#but with less demonic cultivation and corpses

[sunderwight]

Bingqiu roleswap where disciple Shen Yuan knows he's gay, and figures out that he has a big huge crush on his handsome Shizun, but also concludes nearly at once that he's not going to be drawing Luo Binghe's eye any time soon. Firstly, Luo Binghe is notoriously straight. Secondly, even if he weren't, he wouldn't go for his scrawny untalented nerd of a disciple! Shen Yuan's not bad looking, not before or after transmigrating, but he's neither a beautiful nor a hot manly man, and he assumes if Luo Binghe were into dudes he'd be into the same kinds of twunks that Shen Yuan likes. Guys on his own level, etc etc.

Plus Luo Binghe hated the original disciple Shen, and only started to warm up to the transmigrated version after Shen Yuan got injured in front of him trying to stop the other disciples on the peak from killing a small animal. For some reason, Luo Binghe brought Shen Yuan medicine. He got even nicer after Shen Yuan distracted the skinner demon by trying to convince it to take his skin instead of Luo Binghe's, and then again when Shen Yuan successfully fought off a demon invader -- though initially when Luo Binghe volunteered him for that job, he thought it was an assassination attempt. His heart was in his throat when Luo Binghe nearly took a poisoned blow for him, but luckily he reacted more quickly and got hit by the thorns instead. His heavenly demon blood took care of the poison, and he managed to convince everyone that he narrowly avoided getting cut at all.

Shen Yuan's careful not to read anything into it when Luo Binghe finds out about his, erm, uncomfortable dormitory situation and moves him into the side room, or when he completely messes up trying to make dinner and Luo Binghe takes over cooking and bans him from the kitchen (he swears he's not actually that bad at cooking, he just never had to use a kitchen without a microwave or an electric hot plate before...)

After all, it's not like Luo Binghe is cooking for him, he's just making food he likes and letting Shen Yuan eat it too! Because he's nice! He's way nicer than the book gave him credit for being, see, clearly Shen Yuan was correct in signing up for his defense squad, "top ten worst villains of all time" his ass that poll was nonsense...

Unfortunately, though, the plot's still gotta plot. Shen Yuan is heartbroken when the Immortal Alliance Conference rolls around and his shizun stabs him and throws him down into the Endless Abyss. Heartbroken, but not surprised. After all, it was always going to go this way, wasn't it?

But at least, now that it's done, he has some agency in how he reacts to it. He's changed the story enough that he doesn't need to go get revenge. Maybe Luo Binghe's still the villain of his story, maybe that was inevitable, but some heroes let the villains get away. Don't they? It's all part of that noble, breaking the cycle of abuse type stuff. He can be that kind of hero. He can let it go. As long as he avoids Luo Binghe altogether, it should be fine, right? It's not like he's obligated to turn people into human sticks. He asked the system, he's definitely not!

Technically he's not even required to conquer the demon realms. He just has to get out of the Abyss and the be sufficiently cool and/or tragic. Conquest is just one means of doing that, and not even Shen Yuan's preferred, since he doesn't exactly want to rule over anybody. Going around the demon realms beating up some jackasses and rescuing some damsels in distress and becoming sworn brothers with Shang Qinghua, one of the current demon kings, is suitable. He definitely doesn't want to marry any of the damsels he encounters (thank fuck the system lets him off the hook for that!)

But eventually he has to go back to the human world. Not only is it mandated by the system, but he also misses living there. The demonic realms are in many ways better than expected, plus a lot of the monsters are really cool, but he misses the weather and plants and the people he's more accustomed to being around.

He misses Qing Jing Peak, if he's being honest with himself. Shizun's cooking and the bamboo forest and the crisp mountain breezes, the comforts of home.

Not that he can actually go back there in specific. Of course not. If he did that, Luo Binghe would try to kill him, or else the system would try and make him kill Luo Binghe. Bad ideas all around. No, he can't go back to Qing Jing Peak, but he can go find someplace nicer than the demon realms at least. He just has to keep a low profile, which shouldn't be hard since the original goods did that even while actively scheming to kill his former master!

Except.

Everywhere he goes, suddenly Luo Binghe is also there?!

Good thing Shen Yuan thought to take a page out of the book of Luo Binghe's actual love interest, Liu Mingyan, and start wearing a veil. He just didn't want any randos who might have seen him at the Immortal Alliance Conference or on any of the other missions his shizun sent him on to recognize him. But one minute he's investigating a strange case in Jinlan City, and the next the streets are full of Huan Hua cultivators (Shen Yuan has no intention of joining them, that's the path the original took to getting revenge! He doesn't want revenge!), and then Luo Binghe and Sect Leader MBJ and Peak Lord SHL show up, and SY is ducking down alleys and hiding behind columns, just trying to stay out of the way until the lockdown on Jinlan lifts and he can leave.

Except...

Luo Binghe really isn't acting like himself?

He looks like he hasn't been eating or sleeping well. There are dark circles around his eyes, and something almost melancholy in his countenance. And he's dressed entirely in white, none of the usual Qing Jing greens and blues anywhere to be seen. Of even greater concern, he's being reckless. Shen Yuan can't stop himself from rushing out when he sees his former shizun get infected by a sower demon.

Luckily, it's been some years since the last time they saw one another. Shen Yuan's gained a few inches in height, so he's almost at eye-level with his old master now, and though he's still more slender than bulky he's picked up some totally new styles from training the demon realms. He doesn't move the same way he used to. With that, plus the veil, it's enough for him to quickly swallow back his words as he grabs Luo Binghe and quickly administers a cure for the sower infection.

Well, he has one of course. He wouldn't need it himself, heavenly demon blood and all, but his time running around playing hero in the demon realms meant he rescued a lot of humans from such fates. Which is hard to do if you don't have a cure to their afflictions, but between him and Shang Qinghua, sourcing such things was almost easy.

Luo Binghe looks at him like he's just seen a ghost. The other Cang Qiong sect members are alarmed by SY suddenly accosting one of their own and of course find him suspicious, so he runs away right after, and then he has to lose Sha Hualing's pursuit in the city.

But what else could he do? He manages to evade the system's attempts to railroad him into meeting Gongyi Xiao, avoids the rest of the Cang Qiong crowd, and drops some of the cure through the current Qian Cao peak lord's window to get the incident sorted out. Then he flees and puts a good amount of distance between himself, Jinlan City, and every righteous sect he can think of.

The only problem is that after this point, Luo Binghe is everywhere.

Any time Shen Yuan stays in one place for longer than a few days, Qing Jing disciples start turning up. Any time he takes a job hunting some cool-sounding monster or pursuing some interesting tome of knowledge, the better to satisfy the system, it seems like Luo Binghe has selected and gone after the exact same target! Which is especially annoying because back when SY was a disciple, Luo Binghe was always assigning him to do this stuff. Since when does his chronic homebody master have an interesting in six-tailed scorpion lemurs or ancient spiritual kilns?

What's weirder, though, are the rumors.

It seems like any time SY stops at some well-populated place and asks for the latest gossip, he has to hear about how the Qing Jing peak lord lost his beloved disciple during the Immortal Alliance Conference, and mourned like a widow, and now wanders the earth in search of solace for his grief. Seeking something, possibly even the ghost of his dear disciple.

What nonsense! Luo Binghe threw SY into the Abyss himself. He had to do it, it was the plot! And also his obligation as a righteous cultivator, confronted with a "dangerous" half-demon. Does it sting? Yes it stings! That's why SY wouldn't just forget it! Despite logically knowing it's pointless, is there some part of him that wishes his master would have chosen differently? That thinks he should have known that no matter what kind of power Shen Yuan had, he would never use it to hurt people recklessly, or harm innocents, or especially not harm... well. It's pointless, his blood condemned him, and if there is some part of Luo Binghe which regrets what happened, it's doubtless just that he unwittingly harbored a monster for so long.

Which is fine and Shen Yuan would leave it at that, if the guy would just let him!

But no. Instead he has to deal with Luo Binghe turning up and asking him questions, trying to get him to talk (SY has no hope of disguising his voice, if he says anything he's not even sure it won't crack as he comes perilously close to tears instead, so he just stays silent), and then asking for his name, asking if he's mute, asking about his background, his sect, his kin. Is his a righteous cultivator? Where did he get that sword? (NOT Xin Mo, thanks, he used that thing once and then tossed it back into the Abyss before the portal finished closing behind him -- he knows a poisoned chalice when he sees one, although knowing the plot twist about that sword from the novel sure helped.) Where did he learn those forms? Is he... does he have a safe place to go home to? Someone to tend his injuries? Make sure he eats his meals?

SY, of course, stays silent. But it's difficult. Not only because Luo Binghe asks, but because he still looks... bad. Sunken, sorrowful, desperate almost. Shen Yuan can't figure out if he knows or not. Maybe he's unsure, maybe he's looking for SY to give him a sign, so that he can figure him out and then flip a switch and try to finish the job he started.

That can't happen. If they fight, SY will win, and he doesn't want to hurt Luo Binghe.

But even if Luo Binghe's not a heavenly demon, he is a highly accomplished cultivator, and it seems he's got his own breaking points to reach. Eventually he corners SY and gets a hand on his veil, and for a moment SY is sure he's going to rip it off, see his face, and confront him all "I knew it was you, you twisted evil demon, you won't escape justice a second time" and he feels a deep, icy terror close around his lungs--

Luo Binghe lets go of the veil before he can lift it.

But then something even worse happens. Because Shen Yuan's handsome, peerless, noble master breaks down. He falls to his knees, begging forgiveness, sobbing, clutching at his head like he's being driven to madness.

It all spills out of him, then. How he pushed his own dearest disciple into the Abyss, which obviously SY already knew, but also how he was apparently qi-deviating the whole time, and his senses could not differentiate between one kind of demonic "threat" and another. How he realized what he'd done only after he regained his senses hours later, and rushed back to the place where the tear to the Abyss had opened, but could not find a way in after the one he lost. How he had betrayed and thrown away the only person who cared about him, and couldn't even explain that he hadn't intended to. How he would accept anything, any punishment, hatred, penance, or revenge, if only he could see his disciple's face once more.

SY is stunned.

Apparently, Luo Binghe hadn't rejected him for his demon blood?

Not only that, but beforehand, he seemed to have valued Shen Yuan a lot more than Shen Yuan would have credited.

