ/MXY/WWX.

3. You can bring one character back to life, but you must pick someone else to die in their place. Would you do it? How would this affect the story?

Man this one is ambiguous. Can I pick someone who already dies during the plot, or does it have to be someone who lives? I’d definitely do it, mostly because I think certain characters got...really shafted, so here’s some thoughts.

Going with a strict interpretation of “die in their place”, as in, “literally dies where the other character does”, I would uh. Kill Song Lan and have A-Qing be the one who survives Yi City :’’’)))))). Sorry daozhang, but not enough girls live through the plot! It would be sad as hell, but I wouldn’t mind it if the implication is that Songxiao are together in death, and I really love the idea of A-Qing as a sentient fierce corpse tagging along with the juniors. (There is an excellent fic with this premise). A-Qing is the most human of the Yi City characters, and I think she has the best chance to be happy even with all she was put through. I think having her live would be kind of bittersweet and hopeful, honestly.

Here’s an even hotter take: keep Wen Qing alive but kill Wen Yuan. THIS ONE IS ALMOST TOO AWFUL BUT LIKE...idk! The fact that Wen Qing dies is truly some bullshit and I love her relationship with WWX well enough that I’m almost willing to sacrifice poor Sizhui just to see her reaction when he comes back. I’m not 100% on board with this one, because, you know, I really love Sizhui, and I think he has tremendous thematic importance. I think a lot of things wouldn’t work as well without him. But I love Wen Qing a lot, and I really wanna see her live :((((

Look, could I just kill Sect Leader Yao? Then I can resurrect whoever :V

5. Recommend a fanfic!! Can be yours or someone else’s.

Already recced Small Medium Large (3.5k, A-Qing and juniors) up top, but it’s really fun and good, so I’ll rec it again. A-Qing gets to live and terrorize asshole sect leaders, it’s wonderful

Devil on a Bed of Bones (9k, WWX/XY) is a stellar example of my favorite rarepair and you should absolutely read it, it should get more attention! Love some banter interspersed with creeping horror. 

(and uh...I’m still pretty proud of pass the time (2.7k, A-Qing and Xue Yang) so you can read that if you like my stuff)

[isinuyasha]

Get to know me: MDZS Edition

Get the template by @zhuilingyizhen  here

// General //

If you had to join a sect, which would you join? GusuLan Sect. I know, there’s so many rules, but I can’t deal with lively, loud or hot places, so Lan it is.

Your three favorite characters? Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Shizui

Manhua, donghua, novel, live-action, or audio drama? Probably live action. I absolutely love and adore the novel because it gave us married and domestic WangXian (and of course ALL the delicious dirty SMUT), but there’s just something about the live action that captured my heart. Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan just breathed so much life into the characters. The donghua is cute, the manhua is even cuter and the audio drama is absolutely lovely, but they’re mostly an added bonus.

List your favorite sects, in order. Dang, that’s hard. Depends on what characteristics I’m going by. Going just by aesthetics it would probably be YunmengJiang, GusuLan, LanlingJin, QingheNie, QishanWen.

How long have you been in the fandom? Not long, February probably, but my obsession hit really hard. It’s the first time I’ve been active in a different fandom than HP since 2005 (can you imagine?). 

// Ships //

What’s your OTP? WangXian, no question about it.

What’s your NOTP? Or any other ship you hate? Any with Wei Wuxian or Lan Wangji not with each other, I’m possessive.

Other ships you like? I’m not particular about other ships, there are a lot of cute ones.

Thoughts on Wangxian? 🤔 The best thing to happen since... anything basically. I wish novel!WangXian would use lube though, please. Do it for Bichen.

Platonic OTPs/BROTPs? Rarepairs? OT3+s? No particular preference.

Describe a ship in five words. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

// Characters //

If you could date any character from MDZS, who would you pick? Wow, that’s difficult to answer. Definitely neither WWX or LWJ because they belong with each other. In a perfect world, it’d be someone who’d treat me right, like Lan Xichen (I’m too old for Lan Shizui, so he’s out)... but realistically it’d probably be someone like Jiang Cheng or Nie Mingjue because I’m weak for dominant, moody, grumpy men with soft cores. Also, apart from fanficition I don’t enjoy romantic/couply things in RL, so it’d fit I guess. 

If you had to kill a character, who would you kill? Xue Yang, Wen Ruohan, Wen Chao or Su She probably. I’m on the fence with Meng Yao because without him WWX probably wouldn’t have been resurrected, so I don’t know.

Favorite character & why? Lan Wangji. I just find him really interesting and unusual. 

Least favorite character & why? Probably Meng Yao. The other “evil” characters didn’t try to hide they’re evil whereas Meng Yao pretended to be innocent right until the end and betrayed those that loved him just to reach some idiotic goal. I hate snakes like him.

Favorite character of the juniors? [don’t forget OYZZ] Lan Jingyi probably, because he’s pure comic relief.

Favorite character from each main sect (secondary is optional)? I’m excluding WWX and LWJ here, just because) Jiang Yanli, Lan Xichen, Jin Ling, Nie Huaisang, Wen Yuan (Wen Ning following closely behind, literally).

// Story //

If you could make one major story change, what change would you make? Why? This is too hard to answer. I’ve read so many fix-it-fics and no matter what is changed, there’s always something I miss from the original work. If I’d kill Wen Ruohan beforehand, I’ll miss WWX’s interaction with the Wen survivors etc. I think it would bring less pain all around if neither WWX nor JC ever lost their cores but who knows how that would’ve changed things. Maybe it also would’ve helped if WWX realized LWJ’s feelings earlier, but we’ll never know.

Which character would you bring back to life? Jiang Yanli, definitely. There’d be a lot less hurt between JC and WWX and the siblings would be reunited again.

You can bring one character back to life, but you must pick someone else to die in their place. Would you do it? How would this affect the story? If I brought back Jiang Yanli in exchange for one of my hated characters (i.e. Xue Yang, Meng Yao or Su She), that’d work out for everyone probably?

// Fic //

Do you write fic for MDZS? If so, what’s your ao3/wattpad/ff.net? Nope, I’ve only drawn so far, if you wanna see, check out my art tumblr.

What characters/ships do you mostly write/draw for? Only WangXian!

Favorite tropes & which characters? Lovely dovey & domestic fluff. Scenes from the book as well.

AUs or canon-verse? Argh, again with the difficult questions. I love modern!WangXian but I also love post-canon!WangXian a lot.

Recommend a fanfic!! Can be yours or someone else’s. I have too many favourite fics! Here, have some I’ve read recently and absolutey adored:  “the kite string and the anchor rope” by fleurdeliser (features WWX and LWJ raising LSZ together in Cloud Recesses, 39k)  “like wildflowers (we grow)” by moonsteps (features Wei Ying as Lan Zhan's son's teacher, Lan Zhan is also a teacher at the same school, 80k) “A Little Happiness” by Suspicious_Popsicle (features de-aged Lan Wangji, 20k) “Night of Sixth Magnitude Stars” by Leffy (features LWJ as WWX’s teaching assistant, saying more would be spoilery, 22k)

@ a friend, answer them yourself, or send an ask w/ category & number!!