Is it a trick? Is he lying? SY would have guessed so, would have assumed that Luo Binghe's plan was to lull him into complacency only to turn on him once he finally had confirmation. But somehow, he just... doesn't think this is an insincere display. His old master is too cool for this stuff! He has too much dignity to just throw it away on a scheme! There are other ways to get what he wants.

Even if it is a lie, Shen Yuan is tired of running. He's the hero. He won't actually lose, and if it comes to it, it's still in his hands to decide if he wants to spare Luo Binghe or not (he does, of course he does, even if this whole spiel is an act). Plus he's got a backup plant body in one of Shang Qinghua's greenhouses if all goes to shit.

He takes the veil off himself.

Luo Binghe, teary-eyed, stares at him as if his face is the most beautiful he's ever seen.

Shen Yuan nearly puts the veil back on. His cheeks heat up. Dear Shizun, aren't you an immortal master? A noble peak lord? Isn't it your calling to vanquish demons? Get up off the dirty ground right this minute! Where did your dignity go? Shen Yuan did not spend all those nights doing the laundry to watch his teacher dirty his knees for no good reason!

There's a quaver in Luo Binghe's voice as he points out that Shen Yuan was terrible at doing laundry. Luo Binghe had to redo it the day after, all the time.

Shen Yuan chides at him that he should have made one of the other disciples do it then.

Luo Binghe just laughs, and stays on the ground, until finally Shen Yuan has to physically pull him up. Muttering about how he's being ridiculous, what's he crying for, why's he been moping so much, doesn't he know that handsome face should never look so bereft? Then he realizes what he's saying and shuts his mouth, but Luo Binghe just looks happy for the first time in years. Since the Abyss. How is it possible that SY, who actually had to slog through that awful place, can still smile more than Luo Binghe, who didn't?

They're standing so close. Holding on to one another. Almost as if... as if the scene's tone is... well...

Oh what the hell!

Shen Yuan closes the last little bit of distance between them, and kisses Luo Binghe.

[evie-writes-sometimes]

One thing about me is that I do not tolerate Wen Ning erasure in the slightest. Like I would throw hands for him (and have).

[shanastoryteller]

happy birthday! f!mxy au?

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Song Lan knows that Mo Xuanyu was a demonic cultivator. Wei Wuxian would give anything to know the details of how exactly that happened, but obviously he can't ask, since he's already supposed to know.

He'd worried he'd shown his hand when he'd greeted Song Lan. This is better, even if it leaves him on slightly less firm footing. Song Lan says their interaction had been brief so he hopes that's enough to cover for any differences between them.

It's a good thing that he hasn't had to deal with anyone who's known Mo Xuanyu for more than a couple days. It might be a little more difficult to pull of running around in her body undetected.

"You bought one?" Wei Wuxian demands, exasperated when Song Lan disappears for a couple minutes and the presents him with a perfectly functional and beautiful bone white flute. "I'm going to destroy it! You just wasted your money."

"If you find Xiao Xingchen, I'll buy you a thousand flutes and you can burn each one," he says bluntly.

Wei Wuxian's eyes widen before softening. "Hey, none of that. I said I'd help, didn't I?"

Song Lan nods, some of his tension easing, then he continues, "Yes. Thank you. No one else wanted to help." Wei Wuxian stares and his face spasms like he's trying to smile but can't quite force his face into the proper shape. "We're wandering cultivators, Lady Mo. There for the cultivation world to use, and there for them to discard. No one cares when we go missing."

"I care," he says, reaching out to squeeze Song Lan's forearm. "And call me Xuanyu. None of that Mo crap."

He hopes that it's not too out of character - he hasn't gotten a chance to adjust to being called Mo like he has Xuanyu - but Song Lan just nods. He can't imagine Mo Xuanyu had many warm feelings towards her family even as a teenager if she had already been driven to demonic cultivation.

He uses a talisman to burn the sigils he needs into the flute. He'd been planning to just carve them in, rough and good enough, but it's really a beautiful flute. He'd like to keep it beautiful if he can.

It's been a lifetime since he was able to direct his demonic cultivation with a song, but it comes back to him easily, the energy flowing immediately and powerfully. The warm glow of Mo Xuanyu's golden core means it doesn't even burn this time around.

He doesn't make mistakes, but he has to play the tune twice to be sure. He lowers it slowly, brow furrowed, and says, "Something's wrong. We should fly, it's not close."

Song Lan swallows. "Is he-"

"No," he says hastily, then corrects. "I don't think so. But I think he might have gotten a little over his head."

That's a lot of fierce corpses for no one to have noticed.

[yunmeng-jiang]

List of people who did demonic cultivation in CQL:

Xue Chonghai. Went insane and created a dark superweapon and tried to destroy the world.

Wen Ruohan. Went insane and tried to take over the world.

Wei Wuxian. Tortured and killed tons of people in remarkably horrifying ways.

Xue Yang. Massacred an entire clan and spent many years doing horrible things relating to corpses and controlling partially dead bodies for fun.

Mo Xuanyu. Suddenly and "inexplicably" went insane during his study at Koi Tower under JGY, came back with some of Wei Wuxian's notes which were seized by the Jin after his death, then killed himself to summon what he thought was the evilest ghost in the world to murder his family.

Su She, I think. He actually had a super strong golden core (as evidenced by him using the extremely taxing teleportation talismans a lot) so it seems like it affected him a bit less than others.

I'm just saying... maybe Jiang Cheng was right to track down people who used demonic cultivation and stop them from doing that?

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

I wanna see MDZS told from the perspective of some civillian who absolutely does not trust the establishment

"Why would I bother to believe what those prickly Jin cultivators say about anyone? They've never helped us with anything they promised they would, why would they be honest of all things?"

"I couldn't care less what kind of cultivation that Wei Wuxian fellow is using. At least he's trying to do something for us and he's not making us pay more taxes!"

"A bit weird how Jin Guangshan was so ready to set up that camp for the Wens, huh? I hate them but that's a very Wen Ruohan thing to do, I think."

"They're all busy with conferences and discussions while we're haunted by ghosts and corpses every day! I heard you can learn demonic cultivation even without a core, I might as well just do it myself!"

[scrivenger-grimgar]

Wei Wuxian’s Inventions Cause He’s a Mad Scientist & Deserves To Be a Happy Creator

technically part of the ghost king wwx series of posts but could also just be stuff in general. a lot is for protecting the yiling burial mounds and the people who live there. idek how long this is going to be so keep that in mind!

Sending stone - A raw quartz or amethyst crystal attached to a talisman-tag that tells the stone to vibrate in specific lengths and frequencies causing audible tones that can be used in specialised patterns to convey messages across certain networks. Sending networks are differentiated by the colour of the thread/rope/tassel used in the tag’s binding. It's essentially a morse-code group chat, looks like this picture but instead of metal it's engraved on wood or bamboo.

Spirit Binding Wraps - Cloth strips/bandages that are intricately sewn with a long continuous array that wraps around anything with a golden core, ending in an array that anchors into the ground and doesn’t let go. It's styled after a large snake and will only release after being fed resentful/yin energy. Expensive and arduous to make, as both the cloth and threads need to be soaked in either liquid resentment or Spirit Sapping Liquor, both of which can only be found (or made) in the burial mounds, and the repeating array must be embroidered to the correct lengths before the ending anchor array can be attached. Well worth the expense however, given so many orthodox cultivators are after the Yiling Wei residents.  Like Xie Lian’s Rouye or Aizawa’s scarf but embroidered. It doesn’t work on non-cultivators or those who solely practise Guidao/demonic cultivation.

Bloodletting Buckets - Black bamboo buckets engraved with talismans that force any resentful energy in the contained liquid to coagulate into sludge at the bottom of the bucket, allowing residents to safely drink the burial mounds water without being a yin/yang cultivator.

Heart Binding Tattoo - A tattoo array over an individual’s heart that allows them to come and go through the barrier at the base of the mountain. Were someone to try and use a corpse with the tattoo to enter the mountain, the corpse would attack them. Made with Wen Qing, written in either Shizhoupian or Shuowen Jiezi, but I don't quite know witch.

Spirit Sapping Liquor - A derivative alcohol variant made in the burial mounds that eats spiritual/yang energy once consumed, travelling through the blood and clearing qi blockages within one’s meridians without touching the golden core (so long as one does not cultivate during the 3 day period that its active), and thus lessening chance of qi deviation. The resentment in the liquor can also be directed to eat poison from within a person by a talented Guidao practitioner (He Xuan, Hua Cheng, Wei Ying, Wen Qing, Wen Ning, even Qi Rong if he wanted).

Earthshifting Talismans - lets anyone stir up and loosen large areas of earth within a day, allowing less effort to be used when tilling or aerating soil, or digging cold storage basements. It's just kinda like putting a piece of land in the pear wiggler.

Hearth/Chill Box - a bamboo, wood, or stone box with engravings on the inside that keep it at a stable temperature, either hot or cold. Used to heat pre-made food, incubate eggs, build housing for chickens or other small animals, to heat water for bathing, to freeze meats, and make ice.

[mxtxfanatic]

Do you have any posts about all the things the people who use demonic cultivation have in common?

I’m not sure I can explain it properly, but I came away from the book thinking that all the people who used demonic cultivation (either directly or through the Yin Tiger Tally) are very similar to one another in terms of their trauma, background, and status as cultivators.

They all have quite traumatic upbringings, either living on the streets for some time or otherwise mistreated as part of the serving class. While they end up with some form of sect alliance, they are only ever half accepted, with their common parentage being brought up quite often. They’re all stuck living on that razor edge of not quite acceptability.

It makes me think that demonic cultivation represents or reflects that sort of traumatic razor’s edge position. (Appropriate when they are literally using resentment).

The major difference between the demonic cultivators is how they decide to use the trauma they’ve been stuck with. Wei Ying does his best to channel it towards protecting people, while trying to minimize harm to the innocent (though some “splash damage” is inevitable), while Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao use it as an excuse to hurt others with impunity (trying to drag the whole world down with them if they must).

Hopefully I’ve made sense.

Hate to say it, but the only demonic cultivator in the text is Xue Yang. Wei Wuxian does not cultivate with mo (living humans) but gui (dead humans), which is why his cultivation is called the ghost path. A better wording would be about who strays from the orthodox path of cultivating, but even then, all of the “righteous” cultivation clans would fall under this because they use Wei Wuxian’s inventions that they stole after his death. Speaking just on the characters listed, though, Xue Yang uses living humans by turning them into living corpse puppets, making him a demonic cultivator, but he also still uses a sword and his golden core, meaning he never left the orthodox cultivation path.

Other than both being street orphans taken in by major clans as kids, Wei Wuxian and Xue Yang have nothing in common. Wei Wuxian had a moral code that he followed even on the street, while Xue Yang didn’t and made a name for himself being a terror before he became a cultivator. When they become cultivators, it is only Wei Wuxian who is disparaged for his background. Nobody ever calls Xue Yang a servant, insults his parentage, or treats him less than courteously, from what we are shown in the text, until he massacres the Chang Clan. He is a guest of the Jin, therefore making him practically untouchable. Now, bringing Jin Guangyao into this, yes he was disparaged in the beginning, but he was definitely accepted once he climbed his way into the clan leader position. People stopped bringing up his past and parentage due to it, because now he was in an accepted and traditional position of power.

The story isn’t about how the type of cultivation one uses represents a theme or says something about the person using it (other than the demonic cultivation because that one says a lot about Xue Yang who created it); it’s about how any cultivation path, orthodox or not, can be used for good or evil and what really matters is to look at the character of the person. Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao are greedy bastards who want to be universally feared (the former) and worshipped (the latter), and will sacrifice anyone or anything that goes against their plans to attain power. They both use sword cultivation to achieve these goals, even if they use other tools to aid. Xue Yang turns to demonic cultivation because he is not clever or powerful enough to use the ghost path as effectively as Wei Wuxian does nor does he have empathy or care for the living or dead which is necessary for the ghost path, so he takes shortcuts with horrific (intended) consequences, instead. Wei Wuxian made his name exclusively with the ghost path and only did so by doing what was right. But only Wei Wuxian was reviled for it until the very end.

In short, mxtx doesn’t write stories where you can use characters’ identities and backgrounds as shorthand for moral lessons. So while all three characters had their traumas and bad encounters with the “righteous” established cultivation clans, Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao are villains because they ultimately believed in the same system that abused them and, thus, strove to uphold it so that they could benefit from that power to oppress others, while Wei Wuxian is the hero for challenging that system and rejecting it for its corruption.

[phnmnt]

Shen Yuan shixiong AU - Part 13

Shen Yuan knows only two names here and he doubts Old Chen’s body is alluring enough to be taken by the creature... "Die-er?" The skinner is surprised, but not angry, and simply makes the smoke vanish with a smile, revealing the enchanting figure of Old Chen’s concubine. Not answering Shen Yuan's question, their gaze then dances towards Ning YingYing and Luo Binghe on the other side of the room, before settling on him again. “Mmh… What to do, what to do…”

Shen Yuan whistles twice loudly, hoping it will be heard from far away. He knows that this demon isn’t stupid, so he needs to buy time. “You really are the skinner huh… What a distasteful name. How do you get away with a trail of corpses following you?” Thankfully, the skinner doesn’t seem in a hurry to take care of them and even decides to indulge him a little. “I’m not the one who came up with the name, darling. As for the bodies, I make sure they are always a step too late.” A step too late? Shen Yuan goes silent for a moment as he thinks about it. “...You cover them with the previous skin.” Again, the demon doesn’t answer him, but their silence is enough for Shen Yuan to confirm his theory. “Why change skin at all? Is it necessary or do you just like to?” The skinner snorts. “You think I’d tell you?” As if deciding this was enough foreplay, the skinner approaches Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe.

Luo Binghe seems calm, with eyes full of anger, but Ning Yingying panics and starts calling for her shixiong to save her. “Struggle and scream all you want, your shixiong can only watch anyway.” That’s when Shen Yuan finally understands what was wrong with his body since the start. Cultivators don’t feel the cold like regular humans, being topless shouldn’t be making him feel this frozen. He’s been binded with an immortal-binding rope, preventing him from gathering his qi.

“I think you’ll do, pretty little worm. I’ll wear your skin for a while, then it’ll be that chattering shixiong’s turn. You guys should last me a good while…” So they HAD to change skin. One less mystery. As Ning Yingying's screams of terror increases, Shen Yuan takes a second to ask the system if he'd get a second chance in the eventuality that he fails the mission and dies. (System: No tf. / SY: :'( ) Shen Yuan sighs inwardly, knowing he needs to buy even more time, if that is even possible. He quickly whistles twice again then opens the chattering machine once more. “Haven’t you always only targeted young, beautiful girls?”

The skinner, in the middle of inspecting where to cut Ning Yingying’s flesh, clicks their tongue. They turn to Shen Yuan with an irritated look. “A pretty face isn’t everything. You should learn when to shut up.” “Haha… I’m just wondering, why keep me? I’m obviously a man, yet you still want to wear my skin.” This seems to successfully distract the skinner as they keep gazing at him. Then their eyes flash green with envy and they slowly make their way over to him.

At this moment, Shen Yuan catches a white iridescent shadow moving along a beam above their heads.

“You cultivators are just built differently. Even though you’re a man…” The skinner crouches slightly on his right and starts feeling up his upper body. “...your skin is so glossy and smooth. You must feel fantastic.” What a weird way of phrasing this!!! Shen Yuan feels goosebumps climbing his back.

Luo Binghe violently thrashes against his bindings, outraged. His shixiong’s bare body wasn’t for this demon to defile! He sees his uncomfortable expression becoming clearer by the second and the red marks left by the immortal-binding cable going darker as he tries to move his body away from the demon’s touch… And this curtain of black hair covering so little of that scene... his fair neck, stiff with tension... his Adam’s apple, going up and down as he swallows… Luo Binghe’s breath seems stuck in his lungs as the pressure he thought gone suddenly increases.

At this moment, Luo Binghe’s gaze locks with his shixiong’s. Embarrassed, he’s about to look away when he catches Shen Yuan... winking at him? Using the protagonist’s golden-halo as an advantage, Shen Yuan proceeds to turn the skinner’s attention on Luo Binghe. Before he’s able to feel hurt, Luo Binghe also catches something moving in the ceiling's shadows. Just as the skinner is about to make a move towards Luo Binghe, a beam falls on them and, in the process, frees Ning Yingying and Luo Binghe from captivity. The skinner, enraged, is about to strike the still bound Shen Yuan when their movement stiffens, then completely stops. A white iridescent dusu snake encircles their body and binds them, releasing poisonous toxins. Shen Yuan is freed by Luo Binghe and kills the demon.

When everything seems over with, Shen Yuan immediately reassures Luo Binghe that nothing would ever hurt him when he’s there. Knowing his shixiong only used him as a distraction, Luo Binghe eagerly nods, supporting Ning Yingying who cried herself until feeling sleepy.

The system then announces the completion of the mission, telling Shen Yuan what he earned. The latter rolls his eyes at his negative two hundred “shielding” point, knowing full well he did a terrible job when he used the person he’s supposed to protect as bait. He had no other choice, alright? However, a succession of notifications told him his efforts weren’t in vain.

"Ning Yingying’s favor +50pts!" "Luo Binghe’s favor +80pts! (Bonus +20pts!)" "Obtained high-level item: immortal-binding cable, character strength +30pts!" "Completion of normal-level quest +400pts!" "Skill-tree now fully unlocked!" "Congratulations! Please continue to work hard!"

A system's window opens in front of his eyes, asking him to choose a specialization. Without hesitation, Shen Yuan mentally slams the left title “Guardian”, ignoring completely the “Hero” one on the right side, and gains the “carapace” ability. This skill could help him reflect 50% of any incoming attack, while having a slight chance to make it bounce back on the attacker.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 8.5 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 - Part 12

(SY: I’m not investing points in combat, I’m not Liu Qingge...)

[tbgkaru-woh]

Heyyyy I read through your chengxuan comic "Pride of Jin" and I loved it!! Just wondering if you have any thoughts as to what happens after chapter 10 when wwx is resurrected?

hey, glad you liked it! I always have thoughts, many thoughts! I actually wanted to do an epilogue comics but didn't find the time/energy for that specific thing. Whether it's fair, good or bad, the endings for all characters got changed majorly: JGY gets to leave with his mom's ashes and SMS (Su Minshan) accompanies him on his travels to somewhere where JGY won't be recognized and can start a new life LXC learned about NMJ and JGY in a less stressful situation, in a situation where JGY was no longer in the picture to twist the knife that true stabbed in him, but instead of brooding solitute, he reverts to less healthy coping mechanism - feeling so guilty for not trusting NMJ regarding JGY, he wishes for nothing more than to be able to fix this mistake. goal that aligns with NHS's, who shares that WWX "owes him" bringing NMJ back. WWX doesn't want anything to do with that life again, but NHS finds a big appeal in it and WWX basically teaches NHS ways around demonic cultivation, just so NHS can get his brother back. NMJ gets "brought back" but isn't as controllable as he should be, NHS keeps NMJ in chains but keeps him close, dressed up with his hair styled again, always by his side as he leads the Nie clan in a way where it's less him being part of any events and more in the "don't fuck with Nies, we literally have feral fierce corpses". WWX, JC and LXC are the only ones allowed inside the walls, LXC visits often to play soothing music to NMJ and talks to him, trying to bring the "human" part of him back. WWX and LWJ still get together but it doesn't leave LXC alone, jgy dead and yi city boys destroyed so i call that a win. didn't have many thoughts on their endgame though. and Yi City, i couldn't decide if i'd give xue yang the ability to have both song lan and xiao xingchen by his side as fierce corpses, OR if i'd still have him try and bring XXC back as SL is loyaly by his side as a fierce corpse without wangxian ever interrupting, OR if i'd have Song Lan never find XY and XXC and they'd continue living in their bliss (and i don't want to think of the tragedy i'd throw Song Lan's way to make that be the case :') ) JC and JZX still each have their sect but they have a publicly acknowledged bond/allyship where they may as well work as a unit. JZX finally rules the proud Jins in a respectable way and the Jiangs are stronger than ever under JC's leadership, to the point where Yunmeng becomes the prefered location for new disciples to enlist. JC gets the validation he deserves without being in WWX's shadow and JZX finally turns anew leaf on Jin's-not-so-great track record. And the Juniors, i'd love to explore their together times during studies, not unlike the main characters in their Gusu days, until eventually, i will do a timeskip with them all grown up, causing both mayhem but also being the heroes no one asked for but we all deserve, this DND adventuring group

[wangxianficrecs]

💙 here comes your ghost again by yuer (vintageblueskies)

💙 here comes your ghost again

by yuer (vintageblueskies)

T, 4k, Wangxian

Summary: He stitches a tiny row of suns along the left cuff of his inner robe—not flames, never flames, not after Lotus Pier burned, not after Wen Qing burned—suns, life-giving and scorching, for the last, best doctor of Qishan Wen. She would probably laugh at his badly sewn suns and his sentimentality, but her eyes would be soft. Some days, he misses her so much he thinks it might swallow him whole. - or, post-canon wei wuxian mourns wen qing Kay's comments: Thing #643 that I absolutely adore and wish was explored more: Wei Wuxian's relationship with the Wens, especially his relationship with Wen Qing and how he mourns for her post-canon, so needless to say, this story is absolutely perfection and I'm literally crying as I'm typing out this rec. It's just. I love it when Wei Wuxian is allowed to mourn and mourn the Wens especially and how Lan Wangji is there for him and by his side and helping him finally process things. And Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian friendship is here too! Excerpt: “Tell me about her,” Lan Zhan says. Wei Wuxian considers, there are things he could say, like her hands were so gentle when she ripped my golden core out of my body or she used to make really awful jokes about being a doctor who lived on a mountain of corpses, but that’s not what Lan Zhan is asking. “She liked pickled vegetables,” he says slowly, his memory is already bad and remembering all his dead loves is painful. “Her favorite color was yellow, not yellow like the Jin sect’s golden robes, but yellow like the pollen of flowers. She had a tiny freckle on her right index finger. Wen sect cultivators used to bully Wen Ning, so when they went to her for medical treatment, she would give them the most painful or bitter treatment she could.” Wen Qing’s vengeful streak was a sight to behold, the cultivation world was lucky all she ever wanted was to keep her brother safe. Sometimes he thinks that if they had a little more time, if they were a little less desperate and starving, they would have come up with a way to reconcile with the sects. He was Yunmeng Jiang’s Head Disciple, then the inventor of demonic cultivation. She was a genius doctor who lived at Wen Ruohan’s side for years. Surely between the two of them, they could have come up with a way to save her people. But they were desperate and starving, and they did not have more time. And now the only ones left of their little settlement are him, Wen Ning, and Lan Sizhui—a resurrected dead man, the Ghost General, and a boy who grew up without the truth of his heritage. He is glad that Wen Ning was not burned, that A-Yuan grew up happy and loved, but the things they have lost eat at him still.

pov wei wuxian, post-canon, established relationship, angst and hurt/comfort, grief/mourning, family feels, families of choice, wen remnants deserve better, trauma, emotional hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, embroidery, wei wuxian & wen ning friendship

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[wangxianficfinder]

Lan Wangji leaves the Lan Sect

~*~

❤️For Both Of Us (And Time Is But A Paper Moon) by sami (E, 65k, WangXian, Time Travel, Some People Live/Not Everyone Dies, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Yunmeng Shuangjie, Canon Divergence, Asexual JC, First Time, Getting Together, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ)

The Dreams of Youth by sami (E, 86k, wangxian, time travel, fix-it, family, not lan sect friendly, canon typical violence & gore, childhood friends to lovers, hurt/comfort, mothers who live, some people live/not everyone dies)

this blood in my mouth by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 3k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX & LWJ, Post-Canon, POV LXC)

something something, farming as a metaphor for healing by alisonlynn (G, 1k, WangXian, sort of a fix it?, farming)

A War of Stone and Silence by kitsunealyc (T, 4k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Burial Mounds, Lans Being Crappy Communicators, Wall of Discipline, Remix)

You in me, you are mine, my everything by BriaPia (M, 24k, WangXian, SongXiao, Temporary Character Death, it's WWX, Canon Divergence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, LWJ leaves Gusu Lan, what if situation)

Love You Forever: Body, Soul and Mind by orphan_account (E, 3k, WangXian, Bottom LWJ, Top WWX, PWP, Fluff and Smut, Marathon Sex)

Bones by Forever_Marie (M, 2k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Resurrection, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF NHS, Scheming NHS, Corporal Punishment, Slow To Update, Protective NHS, Hurt WWX, LWJ Has Feelings, Murder Mystery, Oblivious LXC, Pining LWJ, Kid Fic, Good Kid LSZ, Sassy LJY, Fierce Corpse NMJ, Single Parent LWJ)

Forget-me-not (don’t leave me behind) by Stelra_Etnae (T, 9k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Mother-Son Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, LXC Needs a Hug, Reconciliation, Protective Siblings, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Madam Lán Lives, LQR Tries, Twin Jades of Lán Dynamics)

All was well when you were still with me by KoHITTSujiChan (Not Rated, 10k, WIP, WangXian, Established Relationship, Canon Divergence, Fake Character Death, for LWJ, He leaves the Lan sect!)

Answer the song of my heart by Artemis_Z_Stark (orphan_account) (G, 2k, LWJ/CWN, Started as a crack ship but now here it is, kinda character death, please no hate, stole a bit from Airplane bro, some svsss stuff)

From the beyond Series by apathyinreverie (T, 11k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Some angst, Ghost WWX, BAMF LWJ, BAMF WWX, Domestic WangXian, rogue cultivators wangxian, of sorts, Ghostly Sunshine Husbands: A Guide on Accidental Sect Creation by Hanguang-Jun, Cultivation World Critical, Fix-It, Oblivious WWX, Smitten LWJ, Time Skips)

All Exits Look The Same by Ahlai (T, 14k, WangXian, LWJ & MDM Lan, Canon Divergence, MDM Lan Lives, Family Feels, Healing, Grief/Mourning)

Home isn't Where the Heart is. by Hauntcats (Not Rated, 7k, WangXian)

The Sun Sets Like a Whispered Regret by OrdinaryRealities (T, 41k, JC & LWJ, WangXian, Resurrect Your Gays, LWJ and JC enemies to brothers, MDZS Big Bang 2020, Minor Character Death, discussion of characters who have died, And the trauma of that, Kidfic, Sort Of, characters working through trauma together, Give MXY some GD agency, Happy Ending)

Let It All Burn by makebelieveanything (T, 3k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Feral LWJ, just a little bit, warprize LWJ, YL WWX, Happily Ever After)

What Comes After Love by Rainbow_Horizon (T, 17k, WangXian, POV LWJ, Protective LWJ, LWJ Has Feelings, POV WWX, Sad WWX, Jealous WWX, Módào Zǔshī & The Untamed Combination, Post-Canon, Chief Cultivator LWJ, Break Up, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, marriage issues, Marriage Proposal)

Molten Gold by jesso (M, 17k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, LWJ loses his core, madam lan lives, pining, WX meet as children, character death, family feels, time jumps, dub con, WIP)

Volume 1: Less Than Dead by QueenieWithABeenie (T, 90k, WangXian, 3Zun, Canon Divergence, Demonic Cultivator LWJ, mentions of wwx's canon death, Hurt/Comfort, Hopeful Ending, Angst and Feels, Fix-It of Sorts, Explicit Language, Unreliable Narrator, Implied Sexual Content, Getting Together, haunted lwj, Rape/Non-con Elements, If You Squint)

the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break by RoseThorne (E, 77k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Soulmates, Self-Esteem Issues, Fix-It, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, PTSD, Handfasting, Panic Attacks, Getting Together, First Time, Aftercare, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Torture, Scars, Chronic Pain, Golden Core Reveal, First Time, Switching, sex-related injury, LWJ Stays at the Burial Mounds, LSZ is a Wèi, Good Sibling JC, Dissociation, Burial Mounds Settlement Days)

❤️love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, YL WWX, Arranged Marriage, political scheming, Gratuitous Domesticity, Mutual Pining, EXTREME SLOWBURN, the inherent eroticism of the forehead ribbon, The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known, neither wwx nor lwj want to be Perceived, bottom lwj in chapter 20 and 27)

my life's journey is far from over by thelastdboy (E, 147k, WangXian, Modern AU, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Post-Sunshot Campaign, PTSD, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, POV WWX, Slow Burn, Anxiety, Situational Mutism, YL WWX, Case Fic, Sentient Burial Mounds, Recovery, Hurt/Comfort, Healing Is a Slow Process, therapy is good actually, All women deserve better, Modern AU but not too modern™, mlm/wlw solidarity, Mild Smut, Non-Verbal Safewords, Dom/sub, Kink Negotiation, Kink Exploration)

Patriarch by WithBroomBefore (T, 26k, WangXian, Fix-It, Canon Divergence, WWX Lives, JYL Lives, WQ Lives, YL LWJ, Hurt/Comfort, Serious Injuries, Injury Recovery, Healing, Minor Character Death, Found Family, Grief/Mourning, QS Lives, Minor MingSu, NMJ Lives, Good Uncle LQR, POV Multiple, MXY Lives, queerplatonic ZhanQing, Happy Ending, Domestic)

❤️And Miles To Go Before I Sleep by Glitterbombshell (T, 23k, WIP, WangXian, Heavy Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, LXC is not really a good brother in this sorry, Canon Divergence, rogue cultivator!lwj)

the wild hunt Series by antebunny (G, 18k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Non-Linear Narrative, JL and his many many uncles, jgy is morally ambiguous but okay, BAMF WWX, JYL Lives, Non-Graphic Violence, Fix-It of Sorts, Found Family, Domestic Fluff)

The Best I Can by Zephyr (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 26k, WangXian, Little Apple, WWX talking to his donkey, Canon Divergence, Light Angst, Drama, Recovery, Coming of Age, Secret Identity Fail, Friendship, Rogue Cultivator LWJ, Road Trips, Sort Of, POV Multiple, Happy Ending)

A Narrow Bridge by FrameofMind, Jo Lasalle (Jo_Lasalle) (E, 623k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, slow burn, getting together, first time, pining, pining while fucking, angst w/ happy ending, WIP)

Evermore Series by devinokaze (T/E, 56k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, YL WWX, Fluff, Smut, Marriage, courting, Burial Mounds Ensemble as Family, Marriage Proposal, Older WWX, Just By Few Years, Post-Sunshot Campaign)

Fragments by devinokaze (T, 13k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, YL WWX, Domestic Fluff, Married Life, Burial Mounds Ensemble as Family, Older WWX, Just By Few Years, Post-Sunshot Campaign)

Home and the Heartland by Witch_Nova221 (T, 210k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, LWJ Stays at the Burial Mounds, Slow Romance, Romance, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Fix-It, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Self-Discovery, Golden Core Reveal)

the exception proves the rule by defractum (nyargles) (T, 5k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Getting Together, Character Study)

The Promises We Make by Mayarene Rose (Paradise_of_Mary_Jane) (G, 34k, WangXian, Happy Ending, Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Everybody Lives, Canon Divergence, Gratuitous Bed Sharing, Rabbits)

The Trouble With Politics: a Treatise on Jiang Sect Deputies Gone Rogue by Sect Leader Wei Wuxian by stiltonbasket (G, 40k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Yílíng Wèi Sect, or: the one where yu zhenhong is a wild card, Smitten LWJ, Domestic Fluff, Politics, Happy Ending, Sect Leader WWX, Fix-It of Sorts, JZX still dies though)

Diverge Series by WithBroomBefore (T, 13k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, First Kiss, Implied Sexual Content, Angst with a Happy Ending, Golden Core Reveal, POV LWJ, Established Relationship, Sickfic, lwj stays in the burial mounds, Siblings, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies)

for you, i'd bleed myself dry by Evil_laughter (T, 1k, WangXian, Minor XiYao, Minor Character Death, Canon Divergence, Chance Meetings, Pining, POV LWJ, Reunions, Single Parent LWJ)

The Rogue Jade by SereneSorrow (M, 7k, WangXian, Rogue Cultivator LWJ, Family Drama)

[poorlittleyaoyao]

Closing out the tl;dr Volume 2 thoughts, now the post of Things That I Liked/Found Interesting! This one is also not rebloggable for the same reasons: it's not a review, it's just personal opinions.

Bullet point version!

-Yi City slaps. A-Qing is a fabulous character and her perspective--as a commoner with zero prior knowledge or interest in the cultivation world--is a breath of fresh air.

-Jin Ling is the best boy and I love him.

-I wish the whole book was about WWX being a chaotic middle school teacher because that's where he's at his best.

-Had some surprising and mixed feelings about JGY and NMJ, both separately and together.

~~~~

-YI CITY YI CITY YI CITY. WHAT A BANGER OF AN ARC. I enjoyed it in the drama (fun fact! I watched Yi City for the first time while very drunk, immediately after watching the Eurovision broadcast. do not do this!), but oh man, it is a BLAST in the novel! Worth the price of book purchase on its own, IMO.

What makes it better? A-Qing, mostly. She's got so much PERSONALITY--she's as brash, she's childish, she's extremely clever, she's unscrupulous in little things but tries her best to do the right thing where it counts, her survival instinct is at odds with her fierce devotion towards her first friend. She's a fully- realized character centering her own arc; yeah, she bears witness to the Songxuexiao tragedy, but it's her reactions that take priority. Since this canon generally isn't that interested in its handful of female characters, I was pleasantly surprised by how much Yi City in the novel was A-Qing's story first and foremost. (IMO, this is a rare case of a female character being less developed in the drama. XY, SL, and XXC make their drama appearances well before Yi City, so we've already developed opinions of them; A-Qing as the newcomer is more an audience avatar rather than an active agent.)

A-Qing's perspective also provides a welcome contrast to what we get elsewhere in the story. She's at the bottom of the social ladder. She's not a cultivator. She doesn't know XY's backstory as a demonic cultivation prodigy recruited by the most powerful clan, she doesn't know SL and XXC's backstory behind the little bits they share with her, and it doesn't make a difference to her. She cares about them as her friend, her friend's friend, and the sus guy who ruined everything, and that's enough to make the tragedy matter.

I also appreciated how her lack of cultivation world knowledge isn't seen as as a shortcoming. When A-Qing fails to pick up on something, WWX's reaction is always some flavor of HHHHH OH GOD OH NO THERE'S NO WAY SHE COULD REASONABLY KNOW THIS BUT HHHHHH THIS IS VERY BAD. He even praises her instincts when her intuition leads her to make practical choices! It made me want to sic WWX on the ASOIAF dudebros who hurl vitriol at 11-year-old Sansa Stark for not somehow psychically inferring information that was actively concealed from her. (It also makes WWX's patronizing attitude towards QS later on even more galling, because it's like, I know you're capable of understanding that not everyone knows what you know, WWX! I just saw you do it!)

-Another fun thing about Novel Yi City was that WWX got to actually do badass demonic cultivation shit. The part where he animates the paper effigies to go fight corpses for him? SUCH FUN. I was going "HELL YEAH! BADASS!" right along with the juniors.

-Or rather, right along with most of the juniors, because I quite liked all the content with JL! He's super annoying! He is the best boy! He loves his uncles! He is capable of change and growth! This is how I know that foreshadowing or indicating a character's emotional responses without spoilers is possible: every time demonic cultivation is presented in a non-negative context, JL is visibly uncomfortable. It's a nice touch, clearly telegraphing "JL has baggage about his parents' deaths that are going to complicate things for WWX once his identity is revealed."

(Relatedly, I also was like ☹️ at WN's quiet sadness when he overhears JL yelling and figures out who he is--identifying him, specifically, as "Miss Jiang's son." Ahhh! AHHH!. Sure would be cool if we could see this kind of thing from WWX himself!)

-I know I dragged WWX quite a bit, but the other great thing about Yi City is seeing WWX in Chaotic Middle School Teacher Mode. ("Congratulations! You just got poisoned!" and LQR's desperate attempts at revising his seating chart are the two most relatable moments in this entire novel to me.) If the story was centered on WWX and LWJ falling in love while leading a monster-hunting Montessori, I would read the shit out of that.

-Man. So like. JGY. Everybody says that he's way more sympathetic in the novel, because the novel makes clear that he's good at his job and includes all the lore about his past that the drama largely omits. Finding out that filial piety to his mother was his core motivator is what elevated him from "cherished garbage man tailor-made to appeal to me" to "garbage man about whom I am fully unwell," so I was super excited about this new and improved version of my son with all the pathos left in.

And... sorry, lads, but Novel JGY does not do it for me the way Drama JGY does, and contemplating why he does not do it for me has been interesting. I think what it boils down to is that by the time we meet him, the narration primes us to view him with suspicion. We are told several positive things about him, but what we are shown--what we actually see him do--is neutral to negative. The first time we actually see him outside of Customer Service Mode, he's gaslighting and threatening QS. That scene makes my skin crawl, and the only reason I can come back from it in the drama is that I already have an attachment to him; it's like how watching the title character of Macbeth spiral through Acts I-III mean I can still sympathize with him in Act V even after the brutal murder of Macduff's family in Act IV. Hitting me with the QS scene right out the gate and going "people were real shitty to him tho" after the fact is akin to starting Macbeth with the Macduffs' deaths and then being like "Macbeth had hella PTSD tho": it's not going to recontextualize anything enough to get me fully on board, especially since the injured parties in this case had nothing to do with his suffering.

-I liked Novel Da-ge more than expected, mostly because I was expecting to hate him so so SO much. I liked getting to see him being a normal-ish man for that one singular scene when 3zun are all together before MY tries to join his father. NMJ's good-natured exasperation as he passed NHS's purposely-forgotten saber to LXC was such a heartbreaking contrast to his violent rage when he destroys NHS's stuff, and really drove home how his saber sickness had him fucked up. Similarly, his easy trust of MY and his willingness to let MY leave to seek his fortune is WILD given how he''s going to spend the rest of the flashback in "bitch eating crackers" mode about everything JGY does and aggressively attempting to control him.

-MY killing the commander in this context was silly. In the drama, I get it! It comes off as a genuinely impulsive action. Here? Literally how is that going to accomplish your goals, bud? NMJ's response to it is also silly, because he tells MY that he won't be executed if his story about plagiarism is true, and like. NMJ. How is he going to prove it. You literally were JUST about to kill him yourself after hearing the story. What is happening. Where is my tearful divorce.

-I cannot emphasize enough how much I prefer the drama's Nieyao dynamic. The decision to have MY be in a trusted position at the Unclean Realm for a substantial amount of time adds sooooo much personal investment to everything that unfolds that appeals to my desire for mess. The novel is just a guy going "I CAN FIX HIM!!!" about his shady former coworker and yelling at him while the guy they both dated is like "awww c'mon guys be nice :("

[phoenixcatch7]

Hey mdzs crowd how would wwx being a bloodborne hunter sucked into a night of the hunt every full moon sound?

Maybe not a full long night, just an 'hour' of it every month, so he finishes one full hunt a year??

A qi free place, exactly like the actual game, but he has to sneak away into the moonlight portal or risk an agonising transformation into a grotesque beast himself for the duration the moon is in the sky. Cloud cover does nothing. He will try and kill everything in his path unless chained.

A choice between becoming a werewolf or the hunter, basically.

And lwj somehow following him through the portal once, to this qi less place, but as a cultivator of significant insight and an unprotected human of normal blood it goes REALLY downhill fast until wwx is able to free him, either by a high adrenaline scene getting a collapsing lwj back through the portal before it closes or by managing to drag his increasingly agonised and overwhelmed body to the sanctuary until the time is over, thus wasting valuable time and making things so much worse for wwx in the next full moons. It's a very angsty and traumatising reveal all round.

Because wwx is a whip smart guy with dangerous thoughts on resentment and the use of corpses, who went through horrifying things and emerged amazingly intact but not untouched, and I think it'd be really interesting to see the interplay of these dual lives. How the cultivation world is so, so much better in pretty much every way, but its own horrors reflective of yharnam, its capabilities for so much more than what they have.

Like, he'd be so much more desensitised to horror and gore, but it'd be matched by the stubborn drive that this is his home, his refuge from the dragging terror of the hunt, and he'd defend that to his last breath. And living a life as a (horribly fragile if lethal) mortal and still surviving the worst yharnam has to throw at him, he'd have a very different outlook on losing his core. He's already seen how, with the right tools, he can be just as dangerous if not more than the average cultivator. And in the cultivation world there's just so much more potential!

His inherent goodness, too, would not survive without damage just from the smog of hopelessness in the air. A wwx who can't keep that instinctive urge to help, but now has to choose, with every second, to remain kind (if not extremely inflammatory about it lmao).

The contemplation of demonic cultivation, too, would have a very different sort of draw. It's not just forbidden, taboo, but he's seen the very worst of it in action; the healing church, the orphan of kos, the vile bloods, the school of mensis, the feral beasts in rotten human skin roaming every street convinced they're still human.

But wwx isn't wwx without truly amazing levels of trailblazing hubris and curiosity, and he'd have the little niggling whispers in the back of his head, theories about how what they did could have been used for actual good, or at least more humanely. When he committed to the risk of demonic cultivation, he'd feel the dangerous itch to practice on things already dead, things that can't touch his home. To organise his goals, get some sort of advantage from this awful place, where the consequences (probably) can't follow him home. But yharnam is the most dangerous place possible to try messing with blood and the dead, and the knowledge of the rheumy eyes of the eldritch monstrosities above him is a heavy pressure on the back of his head.

I'd love to explore the themes of the changes wrought, these two different existences touching through wwx, but also can you imagine the yiling patriarch with a gun and a butchers knife?

[dani474]

Jiang Cheng, the Golden Core, and why it's love. [PART 2]

I ended part one by noting that the burial mound siege wasn't the end of their relationship, but it is not the reconnection of it yet either.

Jiang Cheng capturing and torturing people who cultivate like Wei Wuxian, believing they could be possessed by him, is definitely something that would make you think of hatred. So far though, he has not actually come back into contact with Wei Wuxian, neither through the constant spirit summoning or possession trials.

Checking for possession in this moment is especially important, because this is the closest he has been to finding Wei Wuxian since his death. The fact that he's spent the last 13 years doing this is. Unhinged honestly. Even Lan Wangji didn't go out searching for him.

We all know that Lan Wangji knew Mo Xuanyu was actually Wei Wuxian because of WangXian, but Jiang Cheng heavily suspects it’s him due to Wen Ning being the force corpse summoned. 

No matter who might’ve followed WWX’s cultivation methods, summoning WN is probably something no one else has ever tried much less succeeded at. (Later, we learn why, as we learn how Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao are both playing their own game, but for now, all we know is that WN hasn’t been seen for at least 13 years.)

Later, we see that Wei Wuxian is scared of dogs, like to the point of potentially being a phobia due to PTSD, and this is what confirms his theory that MXY is still somehow Wei Wuxian even without the possession. Rather than a question of demonic cultivation, this is actual experience with Wei Wuxian's fears, personality, and thought processes.

His emotional state here really shows his conflicting emotions regarding Wei Wuxian and his return, as well.

“Don’t you…have anything to say to me?”

In the novels, it’s noted that Jiang Cheng speaks softly in reply. “You won’t repent, just as expected.”

“And you haven’t improved either.”

I think it's interesting that this^ is what makes Jiang Cheng angry, not Wei Wuxian admitting he has no idea what to say to him. This makes me think he wanted an apology or an acknowledgement in some way, rather than an explanation on how he got his body.

“It’s all your fault that Jin Ling is made fun of like he is now. Don’t you forget how his parents died!” This anger makes total sense, and unfortunately lacks the information around the circumstances that led to Jin Zixuan's death. he's not wrong though, and I'll come back to this.

Wei Wuxian also admitted as soon as he learned it was Jin Ling, that he would've never let someone speak to him that way, so Jiang Cheng's defense here is not one to criticize in general, no matter if the words here are equally harsh.

More than that though, throughout the present period, their interactions are sporadic and limited. Somehow, we go from this tense exchange to one's that begin to unravel more of Jiang Cheng's feelings regarding the entire thing.

When Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian locate Nie Mingjue’s head in Jin Guangyao’s room and attempt to confront him, he is able to attack and force Wei Wuxian to grab his Suiban, leading to his identity being revealed. 

Jin Ling protests here, but Jiang Cheng is visibly unsure, questioning if the possession part could’ve been wrong despite Zidian, because of the sword unsealing itself.

This is his confirmation that Wei Wuxian has returned to the land of the living. After 13 years of searching and torturing people under suspicion (and guilt of demonic cultivation), he's making this face.

In the novels, he’s noted as looking “incredibly upset.” and also that he was “seeming to ponder what action to take.”

Unintentionally, this expression, this moment of hesitation (in a room full of killing intent mid you) reveals just how complicated their relationship actually is. Normally, if you hated someone and had them brought low, you'd take the chance to strike. We see that here with everyone else in the room, later Jin Ling (despite his own messy feelings over it), and later with Nie Huaisang.

Here though, he pauses. Jin Ling had more initiative to harm Wei Wuxian than him.

And at the second burial mound siege, Jiang Cheng led his people into the Den and was willing to consider Wei Wuxian’s theories. It’s unconscious, but he holds that judgment and intellect in high enough regard to actually approach it, rather than dismiss it. When Wei Wuxian makes himself a target, and takes Lan Wangji off with him, Jiang Cheng decides to help too, with no request from anyone. Jin Ling follows AFTER his uncle.

At the end of the fight, when everyone decided to go to Lotus Pier, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji followed and Jiang Cheng just…didn’t say either way. And when he asks Jin Ling who bullied him, the assumption that it was Wei Wuxian here makes sense in this context specifically. Note that he uses ‘Wei Ying’ in his thoughts.

You can say what you want about Jiang Cheng, but he protects his nephew undoubtedly. Is he perfect about it? No, but I do not expect the same tenderness Yanli could give him. His own experiences with parenting shape the way he responds. Still, Jin Ling tells Wei Wuxian outright that Jiang Cheng has never hit him, and yes, he can be harsh but seems to be trying to avoid belittling him. He is actually looking out for Jin Ling's safety and actively trying to support his cultivation (just not in the best way). Then again, it's hard to change such deeply ingrained responses.

Also, I think that if we're going to call Jiang Cheng abusive (though I personally disagree) for being crass and harsh towards Jin Ling, then we should consider he is an abuse victim and hasn't broken every single toxic trait he's learned. It is not a moral failure, and it actually makes his character more nuanced. So.

Anyways, for the most part, things are ambivalent.

It’s not until Wei Wuxian takes Lan Wangji around Lotus Pier, and they do the tree jump hug thing that things seem remiss. Jiang Cheng witnesses it and sees them going to the Ancestral Hall. More than any of his harsh words towards their ‘friendship’, he’s angry because Wei Wuxian is going without showing respect to Jiang Cheng or even his parents. This is audacious of Wei Wuxian, if only because he didn’t bother to tell Jiang Cheng he’d like to visit the Ancestral Hall. He doesn't live there anymore and their relationship is still very much damaged, so honestly, I can kind of understand being upset about the Ancestral Hall being approached the way it was.

He still blames Wei Wuxian for the destruction of Lotus Pier and Lan Wangji being there is fuel to the fire. Due to his own perceptions, Iang Cheng sees this as a mockery of his parents and their deaths, so I’m not surprised he reacts so negatively. Is it strictly true or fair, no, but it’s also something they’ve never actually talked about. It’s still pent-up between them.

Note that Jiang Cheng only makes a vaguely homophobic comment after Wei Wuxian tells him to shut up (for insulting LWJ). He’s being a dick sure, but this comment was specifically to goad Wei Wuxian into fighting. It’s working. Jiang Cheng’s words after this make me think he’s angrier about the introduction of Lan Wangji to his own parents because of their ‘thing for each other.’ He clearly read the intention of a marriage blessing and I think that’s what’s bothering him the most here. Why? This: “...If you two have any integrity, you shouldn’t have come here and…”

Again. Jiang Cheng points to Wei Wuxian saving Lan Wangji as being the catalyst that destroyed Lotus Pier. This is specifically what he's referencing.

Wei Wuxian strikes first, and then they’re fighting. Which is what Jiang Cheng was looking for. He can’t totally explain why he’s upset, so he argues instead.

Wen Ning decides to tell Jiang Cheng about the Golden Core transfer because he was hurting Wei Wuxian, with his actions but also with the burden of said secret. Jiang Cheng’s reaction to this – the secret itself and his own feelings around it/Wei Wuxian – are pretty justified, and instead of starting a fight later, he mostly shares his true feelings about it. 

Jiang Cheng keeps responding to it with anger, but right here, this is shock and hurt, as far as I can tell. His next words make me believe that: “Lies!” “Lies! All of you are lying to me!” 

Right now, he has no idea what to think of Wei Wuxian. He has no idea what’s really happened and who’s told him the truth. It completely upheaved his current perceptions. He does ask others to try pulling out Suiban. Because he knows, on some level, that WWX’s sword should not be ‘unsealed’ and that Baoshan Sanren should’ve been much more elusive. 

I think the most interesting aspect here is the result of it.

Jiang Cheng does what Wen Ning asks and once he enters the Guanyin Temple, well. Jin Guangyao taunts, throwing his confusion and whirlwind behavior in his face.

His anger here is not at all surprising, considering this is a private issue. The fact that it’s being used against him during this little skirmish is not a good sign for him. It's forcing him to acknowledge that Wen Ning was telling the truth, in a way that even unsheathing Suiban himself can't.

Jiang Cheng is upset here because he’s having all of his accomplishments since the Sunshot Campaign started questioned, diminished, and attributed to Wei Wuxian. Once again, someone is telling him that he will never be good enough, and by mentioning a golden elixir, even implies that he must ‘cheat’ in order to even match Wei Wuxian. Of course, like most people, being compared to someone this way is hurtful, and to have it done repeatedly by so many people who see that other person as more likable and more accomplished, is going to leave deep seated issues.

Still, the moment JGY threatened Wei Wuxian’s life, he was over there to protect him without a thought. JGY was intentionally riling Jiang Cheng up in order to put him in that position. With his ability to read people, he quickly realized that despite any potential anger and hurt, he wouldn’t allow Wei Wuxian to be injured, not when he’s just learned about the Golden Core Transfer. By doing this, he was able to injure Jiang Cheng as he was slower to defend himself.

In response to Wei Wuxian saying “I told [Wen Ning] so many times not to say it!” is anger first. This is probably the most blatant he is about his own insecurities concerning and his own capabilities.

He’s mocking Wei Wuxian’s choice as playing the hero and living up to their sect’s motto in the way he couldn’t.

It’s interesting that Jiang Cheng is overshadowed by Wei Wuxian to the point of viewing himself as inferior at everything; to the point of needing to question who or what he is. This sounded strange to me at first, but subconsciously people recognize that Wei Wuxian’s abilities are higher despite who he is – the son of a servant (or the potential bastard of JFM) according to what’s convenient. Jiang Cheng is lower here because his parentage is “no match” for Wei Wuxian's. The parents aren’t mentioned outright, but why else would a sect heir, and now a sect leader, be pitted against his head disciple and viewed as a failure for not matching up? 

It's the same reason Madam Yu was so angry.

Because failing to match Wei Wuxian is seen as a slight against the Jiang sect. She was angry that Jiang Fengmian kept acknowledging Wei Wuxian but not his own son and heir. It’s why the gossip was so bad, and why it was getting to her. It’s also why Jiang Cheng can't help but be jealous. It's a conflict of status. He feels much lower, but his status is nothing of the sort. Wei Wuxian’s accomplishments are higher and more respected, but his place is much more tenuous. 

This is not either of their faults. It’s the results of classism and parental conflict. The Jiang parent's and their personal strife leads to the belittlement of their children, and the jealousy directed at Wei Wuxian leads to a conflicting position. The son of a servant and a head disciple who should be good, but not better than Jiang Cheng. The son of Canse Sanren who's as well known as Madam Yu, but also brings her disrespect and dishonor in the rumors. Whichever causes the most tension at the time. 

Also, yes, I know Jiang Cheng’s rant in the novel is much more harsh, and his actions more impulsive, but that doesn’t really change anything. People do not act rationally when they are this upset. Some of the things he says in here show how belittled he feels (ex. “You never tell me anything. You treat me like a fool!” and “What am I? Does it serve me right to be blinded by your brilliance?!”)

When Jiang Cheng lashes out here, he’s also questioning their positions, even before he says it outright. He tries to shove Wei Wuxian and we can say whatever about this choice, but to be honest, I very rarely see people who are close peers much less those raised in the same household (whether they’re allowed to consider themselves brothers or not) approach anger or hurt without being a bit of a childish dick about it. Lan Wangji is quick to interfere of course, so Wei Wuxian isn’t actually hurt. 

I already noted why he’s asking these questions. ‘What am I if the son of a servant, even one taken in by my family, can outshine me in everything? How can I live up to that? Why can’t I, when I’m a sect heir? My status is higher than yours, but you are much higher than me.’

Again. It’s not intentional, but it is driven by classism, not just sibling jealousy.  Being so close to one another in their youths makes his perspective on Wei Wuxian's class more flexible than his parents, but it also means the discrepancy between them, and the public opinion is much heavier. It drives those insecurities deeper.

Jiang Cheng going on to mention the deaths that Wei Wuxian caused. It’s no surprise he still blames WWX for being the catalyst in Lotus Pier’s destruction, but I think him bringing up Jin Ling's parents is different. The politics around the Wen’s attacking Lotus Pier are complicated enough that he only mentions his parents rather than the whole sect, as he did in the immediate aftermath of the attack. 

Jin Zixuan and Yanli, though? These must hurt in such a specific way. Wei Wuxian is more to blame for these deaths than the others, because both of them went out into an unsafe situation to help him.

Wei Wuxian was increasingly unstable, his position on its very last leg, and his powers caused the injuries. Yanli is more complicated, if only because she was injured but would’ve survived if she hadn’t stepped in front of a sword strike meant for Wei Wuxian. They chose to protect him, in two different ways. Jin Zixuan was trying to diffuse the situation enough to get Wei Wuxian out safely, and Yanli wanted to calm Wei Wuxian down enough to control the corpses, to get him out of that situation, and more than anything -- she wanted to see him again.

Jiang Cheng’s anger is not unjustified, to be honest. Is it complicated? Yes. Everyone else's actions also caused those deaths. But emotions are not logical nor are they simple. 

And then we get to the crux of the issue, in my opinion. 

This more than anything is why he’s angry. Because breaking it meant Jiang Cheng could not lean on him or count on him for support, which he definitely needed while rebuilding the sect. 

Because it meant his sect (and Jiang Cheng himself, maybe) was not worth protecting. Wei Wuxian did choose to protect ‘outsiders’; he may have done so because it was the right thing to do, because he owed a debt that he couldn’t ever really repay, but it is still a choice that puts the Jiang sect (JC) second. When he asks: “what did you take our family as?”, that is what I hear. 

Jiang Cheng is asking whether or not he should or is allowed to hate Wei Wuxian. LWJ gets in between them and Jiang Cheng decides he can fight if necessary. And to be honest, I can’t help but pay attention to everyone's expressions when he steps closer to Wei Wuxian. Everyone looks so surprised to see he’s in pain, that he’s crying. Everyone takes his at face value, so they miss how much he carries behind all of it.

He’s so angry at Wei Wuxian, maybe even hates him, because more than anything, it hurts.

This is just all that pain and grief coming out. Jiang Cheng lost Wei Wuxian when he broke that promise, and after having lost his parents, then his brother-in-law and sister, that was all he had left.

He doesn’t understand why Wei Wuxian couldn’t tell him these things. It would’ve hurt much less if he knew the truth, I imagine. Because for this entire time, he didn’t have any explanation for Wei Wuxian’s behavior. This, honestly, tells me that he wanted Wei Wuxian to stay. We know Jiang Cheng wanted to protect him, as Yanli did, and now he knows that Wei Wuxian wanted to protect him, too.

When Wei Wuxian apologizes for breaking his promise, Jiang Cheng is upset with himself for needing it. For wanting it. He feels weak for not being able to just hate Wei Wuxian. Because that’s the thing.

Jiang Cheng asked those questions because he struggles to reconcile feeling like he should hate WWX – maybe actually hating him on some level – and still loving him. 

And yes. Jiang Cheng loves him.

He may see Wei Wuxian in a position of both servitude (as his head disciple, regarding the expectations around him being a sect heir, and Wei Wuxian being of a servant’s line) and one of admiration and inferiority to. But they’re close enough to bicker and be tactile as siblings would, but not enough to be considered siblings by anyone else.

They see this causal behavior as one of disrespect, and at Jiang Cheng’s lowest and most politically unstable moments (sunshot and after), he began to see it that way as well. It’s much harder to ignore everyone shouting these kinds of things at you constantly when you have next to no one countering that perception. MianMian and Lan Wangji both tried to stop people from spreading this idea but they couldn’t. Jiang Cheng couldn’t either, and the fact that they fed into pre-existing insecurities makes them very easy to internalize and manipulate. Don’t forget that he’s literally 17-20 when this is mostly happening. 

When Jiang Cheng apologized to Wei Wuxian, and he responded like this, I was questioning if he chose to do it out of obligation.

Why would he say this? Is it because Madam Yu and Jiang Fengmian asked him to take care of their children? Because the Jiang family took him in?

Or because Jiang Cheng accused him of betraying his family? 

Wei Wuxian giving his Golden Core to JC is not something anyone would’ve requested of him to fulfill his obligations to the Jiangs. It was an experimental procedure that hadn’t even been heard of outside of Wen Qing and her family. Wei Wuxian chose to do it because he wanted to protect Jiang Cheng. To protect from his grief and his guilt over not being able to get revenge for their sect. To protect him from feeling inferior. Jiang Cheng was literally at his lowest point and was arguably suicidal. After bringing JC to someplace safe enough for treatment, he’d already fulfilled his duties to the Jiang family. But choosing an extremely risky procedure, to give someone a part of himself that the cultivation world considered near sacred, wouldn’t have crossed any cultivators mind. 

Choosing to do it anyway. How is that NOT out of love? 

It’s just that he didn't tell Jiang Cheng the truth because it would hurt him. And by hurting him this way, making him feel as if none of his accomplishments were his own, he would be dishonoring his obligations to the Jiang parents. 

Wei Wuxian’s own feelings here are more complex. He’s grateful that Jiang Fengmian took him in, so he approaches the Transfer in a way that emphasizes that to reduce the sense of loss. He says as much in the novels:

If he hadn’t been taken in, he’d never have a golden core and would never feel that loss, but he’d never have met Yanli or Jiang Cheng either. So, duty is easier. But this is AFTER.

“If it had not been for Jiang Fengmian bringing him to Lotus Pier, Wei Wuxian might never have crossed paths with the cultivation world. He would never have been conscious of such a mystical and magnificent realm.”

“[...] He’d have had no way of cultivating, let alone a chance to form a golden core. And at that thought, he’d feel a lot better.”

Wei Wuxian wanted Jiang Cheng to live, so he did something that would ensure it, even at the cost of his own health. Regardless of the parents, these three value each other's lives enough to risk their own. It’s shown to us repeatedly. All of these are reciprocal and are done without any need for debt or obligation.

The reason Wei Wuxian says it this way is because he thinks that Jiang Cheng shouldn’t have to apologize for his words. From his perspective, Jiang Cheng believes he should repay the Jiang family, because of how he's been saying these things. 

I say it like that because Jiang Cheng doesn’t like that response. He questions it. To my parents? To my sister? And then Wei Wuxian asks them not to talk about it, to let it be in the past. He’s doing this to protect himself and yet inadvertently implying that he chose to do it because of literally everyone BUT Jiang Cheng. 

It sounds like “I did this to repay your family, not for you.” and that bothers him. But he doesn’t say anything else because Wei Wuxian told him not to. Wei Wuxian said it because he thought it would make Jiang Cheng feel less betrayed. They’ve completely talked past each other and don’t even know it.

He doesn’t look relieved here. Seriously. This is not the face I’d be making if those words relieved me. His face is scrunched and his teeth are clenched. He looks pained. He’s trying to keep the rest of his tears in. 

It hurts him to hear that, but he can't say anything now. 

And with the reveal that Su She casted the Hundred Holes curse on Jin Zixun, Wei Wuxian is rightfully feeling that he was wronged. The moment Jin Guangyao says that, actually, Wei Wuxian would be besieged regardless and would die young, Jiang Cheng gets angry. It hurts to hear, because it ended up being true. JGY knows it and uses that to his advantage, but only after being called the son of a prostitute. (Before that, he's just generally taunting.)

By laying all the blame for Wei Wuxian’s death on Jiang Cheng, he’s hitting a surprising sore point. Jiang Cheng feels guilty over aiding in Wei Wuxian’s death. He knows that the wedge driven between them happened because of his insecurities. And he knows that by allowing the other sects to target Wei Wuxian rather than risk the sect to back him, he pretty much set the stage for Wei Wuxian's death. It took a year, but once there was a ‘reason’, he ended up with no choice but to siege the Burial Mounds. Once again, these things happened due to more than just themselves. They did not have a path outside of this one due to where they both were.

I like the detail that Jin Ling has to hold him back here, but Wei Wuxian also won’t let it slide. He immediately comes to JC’s defense once JGY starts to imply that JC killed him. (He corrected Wen Ning on this, too.)

(Side thing: They both care for Jin Ling. Yes, Jiang Cheng is rude, but he does try his best to spoil and protect him, and when Jin Guangyao takes Jin Ling hostage, he’s upset to the point that he uses the affectionate form of his name. This also causes Wei Wuxian to immediately try to help in response, due to being familiar with Jiang Cheng’s different tones.)

At the end of all of this, Jiang Cheng had wanted to tell Wei Wuxian something just before he left, but didn’t. I particularly like his expression in the manhua. 

“I didn’t get caught by the Wen Clan because I insisted on returning to Lotus Pier to retrieve my parents’ bodies. When you went to buy rations in that small town during our escape, a group of Wen cultivators caught up to us. I noticed them early and left the spot where I’d been sitting to hide in a corner of the street. I didn’t get caught, but they were patrolling, and they would have surely bumped into you while you were getting us food.

So I ran out and lured them away.”

TL;DR

Like most people, Jiang Cheng’s words and actions don’t always match, and they don’t always say what he’s feeling. Can he hurt people with his behaviors, yes. But honestly, this is just how people work and isn't a sign of one-dimensional villainy. He hurts others with his actions and other people’s actions hurt him. It’s just the nature of being involved with others, and especially in loving them. 

Keeping his actions within his relationships in full context is really the only way to understand his motivations, emotions, and why other characters feel the way they do about him. This is about how Jiang Cheng’s insecurities and strained familial relationships influences how he responds to Wei Wuxian over the course of their lives, how politics shaped the fallout, and ultimately why it was not duty that led to the Golden Core transfer, on either side. 

They didn’t tell each other about those sacrifices – ones they made out of love for each other and with little regard for anything else – because knowing would hurt the other. 

Sacrifice as a form of love is a theme between these two. Sacrifice was a form of love between many others too. Yanli, Wen Qing, Lan Wangji, Madam Yu, even. An element of obligation doesn't actually counteract that. Everyone has some level of obligation to the people around them.

Even so. They deal with their issues by pretending they don’t have issues, so of course it builds up. Of course, Jiang Cheng’s personality results in a grudge, but that doesn’t mean it’s all he feels. It’s complicated. I think with people you’re close to, it’s easy to resent them and also love them. I think they love each other, and there’s just so much pain and trauma and communication issues between them that it festers into something ugly. It looks like hate because those pains build until they explode.

I think for someone like Jiang Cheng, it’s so much easier to hate someone than to love them when it’s painful to do so. 

It must have been so much easier to hate the man Wei Wuxian became – the Yiling Patriarch – than it was to remember who that person was, to him. We know that Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng are noted as being similar, and I think Jin Ling’s complicated feelings reflect this point. Jin Ling stabbed Wei Wuxian because of his parents being murdered, but also helped him and didn’t want to see him get hurt, because he came to like the man Wei Wuxian actually was rather than the big scary boogeyman. I think this happened in reverse for Jiang Cheng. Hate the boogeyman to forget the human you knew. 

But, eventually, the truth comes out, and they can’t keep those things in anymore. 

So to me, the Golden Core Transfer, from both ends, was them saying: ‘I want you to live.’ And how can that not be an act of love? Of devotion? We see Yanli’s protection of WWX as an act of love and sacrifice, but not this? Because their relationship cannot be easily described? Because Jiang Cheng is a hard man to work with, or even love? Because acknowledging this level of devotion might threaten the impact of wangxian? Sometimes, for better or worse, we know people who are hard to understand and hard to communicate with, but the love is there and it’s real. And for these two, I think even if the love could not outweigh the tension or the circumstances around them, they tried as best as they could. Because they both believed the other was worth it. 

We know Wei Wuxian has more positive feelings overall towards Jiang Cheng, but it’s much harder to get into Jiang Cheng’s head because he’s not often the narrator. This is on purpose of course, but it also means we can miss intricate details. 

That doesn’t mean it isn’t there though. And that doesn’t mean there’s no love. 

LINK BACK TO PART 1

[aeghina]

Biweekly prompt #1

His world was black. He floated in nothingness for so long he forgot why he was even there to start. A fight probably, he was always fighting.

“Please save my friend.”

Then light came to his world. The demon he thought was defeated and that brought his own demise, back to plague the land he had protected so long ago. Defeating him was almost as satisfying as the first time.

His world was black. He floated between forever and now, everything and nothing.

Light came to his world. A huge scale war, once again the tiny body donning him was in danger and called forth his power yet again. He did it more than once this time, the dark never lasted more than a blink of his eyes before he was in battle again. He poured strength into every move, trying to get rid of the enemies faster for the child could not hold him for long, but the more he did, the more the boy used his face and called his power.

His world was black again. He thought it would be the end until the next new face.

“Are you there?” It was the boy still. He couldn’t answer, there was no mouth and not eyes in the nothing. How close was the boy holding him? “Thank you. For all the help. I-” a pause, a heartbeat in eternity “I wish I could make you happy too, but I don’t know how.”

Make him happy? Well, that was a surprise. He accepted the boy as a vessel for a common enemy, he let the boy call forth his power in need because he couldn’t stop it. Since when does happiness come in the deal? Maybe it was the innocence, fueled by his weirdly captivating magic, that made him stay. 

“Please, save her.” light came to his world, a battlefield once again but this time the fear fueling it came not because of the danger to the boy’s life, but to someone else “I don’t care what happens to me, please save her.”

He did. A common enemy aligned their thoughts and hearts like it happened when he fought Majora for the second time. He missed breathing air even if it smelt of rotten corpses and malice, missed sunlight on his skin even if it was patchy because blood covered part of his skin but even the feeling of it on his skin was new again. The boy was hurt, he could feel it under his own face. He’d die and what was the point of calling him and using all his magic for one last moment? The girl shook, scared but called him and when the god looked at her, she called the boy’s name once again, stepping closer. Brave girl.

“He’ll sleep for some time.” he answered, voice hoarse after the scream that always started the connection “But he’ll survive.” her eyes filled with tears

“Thank you.” she said.

It was not in his power to heal, the mask limited so much of what he could do or not, but he could make deals. One eye for a glimpse of the world outside. In the eternal blackness, he could see the boy floating in front of him and wasn’t it a surprise to see his own face looking back, in slightly different colors? The boy got his markings on the right side along with his eye.

His world was black, but only for a moment. When the boy blinked and he saw him in the mirror, poking carefully on the marking on his cheek. He looked down and saw bandages on his lap and beyond the mirror held by the girl, she gave a teary eyed smile. 

Now only half of his world was black. The other half was colorful and filled with life from animals, plants, people and towns. He couldn’t do much but see the calm life the boy cultivated for himself. He would close the god’s eye many times, but never on the farm. He wondered if the boy felt the small spark of happiness it brought. 

Eternity was a little less boring.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 12 - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

So, like everyone on tumblr, I was at least peripherally aware of The Untamed, if only as ‘the C-drama with the impossibly pretty men everyone loves shipping about necromancy or something.’ (Also the one crossover porn fanfic with so many tags that it broke AO3.) So I wasn’t quite coming into this blind, but I think I came pretty close. It sure as hell wasn’t anywhere close to my vague expectations.

Anyway, this was fun! Also absolutely let me cross off reading something from an entirely unfamiliar literary subculture off my metaphorical bingo card for the year. Just reams of assumed context I absolutely did not possess. Kind of loved it (but the occasional clarifying footnotes were very much necessary and appreciated.)

Which is to say – there was so much more slapstick and physical comedy than I expected from the vague intimations of feudal politics and magical warfare I got? Not usually my sort of humour but it got a laugh out of me once or twice. My favourite character is Wei Wuxian’s donkey.

The conceit of the first story – reviled and abused failson destroys his own soul and offers up his body as a host to the spirit of a legendary evil wizard to wreak bloody vengeance for him, but fucks up the bit of the ritual that tells the spirit who to take revenge on. Also the whole ‘legendary evil wizard’ reputation was at least partially and vaguely due to a propaganda campaign by his enemies and he’s not particular enthusiastic about the ‘murder a whole family’ thing – is also just incredible. I kind of wish it had been more drawn out, before the whole ‘gotta collect them [chunks of a specific super cursed corpse] all!’ plot became the main justifying connective tissue.

Not that the overarching plot is really the story’s strong point – it’s basically just the excuse to keep Wei Wuxian and Wang Lanji together and having adventures. The actual selling points are the backstories and character interactions and to a lesser extent the monster of the week stuff. All of which are pretty well done!

Though as far as monster of the week stuff goes – I’m vaguely aware that cultivation fantasy is a whole, like, genre, with about as many weirdly specific shared assumptions as ‘generic’ western fantasy written by people swimming in a sea of Tolkien/Conan-as-interpreted-by-Warcraft-and-D&D, but I’ve really got zero clue whatsoever to what degree the worldbuilding of this is typical of the genre? Not that it particularly matters, beyond some of the reveals making much more sense if they’re building off an assumed awareness of how the world’s expected to work, all more or less new (though more or less intuitive) to me either way. Fun to see so much magic based around music.

Anyways – obviously I’m going in with a biased perspective but my god can you see how this ended up with a massive shipping fandom. The entire story is nothing but impossibly beautiful men flirting/pranking/sexually harassing each other while being utterly and entirely capable to even understand let along communicate their feelings. The two lead’s entire relationship in this volume is like a dated mid-2000s comedy sketch about two ostensibly straight guys playing gay chicken and both being so competitive that they just end up fucking. Author really knew what they were doing with the fanfic bait.

(Though honestly I’m legitimately unsure if it’s just a matter of narrative choice to not dwell on motivations or Wei Wuxian really is the single most unselfaware asshole in the entire universe. He legitimately seems incapable of understanding his own motivations most of the time.)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the art, which really is very lovely. Though I will be entirely honest that there’s only so many handsome black-haired men in flowing robes I can keep apart in my head.

But yeah, fun read overall. Don’t exactly feel compelled to go seek out the next volume, but don’t regret having read this one, damn sight better than some other things I’ve read this year.